brrr…winter campervanning in the northwest

brrr...northwest christmas 09

Another historic post,  for our Christmas – NW break last year – we tested Oswald to the maximum with a trip around the north west of Scotland (some of the most remote regions in Europe) in what turned out to be the coldest winter in 30 years.

He coped admirably – we only got stuck once although the deep snow did mean we stuck to main routes and didn’t get to explore off the beaten path much – mind you ‘main’ is probably a bit of a euphemism some of the single track roads were pretty hairy!.

Our flickr set tells the story in all the blinding white glory.

[flickr album=72157623037906591 num=30 size=Thumbnail]

cph weekend

Noma

We went to Copenhagen (almost a year ago) for a quick weekend visit to Howe before he left back to Vietnam – was a great weekend including lunch at Noma (above) for some ‘food as art’ foamy goodness – the second best restaurant in the world apparently!

culzean castle

A final trip with Mum & Dad took us to the ultimate historical lads pad – Culzean Castle located on spectacular cliff tops in South Ayrshire

Khmer lunch in the campervan added an unusual flavour to proceedings, before we checked out the stunning setting, views to Arran and the beautiful grounds of the house. Mum was particularly taken with the collection of dahlias in the walled garden.

Even with a full day we still missed much of what the whole site has to offer, so we’ll be  back to check out the beaches and some more of the grounds.

renovation

It has been a bit of a posting desert round here for the last couple months, mainly due to work commitments and sheer laziness, but in recent times more to do with our new project.

We have bought a flat in the centre of Glasgow, but require quite a bit of work to get it up to scratch! – You can follow all the (mis)adventure on our flickr – I think it will be more up to date for the foreseeable future.

We are also back to Aus in April – drop me a line if you fancy catching up.

loch katrine

More fun with mum and dad, this time on a very damp and miserable day we took a drive up into the Trossachs for a trip on the Loch Katrine steamer.

It was a beautiful craft, and great scenery even if we were cooped up indoors for most of the trip.

We treated ourselves to a long lesiurely lunch at the delightful Inn at Kippen once we had finished. Where the food was generally fantastic and the atmosphere perfect for a rainy afternoon.

up the creek without a fork

FORK Autumn Safari

Way back last autumn I had a fun day with the Friends of the River Kelvin (with whom I am now a fully paid up memeber), canoeing on Loch Lomond. I had originally signed up for a decent of the River Kelvin itself, unfortunately it was postponed – hopefully we will get a chance to complete it one day.

A full report on the day is on the FORK website here.

camflava

We are just back from checking out on of the newest editions to Glasgow’s dining scene – a pan African ‘cabaret’ number called Camflava, tucked discretely in the Pollockshaws area of the south side.

While they are still finding their feet a little, and there wasn’t any cabaret to be seen, the food was fantastic and the staff very enthusiastic.The place did suffer from the usual Glasgow bugbear of being far too large and I suspect unless it is packed to the gills it will always feel a little souless.

On to the food, with our household of 3+1 all in attendance we shared fried plantain, ribs and chicken wings for starters which were all delicious. The main courses that followed were equally as good. Pete’s Black Bean & Pumpkin stew was thankfully tasty as it was the only vegetarian main on the menu. The rest of us tucked into grilled fish, a great chicken casserole type dish and the intriguing Ndolé – a beef dish made using shrimp paste and bitter leaves that was certainly an acquired taste!

Glasgow seems to be experiencing a mini boom in African cuisine (about time) with an Abyssian restaurant called the Queen of Sheba soon to be opening next door to our favourite haunt Asia Style.

doors open day

Mum and Dad had a suitably impressive introduction to Glasgow with Doors Open Day being held just after they arrived. We arranged a leisurely wander into town popping into series of ever more impressive historic buildings and churches culminating in the absolutely phenomenal City Chambers. If find it difficult to believe that hadn’t discovered this totally over the top edifice  before – especially as we work just around the corner. It is full of stone and marble lining and the grand ballroom has the dimensions of an aircraft hanger with vast murals and gilt everywhere. It is a truly impressive building and gives an insight into the astounding wealth that Glasgow once possessed.