Category Archives: Scotland

Today would be the last day for seeing folk and finding the few items we were still trying to acquire before heading home tomorrow.  The sun shone for about 5 minutes when we awoke and then it proceeded to rain steadily for the next 16 hours.  Mother Nature was doing her best to make sure we were ready to go home.

We had a few things that we’d yet to find to bring home including a small gift for a friend that I shan’t mention here just in case – don’t want to spoil the surprise! – and the hunt involved charity shops and specialty stores. It’s quite a common item but not necessarily easy to purchase.  We started by visiting all the charity shops in Stirling: British Heart Foundation, Marie Curie, PDSA, Stratcarron Hospice, etc. No luck. So we tried switching to the other item on our list:  a new duvet cover.  We are still fans of the duvet with a cover and no top sheet.  Which means the covers get washed frequently and need to be replaced fairly frequently.  These still aren’t that common in the US and the only place we have ever had any luck is IKEA.  But now that the closest IKEA is in Canada, we are quite keen to bring one home from this trip.

But not just any duvet cover – those we can order on line. We were on the hunt for one that matched the odd shade of blue in our bedroom.  In fact, we had brought a paint stick with the paint color on it so that we could compare it to the ones in the shop.  We hit all the department stores still left in the town but again, no luck. So into the Bluebell Tearoom for a cuppa and a GTF scone with jam (yum!) and then to continue the visiting.  Off to see mum for the last time this trip.  She was in fine spirits and had us laughing out loud when a news item about the US president came on the telly and she burst out with “See him?  How has no one shot him yet?”

Then it was off to see the missing brother who had just got back from his own holiday the night before.

Travel tip #37:  When you plan a trip to visit folk, make sure they are going to be home.

We hadn’t shared the dates of our trip with anyone until just a few weeks before we left which was after they had booked a trip to Portugal.  Luckily we managed to have one day that overlapped so we popped round for a cup of tea and to make plans for getting together for our last night.  Then it was off to the Torbrex Inn for some lunch.  I was thrilled to see that they had GF steak pie on the menu – which I figured out later wasn’t exactly gluten free.  Ugh.

Fully fueled, we continued our quest, heading into Alloa to check the charity shops there.  And success!  In the window of the Stratcarron Hospice shop there was the coveted item.  We headed back into town via the retail park where a stop at Harry Corey netted a smashing duvet cover with the right shade of blue in it.  (And only 12 pounds!) Then back to the flat to pack before dinner at the Allan Park Hotel.

This trip has been unusual in many ways.  We haven’t done many of the typical things that we traditionally do when we visit and tonight’s dinner was another departure.  Instead of a carry out and a heavy drinking session with large numbers of family at the house in Bannockburn, it was just the 4 of us having a lovely meal and behaving relatively like adults.  Of course we had a wee drink before we left and then a few drinks with dinner then we did get a taxi back to the house for a few more drinks before yet another taxi took us back to the flat.  So it wasn’t *too* far off the usual.

Dubious data for the day:
10,575 steps and 4 floors
Charity shops visited: 10
Types of drinks consumed: 5
Number of people ordering highland chicken at dinner (stuffed with haggis): 3 (it’s not GF – oh, darn.)

Another morning with sunshine – and rain because it’s Scotland.  Today’s plan  was to finally tackle the elusive Glengoyne distillery!  We have tried to make a tour there in the past (in 2015 and again in 2016) but for various reasons have never made it past the shop.  Well today we were going to fix that!  We headed out bright and early and made it there just in time for the 11am tour.  And while we do know how whisky is made so the tour wasn’t strictly necessary, we are now starting to pay more attention to some of the details:  who uses peat, who has steel versus wood washbacks, who malts their own barley, etc. So we did really enjoy the tour – and the whisky.  We started with their 12 year old and ended with a dram of the 18 year old.  And Frank got none of mine. Yup, I drank all my own whisky for a change which tells you what it is like – light and somewhat sweet with no smoke.  The last distillery we visited where I enjoyed the dram was Dalwhinnie which is lighter still than that Glengoyne.

Then is was lunchtime so back to the Old Mill Inn in Killern with their lovely tasting board and homemade soup that scuppered our first visit.  The food was just as good as we remembered and a group from the distillery tour also turned up there for lunch!

