East Sheen

After the incident in Hagley it was time for a fresh start we were given a job in the Lake District but had another interview lined up that we had already agreed to attend. This is how we came to live in East Sheen, the people that interviewed us wow'd us with their personality, freedom and friendliness. Above all they were personable and cat lovers.

The last thing that we wanted to do was work for another manager that treats us like we were robots for the company that they are trying to run (Mitchells and Butler, building teams of soleless automatons since whenever, I don't care enough to look up when they started). Not saying that the employer that hired us first was going to be like that, they however did request that we show up with several white shirts and black trousers as our uniform...5 days a week. Black tie too for Dan.

By contrast Sara and Simon at the Hare and Hounds were personable real people, and we got the sense that they were looking to add to their working family rather than recruit robots. That plus a laxness on uniform policy were two major factors in influencing our decision to shove the Lake District and live in London instead.

Hoping on the train we arrived at Mortlake station a mini little stop that is around the corner from High Street from there we are just a hop, jump and skip away from Hare and Hounds our new home. East Sheen itself is an affluent residential district with a serviceable high street (Waitrose, Tesco, WHSmith, cafes and stores), far enough out of the city to not be overwhelmingly busy, but still with attractions of its own, such as the nearby Richmond Park. There's little else to be said for the place other than that the locals as we've met them through working in the pub are an eclectic mix of normal people, overly spendy people and the usual slightly odd regulars that you get anywhere. Whatever they are they're better than the pretentious snobs that made up the target market for the Lyttelton Arms. No-one at the Hare and Hounds bemoans the fact that they can't have a slice of cucumber with their Hendricks.

Hagley - The Lyttleton Arms

After almost a month in the Nottinghamshire area we were off again, I liked the fact that we were with good friends and things could have been more stressful. Luckily for us we have good people sending us positive energy throughout that time. For the people out there this is my shout out to them, thank you so much for supporting us in what we are doing. Searching for that place in life that makes us happy isn't easy and sometimes we need those wonderful people to lean on.

We set off to Bath for an interview at a B&B for a hotel management position in hopes to run a B&B like our own. A place with Roman baths and much to see and do, a very touristy place. Daniel and I didn't have much time to explore the city since we were off to the next work location for the Christmas.

Be wary of this station we arrived early in the morning to pick up our tickets to head to Birmingham and they were shut. This was at 8am, says that it opens at 7am during the week. Is it just one guy that works here? I guess he isn't coming to work today.

After many transfers on a train (4 to be exact) we made it to Hagley train station to start work at the Lyttleton Arms. We were greeted with warm welcomes and talk of a wonderful establishment that caters to  large events and many menu specials throughout the week. We got a three course meal from the boss to see how the place works and a room to ourselves in the staff house next to the building.

A picture I snagged off of their site.

The staff house lounge area and kitchen was not very clean but we were told that it was horrid before they had fired everyone that partied to much. It is hard to manage so many people into clean after one another. Plus. people like to party when they are far away from home and working hard all day. At least our room was clean even though I thought we would get a double bed instead we got two singles pushed together.

The next day of training a very brief run through of the table numbers and the tills, I asked as many questions as possible in hopes to get more training and answers. I ran food to tables to get a hold of the menu that was pretty self explanatory. I guess everyone here just gets to get out there and prove themselves that they are good enough for the company. Award driven and corporately involved with making the best of the average is what they are going for here.

Following my very short training I went live on the floor, the tills were messy and disorganized. Luckily for me the people that I was working with were friendly and helpful. I got very little assistance with learning things correctly and being informed so I could do my job right. I asked a lot of questions this week, in the end we aren't going to be staying.

A night out in Birmingham was fun but it is a bit of a ways out, there isn't much to see in this area. The main street is mini and only runs about half a km long.

Now we are on the move again. Seriously I think we are professional nomads, Scotland left a much better impression on us. We miss you Harris.

Couch surfing Nottingham Part 2

After eating a Thai lunch I was fully stuffed and ready to wander around town, after doing several loops and stopping in Nero to grab some coffee it was time to meet my next host. I figured I would get more from staying with another host. Plus this would mean that I would get to see more of the city.

