Blogs from East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Edinburgh, Scotland, September 29 - October 5, 2023 Well that's a visit never to be repeated....apologies to Edinburgh lovers.... Are there any other kind of shop besides ones flogging souvenirs made in foreign lands. While looking for tartan scarves one had to double and triple check that the scarf was made a) from real wool from Scot sheep and b) that it was manufactured on Scot soil. Princes Street is either missing a second 's' or an apostrophe. Some bus stops are so far apart one might as well walk. Let it be said that once the bus schedule is cracked there is enjoyment in bus travel....OK....so its on the other side of the road ...and that must be remembered when going here or there ... and even though per ride it was not cheap at ... read more

Recently I read Silence by Erling Kagge . Written by the Norwegian polar explorer , I expected a tale of loneliness and a verging on insanity tale of his experiences in the polar extremes. The book touched on his solo South Pole expedition , however its value was much more and touched a chord with many aspects of the running different objective. Erling was quick to point out that you did not need to venture to the ends of the earth to experience silence and, happily for those of us looking , it can often be found closer to home. Earlier in the week I drove the twenty miles down the road to North Berwick and set off for one of my favourite runs – an hour westward along the beach , turn and then retrace ... read more

Kirk Yetholm. The finish of the Pennine Way. We’re in Scotland and pretty close to the border but as to what county, shire, district or whatever I have no idea and the blog site has even less. So simply ignore any location details more explicit than Scotland. And yes we have completed the Pennine Way. That’s 460 plus kilometres of hills, mud, moors, mud, forests, mud, tracks, mud, trails, mud, glens, mud, bothys, mud, tarns, mud, cairns, mud, fields, mud, farms, mud, trig points, mud as well as a few pints, steak and ale pies and stick date puddings. The last 26 km today were delightful. Very little mud and good stretches through moors with good intimidating hills interspersed so as to not make them dominating. The views were as expansive as we have become accustomed ... read more

Well, maybe the most talked about venue on the tour had to be Muirfield, from lady members to Ernie's hole out from the bunker at 13 and win to the member's day experience to their "proud" opinion of themselves. Well, let's cut to the chase - what an awesome test of golf. What a special place. What a nice host Ronnie was and what great people we met - like my foursomes partner, Peter Brown, who was the only Scotsman to Captain 3 wins over England; he kicked the winning conversion to beat them and he is one of the most sought-after dinner speakers going. Foursomes, for us, Peter and I, was pretty special. Unfortunately for Mike and Ronnie, it was a little like "Desert Storm", the battle in the sand. Mother Nature joined in after ... read more

After coming off a golfing high at Kilspindie, the challenge of Dunbar would require a refocus. The Open Qualifying venue starts with back to bak Par-5's and a downhill Par-3 near the Clubhouse. After that, you move to the ocean side of the wall (another wall) and fire into a great Par-4...and on it goes with strong 3's, 4's and a lone 5 coming home. Out the par is 37 with 3, 5's and two, 3's. In, the par is 34 with no 5's, just strong 4's. Our host, Alec Ritchie, playing off 7, put on a show, out in 39 and back in 37. He realed John and I in on the last four holes where we went from 2 up to 1 down and it held. Mike and I both slipped back after our ... read more