I'm in Scotland

popularname

Ooops :oops: hit the return key too many times...

daviesee

popularname wrote:

Ooops :oops: hit the return key too many times...

FYI you can use the Edit feature to delete such posts.

UndercoverElephant

daviesee wrote:

popularname wrote:

Ooops :oops: hit the return key too many times...

FYI you can use the Edit feature to delete such posts.

No need, it was just a really fair comment.

Another top tip for eating in Leith would be Tapa on Shore Place. I'm sure that tapas is healthy, they certainly do some great veggie dishes.

First.Aspect

Fish supper in Scotland good?

God no. You have to travel to Cornwall for that, or at a pinch Tobermory because at least its fresh. I love Scotland, but I don't like the taste of old oil and dry fish (they split the fish here and open it out for some reason).

Oh, and they mix brown sauce with vinegar to save money. Oddly, some people actually like it. They must drink watered down beer as well.

UndercoverElephant

First Aspect wrote:

Fish supper in Scotland good?

God no. You have to travel to Cornwall for that, or at a pinch Tobermory because at least its fresh. I love Scotland, but I don't like the taste of old oil and dry fish (they split the fish here and open it out for some reason).

Oh, and they mix brown sauce with vinegar to save money. Oddly, some people actually like it. They must drink watered down beer as well.

Plenty of fishing ports in East Lothian. We have very good, fresh fish and chips, if you know where to look. Never quite got the chip-shop sauce, though. Very much just an Edinburgh thing.

suzyb

UndercoverElephant wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

Fish supper in Scotland good?

God no. You have to travel to Cornwall for that, or at a pinch Tobermory because at least its fresh. I love Scotland, but I don't like the taste of old oil and dry fish (they split the fish here and open it out for some reason).

Oh, and they mix brown sauce with vinegar to save money. Oddly, some people actually like it. They must drink watered down beer as well.

Plenty of fishing ports in East Lothian. We have very good, fresh fish and chips, if you know where to look. Never quite got the chip-shop sauce, though. Very much just an Edinburgh thing.

Tis true. In the west it's salt + viniger, in the east salt + sauce.

Wallace1492

Pity you are staying in the East, it means you miss out on the amazing scenery the West, and in particular the North West has to offer. Don't get me wrong, east Lothian and the coast out to North Berwick is lovely, but not a patch on the wilds of Torridon, Wester Ross, Moidart and Morar. Plus the roads are flatter in the East!!

First.Aspect

Wallace1492 wrote:

Pity you are staying in the East, it means you miss out on the amazing scenery the West, and in particular the North West has to offer. Don't get me wrong, east Lothian and the coast out to North Berwick is lovely, but not a patch on the wilds of Torridon, Wester Ross, Moidart and Morar. Plus the roads are flatter in the East!!

I'm an hour from the Trossachs, 30 mins from the Tweed Valley and I can be on the West Coast in 2 1/2 hours. Its a little shorter from Glasgow, but of course then you have to live in Glagow. No offence, but I'd much rather spend 300 days a year in Edinburgh and put up with an extra hour's drive every now and then. Apart from anything else, we have half the rainfall.

suzyb

And I'm in the middle, the same distance from everywhere

Redhog14

First Aspect wrote:

Fish supper in Scotland good?

God no. You have to travel to Cornwall for that, or at a pinch Tobermory because at least its fresh. I love Scotland, but I don't like the taste of old oil and dry fish (they split the fish here and open it out for some reason).

Oh, and they mix brown sauce with vinegar to save money. Oddly, some people actually like it. They must drink watered down beer as well.

So never been to:

Berwick upon Tweed - personal favourite
Anstruther - by Royal Approval no less Charles and Camilla!
Oban - as reccommended by Rick Stien and he knows his fish
Alva - Bollini's if you are passing!(not likely)

there is also a decent one on the Royal Mile, tiny shop but very good.

First Aspect get out more!

First.Aspect

suzyb wrote:

And I'm in the middle, the same distance from everywhere

Assuming you are somewhere like Biggar or Lanark, how is it to get to (a) Edinburgh (b) Glasgow and (c) the fun stuff on the west coast - from you? Always thinking about where I'll have to move to next....

First.Aspect

Redhog14 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

Fish supper in Scotland good?

God no. You have to travel to Cornwall for that, or at a pinch Tobermory because at least its fresh. I love Scotland, but I don't like the taste of old oil and dry fish (they split the fish here and open it out for some reason).

Oh, and they mix brown sauce with vinegar to save money. Oddly, some people actually like it. They must drink watered down beer as well.

