Why be like the other sheep?
Graemsay was the last inhabited island (with a ferry link) I had left to visit in Orkney and Shetland. I was lucky to get a perfect day for it and ended up feeling I had managed to save the best till last. This is how I spent my day exploring Graemsay Orkney and I really recommend you do the same if you’re ever in Orkney.
Have you ever heard of Graemsay? If I was a gambling woman I’d put good money down to bet that the majority of you hadn’t.
It’s such a gem of an island, especially on a sunny day, that if it were further south or more easily accessible there would be hordes of people visiting.
As it is, it’s a tiny island off the coast of Mainland Orkney, which itself is an island off the very north coast of Scotland. Continue reading “Exploring Graemsay – A Perfect Day on a Perfect Island”
A visit to the Whaligoe Steps should be on everyone’s NC500 wishlist. They’re notoriously difficult to find though, so if you are planning to visit have a look at the step-by-step directions I’ve given here. I got lucky with the weather and so used the opportunity of a nice day to explore and decided to launch my film-making career whilst I was at it!
If you’ve looked up ideas for travelling around Scotland in recent years, two types of ‘tour’ will have jumped out at you:
Outlander and NC500.
The Outlander tour routes are all about visiting filming locations used for the Outlander TV series and some (all) of the places you’ll get to visit on these tours are amazing. I know because I’ve been to some of them. But that’s for another post.
The other type of tour that jumps out at you from Google is the NC500 or North Coast 500. This is something a brilliantly-minded marketing official at Visit Scotland came up with a few years ago. Many tourists visit Scotland each year. Many tourists go to the Highlands each year. Many tourists do not venture further north than Loch Ness. The Great Glen and its lochs, including Loch Ness, form a watery geographical border stretching from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east. Until recently this also seemed to be a tourist border. For some reason, people didn’t venture further north than this. Continue reading “Starring the Whaligoe Steps”
There are lots of wonderful places for shopping and eating in Lerwick and the good news is that they’re all close together. So even if you only have a few hours you’ll still be able to explore them.
Is Lerwick a good destination for shopping and lunching? You may be wondering this if you are travelling around Shetland or if you are just visiting for a few hours on one of the many cruise ships that now make a stop in Shetland each summer.
You won’t find many high-street names in Lerwick – no Starbucks or Costa, no M&S or WHSmiths and no Top Shop or Primark. There’s not even a McDonald’s.
This is a good thing. Continue reading “Shopping and Eating in Lerwick”
Scalloway in Shetland is on many people’s must-see list because of the castle, museum and interesting WWII history. But it’s worth spending a couple of extra hours and exploring more of the village. When I did, I found all these cute houses and wanted to move straight in.
The first couple of times I went to Scalloway I liked it, but felt it was somewhere to quickly see and move on. There’s a castle and there was a small cluttered museum in one of the terraced houses, but that was about it. Continue reading “Cute Houses of Scalloway”
Posh sandwiches, gooey cakes and warm scones all served as I pootled round London on the top deck of an old Routemaster. Read on to find out more about touring London on a cake bus.
You’ve probably seen the double-decker tour buses that drive round London and other cities countless times. But have you ever seen one that’s a cake bus?
When I mentioned to people that I was going to London to go on a cake bus I got a few people disbelieving me. As though they thought something that good couldn’t possibly exist.
But believe me people, as exist it does! Continue reading “Touring London on a Cake Bus”
Iranian food, French chocolate, an Afro-Caribbean market, a hidden river, WW2 POW history, an odd looking library, a peace wall. If you’re in London you really should spend a day in Peckham. Read on to find out what a day in Peckham has to offer. This post is part of the Exploring London’s Suburbs series.
Last week I had a few days in London and managed to fit in a trip to an area I haven’t visited before for the next installment of my series, ‘Exploring London’s Suburbs’. Read on to find out what I discovered on my day in Peckham. Continue reading “A Day in Peckham”
An update on everything I’ve done this month, with tips on the strategies and resources I’ve used to help me achieve my goal of getting organised this year.
As I want 2018 to be my year of getting organised I’ve decided to do something a little different. Instead of writing a post each month just on the books I’ve read, I’m going to expand it into more of a general overview of how I’m doing with all my goals.
The format of these posts and what I decide to include will no doubt change as I go along. It’s all part of the process of being flexible and finding what works best – a philosophy I’m trying to apply to my whole life! Continue reading “Getting Organised – January 2018 Review”
The world’s first purpose-built art gallery, Ernest Shackleton’s boat, an old college, an American Garden and a lovely high street. I found plenty to see and do when I spent a day in Dulwich recently.
One of the things I’m trying to do when I visit London is to see more than just the usual tourist areas. Having lived there for over ten years (though not all in one go) I feel I know the city pretty well and I know that there’s plenty to see and do outside of the West End. I also know that there are still lots of areas well worth exploring that I’ve yet to visit. Continue reading “A Day in Dulwich”
What do William Morris, Europe’s longest street market, an ancient house and 26,000 burials have in common? They’re all found in Walthamstow.
London is far more than just the West End. If you’re visiting and you have more than a couple of days, or if it’s not your first visit and so you’ve already been to Madame Tussaud’s and the Tower of London, then it’s well worth exploring a bit further than the usual Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Covent Garden circuit.
Hop on a tube or bus and get out into the surrounding towns and suburbs. They are all so different and have their own characters and sub-cultures, and as there’re always plenty of interesting things to do and places to eat, not only will you have a great day, but you can go home and say you’ve seen a bit of the ‘real London’ too. Continue reading “A Day in Walthamstow”
Each month I write a short review of the books I’ve read. This is what I read in December.
I didn’t do too badly with my reading in December. I managed to read six books even though I was really busy. I read a couple of thrillers by authors I’m very familiar with, but also discovered a new (to me) author too. And I read a few books that weren’t thrillers. All in all, a good month.
Read on to find out more about what I read in December. Continue reading “What I Read in December 2017”