Troy and I walked over to the Burger Kitchen to meet her and her friend. After chatting for a while we all went our separate way. Ili and I went over to her place in a fancy upper class student apartments. Shared kitchen but their own en suite bathrooms. I really liked this place reminds me of the high rises we have back at home with a gym and other amenities available on site. The building itself seemed to have very high security and lots of rules but I guess that is just to enforce proper living within the building.

She flashed her key card on several doors through corridors and on a lift we finally made it. This place is much larger than I had expected. I wonder how many people live in this building alone, must be a lot since there was three flats per one kitchen. Maybe more!

Ili and I had a nice Big Bang Theory marathon since I hadn't watched any of the new season, so she caught me up. I think I have re kindled my love for the show as well. After the mini marathon we stayed up talking into the night about life experiences and adventures abroad. Ili is one awesome girl! I had a great nights sleep and was ready for the next day.

I had told her about the music festival Branch Out we did a bit of research on the venues and ended picking one in the same. Called Malt Cross but the music didn't start until earlier hours of the evening. We still had some time to explore and get into town. Ili mentioned a vintage fair, sure why not it was a £1 to get in and we would get a chance to find some antiques.

We entered this old building which I am sure was used for a theatre or still is, there was tea, cupcakes and all sorts of things for sale. From jewellery, clothing, accessories, tie dye, military camouflage and tonnes more of nick nack type items. What I wasn't quite prepared for was all the people that were going to be there, swarms of people of all types and sizes were there trying to muscle through to the next stand. I couldn't tell who was selling goods verses the consumers. After a short while we believed we had seen it all and were tired of the crowd. Time to find a nice place to get a hot beverage.

Their speciality drink is a hot chocolate with Maltesers, they also do a pretty good Chai Latte.

Since we really didn't have any place in mind we figured we would head over to the Malt Cross early to check out the venue. we had a back up place in mind since the music started at 3 pm at one of the other stages. When we arrived though I absolutely loved the converted style that had taken from this old theatre into a pub venue. A balcony level giving full view of the stage from above and also a more private seating area, the stage itself was on a mezzanine where it looks like only staff can get to. Which was a nice change from the usual pub seats shoved aside for a dance floor and a stage at the end. The bottom floor has nice long cozy sofas for more a booth feel. Ili and I loved it we were engaged in conversation until the bands started playing I think we spent about 6 hours sitting there, luckily for me I enjoyed every moment of it.

What a wonderful time I had with Ili now I must say good bye to Nottingham.

Couch Surfing Nottingham

Since I had a weekend free to do whatever I wanted I figured that it would be a good idea to see the sights of Nottingham. After doing a bit of research I was able to locate some people that I could stay with and not only that I had found a music festival that I could go to. With many venues and all for free no less, local musicians and tonnes of talent to be displayed. Since that was only Sunday I had some time to kill, what better way to pass some time than to meet the locals.

I headed off to meet my first host from Couchsurfer (I highly recommend this site) he was very friendly and we had a long conversation in regards to travelling, teaching around the world, music, movies and even relationships. He was very easy to get along with. The next day I got a nice hot shower and it was off to see some sights in town.

Robin Hood!

I think it speaks for itself. 

Inside the oldest inn in England the rooms were all part of the inner workings of the cave, my host was very nice to give me a historic tour whilst we were walking towards the inn. They had lots of beers and ales for people to try offering three mini pints for £4 where you can pick and choose. Pretty good deal! So we indulged a bit and had an early afternoon drink. There were also swords and gauntlets of all sorts in the display cases along the walls. They have a pretty comprehensive menu but I didn't order any food so I couldn't tell you if it was any good. I can however let you know that it was packed in there and finding a seat could prove to be difficult. The bar itself was labelled crematorium which I thought was a nice touch and the ceiling above the bar had all sorts of bank notes from around the world. Even saw a 20 dollar bill from Canada. I didn't realize how long it has been since I had seen one. :P

We considered going into the history museum but there was a door fee on  the weekends and there was a children's event going on at the Nottingham Castle mind you I did get to take a quick peek through the gates. I guess after seeing the Edinburgh Castle this one seemed small. Mind you their gift shop had lots of interesting Robin Hood swag.

