The reason that I have been a bit absent from TRIOF (aka 'This Ruth Is On Fire'- trying to get a little acronym thing going here) recently is because I went on 'me jolly 'olidays' last week up to Scotland and filled literally every minute of each day with so many activities that I barely had time to fart let alone write on my blog.
I literally had soooooooo much fun on this trip; catching up with friends, visiting a country that I'd never been to before, doing things that I'd never done before, exploring cities, ticking things off my 2015 Summer Bucket List and trying Haggis for the first time...and loving it!
On our first full day in the land where 'ay' means yes and Irn Bru is as much a staple diet item as water, we headed into Glasgow city centre ('we' being Sam- the gf and wee Katie Simpson- Sam's bff) to do some shopping and explore what the city had to offer.
I loved Glasgow, I thought it was a really cool place, but unfortunately I don't think that we got to see as much of it as we would have liked...you see, we started our first full day at Katie's house in Strathaven where we had the ingenious idea of hosting a make-shift boot camp in her back garden. This was to ensure that we didn't end up like fat turds by the end of what was inevitably going to be a couple of days of eating and drinking naughty things. The
I still thought that Glasgow was an impressive city however with a plethora of funky shops, restaurants, historic buildings and interesting architecture (check out the stylish metal structure in the photo above)- we also decide to sample the coffee, burgers and mojitos that the city had to offer because let's face it, shopping is obviously very hungry/ thirsty work.
After a day in the hustle and bustle of a city we were craving a little more serenity and so headed north to the absolutely stunning Loch Lomond which reminded Sam and I a lot of some of the places that we visited when we lived in New Zealand. What was to be even more impressive than the views that we were seeing from the car was to be the views that we were to see from actually being on the Loch on a Stand Up Paddle Board.
...The video below suggests otherwise but Sam ensures me that she 'fell in on purpose' (I'll let you be the judge of that).
What else is there to do in Loch Lomond I hear you ask? Well there's a bloody big hill in an area called Balmaha to walk up which has fantastic views...
...and is seemingly a perfect spot to create what may be the only trance/ highland dance video out there on the t'internet. Do enjoy.
Our third day saw us temporarily leave Katie and head east towards Edinburgh where Sam and I had booked into a couple of nights of glamping on a site on the outskirts of the city. If you are unaware of what glamping is then I shall explain; think of a slightly larger than normal shed with a kettle in it and you're pretty much correct.
On our way over to the campsite we stopped in Edinburgh city centre quickly for a spot of brunch at the trendy Milk Cafe and then poor Sam lost me for about an hour and a half in a bookshop that I would say is definitely now in my top 5 of favourite bookshops EVER! (I don't think that anything will ever come close to beating Shakespeare and Co in Paris but this was a close contender).
I had seen photos of Armchair Books on Instagram and Pinterest so I was well aware of how vast their collection of second hand and antiquarian books were but nothing quite prepares you for entering a space filled floor to ceiling, room to room with...so...many...books.
I had absolutely no agenda of what I was after when I walked into the shop so I ended up walking away with a real mixed bag of books, which include;
The Rum Diary by Hunter S Thompson- I have read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and his writing on Hells Angels and loved them so I knew that this would be worth a read. I'm a bit gutted though as I picked up the book without really looking at the front cover which is adorned with Johnny Depp's face, although his face is nice to look at, is a pet peeve of mine because I really dislike books with covers from film adaptations.
Persepolis (part 1) by Marjane Satrapi- This is the first graphic novel/ comic that I have ever bought but since seeing the film in 2007 I have wanted to have a paper copy of this story.
How to be a Woman by Caitlan Moran- Some people think this book is a witty and comical feminist look at being a woman and others think that its a whiny piece smothered in white, middle class privilege (similar to the Eat Pray Love effect)- I want to make my own mind up.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- time by Mark Haddon- no particular reason for this one to be honest. I've wanted to read it for ages, I've heard good things, it seems right up my street and it was only £3 so I couldn't really say no.
Glue by Irvine Welsh- I had to buy at least one Irvine Welsh book whilst in Scotland and having read Trainspotting before and with Glue being based in Edinburgh it seemed to be a good choice.
Right book talk over...
....Our next day in Edinburgh was to be our 'tourist' day which encompassed seeing all the major sights and losing the feeling in our toes atop a windy open top tour bus, warming up with Haggis, Neeps and Tatties (Haggis, mashed potato and mashed swede or turnip), having the most amazing homemade hot chocolate at the ever so cute Marys Milk Bar, visiting the Elephant House which makes the bold claim of being the place where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, rubbing the nose of Greyfriar's Bobby, visiting the National Museum of Scotland, walking up a rather windy trail to Arthur's seat and promptly falling fast asleep by 8:30 pm that evening.
I must interject here before I continue with the tales of what we did in our final day in Edinburgh and state that I genuinely could pack my bags up tomorrow, jump in a car, drive up the motorway and move to this city because I absolutely loved it! Everywhere you turned there were gorgeous brick buildings, quirky independent cafes and book stores, cobbled streets and a hell of a lot of greenery. Those that had previously been to Edinburgh told me that I would absolutely love it and it definitely didn't disappoint.
Enough gushing however! Onto our final day; we met up with our friend Karin who lives in the city and with wanting to do something a little different we booked ourselves onto an Underground Ghost tour. This involved us being taken into the underground vaults of Edinburgh in order to try and make 'contact' with any of the spirits that may still be lurking waiting to scare the beejeezus out of willing tourists. Our tour guide was excellent and combined humour with horrific tales of what went on in these underground vaults and for just £10 it was well worth the money.
Now I am such a cynic when it comes to making contact of the 'supernatural' kind and I think it's very easy to trick the mind into mistaking a breeze for an icy cold finger on your neck or seeing a face in a pitch black room which is merely a figment of your imagination but I must admit that with some handy atmospheric setting from our enthusiastic tour guide, even I felt a little freaked out when he blew all the candles out and we were left in complete darkness for what felt like a lot longer than it should have done.
To recover from our experiences on the Ghost Tour we grabbed lunch at the trendy Le Monde Hotel and we may have also indulged in a lunchtime cocktail too because hey...we were on our hols and it was happy hour somewhere in the world right?!
We returned to Karin's flat to relax and unwind before donning our gladrags, meeting up with Katie again and our friend Sarah and heading out for a night on the town. Much like Edinburgh during the day, Edinburgh during the night time is an absolute treat as well with a mixture of upmarket cocktail bars, beer houses and live music venues to suit whatever vibe you're after,
It then came to that sad part the next day and with heavy hearts (and heads from the night before) we had to leave Bonnie Scotland and say goodbye to our friends of whom we most likely won't see for some time as they all go off on their next adventures around the globe.
I have such fond memories of this week and would highly recommend a visit to our cousins north of the border if you get the chance because it really is home to heaps of really cool stuff. On my next trip to Scotland I plan to see more of the area surrounding The Highlands and hopefully give Ben Nevis a wee climb too (I just hope the wind that we experienced on this trip is a little tamer).
Hello and welcome to This Ruth Is On Fire, a UK blog which is a haven for random thoughts and sarcastic observations.
I'm also into books, clothes and visiting places too.
