As someone who was born in Shetland, and lived the first 19 years of my life in the place, I probably don’t see its amazing and unspoilt scenery in quite the same way as Simon King does. I just see it as home. In the same way someone from Glasgow sees Glasgow as home. Or someone from Essex doesn’t particularly get over excited about the south east corner of England.

The first time I properly took Emma on a tour of home, she spent the whole car journey “oohing” and “aaahing” as we turned every corner. At the time I didn’t quite understand, after all I’d seen those views every day for most of my life.

It was only last night that I had a sudden realisation of how lucky I am, and how ultimately spoilt I probably was growing up when Simon King (he’s like a modern David Attenbourgh) announced in the opening sequence of his new series, Simon King’s Shetland Diaries, that out of all the places he’s visited in the world, which included filming lions in Africa and Great White Sharks in the Pacific Ocean, Shetland is by far his favorite destination.

As someone who has also just come back from a weeks holiday in Shetland, and my first visit for over a year, watching the programme on BBC Two last night didn’t do anything for trying to cure the bout of homesickness I’m currently suffering from.

The three part series sees Simon, his wife (who films wildlife as a profession) and their 2 year old daughter Savannah move to Shetland for a year (although their year is split up as it would seem Simon has lots of other committments around the globe).

It was a marvelous hour in which Visit Shetland were most likely rubbing their hands with glee as they realise the potential number of tourists that are now planning their visits this summer.

But as a Shetlander, I must point out a few things.

Simon went house hunting. We saw a selection of houses, some that didn’t have road access, some that only had a fishing net for a bed and some that didn’t even have an indoor toilet.  Shetland does have, although we didn’t see it on the telly, normal houses as well. Our house back home has a front door, windows, a driveway (tarmaced), running water, electricity and even broadband.

Every shot of his land rover driving around Shetland seemed to be on single track roads.  And while we do have a lot of those, we also have normal roads, where cars can pass each other without having to move into the side.  Hey, we even have roundabouts and pellican crossings. And potholes.

And finally, Simon went to Up Helly Aa, the largest fire festival in Europe he announced. Except he went to one of the smaller country Up Helly Aa’s, not the main Lerwick one (which is the largest fire festival in Europe I believe).  So the main Lerwick Up Helly Aa which happens in January is much more spectacular than what was on BBC Two last night.

It was nice to see Shetland on the telly in a mostly non patronising form. A rather rare occurrence. Martin Clunes, take note. And the Sam Wollaston of the Guardian, also take note:

“Anyway, this Shetland place is flipping brilliant. And the most brilliant thing about it is that it’s part of this country. Who even knew that? We’ve got our very own David Attenborough kind of place, right on our doorstep. Well, not quite on the doorstep, it’s right up next to the north pole, but you don’t need a passport to go. People even live there, compatriots of you and me. The only downside is that they don’t have indoor lavs, it’s dark for eight months of the year and the rain comes at you horizontally. Mostly, it’s so windy it’s not safe to get out of the car. “

Simon King’s Shetland Diaries is on BBC Two for the next two Thursdays, 20:00. You can catch this weeks episode on the BBC iPlayer (http://bbc.co.uk/i/qnw1f/).

If you thought our days couldn’t have got any less busy, on Friday, completely out of the blue, came the snow meaning that any plans we did have were quashed.

Normally I’m not too fond of the snow. Working in radio means I provide a vital resource to many during periods of snow, and while it can make great radio it can also be a right pain. And being the closest member of the team to the studios, I have no excuse not to make it in on a snowy day.  So I quite enjoyed being 200 miles away from my radio show, with absolutely no way of being called in to work.

And  it did give us a good opportunity to build a snow man.

And for some (not me), an opportunity to make snow angels.

Let’s just all pray the snow disappears on our return to the mainland next week.

I remember reading, what only seems like a couple of years ago, an article professing that one day location aware devices such as your mobile phone would be all the rage. At the time it seemed like a great idea on paper, and something that would be many years away (much like that self drying jacket in Back To The Future II).

However in those last two years, location aware devices have subliminally made their way into my life.  The self drying jacket still has yet to show.

Equipped with only my mobile phone (an HTC Hero running Google Android – something I keep meaning to blog about), here’s how Google affected my weekend.

Google Mail – http://mail.google.com

Not entirely new, but I felt it was worth a mention. My only email provider for 5 years now.

Whether you send an email to my gmail address, my ‘professional’ address (david [at] davidrlewis.com) or my work address, they all come into my Google Mail account, and are then sorted through various filters.  My whole life, and its past five years, are stored under my Google Mail account.