Then it was back to visiting. We picked up Frank’s niece and went to visit his mum. She was much brighter and cheerier today but her legs were bothering her so we didn’t stay too long.  We did our regular run into Callandar and stopped for tea and cakes.  The River Teith was bursting it’s banks and water was slowly creeping into the carpark where we stopped so we didn’t stay too long.

We stopped at the City Walls for dinner – one of the niece’s favorites – and then it was out to Alva for more visiting.  We hadn’t yet seen another nieces new house so we popped round there for a cup of tea and more blethering before heading back to the flat to start contemplating packing.

Dubious data for today: 5,407 steps and 5 floors (it was a small distillery)
Number of stories about how fast Frank used to drive these wee roads back in the day: 27
Number of rainbows spotted: 4

Bright sunshine greeted us when we eventually awoke far later than we had planned.  (I haven’t had much luck sleeping past 7 or 7:30 regardless of what time I go to bed and today we slept until 8:30!) A quick bacon and egg roll – induction hob sussed! – and we were off to visit mum. We caught her in the middle of her breakfast so we went into Bridge of Allan for a coffee and came back for a lovely visit before moving on to the main event of the day:  a trip to Edinburgh.

The trip itself was not particularly unusual as we often go to Edinburgh for the day when we visit but the reason for today’s trip was a bit different as I was going to do a bit of work. I have the privilege of being the president of an international data organization (IASSIST) and the vice president works at the University of Edinburgh.  So when we realized that our monthly administrative committee call would be while I was in Scotland, we arranged for me to go to her office and we could participate together.  While this does techniulaly count as working while on vacation, I don’t consider it really work because I have been part of this organization for decades and have met some of my now dearest friends through it.  And we arranged to meet with several of them today.

So on to the 11:42 train to Edinburgh.

Travel tip #35: take public transport whenever parking or alcohol are likely to make things messy.

We arrived at Edinburgh Waverly station just before 12:30 and wandered through town to get to Bennet’s Bar – a lovely old pub where we were to have our first meeting: a pint with a friend and former IASSIST president.  We sat and nattered through a pint there before heading across the street to  the Blackbird for lunch.  I had the most interesting thing:  a GF waffle topped with avocado, feta cheese, pepper jelly and pumpkin seeds.  Unusual and delicious.

Next stop:  the university building where I would take my call.  Frank toddled off to continue his search for a model Alfa Romeo while I was otherwise occupied.  (Still no luck!) Despite the inevitable minor technology glitches (camera works but audio doesn’t, then vice versa, then it gets sorted), we managed the meeting very well, thanks mostly to a very able and organized secretary.

Business complete, it was time for the next stop which was drinks at Sandy Bell’s with a friend and former treasurer of IASSIST (sense a theme here?).  We chatted about digital preservation, world politics, and raising teenagers before it was time for him to go home to the family and us to go to our final “meeting”.  Moving on to the OX184 pub in the Cowgate, we met with the vice president and her husband for drinks and more social discussions.  And thusly well watered, it was time to find food.  We said our goodbyes and went off in search of a pub that served something I could eat.

Travel tip #36: Try to eat before you drink.  Or at least before you have the 5th pint of cider.  Your stomach will thank you.

We managed to find the Albanach on the Royal Mile that could do a gammon steak with egg and pineapple plus peas and a jacket potato.  Just what the doctor ordered!  Frank got a haggis and neeps pie which suited him fine as well.  And the timing couldn’t have been better:  10 minutes after we ordered, they stopped taking food orders.  Phew.  We finished a lovely meal (but not all of our pints unfortunately.  No judging!) and made the 9:33 train back to Stirling.

Dubious data for today:
14,945 steps and 32 floors (Edinburgh is a multidimensional city) including 118 steps up the New Steps from Market street to St. Giles street
Number of pubs visited: 5
Number of pints consumed by all pub participants: 21

Today (October 7) is the reason for the entire trip: our 30th wedding anniversary.  Apparently this is the Pearl anniversary not that we’ve ever minded such things. We originally thought it would be a great opportunity for us to have a big celebration with all the family and friends who couldn’t be there on the actual day but that didn’t work out.  The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley as Robbie Burns once penned.

