Written by Karen Bryan
One of our regular short day trips from Berwick upon Tweed is to the coastal town of Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, for a walk along the North Sea Trail towards Coldingham. The views were particulary attractive one afternoon in mid April. Although there was a chilly wind, it was sunny and bright. The white heads of the crashing waves contrasted sharply with the colour of the rocks.
Written by Karen Bryan
We stayed at the Travelodge Dunfermline on the first night of our budget break in Scotland during early May 2012. The room cost £19 for a Saturday night booked during the December 2011 Travelodge Sale. It’s quite hard to get cheap Travelodge rooms on Saturdays, so this was a good price. Travelodge Dunfermline is located close to the M90 Perth to Edinburgh motorway. The hotel is a bit out on a limb, near an industrial unit. There’s often a restaurant next to Travelodges; here it’s a few minutes walk to a Harvester Inn at Halbeath Retail Park, where you’ll also find an Asda supermarket.
Exterior of Travelodge Dunfermline
We were allocated a room at the back of the hotel which is very close to the access road from Dunfermline up to roundabout to join the motorway. Most of the traffic noise was screened out by the double glazing and trees. I did go back to reception to ask if we could change to a room at the front of the hotel, but was told that the hotel was almost full and the only rooms left were at the back.
Travelodge Dunfermline room
Written by Karen Bryan
I am left wondering if gourmet restaurants serve better food, after eating at a variety of establishments during my recent visit to Portugal. I freely admit I’m no foodie with a refined palate. I really enjoyed lunch in Tomar which cost 13 Euro for two. Mary Goudie of Your Lisbon Guide and I both had the dish of the day, 2 pork chops with potato, served with tomato and lettuce salad and collard greens. Mary had a beer and a coffee and I had water to drink. The food was really tasty and the waitress a very pleasant young woman, who was working all the tables single handedly. I also had a good two course set menu meal which included a drink for 7.5 Euro in Faro in the Algarve.
The main course of the 13 Euro for 2 lunch in Tomar
Written by Karen Bryan
Do you love the UK? I do and I’ll be taking a UK staycation at least once a month over the next few months, as well as day trips from home. Yes, I know all you fellow Brits are muttering what about the unreliable weather plus going abroad seems more exotic. However, I want to illustrate that you can have a great time on home shores. Below are some recent and upcoming UK highlights.
In an example of discovering what’s on your doorstep, we’d driven past the sign for the Duddo Stone Circles on many occasions but finally made the decision to turn down the country road to see them in late April 2012. We couldn’t have picked a better time, as the rapeseed in the surrounding fields was in full bloom.
Duddo Stone Circle
Our budget break in Scotland was based on Travelodge Sale rooms, staying in Dunfermline, Inverness and Perth. The total cost was under £200 for fuel for our car, accommodation and food.
Loch Ness sculptures in Fort Augustus in the Scottish Highlands
Written by Karen Bryan
Would you like to have afternoon tea with me at the 4 star Glasgow Thistle Hotel on Monday 11 June at 3pm? We’ll be tucking into freshly baked scones and cakes, accompanied by either tea or a glass of Prosecco. If you’d like to be my guest, you can:
I’ll pick my afternoon tea guest at random from the blog comments and tweets.
Groupon have asked me to roadtest their offers, so I wanted to share some the treats on offer with Europe a la Carte readers.
You can enter the draw twice, once by leaving a blog comment and once by tweeting with the hashtag #afternoonteaglasgow. The last date for entries is Wednesday 6 May 2012. The winner will be contacted by email or Twitter. The Editor’s decision is final. There’s no monetary alternative.
Written by Karen Bryan
Berwick upon Tweed was on the movie map today as Colin Firth & Nicole Kidman arrived in town to film some scenes for The Railway Man movie. The filming took place close the Royal Border (rail) Bridge over the River Tweed, directly opposite my office. The preparations started this morning.
The crew preparing for the shoot
We were able to watch the filming from the window with binoculars but it was hard to make out any individuals, as everyone seemed to be wearing dark clothing and it was dull & showery. I wished that we had a telephoto lens to get some better photos.
The Railway Man shoot in Berwick upon Tweed
Written by Karen Bryan
I travelled from Lisbon to Faro on the InterCity train in March 2012. It was my first experience of trains in Portugal. I booked my ticket in advance online, at the same time I did my online check-in for my flights. The CP Portuguese train site is available in English. There weren’t that many trains between Lisbon and Faro, so I decided to take the 14.38, allowing me to have a leisurely morning in Lisbon. The first class ticket cost 27.5 Euro, around 6 Euro more than standard class. I wanted to have a single seat and a bit of space to work during the jounrey. I was hoping there’d be WiFi on the train, as most InterCity trains in the UK have WiFi, which is included in the price of a first class ticket. However, the InterCity train from Lisbon to Faro had no WiFi at all, so I ended up going over the 25mb data limit on my Vodafone Data Traveller package.
Engine of Lisbon to Faro InterCity train
I got on the train at Entrecampos, a rather grotty station in the city centre.
1st class carriage on Lisbon to Faro InterCity train
Written by Karen Bryan
Dunfermline in Fife was the first overnight stop on our budget break in Scotland. We had a late afternoon walk around the centre of town.
View of Dunfermline Abbey from Pittencrieff Park
There are lots of grey squirrels running around the park on the lookout for titbits. They’ll come pretty close to you if you put down some food.
Squirrel in Pittencrieff Park
Written by Karen Bryan
I’m on Best Western’s Year of Get Up & G0 2012 blogging panel. The idea is to highlight all that’s going on around the UK. I’ve written about how we Brits don’t always make the most of our country in my article on UK staycations.
I’ll be staying at several Best Western Hotels through the year, in order to review the hotels and write about events and attractions in the area.
My first trip, later this month, is to Bath for the Bath Fringe Festival. I’ll be staying at the Best Western Plus Centurion Hotel. I haven’t been to Bath for ages, but there are plenty of tips on things to do in Bath from recent visits by other Europe a la Carte authors.
The Roman Baths by Amanda Kendle
Written by Karen Bryan
The Clube de Journlistas Restaurant hosted Mary Goudie, of Your Lisbon Guide and me for dinner in late March 2012. The restaurant is rated no 1 in TripAdvisor’s Lisbon restaurants, so I was expecting something very special.
It was a pity that we didn’t eat in the Tiled Room which was much more characterful than the stone clad area in which we dined.
In Summer most dining is done al fresco. However, when I was there they were in the middle of cutting down some large trees in the garden for safety reasons. I think it would be lovely to eat in the garden.
Ivan calls himself a cook rather than a chef and he had put together a Tasting Menu for us. Ivan and the other cooks bring the food to the table. As I explained in my review of the Panorama Restaurant Lisbon, I don’t consider myself a gourmet, I prefer a two or three course meal to several small taster courses.
We started with a selection of delicious breads baked on the premises, including Black Bread (no, not burnt toast), coloured with squid ink and it did smell a bit fishy.
