CraigBlog

Author: Craig

  • Quiet Day In Thurso

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    I try to do a Big Day/Small Day cycle when traveling, to keep from getting burned out. It doesn’t always work, and it’s not always possible, but when it pays off it means I can better appreciate what I’ve done & seen. Yesterday was a pretty big day, so today was a quiet one. I…

  • John O’Groats

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    I’d previously looked at tours that’d take me out here, but didn’t understand how tourist seasons work, so I just took the Saturday bus from Thurso instead. And thanks to Doktor Hobo, I now have the idea that Thurso is an Australian abbreviation of Thursday stuck in my head, so thanks for that. Breakfast at…

  • Getting to Thurso

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    The hostel dorm was louder last night, not due to people packing up or talking, but due to general sleep noise. Pretty sure the guy in the bunk above me was humming in his sleep, and there was way more snoring than before. Churn for the room seemed to be about 50%, which seems high?…

  • Getting to Inverness

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    Aberdeen station is surprisingly well lit for a UK station, at least in photos – All the white everything probably contributes, but I don’t remember other stations being this bright. I may have travelled this way once before, when Gulo T. & I took the Sleeper to Inverness, but it was night & we were…

  • Aberdeen

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    I stayed at this hotel a year or so back, during my tour of dying British seaside towns, as the coworkers called it. From memory, I decided on the location, at least in part, because it meant I could take the sleeper back to London in a set of circumstances where I could enjoy it…

  • Trying Something Different With Edinburgh Photos

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    On Sunday, my last day in Edinburgh, I got a day pass and rode the tram a lot. Went to the airport for absolutely no reason beyond “it was there”, and went to Leith/Newhaven because it’s where the other end of the line is. I’ve been through Edinburgh airport a few times, but never in…

  • Edinburgh Pictures

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    Conveniently close to my hotel is a pub where I can get a cheap breakfast. It’s a Wetherspoons, in an old cinema, so there are even more weird architectural features than the ‘standard’ Spoons location. Here are some attempts to be funny, presented for your amusement.

  • The Kelpies

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    I’m sure that the trip to the Kelpies is pretty & scenic on a good day, but it wasn’t one, so it was mostly damp but still a bit interesting in places. Took the train out to Falkirk from Edinburgh Waverley, even though Google Maps really wanted to send me to Haymarket station by bus,…

  • More Glasgow

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    The internal layout of the hotel is a bit odd, but I’ve found that with a lot of Travelodges I’ve stayed at. This one has the stairs off the side of the lift lobby, but also has this door to the outside. There’s a railing in front of it, so nobody will use it by…

  • Glasgow

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    I went back to Sexy Coffee, to get a sense of just how sexy it is. I think it’s mostly the marble & marble-effect decor, and though the branded coffee cups (and takeaway cups) are distinctive, I wouldn’t call them ‘sexy’. Coffee was good, but not great, I’d say. I found the river, mostly by…