The Road Trip - Glasgow To Oban

I was very excited about the idea of hiring a car & driving around the Scottish countryside all on my lonesome. The idea of being able to pull up anywhere off the beaten track & stay the night where I fancied was titilating indeed.
At Giffnock I was introduced to my new friend, a Nissan Micra that I later named Betty. We would be hanging out for 2 weeks in a bonding ritual few people get to experience. Margaret (thankfully) led me out of Glasgow (following her in my car) & I was then on my way to the western highlands.
I drove past my first lochs & drove even further until the first night I came upon a wee country town called Oban. It was hosting a highland games festival (which I didn't get to see) & was absolutely packed out. The only accommodation I could get was at this dingy (& I mean really skanky) B&B. I was exhausted from driving - hadn't done a long drive for quite a while - & just needed to eat & rest. It was until a little later, when the sun had gone down, that I realised how bad it really was. There was no heat coming from the heater & when I asked if it could be turned on, it was, only to make a range of unusual noises (like indigestion) without producing any heater whatsoever. The woman host returned & exclaimed that I didn't need heat cause it wasn't that cold anyway. It was 8 degrees celcius! I was freezing my arse off under two doonas!! I was bloody cold & not at all amused by her comment!

Nightmare Hostel

I called Marie & Mikael who had invited me to stay with them when I arrived in Copenhagen, but unfortunately they were out of town until the next day. So I needed to find a place to lay my head for the eve.
I had a good experience staying in a hostel in Balestrand & so thought I might venture out & try another hostel in Copenhagen. After all, it's so much cheaper than staying even in a budget hotel.
So I checked in to a womens-only dorm the Danhostel Copenhagen Downtown for one night. It was a packed house, mostly young people here to party. At night I went to my room at about 11:15pm only to find that a woman had moved the gear I'd left on the bed & was now sleeping there. Hmmm....
So I went downstairs & had to swap rooms to a bed on another floor. Great! I ended up with a women in the dorm who snored like a chainsaw & kids running around after each other till 3 in the morning. Not a lot of sleep was had.

7th June 09 - Arrival in Avignon

Arrived in Avignon & managed to find ‘La Madeleine’ apartments quite easily after given some sturdy directions from the bus driver. But when I entered the studio I’d rented, my expectations were definitely not met - it was not at all like the pretty pictures on the website. Except the courtyard, which was lovely with vines & mulberry trees blooming all over.
I partly unpacked, then headed into town to find out what there is to do in this area. Once loaded with all the knowledge I required, I found a typical tourist restaurant to dine at, & was incredibly disappointed with the fare presented. The chips were only war, verging on cold & the mussels were tasteless. I then wandered around the village, but nothing much was opened because it was Sunday. So then I came back to the studio & did quite a bit of writing. To say I wasn’t at all impressed with Avignon on my first day is an understatement.