Cheers,
Ian
Ian R. Stewart Family Blog
Monday, 18 November 2019
Blog discovery
Cheers,
Ian
Saturday, 16 November 2019
Emptying Nest (again) + Wine Fair + Belhaven
In other news, the Wine Fair went well last weekend. Johanne wasn't well enhough to travel following her recent op, so Peter and Srie Hodgson stood in for them - and I think they enjoyed the experience, even although Srie hardly drinks any alcohol.
The Masons, Hodgsons and Stewarts all travelled down by train from Stonehaven and our first stop in Edinburgh was lunch at the Guildford Arms - after some dropped their bags off at our hotel - Motel One - just 20 yards away.
Dinner on Friday evening was at Fisher's in the City (http://www.fishersrestaurants.co.uk/) - primarily a fish restaurant - and very good it was too.
The Wine Fair's doors opened at 12:30 pm on Saturday so we had a free morning and, as it was a glorious day - albeit cold - Jo and I decided to take a walk up nearby Calton Hill. Here's some of the sights we encountered:
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| That's the Firth of Forth behind me - and the Kingdom of Fife beyond |
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| Do you think Edinburgh's past architects were inspired by the Greeks? |
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| Jo looks down at Holyrood Palace and the Parliament with Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags as the backdrop |
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| Rabbie Burns' monument |
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| The old Royal High School, which many, including me, think should have been our devolved parliament building instead of the new one they built back in 1999 |
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| Nelson's monument - complete with his famous saying "England expects ..." - perhaps no longer appropriate? |
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| St Andrew's House - yet another building now occupied by the armies of civil servants in Edinburgh. The figures at the top of the columns represented the (mere) 6 arms of government - Health, Education, Fisheries etc - back in the day |
Anne and Leslie went out for dinner with Anne's brothers and partners in the evening so it was just the Hodgsons and us who had to find a place to eat. Wagamama's did the trick.
On Sunday morning, I was left to my own devices (Sunday Times) as the rest went off to church. We caught an earlier train and were back in Banchory mid-afternoon.
Our other big outing this week was the brewery trip to Belhaven in Dunbar, organised by the CAMRA Members' Investment Club. The drive down on Thursday morning was fairly comfortable until we got a bit snagged with traffic going round the Edinburgh bypass, but we still made it to Dunbar in good time to check in at our hotel - the Rocks (https://www.therockshoteldunbar.co.uk/) - park the car and walk round to the brewery to meet the other members and our tour guide.
Belhaven celebrated their 300th anniversary a couple of months ago and they've built a nice new visitor centre - like a comfy bar - where we sampled some of their products:
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| The ladies wait in line to be served |
After the tour, we all had lunch in the adjacent Brig and Barrel pub - and very good it was too - although it was so filling we struggled to eat anything else that day.
Now it was time for a stroll round the town centre and harbour. It was a beautiful day but there was a biting wind coming off the sea and we had to briefly seek shelter - and a swift half - in the Volunteer Arms.
The harbour is well sheltered - something the fishing boat owners must appreciate - but it must be fairly tricky negotiating the narrow entrance in a swell:
There were some interesting rock formations round the castle ruins:
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| Stormy seas behind Jo - and our hotel is on the other side of the bay |
We had a lovely room looking out over the bay, the rocks and the stormy seas - and we managed (just) to eat a one course dinner.
Heading home on Friday morning, we took a slight detour and went past the Bass Rock and through North Berwick. I hadn't been to this part of East Lothian for many years but it brought back some memories of holidays in that area when we were younger:
It was a bit warmer that day!
Monday, 4 November 2019
Miserable Monday
It's really horrible outside today - a wet weather front has settled over NE Scotland. I drove in to Aberdeen this morning and the roads were starting to flood - river levels are high - the Feugh is wild at the pedestrian bridge.
Why did I go in to Aberdeen? This is the reason:
I had been promising myself a bike rack for ages - it allows me (and a couple of fellow cyclists) to go a bit further afield and try pastures new rather than just stick to the tried and tested local trails. This morning was the perfect chance to keep my promise to myself and, with a bit of help from Halford's, we got it fitted on my towbar easily enough. The next trick is for me to get it off again - I'll try when it finally stops raining.