He was nice enough to wait with me at the town centre square where I waited for my friend for a wonderful lunch.

Leaving Edinburgh

Greyfriars Bobby

From check out we had 9 hours to kill, what to do next? Since Danny and I are so fond of our museums off to the national museum of Scotland. A place that matched the British museum. With tonnes of unique animals that I have not seen before a rarity for myself since I have been in so many.

The best thing I saw there was the Crysophase, or 'time eater', a crazy clock adorned with a massive decorative grasshopper that kept irregular time, resyncing every five minutes as a means of representing the varying speeds of time's passage as humans perceive it.

The Time Eater 

 The second one was the 'millennium clock', it was made in the tribute to human suffering with many layers of historical figures of war time. Like Lenin, Hitler, Stalin I can't remember the last one. Not only that it stood so very tall with tiers that mirrored other evils humanity had to suffer through.

The Millenium Clock. 

When our feet started to ache once more I dragged Danny to Dim Sum since it had been far to long. I researched a place after looking through the to do guide for Edinburgh in our hotel room. The restaurant we ended up eating at was called Saigon Saigon, I had initially been looking for a bowl of pho. This restaurant served very little Vietnamese food despite the name. When I did get on their website it had a very colourful menu, with an all day a la carte section. Making it very enticing and hard to refuse.

Now it was time to sample their food, the staff all spoke Mandarin so I couldn't communicate with them very well. Most of the wait staff seemed to know enough to take an order,  after ordering exactly what I wanted and some more to go I was supper happy.

1.  Beef ho fun
2.  Chinese doughnut wrapped in rice noodles
3.  Steamed pork buns
4.  Rice noodles with peanut sauce
5.  Sticky rice with Chinese sausage egg and chicken in a banana leaf

The food was good but the prices for each dish seemed expensive £ 3+ per plate, the noodles were from the main menu costing £8. 

Either way I was pleasantly full and it was time to start the journey down country. Let's quickly recap.

1. Ferry 1:40 
2. Bus 4:20
3. Gondola 0:30
4. Train 5:15
5. Train 5:00
6. Train 0:45
7. Bus 0:20
8. Car 0:20 

From Tarbert to Long Eaton, over 18 hours!

Finally made it into a bed, time to sleep and get things sorted in the morning.

Arthur's Seat

The ascension is the incline upwards towards the right.

Today is the day that we aimed to climb Arthur's Seat. A uniquely put together volcanic mountainous hills in the middle of Edinburgh. A historical and very interesting piece of land with all sorts of terrain making it a very enjoyable 'hillwalking' adventure. Plus we were blessed by the gods with beautiful weather!

The sun was beating down after the uphill climb we came around the corner to find this. 

On our way up became higher than the hills around us. 

When we reached the top I thought we were finished but the seat was still ahead of us. 

 Accessible from every corner and surrounding hills we came across a little bit of everything. From a steep dirt incline to largely formed rock staircase but not without a bit of slippery slimy rocks and muddy patches.

This was taken when I first thought we reached the peak.

from upon Arthur's seat.

The scenery was breath taking and give you a much better perspective on how big Edinburgh city really is. With the old town, new town huge landmarks like the Stadium you can see it all even out to the ocean and around the bay to the other side.

On our decent down on the other side since we didn't want to backtrack there was so much more to see.

Having climb few mountains in Scotland Giolabhal Glas, Ben Nevis and now Arthur's seat this one is the best by far. mind you climbing your backyard mountain is a great adventure when you are accompanied by mystery and a wilderness explorer kitty.

This walk was by far the best one I have done since I have arrived in the UK. I would highly recommend this free walk to anyone in or travelling through Edinburgh.

Day 3 Edinburgh

Most of the morning and early afternoon was spend on Arthur's seat since it was quite a journey up as it was down. I couldn't help but feel that this city has so much more to offer. I already knew that our three nights in Edinburgh wasn't going to be enough.

Where the Queen stays when she is in Edinburgh.

