A recipe for trouble... 17 6 11 (17) 25 1 21
No, I thought I had escaped ill health this last trip,
complimenting myself for having scaled 9 new hills a result which
impressed many people, and giving me the feeling of being more like the man of
old, or more precisely the younger man of old...hahaha. The queasy stomach
never really breaking out or developing in the manner normally expected...
But for whatever reason on the day I left the accommodation of my second
last night's stay in Scotland where the 2 guys had displayed symptoms of upset
stomach, I failed to eat the half a can of beans and sausage I had put in the
communal fridge, as a second course to my Co-op brand of "Weetabix",
milk and a freshly peeled orange, the day before when I opened it, arguing to
myself: better not take any unnecessary risks… So unusually on my day of
departure I got on the road as quickly as possible. Then later that morning after
deliberating for a long time did I need the bacon and egg roll I like so much in
these situations in place of a full sit-down Scottish breakfast which on this
last trip I didn't prepare once for myself, when I got to Pitlochry I parked up
to stretch my legs and take my second walk of the trip up its main street
deciding finally to get the roll from the same café with the Hungarian lady
shop assistant of my last visit, only to find she wasn't on duty but with
another almost equally as a friendly lady in charge of the till or check-out.
She too invited me to sit and wait as their cook fried the bacon and egg of my
roll and when he brought it over to my table to "Carry Out" I
reflected it was the same foreign looking guy maybe of Polish rather than Scottish
extraction..? This was after checking out the price of Fish and Chips at one of
its many Fish and Chip Shops, only to quail at the high prices: something in
excess of £6 for a Single Fish Supper served with Chips.
Before I had departed I had phoned the syha Youth Hostel in Sterling
only to find it fully booked so instead decided to try its Willy Wallace
Independent hostel on the High Street arguing to myself how much easier
overnight parking would be in Sterling compared to Edinburgh and how with a 12:25
departure time I should have ample time next morning to drive the 35 miles about 56 km to
Edinburgh Ingliston Airport, dispose of the hire-car, and get to the check-in, all of which I reasoned would take no more than about an hour?
Staying again in Sterling also meant I might get to
meet Corina my new F-book friend from the my last visit of May 23rd
the day I had driven my wife A-E to the same airport at the conclusion of her
stay: at the same Nicky Tam bar-cum-restaurant where she waited on, and where I
got a very nice dish of Haggis Neeps and Tatties with a glass of a reasonable
house Merlot red wine for around £10..?
As luck would have it I secured a bed in the W-W
hostel for £16 the night and managed to park my car perhaps 500 yards say ½ km
away on the same street on its way out of town but my new friend was not on
duty and as I arrived at 19:50 and her replacement advised me the chef had just
stopped taking orders for bar meals. So instead I chose the Wetherspoon’s Bar
and Restaurant just around the corner and when they had sold out of the same
dish of Haggis Neeps and Tatties together with a 175ml glass of Merlot for
around £8 I chose a Steak and Ale Steak Pie, Chips and Peas for
around £9 with the glass of Merlot.
Unusually next morning after giving up my hire-car
and checking in by 10:30 I had ample time to dine again at the Wetherspoon’s
just ahead of Airport Security for what on these last few occasions I
have used this airport to eat a children’s portion of Scottish Breakfast of
Bacon, Fried Egg, Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce and a slice of a Hash Brown
Potato pancake to supplement my early breakfast of Weetabix with milk and fresh
orange, but now my still queasy stomach ruled otherwise and I skipped the only opportunity to imbibe more food until I had arrived later in the day at
Stockholm Airport for a 2 hour stop-over when I enjoyed an open sandwich of
salad and fresh prawns, but with just a cup of tea on the 2 hour flight, this
food coming at maybe 4pm UK time was too late to nourish my by now weakened
body… Arriving home after arriving in H:ki at 19:15 and getting the last train
to link up with the regional train to our small town around 20:50 when I had
time to buy another sandwich (which i couldn't somehow bring myself to eat) for my onward journey together with a bottle of
still water which brought me to our local railway station by 22:15 but too late
for the damage now compounded.
There followed a welcome greeting from wife with a delicious
casserole of smoked salmon and potatoes which I helped myself to several times
and we enjoyed a Viennese White Wine she had bought me on a trip she made to
Austria last autumn for a short cycling holiday.
Four days later I had a full-on cold no doubt
wrought by the poor diet which began with the feelings of a queasy stomach my 2nd
and 3rd last days in Scotland but nay bother I shall return again in
the late autumn and see whether I can add a few more hills to my ’17 tally.
Have a good day everyone as I begin once more to feel like the younger man at
heart I like to be…hahaha
Today's pics: 1 and 2 Fingal's Cave and Puffin on the island of Staffa; 3 ascending the final pitch of Ben Klibreck with A-E; and 4 a view towards Ben More Assynt from Conival with a distance shot of Ben Klibreck dead centre...
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