Hallowe'en Party

A friend, Roser, from near Barcelona offered to host another party in her flat in Bridge of Allan 2-3 miles from Stirling. I spent ages carving a pumpkin to take with me- I'd wanted a turnip which is more traditional than the US pumpkin but couldn't find a big enough one anywhere- only to find that Roser had about 5 or 6 already!

Sonia in lovely stripy socks and Sergi (Danger Mouse)

Having just been on a trip home to spain, Roser had brought back lots of lovely food with her including some traditional Catalan cakes, vatious cured meats (which I didn't eat of course) and delicious Manchego cheese which I love!

Roser (devil), Tom (Austin Powers), Sonia (witch) in kitchen

There must've been about 25 people there at its busiest and almost everyone came in costume- those that didn't were taken to the bedroom for a make-over involving lots of face paint! We started in a very civilised manner which eventually deteriorated into party games both inside and outside in the communal back garden around 3am - a sort of egg and spoon race. I can imagine the neighbours weren't too impressed with us clomping up and down the stairwell and shrieking out in the garden.

Axe man and Super Mario

Disco dancing - yes it's me!

Loo roll mummies - seasonal party game!

Aviemore Again

Guislich Farm, Aviemore, 7-9 October 2008

We arrived at the cottage in heavy rain after a 2.5 hour drive. As we had climbed up a steep section of the A9 in torrential rain we were amazed to see a man on a bike cycling ahead of us- not just any bike but a PENNY FARTHING! The next day we spotted his bike outside a café in Aviemore so he made it despite the crappy weather. I Googled him and I think this is him, doing a charity ride from Lands End to John O'Groats for Macmillan Cancer Support: http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2008/09/22/binley-man-starts-mammoth-ride-on-penny-farthing-92746-21871075/
I hadn’t realised that those bikes have no brakes!

The last time I was here was in June when the weather was glorious. As we bumped up the wet, muddy, pot-holed track, we heard the underside of the car scraping on the road and we startled a buzzard. We ended up parking a few hundred yards from the cottage since the tyres were skidding in the mud. All Michael’s hard work washing the car was wasted! The rain stopped for long enough for us to get all our food, bags and bedding out of the car and to bring in some firewood from the shed.

The cottage on Guislich Farm, Rothiemurchus estate peeking out from behind the trees

In the summer, the cottage’s water tank remains full and there’s no need to drain the system as you need to do in winter in case of frost/ ice bursting the pipes. I was annoyed we’d just missed the summer season by a week as we needed to work out how to turn the water on, and fill the tank which took us 30 minutes of following convoluted instructions and references to non-existent red taps! Draining it when we left took even longer!

Our first day was spent settling in, lighting the stove, preparing chilli for dinner and a wee trip into nearby Aviemore when luckily the rain had stopped and we could wander round. The horrible metallic scraping under the car was worse on the way back down the track so we had a detour via the mechanic’s where he found a redundant bent piece of metal and removed it – we were relieved it wasn’t something serious.

The muddy bumpy pot-holed road up to the cottage

The living/ dining room warmed up so much we were too warm, contrary to my worries we’d be cold and I didn’t sleep well cos I was so hot! We woke on Wednesday to glorious sunshine and to noisy pheasants in the garden – they sound a bit like turkeys.

We decided to make the most of the good weather and go up the mountain to the top of Cairn Gorm which I had done in June. The Cairngorms have a unique environment, which is described as ‘alpine semi-tundra moorland’, meaning there are many rare plants, birds and animals. The highest, coldest and snowiest plateaux in the British Isles are here along with five of the six highest mountains in Scotland including Cairn Gorm (the blue cairn).The area also has a primeval forest, one of the last in Britain, called the Caledonian Forest.

The wind near the top was really strong and bitterly cold. On the way up Michael spotted a pair of ptarmigan on the rocks right next to us (have a look here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/p/ptarmigan/index.asp) – I hadn’t seen them so he spoke to tell me at which point they took fright and flew off, too quick for me to take a photo but I got a good view. They were in their ‘in between’ plumage which is part white and part brown so they blend in with the rocks and pockets of snow- very clever.

