Aberlady & Abba

Coastal walk North Berwick to Aberlady Bay - 19 April 08

On Saturday I went on a walk with the ‘Gruff’ group from North Berwick to Aberlady Bay nature reserve (apparently Britain’s first local nature reserve) – see http://www.aberlady.org/Nature%20reserve.html. I got the train there via Edinburgh with Malcolm the driving instructor from Alloa & met all of the Glasgow contingent at Waverley station - it took about 2 hours of travelling in all to get there.

The GRUFF walking group on beautiful North Berwick beach

The coastal walk is about 9 miles along the beach and through the dunes and passes the small towns of Dirlston and Gullane. We did a bit of bird spotting as we went - I saw a gannet sleeping on a rock on the shore (first real life one I’ve seen), a heron fishing (didn’t know they fished in salt water too) and lots of eider ducks in small flocks a few metres out to sea from the coast. There were beautiful, white beaches with soft sand – wanted to take my boots off and feel it under my toes. There was a strong, cold wind at first but as we got further north along the coast it was more sheltered and got pretty warm- I had to take off my jacket and fleece and even needed suntan lotion and sun specs! There were gorgeous dunes with silver grasses blowing in the wind. The coast reminded me a bit of Suffolk where we used to live – places like Minsmere nature reserve which is coastal.

Gorgeous beaches between North Berwick and Aberlady on the east coast

There was an annoying woman who turned up on the walk unannounced (as I later found out) who kept rushing on ahead and getting impatient when we stopped to admire the view or take pictures…! She then rushed everyone to catch an earlier bus so she could get home cos she ‘had things to do’. Me and another girl were trailing behind the others at the end of the walk having queued for the loos then saw the rest of the group far ahead running for the earlier bus- we ran as far as we could with sore legs, tired feet, heavy boots and a big ruck sack (my new boots were very comfy though). If I had been leading the walk I would have had words with her!

Rickety foot bridge at Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve - the end of the walk.

The bus took us through various small towns in the suburbs of Edinburgh which I’ve never been to before including Musselburgh and Portobello. An hour later we arrived in Edinburgh’s Rose Street where we stopped off in a pub for a nice cold pear cider - very refreshing - and then home on the train to Stirling. I got home by 8pm having left from Stirling at 8.45am to catch the train – a long day out! I didn’t feel much like going to Alloa to a party after such a long day out so just vegged out in front of TV.

Queuing for luxury public conveniences at Aberlady- better than the thorny bushes near the golf course!

The next walk is going to be 2 munros so I’m giving that one a miss since there will still be snow near the summit and I don’t fancy freezing my backside off eating lunch in the snow and hail like the last time! I have since had an email to inform me the group have kicked me off the invitee list cos I haven’t officially joined the Rambler’s yet – damn! Was hoping I’d get away with it for a bit longer! Suppose I’ll have to cough up!

Mama Mia! - 20 April 08

On Sunday I went to see the matinee of Mama Mia, the Abba musical, at the Armadillo (otherwise known as the Clyde Auditorium) in Glasgow with my mum, Kate & Sarah – dad’s treat. Needless to say Michael didn’t come! There were loads of Abba songs in it including our favourites – Dancing Queen, Gimme Gimme etc. The audience was mostly older women with the odd husband, boyfriend and some kids. There was a bloke sitting next to me who hummed through some of the songs! The basic story is that there’s a wedding in Greece where the young bride-to-be invites her 3 possible dads from the UK to attend – pretty tongue in cheek. The whole show including the songs was also translated into deaf sign language.

Mama mia! Glasgow - mum and Kate (Sarah was queuing for the loos)!

Kate was delighted when she realised there would be some muscley male torso on show – an unexpected bonus (can’t say I was disappointed about it either)! Was a good cheesy day out and we all stood up at the end clapping and singing along. Only criticism would be that there are never enough ladies loos – enormous queues!

Spring & Latin American Party

Gillies hill

Michael and I went another bike ride on my week off through the woods at Gillies Hill - a lovely woodland behind the village Cambusbarron where we first lived when we moved to Stirling. We ended up carrying our bikes up an almost sheer muddy hill trying to find a way up it in the woods. They used to quarry here and now they want to re-open the quarry which would mean that a large part of the woodland would be blasted into oblivion along wth all the wildlife including red squirrels and badgers. If you want to support the campaign to save it go to http://www.savegillieshill.org.uk/

Taking a rest on bike ride in Gillies Hill woods - it's a cycle helmet, not hat!

We spent a while carreening through the trees and then headed off down country lanes through farmland eventually coming out south of the city in the Whins of Milton. We then returned home on the roads since it was a downhill ride taking that route, although not as scenic.

Latin American party 11 April

Don't remember what we were laughing about but the food was great!

Roser hosted another party at her flat but this time the chefs were Jennifer and Jairo from Venezuela and Nicki who lived in Guatemala. Some of the guests provided a few extra dishes like nachos. I had a yummy vegetarian rice dish made with coconut milk and kidney beans- there was even some left so I took a bug tub home and ate it for lunch and dinner for the next 2 days!

