Aberdeen – friendly and tasty

Remember the competition we had together with VisitScotland last year for our Norwegian bloggers? The two lucky winners Asbjørn Wille and Liv Brekkenes won a 3 day trip to Aberdeen City and Shire. A couple of weeks ago, we posted Asbjørns trip to Aberdeen and now it’s Livs turn. She brought her friend Mona Myhran along and here’s their story.

“Aberdeen is mainly known for its agriculture and oil industry, and not exactly for being a typical tourist destination. It was therefore quite a surprise to discover that this city has a lot to offer. You just have to give it a chance.

What impressed us most were the friendly and welcoming people we met everywhere, and the beautiful and stunning architecture. The churches and cathedrals were magnificent, and the small brick houses with the pipes on the outside walls and the chimneys on the roofs are really something else from our houses in Norway.

We had a great Indian meal in Cinnamon restaurant on Union Street and some tasty whiskys in the Grill Bar, also on Union Street. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit the city beach nor the Maritime Museum. That’s on the list for our next visit!

Stonehaven – Lush and green

Our first stop driving south of Aberdeen was Stonehaven. Famous for being the birth city of Robert William Thomson who invented the rubber pneumatic tyre, the little fossil Pneumodesmus Newmani and an art deco swimming pool. An outdoor swimming pool in Scotland may seem bizarre, but it is heated to 27 degrees and was great.  We visited in rain and beside the impressive design, watching the safety guard under her umbrella made us remember that we actually were in Scotland.

Fortunately the weather changes quickly, and walking at the beach in sunshine is fantastic. Surrounded by green, steep cliffs, blue ocean and gardens filled up with colourful flowers. The lush and green landscape was one of the things that amazed us, but as one of the locals we talked to said, with typical Scottish humour – the only positive outcome of all the rain.

Spectacular view

We also recommend a visit to Dunnottar Castle. It’s a really impressive ruined fortress with a great historical story. The history tells that this has been the hiding place for the Scottish crown jewels after they had been smuggled out from Edinburgh when the English invaded. The crown jewels are back in Edinburgh, but the remains of the castle is well worth the visit.  The view is spectacular and with a location on a cliff 50m above the sea, it is obvious that the fortress has been difficult to access. The castle has a story going back to 400’s and with more than 1300 years of history it is one of the most fascinating castles in Scotland. Dunnottar Castle was also the setting for the movie Hamlet from the 1990’s, starring Mel Gibson.

For visitors information and opening hours, please visit www.dunnottarcastle.co.uk

Our wonderful days in Scotland were finally set in Edinburgh where we enjoyed the Edinburgh Castle, the Modern Museum and the last day of the annual International Festival. Theatre groups, musicians and artists from all over the world filled the streets with their performances. It was a lovely atmosphere. “

Want to visit the places Liv and Mona went to? Check out the links below to find them on our Britain Map:
- Stonehaven
- Dunnottar Castle
- The Cinnamon restaurant
- The Grill bar
- Edinburgh Castle

/Towe

Become our Whisky Guide

Do you have a strong interest in whisky and like to travel? Are you Swedish and good with words in both Swedish and English? If your answer is ‘yes’, then we have a proposition for you – write our whisky guide and spend a week in Scotland for research and inspiration!

As some of you may have seen in our newsletter a few weeks ago, we are looking for someone to write our guide to the world of whisky. Therefore we are now, together with VisitScotland, hosting a competitition to become VisitBritain’s Swedish whisky guide. Together with a friend, the winner gets to go to Scotland for a packed seven day trip with visits to distilleries, museums and private collections on the agenda. The prize also includes flights, accommodation and a rental car.

The competition is open to all Swedes until 31:st of May. Click here to enter:
http://www.visitbritain.se/whiskyguiden

Good luck!
/Carl

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Top 10 Valentine’s Ideas in Britain

Are you planning to go to Britain for Valentine’s and have no idea what to do with your loved one? Then this Top 10 Valentine’s Day ideas list might be something for you. In the list you’ll find ideas like Balloon rides, Valentine’s punting in Cambridge or a train ride with the Orient Express through the Scottish Highlands.

If you’re more into other outdoor activities, spa weekends or just a nice restaurant to celebrate Valetine’s Day in, visit our See & Do section for some inspiration.

Have a great Valentine’s Day!

- Towe -

Bosse, the Whisky Doctor

Bosse ”Bildoktorn” Andersson is known to the Swedish TV audience for his enthusiasm for cars. Bosse also has another passion – whisky. VisitBritain meet him for a chat about his new book – Whiskyresan (the Whisky Journey). We are proud to present yet another anglophile interview. Thank you for your participation Bosse! (Interview in Swedish)

//Johannes Karlsson

A Golfers Paradise, part 5

Måns Zelmerlöw went to Scotland and fell in love with the people, the nature and of course – the golf. Here’s his last post from the trip. (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4)

Monday
12.40. Tee-off at The Old Course. I hauled out the driver again. Don’t duff, don’t duff, don’t duff, not now…An audience and a starter follows your every move, judging…But hey, I managed to get the ball in the air and off we went.

For the first time in my life I had a caddie. I didn’t think it was going to make a difference but I had to try it. It was all worth it. From my perspective I played a round of dream golf and managed to finish the course on my handicap.

Famous bridge at the Old Course

It’s a great course and the feeling to swing your way out of the same bunkers as you seen the professionals handle on TV is a love story. I managed a birdie on the 16^th followed by cheering from four hardened caddies and my hear was pounding when my driver at the 17^th just barely finds its way over the hotel and you know that you can reach the green on two. You can feel hundreds of people looking at you when you cross the world famous bridge between the 17^th and the 18^th and right here you realize that you want to come back again and again. St. Andrews is a golfers paradise.