Over the last 10 days, I've been out on my bike a couple of times and completed the river walk over at Edzell, but, with no golf now, I've probably been more sedentary than usual. There's been plenty of sport on TV - thankfully for me, but much less so for Jo.
Barry's been keeping us up to date with their big adventure Down Under. He and Helen have "done" New Zealand and, as I write, are in Melbourne which will be the start of their drive along the Great Ocean Route to Adelaide where they'll catch up with Kelly & co before heading off to Perth on the train.
We FaceTimed with Kelly last week and she then sent us these photos of the boys - first Asher "Woody"'s Hallowe'en outfit:
Miller was dressed as a Storm Trooper, but this is one of him getting congratulated at school for the number of nights he has read a book this term:
So that's me up to date again. Coming up, we have our annual trip to Edinburgh this weekend for Wine Fair. We're not yet sure whether Colin and Johanne will be able to join us and the Masons, following Johanne's recent op. Fingers crossed.
The following week we're off to Dunbar for one night - a CAMRA trip to see round Belhaven Brewery. I've also finally managed to book our trip to USA next year - we leave early September.
That's all for now, folks.
Why did I go in to Aberdeen? This is the reason:
I had been promising myself a bike rack for ages - it allows me (and a couple of fellow cyclists) to go a bit further afield and try pastures new rather than just stick to the tried and tested local trails. This morning was the perfect chance to keep my promise to myself and, with a bit of help from Halford's, we got it fitted on my towbar easily enough. The next trick is for me to get it off again - I'll try when it finally stops raining.
Over the last 10 days, I've been out on my bike a couple of times and completed the river walk over at Edzell, but, with no golf now, I've probably been more sedentary than usual. There's been plenty of sport on TV - thankfully for me, but much less so for Jo.
Barry's been keeping us up to date with their big adventure Down Under. He and Helen have "done" New Zealand and, as I write, are in Melbourne which will be the start of their drive along the Great Ocean Route to Adelaide where they'll catch up with Kelly & co before heading off to Perth on the train.
We FaceTimed with Kelly last week and she then sent us these photos of the boys - first Asher "Woody"'s Hallowe'en outfit:
Miller was dressed as a Storm Trooper, but this is one of him getting congratulated at school for the number of nights he has read a book this term:
So that's me up to date again. Coming up, we have our annual trip to Edinburgh this weekend for Wine Fair. We're not yet sure whether Colin and Johanne will be able to join us and the Masons, following Johanne's recent op. Fingers crossed.
The following week we're off to Dunbar for one night - a CAMRA trip to see round Belhaven Brewery. I've also finally managed to book our trip to USA next year - we leave early September.
That's all for now, folks.
Thursday, 24 October 2019
Back from hols
We got back from Spain in very good time on Sunday. The upside of a fairly early start was that we were all back home in Inverurie and Banchory by lunchtime. It wasn't even too much of a shock weather-wise either - it's been fairly pleasant autumnal weather here since we returned.
I went out for a couple of bike rides on Monday and Tuesday and then on Wednesday I drove back over to Inverurie to pick up Luca and bring him over to Banchory for the last 3 days of the school holidays.
When we were in Spain, Gary had put his car in for service/MoT and he got the bad news when he was away that his car was a write-off. Gary wasn't surprised at this and didn't seem too fazed by it either - he said he would buy another one easily enough. Nonetheless, I was a little surprised to see this in his driveway so soon:
Yes - it's a Jag. It may be 15 years old but seems, externally at least, to be in decent nick.
Luca arrived with his Play Station, of course, so we set it up and let him play with it on Wednesday afternoon. Today (Thursday), after a slow morning, we decided it would be good to get out for a decent walk. There was shopping to be done so we took bags with us and headed to Morrison's - via the Platties, of course - Luca's favourite riverside spot.
Finished shopping, Jo suggested we pop in to Duncan's new store and visit their coffee shop before we headed home. Nice enough place but we felt their outside space was a lot better than inside. The ginger cake was very good, however.
