My Scotland caching trip

[nuduke]

Duane,

You are giving every sign of being tempted by a visit to Scotland!  If that's a reality, you must let us know in the UK so we can rendezvous!
Planning definitely needed as where I live is about the same distance from Edinburgh as, say Las Vegas NV to Phoenix AZ (but with slower roads!).  Whilst the Edinburgh festival is the least naturist place I can imagine, it is the most fun clothed I know!  It is worth research though.  Accommodation needs to be booked well in advance (months!) and it helps to plan well what you might see and where it is.  The logistics of enjoying yourself at the fest is amazingly complex!  Here's a for instance: You see Show 1 in Venue A and you've booked to see Show 2 in venue B  15' after Show 1 finishes and A to B is 25' minutes walk but 10' in a taxi but there are no taxis because it's peeing down with rain and Show A comes down 5min late - result....a wasted hour in the nearest pub drinking  BEER and spitting at the loss of the ticket price for show 2!  So you really do have to spend a proportion of time planning.  In this case the correct logistics are:  See Show 1 in venue A, skip show 2 and book for show 3 in venue C an hour after Show 1 finishes where Venue C is just around the corner from venue A and thus saunter over after Show 1, spend the hour in the bar of Venue C drinking BEER and eating a bridie or a scotch pie and then saunter comfortably to your seat.  Extend this to the whole day starting with a late lie in bed so first show, say noon, this means, by 2am, 7-8 shows seen, 8-9 pints of BEER consumed, approximately 1-2 hours spent with the guide and online on your cellphone reading show reviews over a pint of BEER, deciding on and booking your shows, several miles walked at high speed between venues, several street performers watched on the way, 3 bagpipers avoided (too noisy!), 200 leaflets collected in the streets from performers leafletting to promote their shows and an irrational number of bridies, white puddings, scotch pies and haggis flavoured chili con Carnes eaten and you completely exhausted, amnesic about the first 3 shows but on balance...Happy as Larry*!
Following morning, read reviews of show 2, decide if it's worth it, book tickets and off you go again on a second day of mayhem.
That's what the festival is like!  Mad!
I wouldn't recommend more than about 4-5 days of that pace!

John

* I refer here to the generic cliché here NOT to our erstwhile and errant friend Tanman.

[eyesup]

Awards for the barefeats? Could be a step in the right direction.

The BareFeats Award!  I like it!
What would it be? A statuette? Hmehh! A medallion? Maybe! A pin? CERTAINLY NOT! How would you recognize someone predisposed to wearing nothing?

John, I don't know what it is about sparse vistas and long horizons. They call to me and Scotland has them in abundance.

Bridies? Looked them up and they are very similar to empanadas, a pastry from Mexico that, when done right, are amazing!

[JOhnGw]

3 bagpipers avoided (too noisy!),

IMHO they are so noisy as to be totally unavoidable.

[MartinM]

I was in Edinburgh last Saturday. Went into the Nationsl Gallery, initially to avoid heavy rain shower, but decided to see impressionist exhibition. Was nearly thrown out for being barefoot, but reluctantly agreed to put on my 2mm laced soles (Huaraches - barely sandals) to see the rest. I should have just asked for my money back, as by then I was too late for my first show. Tried to see Al Murray but was sold out, apart from a long queue for late release tickets, so instead (after beer) went to watch a musical story by a classically trained folk fiddle player (Mairi Cambell) about her journey from claasical music school (clearly not enjoyed) back to her folk roots, via some amusing mishaps and distractions, including a boyfriend in Mexico who turned out to be a priest!

The next one I got right with a short walk to the Flamenco school ( I am learning flamenco guitar) although, not having booked a ticket, I had to wait fora returned one before enjoying an excellent performance. Back to Teviot row to grabsome food, but the wait was to long to get an Aberdeen Angus burger, so just a baguette before rushing to catch the train back.

Being able to spend the night there would make all the difference, but I planned it more as a quick recce to see how it works. I should add that I spent some time on my Ipad looking for shows on that day, and by page 10 I was still on the 'A's. I am told there is an app where you can put in additional criterea, such as type of event you are interested in, to make planning easier. There seem to be as many shows as visitors, and that is A LOT. Good skills reqiured in negotiating packed pavements, especially with bare feet!

You certainly need to plan as suggested above, with reasonable gaps in between for slippage, losing venues, and of course, beer and refreshments..

[nuduke]

You certainly need to plan as suggested above, with reasonable gaps in between for slippage, losing venues, and of course, beer and refreshments

My point exactly!  I was called by a friend the other day from the Edinburgh Festival.  He had a moment between shows as the one he had just seen overran but someone he knew well was in it so went to see them afterwards to say well done and that bit of conversation made him late for the next show which he missed (but had paid for!) hence the time to catch up on his calls.  He was having BEER at the time of the call.  I rest my case, M'Lud!

John

[eyesup]

Are all show tickets available only through advance purchase? You can't just wander up and decide to attend something that looks interesting?

I can see why that would make moving around a bit frantic and why BEER and Bridies are so important.

Duane

[Karla]

We made sure to leave Edinburgh for the previous two weeks to escape most of the festival. It's probably great to visit, but not so good if you need to live here and hate noise and crowds. We went to the Harz in Germany. I ended up spending two weeks lugging 4 1/2 tonnes of wood out of a garage because it was getting too damp. Still, it got me hill fit and now we're back we're looking to get out into the highlands of Scotland. I just hope there is some good weather left this year now that we have a car again.

