Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Alesius]

I just came back from a great trip to Scotland. I would like to share some pics and impressions.
Started in Switzerland, crossed France, took the Eurochannel to England, drove up to Scotland, spent a week in Scotland visiting castles, distilleries and many pubs, and drove back via Netherlands, Belgium, Germany to Switzerland. Overall almost 5000km in 2 weeks. My wife joined me in Edinburgh and we drove 1700km in Scotland together (first time ever she was sitting on the bike for more than one day in a row - she said this must be true love  ). For the rest I was travelling on my own.
If you ask about the weather: well, there was not ONE day in Scotland without rain, but we were lucky enough that it was either raining when we visited a place, or during the night. The day I dropped off my wife at the airport in Edinburgh though, I got in a heavy rainstorm that didn't stop for the whole day - and I had to reach the ferry in the evening, so I was driving 400km until I was soaking wet  , not to mention my bike that has never been as dirty before. It took me a whole day and a sixpack of beer cleaning it 
Nevertheless, it was a great trip:

First pic is from the Grand Ballon in Alsace, France, just beyond the Swiss border.

[Alesius]

Next stop was in Reims (France), with the beautiful and impressive cathedral

[Alesius]

In England, close to Nottingham, I found the "oldest pub in England", established 1189 AD. The beer was still good, too :-)

[Alesius]

As soon as I crossed the Scottish borders, it became foggy and colder. Really strange 

[Alesius]

We only used Bed&Breakfast, and it was an absolutely great experience. Very friendly people, great accomodation and usually less expensive than an average hotel. This is a typical example close from Edinburgh. The owner was very nice and gave us many tips where to go.

[Alesius]

We reached St.Andrew, the famous university city (where "Will met Kate") and had the opportunity to watch their "Highland Games". Strong guys with  - ehm - special sport suits 

[Alesius]

Freshly smoked fish. It can't get much fresher, and it tastes absolutely great

[Alesius]

Young talents demonstrated their dancing skills, under rigorous observation from the jury. (btw: 10min after I took this picture, it was raining like hell, and another 20min later the sky was blue and sunny again: Scottish weather?)

[Alesius]

We visited many castles - this is just one (quite impressive) example, the Scone Palace (where Scottish Kings used to be crowned).

[Alesius]

An old graveyard - some grave stones are from the seventeenth century

[Alesius]

Driving up in the Highlands. Rarely any cars or people, but thousands of sheep everywhere, sometimes even on the road

[Alesius]

We met this mixed bagpipe group on the Culloden Battlefield. They came from Canada, US and Scotland. It was a very touching experience for us how they played with very earnest faces in this historically important location.

[Alesius]

Mandatory visit to Loch Ness. Seems that Nessie was on vacation, we didn't see anything unusual except bus loads of tourists

[Alesius]

The famous Eilean Dolan castle. Very nice location, but they had only one pub in the village, so it was VERY full in the evening   

[Alesius]

Waiting for the ferry from Isle of Skye. We spoke to many of the mobilhome drivers while waiting - based on how they looked at my bike, I think many would have agreed to switch their vehicles with the Harley immediately