I forgot to mention the queen's gallery since it was in front of Scottish parliament and it was near the path before the climb. We took a quick peak at the building the queen stays at when she is residing in Scotland and remembered to take a bathroom break.

When we reached the bottom once again we wanted to walk back into town to take a break back at our hotel. We were delayed by Danny's curiosity for the building that we saw on our way up Arthur's seat. Up again since it was still quite a distance  past a cemetery, my legs aching and feeling the uneven steps and various types of landscape we had already come across.

I thought we had arrived at the same building that was at we had seen so far away, it turned out to be the Burns Monument. The people of Scotland must have really enjoyed his poetry, I'll be the first to admit that I haven't read much if his works outside of the writer's museum. Across the street from it was a very abandoned looking Greek building, with the tall pillars.

Finally making it back to Cockburn street which really wasn't all that far we were enticed by a street performer. A sword swallower with a great sense of humour and showmanship. The first of his crowd it was hard to say no to the man working in a chilly night. He put in a wonderful show with a very amazing finale, that really had you thinking that he might get hurt. Ohhh, the suspense.

I had found a flyer when we walked into Edinburgh backpackers hostel sporting some drum and bass at a night club near by. Called Sneaky Pete's but they didn't open until 11pm. With a lot of time ahead of us we rested for a little while in the hotel warmed up a bit and caught up with one of the free daily ghost walks.

Our tour guide played the role of a ghost that was hung in Edinburgh, calling us all 'mortals' as we followed him to the next bar to pick up more tourists. He had flare in his story telling and walked around showing the places those true stories originated from. He had tricks and enthusiasm plus he was in character the whole time, I absent mindedly reminded myself that I should have asked the gentleman how long he had been telling ghost stories for.

Most of the ghost walks in Edinburgh charge about £ 11 per person that include a trip through the catacombs under the city. So I would much rather  pay a small donation to someone who isn't just a tour guide reading from a script.

Our ghost walk tour guide.

The evening was just only half over now, time to get some food and get ready to head out dancing. On our way we met some wonderful people, a busker named Jamie who had an obsession with Cantonese to be specific, Ryan from new Zealand told me I had the best answer for relationships and Ben from the east coast of England ho played hockey and has family in Canada. Haven't made it into the club yet and we already started chatting up strangers.

Lastly dancing was to be had, the bar reminded me of a small bar at home called level two but more narrow. The dance floor was small but it had been ages that I had been on one with more than 12 on the dance floor. The DJ was playing dub step when we walked in and spun some all right tracks But I was there for the  d&b which he didn't play, when the next DJ came on he switched to house even though it said on the flyer that it was suppose to be breaks/d&b/dub step.

Whatever danced for an hour any ways, I'm sad we are leaving tomorrow.

Day 2 Edinburgh

I awoke in the afternoon, Danny started making an omelets for breakfast/lunch since we have access to the self catering facilities. On our way up to the castle there was no shortage of things to watch, shop and eat.

Yoda, invisible man, Elaine Davidson the lady with the most piercings in the world, escapologist, a guy playing the musical saw, bagpipe player and a man from brave heart were all on the way to the castles. On top of all the eateries and shops (mostly selling cashmere) there were also vendors on the street that sold hand woven winter garments, Celtic jewellery, Scottish art, hand carved stones, caricaturists and plenty more.

Since it was pretty much across the street we went into the St. Giles cathedral cause you can't go to a city and not see its church? I snap a picture of the biggest organ I think I have ever seen.

On route to the castle we went into the literary museum, since Edinburgh is a town with many famous writers.    In the Writers Museum up a spiralling cement stairway there was a collection of works, paintings/drawings and life implements that were used during the writers life. Featuring Robert Burns the poet, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and many more.

Even with all the distractions we saw the Edinburgh castle by day where we got to see how well placed the building is in city. This time it had a much less ominous feeling to it since it wasn't filled with thoughts of history that the walls themselves hold.

Looping around to Grassmarket to see some of the pubs and shops, we found that there wasn't much going on in the streets. I think we spent a little more time than intended to in a a shop called Helios Fountain  I have been in a lot of nick-knacks type stores with all the fun crafts and stationary but I just really loved this one. On our way back around towards the Tron theatre we made a pit stop for a fruit smoothie and a milk shake.