No surprise that the day is grey and misty.  We had our breakfast and started the visiting in earnest.  Off to the care home for tea with mum.  She wasn’t doing particularly well and words seemed difficult for her so we didn’t stay long.  Next stop: Auntie Jean and Uncle Jimmy who have also aged since the last time we saw them and are now fully and admittedly in the ranks of “old people”.  Jimmy rarely drives now, which is probably a good thing given that he’s near enough to 90. And Jean says she doesn’t mind since the only place she wasnts to go in the car is the supermarket.  We spent an hour or so catching up on family stuff (with a short time out for me to “fix YouTube” on Jean’s ipad) and then we were on our own for a bit.

We had a lovely bar lunch at the Westerton Arms as we have done so many times before and then proceeded to mark the passage of time in our surroundings.  The hotel where we had our engagement party is currently being remodeled for offices, the University of Stirling (where I was studying when we met) is also under construction and nearly unrecognizable given my 30+ year old memories. We wandered through the center of Stirling noting changes old and new.  When did every second shop become an estate agent’s office?  How many houses can they possibly be selling?

Travel tip #33:  you can’t go back.  You can go again but nothing stays the same.  We took some comfort that we aren’t the only nostalgic travelers as we noted a couple in Vernazza who where wandering the town looking for a restaurant they had visited 20 years before.

We spent the evening with the best man and his wife who were two of the only 4 people who came from Scotland for the wedding.  We had drinks at our wee holiday flat before walking into town for a lovely meal at Brea instead of our usually “box of curry” meal and drinking session at their house. It is wonderful to have such long standing friendships even though we are generally 3000 miles apart at any one time.

Travel tip #34: take joy where you find it.  Life is short.

And so we marked three decades of marriage.  And it was just perfect.

Dubious data for today:
12,727 with apparently no floors?
Number of estate agents in the high street: 10
Number of places that are still where the were 30 years ago: a handful
Number of things we would have done differently over the decades: 0

And today begins the transition from vacation to visiting.  For two weeks we were tourists, with the majority of that time spent surrounded by people whose job it was to make us happy.  Then we had this lovely transition weekend where technically we were visiting family but they consistently go out of their way to make us feel special: cooking fantastic meals, pouring copious amounts of tasty beverages, and generally providing incredible camaraderie.  We still feel like we are on vacation when we visit.  And all that was to change.

The rain from the night before had persisted and we awoke to the steady thrum of persistent showers.  We managed to have breakfast while it was still considered morning and hashed through a few more weighty topics such as road rage, the second amendment and international comparisons of sports fans. But then we had to pack up and move on to visiting Frank’s family.  We took the obligatory good-bye photo in the front garden – not hungover for a change! – and headed north east.

We headed to Stirling  to check into our AirBnB.  We are staying at Limegrove Cottage, a flat we’ve stayed in before, which is really more than we need with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths but it’s comfy and well located with parking and a large utility room where we can get all the cruise clothes washed so we don’t have to wander around Scotland smelling like sunscreen! We arrived a bit too early so it was off to the youngest Cannon brother’s house to say hello, catch up on all the happenings, make some plans for the week, and get some information on the condition of Frank’s mom.  Then it was off to the care home for a quick visit to mom to let her know we’ve arrived and that we’ll be by to spend some time with her tomorrow.

And now to really be a local:  stop by the flat to drop off the bags, off to Sainsbury’s to pick up essentials for breakfast (bacon, eggs, brown loaf, yogurt, muesli, etc) as well as for evenings (wine, beer, and cider). 

Travel tip #31: always have a carrier bag or two in your case. They come in handy for all kinds of things and if you don’t have one with you when you leave hone, you’ll probably have one when you return. But that does make you look cool when you go to Wegmans with foreign grocery bags.

And finally, we really needed to eat a meal.  Tea and biscuits with the family helped to tide us over but we hadn’t had anything proper since the bacon and egg roll just before noon.  And there was no one around who was charged with or cared enough to take care of that for us! So we were on our own. Yes, we could have bought ingredients at the store to cook something or eaten out at a restaurant but why when there is an excellent chippy nearby.  So off to Paulino’s on the Glasgow road for a fish and a chicken supper, washed down with beer, and enjoyed it while trying to find something to watch on the telly.

