31st August - Europe Diary

Day 2 of our walk.  The staff at the Fox & Hound kept calling us 'Our Residents', we were pretty sure others were staying in the hotel, but when we woke up for breakfast there was a table set for 2 and no-one else around except for us and the chef!  Talk about good service.

We hoofed of, found some workable 'walking' sticks and made our way around the amazing Ennerdale Water (Lake), pased an american bloke looking for a red-speckled mushroom then passed a large group of people before making it to the start of our climb.

The official Wainwright walk doesn't actually go up where we did, however our book advised us that it was worth the effort so we ascended a very steep incline to a peak called Red Pike.  Virtually 600 metres straight up!  It took us about 2 hours just to reach the saddle of the mountains.  We weren't too fussed about taking a while until we had to descend slightly only to climb the next peak (High Stiles), then do the same over again to climb Haystacks!

The view from these peaks is awesome, could still se the ocean & the Isle of Mann and had 360 degree views from the summits.  Walked by the tarn on haystacks where it is said that Sir Alfred Wainwright's ashes had been spread.

We thought after Haystacks that we wouldn't have to much further til home.  How wrong we were...  By this time it was 5pm & we believed we had to make it to our next hotel by 7pm in order to make it in time for dinner.  Because of this, we stepped up the pace, with Julia taking the lead and storming ahead.  By the time we got to the bottom I was really shitty because my knees were sore & we were descending at what I would call a dangerous speed.  My stick broke & I just wanted to sit down!

I forgot to mention, Julia decided the theme song for today was 'Dont stop, never give up" by S Club 7 as we were straining up the hill to Red Pike!!!

Back to our descent, we made it to Rostwaite by 7pm at our residence The Royal Oak after much rushing only to find out that dinner started at 7.30pm.

Well, all up it was a 10 HOUR WALK!

When I first took my boots of they just superheaded and thorbbed in pain until dinner.  We met lots of other Coasters (like Sliders, but less technologically advanced) at dinner, one who was particularly happy because we also didn't reach the peak of a hill, saying "it's called the coast to coast, not the summit to summit!".  Not here to bag peaks obviously!

We both stuffed our faces on the 3 course dinner, so much so that Julia didn't have any room for cheese at the end, which is just unheard of.

Anywho, by the end of the night my calves were shockingly tight and Julia had caused some nasty version of trench foot on her heels for having sweaty feet for 10 hours.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

30th August - Europe Diary

Started our walk.  St. Bees to Ennerdale Bridge.  Got to see some awesome birds called Black Guillemots, native only to this coast.  Pretty much my favourite bird now coz they look like little jet planes.  Could see Isle of Mann, was a very clear day.

Wasn't too strenuous & the new hiking socks I bought are great!  Have got some padding on the bottom to stop the feet getting sore.

Had lunch at Cleator Cricket Ground, Julia went to the toilet & had a spider drop in her pants while she was on the loo.  I believe the spider survived for about 0.25 seconds before Julia squashed him dead.  1 litre of water was probably not enough, despite loading up before leaving the B&B.

Made some C2C walkers grumpy because they followed us down a VERY steep 'unoficial track' which hurt their knees.  Hopefully they follow their own tracks next time!

Took us approximately 7 hours today.  I believe tomorrow may be even longer.  Might be an early night.  Lots of cows, sheep & horses along pretty much the whole trail.

29th August - Europe Diary

We are currently bunked up in our room at Tomlin Guest House in St. Bees after indulging in some hearty meals at the local pub.  The two main pubs were almost fully booked, so we're a little concerned we are going to have to start pre-booking dinner!  Anyway, in our room early because i'd like to finish/stop carrying this bottle of whiskey I have!

Wasn't much happening at Whitehaven when we arrived yesterday.  Had to kill a few hours before our check-in time as the lady wsn't ready for us.  This was a challenge!  Walked around the town & marina, got a coffee, visited a few shops, even tried to call/email/tweet the Marina guard to help free a distressed seagull that was stuck in an old quay building!  All of that and we still only just snuck in at check-in time!

Had this mega double bypass burger for dinner, should have downsized.

As mentioned earlier, in St. Bees now.  Have visited the beach & spotted the start of our walk, now prepping!!!!

28th August - Europe Diary

Spent 3 nights in Carlisle.  Was a reasonably sized town & a great spot to use as a base for day trips.

Thought I'd also jot down this tasty meal we made out of a strange mix of cheap ingredients from TESCO.