I then suggested we take a slightly circular route home via the new Banchory Sports Village as I wanted to enquire about booking the sports hall there for another game of walking football - something we'd only tried once before last Xmas Eve. Not sure I got the answers to the queries I asked, but I left with a sheaf of leaflets and membership forms anyway. We couldn't believe that there was hardly anyone in the new pool in the middle of the school holidays?
So that's it so far this week. Tomorrow I've got one of our monthly hill-walks scheduled. This time, it's a simple riverside walk over in the Edzell area with not much climbing, I believe.
Going off at a bit of a tangent, a photo I picked up from the Banchory Heritage Society Facebook page might be of interest to those, like me, who have only known Banchory since the early 1980's. I'd never seen a photo before of the old railway bridge across the North Deeside road just past the junction with Corsee Road, looking west:
It looks completely different doesn't it? You can even see the dip in the road that used to flood with water when they had a lot of rain - but the dip was necessary as otherwise timber lorries etc couldn't pass under the bridge as it was slightly too low. Judging by the big crane that's there, this must have been when they were taking the bridge down - some time after 1966 when the line was closed down in the wake of the Beeching cuts, first announced in 1963.
I went out for a couple of bike rides on Monday and Tuesday and then on Wednesday I drove back over to Inverurie to pick up Luca and bring him over to Banchory for the last 3 days of the school holidays.
When we were in Spain, Gary had put his car in for service/MoT and he got the bad news when he was away that his car was a write-off. Gary wasn't surprised at this and didn't seem too fazed by it either - he said he would buy another one easily enough. Nonetheless, I was a little surprised to see this in his driveway so soon:
Yes - it's a Jag. It may be 15 years old but seems, externally at least, to be in decent nick.
Luca arrived with his Play Station, of course, so we set it up and let him play with it on Wednesday afternoon. Today (Thursday), after a slow morning, we decided it would be good to get out for a decent walk. There was shopping to be done so we took bags with us and headed to Morrison's - via the Platties, of course - Luca's favourite riverside spot.
Finished shopping, Jo suggested we pop in to Duncan's new store and visit their coffee shop before we headed home. Nice enough place but we felt their outside space was a lot better than inside. The ginger cake was very good, however.
I then suggested we take a slightly circular route home via the new Banchory Sports Village as I wanted to enquire about booking the sports hall there for another game of walking football - something we'd only tried once before last Xmas Eve. Not sure I got the answers to the queries I asked, but I left with a sheaf of leaflets and membership forms anyway. We couldn't believe that there was hardly anyone in the new pool in the middle of the school holidays?
So that's it so far this week. Tomorrow I've got one of our monthly hill-walks scheduled. This time, it's a simple riverside walk over in the Edzell area with not much climbing, I believe.
Going off at a bit of a tangent, a photo I picked up from the Banchory Heritage Society Facebook page might be of interest to those, like me, who have only known Banchory since the early 1980's. I'd never seen a photo before of the old railway bridge across the North Deeside road just past the junction with Corsee Road, looking west:
It looks completely different doesn't it? You can even see the dip in the road that used to flood with water when they had a lot of rain - but the dip was necessary as otherwise timber lorries etc couldn't pass under the bridge as it was slightly too low. Judging by the big crane that's there, this must have been when they were taking the bridge down - some time after 1966 when the line was closed down in the wake of the Beeching cuts, first announced in 1963.
Friday, 18 October 2019
Marbella 2019
Travel here on Sunday went fine. Usual wait at car hire but finally got on the road to Marriott's Marbella Beach Resort - the very first time share Jo and I bought on our 25th anniversary in 1997. Apart from that occasion, we've only been here twice before - once 20 years ago or so with Jo's Mum and Ross, and once 4-5 years ago with Ross.
The first time we were here, the resort was very new and we got quite a surprise a few years ago when we saw how well it had matured. This time, it felt homely and our apartment is in the main building, above reception and next to the indoor pool and market place - very handy. We have a south facing unit so we pretty much get sun on the terrace all day.
