Blogs from Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Verblüffend, aber wahr: In selbstmörderischer Manier gibt es hier Abfahrten, die über die beiden Gegenfahrbahnen abgehen, statt wie bei uns über Brücken oder Umfahrungen. Soviel vorweg. Wir beginnen mit einem sweet Chitchat (Ds Wörterbuch wollte da gerade Shitchat draus machen) mit unserer Gastgeberin und machen unseren Frühstücksverdaungspaziergang in Fort George, der größten erhaltenen Festung aus dem 18. Jahrhundert Europas. Militär und Meer - kann man machen. In Ardeiser steht an der Kirche: danger. Keep out. Na wenigstens wissen sies. Gut auch: eine Ampel vor Cawdor Castle für die "weak bridge", damit nicht zu viele Autos gleichzeitig drauf fahren... Shakespeare soll Cawdor Castle als Vorlage für McBeth gesehen haben - wir erkennen das nicht so ganz, aber gut. Die Gardens sind nett, wie immer, man spart sich aber das Castle selbst und das Labyrinth ebenso, allein schon ... read more

Usually returning from a long trip means a return to normality, unless you live a rather less than conventional life that is! Luckily for us we left conventional behind us a good few years ago. Jet lag more or less behind us we headed up to Scotland to visit Trish's sister, our visit coinciding with her parents which meant a few days in a hotel. Booking in advance we got a good deal at the Travelodge Broxden Junction and our timing meant we had a chance to call into Hexham on the way up to see Russ's cousin plus a couple of friends we knew from when we worked in Pamplona. When we got to Perth the weather was glorious. Trish had dog walking responsibilities one day so we went up to the top of a ... read more

The Perth Saturday Market... read more

Living in Scotland – Continued ... read more

Episode 4 – Perth (Scotland, not Australia ya silly wallaby) Monday the fifteenth of April. I step outside Castle Rock hostel in Edinburgh around 11.30 in the morning, have a much needed wake-the-fuck-up smoke, and give the lighter I borrowed back to the nice Italian boy who's been working and living in that hostel for god knows how long. This is probably my third hitch out of Edinburgh, and for the first time I'm going to do it without getting the bus out of town. It doesn't take me too long to walk to a half decent-looking spot on the road that leads to Fife - that which many refer to as the Penis of Scotland - and beyond to the A9, the great and magical artery into the highlands. I wait for a while and ... read more