Drink, snow, a gig and general madness

Trip Start May 01, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Friday, April 4, 2008

It was not since we first arrived in the UK that we had seen our good friends Matt and Clare. In the first weekend in April they decided to visit Stace and I in Glasgow. Clare had only been to Edinburgh before and Matt had never been to Scotland. They arrived on a cold but sunny Friday afternoon, where I met them and we went straight to the Red Lizard for a few pints whilst waiting for Stace to finish work. We had a large dinner together and caught up, and included a few Boags Premium beers all the way from Tassie. Soon afterwards we headed over to the west end for a few more drinks, and were well enjoying ourselves by this stage. We ended up on Glasgow's infamous Sauchiehall Street before calling it a night. Matt and Clare did afterall come up from London for than just the drink! It was a fun  fun night. It was a good intro for them to the Glasgow nightlife too.

The next morning, after a slow rise out of bed, we finally decided to jump in the car and head north, destination unknown. Matt and Clare said they were hoping to see some snow. Well, they got it. By the time we reached the top of Loch Lomond, the surrounding hills all had a decent snow cover, and as got into Glen Coe, we found ourselves in near blizzard conditions! I had never seen Glen Coe so grim before 01 - Me, Stace, Matt, and Clare over dinner
01 - Me, Stace, Matt, and Clare over dinner
 . We made the decision whilst there to keep heading north through Fort William, and the loop back to the east and spend the night at Pitlochry, a favourite little Scottish town. So we headed north taking short detour into Glen Nevis to see what we could see. We found the 'Braveheart' carpark, which was created during the filming of Braveheart, shot nearby. Before long we arrived in Pitlochry, and found a B&B to spend the night.

After a wee rest we headed out into the dark cold conditions for a 20 minute walk over the hill to the nearby pub, The Moulin Hotel. It started snowing again on the way, and it was a walk that seemed to take forever. Nonetheless we made it to the classic Scottish pub, with a low roof and open fire. I had a good local ale whilst we waited for a table. It was a good cosy pub with good food and a great atmosphere, but later on we were all pretty tired so called it a night, given that we had to find our way back to the B&B.

We had a grand breakfast the next (Sunday) morning, in a dining room that was very Scottish. It had tartan carpet and matching placemats as a small example. The food was superb as all Scottish breakfasts are. We were surprised to see just how much it had snowed overnight. After brekky we took a tour around the town, taking in the dam and the fish ladder, and also having a bit of childish fun making a snowman called 'Yarp'. We capped off our short stay in Pitlochry with a great hot chocolate from the famous chocolate shop.

After a nice drive on the way back, cutting past Loch Tay for the scenic route, we arrived back in Glasgow mid afternoon. That night we took Matt and Clare to one of the hubs of Glasgow's live music - King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. We were off to see a band from the US named Devotchka, that I had really gotten into in the preceding months. I was stoked I finally got to see them, in a venue which is pure gold. It was a fantastic show and great crowd. Matt and Clare enjoyed it, and it capped off what was a superb weekend of the the usual fun and antics we get up to when we're together. For me and Stace it was work on Monday, as Matt and Clare headed back to London.
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