Tuesday, July 30

After breakfast we hike up to a part of the castle overlooking the town. Then we packed the car and drove up to the main part of the castle. Great place to take pictures of the surrounding countryside and the bending Rhine River. Back in the car we head for Heidelberg. We expect it to take 30 minutes, but our GPS equipment - our Tom-Tom, Kees' Garmin, my iPhone and Dan's M/S smart phone all tell us its a 1 1/2 hour journey. We are back on the autobahn with no speed limits and get there pretty quickly. After a little difficulty navigating the city streets, we find the visitor center which tells us how to get to  the old town. We park where they tell us to and we come out almost in the center of things.

We walk around the shops and eat lunch: a pork knuckle for Dan and Linda. Sue and I have normal food: she had  a very tasty spatzel, and cheese (best macaroni and cheese Linda had ever tasted) and  I had hot dogs they called Viennese sausages. Some window shopping and we decide to get back in the car to get to Rothenburg. We have trouble with our GPS equipment finding this town. Finally, Linda puts in the zip code and Louise finds it. Another hour and a half and we drive through a very narrow gate into the walled city. Cute, cute, cute. We are welcomed by Norbert. Dan discovers he has instruments in a side room and our host brings out his "Norbert Machine" which we thought he was saying "Naughty Machine". Its big like a bass sax, has three keys like a trumpet, and a slide and mouthpiece like a trombone. Now that was different. He played Misty for us. Then he went back into the room and brought out a trumpet and played that. There were other instruments in the room including a guitar. Very interesting fellow with a large handlebar mustache - very German.

We bring in our bags, park the car, and walk around to make sure we know where the Nightwatchman's tour begins. This is a Rick Steves suggestion and once he appears with his multi-functional weapon on a long pole, his wide brimmed hat and black cloak and opens his mouth, we realize we have seen him on one of Rick Steves' TV episodes. He's an actor who has developed a special accent for this role and has a great projecting voice - easy to hear no matter where he is. He takes us through town and tells us what a nightwatchman's duties were and some history of the town. He's very funny with his little tidbits of history and  custom. His job was considered "low", but a grave digger and the hangman were considered lower. Each of those guys related well to each other because they had the same clients, just at differing times.

A small meal afterwards with a little window shopping thrown in for good measure. And, then off to bed.

Monday, July 29

We're off for our Germany adventure. Which means we had to leave the house in Soest at 7:30. Just a little earlier than either couple is used to. I take the first shift of driving and we fire up Louise (Tom-Tom) and off we go. Its a coolish, sunny day and we enter Cologne, Germany on time just a little after 10:00. The Rick Steves book said we could park virtually under the cathedral and that's exactly what we did. We wanted to get there in time for the 10:30 English language tour of the cathedral and we made it with 15 minutes to spare.

The cathedral is very impressive. Even though it is almost completely black on the outside from air pollution, it soars in Gothic splendor. In side, it is even more impressive. Our tour guide tells us about how there was an  old church on this site in 800 AD, but it was later demolished and the new one was started in the 12th century. There were a lot of interruptions and the final work was not completed until the  late 19th century. Its claim to fame is that they believe some of the remains  of  the Maji, from the Jesus story, are contained within a shrine inside the church. The shrine is a large golden box situated behind the altar. There are 4 Magi depicted in the carved sides of the shrine. The fourth is the king who gave all of the money to construct it. Its good to be rich.

After our tour, we walked across the square for lunch. We sat down under an awning and the rain started. It  poured for awhile, but we just needed to adjust our table a little to stay dry. After eating, we got back on the road and headed for Bacharach - about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The road is an interstate-like highway with no speed limits most of the time. I kept the car at about 80 mph most of the time. We checked into our B&B that Dan had previously reserved for us Hotel zur Post, asked a few questions about the town and the Rhine cruise that we wanted to take, and were off. Rick Steves suggested visiting this town and he was right - very nice.

We found a nice restaurant with seating on the street to have a glass of wine and some beer while we waited for our cruise. Our waitress Bregit, was charming and fun and joked with us. She especially liked Dan. As we left, we booked an outside table for 7:00.

We selected the 40 minute Rhine cruise because Rick Steves said this portion of the Rhine was the most scenic. It was. We spent most of the time standing on the upper bow deck taking pictures of cute castles, buildings, wine vineyards, and other boats. We took the train back in about 10 minutes. We decided not to go back to our room because we would have had to climb 4 flights of stairs, so we got to  the restaurant 15 minutes early.. Bregit was waiting for us and we had  a good dinner. Then back to the  room to end our first day in Germany.

Sunday, July 28

We decide to hit the road today and introduce Dan and Sue to a few places. We start with finding the bus station at Utrecht that they will leave from for their trip to Paris next week. Having figured that out, we drive to Gouda. Its a beautiful, clear, dry day. Just like its supposed to be. We wonder around Gouda with most of the stores closed because its Sunday. The Gouda Cheese Museum is open, so we check that out and they buy some cheese. Its a perfect time to stop and have a coffee, served by a lovely, young, blonde, Dutch girl. All is good.

We wonder around a little and find a concert in the park and an old traditional windmill. Pictures, pictures, pictures. Then its back to the car and on to de Haag. It takes us a little bit of time to figure out where to park. We can't park on the street, because the parking ticket machines will only accept Dutch debit cards. No cash and we don't have any Dutch debit cards. Finally, we find  a parking garage. We are two blocks from the action, so we walk around and eat lunch outside in one of the squares. Dan and Sue have a Ceasar salad and we share a steak salad and some Thai spring rolls. Of course, everyone has a beer.

Saturday, July 27

Today was a rest day. I think we  were all tired for various reasons. By 12:00 we were ready to venture downtown (i.e., Soest). Linda wanted to see if she could get new contacts for her eyes, because the batch she left home with turned out to be the wrong prescription. After talking to 2 different stores, the guy at Pearle Vision ordered her a couple at no charge. You can't beat that. We all stopped at the chocolate and coffee shop and had coffee and two apple pies (a very traditional dish). Liesbeth happened by while we were eating. We invited her and Peter over for a glass of wine later after dinner. They are leaving for their annual 3 week trip to Germany tomorrow and we wanted to see them one more time.

We walk back to the  house and have a drink. Then we walk back to town and eat dinner at Fusions. They had mussels as their special for the night and we all decided to have that along with a bottle of wine. They were excellent. The waiter brought one huge pot of them. And, then when we had finished , another pot the same size arrived. No one left hungry.

About 8:30, Peter and Liesbeth arrived and we sat outside and drank several different wines: a dry white, a red, and Pressco. We had a good time just talking about stuff. They are such a nice couple. After a couple of hours, they needed to leave to finish packing for leaving tomorrow and we say goodbye.

A couple more hours of talking, laughing, and telling family stories and we hit the bed. A nice leisurely day.

Friday, July 26

We're off to the Netherlands today. After a nice breakfast buffet at the hotel we board a shuttle bus to Gatwick airport. We check in at the kiosk and then move to bag drop and then on to Security. There are lots of lines but we find one that has NOONE IN IT. Amazing. On the other side, we are stopped by a young lady taking a survey. I expect her to ask us 2 or 3 questions - try 25. It gets to the point that we're running out of time. We finish and quickly walk to our gate. The big screen is telling us that the gate will close in 5 minutes. We hurry but we're not sure we really believe it. When we arrive they are boarding but there is still plenty of time.

On the plane, an hour to Schipol Airport at Amsterdam. The plane arrives a few minutes early and we easily get through customs and bag collection. Dan and Sue meet us, we get cash at the ATM, add money to our train cards (testing my British Air Visa with a chip to make sure it works), and  pay for parking. Dan drives us back to Soest. Along the way we decide its time to eat. After talking about possibilities and digressing a few times Linda remembers we had eaten at a place in the woods near Soest that had really good hamburgers. But exactly where is it? We make one attempt down a side road and decide we have gone too far. We make a U-turn at a gas station and I get out to ask a customer if he knows where we are tying to get to. He thinks he does and gives us directions which take us back up the road about 2 miles and with a couple of turns we're there. We sit at a picnic table outside and drink our beers and eat our fat burgers. We decide  to leave the other way which takes us through a cute little commercial area with shops and restaurants. We drive a little further and realize we were very close when we stopped at the gas station. Oh well.

