clivedinburgh's VirtualTourist Home Page

I have been on VT a few years now and still find it a great place for travel advice as well as so many other things (see the Miscellaneous Forum for an example). I work as a Chief engineer in the Royal Navy so I could say the I do travel for both work & pleasure. I'm now settled into domestic life in Dunfermline with my girlfriend Fiona & our son Callum was born on Sun 11 Jan 2009.

Work onboard my ship, HMS Gloucester, brings some fresh challenges everyday and last year we travelled abroad to various ports in Europe (Zeebrugge, Aalborg, Copenhagen, Gibraltar) as well as a few in the UK. This year we are due to head to the South Atlantic for several months which will be a first for me as we are due to visit Brazil, Uruguay & Chile.

Since joining VT, I have enjoyed writing up tips on numerous places as well as helping out where I can on the forums. I now know that I should definitely get out and see more of Scotland as well as the odd jaunts abroad which will likely be limited now due to our new arrival.

Hope everyone enjoys my tips and tales and that they are of some use.

I am originally from a small town in the South of Scotland called Langholm (formerly part of the Debatable Lands). The surrounding area is very picturesque and I really enjoyed growing up there. See my Langholm page or Langholm-online

The highlight of the year here is the Common Riding which is held on the last Friday in July. The boundaries of the towns common land are re-affirmed by the annually elected Cornet and his followers on horseback. This tradition is maintained in most of the Borders towns and everyone thinks their own towns is always the best. LANGHOLM's IS THE BEST (just so you know).

I lived in Edinburgh for over 5 years and really enjoyed the city. It's a great place to live as well as visit but expect some locals chuntering at the bloody tourists now and then (especially during the festival)! I've been over a few times since selling my place last year and caught some great comedy acts at the Fringe. I can appreciate that my pages may become stale since I'm not in this city as often nowadays but will endeavour to do what little I can.

Areas I lived in were.....

Stockbridge (2001-2004)
Leith (2004-2005)
Roseburn (2005)
Dalry (2005-2007)

Aside from the usual sun & sand hols and short city visits, I mostly travel to watch football and have had some great trips following Scotland & Celtic (well the trips had to be good as the football was suicidal more often than not).

Last eurotrip was to Barcelona in March 2008 which I combined as a lads trip with a romantic weekend tagged on the end. The week out there was great, even if though we lost yet again.

I keep a diary of my last 8 matches in my Football Journeys album.

I got myself thinking about what I like when I recently visited the Tate Modern in London. You see the thing is that with lots of places I like, it is the buildings that hold my attention more than the contents. This reminded me of a visit to the Prado in Madrid some years back, great building but even Goya at his best did little for me.

I suppose the architecture/building bug was set at a young age when my father built two of my childhood homes in Langholm with all of us five sons helping him in what ways we could. My youngest brother has now continued the tradition, having built his own stunning house in Galashiels which he moved into in March 07. I also enjoy my monthly fix on what's new in the world by reading Wallpaper* magazine.