Glasgow:)

Hi guys, after my wee trip to China (Aberdeen -> Amsterdam -> Beijing -> Dalian) and back, I decided to go with a few mates to see Scotland play Argentina in Glasgow....

The game was nothing out of this world, however the experience of going to Glasgow with my mates was AMAZING:)

I did not have a kilt with me.... but I still had the Scottish flag around my neck all night:)

The fire works were really cool...

The next day after a very cool night out... possibly my last night in Glasgow... was great. We had a huge breackfast and walked around a little. I spoke to a few people and found it hard to understand the accent... but still a great experience. Living in Scotland for 2 years and not visiting Glasgow would be a crime...

Wickerman!!!

Once again I thought it would be a cool thing to see the burning of the Wickerman... here in Scotland.

There was lots of entertainment ....

I thought that these photos came out really well...

The wonders of Sony Cyber-shot in night mode:)

Eindhoven:)

Decided to come and visit Eindhoven with Martine one weekend.... What a great place:)

It is only a 90minute train ride from Amsterdam:)

I mean Amsterdam is great but one could think... is this what Holland is all about?

I thought this was a cool picture because I feel that Eindhoven is a typical Dutch city... ya they do cycle a lot:)

Eindhoven is about the same size as Aberdeen but it is really different... I thought it was cool as even though it was raining everyone was out doing the shopping in the city centre:)

Ya I could get used to this life style:P

This was taken at the Van Abbemuseum :) They have great coffee there:)

Congrats: Ines and Marco:)

This entry is dedicated to my dear friends: Ines and Marco... they got married and I am so happy for them:)

The wedding was GREAT:)


They have set the benchmark way to high for the rest of us mortals:)

This is a neat picture of the gang:P

It was good to be back in Portugal listening to all of my friends stories...catching up with the gangs news:)
Gang for ever:)

I wish you 2 all the best:)

Back to Portugal:)

After the wonderful trip around Scotland I found myself flying through Amsterdam to go to Ines' wedding in Portugal:)

Before the wedding I managed to go and have a look at my old University...

IST:)

To my surprise there was a huge party there... o arraial do caloiro...

Freshman party:) I did not make it there however it was really great to see my old friends, professors and walk around the place which had such a big influence in me.

Thanks IST!!!

I could not go to Portugal and catch up with some old mate:)
Mario Vicente - Amigo para sempre:)
Bruno, Mike, and Pedro.... miss you guys:)

Gairloch Lighthouse

We finally made it to our dream lighthouse: Gairloch lighthouse:

http://www.scotland-info.co.uk/rr-house.htm

You cannot go wrong when you go there... this lighthouse is still working but you can sleep there.... The food is amazing... the scenery is amazing.... if you are looking for something special or a special place to spend a weekend.... I strongly suggest this place. The journey itself there is worth while.

I thought it would be an ideal place to teach Martine how to Power Kite... .but alas... the winds were strong and some of us had difficulty staying on their feet:)

It was a great fun:) I think this picture says it all:)

(ya it was really cold)

Shieldaig

After Skye we headed north towards Shieldaig a wonderful little village. Spent the night there and continued our trip towards Gairloch.

But before reached Gairloch we went on this walk through the hills and found this little water fall.

Just had to stop and take a couple of photos:)

From Fort William

After discovering Lochness we drove down to Fort William and stayed there for a couple of nights:)
The "Harry Potter" train runs there however, since it was a Sunday and we wanted to make the most of the trip we decided to drive along the railroad.

So Fort William to Morar... what a beautiful drive, roads twists and turns just like in a movie:)
Went for a small hike around Morar and visited the white beach and walked along side the Loch Morar, where apparently Nessies cousin lives... ya you guessed it we did not find him either:(

Went back to Fort William for a Chipper Supper... nothing special but still was good fun.

The following day we drove from Fort William to Mallaig and caught the ferry to the Isle of Skye:)

Just as we arrived we decided to check out the:

Clan MacDonald heritage:) IT WAS FANTASTIC:) Had a great walk around.

We found a wonderful B&B on our way to Elgol... this tiny village on Skye. There is this wee lighthouse there which is amazing. The road there was another story... tiny road covered with sheep and cows:)

We saw the sun set there... There are lots of boat trips that you can take from there to see a few more lochs and the local fauna, although we did not have enough time to go on a boat trip as we were going to start heading north:)

Urquhart Castle

After the tractors... we headed towards the Lochness to look for Nessie. On the loch there is this FANTASTIC castle called Urquhart Castle.

I have been lots of castles in my life but this one has something special...

No wonder Nessie would want to live here:) It is beautiful.
We were lucky as the weather was Perfect:)

Tractors?!

After making it to the top of the Cairngorm and back... we headed towards Inverness. On the way we decided to stay at this WONDERFUL B&B. It was amazing, something out of the movies. This was the view from our room:)

While we were there, the people at the B&B told us about a tractor plowing competition... which was out of this world. I mean I have always been a city guy but walking around the fields with real farmers.... showing their tractors... well it was a new experience to say the least:)

There were hundreds of tractors of different makes, years all plowing this HUGE field which was divided to make life easy for everyone.
All the competitors where evaluated on different categories time, how even was the field plowed, etc...

To tell you the truth I did not understand all the rules... actually I did not understand what most people where saying... I mean Scottish farmers... it is very hard to understand...

It was so much fun:) I did not care that I was not dressed up properly (did not have my wellies on) and we were obviously in the wrong place but it was good fun:)

Cairngorm

Continuing our trip... from the Glenmore Lodge we started walking... and this is what we saw...

The photos do not do the place justice... all I can say it was amazing... 6 hour hike... a life changing experience....

There is no mountain too big for us... you can do anything if you put your mind to it.... and reaching the top...

WOW... what a feeling:)

There is a great train that you can catch if you do not feel like walking....but if you are up for it and weather permitting... just walk up.

It is the highest underground station in the UK... and there is a nice restaurant at the end ... which is "famous" for its hot chocolate:)

Try it out:) eehehhehehe.