We’re meeting up with family in Scotland and we’ve decided once again to make a road trip out of it. We leave from home with the car, take the train through the chunnel and then make our way west and north, taking 18 days before we take the boat back to Belgium from Hull. We’re ridiculously lucky with the weather by English/Scottish standards. Focussing mainly on historical monuments, we visit anything from ancient to Roman to medieval and rennaissance monuments. All of it accompagnied by facts and figures from Wikipedia and interspersed with the occasional hike to loosen up.
Flora maybe a bit boring, but I found the huge grassy plain of Maiden Castle impressive. It looks huge and you only realize it's the inside of a fort when you're standing on the ramparts. something somewheresomething at Sudeley castletulips in a Bath parksomething in Brightonsomething along the pathtiny flower in Campbell castle Fauna the… Continue reading Highlights
Our last day! We're taking the ferry from Hull this evening and need to be there at five, so we get up at six. After a quick breakfast and an efficient exodus we drive south. I really still want to see the Firth of Forth bridge, a steel cantilever rail bridge of almost 130 years… Continue reading Homeward bound
The weather continues to be cold and sunny, we want to spend time outside and so a walk is planned for the morning. I use the same website to investigate some options and we decide on a loop from Comrie (see Wikiloc trail here). It's a nice drive by car, the last kilometers are through… Continue reading more Highlands
It's still sunny! The car windows are frosted and there is a bit of fog early in the morning, but the sky is blue and cloudless. Still pretty cold, with just a little wind, really enjoyable weather. So far we've been really lucky with the weather.. We drive to the Falkirk Wheel, a 21st century… Continue reading Modern engineering and an old castle
Only one destination today, it's a big one so we're up early! After calculating the different transport options we've decided to take the car to the Ingliston P+R and then the tram to the city centre. It's advised to buy entry tickets for Edinburgh Castle up front since each ticket is for a specific timeslot,… Continue reading Edinburgh
Today is supposed to be the finest day of the week meteorologically and we've planned to do a small hike. Yesterday evening I used the website https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/ to search for the best trail for our varied family group and used parameters like grade (meaning difficulty), ascent (meaning how many meters will you climb and descend)… Continue reading Highlands
Today we explore Stirling! We're a bit early, so we take it easy on the walk up to the castle. We walk around the old jail, get some information from the tourist office and then walk inside the castle just in time to follow one of the free guided tours. It's still pretty cold, maybe… Continue reading Stirling
We're meeting family around noon at Chester Roman Fort, so we have limited time for activities in the morning. It is Sunday so breakfast is only from 8, but we manage to be moving around 9. Everything is packed into the car, suitcase and general stuff bag invisible in the trunk, day stuff like hiking… Continue reading to Scotland
It's famous for its natural beauty and popular with hikers, so today we take some time for hiking. I had investigated some trails online and made a short list of options, the final decision is taken with the eggs and sausage at the breakfast table. We take our hiking stuff to the car and drive… Continue reading around the Lake District
The day starts with a visit to the hairdresser. Not a typical holiday activity, but I just had to get it short again, it was annoying the hell out of me. It is cold and the sky is overcast, but at least it's not raining. We almost get blown away by the wind on the… Continue reading from metropole to national park
Early breakfast this morning, it's sunny when we walk out of the hotel but cloudy when we arrive at Chester zoo. It's cold and it starts to rain soon as well, which means I can't take photographs anymore. Chester zoo is nice to visit to see the animals, but also interesting as they provide a… Continue reading at the zoo
Some frost on the car this morning, though it's sunny. We're sleeping in an inn, so we feel it's a good occasion for an English breakfast. Besides, we'll be doing a hike this mmorning so we can use the extra calories. At the car park near Broadway tower we put on our winter hiking gear… Continue reading AM nature – PM technology
It's raining this morning, but we're not deterred and set off for a sight seeing tour around the Cotswolds. First up: Lacock village, often used as background for TV series and movies. 4£ to use the mandatory car park and it turns out we can't visit the famous abbey, as filming is going on right… Continue reading bigger trees
No driving today! We're staying the whole day in the city of Bath. People who like reading regency romance novels or Jane Austen will have heard of it, as it was very popular in the Georgian era (18th century or so), however the main attraction here are the Roman Baths. After a late breakfast surrounded… Continue reading Bath
Today is Sunday and we have an ancient history day planned. We pack up to leave and arrive at Maiden Castle around ten. Contrary to its name, it is not a castle and is not related to virgins at all, it is one of the largest Iron Age hill forts in Europe. The enclosed area… Continue reading the pre-roman ages
This morning I make an effort and refuse to open my book until it's almost seven. We reserved a breakfast slot at eight fifteen, there is time to kill and I browse through the online documentation about the New Forest, trying to find the best walk to do this morning. In the end we follow… Continue reading lots of traffic
Alarm is at 7, I wake up early, see that it's after 6 so I figure I could start the day. After protests from the other side of the bed, it turns out it's only just after 5.. so an early breakfast today. That's fine, the sun is shining and we want to see some… Continue reading mostly Roman
Wwhat a stressful day. we wanted to leave home by noon, but got a text from the Eurotunnel warning of delays at the border, so we had to leave earlier and take a different route. the only thing that was actually finished on the morning of departure was the laundry.. so my clothes are clean… Continue reading cars on a train
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