Tuesday 12 October 2010

Scotland!!!!!

To quote the great Robert Burns;

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go.

Aahhh that really reminds me of my lovely late Grandma.

But is also appropriate since I've just got back from a fab few days in the Highlands. I flew into Inverness on Thursday then after a few hours I took the train across to Aberdeen through some amazing landscapes at sunset. Picked up by my lad, and we went for a big family dinner!! Mad, there was a whole houseful, and I met the rest of the family which was great!! We stayed at Pete's brother and sister-in-law's, very comfy and warm! On Friday I was taken on a tour of Aberdeenshire (sort of).. the weather was pretty dreich (overcast) and so we didn't see alot. I had to buy lunch after losing at Crazy Golf, we also visited the (highly cultural) Union Square shopping centre before heading to Westhill's Tesco, Post Office and Golf Course hehehehe!! Then we popped into see the bride-to-be and family, and later I was invited to the pre-wedding girly night, yay! We drank wine and had our nails done and looked at pics from when Alison was little!! Jenny and I then headed over the airport to pick up cousin Sarah at which point I was made aware just how many cousins there are!!! Arrrhh!!!!!

After a chilled cup of tea we hit the hay for the night in preparation for the big day on Saturday!!! Had a chilled breakfast and morning before getting all dressed up and heading to the fantastic Maryculter House Hotel. Alison and Gareth's wedding ceremony was really simple, with lovely readings and the weather cleared up so all the photos could be done outside! Met more cousins and Granny, and chatted to lots of people while Pete was busy ushing! Brilliant speeches, moving and funny - the perfect combination of emotion and hilarity! Dinner was great and the first dance was a total classic - the Wannadies' You and Me Song. Brilliant!!!! The reception was a massive ceilidh, lots of energetic dancing involved, it was great!!

On Sunday we headed to Westhill to see everyone post-wedding. Luckily everyone feeling a little the worse for wear, so we had a chilled catch up, looking at photos and meeting more cousins I hadn't met before!! hehehe. We headed over to Inverness around 2pm and had a wander around and a drink in the famous folk bar, Hootenanny's. We had dinner both nights at the hotel which was delicious and very convenient!! On Monday we did SO much.

We visited the site of the last ever hand-to-hand battle on British soil, in 1746 between the British Government and the Jacobite rebels under Bonnie Prince Charlie, at Culloden. There's a fantastic visitor centre that shows the timeline of events leading up to the battle (that lasted less than an hour but totally decimated the Jacobites - quite horrific), and then you get an audio guide to go out onto the battlefield. It's so marshy and heathery, it really hits you what conditions must have been like.

We then went on to Urqhart Castle after stopping at the Clansman Hotel en route, on the banks of Loch Ness for some lunch. This is a fantastic castle but it's a real shame that the government people that abandoned it also took the decision to set light to all the gunpowder, leaving the castle in ruins. It had so much history - there had been some sort of structure on the site for over 1,000 years. Really fabulous views over Loch Ness too. No luck spotting Nessie though :(

We then headed south to a little town called Fort Augustus which links the Caledonian Canal with the Loch. There are a series of around 7 locks going down through the town, which was quaint and pretty! We rounded the bottom of Loch Ness and went up through the countryside alongside another huge loch, through small towns and we stopped off at Foyers where there is an amazing waterfall! We walked down the precarious path dotted with quotes from Robert Burns, who was so inspired by the waterfall that he immediately wrote a poem on the spot!! Really impressive, so much power!

After getting back to the hotel we had another delicious meal, and had a couple of drinks before an early night. Today we packed up, had a walk around Inverness and then headed to Fort George. It's a military base built on a remote promontory shortly after the Battle of Culloden to ward off any further attacks by the Highlanders who were hugely repressed following the rebellion (they were banned from wearing tartans, playing highland instruments among other persecutions). Still, Fort George is an impressive, organised structure that is still used today as a military base!! We were again given audio guides with which to walk around the base, it was so interesting, with amazing views across the Moray Firth. On some days you can even see dolphins!

