I like this. Thanks Eleanor!

A brilliant ad from Irn-Bru which sums up Scottishness perfectly.

Interesting side fact: Scotland’s the only country in the world where Coke isn’t the top-selling soft drink. That honour goes to Irn-Bru!

This is an advert produced by the Scottish Government to publicise Homecoming Scotland. It does actually make me want to go back home! Hooray for Scotland!

photo: Marcus Beard

Well I’m just back from a couple of days in Bonnie Scotland, and it was the first time in a while I’d been to my home village of Monifieth (I couldn’t find any more recent pictures than that!). I was just there for a couple of days to look after a family member who had been in hospital for a short stay. It was pretty good being back home, and I was kept busy doing food shopping, cooking, and all that kind of stuff. The fairly recent Belfast-Dundee flight operated by Flybe is absolutely brilliant as well – I still can’t believe I can hop in to a plane and go straight to Dundee instead of flying to Edinburgh and then having an hour and a fifteen minute drive in the pitch black and (usually) driving rain. Great! Also I saw Highland Cows every day which I totally love. They’re cool looking beasts!

Monifieth has changed loads since I’ve been there – for a start it has a McDonald’s now (not the one I used to work in), but it saddened me to see that my old school has gone up for sale. It’s described as a “former mansion” in 2.3 acre grounds. No doubt it will be converted into flats, but my Mum pointed out that they’ll probably build houses in the grounds as well, which would be really sad. I can still remember picking daffodils in the gardens and selling them at the school for 5p! (And that was a school thing, not some hare-brained get-rich scheme I dreamt up when I was five).

So back home in Belfast now, and getting ready to fly to London tomorrow for a lunch with who will hopefully be the new presenters for my Summer series. I’ll let you know how that goes!

Och aye the noo! Sorry I haven’t posted in ages but bla bla bla. Anyways, I have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. Taking advantage of the fact that work has calmed down a bit now that Northern Exposure is all in the can, I spent a couple of weekends in my home nation Scotland recently. In case I haven’t told you before, Scotland is great.

Anyway, on one of the trips over, me and the famile took a trip to South Queensferry which is a really nice little village beside the Forth Rail Bridge (that’s the bridge in the picture above). When I was wee I used to think trains actually went up and down the bridge. Just as well they don’t really as that would make everyone slightly sick.

We ate a really nice meal in a restaurant there, called Orocco Pier. It is a great little spot if you ever find yourself driving around outside Edinburgh and fancy a good meal. There was also the most attractive waitress I have ever laid eyes on there as well. I tried to get a picture (in the interest of blogging you see) but as you see it didn’t really come out very well.

Anyways, mark my words, she was very good looking. So if you do pop in there, make sure you tell her I said hello.

My friends Nick & Kate got married recently (that’s why I was over in Glasgow). As you can see from the picture above they looked very smart – Nick in a black kilt – stylish for a change! I also splashed out on a new suit as the last time I was at a wedding my trousers kept falling down, which was very annoying.

Anyhoo, the wedding reception was at a posh / bar / club complex called The Corinthian, right in the middle of Glasgow. It was really, really nice. We had a room on the top floor (which was a struggle to be honest until we discovered the secret lift) and there was plenty of familiar faces from my recent trip to Islay for Nick’s stag do. It was nice as always to catch up with all my mates from Dundee as well, and for once I didn’t even go onto the dancefloor once! Not that I can remember anyway….

There were three highlights of the evening for me really – 1. seeing everyone, 2. the haggis balls from the buffet (I did actually go back for seconds, then thirds, but felt guilty the last time as there were hardly any left) and 3. the barmaids. Especially the one in the picture below. Hot or what?!!

So I think we stayed up until about 5.30am or something, I can’t really remember, but it was good fun anyway. And I can’t believe Nick & Kate are now married – I was there when they got it on! Well not literally obviously… way back in a Chinese nightclub in Vancouver (don’t ask).

More drunken photos here….  

I’ve written about River City before – it’s a Scottish soap which I tune into and which my friend works on in Glasgow. I was over in Scotland again a couple of weeks ago for a wedding (see the seperate post) and took the opportunity to go and catch up with Maj.