We decide we need a few things at the store, so before going to the house, we continue down the road and buy a few groceries and Linda and Sue go into a health store. Dan and I buy a couple of things at the grocery store.

Finally we head to the house and unpack. After sitting around and nattering, we hear the Liesbeth and Peter next door, so we walk over to say hi and give the kids (Noor and Duko) the presents we brought them - a stuffed Manatee and a pink scarf. A mini football for Duko. They all seem to be hits. Duko invites me to jump on the trampoline which I do and do not hurt myself. The boys throw the ball around for a little and then we leave so that they can eat their dinner.

We can't decide what to do about dinner so Linda and Sue walk down to the Batavia carry-out and bring back various meats, green beans, egg foo young, and yellow rice. We ate outside to stay cool. Its abnormally hot which translates into low 80's and humid,. After watching a little TV, we head for the waterbed.

Thursday, July 25

After a good sleep in Jill and Jim's guest bed, we have a small breakfast of apple and peanut butter and pile into the car to drive to Manchester. Within about 35 minutes, we're entering Manchester and Louise (our Tom-Tom voice) is guiding us through the streets. There was no train station to select from on the GPS, but we put in what turned out to be the bus station. And, she took us right to it. At that point, Jill announces that she knows this area and guides us several blocks to the train station. We drop off the car at Avis behind the station and leave our bags in their office.

Jill takes charge and guides us down the main drag from the station into a shopping district that eventually becomes a walking mall with shops on either side. Its warm and humid, so I sweat, but the walk is good after sitting most of yesterday. We had talked earlier about eating lunch at Annie's, just a few blocks away. But they are not serving for another 30 minutes and that timing would rush us for our train at 2:00. We walk across the street and end up at an Italian restaurant with a New York City theme. We have a nice lunch with Jim and Linda having a genuine "New England Breakfast", Jill eating lasagna, and I had a hot dog with some of their chili relish sauce. Jim and I had a Stella Artois (Belgian beer).

After, we casually walk back toward the station, the girls go into Marks and Spencer to buy some special soap - Royal Jelly with pure honey. It doesn't take long. We walk back to Avis to retrieve our bags and then into the station. We still have some time, so we stop for a coffee at Pret a Manager. I am wearing a pink shirt and the girl behind the counter is too. She says because I'm wearing it I get my order free. Linda thinks its because they are running a breast cancer awareness campaign. At this point I look in my blazer breast pocket and notice my glasses are missing. We look all around and finally a piece of trash is blown off the table and into the top of one of our bags where the handle sticks out. And when Linda bent down to pick it out, there were my glasses. Is that the Universe? Who knows?

We say goodbye to Jim and Jill, board the train and off we go. These English trains run on time. Our reserved seats are at a table and across from us is a very attractive young mother and her rambunctious 2 year old son. Across the aisle is a Jewish Orthodox family of 3 boys and 2 girls. We're in kiddy land. For 2 hours they are all fairly quiet and behave themselves.

We come into Euston Station in London and have to haul our suitcases up some stairs. About 1/2 way up 2 young men show up separately and help us both with the bags. Really nice for the young studs to help the old folks. Then we board the Victoria underground for the Victoria station. We still have our Oyster cards, so we just touch the panel and whisk through the turnstile. At Victoria, we buy tickets for the Gatwick Express train and leave about 5 minutes after we board.

At Gatwick, we take a taxi to the Premier Inn. We we arrive, I give the guy a 10 pound Scottish note. He takes it and goes back to his seat. I follow expecting change. He says that its only worth 7 English pounds which is a lie. But, he drives off quickly, so I don't have a chance to confront him. There are bad apples no matter where you go. The thing is, I was going to give a tip of 2 pounds for the 7 pound fare, so he cheated me out of a whole pound. He had to be a deceitful liar for 1 pound.

We check in, clean up and rest a little and eat dinner at the hotel. Its loud with families in the dining room, but I get my vodka and Linda has a Scotch whisky. She tries a steak which is not very good and I have pork ribs and chicken which are very good. A little reading back in the room and we turn out the light.

We have had a really good time in the UK. The two weeks in London with the Adamsons, visiting twice with Jim and Jill, touring Scotland and Shetland and staying with Karen and Keith at Alder House in Lerwick. The countryside is wonderful, the people are uniformly friendly and gracious and the whisky is good and varied.

Wednesday, July 24

Here it is - another travel day. We have breakfast and say goodbye to Karen and Keith, tell them how much we enjoyed staying with them and take a picture of them working in the kitchen. We also  say goodbye to the dog. I think her name is Sylvia, but I'm not sure.

When we first arrived in Scotland - 2 1/2 weeks ago - all  of the sheep were fat (they had their coats on). As we leave, about 98% of them have been sheared. They're all little. That's a way to mark the time.

Sad to say its foggy but we decide it must burn off by our flight time of 11:15. As we drive down the road, the fog gets worse, but its also patchy, so we think that's ok. We have plenty of time, so we stop at Jarlshof, a ruin site about 1 mile from the airport. This site is 4,000 years old where several cultures lived at one time or another. Archaeologists don't know if the Vikings  took this site by force or if the former inhabitants had already left. Later Earl Patrick, who has a really bad reputation during the 17th century and was eventually hanged for  treason, had a castle here. The site is next to a hotel.

We pulled out and drove over to the airport and parked the rental car with the keys in the visor as we had been instructed. This airport has one little quirk that I think is unique. As you enter or leave the airport area, you must drive across one of the runways. There is a gate at either side to stop you if a plane is coming by. It really feels weird.

Then its to the check-in desk. We hand over our bags, get our boarding pass and then the Flybe.com rep tells us that our 11:15 flight will be delayed until at least 3:00. Weather you know. Its 10:30. We settle down at a table and break out our computer and iPhone. Around 12:00, they give us a 10 pound food voucher and we decide that we should use it because we don't know when we'll be able to eat again. Around 1:00, they call us to go through security, our plane is coming. Two Flybe.com planes come in close together. The first one delivers the first minister of Scotland. There is a minor fuss and people taking pictures and someone is interviews him. The people who get to  board the plane are those who should have boarded at 8:30, so they certainly deserve to go before us. About 30 minutes later, we board our plane and take off. Our stewardess, is a cute, young, odd sounding Italian. She sounds like Latka on the Taxi TV show if anyone remembers that. We thought she was from Romania or Bulgaria. Linda thought maybe she came from the heel of Italy.

So, as we approach Aberdeen, we have to circle because of traffic due to the weather. Its turning out to be a slow day. Everything is taking just a little longer than anticipated. Once on the ground, we are given a larger KIA rental car than anticipated. But, this is good. We are going to take Jill and Jim to Manchester with us tomorrow and we need the extra room for the suitcases and them.

We get on the road and immediately run into Aberdeen rush hour traffic. Its 4:00 and our Tom-Tom is telling us that its going to take 6 hours driving time to get to Jill and Jim's house. Well, suck it up and lets get on down the road.

We have a good size sedan, all good 4 or 6 lane road with a mostly 70 mph speed limit. But, its still 6 hours. I try to keep the car at about 75 and sometimes 80 to make good time and I do. We stop every 2 hours to walk and stretch. Our second stop is at a Costa coffee place where we can sit outside by a pond. Very pleasant. By now the sun has come out and the temperature is probably about 68. With about 50 miles to go I start getting tired. Linda is whistling and I'm concentrating. At just about 10:24, as the Tom-Tom had said, we pull into the back of Jill and Jim's row house in Burnley - 335 miles. I figure I have driven about 2500 miles so far in the last 2 and 1/2 weeks on the wrong side of the road.

We walk in like tired and whipped dogs. Jim greets us with the news that he is cancer free. He is so excited as well he should be. Its been 8 years since he lost his kidney and has been going through treatments for 3 years. We congratulate him and tell him how happy we are for him. We can't talk for too long because all 4 of us are tired. We'll talk so more tomorrow. Good night.

