Now, it's not often I get visitors up here in Stirling. The effort required in getting to Scotland alone is enough to put most people off. To date, I've only managed to convince two of my friends from back home to come and visit me (and they travelled on an overnight coach from Victoria Bus Station - would not recommend).

However, this week, I was lucky enough to be visited by three family members! My grandparents and one of my aunts made the trek to Stirling to treat me to lunch. 

My grandparents had been planning a 'tour' of the British Isles for a while. Grandma had spied a cruise that went around different parts of Ireland and the UK that meant they could visit as many grandchildren as possible. I have 10 cousins on this side of the family and two of them have kids of their own so this was easier said than done!

While the cruise ship couldn't make it to the western side of Ireland due to bad weather, they were still able to see a lot of family in southern Ireland before docking near Glasgow and hopping on a bus tour to see me (and the Falkirk Wheel, of course).


My grandparents are a little wobbly on their feet (just a few more years until they hit 90!) and what with Stirling Castle being on a hill, we didn't stray far from the battlements. My initial plan was to take them to the cafe inside the castle but it quickly became apparent that we'd have to pay a grand total of £44 to get in and that was before we even managed to sit down for tea. Not on! 

Spotted on the walk back to my flat... The rest of Stirling doesn't look like this, honest.

Speaking of Kilimanjaro, I'm currently in the midst of getting a wonderful concoction of vaccinations and pills, pooling my kit together and, as of late, keeping myself updated on the events unfolding in Kenya. As the Foreign Office have declared a "high threat of terrorism" in the country and several major British travel companies have halted holidays until October, travel around the area will have to be conducted with real caution. Thankfully my group spends very little time in the country so it doesn't really affect us much but it will be tense trip while we're in Kenya, I'm sure.