MACKERAL CURRY STIRFRY
(Makes 2 serves)
1 capsicum
1 carrot
1 can Hot Chilli Mackeral
2 mushrooms
2 pkts curry flavoured instant noodles
2tsp Hot Sauce (Tabasco)

Fry up the vegetables, hard ones first, mushrooms last.  then add mackeral, hot sauce & cooked noodles.  Wash down with the cheapest cold beer you can find.

Visited Carlisles war memorial which is held in a park where cows roam to keep the grass down.

Checked out Carlisle Castle which is packed with history due to it being so close to the border of Scotland.  Great visit, wish I took more pictures.

Got a cheap (but REAL chewy) steak & pint for 7.95 pound for dinner. It filled a hole.

One of the days we walked 15km along Hadrians Wall from Housesteads Fort to Greenhead.  The sun was out & we managed to get a bit burnt, however the wind also wanted to display its power y spending the whole day blowing straight into our faces at around 40km/h.  Was a great day though & the bus driver on the AD122 was super helpful, leting us know how we could wal a mile to the next town rather than wait an hour for the bus to do it's loop.

Got back to our hostel, someone managed to eat all of our Cruncy Nut cereal (half a fucking box!) which we were saving for breakfast.

Julia really wanted to go visit Beatrix Potters house in Hilltop, however with public transport it was looking to take like 3 hours each way to get there!  Plus I believe the connections were something like train-bus-ferry-bus...  So we hired a car instead for the same price.  Got to the car-hire joint & because we didn't pay online the reservation got cancelled, so we spent an hour looking or another cheap car hire (enterprise UK) & walking the wrong direction because i'm a goose!  In the end we got a new Ford Focus for about 24 pound overnight.  Was great to drive with plenty of power, steering was a bit heavy though.

Followed our Here Maps app to Hilltop, terrible idea.  Ended up driving down these skinny roads with trees encroaching on both sides.  After a few swear words we made it.  Serene rolling hills cascade around Hilltop & Ms. Potters property with the clasic veggie patch, spade & egg for all the fans of the book.

Was unaware of Beatrix's artistic talent; there were some large canvas paintings in her cottage that were just awesome.  Turns out the old lass was pretty entreprenuerial too, owning 15 of her own farms.

Took the car to Keswick where we sunk a few pints, ate at this quiet hotel because the popular pubs were full & booked out.  Only other couple n the hotel were these old dears whom sounded like what my grandparents would have sounded when they were travelling!  We couldn't help but laugh when they were quite put out by the fact that the hotel did not have any trifle available for desert!  You'll be pleased to know that they ended up settling for the vanilla & strawberry icecream.

Spent the night at Keswick YHA, which is right on the Derwent River, fell asleep to the calming sound of water rushing over stones.

Keswick is the home of the Derwent pencil!

Dropped the car back of at Carlisle today via a much less arduous route and now we are on he train to Whitehaven.  Train is chugging along the coast slowly, offering us scenery of the Irish sea & a swath of Wind Turbines.

Staying at Glenfield B&B tonight.

24th August 2015 - Europe Diary

Went to watch Dundee United vs Celtic at Tannadice Park on saturday.  This was the main reason for driving all the way to Dundee, along with a Laggan resident telling us that they have a 'cool hipster scene'.  Celtic utterly dominated the game causing the Dundee fans to get VERY vocal.  more cuss words than any AFL match i've been to!

'Lift ya feet ya fucking shite cunt!'

After the match, drove past Stirling Castle & the William Wallace monument on our way back to Glasgow.  Dan mutilated some frozen cod we bought for dinner & Julia & I stayed in.

Sunday we went to the Hunterian Museum (not art gallery) which had a great cariety of stuffed animals, things in jars & old scientific devices.  well worth the visit.  FREE!

Then visited Modern Art museum.  crap.  got a few pints to pass he time in a rock bar then a blues pub.  Bought a bottle of wine and sat in our hotel room (Smiths Hotel) watching news & rude tube.  Saw our first ecig ad on the telly!

Today we cleaned out the van by putting the couch cushions back where we found them!  Drove her back to Prestwick Airport.  She was a bit dirty compared with how we picked her up but there were no issues.

This is where we left Dan who continued his journey to Barcelona & Cuba.  Will be nice just to be Julia & I for a while.  Got a bit tiring having to notify Dan where we were headed all he time.

Julia & I are now attempting to make our way to Carlisle via the buses.  We had read & were told that the quickest route was to go back up to Glasgow first.  But that didn't stop us trying to navigate via 4-5 smaller towns instead!

Caught a bus to Ayr, then Cumnock, timetable had changed and we had an our wait before heading to Dumfries to catch a train to Carlisle.  Bus driver was a chery chap whos heart whent out to the Melbourne Bikie gangs after watching an episode of Ross Kemp.