The menu included:

arepas - fried corn bread
caraotas negras (black beans)
carne molida (mince meat)
pepian de pollo (chicken dumplings)
Caribbean rice and beans with coconut milk
guacamole chapin
platanos fritos (fried plantains)
quesillo (dessert similar to a flan)
mojitos & wine

Yummy Latin American flan - 'quesillo'

After stuffing ourselves I'm surprised that anyone was able to move let alone dance but dance they did - salsa and merengue. We also had an impromptu poetry recital in Spanish from Jairo of a famous Latin American poem which has hundreds of verses - thankfully he didn't recite them all, just the first one or two.

Merengue dancing Ailsa, Jenny, Sergi & Jairo

Salsa dancing Latin American style

Holidays & birthday bike ride

29 March 08

I took a week off work and have been on hols since Friday 28th March- yes! Amazing how tired you can get sitting at a desk! A good friend Rachel from Herts was up visiting old friends –she use to live in and around Stirling including in Dunblane & Bridge of Allan . We’ve known each other for around 12 years now since we used to share an office together at Glasgow uni when I was a PhD student and a Rachel a research assistant - we always had lots of hilarity particularly around 3pm for some reason!

So on Saturday night Rachel and I went out on the town starting with a lovely meal in ‘Mediterranéa’ a, not surprisingly, Mediterranean-influenced restaurant in Stirling. We each had a lovely sea bass – very reasonably priced and very decent house wine too – at last have found a restaurant worth going to in Stirling! Even though it was Saturday night and was pay day it wasn’t very busy - at 11pm we were the only customers and the last ones to leave (how I used to hate those people when I was a waitress!)

Rachel in Stirling restaurant Mediterranea - it's not her guitar.

We then tried to find a decent bar in town – we tried Pivo’s a Polish or Czech bar but we were wearing too many clothes and the music was too loud (a sign that we are now quite old and rather boring). We ended up in the rather more sedate older persons’ haven the City Walls which I don’t particularly like but it has lots of seats and the music’s fairly quiet! Pity I have yet to find a particularly nice local bar for a Saturday night out.

30 March 08 - Wallace Monument

Rachel stayed over with us as Michael, kind soul, offered to kip on the sofa so that Rachel could share the bed with me. The next day we took our time over breakfast then we strolled to the Wallace monument to look at the lovely views of the snowy mountain peaks. We then stopped at Corrieri’s café for a light lunch (delicious fresh pizza – 7 inches for £3.60! No rude jokes please!) and coffee before taking Rachel back to Alloa where she is staying with a friend who has a house bigger than ours! (Corrieri’s is a bit of a local institution – an Italian café with good food but can’t say I was impressed with the coffee last time I tried it).

Rachel admiring view from Wallace Monument

31 March 08 - Happy Birthday Michael!
Nature was kind on Michael’s birthday – it was a beautiful spring day, warm sun, gentle breeze. We got the bikes out for my first outing of the season and rode through the small village of Cambuskenneth (one pub, no shops and a ruined Abbey), through Bridge of Allan (old spa town) to Dunblane (quaint ‘village’) using the Darn Road path through the woods. The Darn Road is now a public footpath which runs along the Allan Water river through mature woodland – apparently it used to link up 10 mills along the river including paper mills, meal mills and sawmills. There were also copper mines and salmon fishing along this stretch of water. Kate will be delighted to hear that I was wearing my socks and sandals - perhaps not such a good idea bearing in mind how muddy and wet the forest path was…

We could see the bluebells everywhere (not yet in flower but will be gorgeous when in bloom in May) and smell the wild garlic leaves. We then met up with the tarmac-ed section of the road which is a steep hill down into Dunblane – I whizzed down the hill into the village so fast I scared myself and had to brake (not like that adrenalin junkie Michael who put his head down to go faster)! I realised why Michael advised me to keep my mouth tight shut on the downhill stretch cos all the wet mud that had accumulated in my tyre treads flew up and hit me in the face! I looked most fetching cycling around Dunblane with mud streaks all over my face, in my hair, on my fleece….

The ghost of Robert Louis Stevenson's cave, Darn Road - ha ha!

We cycled round the beautiful cathedral and down the main street of Dunblane past lots of wee independent shops and cafes. It still has real character unlike many towns and villages that have been overrun with chain stores (although there is an ugly Tesco in the centre now). Dunblane is tiny with a population of 10,000 but is actually classed as a city (who knows why?)!

The route back took a different path for the first mile or so and passes by a small cave called Stevenson’s Cave after Robert Louis Stevenson who used to holiday in Bridge of Allan. It’s said to have been where he was inspired to write 'Treasure Island', although it wasn’t very impressive or pretty, just wet and muddy!

Michael about to set off on the next leg of the ride - Darn Road between Bridge of Allan & Dunblane

In all it was about a 15 mile round trip, very muddy in my socks and sandals. We had lovely views, away from the traffic on country lanes, and met very few people being a Monday. I’ve got a sore bum now. It’s the first time I’ve been out on my bike this year. I am now ready to cycle to work – but only when the weather’s nice!