She was working late, so I headed out to where River City is filmed, and ended up making an appearance in it! I’m just an extra mind…. but if you tune in to the Hogmany episode, I am walking across the street as the fireworks go off. Result! You probably won’t be able to see me though as it was pitch dark. I didn’t get any photos of the set this time, but I did get a River City 5th birthday cake from Maj which I still haven’t eaten!After that, we went back to Maj’s lovely new flat, and got drunk with an Indian (food that is, not a random person).

Unfortunately Maj had to leave at 5.30am the next morning to catch a flight home, and I couldn’t be bothered getting up. However this decision cost me dear in the end as I couldn’t get her door locked, and I had to call a locksmith who took two hours to turn up. £100 lighter and running late for the wedding, I was a bit stressed! While I was round Maj’s, I did see this though….

It’s a fish and chip shop on a boat! On a canal! With a sail-through window so you can get fish and chips from your boat! I thought that was an excellent idea. We didn’t go in it though as apparently it can get a bit rough. Maybe with pirates and things.  

My wee sister turned 21 last month! That was a bit sad really as it means I’m getting old – I can vaguely remember the day we went to hospital to pick her up. Anyway, to celebrate, I flew over to Scotland to surprise her, and my other sister flew over from Dallas (I think that’s more impressive).

For the first time, I flew direct from Belfast City to Dundee, which was WEIRD. I still think it’s strange there’s a direct flight seeing as Dundee Airport is about the size of my living room, but there you go. It’s also weird because for some reason the flight is operated by a Polish airline. Anyway, after that, it was straight over to St. Andrews to surprise Ailse, and then we all went out for dinner. I have a video of that but to save Ailse’s embarassment (seeing as she was in bed) I won’t post it here.

On Friday, me and my two sisters did something I have always wanted to do – paint pottery! A weird wish, I know. I chose a mug, and my creation is below – a super singing dancing dog mug. This brought tears of laughter not only from Jill and Ailse, but also from one of the ladies working in the shop. Thanks a bunch! I’m proud of it anyway. To the people in the shop, seeing as you are in Broughty Ferry, I think you should have named the shop Potty Ferry rather than Ferry Potty.

Saturday was spent chilling out and then on Saturday the whole famille went out for a meal to celebrate Ailse’s birthday. We went to the Old Course Hotel in St. Andrews which is really posh. It was quite expensive I think although I didn’t see the final bill. The restaurant there is very formal, but it was a good meal. I didn’t get too drunk either, as I didn’t think that was really very appropriate.

It was a really nice weekend away – I think it’s because we all got on and there was no arguing. It was the time of the Open in St. Andrews so we kept our eyes peeled for Bill Murray, Hugh Grant and Ronan Keating who were all in town, but we never saw them. We did have a bit of a night out with Ailse and her mates – Eleanor, Katherine and Hanna (that’s them above) which was really good. Ailse and I wanted to carry on partying, but Jill didn’t as she was jet-lagged. Boo!

I really like St. Andrews – I know it’s very small, but it’s Scottish, and very relaxing. I think I may consider having to organise a weekend there for me and my mates, and we can all go a bit crazy! We could also visit the Bop which Ailse talks about a lot.

Following the shennanigans of the previous night, we all managed to make it up pretty early in the morning (just as well really as our lodges had to be clear by 10am!) – I’d also managed to get back tipsy at about 3am the night before and actually tidy up the entire lodge, clearing it of beer bottles and barbecue remnants. How impressive is that?!! I couldn’t be bothered facing it in the morning. More after the jump!

Sunday morning was pretty chilled – we just hung out outside the hotel while Stuart ferried people off to the ferry (see what I did there?) – everyone was away by about midday, apart from myself and John (he was staying another day). Kate’s Mum and Dad very kindly came and picked the two of us up (my flight wasn’t until 6pm) and gave us a bacon sandwich lunch. Yum! Just what you need with a slight hangover (thankfully my hangover wasn’t nearly as bad as the I’d had on Saturday).

