(apologies for this)

This weekend I made the rather long trip to Oban, on the West coast of Scotland, for some fresh air, brisk country walks and a bit of adventuring on the sea in search of otters, seals and other sea-faring creatures. We were on Sea-fari. After taking in the many small islands, some of the atlantic ocean and the third largest whirlpool in the world, what better thing to do than to take a walk up the mountain to a secluded beach. Beautiful. 

Our walk culminated in a stony beach, untouched by modern man, no rubbish, no cars, no ice cream stands, just the sea and plenty of natural spring waterfalls. Being the thirsty explorer, I found what looked like the most enticing fall, I cleared the leaves and the rocks to make a pool, and after letting the water flow for a while drank to my hearts content. It tasted clean and wonderfully cool after my long walk. Little did I know the effects this would later have. Bear Grylls has taught me well, I took heed of his knowledge and made sure that I had cleared the water before digging in and I made sure that the blackberries I ate along the way were free from animals.

A little later and I could feel the effects, which we needn't go into. The issue was the distance I was from home. Three hours from Oban to Glasgow, a three hour wait and then five hours from Glasgow to London... and on my birthday.

My Glasgow experience is now rather tainted, although a tour of the cities finest, and not so finest toilets is now something I can happily tick off my box of things to do before I'm 30. Whilst I do not recommend the red satin curtains of Tiger Tiger, I can suggest The Willow Tea Rooms which were designed by Charles Rennie McKintosh and serve up all realms of tea and breakfasty delights, none of which I was able to enjoy, but they do have a tastefully designed black and white toilet. The 30pence it cost me to go at Glasgow Central station was money not well spent, although saying that, it was a little less scary than Glasgow Queen Street, where there's one too many corridors and just not enough people using the bogs to feel comfortable. Both of which, are outstandingly better than the Oban to Glasgow train which certainly tops the Virgin Trains metal room. 

SO, there's a lesson to all you city dwellers, next time you take a countryside walk, be sure to pack the apple juice, evian and some fresh fruit.