Scotland the Bravest

Today Matt's story and photos of Matt and Karen appeared in Scotland's biggest selling Sunday newsapaper - the Sunday Mail. While we knew, of course, that there was going to be an article and maybe a photo we weren't expecting a double-page spread! Another article and photos was to appear today in the Sunday Observer but has been delayed for two weeks.

The text of today's article can be found online here.

I've been lazy the last two weeks not keeping this web blog up to date .....

A quick catch up ......

Tuesday 11th - Matt and Karen returned suntanned from their honeymoon in the Maldive Islands and Dubai. Of course they had a fantastic time - who wouldn't sunning themselves on their own private water villa built over a coral reef!! See here for more details of paradise!

Friday 14th - Karen, Matt, Kerry and I went for a drive along the western side of Loch Lomond. Although the weather wasn't the best, the scenery was once again spectacular. We met up with Karen's parents - Tom and Anne - at Luss.

Saturday 22nd - Kerry and I caught the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh and then a bus to the harbour where the Queen's old royal yacht - the Britannia is now kept. We did the tour of the yacht which was very interesting. I must admit for someone who isn't a royalist I have found the various tours linked with royalty extremely interesting ....
Much of the rest of the time has been spent chauffeuring Matt around so he can continue working. Unfortunately, while on his honeymoon, he injured his ankle and has continued to have trouble with it.

We have seen alot of Scottish supermarkets - and of course the country in between - particularly around Edinburgh and the east coast. A highlight was going to Perth, Dundee and St Andrews last Friday (where Matt drove).

Despite the fact that Matt doesn't like the way I drive I've managed so far not to hit anything or have anything hit me!! Although, I must admit the roundabouts here sometimes get me a little confused - three lanes, six outlets and traffic lights between each section ...... trying to remember which exit to take .....

Our last day in London. We decided to take the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour of the city. If you are only in London for a day or so this is probably the best way of seeing most of the attractions.

As well as three different tours in open-top double decker buses, there is a ferry ride on the Thames plus a couple of walking tours. We decided to take the ferry ride and a walking tour based upon the the novel, The DaVinci Code. The walking tour, with our excellent guide, was particularly interesting.

Later that afternoon we returned to our hotel to collect our bags and made our way back to Heathrow airport by underground railway. We arrived back at the flat in Glasgow at about 10.30pm.

Our first port of call today was Harrods department store in Knightsbridge. The store includes a memorial for Princess Di and Dodi.

When then visited a couple musuems in the area before doing a tour of the underground bunkers used by Winston Churchill and his cabinet during World War 2.
The remainder of the day was spent visiting yet another railway station, some more bus rides and a walk along busy Oxford Street.

For Kerry, a trip to London had to include a visit to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard.
This was followed by another railway station or two and then the Tower of London which holds, amongst other things, the Crown Jewels.

A trip to London had to include a visit to Hampstead Heath where I had lived when I was five - some thirty or so years ago .... The same No 24 bus still ran so we caught it and again sat upstairs at the front .... Although obviously alot had changed I still easily recognised where we use to live - above my grandfathers shop at 3 South End Road. The shop fronts had all changed and the residences above shop 3 and shop 5 had been converted into 5 flats. The old fountain across the road was still there as were many of the other buildings.

We walked up Pond Street, past the hospital to my old school. The big stone wall with embedded broken glass in the top was gone but the school was still there. We then walked back and along South End Road to the edge of Hampstead Heath. My continuing bout of flu stopped me going much further ....

Following our trip around Hampstead we returned to explore the city for the remainder of the day ......
This included Big Ben, a tour of Westminster Abbey (which is full of dead people!), Downing Street and a couple more railway stations.

This time it was Kerry and I who travelled to Glasgow airport for five days in London. Orginally, we hadn't planned to leave Scotland but with Matt and Karen away on their honeymoon it seemed like an ideal opportunity to go exploring ....

After arriving in our hotel in Kensington we dropped off our bags and went for a walk to nearby Kensington Gardens where we caught a No 10 bus for a trip across town. It soon felt like we were in a large Monopoly board as we passed Park Lane, Pall Mall, Oxford Street and ended up at Kings Cross Station where the bus terminated. We soon found another No 10 bus for the return journey. Sitting upstairs at the front of the red double-deck buses is certainly the way to travel around London!

It was Nick's turn to return to the waiting arms of Claire!

Nick left Friday morning to visit his friends in Nottingham while Kerry and I had a quiet weekend.

Time for Natasha to return to sunny Australia! As a parting gift she gave me a dose of the flu which was to last over a week!