www.visitscotland.com Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

With apologies to Nancy Gallant for mangling her sentiments but me, I’m a star in North Berwick, a star in LA.

What twists of fate dictate that my second trip out to La La Land is from the town that time forgot…

Rather than directly from Dublin is well trailed.

But rather than a leisurely coach ride from leafy Greystones, Co Wicklow into Dublin Airport.

And an Irish breakfast in Aer Lingus’s excellent 51st & Green lounge I’ve been slumming it.

Master of the Travelodge

At a Travelodge at Glasgow Airport where last night I was stuck behind the all-you-can-eat football fans couple.

And again this morning when I was worried all I’d be left with would be dried scrambled eggs and shrivelled sausages.

Thankfully they’d slaughtered extra pigs and the hens they were a-laying.

The oul’ Travelodge is basic but my traditional Scottish Chicken Tikka Masala and pint of Stella sufficed.

And at £19 and another £9.95 for the Full Scottish the next morning I could avoid Weatherspoons’ fare the next day.

As with all things Herself’s advice to avoid cutting corners had worked.

And so I’d forked out £50 to go through the night before.

Take the layover

Rather than get up with the sparrow’s fart for a 6am train from North Berwick to Edinburgh that probably wouldn’t have come.

And would have left me stranded in east Scotland when I should be on the West Coast of America.

As it’s transpired I was early enough at the airport to get to stand in the check-in queue for an hour.

While they figured out how to power up one of the two computers while the printer was also playing up.

Dublin all-clear pre-clear

All of which wasn’t lost on Curmudgeon from California who believed the flight was his alone.

Anyway I’m on my way and will not have any more stress allayed by pre-clearance in Dublin.

While my British pals had to wait an hour and a half.

Throw in too a half-empty Aer Lingus flight with killer views of the Greenland ice cap and I’lm a happy bunny.

Knowing that the world’s still in good shape and I’m off to the sun where it never rains in Southern California

As I was saying I’m a star in North Berwick, a star in LA.

Culture, UK

Shetland the best wedding gift in the world

24th January 2022 funtime65

Maybe that’s why my Dear Old Dad was so grumpy at my wedding… he was expecting a dowry along the lines of Shetland the best wedding gift in the world.

Orkney too was part of the package.

Next month marks 550 years for the two archipelago of slands north of Scotland as incorporated within the Alba (that means Scottish) territory.And it was all down to the resolution of a taxation dispute over the Western Islands, the Hebrides.

Through a dowry from King Christian 1 of Denmark (who were the overseers for Norway) to King James III of Scotland.

Christian had hoped to keep hold of the two sets of islands (and why wouldn’t you?).

And he was willing to stump up 60,000 Rheingulden which were gold florins from the Rhineland and a popular currency in Northern Europe at this time.

But he couldn’t stump up the money and so matched it against the hand of his 13-year-old daughter Margaret instead (lucky her!).

Treasure islands

Follow our leader: Let the marching begin

The rundown of the value of the islands is said to have been 50,000 for Orkney because of its rich farming lands and the rest for exposed Shetland.

Now if only they had the knowledge and technology to look below the island towards the seabed.

Because there was, and still is, a rich dividend of golden oil which has made the island rich since the 1970s.

The islands may have undergone five and a half centuries being Scotified but they have been loath to abandon their old Norwegian ways.

Fire, I give you fire

The first months of the year hold a special significance to the Shetlanders when the Fire Festivals rage.

Starting in Scalloway they include a Viking parade and burning of a replica Viking longship in the picturesque harbour.

Throughout Shetland, there are ten Up Helly Aa/Fire Festival celebrations between January and March.

The one we all know best is in the capital, Lerwick, but alas because of Covid the festival which would have taken place tomorrow has been cancelled.

The organisers explain rightly that the event is a year in the planning which will mean that the Norse Gods being good we will be able to enjoy it next year.

Shetland friends

And as luck (and judgment) would have it we have friends in Shetland where we have an open invite to stay.

All of which comes in handy as I guess the limited accommodation on Bressay Sound hikes the prices up.

And so you want to know more about the fiery festival?

Well, the Guizer Jarl (no, me neither) and his squad begin their preparations in February.

And there are 46 other squads taking part which judging that there are only 6,880 residents in Lerwick must mean that everyone is involved.

Watching the detectives

Jimmy’s land: DI Jimmy Perez on Shetland

With such mythology and you’d hazard ghosts and secrets, Shetland is the perfect backdrop for a detective show.

