karen's diary
No it wasn't a fib - thanks to the County Hotel in Banff (I laugh in the
face of libel) AHJ were bedridden for a day, though I have to hand it to
any cook who can beat my (normally) cast iron constitution with a slightly
rank vegetarian cannelloni. Yes, it was goodbye Findus, hello toilet bowl,
as we held an all-night relay vomit session in the beautiful Banff countryside.
Anyway, today the cell bars were lifted and after a tentative breakfast
we proceeded along the coast, side on to the bracing coastal breeze.
In every village, I was struck with the feeling that something had just
happened, to draw the inhabitants indoors or away completely. Then I realised
that this is just what the streets are like, in a small fishing village.
We visited some relatives of a friend of Nina's, who
laid on 'a bit of a spread' and sent us on our way for a blustery walk
from to Portknockie to Cullen. Exquisite though
this was, with the spectacularly shifting clouds and light, I was still
feeling pretty peely wally, or maybe that was just the effect of getting
out of the car for more than 20 minutes.
It was onwards to Elgin and to the most eccentric B&B yet, and to a particularly gruelling email interview.
We then drove through Fochabers, cited as a 'a poor place' by Johnson
- beg to differ, considering it's spectacular lay-by
shop.
