Well, it's been a fantastic Christmas holiday for my family and me. We've travelled overseas to Scotland, catching up with so many of our Scottish family members and spent a week in France as well. It's been awesome! The scenery has been incredible as has the seasonal change - we've completely missed out on the Aussie summer heatwave so far! No snow here yet, but plenty of cold temperatures and some fairly mild ones as well. We did, however, have a drive through the Cairngorms National Park and passed by the Scottish ski resort of Glenshee where we found a big pile of man made snow and made the very most of that! Snow for these Aussies is always a special day!
And now for a few highlights...
So ... our trip began in early December, flying into Glasgow and heading out to our base camp at Juniper Green, Edinburgh. So great to get off the plane and step into the crisp Scottish air. Our family loves it here - it truly is our second home. After a couple of days catching up with family, I was booked to perform as a featured artist for the Science Fiction magazine, Shoreline of Infinity's Event Horizon. On this occasion, the downstairs room at the Frankenstein Pub in Edinburgh was booked out and filled with SciFi fans for the book launch of a SciFi Poetry book. I played three original pieces from my album, Reality Changes, and had the absolute pleasure of singing alongside my daughter, Jessica, who sang beautiful harmonies to my melodies. It was a treat and such a buzz to sing with Jessi. A bit different to Aussie crowds, the Edinburgh crowd was very hard to read. They just sat there, listening and not giving anything away. It was hard to tell if they enjoyed the music, but the applause was loud and heartfelt, and I learned later that it's very common for these audiences to simply sit and listen intensely. It was a great night and a real treat to play in Edinburgh.
And here's a wee clip of one of our songs.
And so to Bordeaux, France!
After another day or so, we headed off to Bordeaux, France for a week. We were going to visit an old friend of Shirley, whom she hadn't seen for more than 30 years! It was so great to meet Nathalie and her husband Eric, and we all fell in love with Bordeaux! While there, we walked about the spectacular, historic city and visited Le Basin D'Arcachon (a picturesque coastal region where oysterculture is the main industry) and the beautiful medieval town of St Emillion. It was Awesome! Shirley and I immersed ourselves in in speaking as much French as possible and by the end of our stay, we could have almost passed for a couple of locals! A family favourite was the cosy Marche de Noel (Xmas markets) at Bordeaux, where the mulled wine flowed and the wild nougat grew in heady chunks alongside the tasty liquers that seemed to spring from the very land itself. Yum!
A few shots from around Bordeaux city and the Xmas Markets
Le Bassin D'Arcachon
Here's a few snaps from a local market in Bordeaux
And we loved the medieval town of St Emillion
And then back to Scotland!
Once we left France, we returned to Scotland to join some of our Scottish family in Innerleithen for an excellent Christmas. And over the next month, we spent time in many parts of Scotland with several families from within our close Scottish relatives.
Our holiday included time in North Berwick - where we climbed the impressive tor which overlooks the town and met some of its wild ponies, Skye - where we walked alongside the footsteps of dinosaurs and drove through the rugged Cuillins, Aboyne - where we walked in the castle grounds and I nearly killed myself falling down a set of stairs at my sister-in-laws house, Carnock - where we saw grey squirrels aplenty and walked along the rail trail towards Dunfermline.
We visited our family estate at Carcant in the Scottish Borders and walked up to our favourite hundred year old log cabin, and spent many days throughout the month in Juniper Green, Edinburgh, where we rested and recovered from the crazyness of constant travel. But the best thing of all was spending time with our Scottish relatives - young and old and rekindling our international family connections.
Our holiday included time in North Berwick - where we climbed the impressive tor which overlooks the town and met some of its wild ponies, Skye - where we walked alongside the footsteps of dinosaurs and drove through the rugged Cuillins, Aboyne - where we walked in the castle grounds and I nearly killed myself falling down a set of stairs at my sister-in-laws house, Carnock - where we saw grey squirrels aplenty and walked along the rail trail towards Dunfermline.
We visited our family estate at Carcant in the Scottish Borders and walked up to our favourite hundred year old log cabin, and spent many days throughout the month in Juniper Green, Edinburgh, where we rested and recovered from the crazyness of constant travel. But the best thing of all was spending time with our Scottish relatives - young and old and rekindling our international family connections.
North Berwick
Innerleithen
Carcant
Skye
Aboyne
And as we head back to Australia, we're already looking forward to our next trip to Scotland - whenever that may be!
RSS Feed