Travel tip #32: don’t expect television in a foreign country to be any better than what you get at home. We still had a choice of dozens of channels of crap – some of it was American crap.

Dubious data for the day:
5758 steps and 4 floors
Miles driven: approximately 80 (which is why the step count is so low)
Loads of washing completed so far: 2
Different beers and ciders purchased: 9

The day started characteristically grey but dry.  We actually saw the morning because the bevy last night was actually pretty tame and there were none of the epic hangovers of years past.  Breakfast was light – fruit smoothies, coffee, and toast – because today’s adventure would be centered around food.  We were headed into Glasgow for the Big Feed – an indoor food truck/drinking/music event.

Hopping on the 11am train, we found ourselves in the center of Glasgow well before noon which was a little early for the Big Feed.  So we decided to get some culture and hopped on the subway to the Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum where we perused several galleries of art including the famous Christ of Saint John of the Cross painting by Salvador Dali.  There were also French and Dutch works and an entire gallery of Scotland’s identity explored through art with depictions of Robert the Bruce, Robbie Burns, and lots of exhibits on tartan.  There was even an organ recital while we were there so it was a well rounded cultural experience.  And it left us hungry.

Travel tip #31: support the local museums.  Kelvingrove charges no admission but does take donations so we decided that the pockets full of change that we had – some of which were pound coins – would be better used by them than by us.

Then back to the subway and out to Govan, exiting the station at Ibrox, famous home of the Glasgow Rangers football team which none of us support.  We wandered through some warehouses before finding the one that had been kitted up for the event.  A dozen street food vendors lined the walls of the warehouse with tables in the middle.  There was a full bar, a small music stage, a doggie buffet for the pets and face painting and balloon animals for the kids.  It’s actually a fabulous idea and a great way to spend a cool Saturday afternoon. We indulged in sweet potato curry, many plates of chips with various sauces and a variety of dishes involving duck.  And a few pints to wash it down.  For several hours we chatted and ate and listened to the solo female guitarist play an incredible range of music from Johnny Cash to Walk the Moon.

Thus suitably overfed and well watered, we wandered back through town for more adventures.  Instead of availing ourselves of the subway again, we walked back past the Kelvingrove and headed to Ashton Lane, a stupidly adorable cobbled street on the west side with bars and restaurants.  We enjoyed a sojourn at a fancy gin bar where we were occasionally entertained by silliness occurring in the street outside. Then we moved on again, back to the center of town where apparently it was time to eat again.  We opted for mezze at a middle eastern restaurant thinking that the smaller plates would mean that we wouldn’t over eat.  Well that plan went far asunder as there was way too much food (and more drink) and then it was time to shuffle back through the rain to the train for home.

You know you are getting old when you are leaving Glasgow at the time that most young people were just arriving for their Saturday night out.  You also know you are getting old when you are utterly appalled at their choice of attire!  There were gaggles of young women emerging from the train station, tottering on spikey heels in strappy dresses that barely covered their privates.  And they were heading out into the cold Scottish rain where I know their artfully applied (pounds of) face makeup would not survive and they would shiver and be miserable.

Travel tip #32: dress for the weather, not for the fashion. (Credit: my auntie Alice)

And now my transition to being my mother is complete.  Just bring me a cup of tea and come visit on Sundays.

Once safely and warmly ensconced back at the homestead, we consumed a little more wine while continuing to explore topics of serious national interest: buskers and other street performers, gender versus sex, cigarette vs marijuana, snus and premier league football, among others.

Dubious data for today:
16,337 steps and 15 floors.
Calories consumed: 1000000000
Train/subway rides: 5
Nuns: 0

It will surprise no one that we awoke to grey skies and lashing rain which did not bode well for our plan to test Frank’s new boots with a hike – preferably a climb up Dumyat.  Jesse was all set for her day out – it was the Edinburgh pride festival so she felt called to go wave rainbow flags with her peeps.  We dropped her off at the train station to catch the 10:34 train with strict instructions to be on the 4:38 train at the latest as we were expecting the big family do to start around 5pm.