Step up the laconic and world-weary DI Jimmy Perez, the hero of Ann Cleeves’s book which has become an international hit.

Not that you need to worry that this archipelago of islands is a hotbed of crime…

No more than our other winter TV pleasure Death In Paradise, set in the fictional island of Saint Maree, but filmed in Guadeloupe, is murder island.

How to get there

When the boat comes in: Ferry to Shetland

Well, do you want the long or the short story?

The long way around (13 hours overnight) is on North Link Ferries from Aberdeen to Lerwick.

Either as a foot passenger or with your vehicle.

It’s £46.40 return if you want to bunker down on a set of seats, or £156.40 for a cabin.

But if you would prefer to fly… we found £425pp with Loganair.

I guess we’ll hunker down in our sleeping pod then.

And perhaps take in a film in on the ship’s cinema, a drink (or four) and a meal in the restaurant.

Don’t worry, this is one ship that won’t catch fire.

A postscript

No man is an island: But we could do with one

Now Jimmy G, Jimmy Snr if you will, has departed to be with the gods in the heavens.

But as his Son and Heir and with the Outlaws still around I don’t mind taking possession of that dowry we never did get…

Something to match Shetland the best wedding gift in the world.

I have my eye on Tobago in the Caribbean.

America, Countries, Europe, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

Who is beerier than Prague?

27th July 202127th July 2021 funtime65

Whisper it around the Czech capital but they’ve relinquished their boozy crown. So who is beerier than Prague?

In a word Asheville. Ashe-where?

Asheville is a city in western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

And it’s renowned for its arts scene.

Carolina on my mind

Well they know already that they have more breweries per capita than any city in the US… that’s roughly 100 local beers.

But now they can add the prestiguous title of Best City in the World for Beer Drinkers as compiled by money.co.uk.

The researchers mark the cities on breweries per 10,000 people, bars, pubs and clubs per 10,000 and average price per pint in sterling.

Asheville scores 2.80, 7.86 and £3.58 from which I can only draw the conclusion… get me out there!

Czech out the beer

In the Strahov Monastery Brewery in the Czech Republic

Particularly as second and fourth on the list are beer cities I know well, Prague and Fort Collins, Colorado.

While the third beeriest is one The Son and Heir knows well, Krakow, Poland.

Where it was more ale than hail when he was a youth leader for World Youth Day.

While in Prague the most exercised you’ll get is walking back up from Wenceslas Square to The Castle.

But get this… £1.34 a pint.

Wade in with Colorado beer

In Fort Collins you’ll be required to do some white water rafting although you’ll get the reward of a local brew at Paddler’s Pub.

And in FC that’s £2.87 a pint although you’d probably double that with the American tip.

It wouldn’t be a beery list, of course, without Dublin, and the Fair City comes in eighth.

The Guinness Storehouse is on every tourist’s list in Dublin’s capital.

Although some local knowledge here and pick your way through tourist trap Temple Bar.

Where you can pay nearly double the £4.70 money.com relays.

Islands of beer

It seems we’re well off too in my local city Edinburgh too although the doors are only a few weeks reopened.

Auld Reekie comes in 16th and will glory in coming in well ahead of London, back in 39th of 40.

Beer bucket list

So, who is beerier than Prague? Well, maybe the question should be let’s set a beer bucket list.

And tick off all 40.

Amsterdam, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, Rome (all again) and a number of others.

We’re only here for the beer.

Countries, Culture

The day Travel fought back exceptionally

24th June 202124th June 2021 funtime65

This was the day Travel fought back exceptionally.

I have discovered since returning to the UK last year after 13 years in Ireland that a sinister exceptionalism, dressed up as nationalism, stalks the island.

Our clarion call

Britain wants to be treated as an exception in the world from the continent in which the Ice Age determined it must lie.

And within that island its northern part is claiming that it should be treated as an exception.

On account of it having voted against Brexit.

Day of action

Scotland, meanwhile, is caught up in knots.

Because it had voted to stick with England not long before the Brexit referendum.

The separatists want now to reverse that poll which they put down to dirty tricks and misinformation…

Much like an offside goal at the Euros.

They hope that a second referendum which would be in the gift of an anti-vote Boris Johnson.

To free them from the UK.

They want to open the doors to readmission to the EU if only Spain fearful of Catalonian secession would remove their veto.

