Blogs from Aviemore, Inverness-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Ben Macdui, the UK's second highest peak. If you want to know what it's like at the top, STOP READING. It wasn't the fact that the temperature when I started was 4 degrees, it wasn't that the wind was howling and dropping the temperature even more, it wasn't that rain would sweep in and out at regular intervals, it wasn't that cloud obstructed my views for most of the walk, it wasn't that the track rose 900 m (with the expected drop in temperature of a degree for every 100m), it wasn't that the track was nothing but rocks for about 2 km, it wasn't even the difficulty discerning the path. BUT when it started snowing/sleeting the combination of all the factories saw me turn and retreat. The cloud and mist was so thick that I ... read more

I got up early again and went back to Urquhart Castle for the sunrise, this time hopefully without the mist. I was in luck and there was a stunning sunrise, but I'm not sure which will make the better photographs - although I'm open to views? Our plan today was to visit the Cairngorms National Park, just to the south of Inverness. This was surprisingly quick to get to given that it is on the main road between Inverness and Perth. We were not quite sure what to do so we went to the village of Aviemore and spoke to a really helpful guy in the tourist information office and he recommended some walks to do. His recommendations were spot on. First we drove to Loch Morlich and walked to a smaller loch which is just ... read more

After the wedding in the south of France we headed back to Paris for a final farewell. Went to Giverny by bus to visit Monet's garden. Unfortunately it was a holiday in France, and the garden had been heavily promoted within France, so the crowds were HUGE. Still it was lovely. Our final night in Paris was a flaming sucess, and we were given a warm farewell. Or at least Graeme was - the waiter spilled flaming Grand Marnier into his lap when flaming his crepe!!! No lasting damage, but I think the waiter may have PTSD as a result - to say nothing of Graeme. Eurostar to London. Our hotel in Russell Square was a pleasant surprise, with our room being quiet, clean and spacious. Hop on Hop off bus tour of all major sights, ... read more

We breien een tweede deel aan 'den toerist' en trekken vandaag richting CairnGorm mountains. We staan voor één keer extra vroeg op zodat we het voederen van de rendieren niet zouden missen omstreeks 10:00 uur. Na wat gesukkel met de juiste weg komen we ter plaatse aan en betalen een 10 pond (= 10 teveel) om 4 rendieren op een klein gazonnetje te bekijken en een huisje met informatie betreffende. Het voederen van de wilde dieren in de bergen gaat voorlopig nog niet door omdat men ze nog niet gevonden heeft. Deze trip heeft normaal gezien plaats om 11:00. Wanneer men ons komt vertellen dat de kudde gelokaliseerd is twijfelen we nog even , maat uiteindelijk besluiten we toch nog mee te gaan (mits opleg, uiteraard). Met de auto trekken we tot op een 500 meter ... read more

Hello All! Sorry for the delay but we have been quite busy and lazy with Christmas and food galore. Hope everyone had as wonderful a day as we had and I'll share the Christmas goodness in a future post but I need to catch you up on the trip to Aviemore that John and I took. A few facts... Aviemore is about a 2 1/2- 3 hour drive depending on how lost you get and is the in Scottish highlands in the mountains and lochs. It is undoubtably one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and looks and feels just like Winter Park Colorado if you forget the accents for a moment. The mountain is called Carigngorn Mountain. The drive up was magnificant as we got in the highlands just about sunset and I ... read more