All the information for the apartment we were staying at in Fort William were saved on an email. Directions, times, cost, phone number and even the door code were there.  No need for any bits of paper.

With Google Mail being so well integrated into Android, it’s handy for emailing photos to people (or Twitter), and mailing your dad with your current co-ordinates (he likes keeping track of where I am).

There is one downside to email being so easily available, it’s difficult to ignore your boss when he emails you on your day off.

Google Maps - http://maps.google.com

Google Maps is hardly anything new either. I’ve used this on my phone for a good two years now.

It was the saving grace on a college trip to Orkney last year, and it still impresses me every time I need to rely on it.

It’s still not quite suitable for replacing your Sat Nav yet (although turn by turn direction for Google Maps is now available on the new version of Android), it is useful if you have a passenger in the car who can reel off directions or if you vaguely know the area.

Google Sky Maps – http://www.google.com/sky/skymap.html

Lack of light pollution is one of the nice things about getting out of the city.  I could sit and watch the stars all night if it weren’t too cold.

Google Skymaps is a very handy application for your phone.  It takes your location by GPS, and what direction your phone is facing via its built in compass, and presents a map of the night sky, customised especially for you. As you turn your phone to a different part of the sky, the map moves with it too. Showing you the names of the stars, constellations and planets in your eye line.

If you don’t tell the person you’re with at the time what you’re using, you can sound as knowledgeable as Patrick Moore.

What it can not do for you however, is get rid of cloud cover.  Of which there was quite a bit this weekend. I expect Google are working on this as we speak.

Google Places – http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/06/places-directory-app-for-android.html

This is something new to me.  You tell it what you want to find (restaurants, bars, museums, that sort of thing) and by using your phones location (either by cell tower or GPS) it will tell you all those nearby. In fact it will give you exactly how far you need to go and in what direction. It will even show you turn by turn on Google Maps if you feel the need.

It will also give you user ratings and comments for the place you’re about to visit. Very handy if you can’t decide where  you want to have your Sunday Roast. Google recommended me the Snow Goose Vintage Inn in Inverness, and I can vouch for it’s recommendation.

Google Latitude - http://www.google.com/latitude

This runs within Google Maps, and it’s quite a good idea, in theory.

So long as you and your contacts use Google Latitude, you can see where they are at any time on Google Maps. In turn they can see where you are.  Your phone will then beep at you if one of your friends is nearby, so you can have a coffee, or most likely what I’d do, try and avoid them at all costs.  You can switch it off for privacy, or even lie about where you are (I was in New York City last week).

Where the idea falls a bit flat is that so far I know very few folk who use it. It’s a bit of a catch 22. It’s only good if people use it. But no one will use it because they don’t know anyone on it.

I so far know two people on it. One who lives in Greater London, and one who hasn’t updated their location since May. Not very useful.

What I do use Latitude for is the “I’m currently in” section on the front page of this website.  It’s set to vague mode so you don’t know exactly where I am (like my flat). It’s there because I was experimenting with coding something I plan to use in the future. I can imagine it’s also useful for potential burglars (although my brother in law lives right next door so don’t even think about it).

Google Latitude also provides a nice map of my location history, which only I can view. Great for fans of nostalgia and map geeks, two categories which I fall in to.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my weekend away with Google. Some of what they provide is very handy, some a bit more pointless. But it’s amazing to think what we could be using location aware devices for in only a few years.  All that, from the palm of my hand.

There is one problem with all this though.  When the mobile signal goes or the battery dies, so does your ability to do  anything. And the more and more we rely on Google, the more and more scuppered we’re going to be when it all goes horribly wrong.

We have just returned from a weeks visit to Norway. Actually we have been back a couple of weeks now but there is a bit of a delay between doing something and then finding the time to blog about it.

I know it would seem not that long ago since my “holiday to Spain” post, and your probably thinking “two holidays in short succession, fine for some”, and you’d be right in thinking that. Thankfully its not like we are newly graduated students who have loans and debts to be paid back and savings to be made……

Let me fill you in. This was my 14th visit to Norway. I have been every year since 1998. In two of those years I have been twice. It started because my parents realised it was much easier and quicker to get from Shetland to Norway than it was to get to Aberdeen. And at least when the car rolled off the back of the ferry in Bergen you were in a much more scenic, friendlier and not to mention foreign country rather than the arriving in delights of down town Aberdeen.

Now 12 years later I live away from my parents, in Aberdeen, there’s no ferry across thanks to the recession and yet it is still a bit of a tradition to pay Scandinavia a visit every summer. I like to think of it as the annual pilgrimage.