People power

Yes, I know what you’re thinking…

Is this not a Travel site, jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com and not jimmurtywafflewafflewaffle.com?

Quite right. Only that British exceptionalism is stopping us travelling while the land I left, European Ireland can.

So while the EU prepare to roll out its vaccine passport the UK pushes back its Freedom Day.

Scotland stand up

We’re going into next month, a Freedom which doesn’t contain any such document.

Those of us of a Scottish variety must wait until August.

Only then can we enjoy what we once claimed could never be taken from us… our Freedom.

As is the way with a controlling figure we are being seduced with the offer of something shiny.

To keep us happy in the meantime.

Hail Malta and the Balearics

Malta and the Balearics are being floated to be put on the Green List.

As welcome as that is we are particularly sore about this.

Because this is one situation where we promote exceptionalism.

We have long been advocating that there should be a special case made for the Spanish Islands.

So what about the Canaries? And the Greek islands?

For now, of course, our Travel sector must keep pressing our case.

Real freedoms for our exceptional Travel professionals and customers.

Yesterday was just the start, the day Travel fought back exceptionally.

MEET YOU ON THE ROAD

Countries

Flagging up Jimmyaica

9th May 20218th May 2021 funtime65

As Scotland strikes out again to try seize its freedom following the vote for independence parties in the Scottish election, your global traveller is flagging up one Scots-infused country of Empire which did… Jimmyaica.

No, Jimmyaica isn’t my lame efforts at Jamaican patois.

It’s more a recognition of the Scottish imprint on Jamaica (Scots are playfully known as Jimmys) and particularly its flag.

Jamaican flags will be flying even more proudly next year as the Caribbean Island celebrates 60 years of independence and some of you might wonder why it has that St Andrew’s Cross at its centre.

Flags are us

If some of you are tentatively wondering that it might have something to do with Scotland then go to the top of the class.

You may very well be a vexillologist, or somebody who loves flags and have found a link too between the Scottish flag and the Tenerife flag too.

I did when I went out to the Canary Island with CanariaWays and found that they have the exact same flag.

The initial suggestion for the flag was a Tricolour of green (agriculture and hope), black (the struggles of its people) and gold (sunlight).

But that was thought too similar to Tanganyika’s (now Tanzania).

But then you knew that already.

Besides, a missionary from Glasgow, Rev. William McGhie (he’d obviously considered his ain Glaswegians well past saving!) had the ear of the Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante.

The Man of the Cloth persuaded him to embed Christian imagery into the flag.

And so the X of the St Andrew’s Cross found its way onto the flag to mark how the Apostle had lost his life.

Glasgow belongs to I and I

The Jamaican Glasgow on the west of the island is, of course, just one of a number of place names we both share.

Among the others are Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee, Greenock and ouch… Culloden!

So we’re off… with our official countdown to the 60th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence.

And I’m bringing you this in association with Flag Up Scotland Jamaica which helpfully also seems to want to promote Caledonian preserves – flagupscotjam.

So where do we start in the story of Jamaica?

Well, how about at Scotland’s lowest point, no not the aforementioned Culloden but Scotland’s failed attempt at an empire of its own, the Darien Expedition in Panama.

Darien’s loss

The Darien Expedition was the breaking point for the old independent Scotland.

The whole nation from king to pauper had put money into the project only to lose more than just their shirt.

Cap in hand a section of the Scottish Parliament approached England to bail them out in 1703…

And the price was union, all of which you can read the whole story of in historian Douglas Watt’s excellent The Price of Scotland.

So where does this take us in the Jimmyaica story?

The Campbells are coming

Well to Colonel John Campbell who refused to allow Darien to put him off making his fortune and who decamped to Jamaica in 1700 and set up a sugar plantation at Black River.

He was by no means the first Scot on the island though.

Oliver Cromwell banished 1,2000 Scots prisoners of war out here in the previous century where they worked as indentured servants.

Others to be exiled included those failed colonialists from Darien, Jacobite rebels, criminals and Covenanters.

All ‘Scots’ look like this: Naomi Campbell. http://www.naomicampbell.com

Campbell’s kingdom has a rich lineage.

And it is said that there are more Campbells here per square acre than in the whole of Scotland.

While his descendants may very include supermodel Naomi Campbell and Costa Rica footballer Joel Campbell.

And the Irish too

I’ve found my own native land’s DNA elsewhere in the Caribbean in Scotland in Barbados and in Glasgow’s bar in Tobago.

