Last week I packed may family up and we headed into the wilds of Highland Perthshire for a family break. Ignoring gloomy weather men, predicting gales and copious rainfall, I took the kids cycles and promised them we would have fun no matter what the weather. Well I needn’t have worried, Scotland came up trumps for us. The weather was perfect – gleaming Autumn days – when the lochs are slightly misty and the views are a myriad of oranges and browns.
Everything was open and by that I mean the sleepy villages hadn’t gone into their seasonal shutdown and they were, if not buzzing with tourists, certainly busy, restaurants seemed mostly full and shops, while not packed, seemed to be enjoying an October flurry before the serious business of Christmas. We spent the days walking, pottering, cycling, exploring, eating and enjoyed a great holiday.
It reminded me what a beautiful country we live in. Listening to some comments of the foreign tourists we met made me think that although there are bigger, grander places in the world, Scotland has such a unique beauty of its own that it deserves its place as a top tourist destination. And over the years I do think that the facilities we offer people are getting better.
Most of the food we were served was excellent, even the kids’ menus have improved beyond all measure. They were often offered much better fare than the usual chicken nuggets and chips – at one place they were even offered venison sausages! (They went for the pizza – can’t win ’em all!) Many eateries though could still make far more use of great local produce. Some towns had a super deli bursting with delicious, locally produced food but trying to find somewhere that served something marginally more interesting than scampi and chips proved a challange. This can’t be right. Scotland is bursting with great foods and food producers.
On that note its the end of a long day and I’m off home for tea. Might stop at the fish and chip shop on the way – Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Did you have a holiday in Scotland this October? Let us know where you’ve been and if you enjoyed it. Comment below or go to our forum.
Henrietta Forrest,
Creative Editor.
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