Michael on the way up to the summit of Cairn Gorm shortly before we saw 2 ptarmigan

The alpine landscape at the summit
Michael pointing to the ridge we had just climbed

We took a leisurely 4 hours to do the walk and took the easy route down via path which has been built right to the summit- the have really changed the mountain with the funicular and mountain top restaurant which were controversial with locals.

We popped into the village afterwards for a coffee at a place recommended by a walker we’d met on the way down Cairn Gorm- the Mountain Café – I know they use organic produce but, frankly, £5.50 for a bowl of porridge and £5 for a cafetiere of coffee is taking the mic!

In the Caledonian pine forest

On Thursday rain was forecast but luckily it was dry for most of the day but windy enough to close down the funicular. We’d planned a low-level walk on some forest tracks starting at the Rothiemurchus Visitor Centre and ended up walking for 10 miles through lovely ancient pine and birch forest. The trees were beautiful, the pines have almost blue needles with a very red bark, and the birches looked a lot like Australian eucalyptus trees. Where the trees thinned out there were loads of spiny juniper bushes covered in ripe berries so we had to taste them and were amazed they taste just like gin – you could make your own if you lived locally!

Juniper berries- there were bushes everywhere in the forest. They do taste just like gin!

We also popped over to Loch Garten, which apparently is the best place in the UK to view ospreys, but we had just missed them as they’d migrated the week before – though I am still convinced I saw one over a smaller loch on our way there.

It was lovely to escape from TVs, computers and Gameboys etc for a few days and we spent our evenings cooking, eating chatting and playing games of cards, yahtzee and Tantrix (a new game a bit like a more complicated version of dominoes courtesy of my friend Cat).

Paris s'eveille (Paris awakens)

Two nights in Paris - September 08

I wasn't even intending to go to Paris. I was online looking at flights to London and Norwich thinking about what to do with my 2 weeks off work when I saw that Ryanair had reduced flights to Paris. Purely out of curiosity I had a look and found I could get from Glasgow to Paris for under £40. Now, I don’t really agree with such cheap flights – it just creates more air traffic and environmental problems. But, I did really want a holiday…

So I booked the flight, tracked down a cheap Paris hotel with single rooms from the Lonely Planet or similar and informed Michael I’d be going away for a couple of nights! I then realised that the exchange rate at the moment is rotten and that everything was going to be much pricier than the last time I went which was a good few years ago.

It was a whirlwind visit with me arriving Monday evening and leaving Wednesday morning but I really loved being back in France, hearing French speakers, smelling the French bakeries and seeing the wonderful architecture. The weather was gorgeous weather – 20C and over and sunny.

My wee room in 'Le Marais' district

View from my hotel room

I don’t mind travelling by myself as I’ve done a fair bit of it over the years, either for work or when visiting friends who were working while I was there. But, it’s been a while and I did feel slightly nervous as I boarded the bus from Beauvais (which if you’ve ever been is no where near Paris – it’s in the Picardy region!) to Paris.

By the time I found my hotel I was feeling good and was looking forward to finding a restaurant to eat in. The staff at the hotel were helpful but the man who gave me my key when I arrived made my skin crawl! The sort who tries to touch your hand as he gives you your key and who assumes you don’t understand what he’s saying in French. He was about 5 feet 1 and kind of leered at you over the desk. Luckily he was only on duty once more during my stay – and yes, he touched my hand again- ick (I am doing my Rick Mayle impression 'w**ker face' as I write this)!

The lovely Place Des Vosges round the corner from my hotel

Traditional Art Nouveau Metro signs

I found a small local brasserie in the Bastille area near my hotel and sat out on the terrace under a gas heater (I was so warm I could’ve done without the heater). I was surprised to see that the Parisians were actually abiding by the new no smoking laws and not smoking inside cafes and restaurants – most unlike them! I ended up chatting in French to a couple of men sitting at the next table, one who owned a small local art gallery and the other an elderly jazz musician from the UK whose parents were from LA and Jamaica. Of course, I didn’t tell them I was in Paris alone but said my husband was ill so had stayed at the hotel- you never know who’s listening!

The next day I did a lot of walking around the twisty back streets of the ‘Marais’ district which has become quite expensive and touristy in places and eventually found the comedy club that I wanted to go to that night – Le Point Virgule. Marias means swamps or marsh, which the area used to be long ago. It was, and to an extent still is, the Jewish district but is also a popular area with gay men (not that you notice until the evening).