This year we had an excuse to go. Last September (4 weeks or so after being in Norway) I was sent a link to the Nowegian version of Ticketmaster, where I found Coldplay were to be playing in Bergen. Coldplay are one of those bands that I’d always wanted to see but never quite got round to it. Cost aside, the thought of getting to and seeing them in Bergen was much more appealing than the thought of getting to and seeing them in Glasgow. The trip would take less time, the venue is much nicer, it’s a better story to tell and most importantly, there’s very few Glaswegians in Bergen.

Gig tickets were booked. As were the plane tickets.

We decided to turn it into a little bit of a holiday. You’d think after being in Norway 13 times prior to this trip that I would have been well travelled round the country. You’d be wrong. I’ve never ventured too far away from Bergen (on the west coast).

We decided to spend a few days in Stavanger which is only 50 minutes on the plane from Aberdeen.  We’d then travel the 100 or so miles north to Bergen where we’d spend the remaining 4 days (and see Coldplay).

The flight from Stavanger to Bergen is one of the easiest flights I have ever taken. It was in a 737 which is one of the largest planes to operate out of Aberdeen. It was the same model of plane that took us to Spain. Only when we went to Spain it was full (and I mean jam packed full) of drunken holiday makers and screaming kids.  The flight to Stavanger was around half full and mostly of business people or older couples. The seat belt lights were off for about 20 minutes before the descent into Sola airport began. Even Emma who is scared of flying commented on how quick and stress free it was.

After arriving in Norway it does not take long to witness first hand the higher prices of everything.  For example, to get us from Sola airport to centre of Stavanger cost £18 on the airport bus for the two of us.  You’ve got to accept before you go that it is going to be an expensive trip.  While you can scrimp and save in places, don’t bother trying to do Norway on a tiny budget. You’ll fail and end up having a horrible holiday knowing that you are spending far more money than you ever intended on doing so.

Stavanger looked pretty much how I expected it. A nice coastal town full of colourful buildings. A smaller version of Bergen. It was also chucking it down. More or less to be expected from Western Norway where it rains 70% of the time. They say in Norway “when it rains, it rains. And when it doesn’t rain, there’s rain on the way.”

We were staying in the Myhregaarden hotel. Slap bang in the centre of the town. Perfect location for tourists. It was a little on the expensive side (this is Norway after all) however that extra cost was balanced out by the fact we had a chandelier in our room.  It’s set the benchmark for hotel rooms.  Chandelier = good. No Chandelier = bad. There was also a wide screen tv, fireplace and Bjorn Berg toiletries. You’d be forgiven for wanting to spend your whole visit in the hotel room.

There is a problem when you stay in hotel accommodation. You have to eat out.  In most places that isn’t a problem. In Norway it can be.  You see if your like me and don’t like fish, your options are limited.  Most restaurants  have a 5 menu item, of which 4 of those items are fish dishes. Even Emma, who likes fish most of the time, screwed up her face at some of the fancy fish offerings on the menu. That leaves you with one item left which you’ll expect to pay a minimum of £30 per head, and that’s before you’ve added any drinks, starters or puddings on.

We ended up dining 2 out of the 3 nights in Peppe’s Piza. Think TGI Friday’s. The 3rd night was spent in McDonalds. Man I sure know how to treat a lady.

If you are planning a visit to Stavanger I’d recommend hiring a car, at least for a few days. It doesn’t take long to see pretty much everything there is to see in the town. If we’d been there for any more than 3 days we’d probably have had to do the car option.

I can recommend the Stavanger oil museum, it’s much more exciting than it sounds. The Geoparken is to be seen to be believed. It’s a play park (mainly for children and teenagers) made entirely out of ex oil related materials. A trampoline made from marker buoys, a swing made from a helicopter winch basket and a skate pipe made from some old metal pipes are just some of the highlights.  Health and safety would never allow that in the UK.  And Emma was in her element, there’s about 1 cafe for every 10 people in Stavanger. And the majority provide pillows and blankets for sitting outside.

On the fourth day we had to get from Stavanger to Bergen. Emma was presented with 3 options.  A 30 minute flight. A 4 and a half hour fast ferry or a 6 hour bus trip. She’s scared of flying and gets sick on the bus. So the fast ferry it was.  She didn’t really have a choice in the matter as I’ve had my heart set on doing that fast ferry trip ever since I first set my eyes on one in 1998.

We left early morning rainy Stavanger behind, calling in at several ports on our journey north. On open water at 30 knots it was a bit bouncy. I was in my element. Emma was not so much. After switching ferries in Lervik, the final hour and a half of the trip was on a much bigger and smoother ferry. The sun even came out to welcome us in to Bergen.