Tuesday, July 23

Our last day in Shetland. Our last day in Scotland. Its been a different adventure with some real highlights. There are a couple of things left on our list, but they are all nearby, so we think we can get them all in. The first stop is the Shetland Museum and Archives located by the docks in town. We are surprised to find out that admission is free. There are two floors that trace Shetland history from the beginning of the earth, through continent migration, people migration from about 5,000 BC, housing and commerce up through WWII. Lots of artifacts and good explanations of what tools were used, how they built and prepared their food and fought their wars through the ages. We spent at least an hour in there when we thought it would be about 30 minutes. We stopped to eat lunch at the Hays Dock Cafe within the museum. I had a traditional Caesar Salad and Linda had a salmon frittata,. Then we spent another 15 minutes exploring the second floor that included more information about fishing and WWII.

Next, we drove about a mile down the road to Jamieson & Smith, wool brokers that Craig told us about yesterday at the bar. Farmers bring their wool here to have it graded and get their pay. They also have a shop with lots of wool skeins for sale. Linda buys a few things.

Last on our list was Scalloway Castle, about 5 miles away. There is a museum and a very small castle there. The museum had a lot of things similar to the earlier one we had just come from. But, they had an exhibition about the Shetland Bus - an operation based in Scalloway during WWII to receive Norwegian escapees from the Gestapo, to send in infiltrators and saboteurs, and to send supplies to operatives. Over 350 refugees were rescued from 1940 to 1945. A quick walk thru the castle was all that was necessary. A little ways down the road was Meal Beach in Burra. We parked the car and walked 300 yards to a small sandy beach where a family with two children were playing in the water and the sand as if the temperature was in the 80's instead of the 50's. Yes, the beach sat down in a bowl that was protected from the wind, but, come on. On the walk back to the car through a field of sheep, we stopped to chat with a few of the sheep.

We headed back to Lerwick for Linda to visit Harry's Department Store, looking for small gifts. Then she headed for another shop while I went to the Peerie Cafe for my espresso. Then we decided to return to the Scalloway Hotel for mussels. We walked over to Monty's to cancel our 7:00 reservation and headed back. We walk in to the hotel restaurant and find out they do not have any mussels. Its the wrong time of year. There was even a statement at the bottom of the menu. We stayed and had a good meal: wild goose and rabbit terrine and a pnmint (peas and mint pureed) shot as a complimentary beginning. The young lady had to say it 4 times before we got it.  I had the scallops which included the whole scallop, meaning there was a little protrusion from each. I asked the waitress what it was. She called it roe, but went back to the kitchen and brought out a book that showed it as the scallop's reproductive system. Ummm, I'm eating a uterus. Each scallop was sitting on a bed of spinach. There was also a large serving of fennel. Linda had a whole grilled Megrim on a bed of green mashed potatoes, and sweet peas, string beans, and carrots on the side. It was very mild but needed deboned. I had a glass of Malbec and Linda had Glenfracias whisky recommended by her friend Rachel. It was strong. She cut it with water and was very happy. I think she has been drinking more whisky than I have. Go figure.

Back to the B&B to pack for tomorrow.

We will be on the road for the next two days without any internet access. So, we'll be back on line when we get to Soest, NL on Friday.

Monday, July 22

Karen, our B&B host, had shown  us a brochure advertising a 3 hour cruise around two islands (Noss and Bressay) just across the harbor from Lerwick. We looked at another cruise which cost less and showed you less and decided we wanted the long one. Instead of calling and booking, after breakfast, not the whole nine yards today, we walked down to Victoria Pier and looked around. A taxi driver tried to talk us into the shorter/cheaper tour. We think it was probably owned by his son or a relative. We stayed with the plan and talked to the captain and first mate of the Seabirds-and-Seals tour. There was a fog out in the harbor and it was cold. So, even though they had room for us on the 10:00 cruise, we decided the 2:00 one would be better. Maybe it would get warmer and clearer later.

To pass the time, we decided to wander along the main street and shop. A couple of T-shirts, some fudge, and two viking key chains later we walked back up to the B&B and read and wrote. Our place, the Alder Lodge Guest House, owned by Karen and Keith, is at the top of the hill from the harbor and town center. A quick 5 minute walk to almost everything in Lerwick.

By 12:30 we're getting hungry and leave to find food. Of course, at that time of day, everyone else is eating too. We walk into several places, but they are either full, or just not quite right. As we're walking down by the harbor, there is one of those fold-up tripod signs pointing us to the New Harbor Cafe. We turn left. It looks okay, or maybe we were just hungry, but we both eat the fish and chips. All the fish we have had here in the Shetlands is very tasty and this was no exception.

After walking around a little, we decide we should go back to the B&B and get our gloves. Linda adds layers also which will serve her well later. On the way to the boat we stop at the Queen's Hotel to reserve a table for dinner. They don't have anything until 8:00, so that it was it is. By 1:55, we're at the boat and we leave a few minutes later. As we  leave the harbor, its still overcast, cold, and just a little foggy. But, as we get farther out, the fog leaves and we start to see patches of blue sky. As we cruise along, the captain gives us a little commentary of the sites. We talk to the young first mate who has a lot of information in his head too.

We round another point on Bressay Island and the land starts rising into jagged, cliffs. A little further is the lighthouse that marks the entrance into the harbor - now fully automatic as are almost all lighthouses. As will turn out to be true of the entire cruise, we are constantly followed and circled by several different types of birds. Gannets are the majority. Next to come into view are puffins. There are some nesting on the edges of the cliffs and some floating in the water. The first thing that strikes everyone is how small they are. We thought they would be the size of small penguins, but they are 1/3 the size of penguins. We come in close to the ever rising cliffs and see numerous caves. As we approach Noss, we see gently rolling countryside with sheep roaming around ruined stone houses and walls. We learn that these Shetland sheep are just left there most of the time except for shearing once a year and birthing. The stone ruins are not ancient, but still  old. Bressay and Nos were originally one island but the sea broke through in the 1500's and made two islands. As we approach this break, we see a house that looks occupied. The captain tells us that during the summer, it is occupied by two women government caretakers. He also said that this was not the most desolate location in the park system. There are more remote places without boat traffic. As the crow flies, its only 4 miles from where we started.

As we get closer to the break between the two islands we see the seals we have been looking for. At first, even using the provided binoculars, they looked like large boulders. And then they moved. They were huge. I thought they looked more like walruses. After a few minutes, one rolled over on his back and moved one of his flippers like he was positioning an arm to hold his partner next to him. Pretty cool.

As we continue around the south side of Noss, the 1st mate decides to feed the birds who are following us. He holds out a half of a small biscuit (cookie) over the side of the boat. This crazy bird comes swooping in and grabs it out of his hand. This happens a number of times and then the 1st mate eats the rest of the biscuits himself, but the bird keeps coming back. He hovers about 4 feet over our heads on this moving boat. He's right there. Of course, by the time I aim my camera at him, he decides to leave.

Linda and I decide to climb up to the top deck using one of those straight ladders you find on boats and sit on two swivel chairs just as we enter some open water. We get a bit of a roller coaster ride for about 10 minutes. We round another point and suddenly we are up against 600' high cliffs. They are jagged, and ridged, showing different colored strata as you look up from the North Sea. Each strata contains one or more ledges and four or five different specie of bird are standing on almost every available space. Besides the different reds, and oranges, and browns of the rock, there is also the white of guano. As we get ever closer, the smell becomes profound. There is so much going on its hard to focus on any one area to watch the birds. They are just everywhere - it looks like snow flurries. The whole scene looks like a gigantic condo development. You're looking straight up cliffs that are higher than the Washington Monument and all you can see are birds. Its amazing. The captain says this is not an especially large rookery. Its only the 7th largest in the area. He goes on to say that some of these birds are migratory, but not all. Some will fly to South Africa for the winter but others will live out at sea for as long as 9 months - just flying and ridding the waves and  returning fat. Its good to remember we're at 60 degrees latitude.

We start our return trip by entering one of the caves in the cliffs. There are lines which are anchored to each side of the cave side that the 1st mate attaches to his own lines on each side of the boat. This keeps us in one place. Then they launch a small remotely controlled camera and we all sit in the cabin as the "submarine" shows us what is on the bottom. The captain gives us a lot of information on plankton that keeps "everyone" fed. Without it, the birds and fish would not be around. There are also sea urchins who are the garbage collectors. We also see a couple of crabs lurking in crevices along with starfish and sea urchins.

