I love fudge, but for some reason it’s a food that I only eat while I’m travelling. On roadtrips as a kid, the family would always stop for a chunk of fudge in Clines Corners. The couple of times that I’ve been in Philadelphia’s Penn Station, the Ben and Jerry’s fudge stand satisfied my need for travel fudge. And this last weekend in Scotland, wandering down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, we couldn’t resist ducking into a fudge shop and grabbing a slice.

I’m fairly convinced, that like beef jerky, fudge relies on tourists and travellers for it’s continued existence. Does anyone eat these these foods in their regular life? Are there others you can think of that fall into this category?

The picture is me epically failing to wake board. Just another reminder to myself that I am not really that hard core. I can only imagine that National Geographic’s adventures of the year would get up on that wake board and show me what’s what. Of course none of them are on the list for anything as simple as wake boarding. They’re all getting lost in the arctic, surfing 45 foot waves waves, fixing telescopes in zero gravity, and facing down the Taliban to teach kids in Afghanistan. They are, in a word, awesome.

So check out the top ten and vote for who you think really is the adventurer of the year.

I just returned from a relaxing weekend of relaxation in Scotland. It was packed with activity: two concerts, two castles, three pub lunches, and four hikes in just four days. But with my best buddy by side and stunning scenery all around, it was a perfect way to unwind from London. Of course the company was the best part of the trip, but here are some other highlights.

Aurthur’s Seat
First thing on the ground in Edinburgh, we clambered up this great hill in the middle of the city for a great view of the town. After climbing to the top of the hill the city feels very small and accessible as you’ve had a good look at the layout. It was the perft way to get introduced to the city.

Shooglenifty
Our first day ended with performances by Beolach, Dannsa, and Session A9, a great show to be sure. But then we headed across the country to the minuscule town of Glenuig to see Shooglenify play – and that was a real treat. People came from all the small surrounding towns to pack the little hall with hundreds of people and boundless energy. The following day, 3 hours drive away we found that our B&B owner’s neighbor had even made the drive across the country to see the show. And it was that good. For 3 solid hours Shooglenifty had people jumping up and down and dancing all around. After, the band claimed it was one of their best shows ever. Even if they are half as good on other nights, it would be well worth tracking them down if you want to good taste of Scotland.

Castle Tioram
Pronounced Chur-um we headed here the morning after the Shooglenifty gig thanks to a tip from some of the members of the band. Not even listed in our Lonely Planet, this old ruined castle was tucked away up an unmarked single lane road. As we rounded the bend and first saw the castle we emitted a simultaneous “whoa!” The scenery is beautiful enough on it’s own, but with the ruined castle on the rock which becomes an island at high tide just makes the whole scene one of the more magical corners of the earth that I’ve stumbled across.

The sum total of the trip was fantastic, but I did have two learning points worth sharing. 1) It rains in Scotland. We only got drenched once, and it was on a tranquil walk through the woods on our last day so were lucky enough to just be able to pack up the wet clothes and head home. But if you are planning on walking in Scotland (and you should), pack a completely waterproof suit. 2) Take time to make sure your film is loaded properly. I was lucky I took some pictures with my digital as well, because all 30-something of my film pictures were never recorded to the film.

I just saw this video of the northern lights, which reminded me of another beautiful video of the northern sky showing the endless sun. I’ve never seen either, and unfortunately it will require two separate trips up north to see them. But if these videos don’t convince you that it’s worth traveling just to see the far northern sky, then I suppose nothing will.

I’m headed to Scotland tomorrow for four days of fun. I’m headed to a fiddle festival and a concert in Glenuig, but other than that plans are pretty open. So do you have any tips on things I should see in Southern Scotland this weekend?

Update: I got these tips from friends on Facebook

• I would recommend Edinburgh castle – well worth taking the guided tour & also Loch Lomond, breathtaking! Have fun.
• Just walk around Edinburgh and party with the punk rock kids at night.

  -1 for Loch tours – generally boring if kinda pretty.

• Culzean Castle (pronounced something like Cullane) is the Kennedy family seat. It now belongs to the national trust. It isn’t near Glenuig, but it is in the south of Scotland, south of Ayr.
• Unfortunatly we are out of thew tourist season now and many of the attractions are now closed (better to visit in the spring/summer time.) I’d have suggested Drumlanrig castle, home of Bonnie Prince Charlie (working estate) but its closed now until 2nd April, in terms of land access (walks) there are no public rights of way in Scotland, its now Grouse shooting season so access to land is a problem, but there may be tourist attractions open within the cities.
• If you hit Edinburgh, definitely hike up Aurthur’s Seat, which you may have already done, but is awesome. Skip the trail and scramble up the side. Much more fun that way.

  Also, see if you can shoot some grouse. And drink scotch. Lots of it.

• i highly reccommend scotland’s best indian restaurant note: this is a joke as I went to Scotland’s best Indian restaurant with this friend. It was indeed delicious.