For me arriving in Bergen is like arriving home. I’ve been there enough times now not to get lost.  Except for this time. But I blame that on the directions given to us by the owners of our accommodation and not because of my navigational skills.  That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Our accommodation was at Armunds apartments.  Armund is the owner. He and his wife Greta have converted half their house into apartments. We were in the attic apartment. It’s in a quiet area 10 minutes from the city centre. The view was stunning. If that was my view every time I washed dishes, I’d be more than happy to wash the dishes every evening.

As we were self catering for the remainder of the holiday we could eat what we wanted, when we wanted on a much smaller budget (still expensive by British standards).  I can not recommend self catering enough.  In Bergen there is plenty of self catering dotted around the place. It was a little harder to find in Stavanger (hence the hotel).

Recommended things to do in Bergen: Mount Flóyen must be experienced twice. Once during the day and once at sunset. You need to get the Funicular railway to the top, it’s £7 each return. (You can choose to walk down for half the price if your legs can handle it). It’s a photographers paradise.  There are a collection of nice walks at the top. And of course the token souvenir shop and hot dog stand.

Bergen Aquarium is a good way to spend a few hours. If only for the seals and the penguins. We went early in the morning when it was quiet. If you go in the afternoon you’ll see the seal feeding sessions (we’ve seen this before so we didn’t mind missing it). It’s about £25 each and like most aquariums or zoo’s you must walk through the gift shop on your way out. (Another way to add £25 on to the trip!)

The fish market is also a place that anyone visiting Bergen must witness. Most people turn up their noses at the suggestion of going to visit a fish market although they always apologise with the phrase “you were right” once they have seen it first hand.

Don’t bother visiting the pubs. Or if you do make sure your wallet is topped up before you enter. We stopped past one pub for a couple of drinks before Coldplay.  We were £17 for a beer and a vodka and coke. Like I said before, just accept it, otherwise you’ll have a bad time!

Coldplay were on top form as expected. Big yellow balloons released into the crowd during “Yellow”, a million confetti butterflies released into the crowd during “Lovers in Japan”. Light shows and fireworks all added to the experience of the outdoor venue. Very few drunk people in the crowd (one plus point to the high price of alcohol), and once you leave the venue you are right in the centre of what is a very nice city.  That is why I chose to see them in Bergen rather than Glasgow.  If you are going to see Coldplay at Hampden or Wembley this month then you are sure to be in for a good show.

People who’ve never been before sometimes ask me if it’s worth visiting Norway. I tell them if you like relaxing beach holidays, eating out, drinking and sunbathing then Norway is not the place for you.  If you want to relax amongst nice scenery, you like taking photos, you are prepared not to eat out all the time and want to try somewhere a little different, get booking now.  I’ve never met anyone who has visited Norway and not fallen in love with the country. There is a whole host of Shetlanders like us who visit every year.

We’re back in Aberdeen now feeling a little depressed with no holidays planned thanks to the saving regime that is now in place.  With our travels to America and Canada due to take place next summer, I think the next visit to Norway may not happen for another couple of years.  Some annual pilgrimage that is.

There’s one company excelling in the current financial climate, and that’s the Coca Cola company. Profits are through the roof and their sales targets for 2009 have already been met. All this thanks to Emma and myself who on average bought a Coca Cola every three minutes during our recent trip to Spain, just to keep hydrated.  Incidentally my dentist’s profits seem to be up too, can’t figure out if there is a connection.

When Emma first announced the idea of a holiday in Spain I was a little unsure. In my head Spain was like a Club 18-30 holiday. Imagine that TV programme, Drunk Britain’s Abroad… well that’s how I pictured Spain. I know lots of people who love Spain, but with the greatest respect to them, those three little words “Drunk Britain’s Abroad” still cropped into my head. Plus anyone who has ever seen me in temperatures above 20 degrees will know how badly I cope.

But what the heck, my mother always told me to try new things. So off we went, Spain for seven days of sun, sea and Drunk Britains Abroad…

… and do you know what, what a beautiful place it was.

Benalmadina was the destination. A small Mediterranean town , designed for couples and families rather then your average Club 18 – 30 clientele. The temperature was high, hitting 34 degrees most days, but by the coast the sea breeze kept you cool, as did the copious amounts of Coca Cola (refer to the first paragraph again if you need to).

Sitting on the front of a catamaran in the sunshine with a beer in my hand having spent the few weeks prior to that moment rushed off my feet trying to complete last minute course work for the final time, I realised Emma may have been right after all. And very rarely do I ever think that.