The days here are getting shorter but not as noticeably as at home - we're still getting almost 12 hours of daylight. We're sleeping longer - over 10 hours yesterday (Thursday). Some of that is down to being on holiday but much of it is down to the Marriott beds - we always seem to sleep longer on them, although Jo thinks the ones we have this year are a little "seated" and will be due for renewal/replacement shortly. Can't say I really noticed.
Weather's been great this week - mid 20's. A little fluffy cloud and windy the first couple of days but not a cloud to be seen since then. So here's what we've been up to since arrival:
Monday 14th October
Our first full day at the resort after travelling Sunday and we decided it would be good to have a quiet one with no travel and to orientate and settle in. We'd done some shopping for essentials for our apartment on Sunday and there's a handy wee market place on site so we didn't need to do any big shop.
Luca seemed immediately enamoured with the resort and was very happy to go exploring by himself. He loved the small enclosed football pitch and the table tennis tables and has been constantly hassling his Dad to go and play with him there.
Luca also enjoyed the indoor pool and spent a good hour swimming around - something he's not done for some time now. He challenged his Grannie to go in the sea - and Jo accepted:
Tuesday 15th October
We had planned to drive east to Benalmadena to go on the cable car there, but it was apparently too windy at the top and the cable car was closed in the morning, so we decided to make a quick trip west to nearby Marbella instead to check out the possibility of hiring bikes one day. We stayed there for lunch and then drove to Benalmadena to see if the cable car was now open - and it was.
Jo had been on cable cars in Cape Town and Palm Springs already this year so she was an old hand, but that doesn't stop her feeling "feart". The journey up the mountain was the worst for her - and Ross wasn't much better. I was in one cable car with them and Gary and Luca were in the car behind - I can only imagine what it was like there.
When we did get to the top of the ride, after coffees, there was a bit more walking - and climbing - to be done. Luca bounded up the trails but his Dad didn't fancy it and stayed behind. We found a nice sheltered spot at the top for a rest:
Included in our ticket was a falconry display at the top of the mountain, but it was still pretty windy and the falconer told us he would have to restrict the birds flying as they would get blown off course and possibly lost. We did, however, get to see a few eagles and owls:
On the way back we stopped off at El Corte Ingles' huge Hipercor in Fuengirola to do some food shopping. We could have spent all day wandering round this monster of a place, but we did what we had to do and headed back to the Marriott for dinner on our balcony:
Wednesday 16th October
Ross was ill today and stayed at home to sweat off the bug. The rest of us made the short trip to Marbella and Luca, Gary and I hired bikes for an hour while Jo went for a walk along the prom. We met up again and took a team photo - note the bike that Jo knocked over before rushing to sit down before the camera timed out:
Lunch in Puerto Banus sounded appealing so we jumped on the catamaran ferry which had nets that sat between the twin hulls, above the ocean:
Puerto Banus was as up-market as ever - always worth a visit:
Lunch at an Italian restaurant on the quayside was excellent and we went for a long walk round the harbour perimiter afterwards - so far out that we virtually had to sprint back to make the 4 pm ferry back to Marbella.
Thursday 17th October
Down day - time to relax and enjoy the resort. Ross was on the mend now - especially after we popped over to the local Farmacia and got some medicine to aid his recovery. Nothing much else to report, but, as usual, we had a lovely meal on our balcony as the sun went down and Africa came in to full view across the water.
Friday 18th October
A trip to Malaga was organised - Ross had a couple of coffee shops he wanted to try out and the big city was bound to have a brewpub or two wasn't it? Gary thought this maybe didn't hold much appeal for Luca so we dropped them off in Fuengirola at the Bioparc (https://www.bioparcfuengirola.es/) - basically a zoo sporting modern environmental credentials. At the last minute, Luca persuaded Grannie Jo to join them so it was just Ross and I that travelled on to Malaga. I have to confess I didn't notice Jo's absence - she hadn't said anything - until halfway along the motorway!
The traffic in the city was pretty busy but we got parked eventually and found Ross' second target pretty quickly. After sampling their wares we strolled round the magnificent old market and then headed for target no. 1 for Ross - good coffee but nothing there for him to take back to Scotland.