Les Jardins des Tuileries (gardens by The Louvre) - cheeky statues.

The old and the new- St Eustache church in the background with Les Halles shopping centre in foreground

I went to the FNAC- a bit like Virgin megastore – to buy my ticket for the show which wasn’t cheap at 20 euros – having decided to go and see the French comedian rather than the British one who was going to do his show in ‘franglais’. In the UK you tend to buy a ticket for the whole evening in which you might see 2 to 3 comedians but at this club you paid per show meaning it was expensive to see one comedian for 1 hour. There was someone on straight afterwards but to see that show you’d need to buy another 20 euro ticket!

For lunch I had decided to go to a Breton crêperie – a pancake place! Crêpes are a traditional dish of Brittany and they do ‘galettes’ which are savoury pancakes and ‘crêpes’ which are the sweet ones –these are to be eaten along with traditional French cider, very similar to Somerset cider. The crêperie was really small and friendly and I felt quite happy and glowing after my lunchtime cider!

One of few Parisian comedy clubs- the tiny Point Virgule (semi colon)

I walked for miles before and after lunch all the way down to the Centre Pompidou, the Louvre and its gardens before heading back to the hotel for a quick shower and change before dinner.

I was disappointed with my choice of restaurant for that evening but I had wanted to find a place close to the comedy club as the show started at 9pm. I had chosen a place in the tourist guide which was supposed to have fantastic falafel and to offer quick service- well, yes, the food was good and the service fast but the atmosphere was lacking and some of the waiters were somewhat self-obsessed (one of them was posing directly in front of my table which was putting me off my food). It also wasn’t what I would describe as ‘cheap’, unlike the guide book.

I queued up with all the French locals outside the comedy club waiting to go in. When we went in I realised how tiny the place was with wooden benches to sit on- not even enough room for my legs and they’re really not that long! The place was more or less full with maybe 50 or so people. Throughout the show we could sometimes hear passers-by talking outside the club. The comedian, a guy from Brittany called Arnaud Cosson, did sketches and characters, which is a more French approach, rather than the UK traditional type of stand up. As it was all in French I did miss some of punch lines but I followed most of it and I tended to find some jokes funny that the French didn’t really find that amusing such as one about French films vs US films (in the latter everybody dies, in the former nothing happens!).

The comedy show I went to - and starred in!

The highlight/ most awful part of the evening was when Arnaud needed a female audience member to participate in a sketch…..(you know what’s coming, don’t you?) As I was sitting alone at the end of a bench I was easy game! So I 'won' the chance to go onto the stage to participate in a sketch – I did consider telling him that I wasn’t a native French speaker in case I couldn’t follow him, but in the end I didn’t need to. I had to answer questions in a pretend quiz about my ideal man. We then had to act out a ‘date’ where we pretended to run through a field, dancing, were on beach, on a motorbike etc. while he did various visual gags.

When the show ended, we clapped for an encore but because they have such a tight turnaround and the next act was due on stage, he couldn’t do one and we had to leave so the next lot could come in! All-in-all an interesting and fun cultural experience!

The next day I had to leave for my flight in the morning so had time to buy a delicious freshly baked pain-au-chocolat (sweet pastry with chocolate in the centre) and to go and sit in a café for a while watching the world go by. At 4 euros for a coffee I might have been better to find somewhere more off the beaten track but as I had my suitcase and the café I chose was just next to the metro station I swallowed hard and paid up. I wasn’t disappointed with my people watching as there were a couple of amusing women in the café who were still partying from the night before, who were very, very drunk and were just having their dinner and red wine at 9am! Don’t you just love Paris!

Stormy Brighton

A short trip to Brighton, 4-6 September 08

I'd been accepted to talk at a conference in Brighton and was hoping to get some sunshine- what I actually got was soaked to my skin at least twice (so nice to sit in a conference with wet feet, legs, etc etc) and almost blown off my feet by the gale force winds!

Stormy sea & sky by Brighton Pier- this is summer!