The temperatures meant it felt like you were in Africa. You were inches away from animals. Seeing Tigers behind a couple of pieces of bamboo, sturdy bamboo I must point out. And all for a price that was well worth paying. I would have paid more, lots more. Edinburgh Zoo, take note.

If you are ever on the Costa Del Sol and are near Fuengirola, I truly recommend a visit.

Generally the trip was very good, if a little short.  I’ve only ever been in Edinburgh for at most a couple of hours, so it was nice to spend the weekend doing the touristy things. I have noticed the large amounts of tartan and bagpipes to be found there. Americans would love it.

I will make my feelings known about Edinburgh Zoo and how much of a waste of money it was in a blog post later, but I want to use this post to have a rant about the Edinburgh Central Travelodge.

During the week I received an e-mail from Travelodge asking me to rate my stay.  I had to answer honestly.  We didn’t expect luxury or 5 star accommodation, but we did expect a little bit better than what we got.

The problem was, Travelodge seems to be a haven for people on boozy weekends and stag/hen weekends.  I think there were at least 3 hen weekends staying on the same floor as us.  Emma and I had been up early to get the train on Saturday morning so by 2am in the night we were fast asleep, until all the boozers came back to the Travelodge.

Suddenly it was like being 14 again, in a youth hostel on a school trip.  People standing at their doors shouting down the corridors to their mates at the other end of the hall.  The only difference was that unlike the school trips, Travelodge didn’t have Mr Smith policing the corridors late at night.

I know it would probably be very difficult to administrate, but when booking it would be nice to have a tick box titled “If you plan on getting blind drunk and making lots of noise and generally being a bit of a disgrace tick here”.  Then stick them all on the same floor and leave us folk who are trying to have a quiet weekend a bit of peace.  I felt sorry the next morning for the scores of families with young kids who all looked incredibly tired.

We paid £80 for the night (ok, £20 of that was for early check in and late check out), and being a Travelodge we didn’t expect too much, but I’m sure for the same amount of money we could have found an as luxurious hotel with less revellers staying.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely is it that you’d rate Travelodge to a friend or colleague, 1 being not at all likely, 10 being extremely likely… I gave it a 2.

A still from the Celtic Identity film at the beach in Aberdeen

If you are heading to the Celtic Media Festival in Wales sometime between now and the weekend, lookout for the section on one minute Celtic Identity films.  The above still shot was from a film made by my college colleague Simon Rochfort and features me as presenter.  I’m not sure if, when or where it will be shown, but it’s worth a watch none the less.

People often say “David, do you prefer doing TV or Radio?”. I’ll let you be the judge of that when I tell you that on the first day of filming for the One minute film, we managed to get a whopping 18 seconds of usable footage.  They don’t call me “David one take Lewis” for nothing.

I’ll stick the film up here to watch once the festival is over.  It will also double up as my Blue Peter audition tape should I ever feel the need to apply.

David

P.S. As you can see from above, it’s impossible to get a decent looking still from the film.  But trust me, it looks good when watching it.

Well, very little evidence. The “Picton Castle” is still in the harbour. They’ve lost their ships cat of 11 years. Chibley was on board when they arrived on Friday, but now no where to be seen. It doesn’t look like they are in a hurry to leave without him.

Wasn’t too sure where I was going to watch the ships leave today, but as we crossed the Askøy bridge in the car it was clear that there was the place to stand. So I spent 3 hours this afternoon standing on a bridge. I took over 300 photos. Put the new camera to good use.

And the best weather of the past 5 days has been this evening. After the boats have left. I can’t imagine they will be going anywhere quickly, there is literally no wind. And Tall Ships rules state that they must use their sails and not their engines. Will be a long trip to Den Helder in the Netherlands.

David

The Tall Ships continue in Bergen. Waved goodbye to Emma today. She is having to head back to Aberdeen for a resit in one of her exams. Had that been me I would have probably decided the exam wasn’t worth it, possibly the reason I’m not at uni?

Weather has been mixed. Perfect for the fireworks last night (above). Not so good for the parade this afternoon (below).

One thing about Bergen (and I’d imagine Norway and possibly Scandinavia as a whole), it’s very easy to spend lots of money on very little. 2 Cokes the other day at one of the outdoor bars was the equivalent of about 9 pounds. A pint (well, 500ml) of beer and a 500ml of cider came to the equivalent of £13. I recommend Bergen a lot to people, but never to those who I think would go on holiday to drink, can you see why?

Emma slowly drinking the very expensive drink.

David