We lunched at a nice brewpub then headed back through the heavy mid-afternoon traffic to pick up Gary, Luca and Jo in Fuengirola. We made it back to our apartment in good time for an earlier than usual dinner - frittata cooked by Ross - after which Jo and Luca went for a swim and I sat here and finished off this blog posting.
The first time we were here, the resort was very new and we got quite a surprise a few years ago when we saw how well it had matured. This time, it felt homely and our apartment is in the main building, above reception and next to the indoor pool and market place - very handy. We have a south facing unit so we pretty much get sun on the terrace all day.
The days here are getting shorter but not as noticeably as at home - we're still getting almost 12 hours of daylight. We're sleeping longer - over 10 hours yesterday (Thursday). Some of that is down to being on holiday but much of it is down to the Marriott beds - we always seem to sleep longer on them, although Jo thinks the ones we have this year are a little "seated" and will be due for renewal/replacement shortly. Can't say I really noticed.
Weather's been great this week - mid 20's. A little fluffy cloud and windy the first couple of days but not a cloud to be seen since then. So here's what we've been up to since arrival:
Monday 14th October
Our first full day at the resort after travelling Sunday and we decided it would be good to have a quiet one with no travel and to orientate and settle in. We'd done some shopping for essentials for our apartment on Sunday and there's a handy wee market place on site so we didn't need to do any big shop.
Luca seemed immediately enamoured with the resort and was very happy to go exploring by himself. He loved the small enclosed football pitch and the table tennis tables and has been constantly hassling his Dad to go and play with him there.
Luca also enjoyed the indoor pool and spent a good hour swimming around - something he's not done for some time now. He challenged his Grannie to go in the sea - and Jo accepted:
Tuesday 15th October
We had planned to drive east to Benalmadena to go on the cable car there, but it was apparently too windy at the top and the cable car was closed in the morning, so we decided to make a quick trip west to nearby Marbella instead to check out the possibility of hiring bikes one day. We stayed there for lunch and then drove to Benalmadena to see if the cable car was now open - and it was.
Jo had been on cable cars in Cape Town and Palm Springs already this year so she was an old hand, but that doesn't stop her feeling "feart". The journey up the mountain was the worst for her - and Ross wasn't much better. I was in one cable car with them and Gary and Luca were in the car behind - I can only imagine what it was like there.
When we did get to the top of the ride, after coffees, there was a bit more walking - and climbing - to be done. Luca bounded up the trails but his Dad didn't fancy it and stayed behind. We found a nice sheltered spot at the top for a rest:
Included in our ticket was a falconry display at the top of the mountain, but it was still pretty windy and the falconer told us he would have to restrict the birds flying as they would get blown off course and possibly lost. We did, however, get to see a few eagles and owls:
On the way back we stopped off at El Corte Ingles' huge Hipercor in Fuengirola to do some food shopping. We could have spent all day wandering round this monster of a place, but we did what we had to do and headed back to the Marriott for dinner on our balcony:
Wednesday 16th October
Ross was ill today and stayed at home to sweat off the bug. The rest of us made the short trip to Marbella and Luca, Gary and I hired bikes for an hour while Jo went for a walk along the prom. We met up again and took a team photo - note the bike that Jo knocked over before rushing to sit down before the camera timed out:
Lunch in Puerto Banus sounded appealing so we jumped on the catamaran ferry which had nets that sat between the twin hulls, above the ocean:
Puerto Banus was as up-market as ever - always worth a visit:
Lunch at an Italian restaurant on the quayside was excellent and we went for a long walk round the harbour perimiter afterwards - so far out that we virtually had to sprint back to make the 4 pm ferry back to Marbella.
Thursday 17th October
Down day - time to relax and enjoy the resort. Ross was on the mend now - especially after we popped over to the local Farmacia and got some medicine to aid his recovery. Nothing much else to report, but, as usual, we had a lovely meal on our balcony as the sun went down and Africa came in to full view across the water.
