The Purves Adventure: Monarchs meet Sports Minister at Scottish Parliament...

Speedway in Scotland
...ahead of this week's Scottish Open Championship on Friday!

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Finland

In 2006, almost be chance, we ended up holidaying in Finland after problems obtaining visas to go to Russia, and this started an ever deepening love affair with this truly beautiful country far to the north of Europe.

Who would have thought that it would be such an attractive place to spend the summer? Who would have thought that this land of nearly 200,000 lakes would be so warm? Who would have thought that we'd have found spending time in the sauna so intoxicating?

This fantastic country is well worth a visit. For us, we look forward even more each year now to our trips there, to relaxation and sunshine, and a way of life that is so tranquil and different from that here in Scotland!

The weather...

Many of my friends have recognised my obsession with the weather. It has been going on for many years. Why? I'm not really sure, but I do know that there is, historically, a link between my inclination to observe the forecasts and any upcoming speedway matches, which could of course be directly affected by poor weather.That's possibly how it all started, many years ago. Now, I like to see what's going on in various places around the globe. I am also very interested in the relation between the weather patterns and global warming. Nothing unusual in that- we should ALL be concerned about it, if you ask me!

Blueberries...

Speedway...

Where do I start with my favourite sport? In July 1976, my dad took me to Berwick speedway on a warm Saturday evening, to watch my first speedway match. I insisted on standing right on the 1st bend, despite my dad's warnings that it wasn't a good idea, and was promptly showered by wet mud and shale as the four motorbikes hurtled around the corner. I hated it! What's more, my usual Sunday evening bath had to be brought forward to get me clean when we got home..

On Friday 15th April 1977, we returned, this time to the now demolished Powderhall Stadium in Edinburgh, to witness the rebirth of Edinburgh Monarchs, after a 10 year absence from the city. This time I loved it, became hooked, and returned on a weekly basis to watch my newly adopted team. I've been going ever since, and have spent more money than I care to think of following the fortunes of the Monarchs, home and away.

There have been very many highlights over the years. The biggest though, was in 2003, when Edinburgh after a 55 year wait, finally won the Premier League. I was a very proud supporter!
What's more, they repeated the feat in 2008, with an even better display, with what was surely the best Monarchs team ever!

Ferries...

In 2002, when Sandy was only a few weeks old, we travelled on the new service from Rosyth to Zeebrugge and thus started a series of really enjoyable ferry journeys. Since then we have been on DFDS's service to Amsterdam, Silja's wonderful ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki and this year, and have driven to and from Finland on the Finnlines service from Travemunde in northern Germany right up the Baltic Sea to Helsinki and back. Ferries are such a comfortable way to travel on holiday, with your own car, though our last trip was in 2011, as prices have become pretty expensive since then. Still, one day, I certainly intend to drive once again to Finland and back using these great ships!

The Purves Adventure

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Monarchs meet Sports Minister at Scottish Parliament...

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Finland

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