D&M Wedding Photos (a sneak preview)

Here's a taster of what's to come... David and Mel's wedding photographers just posted some highly anticipated pictures from the big day.

For your sneak preview go to Saxon Cole Photography.

Tales of Skye – Day 3

Much like our first day, our final day was a lot of driving to get back to Edinburgh before 6pm. We stopped at a few lookout points, one was Loch Garry, which is unique in terms of looking like a map of Scotland.


We continued our drive through the popular town of Fort William, near where the films like Harry Potter, Highlander, Braveheart and Rob Roy, were filmed.

We stopped for lunch at Glencoe, an amazing viewpoint of quiet, ominous mountains and freshwater streams.


We then moved quickly to visit Hamish the Hairy Coo, a breed of Highland cattle originating from Scotland. Hamish wasn’t in a particularly social mood that day...


Our next and final stop was the Wallace Monument. The site has stunning views overlooking the town of Stirling.


It celebrates William Wallace who fought for Scotland’s independence from the English with no less than a 71.5 inch sword! A sword this tall, meant Wallace could not have been anything less than six feet and six inches in height.


We got back to Edinburgh just in time for an early dinner with the gang at a local pub (for Aberdeen beef burgers) before a late train back to Newcastle.

Tales of Skye – Day 2

Our second day in Skye was another clear day. As Graeme put it, “the big man brought good weather.” We set off to explore Skye, whizzing past the picturesque, mountainous and lush landscape, with meandering rivers and lochs, dotted with houses and tiny villages along the way.


We stopped at a stream called Sligachan, between the Black and Red Cullien Mountains. Graeme told us a mythical story about how we could all get eternal beauty from sticking our faces into the stream for 7 seconds.


I think some of believed he was doing this for his own laughs, but after a convincing few minutes, we went in groups of 3 to stick our faces in the cold, fresh stream.


After this episode, we were left to our own devices in the quaint seaside town of Portree to re-fueld before our big climb up to the Old Man of Storr.


While it was a clear day, our climb to the Old Man of Storr was met with strong winds as we got further up the mountain.


Right at the top, the wind was so strong most of us chose to relinquished our opportunity to touch the Old Man, perched precariously on the mountain top.


After sitting down to take a breather, Graeme had more in store for us. Instead of going back down the same way we came, we trekked across the mountain in winds which almost blew us away.


We paused at the edge of a grassy hill and Graeme told us about the Scottish’s approach to battles, that included nothing less than ruthlessness and a lot of whiskey. We listened, grateful for the break until Graeme disappeared off the edge of the hill! We were all left stunned for a moment, wondering what we were to do next. It was pretty clear our only option was to follow Graeme’s ‘Highland Charge’ down the grassy hill.


At the bottom we were met with yet another hill, this time not as high, but so much steeper that some of us ended up sliding down the hill on our bums.


If you remember some of the characters from our first post about Scotland, you might remember Prada, who yes, charged and slid down those hills all the way in knee-high patent black boots!


One of our final stops for the day was Kilt Rock. A waterfall tipping off the tartan-patterned cliffs on the coastline.


By this stage, of the trip, we were all becoming hypnotised by Graeme’s story-telling ability. We listened to the fight over land and love between the McDonald’s and MacArthur’s clans, and the little site that commemorates their stories.


We had time to reflect on our adventures and the stories over the last two days at a peaceful place called Fairy Glen, scattered with pretty Rowan Trees.


Towards the end of our half hour there, the sprinkling of rain began and it was time to pile back in the bus and return to our last night in Kyelakin.

Tales of Skye – Day 1

One sunny morning the characters of Skye set off out of Edinburgh on a mid-sized tour bus. We did the big leg of travel to Skye this first morning only stopping at the little village of Pitlochry.


Here we grabbed some lunch before parking at Ruthven Barracks.


The Barracks, built in the 1700’s, stand a top a hill and from the back of the Barracks one can sit and enjoy views over the surrounding landscape.