On Cockburn street we hit many of the alternative, independent stores since the large super malls don't really appeal to me. There isn't anything fancy from HMV, KFC and over priced clothing from huge name brand stores.

Back to the flat to drop off what I bought today an buy cinema tickets. When we were browsing through the shops I found a pamphlet for Scotland Loves Anime showings right here in Edinburgh. I count myself really lucky since I haven't had the chance to see any Japanese works in the cinema. Here is my chance, I wanted us to catch Berserk & Berserk 2 but the last showing was yesterday. Nerawareta Gakuen was playing today at 6 pm but when we got there it was sold out. Instead we were able to grab the next showing for Blood-C The Last Dark.

Here is the trailer, what a great film. Even though this has been ongoing since 2000. A movie, two season series another revamped with CLAMP and now another winning film. 

Off to and arrival in Edinburgh

The time in Fort William went by really quickly but I guess we spent a lot of the time relaxing. Feeling relatively rejuvenated it is time for us to board the (11:40am) train (ScotRail) towards Glasgow for a quick change over before the last leg of the trip to our new destination Edinburgh. I can't wait, I am really excited to hit up a capital city to soak in civilization and night life. Since it was nearly non-existent in Tarbert, I know that there was some 'party' up in Stornoway but we didn't really get the time off to go clubbing there. Not sure if one would call it clubbing.

4:45pm we arrived at Waverley Train Station after trekking up the Fleshmarket Close up to Cockburn Street where the Edinburgh Backpackers are located. Before I go on, I had some issues with their website, you can't book any private rooms on their site. But you can book a private room on Hostelworld.com my preferred website is usually Hostelbookers but they didn't show their private rooms.

**Side Note** If you buy a Plusbus all day pass when you are buying your rail tickets it is only good for the day you arrive.

Edinburgh Castle

After waiting for a long time putting a £10 key deposit we were directed up to High Street and next to a whiskey shop we reached our Flat with a shared kitchen and bathroom. The room that we are in is really spacious and quite cosy a nice change from the last hotel. Time to go wander a bit since we were seated so long on the train. Got the night view of the city from the castle, afterwards we headed across to the other side to new town to visit our friend Kriss that worked with us at Hotel Hebrides.

We picked up 'Vesuvio £8.85 £10.45 £13.45pepperoni, onion, pancetta, mixed jalapenos, tabasco, grana padano ' from Origano Cafe & Pizzeria since they didn't have the seating area for us when we showed up. Kriss so highly recommended this place we ordered take out. It was the best thin crust pizza that I can remember eating in ages. I even forgot to take a picture of it!

I really wanted to go out dancing after having our pizza and a couple of drinks, Kriss recommended this boat bar called The Cruz. They were suppose to have a dj playing there until 1 am  but when we arrived at 11:30pm there wasn't much going on. Instantly we hopped in a taxi and headed to Pivo, the lady at the bar seemed quite short with me even though there was no line up. The dance floor was empty and the lounge house was acceptable but nothing to fuss over.


It was time to call it quits I guess the places don't stay open much later than 1am that I know of yet. When we made it back to Kriss and Polina's flat they made us nalesniki. Super yummy, it was a request of mine since I had it one Christmas dinner with a Polish family. Danny and I took a 30 minute walk back into old town before we got the chance to have a well deserved night's rest.

Funny that I am posting about Polish food in Scotland.

Nevis Range Gondola

I had a pretty slow start today after a huge vegetarian omelet (and French toast with bananas and mango slices yesterday) at the hotel,  following a bit of digestions we walked into town next to Lock Linnhe the whole way.

A photo of the High street in Fort William.

While we were waiting for our bus up to Nevis range. 

We asked the lady that was manning the CityLink desk for directions to go Nevis Range since I fancied riding in a gondola or what I would call a tramcar. She gave us the time table for the next bus out and the return times. We were thinking about climbing Ben Nevis when we first arrived but spent the day taking a break from travelling, working and saying good bye to everyone with a nice relaxing evening in.

