K&C's New Year UK tour - Scotland

And so to Edinburgh to explore the city & a few nights stay with Micka in his penthouse porn pad.
The snow laiden clouds were blown in on a strong cold South Easterly wind made for a dramatic sky line on arrival, but these cleared at night to show the city's festive skyline.

Our first full day started with a flurry of snow that dusted the roof tops & pavements. We set out thorough the fresh snow & headed up to the castle via the historic Royal mile.

Once at the castle, the panoramic vista of entire city & surrounding country opened up in front of us. The vista lasted no more than 30 minutes before we were again engulfed by clouds. The real snow started to fall this time & ALL the kids started to play (didn't they Karina!!)

The cold of outside made the inner castle appear positively warm.

Our evening plans turned to the scary side of the city. Deep below the crowded pubs & shops, in the underground chambers beneath the city, we found this whitely ghost (hehe - sorry Mick, think you need more Scottish sun!)


Our final day in Scotland took us to the coast, to Leigh, where the decommissioned HMS Britannia is moored. The well managed tourist attraction had us quizzing around simultaneously seeing how the Queen et al had lived aboard the the royal ship & avoiding families with screaming kids.

We finished the day with a relaxing afternoon long lunch, swapping University/Rugby stories with Sam, Kate & little Fin at their house just south of Dundee.

K&C's New Year UK tour - Lake District & New Years Eve

The rain continued with drizzle & low hanging cloud interspersed by heavy down pours. Fully kitted up we weren't going to let the weather get in the way of exploring the lakes.
The stunning countryside opened up as the cloud lifted & occasionally cleared. We drove through Kendal & on to the village of Ings where we checked into the Watermill hotel. The promised real ale was great, which is more than could be said for the real food & the real atmosphere, so we headed out to see the sights instead.

Just south of Windermere lies the tourist epicentre of Bowness on Windermere. We parked up & headed in the opposite direction seeking some quieter back waters & slightly spooky forests.

We extended our planned 10 mile hike seeking out some more back country scrambling. Fortunately we were decending as the 10 minute drop would have killed us to climb up!
Our lucky stars were shinning so far, the weather held off while we were out walking; so despite trudging through deep mud & flooded fields we manged to keep dry... well, ish!

K&C's New Year UK tour - Liverpool & the Beatles

There's not too much to tell about Liverpool other than the Beatles. The 2008 European city of culture has a long way to improve it's image but it suited us well for a quick half day visit.
The Beatles tour, situated in the Albert docks was a colourful trip through the city's beloved boy band history.
The Cavern, where the band first played is still a live band venue in the city centre. We grab a quick beer to drink in the nostalgic atmosphere & hung out with John for a short while. We left, leaving the rest of Liverpool's indigenous population to shop the 4th day of the January sales (Dec 30th !).

K&C's New Year UK tour - Chester & Wales

Karina & I set out from London heading for Dave's place in my name sack - the walled city of Chester! Dave played both host & tour guide for two days & has totally missed his vocation in life (in my opinion). The picturesque Tudor buildings & cobbled streets are surrounded by the stone fortifications of medieval times. The pending stormy weather, we were to encounter later, held off & gave us a cold crisp day to tour the city.

That afternoon we drove through Snowdonia to the west Wales coastal town of Port Merion. The weather found us as we wound through the mountains, blasting the car with a surreal "sunny" hail storm & then welsh drizzle - Nice.

Xmas 07 - Sherborne

Crimbo in P&H's new house saw Karina & I join Mum & Dad, the dogs & Fitz for a chilled out 2 days of eating, drinking & unwinding. Hagar, having spent a week solid painting their new pad, managed not to collapse from exhaustion & we all tried with differing levels of success not to stain the new carpet.

The festivities kicked off with Midnight mass in Sherborne Abbey, a service that went on & on, (it flew over my head) but the songs were fun to sing with hundreds of others.

Santa dropped by in the middle of the night delivering stockings to one & all. I found mine, as I stumbled half asleep down the corridor for a pee, or at least it found my feet & sent me sprawlling.

Post country walk to exercise Boson we cracked on in the preparation of Dinner, an English -Mexican culianry mix with musical crackers to add some hilarity to th mix! (See video)





Fitz won best present (but then again - he who dares wins!) P - we expect to see you wearing your tasteful new underpants both pre & post pregnancy !