The Scottish Snippets Newsletter in its original format began in April 1997 and continued in an unbroken series for 591 issues. Although no longer produced in that style, there is now this regular update on the new and updated pages on the Rampant Scotland site including "Scottie's Photo Diary From Scotland".
To receive a text version of this newsletter as a reminder to look at these Web pages when they are published, just send an e-mail to Scottie@RampantScotland.com with "Subscribe Newsletter" in the subject line.
You'll Be Blown Away! Most wind farms, certainly in Scotland, do not set out to attract visitors. But the Whitelee Wind Farm south of Glasgow is different. It has a visitor centre which is the first of its kind in Scotland and is a member of the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions It had nearly 250,000 visitors since opening in 2009, despite only being open in the summer months. It is currently the largest onshore wind farm in Europe and has 40 miles of trails for walkers and cyclists allowing visitors to see some of the wild life in this moorland area. See Places to Visit - Whitelee Wind Farm
Screen Saver / Desktop Graphics - Edinburgh (2)
This is the second collection of larger-size graphics with views of many aspects of Edinburgh. The 19.7mb compressed zip file has 39 graphics and includes Balmoral Hotel, Bank of Scotland at night, Botanic Gardens, Clydesdale Bank Plaza, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh Castle, Fettes College, Irn-Bru Taxi, "Kidnapped" statue, Lord Kitchener, Mary Queen of Scots, Murrayfield Stadium, National Gallery, National Monument, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Scottish Parliament, Princes Street, Ross Fountain, Royal Scots Greys Monument, Scott Monument, St Giles, St John's Kirk, Tolbooth, US War Memorial, Penguins in Edinburgh Zoo. You can, of course, merge this second collection of Edinburgh graphics with the first batch which is still on the index page. See: Screen Saver / Desktop Graphics - Edinburgh (2)
Motel One Edinburgh-Royal
It is a while since travel writer Vivien Devlin has written a review for Rampant Scotland, due in part to her researching for a new book on "Great Boat Journeys of the World" - it's a hard job being a travel writer but somebody has to do it... Back in Edinburgh she has been along to see the latest new hotel in Scotland's capital city. Motel One is a collection of Budget Designer hotels operated by a German hospitality brand which has 42 hotels in Germany and Austria. It is new to the UK and their Edinburgh-Royal hotel opened this year right in the city centre just a two minute walk from Waverley Train Station. The building is part of a £45m redevelopment project of Advocate’s Close - one of the many narrow access lanes in the Old Town world heritage site. The 208 bed hotel, extending to over 85,000 square feet links five separate buildings to capitalise on the historic character of the site and some of the great views across the city’s Princes Street Gardens. The earliest parts of the building date from 1544 and the building is thought to be the oldest surviving townhouse in Edinburgh. Motel-One Edinburgh Royal has already proved to be an innovative, trendy, affordable concept for international leisure and business visitors. A second Motel One will open in Edinburgh on Princes Street later in 2013, See Motel One Edinburgh-Royal.
Next Newsletter
The next newsletter is scheduled for 17 August. The main feature will be the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. That's a place I've been to many times (used to frequently eat my sandwich lunch there when I worked in Edinburgh) but somehow overlooked writing a "Places to Visit" page on this lovely parkland near the centre of Scotland's capital. I've a collection of graphics taken there over many years but paid a recent visit during the extended heat wave we've been having in Scotland for much of July.
Yours aye
Scottie
Previous editions of this Newsletter are available in an Archive. The Index to the other pages of the Rampant Scotland site is available here.
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