My own roots are in the old sod of Ireland and Armagh from where Patrick Murty hailed.

But I dare say that the rambling Murtys managed to get out to Ja as the locals affectionately call their island.

I’ll return to Jamaica’s many Scottish connections and I’ll be happy flagging up Jimmyaica.

As we journey on the road to the independence anniversary.

And I’ll scatter some Irish magic dust on the island too with the links which bind Jamaica and Ireland.

MEET JA ON THE ROAD

Countries, Cruising, Culture, Europe, UK

Sunday Sermon – God’s Own Country Scotland

19th July 202019th July 2020 funtime65

God is handing out the countries: ‘You will have ice-capped mountains, pure water running down the streams and majestic deer roaming the verdant valleys.

‘You will be great explorers, missionaries, inventors, dreamers, poets, entertainers and educationalists.

‘And have the spoils of the land and sea to put on great feasts and the purest whisky to toast.’

The Archangel Michael pipes up: ‘Have you not given these Scots too much?’

The Lord shoots back: ‘Look at the neighbours I gave them.’

The charms of Scotland, my home country which I am reacquainting myself after a 13 years adventure in Ireland, are evident.

But as is often the case there is so much under my nose without me knowing.

And that is where I have Visit Scotland www.visitscotland.com to help.

It is always a good idea when relocating to another country, or just going on holiday, to check out the country’s tourist board website.

And so while the borders were closed (and some of the best still are) I was checking out where I still haven’t been in my homeland.

Up Helly Aa in Shetland

The Shetland Islands: And I’ve been trying to get up to Scotland’s most northerly islands since making friends with Shetlander Shona at uni in the Eighties.

And when we moved in to a new house in Aberdeen www.visitabdn.com Elizabeth whose parents hail from Shetland, and Scott lived opposite.

And now they have relocated to Shetland I’ve been making not so subtle hints about going up for Up Helly Aa, the January festival when the locals burn a Viking ship.

Alas next year’s festivities have been put off but when I’ve been waiting 35 years what’s another year? See www.shetland.org and https://www.uphellyaa.org/.

Roll out the Barra

Barra: I sat down to write a maudlin letter about how homesick I was on my first day in halls in Aberdeen University.

Before meeting up with my old schoolpal Martin, meeting a girl, and some Western Islanders and never looked back.

I spent the summer in Aberdeen Aberdeen – a light in the north and so after the following year’s first term it was a year since going home to Glasgow www.peoplemakeglasgow.com

Just my luck then that my pals got together in my future Best Man’s island of Barra before Christmas. My family put the foot down.

Barra http://www.isleofbarra.com/ is regularly on the list of the world’s most beautiful islands and has a Tintin connection.

Iona island

And this is a holy island where St Columba is believed to have come and set up base to spread Christianity throughout Scotland.

Many spiritualists and New Age hippies and Eastern mystics have made pilgrimages since.

I can just see myself doing my Yoga Nidra The Sunday Sermon – Yoga Nidra by the walls of the old Ionian church http://www.welcometoiona.com/.

Orkney’s past

When you leave the fabled John O’ Groats, the northernmost point on mainland Scotland, and named after a Dutchman, you’ll get to the Orkney Islands.

The Orkneys https://www.orkney.com/ too have an international connection with their Italian Chapel built by Italian prisoners of war.

And long before Christianity the pagans worshipped the Sun and you can see how in their stone circles.

I do… the Isle of Ewe

The Isle of Ewe a one-family (the Grants) off Wester Ross has become something of a cult island.

For young lovers.

Because put the words together and you get I love you.

Which is why imaginative young romantic men are taking their young ladies there to propose.

For my first wife it was Malta Malta pleaser. And after that jibe I’ll have to make some big romantic gesture.

And remember the most romantic way to travel is Caledonian Mac Ferries https://www.calmac.co.uk/.

America, Countries, Culture, UK

Carry on glamping

8th July 20208th July 2020 funtime65

Amanda invited herself into my tent. Happy Days… until her boyfriend turned up.

And told us that we should leave town first thing in the morning… or else.

Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland’s south-west (https://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/castle-douglas-p244361) was my first experience of camping and it didn’t put me off.

And we took off for Saint-Raphael https://www.francethisway.com/places/saint-raphael.php on the French Riviera the following summer after school.

Where there were no such dilemmas about having someone in my tent.