The 1st mate unhooks us, we pull out of the cave, and head around the corner to a cove. I get back up on top with Linda. We pass a lobster man in his little 26' boat tending his traps marked by large orange balls. He holds up a couple of  large lobsters he just caught with a big grin on his face. They were as long as his arm.

We head back for about a 20 minute ride to Lerwick. I stay up on top with Linda who is just cozy warm with all of her layers. I, on the other hand am shriving. After docking and saying goodbye to our crew we head over to The Lounge for a pint. Its the kind of place that when you walk in, everyone turns to look and notice that you are not one of the regulars. And, I've got a woman with me. A good looking blonde. I ask for a dark beer and one of the guys standing at the bar shows me what he's drinking. It looks good and I order it. I ask for a Morgan's whisky for Linda. She has found a Scotch Whisky that she likes. Plus it warms you up, even if you have a lot of layers of clothes on. While I'm waiting for my beer, I start talking to the guys about drinks and where we come from. Lots of people think we're Canadians because we're so nice. A guy who we learn later is named Craig, selects a country song on the juke box. He says he thought that we would like it. He tells us the name of the performer, but we can't understand what he is saying with his thick accent and when we do figure it out, as you might expect, we don't recognize the name. After his song is over, I walk over to him at the bar and ask him what song should I  play for him. He wants Neil Diamond. So, I put a one pound coin in the machine and get three songs: Willie Nelson, Heart, and Neil Diamond. Later, Craig comes over, and grabs Linda as she is taking a picture of me and one of the other guys at the bar and dances two twirls with her. Then he sits down at our table and tells us he may have gone to school with Robert's son, but the ages were probably wrong.

We finish our drinks, say goodbye to everyone, and return to the B&B to rest. At 8:00, we're at the Queen's Hotel and get seated by the window with a partial view of the water and a replica of a small Viking longboat at anchor. Over a glass of wine, we have a starter of a pudding sampler: haggis, white pudding (vegetarian), and black pudding. Each is a small ball served with a whisky sauce. We shared but we each could have eaten it all. The main course for Linda was a lamb shank, served in small pieces with a sauce and potato, turnips, parsnips, and peas. I selected the 10 oz. sirloin with onion rings, chips (fries),  one big flat mushroom cap and 6 or 7 large roasted cherry tomatoes and watercress. I ate my watercress. If Frank Adamson was there, he would have tried to steal not the steak but the watercress. This was a test. In the past, I have not been happy with British beef, but this piece was delicious. We think it was local. Cooked medium rare, just as I asked, it was tender and very tasty. It was a different taste than in the States but hard to describe. Maybe just a tiny, tiny bit sweet. I did not need any sauces. We indulged by sharing a cake-like affair topped with toffee sauce.

We waddled up the hill and went to bed.

Sunday, July 21

We started the day with a traditional British breakfast: fried egg, mushrooms, cooked half of tomato, black pudding, ham, sausage, and baked beans. Also, apple and orange juice and French press coffee. It was all good. This is a good B&B.

Back in our room, Karen, the owner brings us her phone with a call from Cherry Lynn and her friend Robert Turnbull. We tell them what we have been doing and they give us some more information about places to see and things to do. They live in California and it was around 2 AM for them. After we hang up, Karen gives us some more information. We are loaded.

Since its Sunday and shops are closed, we decide its a good day to explore Northmavine. Almost an island in its own right, only the narrow isthmus at Mavis Grind joins it to the rest of the mainland of Shetland. We stop at a pull-off at Mavis Grind behind a couple of other cars. You can look one way and see the North Sea. You look in the opposite direction and you see the Atlantic Ocean. They say that with a good arm, you can thrown a rock from one to the other. Very impressive. In case you didn't believe that this is a small world, here is another example that it is.  We start talking to two couples who are standing around like us. Linda takes their picture and then they take our picture. It turns out that the one couple who live here are named Brian and Thelma.  While we are standing there,  Brian's brother Jack  drives up. Just happened to be driving by. Jack has a niece who is Robert Turnbull's son's partner. Get that. The other couple is Charles and Sheila and they are from south England. Sheila's parents and Jack's parents were good friends and that's how they got to know each other. Sheila has been away for 30 years and she and Charles were being shown around for we think her birthday. You have probably heard of the saying that everyone is connected to others by no more than 6 degrees of separation. Well, this seems like one degree. It really is a small world. We run into them a couple of more times during the day because we're all visiting the same places.

We continue down the road and the road keeps getting more and more narrow. First we lose our lines on each side, then the middle line. However, there are frequent pullovers they call  "Passing Place" and since the land is so bare, you can see a car coming from a long way off and prepare for it. We drive out to a point called Stenness. Its a small bay with ruins of fishing lodges, where fishermen lived. This area flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries. Men would set out to sea for days on end in open rowing boats called sixareens, 7 men per boat, going out more than 40 miles not returning until they were full off fish. In one instance, some of the men fished for their "Laird" and were all lost at sea. The Laird sued the surviving women for the cost of the boats because he wanted them off his land since they weren't producing any income. It was tough to be poor back then.

Next, we stopped at the lighthouse at Eshaness. This setting was the best of the day - spectacular. The Atlantic Ocean crashing upon rocks at the  base of high cliffs with inlets running hundreds of yards inland. We walk around and take many, many pictures. I forgot to mention that Lerwick was overcast and just a little foggy, but as we drove west, the sun came out, and there was big blue sky. That also helped make  this spot really special.

We stopped at a cafe/caravan park for an espresso and ran into our new found friends. They were eating lunch and convinced us to eat the fresh, locally grown food. I had my espresso after a lunch of roast pork and Yorkshire Pudding for me and a chicken dish for Linda. Both of these servings came with mixed vegetables: carrots, green beans, cauliflower, and some unidentified leafy thing, plus - get this - a roasted potato and mashed potatoes. Wow!! Ruth Ann would have loved it - big pile of mashed potatoes.

Then  it was time to push on. Our objective was North Roe for no other reason than it was the farthest point north that we could drive to. As we are getting near, Linda says STOP!!!  There is an airplane in the backyard of a house. There is an information board beside the road that it was being restored by this guy. It took a lot of effort to get it there from the Sumburgh Airport and when he finishes, it going to take a lot to get it back to the airport. We don't know what he's going to do about the wings. A little further up the road, we're in the fog and the road ends at someone's house.

On the way back to Lerwick, we get back to the sun and then lose it as we approach town. We walk around town again like last night, aimlessly, and end up at an Indian restaurant on the other side of the piers and eat too much.

End of an adventurous day.

Saturday, July 20

Today was one of the few days of this trip that we actually had to do something. We got our butts out of bed at 6:30, out of the door by 8:00, all to get to Aberdeen Airport (120 miles away) for a 12:15 flight to the Shetlands. We woke to fog. We weren't sure if that was normal for this time of day or not. We usually get out of bed at 8:00 or 8:30. Turns out that the fog was hanging in the valley where we were. Once on the road and climbing out of the valley, we found sunshine. But, as we headed north toward Dundee and then Aberdeen, it  got foggy and overcast. The weather didn't affect my driving and we were at the airport Avis rental car office by 10:30. There were 4 people in line in front of me and everyone of them had a problem and gave the poor girl behind the counter a hard time. One guy even took her picture without her permission. I got a smile when I stepped up and said I didn't have any problems and all I wanted was to give her the keys.

Our flight was delayed for an  hour and a half for Lord knows what. I  don't think it was weather, but nobody was talking. We finally walked out on the tarmac and boarded a 36 passenger turbo prop made by Saab. It took a while for us to actually take off, but once cleared we were in Lerwick in about an  hour. The approach was in the fog until the last 200 feet. You come out of the dense fog and hit the runway. Our pilot's first name was Jimmy. When was the last time you had a pilot named Jimmy? I saw him in the coffee shop at the terminal, joking around with a buddy and a female. He looked like a young kid who could get into a lot of trouble. Boy, are we getting  old.

Once inside the Lerwick terminal, our bags were already there. We turn around and notice one of those guys who stands in airline terminals with people's name signs. I ask him why he has our name and he says he is there to pick us up to  take us to our rental car. Wow!! I was impressed. Concierge service.

Less than an hour later we were in the Alder House B&B and checked in with Karen, the cousin of my sister's friend. We passed it twice and I got to practice my U-turns with a right-hand drive car. Karen is nice and showed us our room and told us about breakfast and what else they had here.