The venue was out of town at Falmer, a short train ride from the centre of Brighton on the University of Sussex campus. I knew my timings were tight to get from Stirling to the conference in time to do my talk that day so if the plane from Glasgow was delayed I’d be in trouble… Luckily everything ran smoothly so I got to the registration desk at the conference centre with about 20 minutes to spare before the first talk. Little did I know I had been allocated accommodation at the far end of the campus – not, like most people, directly opposite the conference centre! It was of course at this moment that torrential rain poured from the sky as I dragged my suitcase all the way there and then had to rush back to catch the first talk. My first soaking of the day. The theme was set for more rain, strong winds and getting wet in order to check out.

The Royal Pavilion, Brighton

The day ran on until after 6pm, which I hadn’t been expecting, and actually I wished I hadn’t gone to the very boring keynote lecture since it was just founder members reminiscing about the start of the Medical Sociology Association 40 years before, telling anecdotes about people that were amusing mostly to those who knew who the hell they were talking about!

Anyway, things improved with dinner out in Brighton with some of the other conference folk at Carluccio’s an Italian restaurant and deli (there was one in Ealing Mic and I used to go to now and again for coffee) – the food was good, the people interesting but it was very noisy with bare walls echoing every sound.

One of the wee back streets of multi-coloured terraced houses in the North Laine area

The next day (Friday) there were more talks then I had arranged to meet an old friend Tom from RF, the charity where I worked in London, who lives in Brighton with his family. We went for dinner at a nice Indian restaurant called ‘Indian Summer’ near the seafront and I stayed over at their house that night.

There were more presentations on the Saturday but having looked at the topics, and also knowing there’d be another keynote in a similar vein to the first one, I opted instead for sight-seeing and shopping!

The Lanes area of Brighton- see the bath tub sign hanging outside the pub!

I had only ever been to Brighton briefly for work- there and back for a meeting with no time to look around – so I wanted to see a bit of the place. I found it a bit self-consciously cool and trendy as if people were trying too hard. It was an interesting people watching experience; people tend to dress in bright colours, with varied textures and layers – none of the black and white and denim of Stirling! There is definitely an under-current of ‘arty’ types (or wannabe arty anyway!), environmentally-aware folk and lots of students. I enjoyed wandering around the back lanes of The Lanes and North Laine window shopping and had lunch in a health food-type café sitting outside since a miracle happened and on Saturday it didn’t rain!

Graffiti art of James Brown on the backs of shops, North Laine

I flew home on Saturday evening so that I’d be back for our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday so we could spend the day together. We wanted to go for lunch in a Mediterranean restaurant on Sunday but it was shut and all the other restaurants we looked at were empty! It was dead in town but it could be because Monday was a bank holiday and everyone was away for the weekend. We ended up having a coffee and cake in a café we haven’t tried before called Crema Central. I don’t think we’ll hurry back - it was weak coffee and I didn't like the feel of the place.

Out & About - Edinburgh Festival

August 08 - here, there and everywhere

With Edinburgh Festival madness upon us again, Michael's older sister Vanessa was up working at the Festival, both talent spotting for writers and producing a TV comedy pilot. Unfortunately, her free days coincided with days when I had long-standing social arrangements (a friend's BBQ and a dinner party) so we ended up meeting up with her in between shows on a Friday - I took a day's leave - and on a Saturday daytime. I even had to turn down the offer of attending the Perrier Award Winners' party to go to my dinner party back in Stirling, although Michael turned it down cos he hates big parties!

Having a drink in Edinburgh - Michael & his sister Vanessa

We (ok, I) struggled to get up early on the last Saturday of the Festival to get to Edinburgh for 10.30am to watch the comedy that Vanessa was producing - 'The Emergency Family'. There were various actors who had volunteered to take on the parts and who had only rehearsed together a few times before performing the 2 pilot episodes of the comedy series. I was surprised that they used their scripts but it worked and was pretty funny in places (Vanessa didn't write it). There were a few faces I recognised including a very old-looking Michael Barrymore.

Edinburgh was heaving with people and we just wanted to get away from Princes Street to somewhere a bit saner and quieter.

Dinner party - ladies' night. Left to right: Nicki, Wendy, Jenny, Georgia, Gemma

I cycled to my ladies' dinner party in nearby Bridge of Allan prefering that option to the bus or a taxi. I knew I would be having a few drinks but felt that I'd either cycle home or as a last resort get a taxi. When it finally came time to leave in the early hours, it was peeing with rain and I was a bit the worse for wear. Anyway, Nicki and I decided to cycle home together, on the (empty) footpaths, with no bike lights and got very, very wet. At the half way point I started to feel very tired and questionned the wisdom of my decision. I got home soaking wet and muddy.