Trip cost to Carlisle: 2, 4, 4, 10 pounds.

Reason for Carlisle:  Wanted to stay in one place for a few days after rushing around in he van for 10 days.  It's a good distance closer to our Coast to Coast walk and seems to have some interesting sights in the vicinity.

Staying at the Carlisle City Hostel (17 pound per night) & hope to see Hadrians Wall & Beatrix Potters house!

To travel 100 mile, it's looking like it's going to take us 6 hours :S...  All good, gives me some time to write in this bad boy and read Snow Crash.  However!  I believe it would have been 3 hours had we just gone back to Glasgow first...

21st August 2015 - Europe Diary

Drove all the way to Dundee in some of the most horrendous weather we've had thus far.  n the top of the hills, the caravan in front of us was sliding sideway on the road due to the wind and because the road was so wet from the torrential downpour.  Motorbikes we passed were riding on a 20 degree angle just to stay upright.

Dundee is looking like a cool litle down.  heading out shortly to check it out.

5 or 6 bars worth checking out, mainly in the West Port area.  Spent some time lubricating in the hostel with a cheap bottle of gin & some Irn Bru.  Must have had a bit much, mixed with a severe lack of sleep.  Ended up accidentally hitting Julia with a ping pong bat during a match and retreated to bed before the others were quite ready.

20th August - Europe Diary

Fark!  Despite our attempts of slowing down this was ANOTHER massive day of driving.  Only have ourselves to blame though because weve only been organising 1 day at a time.

Dan wanted to go to Loch Ness and in all fairnes we should have stopped on the way from Skye!  But we didn't, so we drove that direction first stopping off at Balmoral Castle where he queen & her posse were currently staying.  Couldn't get close enough to see the castle despite Dan trespassing on the royal golf course, but found out there was a distillery called the Royal Lochnager close by that we tried out.  Great tastes but well above our price range!

Next stop was Tomatin distillery, a designer of cheaper blended whiskies which were pretty good for the price.  Upon leaving the distillery some ol goose in his Fiat 500 decided it would be best to drive in the wrong lane while looking out his side window & came about 2 inches from smacking head on into us.

We chuckled afterwards as we considered how we would have explained 'that' to the hire car company.  'We had a crash... At a whiskey distillery...  Yes, we had been drinking...  No, we weren't moving when we were hit!'

After taking tiny hobbled roads through the mountainous farm land we finally arrived at Loch Nes.  It was pretty windy but Dan managed to snap a pic of the famous monster!

Wasn't much else along the south side of Loch Ness except a dodgy walking trail that we had to retrace our steps on because the signage just ended about 75% of the way through the walk...

We ended up driving til 8pm past Form William before finding a busy picnic area on a Loch.  Spent the night drinking some rough whiskey called Scottish Leader while writing & playing chess.

19th August - First Half of Scotland

The last 6 days have been a rollercoaster of driving, emotions, sights & whiskey.

On the 14th we picked up our van from the airport.  Turns out we chose the most distant airport (Prestwick) to pick up the van, so it took Julia & I 3.5 hours to get there, pick it up and return to Glasgow to get Dan.

The van was a brand new VW Transporter with 58 miles on the clock.  After scouring Glazzy to pick up blankets & some old sofa cushions from the back alley of our hostel we shot off and made it all the way to Glencoe to set up for our first sleep in the van.

Dan looked a little unsure & quiet once we'd set up the cushions & blankets but once we had the first night ironed out it wasn't so bad from then on.

The 15th we climbed up the Lost Valley walk just outside Glencoe which was reasonably steep but quite short and offered some amazing views and pristine water that looked as clear as glass.  From there we drove all the way through to Broadford on the Isle of Skye.

The next day Dan described as 'a long day of doing nothing'.  We got to Portree where Laura & I had booked accom and proceeded to drive around the entirety of the North point of Skye, stopping at a few nice points for views, peat mines, dianomite quarries and the occasional hairy cow.  Quickly visited Julia's ancestral seat in Dunvegan before driving back to Portree to check-in to our accommodation (The Portree Independant Hostel).

5 seconds after entering, we were having an argument with the desk clerk (rhymes with jerk) because we had booked a female in a male-only dorm.  There are many arguments to be made against this stupid rule, however we chose to argue that their website was shit because it allowed us to book a female in.  Plus, we heard two other couples make the same mistake on the same day, which only helped justify our case.  If it wasn't for this one guy being a prick, the hostel would have been amazing.

