We took a five-hour whale search and wildlife watching trip in the Firth of Lorn Special Area of Conservation and Marine Protected Area with Sealife Adventures who run tours from their pontoon on the mainland near Oban. The tour was led by Marine biologist David Ainsley who set up Sealife Adventures in 1988. Within the first…
Loch Etive is a 30 km sea loch which reaches the sea 5 km north of Oban. It heads east for half its length alongside the main road and rail link to Oban. It was a bright and clear morning. We walked down the path from Port na Mine to Loch Etive. The rest of the group arrived from Mallaig in the evening. We had…
In August 2025, we spent a week at Loch Etive, near Inverawe, on the west coast of Scotland. We rented in Port na Mine – a six-bedroom house in a remote corner of Inverawe for our group of eight adults, four children and two dogs. The drive, from Harrogate in North Yorkshire took eight hours…
Light rain fell in the morning and the sun struggled to appear. I went for another short walk in the village and noted for the first time the Württemberger Weinstraße sign and a carving depicting vineyards, grape harvest, pressing and wine drinking, just below the church. I noted the well stocked grocery store with no…
It was Sunday and Kleinbottwar was quiet in the morning. I walked in the hot sun past the small Schafer Winery to the little pastry shop at the bottom of the street next to the church, bought fresh bread and cakes and drank coffee. That evening we went to the annual street party in the…
A walk in the Kleinbottwar vineyards Kleinbottwar village in the Württemburg wine region Germany is known principally for wines from the Riesling grape. There are three adjoining Grosse Lage – classified vineyards on a southwest- and south-facing hillside to the northeast of the village, on low-yielding, stony Keuper soils. In the middle of the three, Süssmund (“Sweetmouth”, referring to…
In mid-April 2025, we spent delightful five days with Nick, Renu & Seren at their London home. We drove to London on Thursday. The journey on the M1 from Harrogate took six hours with a short stop for lunch. We drank Argentinian Malbec and ate excellent home cooked steak with mushroom sauce that evening. Friday…
We celebrated Christmas with the family in London. Nadja, Alma and Lotti flew in from Germany. We drove down from Harrogate. 22 Friday It rained all the way to London. The only stop was at Leicester Forest for a cheese sandwich and coffee. That evening, a selection of new wines from South Africa were tasted…
Soon after Christmas in 2022, we spent 3 days in a delightful wood cabin in the Black Forest We left Kleinbottwar after breakfast and drove 118 km along the A81 towards Loßburg on the high plateau of the Northern Black Forest at an altitude of 600-800 metres. The source of the Kinzig, which crosses the…
We spent ten days over Christmas in Kleinbottwar – a pretty little wine village in the Württemburg region of Germany on the Murr river, around five kilometres northeast of its confluence with the Neckar river. Christmas Festivities started on the 23rd. Hot Glühwein was drunk with sausages in the evening with neighbours. There were heaps of…
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