The party was good- we had a dinner provided by 3 different people- I did the starter (avocado, papaya & pine nuts in lime juice and ginger) which looked like a wreck but tasted good (presentation- nul point) - Jenny & Georgia our hosts provided fish pie for mains and then we had a rather tasty summer fruit pudding for dessert. Oh yes, and lots of wine. We then played stupid games including pass the parcel, a board game called Articulate (my team won but only cos there were no questions on sport or science) and a card game reminiscent of musical chairs - all of which resulted in a great deal of hilarity.

Sunday was spent 'relaxing' while the rest of the girls went on a hill walk- they must be mad!

Me on Ben Ledi - lovely light and purple heather on the hills

As I had taken Monday off, Mic & I went on a gentle hill walk up Ben Ledi and only got rained on a bit- the rest of the time we had sun. The streams and river were really flowing fast and our normal crossing point over the stream was deeper than usual meaning we spent ten minutes trying to figure out how to cross without falling in, testing rocks and depth etc. In the end I walked straight through it while Michael opted to return the way we'd come and met me further along the path (I think he just didn't want to spoil his new suede hillwalking boots although he claimed he didn't want wet feet!)

Trains, Planes & Delays

Over the past month I have been up and down to Oxford and London 3 times for work. I prefer to get the train when I can for my green conscience. On one trip I did resort to the plane for fear of Sunday engineering works on the railways but it would have taken the same time to get the train - since the plane was delayed 2 hours - and would've been less hassle!

I get really peed off with the cost of trains mind you. It cost £48 for a single flight from Edinburgh to Birmingham- but a return train ticket from Oxford to London was £50 - it's ridiculous! The trains are too expensive and the planes are too cheap. Why would people spend £100s on a train when they could get to the same destination faster for less by air?

I had 2 days in London and walked my feet off going round the shops on Oxford street before I had to run a focus group in the evening. My boss Sally flew down to run the group with me - (having twice forgotten her purse, borrowing 40 quid off a taxi driver and finally making it from Edinburgh) then afterwards, before getting our train, we went to a nice wee Indian restaurant near Euston which has been there since the 80s. But, as we ate a fight broke out in the restaurant- not between diners or a diner and staff but between 2 staff!

I took the sleeper train for the first time that night- misnomer extraordinaire - sleep is the last thing you do! It was like a small garden shed with a bed and sink and a window. I wasn't sure what to expect. In first class you get a cabin to yourself rather than sharing the same cabin with a stranger. You put in your breakfast order as you board the train where a nice lady asks you what you want and at what time. In your cabin you get a complimentary toiletry bag and a clean towel - I got a new eye mask in my bag, a mini deodorant, toothbrush, face cream etc. I had just bought some travel toiletries and needn’t have bothered! No ear plugs but I had my own anyway - even so the sound of metal grinding on metal is not conducive to sleep.

Some strange/ worrying things I encountered on my various trips included a young woman under the influence of I'm not sure what lighting up in the seats next to me on the train then passing out, ciggie still in hand burning the plastic interior of the carriage...(she did eventually get removed, shoes on the wrong feet, by traffic cops). At Edinburgh airport I was bemused to see 'organs for transplant' being checked in at the usual check-in desks in what looked like a small plastic pet carrier and a large young woman at check-in bending over in a short dress to sort her bag only to reveal enormous white knickers (think Bridget Jones tummy control pants) and sheer purple tights with enormous holes in them around the crotch...ooh nice! I didn't have the heart to tell her what she'd just shared with the entire check-in queue!

Sun, rain & scary mountains

Aberfoyle July 08
The summer hasn't been good anywhere in the UK this year but now and again we get a lovely sunny day so we make the most of it. Mind you, even if it rains we go out walking! When we want a nice gentle walk Michael and I often go to Aberfoyle and just do one of the marked trails through the forest park- we rarely meet anyone on them, most people stick to the car park and lodge area and the adventure park 'Go Ape' thing with death slides and things.