17th:  We went north to a walk called 'The Old Man of Storr'.  A touristy slog up a rocky track to see a great big rock sitting precariously on its tip.  Definitely worth the climb.  We extended this by attempting to navigate around the Old Man and his mates until the track started to disappear and we were alone with no other tourists in sight!  Needless to say, we turned and backtracked the way we had come for fear of getting lost.  To give you an idea of how high we were, Julia was succumbing to some serious vertigo on the way back down and had to push through it slowly, but eventually we made it.

It was now time to leave Skye, but I really wanted to visit the Talisker Distillery before we left so we drove to Carbost & took some pictures.  The tours were fully booked so we could only peek from the outside.

On the same day, we drove all the way to a roadside stop near Laggan in central Scotland.  This place was midgy central, little flying bugs, thousands of them, all up in your face and biting you, leaving you red & itchy for an hour or so.  These bugs are the pits, forcing you to stay locked up in the van even if its still light outside.  This didnt help our need for some space from each other but we drank lots of whiskey and all was well.  Oh, Dan also bought a ham hock for breakfast and by dinner time it was so juicy & smelly that he was sickened just looking at it so left it on a log for the night.  It did not deter the midges...

18th:  The reason we drove so far yesterday was to make it to Dalwhinnie Distillery on this day.  We got there spot on midday.  Julia & I both ordered the 3 whiskey deal (9.95 pound) & Dan went the 6 whiskey deal (14.95 pound).  Both deals come with a chocolate matched to each drink and a free dram glass!

The 3-drink deal was all different Dalwhinnie malts, while the 6-drink was all different brands.  It was pretty good & the chocolates were the best ive ever eaten but in hindsight it was more expensive than other distilleries (so far!).

We'd originally planned to get all the way to Dufftown but ended up stopping at Aviemore for a bit too long, so stayed on a beautiful loch there.  Tried a deepfried haggis puddin which Dan ladly finished for me! taste: a bit dry & mincey while being slightly offal-like in texture and really sticky inside the mouth.  Someting I may never try a second time!  Worth mentioning that all the lochs we saw around Aviemore were just awesome.  small but gorgeous.

Lets not foret about Ruthven Barracks which were a nice sight of an 1850's barracks that was well signed :)

Paid 2 pound to stay in a carpark by a loch..

19th:  Got up at 9am & headed straight to Glenlivet Distillery.  We didn't expect much but were pleasently suprised.  This was the best distillery we visited in Scotland.

Free tour plus free tastings PLUS cheap drams (2.50ish pound) of some other offerings (a reserve usually 9 pound, Scarpa & I think an Oban 18).

Our final destination for the 19th was a small town on the east side of of The Cairngorms called Aboyne.  Julia booked a nights accom at The Huntly Arms Hotel when we werent sure what to do next.

Before we got there though we looked at Braemar Castle (dont bother, boring) & Braemar Village which was more like a retirement home than a town.  Some of the smelliest toilets Julia had used apparently!  She blamed the stinky old folk.

Huntly Arms:  Good stay, great building.  Should have got a picture...  Had to take about 8 turns & two staircases to find our room.

Got a tip from a seedy looking bloke outside of our hotel that we should try The Boat Inn for dinner.  good tip, big & delish meals at a pub that allows their patrons to bring their dogs inside!

Then it was bedtime, however Julia [add later]

13th August - Barcelona to Scotland

Feetup Hostel was great, low cost & relaxed vibe.  A lot has happened since then!  We visited the beach to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out people live to get a tab lying on fine grained dirt and occasionally wash off in a rubbish-tip themed ocean.

Spent one day walking around Montjuic & it's citadel that overlooks the entire city, forward by an insanely salty (but delish) seafood paella. 17€ each. Barcelona caught a bit of rain which kept the city nice and cool for the next 24 hours.

For our last day we caught the train out to Les Planes and trekked for 3 hours through the hills surrounding Barcelona. It was here where we found the best view of the city.  More tapas of olives, Iberian ham and Russian salad was had before prepping for our journey to Edinburgh on the 10th.

No trouble was had getting out of Spain. 

When we stopped over in Brussels the customs officer declared us as illegals because we never recurved a stamp when we flew into Barcelona. It was an empty threat though because he promptly stamped our passports and moved us along.  We regretted going through customs so swiftly though because we got cut off from all the cheap food options. Found a bar though and started hearing reports that the Brussels Airport's ground staff were on strike and some travelers had already encountered 3 hours of delays. It didn't end up being a problem for us though & we caught our tiny, scary plane to Edinburgh.  It was scary because half way through the flight there was a strong odour of burning electricals coming through the vents which caused the hair on my arms to stand on end in fear.  It didn't help that at the time I was reading a quarterly essay on ISIS...