Cramped and sweaty

Once all our rucksacks were in the tent there was only room for one of us to sleep in it. Oh, and I struck out too.

These days I go higher style… The Boat D’Azur and https://www.google.com/amp/s/about-france.com/mobi/index-amp.htm.

And higher style means camping now too… or glamping as it’s come to be known.

So where’s best to go?

With staycations the order of the day now, here are thoughts on how to liven up your experience in the UK and US.

But just don’t muscle in on the wannabe local gangster’s moll.

Rocky mountain high

Camping at height – Estes Park, Colorado: And a particular highlight. Get this… adrenaline junkies are suspended more than 100ft up a sheer rock face.

Where you will be strapped in for a night under the stars.

Kent Mountain Adventure Center https://kmaconline.com/directory/cliff-camping-colorado/ offers a vertical grill and views of the Rocky Mountain National Park.

And you’ll be able just to roll out and start climbing those Rockies… just tell Brad or Dexter I’m coming.

Visit www.colorado.com and The New Frontiersmen.

Gone fishing

Yosemite slam: This is Big Country and you’ll want to reveal your hunter-gatherer.

Lake McClure at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is where to pitch tent.

And get out and fish the lake and get your heart pumping at the Exchequer Mountain Bike Park.

Before heading to Yosemite to take in the giant Sequoias.

Camping spaces can be hard to get in Yosemite National Park and that’s where Indian Flat Campground near the gates comes in.

You’ll strike gold too at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds just a mile from the Gold Rush town. See www.mariposa.com.

Norfolk Broads

Hickling Campsite, Hickling, Norfolk (https://www.hicklingcampsite.co.uk): Of course for many of us there’s nothing better than snuggling up next to your loved one.

And here’s one we prepared earlier from Norfolk in England’s East Anglia.

You’ll get to stay in a self-contained hut.

The Norfolk Broads are one of England’s natural delights while further afield you can explore secluded beach walks and boat trips.

And check out the best that East Anglia has to offer with https://www.visiteastofengland.com/ and www.visitengland.com.

MEET YOU IN THE CAMPSITE

Deals, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

Holiday Snaps – Stay home

20th June 202020th June 2020 funtime65

We’ve got skin in this game with Daddy’s Little Girl waiting for the OK to go back to her work at the hotel.

It doesn’t help that we pass by the very same hotel on our daily walk.

It is expected that Scottish hotels will reopen in line with national guidelines on July 15.

And when they do it will be time to reacquaint ourselves with our favourites and treat ourselves with some new ones.

Such as the Dunalastair Hotel in Perthshire https://www.dunalastairhotel.com, a lovely sweeping valley of a county.

And one I usually passed through instead of stopping when I would drive from Aberdeen to Glasgow reporting on football matches.

Except for a boys’ weekend in Dunkeld, writing poetry for our Edinburgh Fringe Show. Now what rhymes with Glenturret?

New offers include Luxury for Less (from €99 per night), to the indulgent Highland Retreat (£499 for two nights). Rooms at Dunalastair Hotel Suites are from £129 per night.

Also see Visit Scotland www.visitscotlsnd.com.

Coming out of quackdown

We’ve been missing them so much during quackdown.

But every duckie’s favourite getaway in Europe, Hastings Hotels in Northern Ireland, have reopened their doors.

You’ll know what Hastings are all about by now Belfast Chilled and their signature look of a rubber duck in your bathroom.

They’ve had Rory Quackilroy, Duck of Thrones… you get the idea.

So they were rightly interested when this little fella came on the market.

Just a thought you could market your own new duckie, Julie…. Quacks Armstrong! See https://hotrading.shop/products/helmet-duck-bicycle-horn-light and https://www.hastingshotels.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8pP5iqeQ6gIVk4eyCh3oRAlPEAAYASAAEgIydPD_BwE.

And also see www.discovernorthernireland.com

And meanwhile in the south

All our favourite hotels in Ireland are reopening.

We have already flagged up our favourite in our old stomping ground of Co. Wicklow, Powerscourt https://powerscourt.com and Flowerscourt.

And I now want to promote the splendours of Conrad Dublin, a hotel I’ve enjoyed on a function level but yet to laid down by head there.

Apart, of course, from when my head would hit the table through too much vino.

Among the goodies on offer in what they are packaging as Dream Away are the Picnic Package, the Literary Tour and Dublin City by Horsedrawn Carriage.