Then we tried to figure out where we might get a somewhat dry walk in.  Watching the radar which showed a huge swath of rain cross the entire country (bar London), we decided it was better to head west where we might be able to find some clear skies after the rain moved through.  So what destination should we aim for?  We explored multiple museum options and other indoor activities but nothing really appealed.  Then I accidentally searched for “hand dyed yarn”  and found a farm nearby that spun and dyed their own wool.  We had unknowingly driven past it on the way to Perth yesterday when the shop was actually open so it didn’t work as a destination for today.  But there was a wool shop in Drymen that carried their stuff  and Drymen was west so we had an initial destination!

Off we go in the rain, hiking boots in the back seat, to the village of Drymen to find the smallest yarn shop I have ever been in.  It barely fit 3 people so the one customer that was there when we arrived had to leave before Frank and I could get in.  But she had some great local stuff in addition to some of the standards and had loads of suggestions of designers and Ravelry patterns to check out.  I got some of the Strathearn Fibre yarn I had been looking for – the blue is gorgeous in natural light which I found out by stepping out of the shop into the street as was recommended.  I could have bought more but we are already hitting space constraints on our cases so I restrained myself.

Then it was time to find somewhere to have lunch.  We made a quick detour to Balmaha, a lovely little village on the shores of Lock Lomond, and stopped into the tourist information center to get some ideas.  It turns out that this was one of the stops on the West Highland way (a new item on my bucket list BTW).  The skies had begun to clear a bit and we could have hiked a small section of the route but we saw the state of the through hikers (sodden, muddy messes albeit laughing and chatting) and Frank pointed out that we would be wearing our hiking boots on the plane tomorrow (since they wouldn’t fit it the cases) so we really didn’t want them to  be wet and muddy.  {sigh}

We decided to head toward Killearn where we thought we had had a lovely bar lunch several years ago when a phone call from Frank’s sister-in-law preempted that plan.  Apparently, the family do had  been arranged for 2:30 not 5:30 and we hadn’t gotten the text.  We texted Jesse who had arranged to meet one of the Troon cousins for lunch at 2pm after the parade had finished and was bummed at the change of plans.  We made a midcourse correction and headed straight to Bannockburn where several tables at McQs had been reserved for the afternoon.  We were the first to arrive and eventually we had nearly the entire clan gathered (well 16 of us!), including one new boyfriend who was meeting nearly everyone for the first time. (Good luck son!)  Unfortunately, grandma wasn’t doing very well.  She had had several seizures during the night – including one that morning – and though she insisted on attending, she didn’t look well and didn’t last long.  Frank and one of his brother’s ended up taking her back to the care home nearly straight away and she had another seizure upon arrival.  The consensus seemed to be that all the running about had worn her out (OMG, I broke my mother-in-law!) but that she would be fine after some rest.

We ate, drank, laughed, and drank some more.  Eventually we had to vacate the room we were in for a private party so off to the main lounge we went.  The Peru-Denmark match was on and it was tough finding seats for the 11 of us that remained but we managed to take over and entire section of the pub. Jesse finally arrived from Edinburgh and joined the revelries. Several hours later,  just a few remained and it was time to head back to the cottage to finish packing.  We emerged into the screaming sunshine (figures!) but we still needed to eat still and at 9pm on a Saturday night, the choices are limited.  Frank still had one box on his “must eat” list to check so we stopped at a local kebab shop for a donner kebab (think gyro but spicer) and then back to the chippy for me and Jesse.  Fat and carbs consumed, cases were stuffed and an early night was had.

Data for today:
Steps: 4185 (2 miles)
Meters of wool purchased: 800
Pints of cider consumed by cider drinkers: approx 12
Different types of drinks consumed: 10

We refuse to be deterred by grey skies so today’s plan was to head out to find some sunshine – and if there happen to be a few shops for my mother-in-law, all the better! So bacon rolls devoured, we picked up grandma and headed to one of the many places that call themselves “the gateway to the highlands”: Perth. The rain was fairly persistent for the 40 or so miles to Perth but was kind enough to let up as we perused the city centre for parking. We just *happened* to find a free space right outside a yarn store (which was sorely disappointing unfortunately) and then the wander about the town began.