We brought up the suitcases - up the stairs, no lift. We have one large suitcase that weighs almost 50 pounds - you can't check a bag over 50 pounds onto a plane with paying extra. Linda grabs one end and I take the other end and up we go the  winding staircase. This is usually the European way. We unpack, sit around and review our brochures to decide what we want to do. We checkout the WiFi  to make sure the iPhone and the computer can get connected. All successful. We're about ready to leave to find a restaurant when I find an episode of Top Gear on the TV which delays us for 45 minutes.

Once on the street we find the center of town and start looking for restaurants. The first two have the same answer - if you have not booked, you don't have a chance.  We're just not used to booking regular restaurants. Eventually, we find an Asian restaurant (the Golden Coach) that tells us it will be a 30 minute wait, but seat us within 5 minutes. After eating mainly Brit food for 4 weeks, it was great to get some rice and pork and fish and vegetables. They had an interesting menu divided into Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Malay sections. Even though there were some kids in the dining room, they behaved and we had a really nice meal. I had two vodkas and Linda had a Morgan's whisky to try. Really good. We need to see if we can get that in the States.

We walked back to the  B&B a different way and settled in for the night.

Friday, July 19

Today is our last day on the Scotland mainland, if you can call a large island a mainland. The one thing left on our "To Do List of places to see in Scotland" was Drummond Castle. We have a friend named Mike Drummond and we thought it would be nice to checkout what may have been his family home. We had passed it three previous times, so we thought we knew where it was - no need for maps or Louise, our Tom-Tom voice, we would just run down the road and be there in about 1/2 hour. Well, that's not exactly how it worked out. After one hour, we start looking at each other looking for reassurance. Within another 1/2 hour we knew we had made a mistake. We stopped at Crianlarich where we had caught the train to Mallig, a week ago, and ate lunch at a very nice hotel with WiFi. The Google Maps app told us just how badly we had performed. After fish and chips for me and grilled Sea Bream for Linda, we started backtracking. Ok, now here is an interesting technical note: as we're driving down the road Google Maps is talking to us. It must have loaded everything it needed into the iPhone before we left the hotspot and was then able to guide us an hour, back up the road to the castle. This was particularly valuable because the Tom-Tom couldn't find the castle.

And, then, there it is. We turn off the road and drive up a mile long driveway with 300 birch trees on each side. The ticket taker tells us that Ms Willoughby Drummond is 78 years old and owns 360,000 acres at this site. One of the first Drummonds fought with Robert the Bruce in the 1300's and was given the land for his service. Robert was the first ruler to unite all of the Scottish clans. Later, because the family was supporting the Jacobites who wanted to restore the Stuarts to the English crown, they nearly lost it all. There are two buildings: the old Keep was built in 1490 and extended in 1630; the mansion house was started in 1689, but the main part is Victorian.   She also owns a castle in England and one in Wales. She lives in this one and the one in England, so we can only tour the grounds. And what grounds they are. As we come up on a viewing area in front of the main house, below us is an elaborately manicured garden to take your breath away. You hear the few others who were around gasping and ooooing and ahhhhing. We may have chatted with a Ladyship. Two women came up beside us and chatted a little and asked us where we were from. One referred to her friend as "Her Ladyship". We couldn't figure out if this was just a joke or real. We weren't going to ask.

We spent the next hour taking pictures and leisurely walking around the garden that included strolling peacocks - all males. The whole design was in the shape of the St. Andrews Cross with lots of colors: flowers, hedges, trees, and specially shaped bushes. This was really good and we were glad we made the effort to see it.

Tomorrow, off to the Shetland Islands for 4 days.

Thursday, July 18

Montrose is a small town on the east coast about 30 miles south of Aberdeen. Its only important to us because my grandmother with some number of  "greats" in front of her title lived there. My sister and her friend, Robert, visited there several months ago, and today we finally got there. The Tom-Tom took us on a lot of very small roads and said it would take 1 3/4 hours. I don't drive the speed limit which many times is 60 mph so, it took us 2 hours. We took big roads back and don't you know,  it took 2 hours. Much better.

After driving through the center of town, we checked in at the visitor center and got oriented. We drove out to the beach and had a snack of chicken fingers and fries. Less than rewarding. It was beach food. Since we had figured out the distances we walked back into town after taking pictures of the Sourdynes lighthouse. We walked through a brown golf course, kind of scruffy; past the Church of  Saints Mary and Peter and then the larger one - don't have a name for it.

It actually started to rain a little as we walked down High Street (the main drag) looking for places my sister had mentioned. We ducked into a sports apparel store to ask directions and talked to a young woman and one a bit older. We have noticed that the Scots give very explicit directions and repeat them several times. They want to make sure you understand. I'm not sure what happens, but when we walk away we look at each other and wonder which way to go. I think its us, not them. Because of these women, we realized we had passed all of what we were looking for the first time. On our way back we did better. The rain got heavier so it was obviously time to duck into A Cup Above and have an espresso with Nadine, the owner who remembered my sister and her friends - even that she had a bowl of soup. By the time we finished, the rain had stopped, the sun was out, and the beautiful weather had returned.

We found a nice tourist shop and bought souvenirs and then crossed the street with some directions from a very Scottish gentleman on the sidewalk to the Picture House for fish cakes and a beer. Nice cozy place with a lot of wood and pretty good fish cakes to share. We watched some of the British Open being played near Edinburgh. Last weekend, when we were in Inverness, they were playing the Scottish Open. That was one reason it was hard to find a place to eat.

Walking back to  the beach we passed a statue of Robert Burns, Scotland's National Poet. On the way back to the resort, we stopped and picked up just enough food to help us finish most of what we had in the kitchen for dinner. We leave on Saturday morning, so we need to manage the refrigerator.

Wednesday, July 17

One of the nice things that we like about our foreign trips is that when you visit a place for more than a few days or a week is that you have time to spend some time just hanging around and soaking up the atmosphere in a leisurely way. This afternoon we sat outside and watched a male seagull fight off competition for "his woman". The female walked behind him making squeaking noises when he wasn't trying to shoo off others.

The day started cloudy and cool. We stayed in trying to figure out what we wanted to do. Around noon, we drove over to Pithlochry to revisit the HeatherGems store for Linda to look and purchase more of this unique jewelry. We ate lunch on a deck at Drummond's Restaurant about 2 blocks off the main drag. We had discovered it on Monday night when we walked past it on our way to the Pipe Band Concert. Ordering at the bar, we both had fish and chips and talked to Mrs Drummond. Linda wanted to know more about the Drummonds and the palace down the road, but what's true about many people who live close to certain sites, she had never been there and didn't know anything about it. I guess we will need to check on it on the web.

A few miles down the road was the Killiecrankie Gorge and visitor center. In 1689, the Battle of Killiecrankie was the first conflict of the Jacobites trying to restore the Stuart claim to the English and Scottish thrones. As opposed to the Battle of Culloden up north, this was a slaughter of the English army. They make a big deal of  one British soldier who was being chased by the highlanders, jumped over the stream at the bottom of the gorge to get away. And, he lived. We followed a path down to and along the stream. After about 1/2 hour, we turned around and walked back up the hill with a lot of high steps back to the car.

We continued down the road 3 miles to the Blair Atholl Castle, But, it was closed. We were able to drive into part of the grounds through a wide driveway of about 1/2 mile lined with large oaks. A bit like Tara. So, we were able to take some nice pictures.

Turning back toward Pithlochry, we stopped at another visitor center where I had a good espresso and Linda was able to walk across the road and take pictures of the reddish-brown, long-haired cattle. Here is a little fact that comes under the heading of  "too much information". I used a very modern looking porta-potty. I had to put a 20 pence coin into it to be able to open the door. Once I closed the door, a woman's voice told me that the door had been locked and could remain so no longer than 15 minutes. At the end of that time, it would be automatically unlocked, but not opened. At any time, I could press the button to get out. No reading the NY Times on this pot.

On the way back, we stopped at the Co-op and picked up food to cook dinner. Linda cooked ground lamb, onions, peppers with some warmed up rice and mushy peas that had been soaked for about 20 hours. Here, we buy groceries for the day. That's about all the little fridge can hold. Speaking of little, we have a Barbie-sized ice tray (12 minature ice sections - 2" X 10") that is just working fine. Just no entertaining.

