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Exploring Scotland, Europe and the World

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Category: Europe

October 2020: Athens (Part 3): Day trip to Hydra

27 December 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Greece

Tuesday We knew that our intention was to take two side trips from Athens to nearby islands, and decided that in order to maximise city-country contrast, we should take the

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October 2020: Athens (Part 2): Acropolis & Museum

22 December 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Greece

Monday The transition from weekend to new week brought a move from ‘settling in’ to serious sightseeing. Top of the list were the city’s most popular attractions: the Acropolis and

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October 2020: Athens (Part 1): Settling In

10 December 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Greece

Saturday With our original plans for 2020 in tatters and multiple replacements having suffered a similar fate, Bruce and I tried one more time by arranging to spend a week

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September 2020: Biggar & Lanark

8 December 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

Biggar The small South Lanarkshire town of Biggar (population 2,300) is less than 30 miles from Edinburgh city centre. That’s just a one-hour bus ride, half of which is spent

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September 2020: Two Galleries and a Georgian House

7 December 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

That’s what I managed to clock up over just two days in September, albeit two days that were separated by a weekend. Scottish National Gallery (Friday 11-Sep) The Scottish National

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July-October 2020: Edinburgh Lockdown Easing (Phase 3)

4 December 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

As we have already seen, Phase 3 of lockdown easing brought the reopening of indoor hospitality from 15 July, which facilitated various day trips, quickly leading to a North of

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September 2020: London

15 November 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

Our base Our London base for this visit was relatively unusual: the Holiday Inn Express, Limehouse. It certainly didn’t represent IHG at its finest: the neighbourhood was slightly dodgy, it

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September 2020: Potsdam

11 November 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Germany

Situated less than 30km southwest of Zoo Station in Berlin and lying on the River Havel, Potsdam (population ~180,000) is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg.

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September 2020: Berlin (Part 2)

8 November 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Germany

Tempelhof Airport Tempelhof was Berlin’s first major airport, operating between 1923 (making it a similar vintage to Croydon Airport) and 2008. The former airport’s main claim to fame is the

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September 2020: Berlin (Part 1)

4 November 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Germany

Ku’damm / Zoo area May as well start with where we were based! We were delighted to spend our four-night stay at the brand-new Hampton by Hilton Berlin City West,

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August 2020: The Lake District

31 October 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

My Northern England road trip ended with a pass through some of my favourite spots in the Lake District, breaking my own rule that it’s normally best not to visit

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August 2020: Lancaster

28 October 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

The relatively small, but venerable city of Lancaster (population 52,000) is situated in northwest England. The name is derived from ‘Castle on the (River) Lune’, an explanation that imparts a

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August 2020: The town made famous by the Covid-19 crisis

12 October 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

Background I suppose I must have come across the name Barnard Castle prior to the year 2020: I know for a fact that I have driven the A66 several times,

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August 2020: North Yorkshire (Alphabetical) Neighbours

26 September 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

By the beginning of August, I realised that it had been over four months since I last spent a night away from home. Day trips are all very well, but

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August 2020: A Quick Look around Haddington

25 September 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

The small market town of Haddington lies 17 miles east of Edinburgh, just off the A1 and near the geographical centre of the East Lothian council area. It is the

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August 2020: An Hour in North Queensferry

23 September 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

I found myself at a loose end one Saturday afternoon and decided to jump on a train to North Queensferry, a mere 15-minute ride from my home station of Haymarket.

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July 2020: Day Trip to Peebles

22 September 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

The attractive small town of Peebles (approximate population 8,500) stands on the River Tweed and lies just over 20 miles south of Edinburgh, in the Scottish Borders council area. Until

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July 2020: Day Trip to North Berwick

19 September 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

Within a week of my first post-lockdown venture to Glasgow, I made a day trip by train to the attractive East Lothian seaside town of North Berwick. It’s a very

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