Happy snaps from Glasgow!
Tea bags?
Slave labour in Scotland..
Happy snaps from Loch Ness!
Nessie Hunting.... video proof!
Hey everyone!
So we are back in Oz now, and I'm catching up on the blog. I got a bit sick and then a bit distracted and well, didn't blog as much from the road as I thought I would ;-) So let's play catch up today! First up, here is some video proof that the Loch Ness Monster exists!!! I was lucky enough to spot her while on a boat going down the Loch Ness..... YAY!! ;)miss P
Isle of Man: a trip back in time!
Sent from my iPad
Glasgow!
Our time at Loch Ness was wonderful but we hit the road again after two nights in the lovely B&B Abbey Cottage. The next destination was Glasgow.
Driving the little merc was super. I'm very glad we had a good car for this drive in particular. It was one of the most beautiful routes... And one of the most scary! Some of the roads were so tiny they really are only wide enough for one car at a time, and you have to wait at the lights for your turn. Many of them you just had to move to the side really quickly so you didn't die!
Mum took many many photos, and kept saying "oh my god look at that" but I couldn't, because I was fretting looking at the road!
When we got into the valley of the mountains, the views were amazing. I couldn't believe how many people were hiking? Anytime we saw a hiker or cyclist one of us would end up saying "they are nnnuts!".... Some of my friends are into this healthy holiday thing, but I don't get it!!!! These people looked cold and worn out- I'd rather be warm for starters, and you know, relaxed!!!
But there were a few moments driving through the valley that I didn't feel so relaxed... One in particular was a tiny bridge we were on, where a camper van suddenly came out of no where, going in the opposite direction. It gave me such a fright, I really did think we might die. There was no where to turn or move, and I closed my eyes, breathed in (funny how that is an automatic reaction hey?) and just put my foot down.... We obviously survived... And yes Mum screamed! :-/
I think it was after that she said something about me being a reckless driver hahahhaa... So I offered for her to drive but she quickly changed her words to "oh no, you're doing a good job".... Bloody back seat drivers!!!!!
We had a pit stop in Sterling, a lovely town, and famous for being William Wallace's home.
In the end, we made it to Glasgow alive and well. The final few roads were beautiful and wide and much nicer to drive. We dropped the hire car off and made our way to the hotel.
The lovely Mikey had flown in from London for the weekend and we went off adventuring and left Mum to her own devices for the most part.
We went out to dinner to a great veggie restaurant called the 13th Note, and it felt and looked like the Zoo, circa 1995... It was really lovely!! I got to eat deep fried tofu (gluten free!) and this made me super happy!!!
Sunday was a lovely day, we had brekky with Mum, and went off to the Kelvin Grove museum, ate more amazing veggie food (this time at The 78), and spent the afternoon there enjoying the bar.... and Mum joined us for dinner later on.
We did the hop on hop off tourist bus the next day, and it was great! Glasgow was definitely my pick of Scotland. Mum's was Loch Ness.
It was pretty cold when we were there... crazy Scottish wind! Overall it was a great weekend in Glasgow, and we were all very sad for our time there to end.
Nessie hunting!!
Well we couldn't come all the way to Scotland without going to look for ol Nessie!
We hit the road from Edinburgh, it was a stunning drive! Rolling green hills on your left, your right, in front of you and also in the rearview mirror. This started Mum's new hobby of taking photos in the car. Click click click click click click....
We made a stop at Tesco on the way.. The "Free From" range is super! You name it they have a wheat/dairy free version of it!! We parked and got out of the car but I couldn't figure out how to turn off the TomTom and we were in the door and it was really loud saying "turn around when possible"... Haha...
We drove north west up to Fort Augustus, which is at the base of the Loch Ness. There were so many amazing old buildings, and lots of awesome farm animals hanging out together-sheep n' cows in perfect harmony!
Driving alongside the different lochs was really beautiful... The water looked amazing! It was all very much postcard perfect.
We stayed in a fantastic B&B called Abbey Cottage. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the nighbourhood! It was so pretty, clean and well let's just say it ruined me- no other B&B will ever live up this place! The boys who run it were really helpful, and we made the most of our time there.
We got there late at night (but of course it is daylight until 10.30pm so that doesn't mean so much?) and we had a good sleep, in preparation for Nessie hunting the next day!
Woke up, and first of all went for a cruise down the Loch Ness- so very pretty! The water looks black which was very surprising! The captain of the boat reminded me of an Irish version of my uncle Gary! Great story teller. He (the Captain, not Gary) is a believer, and said that they keep up the myth of Nessie to protect the truth, that the Loch is full of little sea horses (just like you could buy in Archie comics in the 80s woohoo!!).....
Did you know... That the Loch Ness contains more fresh water than than all the other lakes in England and Wales combined! And that it is estimated that the entire world population could fit in there- TIMES TEN! I didn't know these things... All very interesting!
We went for a drive up to Drumnadrochit and checked out the weakly touristy centers and museums... I loved the myths as much as the myth busting. However the only Nessie we saw was a bunch of stuffed look-a-likes in souvenir shops!
The drive was so lovely, Mum took thousands of photos... And made lots of comments about the narrow roads- little did we know that it was nothing at all compared to the next leg of our adventure!
For the sake of my nephew Jude who loves his dinosaurs.... Nessie is a probably a plesiosaur, and must have survived the ice age. The Loch Ness is so big it doesn't even freeze in winter!! More for the mystery!!!
All in all, so very glad we went there... Fabulous! Photos coming soon! :)
miss P
My Mum's mad photography skillz..
Over the years my Mum has been known to have pretty awesome photography skills. She is fantastic at chopping off heads, including her own fingers in the photo, adding the blurry filter, and often taking such great random photos of nothing at all..... Like her handbag or foot.
On this trip Mum has added more skills, including that of taking millions of photos out of the car window, which often includes part of the car, reflection from the glass and sometimes lucky ol me.
Here is one photo I thought you might like of some horses.
I love you Maz!
miss P