We watched BBC history shows on TV.

Tuesday, July 16

I need to make a couple of corrections on the names of food items. One of the items we have been served is called Neeps and Tatties (turnips and potatoes). The other one is Bubble and Squeak (cabbage, potatoes, and onions, mashed together). Its called that because it makes that kind of noise when you're cooking it. I hope I've got these right this time. Thanks  to my sister - Cherry Lynn.

The weather continues to be just right for walking and motoring around the countryside and cities - low to mid 70's, partly sunny. I'm getting somewhat used to the small roads and driving on the left. You never know what you might come upon around the next corner - an 18 wheeler, a touring bus, a tourist crowding the center line, like me. And sometimes there is no center line and many times there are stone walls on either side. Along most of these smaller roads are signs that tell you to be aware of meeting oncoming traffic that is in the middle of the road. That's a little disturbing, but so far its  worked out. They do have places where you can pull over but they're not where you need them.

The hills/mountains look like gentle, smooth green marshmallows from afar. When you get closer, you see that there  is only a thin layer  of topsoil, when there is any, but  its  green. Its been dry ever since we arrived. Everyone tells us that this is very, very abnormal. But, its working for us.

We drove down to Edinburgh today with no real objective. We had already been to the castle. We just wanted to soak up the atmosphere. I read books by Alexander McCall Smith and one of  his series is called 44 Scotland Street. So, the night before, I searched in my Kindle for streets where he put his characters and we drove around the neighborhood. Of course, there is no #44 but there is a Scotland Street and the homes were very different than what I  had envisioned. I think its called New Town and there are these large buildings that take up an entire block with front doors right at the sidewalk. Its kind of  stark. Up the street we found George Street where there was expensive street parking (3 pounds/hour = about $4.50) and ate lunch on the sidewalk of the Olympia Hotel. I had some great Moules and frites and Linda had strips of steak on two non-gluten buns. They were out of skinny fries, so they served me the regular British fat chips. I really wanted true frites, but you have to be flexible.

We walked up to Princes Street where all the shopping is, through part of the  park in front of the castle, and then up the hill and down part of the Royal Mile. This is the "old town", its a pedestrian-only street full of tourists, small shops, cafes, street performers and street people. From its  heights there are good views of the city below. After an espresso back at the Olympia Hotel, we decide to head out for St. Andrews.

As soon as we entered the town and drove down the main street, we were shocked to see the imposing ruins of the cathedral and St. Rule's Parish Church rising so high into the sky. We had done absolutely no research in preparation for this visit and only expected to see golfers. The site is at the shoreline and mostly a graveyard with the St. Rule's tower of 33 meters standing in the middle. There is a wall and one end of the cathedral still standing. St. Rule's was built first in the 12th century on a site that had been used for worship since the 800's. The cathedral was completed after 150 years and some interruptions including the first war of independence from the English. It became the church for the Archbishop of Scotland. In 1560, John Knox preached a fiery sermon and after that the insides were stripped of icons and other non-protestant stuff and abandoned. The congregation moved into town to worship. It was neglected after that and just started falling down. It is a wonderful place to wander around. Linda loved the energy.

We needed a snack and a toilet, so we walked along one of the two main streets and found a pub. Actually, the Scots don't seem to call them pubs, just restaurants. Their kitchen was closed, it was after 5:00, but they still had some meat pies. We shared a lamb and rosemary pie with potatoes and peas. A bitter for me and  a shandy for Linda, of course.

Monday, July 15

We're starting to notice a small change in the weather. Just a little bit cooler. I think last week was summer. Natives have told us that this has been a very unusual, meaning lovely, early summer. They have not  had one like this for 9 years. NINE YEARS!!!!! The woman who told us that was originally from Georgia.

Today being Monday, we knew there was a Scottish music concert in Pithochry at 7:45 tonight, but we weren't sure how to fill in the rest of the day.  Over breakfast, we came up with a plan that kept us in about a 10 mile radius from the resort. We started down the road toward Kenmore. On the way, we stopped again at the Croft Moraig rock circle formation to take some more pictures and read the plaque which showed us how the formation evolved over the years around 300 BC.

A few more miles down the road, we arrived at the Scottish Cronnag Centre. This place has recreated one of the round houses built on artificial islands or altered real islands about 2,500 years ago. There were several people in period dress and one showed us how they used some of their tools. There was a lathe that was suspended from a tree branch. He showed us how they made holes in rocks to act as anchors for fish nets and he actually started a fire by using a flint and then transferring the ember to another container with wood shavings in it to be able to transfer to an oven or fireplace. Everything they did looked really hard. A woman who was actually Dutch but had married a Scot, took us out to the  rebuilt Cronnag and explained how as many as 20 people would have lived in it with cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and maybe a dog or a cat.

From there we headed into town and ate lunch at the Kenmore Hotel - tuna Nicoise salad and a chicken breast with ham on it.

Next, it was off to find the oldest tree in Europe: a yew that they think is 3,000 to 5,000 years old. Its in an old churchyard and it doesn't look that impressive. Yes, its big, but yews are not that good looking of a tree when they get big and  old.

We still had time to find the Queen's View: a lovely view from a promontory of the Loch Tay, which we had been driving around all day. After that we still had a  couple of hours, so we headed back to the resort to rest.

So at 7:00, we drove over to Pithlochry for the concert. Its held in the community field and is performed every Monday during the summer. Its called the Vale of Atholl Pipe Band. This was truly a community effort to raise money for the pipe band. The band itself is made up of boys and girls playing bagpipes, snare drums, and those big ones that you carry in front of you and hit on both sides. Then there were some solo singers, two groups of young girls dancing and some old women dancing what looked like square dancing. At the end of the two hours, the pipe band marched up to the center part of town and played as they moved down the main street. We felt very Scottish, but I think that's enough bag pipes for awhile.

Sunday, July 14

Oh - I forgot to write one thing about yesterday's visit to Inverness. When we parked the car for dinner, I was trying to fit the car into a small spot on the left hand side of a one-way street. I had trouble getting the angle into the slot right and was going  up on the curb. About that time, a van pulls up opposite me and 6 young women with short dresses and high heels start getting  out. As each got out of the van, there was a lot of leg. Then, a guy in a car comes up and wants to get through. To say the least I was distracted and was having problems focusing on my issue and trying to do what Linda told me to do until the girls left. The guy was patient and just shrugged his shoulders. I finally left one wheel on the curb and  went  to dinner.

Today was rest day, no car. We did  our wash, read, Linda drew, we sat by the pond and watched the ducks and sea gulls (yes, we have noisy sea gulls here) and generally went slow. We soaked up the sun. We're getting tans. Did not expect that in Scotland.

Linda cooked chicken and vegetables for dinner and we watched BBC history programs on Queen Bodica ( fought the Romans) and the evolution of Grand Prix racing during the 50's, 60's, and 70's. In the early 60's, no seat belts, just regular clothes and leather helmets. A lot of drivers got  killed. The track stewards were never ready to respond to crashes and lots of guys burned to death. Interestingly, some officials thought that was all part of the charm of the sport.

Saturday, July 13

We had to switch units today, so we packed and left our bags at the reception office and checked out. Then we hit the road with no breakfast. "We'll get something on the road". That didn't happen. As opposed to other stretches of the A9 highway, this one didn't have any rest stops with restaurants. We wanted a full British breakfast, but didn't get it.

By the time we got to Inverness, it was lunch time, but I still wanted breakfast. Our Tom-Tom told us about a restaurant by the river called the Mustard Seed. They told us where we could park cheap,. When we walked back to them to eat, they told us they would not be opening for another 1/2 hour. We found a small indoor shopping mall with a cute cafe that was serving breakfast - scrambled eggs, sausage, ham, baked beans and coffee. Linda wanted the cooked tomato that belonged with it, but she didn't get it.

We roamed around town for awhile, doing a little shopping. Linda was looking for a Fraser plaid again but everything was too heavy. We found a tourist information office and got directions to the Culloden battlefield and to the Lock Ness Exhibition Center. In their gift shop, I found the perfect scarf for me. The design was not a traditional plaid, but a much more subtle one of blue and gray with brown trim. It was made in Scotland of 100% merino wool - soft and light. I had to have it. And now I was happy.