Knowing that you have to be real prepared to climb the mountain we choose to do the easy route and walk around when we get to the top.

On the bus out to the range.

The bus only costed us £5 for two return tickets, which was half as much as I thought it would be.

 Approximately 20 minutes later we were at a Pinemarten cafe and bar and a ticket booth to head on up. £11.25 for a return adult ticket we hopped right on the next available gondola. In 15 minutes an a nice conversation with a couple of friendly elderly travellers about what happened to the people at the top since we saw no passengers coming back down. They were a riot to ride up with. You started to notice the top when the fog got closer and we were above cloud level. The mist was thick and very cool, we bundled up just the right amount. After our yummy Morrison lunch - aromatic duck with salad and ho sin sauce in a wrap it was time to climb.

The restaurant at the top. 

There is a ski lift that isn't active yet and a the ramp for the Mountain Bike World Cup in the UK  they say that it take 5 minutes to get down on a mountain bike [WARNING, only for experienced riders only] it is extremely steep. There were two view points one that takes 20 minutes or 30 minutes each way. Taking the left path we walked towards the place where the panoramic photo perfect point would be if it wasn't entirely impeded by fog, mist and clouds. Below is the map of the full mountain range, the gondolas only take us to the little spot in the bottom right hand corner.

The trip back down was very short in comparison to the uphill ride, even when we heading down at 4pm people were still going up. Grabbed a coffee and waited for the bus, when it was time to board the bus it didn't come. Checking the bus timetable we realized that the lady at the CityLink reception desk has given us the wrong time. The waitress said that we would have to pay for a £10 taxi back into town even though we both held a return ticket back into town. 

Time for some quick thinking we asked some people coming off of the tram if we could catch a ride with them, a couple from outside of London were happy yo help. No questions asked they were really accommodating and even offered us a ride back to our hotel. We learned that they were scoping out the area for their big climb all the way to Ben Nevis, with a guide and tonnes of supplies it would only take them 9 hours!! They dropped us off at their hotel and we meandered back into town to grab the one thing we forgot - toothpaste (you never think about it until it is gone) and some dinner. 

I decided that today was the day that I was going to try the infamous haggis. Haggis- Containing sheep's heart, liver, lungs minced with onions, oatmeal, spices, salt and stock. Traditionally encased in the animals stomach, now they are prepared in a sausage casing. There was the common dish where haggis is served with neeps and tatties (turnip and potatoes) I didn't know if I could do haggis by itself so I went for the double burger.

Haggis, if you do not think about how it is made or what it is made up of too much it tastes like another version of meat. I don't know what I was so afraid of but I would have it again. Maybe I will even try it the traditional way. 

Tarbert - Uig - Fort William

I even saw a hairy coo on the way to Portree on the bus since we wizzed by them
 so quickly I wasn't able to get a shot. So here is a picture I found online, until I can
capture one in real life on camera. 

I did a post 3 months back of this trip in reverse, now we are back again. Got up in the morning for our last meal at the Hotel Hebrides then our farewells and good-byes. It was really sad to say so long to these wonderful people on the island.

11:50 the ferry took off and that will be the last time we see the Hebrides for awhile. Danny and I want to come back some day to see the rest of the isle. We arrived at Uig for about an hour were we got the chance to enjoy the sun on the tea house patio since the weather was just beautiful today. 14:45 off to Fort William at 18:20 we finally arrived, I don't recall this ride being so bumpy on the way up.

Finally time to get off the bus, pick up our train tickets and find something to eat. Couldn't be bothered to wander too far from the station we got some quick food from Morrisons. Now off to find out hotel Innseagan Hotel  google map said that it was about a mile and a half from bus station but we ended up walking for quite some time. We reached an area where the street lights just stopped, I started to get all worried and tried to call the hotel. There was no answer then we pulled it up on our gps saying that we already past it. I had to wander up to one of the many hotels before the streets lights ended to ask for directions. They assured me that the hotel was about another half a mile ahead, I trusted him and trudged onwards. Lucky for us it wasn't raining nor overly cold.

