Me, Robinson Crusoe!

In the weekend of July 18th-20th I found myself stuck in a desert island with a group of more than 20 strangers, to have one of the best partying weekends in a long time!

Once again it all started while checking for news on the Couchsurfing groups. One post promised a nice weekend in a desert island. "Why not?"

We met Friday in the end of the day to cross to the island - it's a tidal island and at around 19h the tide was low. After that the island would be inaccessible by foot, which is not a good thought considering that there are no shops, hospitals, bathrooms, anything! In fact, the only buildings remaining on the island are ruined bunkers from the times of the 2nd World War.

View Larger Map

Here are some of the photos I most liked. In the end there is a link for more photos.

In the first night we started the party on the outside but soon after the rain forced us to move inside the bunker. The dim light and 20+ people on that small area created a great atmosphere.









On the next day the weather got better, so we went around getting to know the island.









Group-hug! :)


Sunday was time to come back home and with that to try to beat the record of the higher number of camping items inside a car (see more photos in the link)



The rest of the photos are HERE

A "familiar" weekend

After the visit, over the past weeks, of some cousins (yes, the only people that visited me until now were family!), finally the most important ones came by - my parents!

Afternoon, mid-July. After two months without seeing them, I met my parents in the Central Station.

Their first reaction was something like "what a lovely train station!", to be replaced, some minutes later on the way home by "this city is kinda dodgy, isn't it?"
I'll explain! The first part of the city they saw was the south side right next to the river. Until some years ago this was an industrial area, which is now being converted into a residential one. Besides that, the river is close by and let's be honest - it's ugly in that area. The banks are being improved, until then it will look even worse!

OK, photos!!

One of the first places I took them in Glasgow was my favourite restaurant (not that I went to many until now!) - "The Butterfly and the Pig". It's a nice little restaurant with an original decor. For those interested the prices are between £9 - £14 per person. It's possible to find the contacts by googling the restaurant's name.


After dinner what better to walk around to visit the city? We went to the Necropolis, which was way farther way than it seemed to me, maybe because I had only gone there cycling!



Next day, we rented a car to visit Loch Lomond and the Trossachs Nations Park.

The following photos were taken in Loch Lomond. It has an extension of approx. 21 miles.



While touring around the Trossachs National Park we went by some (many) lakes. One of the most beautiful ones was Loch Katrine, here are the pictures.



The family, "resting and being thankful!"



Nest day, Edinburgh!

Here are they in the Scottish Parliament's bar.


Going up the Royal Mile, there was a wedding. The guy with the bagpipe was the band! ;)


Some of the alleys are like this.


The castle on the top of the World's most famous mile.



Whisky's museum


Around this time, Mrs. Grace ;) reckoned Edinburgh as being the most beautiful city she had visited, closely followed by Vienna of Austria. That's amazing, considering the weather was awful!


We finished the day at Balbir's, another great "not so little" restaurant on the West End.


Not very far away from it, Ashton Lane! :)


Although only 5 days, it was great for them to have an idea of Scotland and most importantly to have some quality time with the family! :)

A big kiss for the parents, although they will probably only read the Portuguese version of this!

Ride to the Highlands

Three weeks later, I finally managed to finish the most extensive post I've ever made.

It's all about the biggest and best tour I've done, either by car or (motor)bike!

The post is on my "my bikes ride" blog, found on the following link:

http://in-2-wheels.blogspot.com/2008/08/first-ride-to-highlands.html

A recommendation: the panoramas seem small on the post but get a new life once opened with a higher resolution, by clicking on them!