Well yes my mum just bought a house on the Orkney Isles. Very very cool indeed. So we went up to see it and me being a sport suggested we take the low carbon route and avoid planes... oh dear god it's a long way away.
When the first day of trains came we heard news of a huge storm rolling in off the Atlantic but the ferries seemed to be functioning fine. We arrived a little late in the evening at about 1am (after setting off at 7:50am!!!) and got a taxi to drive us round to the bed and breakfast where we slept like washed up logs. Another early (ish) start at 8:30 with a giant breakfast (perfecto) meant we had the rest of the day to explore the main island and get a bus over to Stromness to see the cottage. We got there only to find out that the ferries for the remaining of the weekend had been cancelled... gulp. We paniced a little then settled into the idea of just booking another night or 2 at the B and B back in Kirkwall. We went and found the solicitors, got the keys and headed to the cottage, which is wonderfull! It needs a lot of work but mum's giving herself a year or so to get the work done and make the place livable again just in time for retirement. We spent an hour measuring the place and working out what can go where etc. Then as we plodded back into "town" we had just enough time to catch the very last ferry of the weekend... so we went for it! After an incredibly bumpy ride we found ourselves back in Scottland in Thurso... only to discover no trains... damn...
So we found a hotel and checked the train times and just relaxed. 6am rise and shine! On train at 6.50 and then came the 2nd full day of transport :( 16 hours, 5 trains, 2 million cups of very expensive and not very nice coffee and 3 bars of chocolate which came with the glossy magazine of nonsense I bought. FINALLY at 10:28pm I walk through my door. By 10:33pm I'm washed, clean and in my pj's curled up on the sofa.
If you wanna see some pictures of the place and the adventure I've put some on flickr. On the art side of the weekend there was a launch party for the Nottingham Craft Mafia and I hear it went well! Lots of interest and lots of wondefull things to see. Alas I couldn't make it cos I was on route to the North. Check the website for any upcoming information.
So how was your weekend?