THURSO
- Becca Wilson
- Sep 19, 2017
- 4 min read
Hello! Sorry it's been quiet on the blog front. I haven't cooked since last week and I've been away for the weekend to...THURSO. Keep reading if you'd like to read about what my mum and I got up to with our time together and if we managed to find veggie gluten free food. If you are planning a trip to Thurso, or driving through with some time to stop, here's how we made the most of a day together.
My mum recently got her free bus pass (woohoo - she doesn't look like she's at that age but never mind) and recently booked a bus trip up to Thurso. She is a teacher and had the holiday Monday off yesterday so it seemed ideal. After 8 weeks away from her, I was very excited about seeing her (I know...you'll probably be wondering how I'll cope with a year away from her but I'll write about that another time).
I just had to leave work slightly early on Saturday to get to the boat. I got on the 16.45 boat from Stromness to Scrabster. The boat takes around an hour and a half. It is a large boat with a restaurant, bar and lounge areas. I sat in the lounge area (making sure I sat on the right side so I could see the Old Man of Hoy when we went past). Although, my phone decided to do an upgrade just as we were going past the Old Man - typical eh! An American chap had visited the Orkney Wine Shop that day and he ended up sitting near me. We chatted a little about his recent adventures to New Zealand, mainly about the Kiwi wine he has tasted. I told him that Emile, the Orkney Winemaker, had made kiwi wine and how delicious it was. Chatting to him about NZ, Trump, Brexit and Orkney meant the journey flew by.
I knew my mum was ready waiting at the port so I did my best to overtake all my fellow boaters so I could get off first. It worked yay! Oh man, that hug after you haven't seen someone in a while is the best. Luckily the bus dropping off passengers for the boat could take us back to Thurso, if there's not a bus it's only a 25 minute walk apparently or we could have phoned for a taxi. I'm glad the bus was empty because we had a lot to catch up on, and we were pretty loud. The lovely driver took us straight to the Pentland Hotel. Wow, it kinda felt like we'd stepped back in time, but in a good way. That night we chatted and chatted and drank bubbles and chatted and chatted...you get the picture. We ate at the Pentland restaurant that night. I had a goats' cheese salad and mum had mushroom stroganoff. Both dishes were tasty enough, and they both complemented a bottle of red wine - woops.
We went for a little walk around Thurso that night and continued our chat, also planning what we wanted to see the next day (I'd had a little look for suggestions).
So, on Sunday, after a breakfast of fruit with yoghurt and scrambled eggs with gluten free toast (yay!), we headed out for a river walk. There is a really picturesque walk around and over the River Thurso where you go past the old water mill. We then walked out to the Thurso Castle. It is on private land but it's a nice walk and you can catch a fairly close up glimpse of the castle. As it was Sunday, we knew the shops and coffee shop would be closed but we were looking forward to seeing the Broch exhibition at the Caithness Horizons Museum. It said online that it would be open but sadly it was closed - no Lego Brochs for us. Anyway, lunch was calling. We'd passed the Y-Not bistro and it looked quite welcoming. It's a music venue but they also serve meals. We both had Sweet Potato and Roasted Red Pepper soup - mmm I love when it's soup season again. They had a few veggie options and gluten free alternatives.
It was quite a clear day so we then walked down to Thurso Bay. There is a nice beach and an even nicer view of Hoy. Thurso is a well-known surfing spot. We didn't see any surfers, but we did see some folk enjoy the waves in their kayaks and some sailing boats close by. There are also some pretty eerie caves you can go in and explore.By 2PM we'd seen most of Thurso, to be honest, so we ended up going to the local Merlin Cinema before dinner. For dinner, we tried out the local Indian 'Pride of Bengal'. They had lots of veggie options so it was perfect for us veggies. We shared a veggie Passanda and a Saag Aloo. Of course, another bottle of red was also shared. After that meal we definitely needed another walk.
So 30,000 steps later, plenty of chat, nice food and some sights, that was Thurso done really. On Monday I got the 8:45 boat back to Stromness and you'll be glad to hear that I managed to get a photo of the Old Man this time.
Thanks for reading. More recipes coming soon, I promise. I'm making another pesto risotto tonight but I'm planning some new recipes. I have a veggie sausage casserole and veggie Feijoada in mind...
Have a good day! I'm off to eat my favourite snack - a Schar crispbread with peanut butter and raspberry jam. Thankfully, I went to Fat Burn Extreme last night so I can justify it!
x gf v x
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