Perth is a lovely wee city with a nice pedestrian area in the city centre. There are lots of charity shops among other things so Jesse was happy. We have spent WAY more time shopping this trip than makes me happy but there you go. The sun was threatening to spill through the clouds most of the day – and managed a wee peep once or twice – but at least we were dry the entire time. Frank found the perfect hiking boots, Jesse found a fabulous suit (in Primark of all places!) and grandma got some bling earrings. Then a lovely lunch in Reid’s Cafe which had a nice gluten free menu and a chili jam that Frank decided was so good it was worth of suitcase space so a jar will be finding its way home. I had homemade soup and sandwich on gf bread which is really all one can ask for. It’s the simple things in life really.

A bit more wandering and it was time to head out but not before checking one more box on Jesse’s “to eat” list: a 99 which is really nothing more than a cone with a Flake stuck in it but it was on the list so we needed to figure that out.  Luckily, a local cafe obliged and the required ice cream was procured.  I’m sure most people thought we were daft for eating ice cream when it wasn’t blazing sunshine and hot but I don’t think we cared at this point. Then it was time to head back and see that grandma got safely delivered so that she could rest up for the “all family” gathering currently scheduled for tomorrow night.

We also had plans for the evening as it was time for a trip to Cambusbarron for the annual “box of curry” festivities. Mind you, we’ve never had the curry delivered in a box after that first time but it doesn’t matter, the name has stuck. And that’s really all there is to be said on that since much food, drink, and conversation occurred among the group of dear friends until a taxi delivered us home in the wee hours.

Data for today:
Steps: 10,395 (4.7 miles)
Charity shops visited: 5
Orders of chicken pasanda in the box of curry: 4
Explanations of American politics attempted: 0 (we’ve given up)

(Bonus points if you get the movie reference – it involves cheese!)
The weather this morning was particularly schizophrenic: sunny spells with intermittent showers and extreme winds. I believe “blowing a gale” would be the appropriate description. Not really fit weather for wandering about town behind a wheelchair and I have definitely had my share of mall time for the week. So we decided to postpone today’s visit with grandma until the evening meal and have a wee day out just the 3 of us who don’t care about the wind and rain.

So off to Edinburgh we go! Frank and I stayed there last time we visited as I was at a conference at the University so we had much more recent memories of the place than Jesse. We found an (expensive) carpark with a stupid self pay machine (woo hoo – 3 dodgy tenners all gone!) and headed to the most touristy of roads in the entire country: the Royal Mile. Throngs of foreigners in the streets taking pictures of the most bizarre things. Large groups of tourists swarming shops, gabbling in every language you can think of. We stopped for a coffee (read: to use wifi and the toilets) before setting out. The entire street is lined with keich shops (officially Scottish for shite but used like kitsch for descriptions of stores selling touristy crap) but Jesse managed to get a decent deal on a Scottish rugby strip in one. We tried to get up to the castle so Jesse could take a picture for the folks at Disney to see what a real castle looked like but it was not to be as construction in the courtyard to prepare for the Edinburgh Tattoo was well underway.

Wandering back down the street we stopped in St Giles Cathedral for a wee look round and so I could light a candle for my mum. (I haven’t missed an opportunity in 11 years of traveling. I hope she’s smiling on me. ) And then off to a few more charity shops on the side streets. Lunch was had in a small cafe off the Grassmarket before wandering up Victoria Street – which everyone now knows was the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter books. Every second shop has something to do with wizards or muggles so something HP related. {sigh}

We did take in a great street performance of a deluded juggler who managed to juggle machetes on an 8 foot unicycle in the gusting wind so that was 5 pounds well spent. Then the obligatory visit to Princess Street to continue the quest for hiking boots and any clothes that Scotland might sell which Jesse can wear in Florida. The intermittent sunshine was getting more scarce and clouds were threatening so it was time to head back. We got to experience Edinburgh traffic – it took us 70 minutes to do the same journey home that took 40 minutes when we arrived – so now we do feel like locals.