//Måns

A Golfers Paradise, part 4

Måns Zelmerlöw went to Scotland and fell in love with the people, the nature and of course – the golf. Here’s his fourth post from the trip. (part 1, part 2, part 3)

Sunday
Today we got the message that we had been waiting for. It was time to play the Old Course…on Monday. We had planned to go back home this afternoon but this opportunity was to good to miss out on.

An early tee-off at the Castle Course at the break of dawn was captivating. It was probably the most beautiful nature scenery I’ve ever seen! The course was really hard with many blind holes. My game was dreadful, but the view made up for it and I kept smiling. If you ever come to Scotland you simply must play on the Castle Course!

After holed out at the 18th with seventeen points in my pocket we hurried over to the Dukes. We wanted to play another 18 holes and we got there in a golf car to manage this before sun down. This same evening we ended up at the hotel bar, tasting whisky.

/Måns

A Golfers Paradise, part 3

Måns Zelmerlöw went to Scotland and fell in love with the people, the nature and of course – the golf. Here’s his third post from the trip. (part 1, part 2)

Saturday
We wanted to play on the Old Course today but we lost the daily lottery so we headed for The New Course instead. It’s a beautiful links course in direct connection to it’s big brother. Third time in a row I missed stroked with the driver and decided to use the iron clubs in the future. The New Course became somewhat of a favourite, with no wind it’s a quite easy course and I managed to collect 37 points and lowered myself to 17,1. Nothing to brag about, but still…

We managed to stream the last soccer match of the World Cup Qualification between Sweden and Denmark on the hotel room. We had snacks and beer and a bottle of bubbles to celebrate the victory – however the result 0-1 put us down, at least for a while. Pretty soon we were on our way to Dundee to see what this town had to offer.

, Måns

A Golfers Paradise, part 2

Måns Zelmerlöw, went to Scotland and fell in love with the people, the nature and of course – the golf. Here’s his second post from the trip. (Part 1)

Friday
Day two began with a great breakfast on the fourth floor. Here you can enjoy everything from black pudding to freshly baked cup cakes.

The sun is shining in St. Andrews

Tee-off at Kingsbarns was at lunch. I had heard great stuff about this course and my expectations were high. And they came through, this is a great course and it contains some of the most beautiful golf holes I’ve ever seen.  And it’s a long course. This particular day it was windy with occasional dizzles. Needless to say this had an effect on my game, but even so I must recommend the course. Completely torn by the wind and on shivering legs we returned to the hotel to what we expected to be a calm and cosy dinner together with Helen and Fiona from the hotel management. It got cosy, but far away from calm.

The dinner turned into a pub round in St. Andrews and we ended up at a student party, the only place that was open after midnight. The guards eventually let us in and we spent ten minutes inside before they closed the place down and we returned home to the hotel, tired and weary.

–Måns–

A Golfers Paradise, part 1

In love with St. Andrews

We are delighted to present our latest special guest on the blog. Swedish Celebrity, Måns Zelmerlöw, went to Scotland and fell in love with the people, the nature and of course – the golf. Follow him the next days as we will publish five posts that covers his entire trip. Scotland welcomes you back Måns!

,Johannes Karlsson

I never thought that I would be so delighted. I was stunned by the nature, the people and the country and I’m now determined to return soon, very soon. Even though I only experienced a small peace of Scotland, I’m still overwhelmed. Six rounds of golf, a hotel and a small city centre by night made me feel so much love for this country.

St. Andrews is a picturesque town, it’s a nice mixture of older beautiful buildings, modern university architecture, genuine Scottish pubs, and quite a few golf shops. It’s obvious that golf has a great impact here. One of the oldest courses in the world, The Old Course lays just a stone’s throw away.

The Old Course Hotel is situated at the 17^th hole and the view is spectacular. There’s really nothing to complain about here. The staff is always helpfull and in a good mood, the food is great and the Kohler Spa is a perfect place to relax after a round of golf.

The courses in and around St. Andrews has everything that you could wish for. You’ll find fairways as short cut as greens back home, the deepest bunkers I’ve ever seen and stunning views of the sea and the Scottish wide open landscape. The greens made me think of the E4 motorway in Sweden and there’s no stopping of the ball after a nice approach game, at least not for me.

I have to admit that it wasn’t a round of dram golf for me here. After six rounds I leveraged 23 points per round. If I only could blame it on the wind! During five days at St. Andrews the wind was only blowing one day and to me it seemed like a storm. The people of St. Andrews called it a “light breeze”.

The journey, Thursday
Me and my friend arrived to Edinburgh via Amsterdam. We picked up our rental car and headed for the Mecca of golf. The trip was going to take 40 minutes but we landed on the double, even though we had a map and a GPS. We missed tee-off at The Dukes but the hotel helped and arranged a new time. After a plate of bangers and mash at the hotel pub, The Jigger Inn, it was time to tee-off again. I had heard horror stories about other Swedish players that made trial swings at first tee just to get thrown of the course. Hence I avoided doing this and as a result I duffed the drive half way to the ladies tee. And all this in front of a increasingly sceptic Scottish starter.

The Dukes has quite a few really nice holes but the course didn’t entirely convince me about the greatness of the Scottish courses. It could easily be compared to a good Swedish course, with long, wide fairways and beautiful views. But I was missing that little extra.

The planned afternoon powernap turned into a 12 hour deep sleep and I missed out on both dinner and whisky tasting.

See you soon,
Måns Zelmerlöw