Dan was awesome enough to greet us upon arrival at e airport with a bottle of Black Bottle whisky and lead us back to our hostel.

Geez, when they said that Containers Hostel was on the docks, they really weren't kidding.  Was a super well set up Warren of about 10 shopping containers all placed to create a wall to surround the hostel and paths through to each room.

We spent our two days in Edinburgh going to free comedy shows at The Southsider Hotel as week as one paid (but terrible) comedy about fan fiction.

Arthur's Seat was a short walk with terrific views of all of Edinburgh.  We took an hour out of our day just to relax at the top.  Despite being so high up you could still hear the bagpipes being played down in the city centre.

Bars of note:

- The Royal Oak for cheap whiskey

- The Cowshed for free live music

- The Bar Bados because the floor was covered in sand but otherwise the place sucked.

13th:  We took a bus to Glasgow (7.70 pound) and spent the night in Bunkum Hostel where they were quite friendly until the clock hit 10.30am at which point we may as well have been trespassing!

We haven't spent much time in Glasgow, basically stayed a night before picking up our Van.  Managed to have a fiery argument with Dan around where we should go and why.  Never really sorted it out but just acknowledging our different travelling styles at this point which has gotten us by, just!

The trains in Glasgow look like they were shot straight out of the 70's.  Bright orange & white tubes with car horns to alert you of their presense!

By the way, on our 2nd night in Edinburgh we slaughtered some massive kebabs on our walk back to Containers.  Well worth mentioning I reckon!

7th August - Tramp around Barcelona

Yesterday was dedicated to some of the most popular tourist destinations.

We visited Christopher Columbus who stands tall at the bottom of La Rambla, pointing out across the sea in the wrong direction, away from America.

Walking north through La Rambla we encountered a small protest against tourists.  In most parts of Barcelona during our stay we found stickers & graffiti stating "Tourist, Go Home.  You are destroying our neighbourhood".  Never mind the fact they probably couldn't afford the stickers without the tourist industry...

Then we visited the market which was busy but had an amazing selection of food & tapas bars.

The Gothic Quarter (Barri Gotic) was next.  Thin winding streets with blackened stone houses and cathedrals. Most impressive were the remains of a 4th century Roman wall & tower which during is heyday protected a large portion of the Gothic Quarter.

Afterwards we checked out the beach which was crowded with thousands of people, before heading back to the hostel to prepare for our tour of La Sagrada Familia.

I forgot just how large the church is. It is epic and well worth the 20€ to go in.  As you enter you are in awe (well I was at least) of the amount of open space inside.  Spires that required Computer Aided Design, stained glass windows that change the color of the interior as the time of day changes.

Stained glass awesomeness in La Sagrada Familia

Today we have checked out and headed to another hostel further out of the city that borders the mountains. It's called Feetup Garden House Hostel & apparently it's key features are 'culture' and 'older travelers'!! Well see, have stopped in a park close by but will provide an update on the hostel later.

Chilling in park above Barcelona velodrome

5th August 2015 - Flight to Barcelona

Our journey began on flight QR905 at 10.55pm on the 3rd of August.

As unpleasant as long distance flights can be, this one was pretty uneventful.  Until my partner Laura felt sick, couldn't open the sick-bag in time and vomited on the both of us.

The cause?  Laura blamed it on eating too fast, but I blame it on Qatar's sick-bags needing to be ripped open before they can be used.

After that event, we spent the next 12 hours travelling in slightly smelling clothing arriving in Barcelona around 2pm on the 4th.

We are staying at Sant Jordi Hostel in the Gracia district, which is kind of like a Spanish version of Fitzroy (in Melbourne), only cooler.  Thin one way streets bordered with an amalgamation of houses, bars and markets.  Occasionally these streets open up to large squares where all the bars and cafes place tables and chairs to create a relaxed and inviting atmosphere.

Sant Jordi Hostel Rooftop & a nice quiet street in the Gracia district

5th: Today we had breakfast at Placa del Sol, trekked in the humid 30C heat to Parc Guell looking for a shady spot to read while chomping on some cheese and bread (get used to it).

Organic Gaudi bridge in Park Güell

However we have found ourselves lazing in the Parc de la Ciutadella, where the grass IS greener.  Later at night we dined at a Syrian restaurant chain called Ugarit.  Cheap, tasty & sizeable meals.

Pretty green-water fountain.  rather impressive