At Christmas I took a trip to see my parents in Scotland again, you can see snaps from previous visits here and check out general Scotland rambles here. For the uninitiated; my parents live on the Isle of Mull and I absolutely fuckin’ love it there. This is part one of a two part series, and concentrates on the days over Christmas, before my friends came up for New Years. That will be following after I finally get around to doing my first recipe post of the year.
So I’ve just returned from a week at my parent’s on the Isle of Mull, just off of Scotland’s west coast. I followed it up with a couple of days in Edinburgh which I’ll be posting about later this week. The days off were very much needed. Despite a last minute break I had between jobs (when I went to Berlin), this was my first proper chunk of time off since Chicago last September (I don’t understand how that’s been a year) and with moving 4 times (soon to be 5) since then, I was starting to get burnt out. I had a lot of time to myself so the trip took in cycling, running and walks from the house, as well as a trip to the picturesque Iona plus a heap of cooking and baking (go see my biscuits here). It was rounded off by a walk along cliffs (including a clamber down a rusty ladder) to see the remains of a fossil tree. I’m simply going to let the photos speak for the rest of the trip:
As I’ve mentioned previously on the blog, my parents recently moved to the Isle of Mull. It’s been a fairly crazy couple of months, my mum got struck by lightening?!, it’s been the coldest/heaviest snow that Mull has had in years (they keep on being assured, it NEVER does this here). And they are still, of course, living out of boxes. Anyway, they’ve wanted me to head up and see the new place so I took the first opportunity I could. I’ve been sleeping really badly (combo of stress and some other issues) and a weekend away on Mull would be just the ticket to help sort me out (I hope it lasts).
I’ve not done a “weekend” up there since I moved south. From Leeds I could viably take off the one day and get a good chunk of time on the island before heading back. From London? Not so easy. I opted for the Megabus Gold on the way up (this meant I could travel overnight and be in Glasgow early). Well, that’s the last time I do that on my own. I had to basically share a bed with a complete stranger (alas it wasn’t an attractive lady, just a middle aged man). It did mean, however, that I was in Oban waiting for the ferry by about 12. If I’d left that morning from London it would have meant an entire day of travelling (See the Sunday trip home…).
It rained. What a surprise aye? But it was great to see the new place, and we headed off for a quick stomp (nothing too ambitious due to the weather) to the beaches at Knockvologan. Unfortunately, I hardly used my proper camera on this trip, having to rely almost entirely on my phone. It was the kind of wet outside where you’d be out for 5 minutes and be soaked through, I didn’t want to risk my camera in that. These beaches are superb as they are remote enough to be quiet but actually relatively easy to access. They have superb white sand which stretches a long way, good wildlife (we were being watched by a number of seals) and superb turquoise water (even in the rain).
I baked a couple of Lemon Drizzle loaves, but didn’t take any pictures (we just ate them, soz) and it reminded me I need to actually do that recipe at some point (in the mean time check out my miniature Lime Drizzle Loaves). The Sunday back reminded me exactly why I’d tried to break up the journey by going overnight. I left at 10am from My parents place and got back home at 10pm, shattered beyond belief.
I’m looking forward to more adventures at their new place, which was pretty nice to say they have just moved in, it needs work and they are still living out of boxes. It’s exciting to see what the future holds for them up there. I’ll be back up pretty soon for a slightly longer stay. And I’m trying to organise a camping/campervan trip around Scotland for later in the year. Any tips on other bits of Scotland to visit?