Next stop was the Tomatin Malt Whiskey Distillery for some Whiskey tasting, which included a chocolate whiskey, but boy that stuff was strong!


We briefly stopped at Inverness, a city regarded as the 'Capital of the Highlands' on the River Ness.


Just a short drive away was the much anticipated, Loch Ness, a long stretch of water (the biggest loch in Scotland), renowned for sightings of the legendary Loch Ness monster, colloquially known as ‘Nessie.’


Graeme put us up to the challenge of taking a dip in Loch Ness with Nessie and as a reward, he’d purchased a full bottle of whiskey from the Distillery. Temperatures were not warm, despite it being summer, so while all of us stayed rugged up in our warm clothes by the loch, Wingman Steve and Brooke, took up Graeme’s challenge. Steve changed into swimming trunks while Brooke dived in fully clothed shrieking at the ice-cold water.


Back in the warmth of the bus, Graeme broke into the whiskey (sadly passing it to Wingman Steve and Brooke without a sip himself seeing as we were all in his capable hands for the rest of the day’s drive). Wingman Steve and Brooke passed the bottle around the bus and it was finished in a flash (when it reached The Columbian’s in the back row).

Our next stop was one of the most photographed castles in Scotland, the idyllic Eilean Donan Castle, perched on a small peninsula on the meeting point of three lochs in Scotland - Loch Long, Loch Alsh and Loch Duich. Built in the mid-13th century, if the castle could talk, it’d tell you about an aggressive history of construction and destruction from various battles and inhabitants that took place here.


The evening of the first day was approaching fast and just a short drive from Eilean Donan Castle would be our 3 nights resting place, the tiny town of Kyleakin, the gateway to the Isle of Skye. To get to Kyleakin and the Isle of Skye, vehicles must cross the Skye Bridge, opened in 1995 with an extraordinary toll of over £10 to cross it. The small population of the Skye protested by refusing to pay the tolls. The number of laws broken by motorists abusing the toll collection point sent the Sheriff’s office into such mayhem that by 2005, the toll was removed. Today, locals, visitors and tour groups can cross Skye Bridge for free, admire the beauty of the neighbouring misty mountains and be greeted by the friendly Scots of Skye.


After a long day of traveling and sight-seeing we were happy to arrive at our B&B, Balirdu House, set back from the loch but with sweeping views down to Kyleakin and a winding stream down to the Loch.


We joined the rest of the group for dinner at one of the two pubs in Kyleakin. The sun set over the water as we warmed up with food and drink inside.


As the night wore on, karaoke and the DJ kicked in. Shakira was responsible for having us all taking over the dance floor. You can probably see from the photos and Shakira- The Hips Don't Lie!

Tales and Characters of Skye (Scotland)

One Bank Holiday weekend in 2008, an international tour group, resembling the United Nations, gathered to tour the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Led by our illustrious leader and Highlander local, Graeme, it was to be a weekend of many, many laughs, stories, adventures and characters.

Welcome to the 'Tales and Characters of Skye'

Introducing…

Kilt-wearing and swearing tour guide – Graeme (Scotland). Not Gra-ham, or Gra-em, it’s Gra-eme. And yes I wear a kilt.


Team Aussie (Australia) – Go team! (While Team GB hammered us on the medal tally we laughed for 3 days straight).


Prada (Taiwan) – Who knew you could hike, climb mountains and slide down mountains in patent, knee-high boots??


Wingman Steve (USA) – He got spirit, yes he do... Jumping into Loch Ness in freezing cold and windy weather... God bless America. Look at the flag!


Brooke (Australia) – Our fellow Aussie, who gets a mention for also taking a dip in the freezing Loch Ness with Wingman Steve.


The Girls (Sheran, Singapore and Victoria, Canada) – Quirky and crazy, and jetting off to Ibiza this weekend. See you two back in London!


The Columbians (Columbia) – Late (and last) as always.


To be continued....

Apologies readers, we will be back soon to continue the Tales of Skye (I am in the process of moving to London, so this is all I can manage right now!)

