Octopus didn’t taste nearly as bad as I thought it would, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to eat all of Erin’s goat cheese and apple as we sat at a rickety table in old Faro. Seafood-lovers will feel right at home in the Algarve, but it’s the secluded beaches and charming rooftops that I loved the most. Faro was an…
Growing up with a mother who always had binoculars and an ornithology book in the glove compartment, I’ve been lucky enough to spot lots of Scottish birdlife on one adventure or another. I remember shouting ‘buzzard!’ like other kids would scream ‘yellow car!” and hit whoever was unlucky enough to be sitting next to them. There was one bird I had never been able to…
As a child, I believed I could quite happily live off cornflakes and empire biscuits if everybody just left me alone. There was even a time when I’d have to be coaxed into eating pizza, and believe me, it pains me to think of all the pizzas I turned down over the years. Now, obviously, I grew up and began to widen my palate. I…
Even though I’ve not read many of her books, I love Muriel Spark. I went along to ‘The International Style of Muriel Spark’ exhibition in Edinburgh a few months ago and became even more intrigued by her life and work. She travelled to some amazing places, wrote the funniest letters to friends and produced more work than I’d ever realised. Her book Robinson is first…
It’s a women-led drinks festival that supports local charities and Leith businesses, what’s not to like? As someone who lives in the EH6 postcode, this new festival is right up my street. Supporting two local charities, Projekt 42 and Citadel Youth Centre, Leith Chill Fest is the brain child of Emma Loane and Anna Christopherson, two big names in the Edinburgh drinks scene. Kicking off…
It was February 2011, a bright winter’s day with the sun low on the horizon. We had just come out of one of the worst winters the UK had seen in years, and I passed my driving test first time. Fast forward to 2018 and I had somehow managed to go two years without getting behind the wheel. How did I let that happen? I…
I had the most magical trip to Hungary last weekend that had me staying out until sunrise, eating goulash and soaking up the Budapest sun. Travelling with my friend Stacey, we stayed in a tiny apartment in the Jewish Quarter surrounded by garden clubs ruin pubs, vintage shops and some of the best city street art I’ve seen. Our apartment was in the Blaha Lujza…
