A Scottish-Canadian in Switzerland: 2011

Friday, October 21, 2011

Pretty

I live in a very pretty place.

This is the public toilet in my village.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Scotland 2011 - Day 14: Good bye Scotland!

Sadly, our two week holiday came to an end.

We visited family.

We had a retro camper van adventure.

We had an amazing city break.

For the first time visiting Scotland, I didn't feel sad. I didn't feel like I didn't belong. I felt really at home. It was lovely. My whole life I wanted to be there. I wanted to be nearer to my extended family. I wanted to BE there (...and let's face it, I wanted the accent). I still wonder what my life would have been like had I grown up there but I like who and where I am now. And yes, it is nice to be just a short flight away.

I liked showing our children a big part of their history. A part I hope they will want to learn more about as they grow older. Judging by Max's interest in his new Scottish History for Kids book, I'd say this shouldn't be too much of a worry. I want them to feel connected to Scotland, to see in it the beauty that I see there.

Maybe one day we will have a holiday home there. Maybe our children will go to University there. Maybe we will live there one day. Who knows? The only thing I am sure of is that we will be back soon to see the Brora Bunch and the Edinburgh gang. We LUV them!

Scotland makes us very very happy.

Scotland 2011 - Day 13: One last Indian meal...

The view from our flat window.

For our last night in Edinburgh, we knew we wanted to eat Indian food again. Josh did some research and we headed to a place called Kismot.

http://www.kismot.co.uk/

Now THIS was a find! We loved it. The food was incredible and the service was superb.

(Most importantly, all dips and sauces were amazing!)

They are home to a ridiculous contest regarding the hottest curry ever but if you overlook this it really is worth going!

We headed back to the flat with full tummies and a bit of sadness as we knew we were flying back in the morning.

Scotland 2011 - Day 12:The Castle

The Castle

We had been promising Max that we would go to Edinburgh castle since we first started planning our trip. He loved that it was a military fort, rather than a palace. That definitely appealed to the 'man' in him!

He really wanted to see a dungeon but had to make do with a prisoner of war exhibit and a jail.

These doors were scratched on, written on etc...by the prisoners of war. They left their mark. It was so interesting to see their names and pictures and imagine them behind these doors.

Max and Isla on what must have been a most uncomfortable bed in the castle prison. Some of the offenses include drinking while on watch and desertion.

The new guards. Heaven help the castle!

This is the view from the cannons. Impressive sky!

The castle was a great way to spend the day. It was recommended to us by castle employees to book our tickets online, thereby avoiding the long lines for tickets. Unable to do so as we had no computer (unfortunate laptop incident), we showed up bright and early and only had to line up for a few minutes. We were out at lunchtime and headed to the town below.

We were seeking out a food shop called Valvonna and Crolla. My brother in law LOVES this place and we headed there to buy him something special for his 40th.

http://www.valvonacrolla.co.uk/

After that, Josh and Max wanted to see Kung Fu Panda 2 so Isla and I did what all girls should do when their boys are watching Kung Fu movies...we went shopping for hair clips!

I love Accessorize and the one in the John Lewis shopping center had a children's Monsoon in it too! Hooray!

Scotland 2011 - Day 11: Along the Royal Mile and The Singing Kettle

Hello Edinburgh!

The sun was shining as we headed out for the day. The previous evening, we had seen that the Festival Theatre was featuring a production of The Singing Kettle. I wasn't sure what it was but I knew it was a children's show. We headed over to the ticket counter first thing and found out that The Singing Kettle is an iconic Scottish children's entertainment company. A kind of Sharon, Lois and Bram thing. I was excited! We snagged ourselves last minute tickets for the 12:00 show. We had 2 hours to wander the Royal Mile and get ourselves some picnic things.

My new favourite store!

After the show, we headed over to the Museum of Childhood, which was only a short jaunt up the Mile. It houses an impressive collection of toys and memorabilia.

The dress up clothes proved irresistible.

And my girl, she loves to twirl!

We decided to walk to another one of "Fiona's Favourites" (the flat owner left a list) for dinner.