A hot sunny day near Aberfoyle

Scary mountain - Ben Lawers, 2nd Aug 08
Our friend from near Barcelona, Toni, who's a really keen mountaineer and climber, often suggests a weekend walk and he has the maps and leads the walk for us. This time we went up to Ben Lawers national park near Killin with 2 new friends - Alexandra from France and Rosalia another Catalan so there were 5 of us including me and Nicki.

Toni drove and as usual the drive up was wonderfully scenic - we even saw a golden eagle near Ben Ledi balancing on a telegraph wire - another first for me! We came scarily close to the many enormous tour coaches on the narrow, twisty Scottish roads, it being full tourist season. Killin was the busiest I’ve seen it with many tourists admiring the white waters of the 'Falls of Dochart' and the village main street.

Another day, another mountain. Looking pretty wet as we near the summit and peaks of Ben Lawers - Nicki, Toni, Alexandra (in Michael's old jacket) & me

The girls Alex and Rosalia, who are only here working at the uni for the summer, had only brought fashion jackets and jumpers to walk in but with heavy rain forecast I offered to lend them a couple of coats (they certainly needed them)– when they suggested just using an umbrella I realised perhaps they weren’t expecting a mountain walk but a ramble!

We started around 12 noon from the car park at Ben Lawers- there was heavy rain and it rained for the entire ascent, more or less, then typically there was gorgeous sunshine for much of the descent! I was cautious not to go too fast as I had a sore hip- I thought perhaps I had jarred it on a previous hill walk but now remember pulling a muscle when messing about in the swimming pool with my nephews in York (a visit to the doctor since then confirmed it's probably just a strain, but possibly a hernia which will reveal itself through a swelling and severe pain in a few weeks... ouch!). So I was taking it slowly to avoid aggravating the pain and Alex also went at a slow pace to enjoy the views.

I did find the first 30 minutes of the walk the hardest, as is often the case, and think that eating a big banana just before starting the walk certainly didn't help! Toni is a pretty fast walker - although he describes his pace as moderate - so when I can keep up I am pleased with myself! This time I definitely wasn't keeping up!

The ridge- wet, misty & very steep - urgh!

The ridge, which runs along a number of adjacent munro peaks, was in thick mist and was narrow, as you'll see in the photos - not something I'd fancy trying in the snow. As we started the descent we came across a very steep, rocky and muddy section. As I was trying to work out which route down was the safest I froze as I heard a women screaming for a full 30 seconds. I looked down the very steep moutain side in horror fully expecting to see a woman tumbling down the slope, then lying limp and broken. Toni, Nicki and Rosali were ahead of Alex and I and Toni could see what had happened- he called back to reassure us the person was ok but it gave me a fright and the danger of the rocky section became very real.

At last, the sun comes out on the descent - Rosalia (in one of my jackets!) admiring the view. The man who fell down the rocks is walking in the distance.

Alex and I decided we'd rather go back the way we had come but Toni assured us that this was the only steep and rocky section from now on- I couldn't see a way down and had visions of slipping. After a long time glued to one spot, Toni helped me to manouevre my way down safely, mostly shuffling on my bum, but I was worried about falling and taking him with me. The rocks were wet, the muddy sections were sodden and loose and my boots' soles do not bend to grip to rocks. The girl behind me was only wearing trainers so I was worried about her too.

As we came round the bend we saw a man sitting with his head in his hands and a woman standing near him - it was the man who had slipped and fallen and his friend who had screamed having seen him fall and 'land on his head' as she described it (the person who falls rarely has time to scream). He wasn't bleeding or unconscious and luckily was able to walk so we accompanied them the long walk back to the car park where his female friend took him off to the hopsital for a check over. You do get a bit blase when you do a lot of walking but it brought back to me how things can go easily wrong- I didn't have a first aid kit or a survival bag with me and mobiles do not work up these hills. We felt very relieved that the acccident hadn't been worse.

When we got back to the car the rain had gone and it was beautifully sunny - we could now see the peaks we'd climbed. Purple heather in the foreground.

When we got back to the car, the sun was glorious and the views amazing so we ate our packed lunches, took some photos and enjoyed the views. It certainly didn't look dangerous now. Luckily I had a change of clothes as my backside was very wet and muddy. We headed off to one of the hotel pub's in Killin afterwards for tea/ beer and finally got home by around 7pm.