With the advice of the tourist information official, we headed out of town for the Loch Ness site. It was only about 10 mins. We drove along Loch Ness and stopped to take pictures. At one point there was a long ripple in the water. We decided it must be from the monster. Or, a hundred other things. What do you think?

The Exhibition Center did a great job of explaining the geology, geography, and history of the area. And, they showed through videos and artifacts the host of different studies that had been performed over the years to determine if there really was a creature. The presentations also showed how a number of people created hoaxes - tree branches, painted submarines and dummy heads. It was a very objective approach to the place. We were surprised that we enjoyed it.

To get to the Culloden Battlefield, we had to retrace our path back into town and drive in a different direction. Again, close to town. On April 16, 1746, the clans fought the English for about 30 minutes and got wiped out. 1500 Highlanders died and just a few English. It was the final battle to take place on British land. The Scottish government has erected a very nice and comprehensive visitor centre to tell the story leading up to the battle and what happened after. The battle put an  end to any Stuart claims to the English throne and the clans were effectively wiped out. Its a sad story. One of the displays was a 360 degree film showing a reenactment of the battle. It was horrific by 18th century standards. They shot at each other with muskets and cannon about 100 yards apart. After that, we listened to a costumed guy in an English uniform. He told us about the men, where they came from and the muskets they used and how they compared with the French muskets. Prince Charlie had recruited some French. The French muskets were a bit more accurate than the English ones, but the English army could fire a shot every 20 seconds. They were the fastest firing army in Europe. He showed us what you had to  do to reload one of these muskets. It would probably have taken me about 90 seconds to get off one shot. I asked the guy if that rate of fire could be sustained for very long without the barrels overheating. He said, no. Two shots was about it because the enemy would be in their face about then.

Then we walked the battlefield. They gave us personal GPS devices which were supposed to give us some commentary as we reached each significant point on the moor (a large grassy field that 250 years ago would have been wet and boggy). Nice idea when they worked. The walk gave you a sense of what really went on and how close they were to each other.

Linda suggested we eat before heading back to the resort. We headed back into town and thought we would try the Mustard Seed again. Well, don't you know, the Scottish Open was being played this weekend and without reservations, we were out of luck. On our third try we found a pub that had room for us and enjoyed a good dinner with a dark bitter and a shanty for Linda. I had a burger with pastrami, mushrooms, and chili and she had vension again with something called bubbles and sketch (a cabbage dish).

Before getting back into the car, we stopped at a Tesco to buy some groceries to eat back at the resort. Can't eat out all of the time.

On the road back, I noticed a sign for the Clan MacPherson Museum. We had to stop at that because our brother-in-law Don is a MacPherson. After some searching and asking people who were walking down the road who turned out to be tourist, we found it. It was 8:30 and closed, but we took our pictures. Turns out Ruthann and Don had found it on a previous trip of theirs.

Back to the resort we checked in again and moved into our "new" unit and went to bed for a deep sleep.

Friday, July 12

We had decided that if the weather held, we would walk The Birks of Aberfeldy - its a walk through the woods and it starts just a few feet down the road from the resort. The brochure said it was a 2 hour walk but didn't say anything else. Very shortly after we start, the trail splits at a Y. The posted map shows its a circle around a stream. Its also obvious that there will be some walking up grades. We take the left fork because it looks easier. We quickly find that its the harder with lots of steps. But at the end of the hike we decide it was better to go up the steeper grade at first and then walk down on the gentle side.

Robert Burns (Scotland's renown poet) named this place and wrote a poem about it. We ask a Danish couple (thinking they might be Scot) if they knew what Birks meant. After looking at the trees, comparing English and Danish words we came to the obvious conclusion that it meant Birches. Dumb, dumb.

Going up, there was a bench with a carved figure of Robert Burns sitting on it. Later, there was an inscription from his poem that showed the view where he was inspired to write the poem. We continually stopped to take pictures of oddly twisted trees, different views of  the stream and other streams feeding it, bare rocks and a frog. All of this with the sun shinning at different spots and creating interesting shadows. We got some beautiful pictures.

We finally came down the other side with burning legs, but within the 2 hours allocated. We were hungry but decided our bodies needed help first. After changing into swim suits we spent some time in the jacuzzi and the  pool. That revived us. Then we drove down to town and ate lunch on the sidewalk. A dark bitter, sausage and mash and Yorkshire Pudding for me and roast beef and mash and Yorkshire Pudding for Linda. Both came with peas and carrots. Not mushy peas, just the regular sort.

Then it was time to continue down the road for 3 mins to the Dewars Distillery. We had half price tickets from the resort and got another 1 pound discount for being old. We took the self-guided tour after watching a video and then had samples of the whisky. Boy, that stuff is strong. Linda had a single malt and I had a 12 year old blended one. She liked the single, I liked the blended. We needed an espresso and a little sweetie after that.

A very Scottish young woman dressed in her blue and green plaid skirt took us on a tour of the buildings and walked us through the process from fermenting the barley, blowing air over the peat, pouring increasingly hotter water over the mash, heating it, cooling it and storing it in oak barrels that come from the States. When you distill bourbon, the US dictates that new barrels are used for aging. In Scotland, used barrels must be used - sooooo, what do you think happens? Perfect recycling strategy. And, the barrels can be used 3 or 4 times and each time may be for as many as 21 years. We bought some samples and 2 special Dewars drink glasses. I'm sure we can use them for other liquids too.

Back at the apartment we needed to pack to get ready to move to another unit tomorrow.

Thursday, July 11

Glasgow is Scotland's largest city and it took about 2 hours to get there. Lots of one way streets, but we found a parking garage quickly in the middle of town. All we knew was that Buchannan St. was a pedestrian-only street for shopping and we ended up about 2 blocks away. The city seems to be mainly for shopping. There are many old buildings, and lots of them were designed by an architect named Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the late 1800's. We turned on to Gordon Street, another pedestrian street and ate lunch at tables that had been set up in the middle. We both had a combination beef and vension burger with a small salad.

Our other objective was to tour the Transport Museum. We had a map and followed it by walking up and down a steep set of blocks only to have a bar owner tell us we had another 20 mins to go. It was hot, and  we were tired, so we aborted. As we walked back toward the car park we kept stopping to find an espresso, but the only places that served it were several Starbucks. I don't get coffee at Starbucks in foreign countries. It just doesn't seem right. Still looking, Linda wanted to go into Fraser's department store - 5 stories tall and takes up a half block. We are both reading the Outlander series of historical fiction and Jamie Fraser is the hero. Well, they didn't have Fraser plaids or anything that we couldn't get in the States. Almost to the car and we had an espresso at a Cafe Nero in an ancient looking building where we could sit outside. We had spent some time at Cafe Neros in London. On our way out of the city, we try again to find the Transport Museum in case we return. After some back and forth and 2 u-turns, we ask some guys walking down the street. They tell us that it has changed its name to the Riverside Museum which we had seen plenty of signs for. Who knew?

On the way back, we made several stops to take pictures of towns with lots of flowers. We had previously bought some food, so I made some rice and marinated strips of beef by pouring some of our Famous Grouse Whisky on it. Linda cooked onions and mushrooms which were added to the meat. A very tasty dinner eaten in front of the tele.

Wednesday, July 10

Scone Palace (pronounced "scoon", rhymes with soon) is just outside of  Perth. It is the ancient spot where Scottish kings have been crowned since 856 AD when the first guy who was able to unite the Picts and Scots was crowned there. The last king to be crowned there was Charles II of England in 1658. To build support for  himself, he wanted to be crowned King of Scotland before being crowned King of England. There was a little problem with Oliver Cromwell in those years. There is a mound of dirt where a special stone (a replica) sits and is where the king sat during the crowning. Each noble would bring dirt in his boot to deposit a bit of the dirt from his land as he swore homage to the new king. Over the years, this dirt created the mound. The palace itself was originally an abbey and the abbott's palace until the Protestants burned it down in the 1500's.