Greeted by some barking dogs we were able to get settled in and lie down for the night.

Good-Bye Hotel Hebrides

The Pierhouse Restaurant 

During my time in western Hebrides I learned that in a community as small as this everyone really does know everyone. There are ears and eyes everywhere, maybe Ray the cat is really a spy.

Personally I like how connected it is but then again you lose all personal space, there has to be a nice medium between not knowing who your neighbours are to them making you feel bad cause you didn't know what day the bins were suppose to go out.

The locals have been nothing but friendly towards us not discriminating where we are all from, asking lots of questions and learning our names. Three months later we have learnt their names and spent time over crosswords and learning about what makes them such amazing individuals.

Now the fellow employees, we are glue that holds the place together. When put to the task and feeding off each others energy we all work like a well oiled machine. We don't get enough recognition for the work we have done that extra bit we put in. So this is me saying 'You did a fantastic job!' I know I was there.

The Mote Bar

I have heard some amazing stories, met people from around the world, learnt words/phrases I have never heard before coming here and now have to say good-bye to the people that I have grown fond of. Saying good-bye is never easy but in this life time it is necessary to keep moving on.


I was torn about writing this post since there were things I wanted to say that were not so lets say 'fun' about working at the hotel. We all have problems with the hours we worked, how management is ran but who doesn't? Do you know anyone that loves their job let alone their bosses? At least our accommodations and bills was provided and even meals when you were working allowing time for other things.

MacQueen Street - Staff housing.

Instead of plaguing this post with negative energy, personal thoughts that could hinder my future job applications I wrote about the wonderful things that I have witnessed and learned here.


Three months breezed on by and it is time to move again, onto the next adventure. Stay tuned. Same Bat-time, Same Bat- Channel. :P

A day away in Scalpay

In Gaelic: Sgalpaigh an island that is connected to Harris by a bridge which was what sold me. Plus Danny wanted to spend his birthday away from Tarbert and our friend Gemma was nice enough to share her humble abode with us. Which is greatly appreciated, since I wouldn't even know where to start if I was trying to find accommodations in Scalpay. 

Only a 20 minute bus ride away the driver dropped us off at the door, since they actually can accommodate to the residents there. (I only thought the St.Albert buses at home did this) I wiki'd how many people lived in Scalpay and we got a total of about 350 give or take 30 people. The little island was cut off from the word except by boat for ages then they built a bridge connecting the island to Harris. 

We went for a quick walk out to the park that closes at 9pm before our nice homemade meal. I had a wonderful evening out at Scalpay since it was so peaceful and remote, then again I think you would get island fever if you live to long in a place like this.

In the morning we started off with a coffee like we always do, then we popped over to the only shop on Scalpay. This building has been split to be shared with a cafe with shakes, hot beverages, cakes and sandwiches. I believe this is the only cafe on the island.

Ready for our trek out to the lighthouse (the very first one build on the outer Hebrides) we took a very leisurely walk down the road, well the only road. On our way out we met two lovely dogs that followed us all the way. A white very energetic boxer and a old west highland terrier with a lot of spunk left. Danny and I named them Bruno and Todd, I can't imagine having so much fun with two wandering dogs but they were great company.

Bruno chased all the sheep in sight away and Todd happily toddled along behind us, Danny really took a shine to Todd and even carried him on the uphills since he was panting pretty loud.

In the end we didn't make it all the way to the light house since we didn't know the rabbit path and wasn't going to traps through the very very muddy and questionable bogs to get to it. Plus both our friends has the whitest of fur...well not any longer.

I almost forgot about the abandoned houses along the way, I only went into one of them since Danny was keeping our new found friends company. I don't know when they were abandoned but I found remnants of beds, a large book shelf, a suitcase and even a TV. I did explore a bit watching every step I took since it looked the floor boards were going to collapse to find where they went to the bathroom. I didn't see any signs of a toliet, tub or stove...

Backtracking back into town and dropped off our new found friends at their home, spoke with the owners to find out that their names were Troy and Archie. Now I am even considering dog walking as a part time job I loved walking those two so much. 

Time to celebrate the rest of Danny's birthday back in Tarbert.