Roman Holiday

Both of us had been to Rome before, many years ago, but I think we had forgotten what a great city Rome could be.

We arrived in the mid-afternoon via a regional Trenitalia train from Naples, and found our way to our hotel. The guy at reception claimed that one of the guests was “sick” and therefore we’d have to stay in another hotel about 5 doors up for the first night, and come back to the one we booked on the second night. We weren’t too pleased, but found the substitute hotel very nice (in fact nicer than the one we had actually booked!) with a large and spacious room and friendly service at the front desk.

After setting our things down and freshening up we took to the streets of Rome. It’s amazing how well the memory stores things because I remembered Rome just as it was. Only better, because it’s much more familiar and safer city now.

Our hotel was located close to everything we wanted to see in Rome. It was only a few minutes walk away from the Spanish Steps and down the road from the Trevi Fountain.


And around the corner from The Trevi Fountain, we found the Pantheon, still with towering columns and attracting hundreds and hundreds of tourists.


Photos don’t do the size of the Pantheon justice. In real life, it’s a monumental structure, imposing itself on the cafes and restaurants around the perimeter of the piazza. Geoff really enjoyed sitting at these restaurants enjoying its stately presence, so we had a late lunch at one before continuing our walk around Rome.

Many years ago when I was backpacking around Europe, Rome was our last stop and my friends, with a trusty Lonely Planet had found many wonderful discoveries in Rome, including Gelataria Della Palma on Via della Maddalena (click for map location).


It is the best place for gelato in Rome with loads of unique gelato flavours such as Nutella, Mars Bar, meringue, biscotto, guava, fragola (strawberry and banana) just to name a few (and a few that we sampled!).

We continued our walk to the Piazza Navona, with its lively centre of local artisans and buskers, all enjoyed by tourists and diners at the many restaurants.


Between the Piazza Navona and the nearby market place, the Campo di Fiori, is a quieter part of Rome with less tourists and a random scattering of independent stores, restaurants and hip bars. We stopped for a drink at café/bar Caffe della Pace, located on the ground floor of a rustic ochre building with ivy climbing the exterior walls.


A short walk from there, over the Fiume Tevere, the body of water that runs through one side of Rome separating it from the Vatican, was the Castel Sant Angelo, a castle surrounded by illuminated walls and just down the road from the Vatican’s main square.

We were pleasantly surprised by the fact we could enter the Vatican's almost empty cobbled square with its numerous columns arranged in a circular fashion around at the base of St Peters Basilica.


It was lovely to be there with no crowds. We’d definitely recommend a night visit to the Vatican for anyone.


Our second day in Rome was spent at viewing the ancient ruins of the Roman Forum, next door to the Colosseum.


On our previous trips we had toured both these sites so decided instead to spend some time in a cooler place, the Musei Capitolini. Musei Capitolini is in fact 3 museums showcasing historical artefacts from Rome such as sculptures, inscriptions, coins and furniture. The 3 museums surround the Piazza del Campidoglio and a bronze statue of Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius.


Of the 3 museums, we visited, Palazzo dei Conservatori, located on the west-side, containing the mythological story in bronze of the She-wolf who once nursed the young twins, Romulus and Remus the traditional founders of Rome.

A neat discovery was the contemporary café, Capitoline Café, on the terrace at the top of the museum, with sweeping views to the rooftops of Rome.


We had lunch here and enjoyed this immensely. In the middle of summer, a place like Italy is packed with tourists and it was very pleasant to escape this for a few hours.

After lunch, it was onto shopping, more gelato and wondering the streets of Rome again.

When night fell we found ourselves having another wonderful dining experience at Osteria del Pegno, a local secret, where you can find no tourist diners, high quality, home-made food such as the pasta, lemon sorbet and chocolate brownies, and great friendly service by the jolly Italian guy who owns the place. The food here was amazing, bountiful (check out our entrees below and what 'buffalo mozarella' means on an Italian menu!) and made with a lot of care.


A wonderful way to spend our last night in Rome and reflect on a great summer in Italy.


Till the next adventure....