Halfway there, we were caught in the most torrential downpour I have ever been out in! Rivers were flowing down the street and we had to take shelter in an underpass with other unlucky pedestrians. We managed to hail a cab eventually, which took us to Jasmine.

http://www.jasminechinese.co.uk/about.htm

My kids are suckers for sweet and sour chicken. The fact that this one was brought out in a bowl carved out of a pineapple...well, they were suitably impressed!

We hailed a cab as the rain was still bucketing down. Max and Isla were enamored with the cab...especially the rear facing seats. My kids are so easy to impress. A pineapple bowl and a taxi. Done.

Scotland 2011 - Day 10: Loch Lomond to Edinburgh

Taking Daisy Home

We left Loch Lomond and headed via Glasgow to Ettrickbridge. Sadly, it was time to give Daisy back. We were sad to see her go...

We headed down the M74 from Glasgow to Moffat, where we stopped for a light lunch. Moffat is a funny old village. It is quaint in a way but doesn't really deliver. We did, however, find an orange Aero bar. Result!

From Moffat we drove in the direction of Selkirk to Ettrickbridge. The road was windy and narrow and simply delightful to drive on. We passed all kids of lovely houses and quaint buildings but they all seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. One village was a town hall and 2 houses! The sun shone as if to give us one last lovely ride in Daisy before we gave her back.

We rented her using the following website: http://www.classic-camper-holidays.co.uk/

It is run by two really cool people - retro to go!

We got to them a bit early for our taxi back to Edinburgh so we were invited in for tea and scones. Verity bakes a mean scone.

And so, our time in the retro camper was over. It was something I have always wanted to do and was a great experience from start to finish!

We got to Edinburgh around dinner time. Our flat was small but perfectly formed.

It is called the Storytelling Apartment...click here to check it out:

http://www.scottish-holiday-retreats.com/

We were right on the Royal Mile and so needed no car from this point on. It is almost a relief...like shedding responsibility, lifting weight off of our shoulders. We knew we wanted to eat Indian food so flipped through the recommendations of the flat owner as the kids settled in. We decided on Suruchi. Click here to check it out:

http://www.suruchirestaurant.com/

It was delicious. The only disappointing thing were the sauces for the poppadoms...they were almost there, but not quite. Josh had an amazing starter (shrimp) and we all enjoyed our meals, except Isla who claimed everything was spicy. The only thing she ate was the half a cucmber that was infusing our water. The waiter nearly died when she reached in to the water jug, fished out the long cucumber and happily crunched away!

The other thing Isla will not do is shower.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Scotland 2011 - Day 9: Islay to Loch Lomond via Invrrary Loch Fyne

The Way Back

We decided not to take two ferries and island hop on our way back. Instead, we took one ferry from Isla and drove toward Loch Lomond, which would be our stop for the night.

Daisy in Inverary.

Inverary: home to a beautiful castle, an interesting jail and a sweet shop that was the biggest let down so far. It looked good but all the sweets were stale or "not quite right". Shame.

We had lunch at a lovely cafe in Inverary called Brambles. I had the most delicious macaroni and cheese. It is so strange that this appears to be a Scottish thing. Yum.

Ships

We continued on up Loch Fyne and whizzed past this little gem. We read the sign as we zoomed and realized we were going to turn around. We just had to stop in at the Loch Fyne Oyster Market so Josh could sample their wares. They were just bringing in the day's fresh catch and he says they were divine.

I love this quote.

He really is so happy here.

The view from Loch Fyne is breathtaking. The green of the hills is so vibrant!

Our last night camping (Loch Lomond) in our beloved Daisy.

The stream runs right in front of our camper.

It is here that we met the Scottish midgie. Imagine a mosquito but so small that you can't see it! This hardly seems fair. You can't even smack them!

We didn't get to spend a lot of time in Loch Lomond but we did eat at a great place...The Kilted Skirlie!

http://www.kiltedskirlie.co.uk/

Josh had a haggis and neeps starter that he said was very creative and yummy!

Sisterly adoration.

Max got a lot of this on our trip. He is starting to really look after her. He warns her of danger and tries to stop her from doing unsafe things (which she tries to do all the time).

This also means that he gets to act like the boss a lot. He loves that.