CQ in Scotland. Photo Essay.

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Val the Cookie Queen.

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Hey there APJ.

As most of you know I spent a week in Scotland recently.   I have wanted to go my whole life and finally got it together to organise a trip.  Well, we booked  flights and our beyond dear friend Kirk, who has cropped up in my posts over the years did the organising.  We just had to get there.   He would be waiting at the airport with a car.  Our flight was from Munich to Edinburgh, so what better way to start the trip than to sleepover in Munich and go to the Oktoberfest?

CQ in Scotland.  Photo Essay.

I don’t drink, and even if I did I had never planned to go to the Oktoberfest.  The friends that we stayed with said how dumb it was not to go and at least take a look.  Well, it was absolutely amazing.  Amazing in the way that I had never seen anything like it. Two million people, no that is not a typo, had passed through it just the weekend before.   Holy Cow.  One “tent” alone, (they call them tents although they are actually buildings of a sort and put up in the summer in preparation for it) holds 9,900 people at a time, and there are quite a number of them.  Anyway, whatever, it was a brilliant experience and only in a country as organized as Germany could something like that take place.  Can you even imagine a million pissed up Brits?

We met up in Edinburgh with @scentosaurs Crikey,  Euan McColl (the nose of Jorum Studio and Senyokô Paris) and with The Silver Fox for breakfast and a serious sniffathon.  (I might also have snuck of with the Silver Fox to get a tattoo.)  Fabulous time.

After the way too short time in Edinburgh, we headed off to the Isle of Skye, driving through the highlands, including Glen Coe, and Glen Etive.    The magnitude of the beauty was above and beyond anything I have ever seen.  Incredible.

What follows is a load of photos.  I am not gonna write what each one is, I am way too busy.  What with the cookie business and the fact that we are moving apartments soon, I am dead chuffed to have actually made time to sit down and do this!!  I have mentioned to Portia I may have to take an APJ break, but if you are all willing to put up with short, stressed posts, maybe I can keep it up.  Time will tell!  The photos of the stunning apartment was a last night Airbnb in Edinburgh.

Bussis

CQ

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Chris with the famous Danny MacAskill.  Red Bull Street Trial Rider.  He was on our plane.  Or were we on his?  Google Danny`s YouTube videos right now.

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Random rider on the Fort William World Cup downhill track.  Gnarly and technically difficult as hell.  My husband had planned to ride it, but walked the course instead, as he had broken a couple of ribs a few weeks beforehand and was still in quite some pain. 

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I received this as a gift from Scentosaurs and wore it 6 nights in a row.  

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Sign inside a pub in Leith. 

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PS. This never grows old.

21 thoughts on “CQ in Scotland. Photo Essay.”

    • The N°19 was so perfect for the Scotland at night. I had a smoky, peaty, earthy whisky, my first drink in about 30 years, and what perfume could possibly have been better to go along with it? I have another 500 photos if you wanna come up and see them sometime! xxxxx

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    • Thanks a lot. I try and remind myself that come the beginning of next year it will be done! I want to go back too. We had the perfect week, but I could have managed two with no problem at all. xxx

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  3. I love Scotland so much and can’t wait to explore more. The scenery has to be seen to be believed.
    Want to visit Skye one day.
    I need to hear more about the meet up and the tattoo!

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    • Skye was gorgeous, and was the ideal destination from Edinburgh in the time that we had, having to include Fort William. Biking and perfume being a must in every trip that Chris and I do together. We always seem to manage it!

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  4. Wowza! How beautiful Scotland looks at this time of year, and you take such good photos too. Glad you finally got to fulfil your dream of visiting the country – it doesn’t disappoint. Sounds like you also had a blast in Edinburgh meeting up with pillars of the perfume community. And what an amazing Airbnb at the end of your stay. As a host myself, I will definitely have to up my game.

    I have been to Oktoberfest while away for work one time, and found it both mind blowing in scale and very friendly. I got chatting to an American opposite me on one of those long trestle tables. He was a nuclear disaster coordinator, training the emergency services for apocalyptic scenarios. “I hope I never have to do my job”, he quipped, as he necked his very tall beer.

    You can do short stressy posts for me! Always great to hear from you.

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    • Short and stress it might well be. I don’t really wanna stop but sometimes I think I might have to. But I talked with Portia, and I reckon it will be ok …. I can do it! Yeah – Okotberfest was really friendly, the cops, the punters, the waiters ….. and if I was in Munich again at the same time as Oktoberfest I would go again. Are you gonna have a freestanding bathtub fitted in the master bedroom? Perhaps that might just little plumbing step too far? xxxxx

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    • Hey Julie! Thanks for looking and especially for taking time to comment. It was a really fab trip, I enjoyed every single second. Perhaps as a non-drinker I could have managed a couple more whisky though. That was a mistake. 🙂

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  6. Eleven. Hysterical. Lovely pics, so nice to see some Scotland, we travelled there a few years ago, Glencoe, Skye, Fort William…did wonderful sealwatching. It is a magical place and I would love to go back there. My aunt is an English teacher and she loves Scotland. She stayed with friends in a really old castle. Her host said goodnight after showing her room, only to return immediately and say (dead serious!) ‘by the way, if you see a woman appearing in your room, don’t be frightened, she’s our house ghost’.
    All CQ posts are good (any AJP posts actually) stressy or not, always brings joy. Hang in there during the number one stress inducer! No19 parfum=heaven.

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    • I go through moments with this N°19 thinking that I never need anything else again. We all know this is an illusion and a lie, but it really is a most stunning perfume. And I cannot wait to wear it in freezing cold weather. Although I sadly saw no ghosts, and did not stay in any castles, I felt th at Glencoe and Glen Etive was full of them. Absolutely jaw dropping, I think my kids can be more stress-inducing than moving tbh, but it must be an extremely close number two!! Yeah – you cannot watch Eleven too many times. Mwah. xxxxxx

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    • We did not make it to Glasgow. Nearly, but it would have been such a fast pit-stop we decided to return to Edinburgh. I would like a whole week in Edinburgh, so much to see and do. Hopefully we will have the chance to go again. Although the next sightseeing trip to the UK will probably be Devon and Cornwall. xxxx

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  8. Love your photos Val! It is one of my favorite places to visit. We are enjoying our last night here in Edinburgh. Keep the posts coming.
    Sandra xo

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  9. Fantastic! Scotland is on my bucket list. My husband goes to Oktoberfest every other year with his son, it is a crazy scene. I just completed my move today from Montréal to San Diego for the winter. Completely exhausted and nursing a cold. Haven’t slept in a week. I need to get down to the beach pronto, but first, a trip to the grocery store to get some food. Bon courage for your move!!

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  10. Love the photos! I have only visited Glasgow, but would like to see other parts of Scotland in the future. Obviously it must be best when the sun is out!

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