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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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July 2020: Back on Track

16 September 2020 RandR.scot Miscellaneous

As Scotland began a staged transition into Lockdown Easing (Phase 3) from the middle of July, my first travel priority was to venture outside my own local area of Edinburgh

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June/July 2020: Edinburgh Lockdown Easing (Phase 2)

12 September 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

Transition to Phase 2 of ‘lockdown easing’ was announced on 18 June and marked a period when the Covid-19 transmission rate in Scotland was confidently under control. The changes, which

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May/June 2020: Edinburgh Lockdown Easing (Phase 1)

10 September 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

Scotland entered Phase 1 of ‘lockdown easing’ on Thursday 28 May 2020. This introduced a variety of measures, such as the ability to use outdoor spaces for relaxation, the reopening

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May 2020: Edinburgh in Lockdown (Part 3)

8 September 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

My final set of photos showing Edinburgh city centre in full lockdown covers the period 20-27 May. Scotland entered the first phase of ‘lockdown easing’ on Thursday 28 May, as

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May 2020: Edinburgh in Lockdown (Part 2)

31 August 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

This post shows aspects of Edinburgh city centre in full lockdown during the first half of May. The absence of people and traffic from normally busy streets is quite remarkable.

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April 2020: Edinburgh in Lockdown (Part 1)

30 August 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Scotland, UK

This post is the first in a series that will show my home city of Edinburgh during the period of Covid-19 lockdown and subsequent ‘easing’. I took all these photos

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March 2020: Three Cities: 3. Norwich

29 August 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

Arrival I travelled from London to Norwich on a Greater Anglia express train, using a heavily discounted ‘Advance First’ ticket. It was one of the company’s brand new, Swiss-built Stadler

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March 2020: Three Cities: 2. London

27 August 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

I arrived in London from Amsterdam, unusually, and a little later than planned (thanks to issues with the GWR service from Bristol), met up with Bruce at our base for

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March 2020: Three Cities: 1. Amsterdam

25 August 2020 RandR.scot Europe, Netherlands

Towards the end of 2019, KLM pointed out to me that my small, but usable, stash of Flying Blue miles would soon be expiring, and that I needed to fly

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Leap-Year London (2020)

22 August 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

Barely a few days after my previous visit to London, I found myself flying south once more, this time on the Saturday itself – the last day of a leap-year

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February 2020: London

22 August 2020 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

As I have written previously, albeit not here, London is not necessarily my favourite place in the world, but it is easily my most visited destination outside my native Scotland.

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Lounge decor

Japan in Winter (2020): Diary Epilogue

9 August 2020 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry

While the main part of the trip was over at this point, it would take another four days for me to make my fairly leisurely way back to Edinburgh. Saturday

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Ice sculpture

Japan in Winter (2020): Day 6: Last full day in Sapporo

8 August 2020 RandR.scot Asia, Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Japan

Today, like Thursday before it, was neatly subdivided into three sections. After sampling a McDonalds breakfast (which, if anything, was marginally better than the previous day’s Starbucks experience), we set

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Sapporo Beer Museum

Japan in Winter (2020): Day 5: Getting to know Sapporo

5 August 2020 RandR.scot Asia, Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Japan

Morning … Today started with breakfast at a local Starbucks – the coffee was nice enough, but the food wasn’t so great. After a brief return to the room to

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A temple in Sapporo

Japan in Winter (2020): Day 4: Onwards to Sapporo

3 August 2020 RandR.scot Asia, Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Japan

Morning relocation Today began with another fabulous, private-dining breakfast – just as good as the previous day’s, but tinged with a feeling of regret that we were about to leave

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Hell's Valley

Japan in Winter (2020): Day 3: Heaven and ‘Hell’

2 August 2020 RandR.scot Asia, Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Japan

Breakfast & Hotel Tour A member of staff arrived at 7:30 to begin setting up for our 8am breakfast. Just like dinner the previous evening, but on a smaller scale,

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Welcome amenity

Japan in Winter (2020): Day 2: To Takinoya Ryokan

2 August 2020 RandR.scot Asia, Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Japan

Transfer to Noboribetsu Onsen Following our inclusive hotel breakfast, we checked out and took the bus to Memanbetsu Airport. This visit brought home what a small airport this is, although

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