I had to be at the airport for about 2pm so we just had a drive around the countryside, through Nairn, towards Cawdor and then back to the airport :( My flight left on time and I got home to Bristol around 6.30pm. I'm not going to say anything about my feelings about tomorrow! So I'll post more on that later. Suffice to say I had a fantastic break and we had a great time exploring the beautiful Highlands. Looking forward to going back there for a holiday early next year! Yayy!!!!

xx

Saturday 2 October 2010

A catch-up

Ooops, it's been ages since I blogged.. Not sure anyone reads this blog anyway hehehe.

So it's been 2 weeks since I was in Scotland! I flew up to Edinburgh, and was delayed by two hours so didn't get to Glenrothes until after midnight. After some sleep, we got up early and Pete's parents dropped in to see us! Really good to meet them, although it was brief, then we had to go off to see the groom & his ushers and get ready for the wedding. It was so great to meet Pete's friends and really funny to see the guys getting all kitted out in their kilts - it took longer than for us girls!! We all then headed off to the Balbirnie Hotel - a beautiful country house hotel, drank some tea and then shortly moved onto gin!! I met Pete's sister and her fiance, along with other friends and family. The ceremony began around 2pm, and was a simple, humanist ceremony - really moving. I love a good wedding (even when I've only met the people involved that morning!!) They were lucky with the weather and had the photos done outside. Whilst they were having the rest of the photos taken, we supped champagne and ate yummy canapes (including haggis!) before moving inside for the cutting of the cake and a speech from Chris' dad.

Then it was into the dining area for speeches and dinner (very delicious!), and onto lots of dancing. I survived the ceilidh, too!!! Hahaha. Went to bed rather tipsy and had a ridiculously comfortable night's sleep before heading down to a delicious Scottish breakfast with lots of people from the wedding including Mr. and Mrs. Craig themselves. Pete and I then headed off to Edinburgh with Alison and Gareth and walked up the Royal Mile, had some lunch before going to the airport to fly back to Bristol. Luckily no delays this time!

Pete headed off on Monday, and in the evening, Adam and Nic came to stay the night before going off on their holidays. Busy busy!! Last weekend was a fairly quiet one, after a few drinks on Friday night, and spending the day hanging out with Jo on Saturday.

Work's been pretty busy, I'm flat out with organising social programme for 103 german students arriving next weekend, with the added pressure that I'm going to Aberdeen on Thursday for almost a week. So it all has to be ready to go. But I had a really positive appraisal on Wednesday which was great. Weighing up options at the moment and especially a bit of uncertainty as to where I'll be this time next year, but many doors are open at the moment which is good. Getting busier in general too as I have my French classes on a Monday, and joined a community choir on Thursdays with a couple of colleagues - really good fun!!! I am looking forward to November being a little less manic on all front though - even though I know it's only the 2nd October!!!

Last night we went out for work drinks, then I met up with a friend, and we ended going for dinner with a new colleague of mine, and some of her friends! It was really fun, lots of wine and good conversation. Felt a bit rough when my alarm went off at 7.30, but I had my last one-to-one French class at 9am. Then I went off to pick up my car, and met up with Mum and Dad! We went down to south Devon for the day, it was so nice, we were really lucky with the weather and had a good walk around in the sea air. We also went to Honiton before heading back. They were going to hang out with me in Bristol tomorrow but it looks like the weather is going to be dreadful (I think it's already started raining) so they're going to head home instead and I'm going to have lunch with my housemate :)

Like I say, I'm off to Aberdeen on Thursday for Alison's wedding on Saturday. Looking forward to meeting the rest of the Currie clan, and having a tour around the area! We're heading off to Inverness for a few days on Sunday, which'll be great. I have every intention on finding Nessie and really looking forward to some fresh Scottish air, good food and some time off work. It's been 4 of the busiest months ever since I had a day off. Ahhhhh.

After that, it's gonna be a busy busy few weeks, and Pete'll be back for one weekend at the end of October. Phew.

Things are ticking over fine for now, I'm applying for my PGCE, still debating whether to do secondary or middle years.. I'm not sure what's best. There are lots of possibilities in the offing so I'm going to apply anyway and then see what happens. Eee!!!