Ok so

Right, so my upkeep of this blog has been nothing short of abysmal. I now realise I was completely stupid to think I would update it every single day. However I did think I'd manage to post something in the space of...3 weeks...

Anyway, I was away up North for a couple of days at the weekend. A nice sunny weekend in Elgin/Inverness/Aviemore (those words can't be placed together too often surely).

I worked in Elgin for 18 months before moving back to civilisation. It's a decent town...or Cathedral City if I'm being proper and correct. I enjoyed staying there initially as it wasn't Shetland and I didn't have to get on a boat to go to the Cinema or a Football match. But then I realised that driving for 40ish miles just to go to decent cinema was actually a pain in the hole. Add into the fact that I knew nobody there, it was time to shift south...thats where Edinburgh, the Tree House and the Shed came into my life.

Inverness shouldn't really have been included on my list as I did only spend about 2 hours there, and I'm sure you don't want to hear about me sitting in a coffee shop for 2 hours waiting for a train.

Aviemore is a place I've never "properly" been. I used "properly" as I've passed through it more times than I care to remember. But it slotted into my criteria of having a railway station and a Youth Hostel so it seemed good enough destination to escape from the Shed for a couple of days. It's a strange town, perhaps the closest Scotland has to a "Tourist Town" given that it's within touching distance of a couple of winter sports areas. The population is around 2500 but I would guess there are enough hotels and guest houses to easily double that during some winters.

I went up the Cairngorm Furnicular on Saturday morning, and given the financial state that place is apparently in, I'm glad I did before anything happens to it. For having little money, the place is still in good nick. You aren't allowed out onto the mountain at the top during the summer, but the viewpoint gives some cracking views out over Moray and the Highlands.

The rest of the day was spent lying on the grass in the sun reading books and newspapers. I could have very well done this in Edinburgh, but where is the fun in that?