So never been to:

Berwick upon Tweed - personal favourite
Anstruther - by Royal Approval no less Charles and Camilla!
Oban - as reccommended by Rick Stien and he knows his fish
Alva - Bollini's if you are passing!(not likely)

there is also a decent one on the Royal Mile, tiny shop but very good.

First Aspect get out more!

Been to Oban and Berwick but didn't sample the fish&chips - I think I could be persuaded to go back to Oban though. There used to be a tolerable one in Queensferry, but its been under renovation for over a year now. That's a LOT of roaches to get rid of. :shock: And I've had excellent harbour sunset + fish supper experiences in Tobermory and Portree.

But nuuuuuthing compares...... no-thing compares-erers..... to Looe.

Sorry.

suzyb

First Aspect wrote:

suzyb wrote:

And I'm in the middle, the same distance from everywhere

Assuming you are somewhere like Biggar or Lanark, how is it to get to (a) Edinburgh (b) Glasgow and (c) the fun stuff on the west coast - from you? Always thinking about where I'll have to move to next....

I'm in the next town up from Lanark, in Carluke But you don't want to live here, it's a dump.

It is however central and is very easy to get to both cities, all A roads and motorways. M8 and M74 is within 20 minutes drive plus to Edinburgh you can just whizz along the A71.

Not sure about the fun stuff on the west coast though, don't know what that is. Although it only took (iirc) 1hr 30 to get to Prestwick airport. Just whizz along the A71 in the opposite direction.

First.Aspect

I should be clearer- The fun stuff on the west coast is, well, the west highlands.

[thread hijack]I might have to get from A71 nr. Edbug into Glasgow for a new job soon. Any tips for getting within 10-15km of Glasgow city centre before getting snarled in traffic? I always thought that corner of the city looked most promising. Tried from the Kisyth/Kirkintilloch direction and that was crap.[/thread hijack]

Kieran_Burns

The worst thing about the A74 when going home... Sat Nav shows 166 miles before anything interesting happens (and that's "stay right" to avoid Blackpool!)

It's a long old haul.....

suzyb

First Aspect wrote:

I should be clearer- The fun stuff on the west coast is, well, the west highlands.

[thread hijack]I might have to get from A71 nr. Edbug into Glasgow for a new job soon. Any tips for getting within 10-15km of Glasgow city centre before getting snarled in traffic? I always thought that corner of the city looked most promising. Tried from the Kisyth/Kirkintilloch direction and that was crap.[/thread hijack]

A71 -> A72 (should be signposted Glasgow) -> M74 maybe. That always seemed to have less traffic than the M8 which was always horrendous past Eurocentral then again past Coatbridge before you even got to Glasgow.

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The worst thing about the A74 when going home... Sat Nav shows 166 miles before anything interesting happens (and that's "stay right" to avoid Blackpool!)

It's a long old haul.....

Yeah that is one boring, but kinda pretty road.

First.Aspect

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The worst thing about the A74 when going home... Sat Nav shows 166 miles before anything interesting happens (and that's "stay right" to avoid Blackpool!)

It's a long old haul.....

Nooo that's the BEST thing. What more could you want than (1) being told you are hundreds of miles from Blackpool (2) instructions on how to avoid it.

First.Aspect

suzyb wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

I should be clearer- The fun stuff on the west coast is, well, the west highlands.

[thread hijack]I might have to get from A71 nr. Edbug into Glasgow for a new job soon. Any tips for getting within 10-15km of Glasgow city centre before getting snarled in traffic? I always thought that corner of the city looked most promising. Tried from the Kisyth/Kirkintilloch direction and that was crap.[/thread hijack]

A71 -> A72 (should be signposted Glasgow) -> M74 maybe. That always seemed to have less traffic than the M8 which was always horrendous past Eurocentral then again past Coatbridge before you even got to Glasgow.

I had been looking at parking up somewhere like Strathclyde park, or nearer to town - Cambuslang or Bellshill direction, perhaps coming off the M8 early, or maybe coming in along the A71.

However from a couple of weekend reccies I can't seem to find a non-M8 way past Wishaw or Motherwell, and the 'burbs don't look too promising congestion wise.

I doubt there's an easy answer. Move to Linlithgow like everyone else, probably.

Wallace1492

First Aspect wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Pity you are staying in the East, it means you miss out on the amazing scenery the West, and in particular the North West has to offer. Don't get me wrong, east Lothian and the coast out to North Berwick is lovely, but not a patch on the wilds of Torridon, Wester Ross, Moidart and Morar. Plus the roads are flatter in the East!!