Jesse headed out for dinner and drinks with some cousins and friends so Frank and I picked up his mum for a quiet dinner at a local pub-style chain restaurant: the Highland Gate The food is nothing to write home about but there’s plenty of room for the wheelchair and mum thoroughly enjoyed her chicken dinner and half a shandy. The sun was back out at this point so we went for a lovely drive along the hillfoots out to Alva to see where Frank’s niece’s new house is being built (gorgeous view BTW). On the way back we were treated to a rainbow.

Data for today:
Steps: 13,915 (6.3 miles – that’s more like it!)
Wind speeds: 30mph with gusts up to 55mph
Cost of first fuel fill up: £52 (that’s £1.29 per litre or about $8 US gallon)

Today would be a day of family gatherings which inevitably means food.  Breakfast is generally the simplest affair since it’s just the three of us in the cottage and we all have similar likes: bacon rolls!  If you’ve never had a Scottish bacon roll, I don’t know if I can adequately describe it.  First you start with a morning roll.  This is the only soft squidgy white bread thing worth eating.  It’s not like a hamburger bun, kaiser roll, bap, or any other baked good I’m familiar with.  You generally buy them from the baker or local shop regularly (daily in some cases) and only a few at a time as they don’t keep very long.  We cheated and bought some at Waitrose when picking up more bacon. I found a gluten free version of these which is very close to the original so I am all set.  Next you need to understand the bacon. Now I don’t want to start holy wars on this (smoked versus unsmoked, etc) but just to say that rashers of British bacon are one of the things I miss most in the US.  It’s not ham-like as Canadian bacon is and not as fatty as US bacon is (streaky bacon they call it here).  It has more meat than fat and two rashers on a buttered morning roll (with a fried egg if you are so inclined) is a wonderful breakfast sandwich.

So fortified, we headed out for one of Jesse’s bucket list activities – charity shops!  It doesn’t do them justice to call them thrift stores, even though that’s really what they are.  It seems every charity in Scotland accepts donations of goods and every one has a small shop on the high street where they resell those goods.  So within the course of an hour covering a very small section of Port Street and Murray Place  in Stirling we hit shops for: the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, and Marie Curie.  Jesse got dress shoes and CDs in the first and a couple of shirts in the last.  And I grabbed a fabulous night dress for 99p!  A very productive hour!

Then off to the care home to pick up Grandma whence we headed to another local landmark: Dobbies Garden Center.  It’s not just a DIY shop.  Think the garden center at Lowe’s meets the patio section at Target meets Kohl’s meets REI and throw in a tea shop, sweet shop, and food hall. We were meeting auntie and uncle there for lunch but first Frank was trying on hiking boots.  Nothing for the fat feet here.  Then it’s off to the cafe for dinner (the mid-day meal) where we had a round of toasties, wraps, and baguettes and I had a jacket potato with Coronation chicken – one of my favorites.  And the piece de resistance: a raspberry meringue the size of your head. We spent an hour chatting about a variety of subjects including GDPR and electric cars. We shopped a bit more (I found a smashing raincoat on sale that I just might have to buy – it’s full length and purple!) and mostly bought sweets: flying saucers and marshmallow shrimps were also on Jesse’s “must” list.

I had a small amount of work to do (even unemployed I keep busy!) so I got dropped off at the cottage for my Skype call with Paris and Frank and Jesse took grandma back and visited a few more shops. Eventually it was time for tea (the evening meal) which became a Herculean event. We had originally thought of meal out with one brother-in-law and spouse. That turned into dinner for 11 at Mango. So all three brothers and assorted offspring and nearly-offspring gathered in an Indian/Italian restaurant (it really wasn’t as weird as it sounds) for 3 hours of eating and drinking except for the two drivers as there is a zero tolerance policy here. I actually felt bad for the other diners in the room with us as the chatting and laughter got quite loud at times. Three of the eleven opted for Italian (gf spaghetti carbonara – yum!) and the rest had Indian – or in the case of the haggis pakoras, Scottish Indian. A decent photograph of the chaos is still to be found.

Then it was home in the lashing rain and off to bed.

Data for today:
Steps: 6,038 (2.8 miles)
Hiking boots tried on: 7
Charity shops visited: 6