After lunch, John and I were taken for a trip to Machir Bay, which I can only describe as absolutely stunning. I think it helped that it was a totally gorgeous day, but it has got to be one of the best beaches in Scotland. If I lived on Islay and didn’t have to work I think I’d spend all day every day chilling out there! Kate’s Dad, John and I climbed to the top of a big rock, and could see for miles all around Islay – and bits of Northern Ireland as well.

Doesn’t that look amazing? It doesn’t really do the beach justice to be honest, but the water was just bright blue. I felt really relaxed (even after climbing a mini mountain!)

After the trip to the beach (which locals call Kilchoman Beach) there was just time for a cup of coffee at Kate’s Mum and Dad’s before I headed off to the airport and caught the flight home.

I can’t recommend Islay enough to anyone that fancies a bit of a different weekend away. It’s really friendly (as is the whole of Scotland!), stunning, and very relaxing. If you are thinking of going, a good guide to check out is Armin’s guide to Islay.

I had a really brilliant weekend on Islay, and definitely want to go back. It was also great catching up with my Scottish mates, who I don’t see as often as I should. Even though I seem to get hammered every time I see them.

Photos from the whole weekend are here, and I may just get a video edited and approved by the stag himself to put online later!

After drinking for 12 hours the day before, I can safely say I was feeling a bit rough on Saturday morning for the second day of my stay on Islay. I got up at 6am, went back to bed, got up at 10am, went back to bed, got up at 11am, lay on the sofa in the lodge, and finally I was able to get up properly at 1pm. Bit of a waste! A handful of the guys had managed to get up for another round of golf at 9.30am, and started drinking on their way round the course. I definitely couldn’t have handled that!

After I’d managed to get in and out the shower with a stonking headache, some of us went over to the main hotel for a spot of lunch. I was delighted to see they had ham and cheese toasted sandwiches on the menu. I would have taken a photo of it (in my quest for the best) but I was so hungover that actually putting food in my mouth required a gargantuan amount of effort on my part.

Still feeling rough, it was time to head off to a distillery for a tour. Nick’s future wife-to-be’s parents happen to know someone that runs a distillery, so James (for that is his name) kindly agreed to take us on a private tour of Bruichladdich distillery. Now I am not a whisky fan it must be said, but it was really, really interesting. Even though I had visited Bushmills distillery a month ago on a visit for work, I was fascinated. James was a brilliant guide and had incredible stories, but in addition, unlike Bushmills, Bruichladdich is not owned by a big conglomorate, and make whiskey the traditional way, so that made it more interesting too. James was keen to point out that there is not a computer in sight in the whisky making process. So I would recommend it for a tour! That’s us in the cask warehouse above. It’s a terrible picture of me so don’t look too closely.

A quick trip round the distillery shop (they have an online version here) and we spied a very expensive bottle of whisky. £999! I let it pass, but I did buy a tartan scarf. Hand made on Islay!

After our tour, we headed into the town of Bowmore, and had some drinks and played pool and darts at the bar of the Bowmore Hotel. It was here that we unfortunately began to notice that one of our party had developed what we could call a ‘fragrant’ problem. I’ll refrain from naming and shaming them to spare their blushes. Onwards, and it was doon the road for an Indian meal at the Taj Mahal! It was in here that a different member of our party (one who had been drinking since 9.30am) had a wee snooze on the table. Because of my massive bender the day before, I had only started drinking at this point, so was totally fine! Woo-hoo!

Once we had had our fill of Cobra beer and curry, it was off to another bar – Duffies, at the Lochside Hotel, which was right across the road from the Taj Mahal. Here things began to take a tipsy turn. We basically had quite a lot to drink. And couldn’t make our mind up whether to go to a disco which was taking place someplace else on the island. In the end we ended up staying in Duffies after a quick detour via the lovely Harbour Inn.

By this point the stag was having problems. Let’s just say he had a very strong pint (I won’t reveal what was in it) and then a triple Jack Daniels. Cue mayhem and madness. I don’t think it is fair to write here the behaviour that ensued but let’s just say the night for him, ended earlier than we had planned. Maybe the picture below will kind of reveal the state he was in. After one drink back at The Machrie, it was time for bed!

There were lots of girls on Islay by the way, and a lot of them were very attractive. I haven’t mentioned them so far, so there you go. More pictures from the trip are here!