I'm an hour from the Trossachs, 30 mins from the Tweed Valley and I can be on the West Coast in 2 1/2 hours. Its a little shorter from Glasgow, but of course then you have to live in Glagow. No offence, but I'd much rather spend 300 days a year in Edinburgh and put up with an extra hour's drive every now and then. Apart from anything else, we have half the rainfall.

Was not meant to be a Glasgow v Edinburgh debate! Just pointing out that IMHO the best parts of Scotland, scenery, views, sunsets, and mountains, wild country, wildlife and some absolutely amazing cycling is up teh North West coasts, and to some degree west. I like Argyll and found some amazing roads round there, superb when combined with a ferry or two.

Wallace1492

First Aspect wrote:

I should be clearer- The fun stuff on the west coast is, well, the west highlands.

[thread hijack]I might have to get from A71 nr. Edbug into Glasgow for a new job soon. Any tips for getting within 10-15km of Glasgow city centre before getting snarled in traffic? I always thought that corner of the city looked most promising. Tried from the Kisyth/Kirkintilloch direction and that was crap.[/thread hijack]

Coming through to work in the Weedge!! Best getting the train..... We have a few that come from the East and train is preferred option, unless you want to arrive early o' clock and work till late o'clock

Wallace1492

Best fish and chips I have had is in the Applecross Inn, it was in a sumptious batter and they had superb hand cut chips.... Probably helped that I had just done the Bealach Na Ba, and over 500 miles the week before on me bike!

Nearly as good was the fish and chips in The Old Forge Inn at Inverie on Saturday evening.

Tobermory, Oban, Portree Uig and Arran have also had pass marks.

I also recommend the Caledonian MacBrayne curry if you are on a ferry with catering facilites,

First.Aspect

Wallace1492 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

I should be clearer- The fun stuff on the west coast is, well, the west highlands.

[thread hijack]I might have to get from A71 nr. Edbug into Glasgow for a new job soon. Any tips for getting within 10-15km of Glasgow city centre before getting snarled in traffic? I always thought that corner of the city looked most promising. Tried from the Kisyth/Kirkintilloch direction and that was crap.[/thread hijack]

Coming through to work in the Weedge!! Best getting the train..... We have a few that come from the East and train is preferred option, unless you want to arrive early o' clock and work till late o'clock

As feared! I just like the idea of being in control of my own destiny, i.e. car + bike.

The west coast of Scotland makes me want to work from home... so I can live there.

Only joking about Glasgow - enough people prefer it to Edbug to tell me that it must have a certain something. Its just too big for my tastes. I quite liked the area off towards the west - Milngavie (?) and out that way.

But you can't argue about the rain.

DonDaddyD

EKE, you met UE. Have you met suzyb, is she choong?

UndercoverElephant

DonDaddyD wrote:

EKE, you met UE. Have you met suzyb, is she choong?

I'm plenty peng-a-leng enough for both of us. 8)

Wallace1492

First Aspect wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

I should be clearer- The fun stuff on the west coast is, well, the west highlands.

[thread hijack]I might have to get from A71 nr. Edbug into Glasgow for a new job soon. Any tips for getting within 10-15km of Glasgow city centre before getting snarled in traffic? I always thought that corner of the city looked most promising. Tried from the Kisyth/Kirkintilloch direction and that was crap.[/thread hijack]

Coming through to work in the Weedge!! Best getting the train..... We have a few that come from the East and train is preferred option, unless you want to arrive early o' clock and work till late o'clock

As feared! I just like the idea of being in control of my own destiny, i.e. car + bike.

The west coast of Scotland makes me want to work from home... so I can live there.

Only joking about Glasgow - enough people prefer it to Edbug to tell me that it must have a certain something. Its just too big for my tastes. I quite liked the area off towards the west - Milngavie (?) and out that way.

But you can't argue about the rain.

Funnily enough I am from the neck of the woods you mention. Superb for an evening MTB (See Mountain Bike Glasgow Meet Up Group) and with easy access to the Blane Valley, Loch Lomond and the Campsies. Rain.... just means more mud and fun for Thursday night..... eh Suzy?

Its great to be on the edge of the countryside, and also be a 25 minute cycle from City Centre and work.

DonDaddyD

UndercoverElephant wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

EKE, you met UE. Have you met suzyb, is she choong?

