Amsterdam weekend

We spent a weekend in one of the craziest cities in the world, at probably the craziest time of the year. There was a huge sailing festival, with thousands of boats around, and an extra 700 000 tourists in town. Add to this a refuse removal strike, and you have a recipe for disaster. The weekend was really fantastic. The group was Jacks, me, Shaun, Robyn, Steve (Badger). On Saturday we did a cycling tour through the city. The bikes were the really old guys, with wide handle bars. We had a good American tour guide (Sean), and learnt a huge amount. The city is amazingly user friendly to cyclists, and before long we were cruising around like locals, only occasionally ringing our bells to clear the road. During the tour we also hopped on a boat, and cruised on the canals for a while. By now we were pretty thirsty, and the bottomless supply of beer was a life saver. After the boat, we hopped back on the bikes, and rode through Vondelpark.

We had a crazy evening celebrating Shaun's birthday, and had a really interesting meal in a French restaurant, that was filled with locals.

The hotel we stayed in was called Hotel de Muncke, and was actually really well positioned, outside of the madness, but within walking distance. The proprieter was a 60 something Dutch Elvis fanatic, who took out his frustrations on his guests. A little bit like Faulty Towers, without Manuel, and with a little bit more agression.

We got out of Amsterdam on Sunday and checked out a few touristy spots. These included a clog maker, a windmill village, a cheese farm, and 2 fishing villages (Marken and Vollendam). Really good to see, but very touristy. On the whole it was a really good weekend. My lasting memory of it will be cycling through Vondel Park, with a beer in one hand, and my camera in the other.

Grand Tour of Scotland

On the 30th of July, Jacks and I headed off to Edinburgh. Actually a fairly pretty train ride, especially after Newcastle, and through Berwick-upon-Tweed, where the track gets close to the coastline. Before we knew it we were there. We spent the night just outside Edinburgh, and were picked up from the Castle Rock Hostel at 9 on Sunday morning for our 7 day tour. From the word go, our tour guide (Colin), started talking about Scottish history, famous people, and generally making us laugh. He continued to talk until the end of the tour, with only a few breaks to either have a breath, or a sip of beer. We heard the true story of William Wallace, and saw the monument in Stirling. We then headed off to Calander, where they were hosting the International Highland Games. Some of the biggest guys (and girls) I have ever seen. We then had a wee dram of whisky at Loch Lomond, which is the tradition before entering the highlands. Then stopped at a really weird church, and headed into Oban. Jackie and I bought some food and wine, and headed off up the coast to a really secluded beach, where we had dinner and drinks on the rocks, watching a picture perfect sunset.

The next morning we headed off to the Island of Seil, to a little village called Easedale, where we played put-put. It goes without saying who the champion was. We then saw some really ancient standing stones, burial mounds and rock carvings, most from around 5000 years ago - before the pyramids. We met a really weird Belgian chap at the hostel, who had been in an institution for 2 years. He has a problem with setting this alight, and it seemed that he wasn't over his problem.

We headed off the next morning to the beautiful Glen Coe, where we went for a walk through the mountains, and heard about the massacre of the MacDonalds, and why the Campbells have such a bad reputation. We drove through Fort William, saw Harry Potter's Hogwart Express, and Stalker castle (where scenes from Monty Python were filmed). We also saw one of the settings for Braveheart. Colin, our tour guide, then demonstarted the wearing of a traditional kilt cloth, on a beach (which has real sand) just outside of Mallaig. From Mallaig we took a ferry over to the Isle of Skye. From this point we were not allowed to whistle for fear of deafining the fairies.

The Isle of Skye was the highlight of our trip. It has vast mountains, rugged coastlines, and an abundance of rivers and waterfalls. We dunked our faces in some freezing river, hiked up to the prison on the Quirrang Mountains, and explored the sacred Fairy Glen. The night life was tops, with many different tour groups cramming into 2 pubs. There was also an abundance of beer varietals, with the highlight being the Kelpie, which is a beer made from Sea Weed.

After leaving Skye we headed off to Inverness, and past through Fort Augustus, which is on the south bank of Loch Ness. We walked through a forest with views over the water, and ended the day with a wee dip in Loch Ness. No monsters were spotted, but there were a few numbed travellers. Inverness was the setting for the Scottish dancing, in Blackfriars Pub. I had a main course of Haggis, which was surprisingly tasty.

On the way to Pitlochry we walked up Bruars Falls, saw the sight of the Battle of Culloden, and visited the smallest whisky distillery in Scoltand (Erduador). Pitlochry was our last night on tour, and by now everyone was good mates, so there was no holding back.

Making our way back to Edinburgh we past the most spectacular sight. It was the largest hedge in the world, 500yrds long and over 100 feet high, and had been growing since the 18th century. We spent 3 hours in St Andrews, most of which was spent sneaking around the golf course. SA also beat NZ in the rugby, so there was lots of gloating in the bus on the way back to Edinburgh.

We spent our last day visiting the Edinburgh Castle, and taking in the sights and sounds of the Edinburgh International Festival. We almost decided to stay, after Jackie was offered a tour guide job at the Castle, after a tour guide overheard her talking of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce!

We sadly left Scotland on the Sunday afternoon after an amazing week. I highly recommend Scotland as a destination, and Macbackpackers, as your tour company.