Friday 18th October
A trip to Malaga was organised - Ross had a couple of coffee shops he wanted to try out and the big city was bound to have a brewpub or two wasn't it? Gary thought this maybe didn't hold much appeal for Luca so we dropped them off in Fuengirola at the Bioparc (https://www.bioparcfuengirola.es/) - basically a zoo sporting modern environmental credentials. At the last minute, Luca persuaded Grannie Jo to join them so it was just Ross and I that travelled on to Malaga. I have to confess I didn't notice Jo's absence - she hadn't said anything - until halfway along the motorway!
The traffic in the city was pretty busy but we got parked eventually and found Ross' second target pretty quickly. After sampling their wares we strolled round the magnificent old market and then headed for target no. 1 for Ross - good coffee but nothing there for him to take back to Scotland.
We lunched at a nice brewpub then headed back through the heavy mid-afternoon traffic to pick up Gary, Luca and Jo in Fuengirola. We made it back to our apartment in good time for an earlier than usual dinner - frittata cooked by Ross - after which Jo and Luca went for a swim and I sat here and finished off this blog posting.
Saturday, 12 October 2019
Pre-holiday post
We're off to Marbella in the morning so here's a quick update of what's been happening:
Barry and Helen in NZ just now and will be heading to Oz soon - which reminds me that we haven't FaceTimed Kelly for a while - must try soon. We liked the drawing Miller did at school:
Meanwhile, in Airdrie, Jordon has a new look:
Our annual end of season Challenge golf match last Sunday was virtually rained off but we had a nice lunch afterwards. A couple of days of detox were required after this and the previous week in Nice.
My blood test last Monday produced no negative results for any thyroid issues, thank goodness. Nothing was said about the liver count - surprisingly!
I haven't managed a cycle for a couple of weeks now and obviously next week is out as well - need to get back in the saddle when we get back. I have been a bit more active this week, however, with games of golf on Wednesday and Thursday and a hill-walk on Friday. I even managed to roll back the years and win Thursday's event at Monifeith. Here I am receiving my prize with Nigel and Harry - 3rd and 2nd place respectively:
That's helped get my step count back up again - as did the recent Borders walking weekend - but I still haven't quite got my average for the year up to the magic 10,000 steps per day yet:
Marbella weather for next week looks nice, so we're packing light:
Monday, 7 October 2019
Long overdue post
It's been a month since my last post - possibly the longest gap for years. It's been a hectic time, much of it presaged in my last post, but here's a brief synopsis of what I've been up to recently:
On the road back down, I took a shot of where the castle is located - who would build anything there?
Some of us entered the museum and climbed up the tower for a view:
Then it was back down to the cars - we had to move quickly as we were heading to the Renoir house and museum, which closed at 5 pm. Guess who we had to wait on?:
- Loft conversion completed. Now for the hard work of moving stuff up there this winter
- Walking weekend in the Borders completed (https://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/)
- Two of the last 3 events of the golf season completed - Quaich and Challenge. Just one event left for me now - this Thursday's visit to Monifeith for the Tayside Autumn outing.
- Holiday in Nice - more details below
We were flying from Edinburgh at 6:15 am on Saturday morning so this meant an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn Express. Arriving in good time for a mid-afternoon snack, we went out for an early dinner with Archie & Eileen (one of the couples we were holidaying with) in the evening at the Dakota Hotel - nice place and lovely meal.
They don't do alarm calls at the hotel - you just have to set the alarm on the TV, so I did - for 3:15 am. All good so far and we slept well and the alarm duly went off. As I slowly opened my eyes, I shot up, startled - it was 4 am! You've never seen two people move so quickly - no time for showers, breakfast, or even a cup of tea. Dash downstairs, order the shuttle bus, pay the bill and off we go. It all worked out in the end - the shuttle bus arrived quickly and bag drop and security were fairly easy, so we were in good time for our flight. In fact, we had time for a bit of breakfast.
The Easyjet flight was good and we were in the centre of Nice by mid-morning, French time. We had dumped our bags at left luggage and jumped on the tram, then down to the beach, stopping for drinks - and eventually lunch - at the Blue Beach Bar:
We took a walk round the Old Town/Flower Market and then went back to the airport to pick up our bags and grab a taxi up to our villa, stopping first of all for a supermarket dash round Intermarche.