I also got to try out my hiking skirt. It was great. Next test will be in the highlands. I had planned to spend a week camping in the highlands but there were too many things to buy.

[John P]

Hey, nice to hear from the founders of this excellent forum!

If you went to the Harz, did you go to the official nude hiking trail in the Wippertal region? I was there with 4 friends in 2014, as a prelude to the Naked European Walking Tour. Before that, I rode the steam train across the hills, but the Brocken (highest point in Germany north of the Alps) was covered in cloud. That was disappointing, but the train was fun, and I managed to visit Quedlinburg.

[Karla]

Hey, nice to hear from the founders of this excellent forum!

If you went to the Harz, did you go to the official nude hiking trail in the Wippertal region? I was there with 4 friends in 2014, as a prelude to the Naked European Walking Tour. Before that, I rode the steam train across the hills, but the Brocken (highest point in Germany north of the Alps) was covered in cloud. That was disappointing, but the train was fun, and I managed to visit Quedlinburg.

We still haven't done the nude trail there yet, we keep meaning to. I'd love to try doing the official nude hiking trail in the snow. But we did do some skinny dipping in a lake outside Clausthal Zellerfeld. There were plenty of other naked people there. It was too hot (I really suffer the heat) and so I chose a shady bit under a bush. Stuart went in first and a minute later I found a deer tick crawling up my leg. We later scouted out a better lake nearby. We didn't get the time to do everything that we wanted on that holiday though.

We climbed the Brocken once in April. We a narrow foot path up and it was great fun. If you stepped outside of the path, which was only wide enough for one person, you risked sinking into 6 feet of snow.  Was a complete culture shock to come out to all the roads, and buildings on top though!

[eyesup]

Yes, it's good to see that Karla & Stuart are still hanging about.
Every now and then I will see Stuart logged on doing, I assume, household chores.

It would be great if you could post a report of your recent travels.
When you have a break between rearranging woodpiles!

Duane

[Karla]

It would be great if you could post a report of your recent travels.
When you have a break between rearranging woodpiles!

Well we had planned loads of outdoor activity on getting back to Scotland but things just didn't work out that way. First thing I did was take out a loan for a car so I had something to practice on to help with passing my driving test. Every time I've started to learn to drive I ended up moving and having to put it on hold for a bit. Unfortunately the new car died in the Netherlands 3 weeks after buying it. Just getting it back to the UK was a real hassle. So we had to sue the car dealer. While this was going on I bought a cheaper car about 6 months later and that only lasted a couple of months itself. So that was 2015 fizzled out. After that I decided to just spend money on driving lessons. I now have a driving license and a car but summer's coming to an end. Hopefully we still have a couple of months to get some trips in.

Also I've been really busy to the point where I have burnt myself out. I've been continuing with my own scientific research with the intention of getting it published, but it's very difficult to find the time if you have to hold down a full time job during the day.

But things are coming along now. I decided to try publishing next year instead. I'm taking up paragliding again and plan to start scuba diving again too. I've now got most of our outdoor gear back with us in Scotland so we can go wild camping etc. That nude swim in Germany was the only outdoor nudity we've had this year so far, we intend to do more!

We still have a few updates to put on the site from previous trips but I've just been focused on other stuff.

[jbeegoode]

It would be great if you could post a report of your recent travels.
When you have a break between rearranging woodpiles!

But things are coming along now. I decided to try publishing next year instead. I'm taking up paragliding again and plan to start scuba diving again too. I've now got most of our outdoor gear back with us in Scotland so we can go wild camping etc. That nude swim in Germany was the only outdoor nudity we've had this year so far, we intend to do more!

We still have a few updates to put on the site from previous trips but I've just been focused on other stuff.

Sometimes, I just decide that a day will be a publish day and just do it until it is done. I always have fun. I get to relive the fun adventures and something is accomplished. That being my preference and urging on to you selfishly, I have to also say that it is better to spend what little time there is to do a new adventure instead. BUT I always take notes to write off of and safely store the pics. We also make time to get away, as that keeps a person sane and revives for the next surge of productivity and such life.

Sorry about the horrible car setbacks.
Jbee

[nudewalker]

I completely understand the frustration with your automobiles Karla as I have been dealing with a number of problems with the caravan all summer. We were able to salvage thirteen days in August before having another failure. Half of me can't wait to start a new adventure while the other half fears another catastrophic failure while on the road!

I for one look forward to any tidbits from your trips so here is to a mild fall season for you and plans for outdoor adventures.

[eyesup]

Whew! Karla! I got tired just reading your rundown.

I know how hectic things can get. I occasionally log on to the site and read through the posts that are there. Even though I've read most of them at least once, I still enjoy the photography and reports.

I'm sure whatever you post next will show up and be just as enjoyable!

Duane

P.S. good luck on the automobile front

[jbeegoode]

Ya know, I just thought that I'd mention that Milfmog generously arranged to repost this report on my website. It is the same there as here, but I thought that I'd mention that anyway. https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2016/08/23/my-scotland-caching-trip-a-trip-report/
Jbee