Exploring the UK: Loch Ness, The Highlands, Scotland

Another post about my trip to Scotland! We arrived at Inverness Airport around 11am and after picking up our hire we drive into the city for a city bite to eat before meeting our friend. After stuffing our faces at The Filling Station - similar to Frankie and Bennies - we hit the road in search of Loch Ness.

Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish loch by surface area but thanks to it's sheer depth, it's the largest one in volume in the British Isles. Safe to say, it's pretty impressive to see in the flesh. It's most famous for its mythical sea creature that's said to loiter in the water - the Loch Ness Monster. Known affectionately was Nessie, there have been many reported sighting over the years. Sadly she stayed hidden whilst we were there!

While we were there, we hopped on a Jacobite Cruise* to help us see the loch in all its glory. We boarded the boat at the Clansman Harbour before being take on an hour long cruise around the loch. Despite a drizzly day, it was brilliant. The information on the loudspeaker was top notch - they even threw in some traditional Scottish music for good measure! The boat sailed over the ruins of Urquhart Castle so we could have a closer look and learn about its turbulent history.

A great way to see the sights of Loch Ness!

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A Liverpool photo diary

Last weekend I was very kindly invited by Travelodge to try out their hotel in the heart of Liverpool. Armed with my best friend, wine, glad rags and lots of gossip, we were up bright and early to catch the bus from London. Despite the journey taking a nightmare 10 and a half hours - we could have flown to NYC sob! - we didn't let this dampen our spirits.

We arrived at about 8.45pm so quickly ordered some pizza and poured some wine to get ready for a night on the tiles. Liverpool is a cracking night out! Once again I'm going to do a separate city guide with all my favourite haunts. It was a great weekend spent dancing, eating too much and basking in the sunshine. I really didn't expect to love the city as much as I did. The people were so friendly and there's so much to do. I even got swept up with Beatlemania despite not being too much of a fan!

It was so lovely to spend a few days away with a friend who I really don't see enough of. I can't believe we're celebrating 12 years of friendship this year - how did we get so old?!

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Bognor Regis

Last week I spent the weekend at Butlins in Bognor Regis with a group of lovely ladies including the mother bear to dance away to Soul Classics. We were blessed with beautiful weather - who knew September would be having a heatwave when we booked it! It was such a treat to walk around in sleeveless tops.

I hadn't been back to Butlins since the tender age of 13 and boy has it changed. We upgraded and opted to stay in a gold apartment for a bit of luxury. Good shout! To be fair there's not much to do the town of Bognor apart from a stroll along a pebble beach and a few charity shops to mooch around it. But it was really nice to get away for a few days with no wifi and just sit around and eat far to much. It was my first time to the seaside this year - I know! I can't believe it either! It felt so nice to breathe in the salty sea air. There's just something so relaxing about being at the beach - I can stand for hours staring into the distance.

Have you managed a trip to the seaside this year?

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