Sleeping rough on Skye

On Monday morning we hired a car to go for a drive for a few days. First stop on the itinerary was to check out the house my Dad and his family lived in when Dad was young. Here it is:

After this was done, and we had driven around for an hour trying to find the right road, we set out to the north west of Glasgow. Drove past the pretty Loch Lomond. Amy was in need of a milk shake, but we couldn't find one, so we settled on some tablet instead. Monday night we stayed in Fort William or Fort Billy, as the locals like to call it (apparently). Tuesday morning, victory was achieved, when we came across butteries, which are a round scottish pastry they didn't seem to have heard of in Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Tuesday we drove on to the Isle of Skye, possibly the end of the world, judging by the rugged scenery. We had a good drive around one part of the island, scoping out the lie of the land, before settling on a place for the night... the car. Amy convinced me it was a good idea, and in the end it worked out ok. Pretty comfy really (at least slightly better than being on a plane), apart from that all night I could not stop freaking out, thinking that it was snowing and that we were going to be snowed in, which would mean I wouldn't make it to my cousin Gail's wedding! In the end it turned out it was just raining. Phew!

Yesterday morning we went for a nice stroll up the old man of storr, a nice rocky outcrop on Skye. The old man is the big rock at the top of this photo - 11 double decker buses high. Great views from the top too.

Then last night, our last night in Scotland, we stayed in Crianlarich - in a comfy hotel bed, mad all the sweeter by the fact they did us a good deal. Now we need to drive back to Glasgow to catch a train to London. I hope we make it in time!

Comedy makes a comeback

So we gave the Glasgow comedy festival another try last night, and it was miles better. This time the act did not use jokes such as 'How could Sarah Palin call her son after a complex maths problem (Trig), when he has down syndrome?' Not funny. Last night's show had 4 people doing some short comedic sketches, which were very amusing.

During the day yesterday we walked around the West End of Glasgow. Some parts seem like they are or at least used to be pretty gritty. We came across a pub where there was a jazz band playing, so we wathced them for a while, and wandered home along the river.

Today we are picking our hire car up and are heading north west, hoping to reach Skye tomorrow and then back to Glasgow for the train to London on Thursday. No photos at the moment, as I'm using Amy's computer. Bummer.

Bad comedy in Glasgow

Currently in Glasgow, which is quite significantly different to Edinburgh. For one thing, Glaswegians don't seem to dress quite as conservatively. A few people have told me that the general rule in the UK is that the further north you go, the less people wear. I have observed this to be quite accurate. When we were out last night you could have been excused for thinking it was Brisbane on a hot summers' night.

The Glasgow comedy festival is on at the moment, and last night we went to see three stand-up comedians in a bar. One guy was pretty funny, but oh, one girl was excruciating. She had come from the US, and she didn't generate any laughs, it was quite uncomfortable. She got off the stage pretty quickly, that's for sure. Maybe these scots are hard bunch to win over. Or maybe they didn't understand her, because we certainly struggled to understand them with their thick accents!

Looking around Glasgow again today and then picking up a hire car tomorrow to drive around for a few days.