Four couples, four bedrooms - so we drew lots and we did OK, getting the only downstairs room, which had one of the 3 showers and was close to one of only two toilets in the villa.
Sunday 29th September
Our first full day at the villa and it was a glorious one as we explored the surroundings:
We took a couple of UBERs down the hill to Cagnes-sur-mer for a nice lunch at a creperie, then took a walk along the prom before returning to the villa:
Monday 30th September
We picked up a couple of hire cars after which we headed to nearby Antibes and took a walk round this lovely old town - and a typical long, leisurely French lunch - a habit we found easy to adopt. There was a Picasso Museum there but we decided to give this a swerve and just walked through the narrow streets, past the market and down to the marina:
The obscenely sized yacht is apparently the property of the owner of Arsenal F.C.
Evenings were usually spent at the villa - food and wine flowing freely.
Tuesday 1st October
Our plan was to drive east, past Monaco/Monte Carlo up to the old mountain town of St Agnes - a slow, twisty drive up narrow streets. It was well worth it, however, with spectacular views down to the coast far below:
Four of us climbed up to the very top where the ruins of the old castle were - and there was a fine viewing platform there:
On the road back down, I took a shot of where the castle is located - who would build anything there?
Wednesday 2nd October
We met up with an old squash and golf pal, who now lives in France - some 5 hours' north of Nice. He recently lost his wife to cancer so I think he appreciated spending a couple of days with us. This day's long lunch was held in the courtyard of the old hilltop chateau in Cagnes-sur-mer. Once fed, we walked up through the narrow streets to the chateau itself:
Some of us entered the museum and climbed up the tower for a view:
Then it was back down to the cars - we had to move quickly as we were heading to the Renoir house and museum, which closed at 5 pm. Guess who we had to wait on?:
The car park was an amazing experience - it was all automated. You drive in, leave the car and it is then taken in a lift downstairs where all the cars are parked and is mechanically slotted in to one of the available spaces. On return, the car is picked off the shelf - a bit like the highly automated Amazon warehouses - and transported back up to the ground floor.
We made it to the Renoir OK and had 45 minutes to take in the experience:
Thursday 3rd October
The boys fancied hiring bikes and cycling along the prom - the girls were going to stay at the villa and look after our friend Bill's dog, Millie. We picked up the bikes in Cagnes-sur-mer on a 4 hour hire and headed east along the long Nice waterfront:
We stopped for a beer, then later for a spot of lunch and before we knew it, 3 hours had passed. We now only had one hour to get the bikes back which meant a non-stop ride on these metal lumps straight in to a strong headwind. We made it with less than 10 minutes to spare.
Friday 4th October
The plan today was to take a train ride across the border to Ventimiglia where there is a huge market every Friday, so we had to make an early start:
The trickiest part is getting parking tickets - the machines are set to defy all foreigners it seems - but we managed to crack it eventually and got a lucky break, having missed our scheduled departure, when an earlier train, running late, pulled in so we quickly jumped on it. We liked the 2 tier SNCF trains - especially once we were past Nice Central and all the commuters got off. The view of the coast from the top deck was great.
We walked round the market but Jo and I were the only couple who didn't buy anything. We had a nice walk, however, followed by yet another terrific - and expensive - lunch. By the time we had finished, the original plan to stop off briefly in Monte Carlo on the return journey had to be shelved and we just headed back to the villa to eat and drink our way through the remnants of the fridge and cupboards.
Saturday 5th October
An early, but fairly civilised, start meant we were back in Edinburgh by noon - despite an appalling line at bag drop in Nice. We dropped Keith and Annette off in Dalgety Bay, where they'd left their car, and then headed up the road, stopping briefly for a bite at the cafe at the Antiques Shop between Perth and Dundee.
That was the end of that holiday, but we had another social to attend on Sunday - the end of season Challenge lunch at the golf club. Now we need to properly detox before our next trip next Sunday, when we go to Marbella with Gary, Ross and Luca.
Today (Monday) I had another blood test - a 3 month follow-up to the last one when my thyroid levels were a bit out of the norm. Tomorrow, we go to the dermatology clinic at ARI for them to have a closer look at a small growth Jo has.
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