Blogs from Argyll, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 4

For the whisky fanatic, Islay is a true Mecca: it is a relatively small Island in the Inner Hebrides directly west of Glasgow that boasts a whopping eight distilleries - and famous ones at that. Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Laphroaig... but for two windy days in early March we had the pleasure of visiting one of the prettiest-situated distilleries of them all: Bowmore. At their invitation, I and two of my colleagues: Granville (from Jeroboams Wine Merchants) who is coincidentally Scottish and Isabel (from Milroy's of Soho - www.milroys.co.uk) who is incidentally Argentinean, were given the chance to experience the distillery, its eponymously named village, and a bit of the island itself. For those who don't know we are from Jeroboams Wine Merchants and It was an effort to get to. From the time we arrived at Glasgow ... read more

Drove through Glencoe today. Absolutely incredible to see, especially with the history from the 1600s. There's a gorgeous waterfall and river (called Coe), running through it. It seems so quiet and we pulled over many times for pictures. We arrived at our hotel - completely wiped out and ready for dinner. There is an interesting custom here in the UK. Many places give you the menu and want you to order at the bar. Then they bring it to your table. You're still expected to tip! We also made it to Loch Lomond-beautiful. There were a bother and sister jumping from the pier down into the Loch. It was colder that our lakes up north! Our hotel was quite nice (2 separate rooms again) on 2 separate floors. At least we didn't have to share any ... read more

For Steve’s stag weekend, we went to the Hebridean island of Islay, off the west coast of Scotland. I met up with Allan in Glasgow and after a lager on Thursday evening we flew early Friday morning, on a Saab turbojet. On this dull morning, the water droplets on the plane windows were dispersed as soon as the propellers were switched on, and to reinforce the small scale of the operation, the chief stewardess announced “I'm Helen and I am your cabin crew today!” To be fair, there were only 39 seats in total, and less than a third were occupied. A short hop over such dreamy-sounding waterways as the Firth of Clyde, the Sound of Bute and the Sound of Jura took us to Islay, just a handbrake turn before the Atlantic Ocean, a place ... read more

An early start was just what was needed - just ask the boys - and so it was 7:30 out of bed and down for breakfast by 8. The fact that it was, in fact 10:30 Dubai time, didn’t seem to register with most of them and so it was a long protracted process to extract them from their beds and get them sort of semi respectable - it’s going to be a long ten days! Breakfast - all you can eat of course - was a good start and at 9 am we had pretty much the whole team, packed , loaded, dressed and on the bus with (what we thought) everything they needed for the day. History will show that we were, in fact, very wrong and when you ask 25 boys if they’re ... read more

I am oban, its lovely. Went for a walk around the town brilliant. today another walk down to a crystal clear creek, went to the castle that they made the monty python holy grail in & of course the bridge that is famous because it where hogwarts express goes along. Tomorrow is my last day in scotland and then i am back in london for the night & off to wales for easter. Other then that, I am getting a tiny bit homesick (but I think that is because I miss my leth & my dog) & and I am tired. Hopefully a good nights sleep in my own room tomorrow night will fix my woes. I am still having great time though, but am looking forward to next week when I am travelling a bit ... read more

Despite the recent problems with the snow, I wondered if I would make it up to Scotland for the weekend. Despite slight train delays from Leeds and from my connecting train from York to Edinburgh, there were no problems! On arrival to the hostel, I saw a travel company advertising day tours to the Highlands. I had originally planned just to stay in Edinburgh and sightsee in the city. However, I decided to take the opportunity to do a tour. I think spontaneity can be a good thing in your life sometimes. I was not too concerned about missing a day's sightseeing in the Capital as I have visited the city many times. I think I did the right thing. Julia, a traveller from Brazil and from my dorm, was planning to go on the Loch ... read more