Ad: This was a complimentary trip but all views are my own. The sea holds something special for me. Growing up a stone’s throw from the River Clyde and holidaying on Highland shores meant that the tide and its creatures were backdrops to my childhood. Since moving to Scotland’s capital Edinburgh in my mid-twenties, the […]

Since the start of May, the weather on Scotland’s east coast has been stunning. Even if the days have dawned with the greyness of sea mist, by lunchtime it’s burnt off and the sky is a marvellous blue. We’ve been getting out as much as possible to enjoy it (because you never know how long […]

When spring explodes in Edinburgh — in a patchwork blanket of bright colour, little leaves unfurling like party poppers — it always feels brand new (to me, at least). I can never recall this season in Scotland’s capital as vivid as it appears to my tired, winter-dulled eyes. When you have an afternoon to yourself […]

It feels like spring has truly arrived. The streets are buzzing with cosmopolitans sporting denim jackets (myself included). Cliques sit outside hipster cafés and bars in the mild heat. The brave souls among us even have their pale legs out in the sunshine (myself not included). This is the kind of weather I’d forgotten I loved, […]

It was the first time I’d been up this street. Or should I say up the stairs? My stomach stuffed with Lovecrumbs coffee and cake, I weaved back down to the Grassmarket and saw the sign. The Vennel. My camera bag was over my shoulder; the first time it had escaped my office drawer since Monday […]

We took today off work in anticipation of another adventure but — as predicted in Scotland — the weather was being classically… well, unpredictable. Instead, our spring equinox became a day of dodging hefty rain showers, apocalyptic clouds and rush hour traffic en route to Aberdour. A seaside village on the south coast of Fife, Aberdour is […]

Ad: My stay at Sandford House was complimentary, but all views are my own. There are many things to love about Scotland but one that I always return to is its sense of mystery. No matter how many times you’ve walked the same road, lived in one place or seen the same landscape, there’s always […]