I'm plenty peng-a-leng enough for both of us. 8)

Pictures or.. well you know the rest.

suzyb

Wallace1492 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

I should be clearer- The fun stuff on the west coast is, well, the west highlands.

[thread hijack]I might have to get from A71 nr. Edbug into Glasgow for a new job soon. Any tips for getting within 10-15km of Glasgow city centre before getting snarled in traffic? I always thought that corner of the city looked most promising. Tried from the Kisyth/Kirkintilloch direction and that was crap.[/thread hijack]

Coming through to work in the Weedge!! Best getting the train..... We have a few that come from the East and train is preferred option, unless you want to arrive early o' clock and work till late o'clock

As feared! I just like the idea of being in control of my own destiny, i.e. car + bike.

The west coast of Scotland makes me want to work from home... so I can live there.

Only joking about Glasgow - enough people prefer it to Edbug to tell me that it must have a certain something. Its just too big for my tastes. I quite liked the area off towards the west - Milngavie (?) and out that way.

But you can't argue about the rain.

Funnily enough I am from the neck of the woods you mention. Superb for an evening MTB (See Mountain Bike Glasgow Meet Up Group) and with easy access to the Blane Valley, Loch Lomond and the Campsies. Rain.... just means more mud and fun for Thursday night..... eh Suzy?

Its great to be on the edge of the countryside, and also be a 25 minute cycle from City Centre and work.

Instead of same distance to everything but not really near anything.

EKE_38BPM

DonDaddyD wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

EKE, you met UE. Have you met suzyb, is she choong?

I'm plenty peng-a-leng enough for both of us. 8)

Pictures or.. well you know the rest.

Yes, I met UE and he's a top bloke with a nice bike. We met on a lovely sunny day (they do exist in Scotland but loads of people were staring and pointing at the bright, hot thing in the sky as they didn't seem used to the sun).
We chilled out on the beach,enjoying a couple of pints, with lots of kids running around (including my GF's nephews and niece).
Most of the time I was there it was rainy/drizzly/misty and always quite humid. It was that weird kind of weather where people were wearing a mix of t-shirts and shorts or raincoats and umbrellas.

I saw some shows at the Festival and I can highly recommend CirqueColumbia (acrobatics) and the Korean Drums (Korean drumming), but the best I saw was The Two Wrongies (two ladies being very funny whilst naked).
The Korean Drums is very family friendly. I've never seen a five year old completely mesmerised for the whole hour of the show and then jabbering on about how good it was for at least an hour afterwards.

I didn't meet SuzyB, but I can confirm UE's other nickname of Tripod. I've never seen lycra put under that kind of strain!

UE, I owe you a pint if you ever make it down to London.

EKE_38BPM

Oh yeah, I forgot to say that Edinburgh is seriously hilly.
I saw a couple of fixies being pushed but it was mainly MTBs on show in the city and road bikes outside of it.
There were a hell of a lot of Revolution bikes around the city which was good to see as they come from the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op. The bike shop is being well supported by the locals and its not surprising as the shop is staffed by people who are obviously passionate about bikes and know what they are talking about.
My GF came out of the shop with a helmet and gloves despite not planning on buying anything whilst in there.

-spider-

Wallace1492 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

I should be clearer- The fun stuff on the west coast is, well, the west highlands.

[thread hijack]I might have to get from A71 nr. Edbug into Glasgow for a new job soon. Any tips for getting within 10-15km of Glasgow city centre before getting snarled in traffic? I always thought that corner of the city looked most promising. Tried from the Kisyth/Kirkintilloch direction and that was crap.[/thread hijack]

Coming through to work in the Weedge!! Best getting the train..... We have a few that come from the East and train is preferred option, unless you want to arrive early o' clock and work till late o'clock

As feared! I just like the idea of being in control of my own destiny, i.e. car + bike.

The west coast of Scotland makes me want to work from home... so I can live there.

Only joking about Glasgow - enough people prefer it to Edbug to tell me that it must have a certain something. Its just too big for my tastes. I quite liked the area off towards the west - Milngavie (?) and out that way.

But you can't argue about the rain.

Funnily enough I am from the neck of the woods you mention. Superb for an evening MTB (See Mountain Bike Glasgow Meet Up Group) and with easy access to the Blane Valley, Loch Lomond and the Campsies. Rain.... just means more mud and fun for Thursday night..... eh Suzy?

Its great to be on the edge of the countryside, and also be a 25 minute cycle from City Centre and work.

Used to live in the village at the foot of Campsie Glen - it was great area to get out on the mtb after work and crash about the hills. Great area for the road bike too.