And seeing you’ve been locked away at home for months then why not treat the whole family to a night in the Conrad Family Room.

The interconnecting family room is €350 for the night for two adults and two children. See www.conraddublin.com.

To the lighthouse

Ciara O’Leary is all smiles at the lighthouse

So fine was the morning except for a streak of wind here and there that the sea and sky looked all one fabric, as if sails were struck high up in the sky, or the clouds had dropped down into the sky – Virginia Woolf

Lighthouses can be by contrast snug or solaces from people.

And Hook Lighthouse in Co. Wexford in the Republic of Ireland on June 29 is reopening its doors with the latter in mind.

Hook Lighthouse, the Lightkeepers Cafe and the outdoor dining option, the Seahorse, will all open seven days per week.

With last access to the grounds at 4pm and dining closes at 5pm.

Pre-book a free pass online at www.hookheritage.ie or take a guided tour by phoning (051) 397 055.

Also see www.failteireland.com and www.discovernorthernireland.com.

Countries, Culture, Europe, UK

Freeday Friday – Braveheart Wallace’s Scotland

12th June 202012th June 2020 funtime65

And few fought fiercer for freedom than William Wallace.

Which is why I didn’t baulk at retracing the Great Man’s footsteps when doing a recce of Stirling for Daddy’s Little Girl.

Battlefield history is perfectly placed for a return – after all where is there more expanse than a battlefield?

Unless, of course, you’re an English soldier stuck in a muddy burn (that’s a Scottish stream) a long way from Chipping Norton.

Stirling, if you’ve never been, is a mini-Edinburgh https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/02/17/edinburgh-an-old-friend/amp/ with its own castle, a better monument, the Wallace as opposed to the gaudy Scott on Princes Street.

And, best of all, it’s where the Scottish nation was reborn on the fields of Bannockburn on June 24, 1314.

Which you’ll know from watching Braveheart.

When an army of 8,000 hairy-arsed, skirty-wearing Scots defeated 20,000 Englishmen.

Only Wallace wasn’t a 5ft 9ins Australian.

Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to wield that great Claymore sword which put the fear of death up the enemy at Falkirk Bridge.

You want to come up and visit, Do.

I’d advise though to stay at the Portcullis https://www.theportcullishotel.com next to the Castle.

Rather than The King Robert https://www.kingroberthotel.co.uk, named after King Robert the Bruce), just off the battlefield… it looks more like a motel.

If you want a more authentic experience still I dare say that you can find a campsite and imagine yourself pitching tent just like those soldiers of old.

In the presence of greatness: And Robert the Bruce too

See https://www.stirlingcastle.scot/visit/, https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/bannockburn and www.visitscotland.com.

MEET YOU ON THE BATTLEFIELD

Countries, Culture, Europe, Food

Hungry and Thursday – sweet, sweet ice cream

11th June 202011th June 2020 funtime65

King Henry VIII’s Greensleeves means two things to me… Miss F’s slow wedding march and the ice cream van.

Just why Tudor music should be the go-to tune for ice cream vendors I’ll put out there for you to chime in with an answer.

But I rather enjoy the image of Henry running out in his padded garb for his 99.

And I suppose it could happen… on a film set. And I dare say Jonny Rhys Meyers and Damian Lewis like a double nougat or a screwball.

Porty’s finest

Did you know though that the 99 was created just up the road from here?

In my old stomping ground of Portobello, Edinburgh’s town beach https://edinburgh.org and www.visitscotlsnd.com.

Arcari claims to be the birthplace of the 99 with the number that of their address in Portobello High Street.

Where Stephen Arcari broke a chocolate flake in half and put it on the ice cream

An alternative explanation is that it comes from slang, 99 meaning excellent and alluding to an elite guard of 99 soldiers who served the King of Italy.

The Pope’s fave

Now I don’t know about the King of Italy but our Popes have been partial to a gelato, or ice cream.

We have the Good Book, the Vatican Cookbook, as our holy scripture here which tells us that Pope Francis loves an Argentine fave dulce de leche and its caramel flavour.

And he knows his flock loves gelati too, being known to hand out 3,000 ice creams to Rome’s poor and homeless.

All of which kept my mind occupied as I stood socially distanced in my queue.

Walk this way

And for a quick and invaluable guide on Rome and how to get there by foot with Francigena Ways see www.FrancigenaWays.com, https://www.rome.net and Small roads lead to Rome.

MEET YOU IN THE QUEUE