The grounds are beautiful. After touring the palace we walked around taking pictures of trees and flowers. We got lost in the maze for a few minutes. Afterwards, we drove back through Aberfeldy to Kenmore and found a restaurant on the side of Loch Tay. We had Neems (turnips), Tatties (mashed potatoes) and Haggis for a starter and then I had a pork tenderloin and Linda had a lamb dish. All excellent and didn't cost too much. On the way back to our resort, we stopped at a circle of stones that dated back to 300 B.C. Linda had been looking for these circles.  There are a lot of these circles in the UK.,  i.e. Stonehenge.

Tuesday, July 9

Since we had tickets for a train that left at 10:50, we had to get our butts  out of bed and on the road. An  hour over to Crianlarich, a quick coffee, not an espresso, at the  tea house on the train platform. A three hour train ride took us through the country of increasing bareness. The hills look soft and somewhat velvety. The soil is very thin, so only a little ground cover or what you might call thick moss is in evidence. On some hills, there are clumps of pine trees surrounded by this green moss-like ground cover. We learn later that they are planted there because that is where the best soil is. We spend most of the 3 hours  trying to take pictures of the lochs, marshes, valleys, and mountains as best we can from a train traveling at about 60 mph.

We arrive on time at Mallaig at the seashore where you can see the Isle of Skye and eat lunch at the Green Garden Tea Room, sitting outside, just as I had envisioned. I had fish and chips with a Black Bitter from the Isle of Skye and Linda had haggis (cooked like a hamburger patty) with oat cakes and a cider. The oat cakes were like eating cardboard. Oh yeah, she drank some of  my bitter too. We ended with a double espresso. After that, we only had time to wonder around the small  town a bit. We walked over to the harbor and took pictures of the ferry to Skye as it was leaving.

We boarded the train and napped off and on for the first hour because a fog had moved in and there was no picture taking. Later, a guy named Larry pronounced with a Scottish accent, boarded the train and sat next to us. He had spent the day hiking. There is a lot of that around here. He told us about his walking and the way they plant trees and  a little about gold mining in the area. Nice guy. He reminded Linda of her grandad. He had a ruddy complexion from long hours outside, a long nose, and no hair. And, he claimed as a youth he had red hair like her Pap Pap. She  is wondering if her ancestors are more from Scotland then Germany because of the red hair and the long nose - we have seen a lot of that.

Monday, July 8

Today we decided to get some professional help on our  plans. We started with the Aberfeldy Visitor Information Center. Aberfeldy is where we are living for these two weeks. They gave us information on taking a train from Crainlarich to Mallaig, booking B&Bs in Inverness, information about the Isle of Skye, and some other stuff. To get tickets for the train trip, we needed to drive over to Pitlochry, about 20 mins. Before we head out, we walk around town and find a cute cafe that has a non-gluten menu - who knew and who expected such a thing. I  had a chicken sandwich and Linda had scrambled eggs with salmon on non-gluten seeded bread served on a wooden cutting board. And, we sat outside and soaked up the sun. Remember, we're in Scotland. Cute town. We buy the tickets, and went to a factory store where they made  jewelry out of heather. Nice looking stuff and very interesting.

We returned to the Aberfeldy Co-op and bought food for dinner. Chicken, brocoli and aspargus. Oh yeah, vodka for me and Famous Grouse Scotch Whisky for Linda. Linda thinks that she should drink the local stuff. So, we'll see how that works for her.

Sunday, July 7

While we were reviewing all of our brochures, we discovered there was a Scottish Game Fair at the Scone Palace - today was the last day of a weekend event. The Scone Palace is the place Scottish kings were crowned. It was closed today because of the fair, but since it is only just past Perth, we expect to return later. This fair was not to be confused with Scottish Games. We're talking about animals and shooting, fishing, hunting, and trapping. It was a perfect place for all of the Gongaware cousins to visit. Lots of clothes, and fishing rods, guns, etc. to buy. It took about an hour to get there, but only the first 20 mins was a small country road. Earlier, Linda had asked me why I always rented such small cars. She thought it was because of price, which is a consideration, but there are not big  differences. No, the real reason is because I know I'm going to need to drive down small roads and streets and small is good.

We pulled into the grassy lot to  park and paid our 2 pounds. Like parking at a county fair. Then after walking over to the gate, about 5 mins. we paid 17 pounds each to enter. That's with a 1 pound discount for being a senior. Wow!! Its not cheap over here. We were  hungry by now so we headed straight for the first set of vendors we came upon. Linda had a venison burger and I had a long hot dog that they called brockwurst. We're standing, trying to eat the meat without biting into any of the roll and keeping the mustard off of our clothes. We also had french fries that were called french fries. When we were almost finished we found half of a picnic table and had a little chat with the family on the other side. Everyone we have encountered so far have been friendly and willing to help us if we had questions. Well-behaved dogs everywhere. There were all sizes - dachshunds, sheep dogs, tiny things, whippets and greyhounds. We have seen whippets in Blackpool and now here. We hardly ever see them in the States. They are a reasonable size and very calm and friendly and good with kids. Nice dogs.

We walked aimlessly around the kiosks and the areas where shows or demonstrations were: clay shooting, fly fishing, training dogs to herd geese or grouse or ducks with long necks (not sure, we're not duck people), a parade of antique British cars and woodies, an obstacle course where you were able to drive a Range Rover over steep embankments, rutted gullies and other obstacles, and owl and falcon training. Nothing was unique, but it all felt very Scottish. We stopped to share a pint of local beer. Before we left, we were hungry again. We stopped at a vendor who advertised traditional Scottish street food and we shared a beef burger topped with haggis and whisky relish. Two servings of haggis in two days. Everyone has always made fun of it, but we like it - both of us. It does have an odd smell, but its good tasting.

About 50 mins to drive back to the resort. We thought we might be in time to catch the end of the Wimbledon men's final, but Andy Murray had already won by 6:00. Boy, there are some happy Scots here. The first time since 1936 that a Brit has won the tournament and a Scot to boot.

By the way, I wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt and was very comfortable all day. Really good weather.

Saturday, July 6

After breakfast, we say our goodbyes and drive off for Scotland. Jill had told us about a place right at the border called Grendel on Green. It was about half way so it was a perfect place to stop. It was a cute little tourist place where the tour coaches stop. There was a wedding going on with guys dressed in kilts and a bagpiper. We walked around some, had an espresso, listened to the bagpipe player, and bought a hat and some discount scarves.

 

As we journeyed north, the terrain slowly turned more hilly and we started seeing what could be called mountains. Everything is green, the rolling hills are dotted with sheep, and every now and then is a stone house with out-buildings. Must be housing for the sheep. Sometimes we saw cattle. Long hair cattle. You get the sense its cold in the winter. Even though the last hour of the trip was on small roads, we arrived at Moness Resort right on time, about 4:10. Our Tom-Tom took us to the front door with no hassles. I was surprised how nice everything was. After unpacking and a glass of wine, we ate dinner at the resort restaurant by trying two different whiskies. Linda had haggis bon-bons for a starter and I had chicken liver with oat cakes. For mains, she had originally picked a lamb shank, but after talking to our very Scot waiter, she chose the venison and I had duck. Great meal. Our waiter gave us information on Scotland and the local area. Even though he had travelled, we had to listen carefully to make sure we got everything he said. 

 

 

Friday, July 5

Jim prepared an excellent British breakfast: eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and cooked tomatoes. He usually does this when we visit and we love it. After some nattering, we decided we should drive over to Blackpool. It was a beautiful day with the temperatures again in the 60's, blue skies, and gentle breezes. It just took a little over an hour to get there. We parked and walked down the boardwalk, just like we did about 20 years ago. But, then it was very hot; today it was just really nice and they have cleaned up the beach area. In search of a toilet, Jim led us into a very large, 5 level auditorium with an Eiffel tower-like structure on top of it. We discovered ballroom dancing couples practicing on the very large dance floor to the music of live Wurlitizer organ music. The huge room had a 7 story glass ceiling with very ornate carvings all around and surrounding balconies on all 5 levels.It was probably built in the 1920's.

 

We walked out to the end of the city pier for a coffee and listened to another Wurlitizer player. I even danced one piece with my wife. It was the highlight of her day.

 

On  our way out of town, Jim and Jill guided us to a favorite fish and chips restaurant. We all had the fish and mushy peas but only water to drink. The Banisters' habit is to eat separately from drinking. To return to Burnley, we decided to take the scenic way. So, we ran into Friday rush hour traffic. Later, when I said I would really like a bitter, Jill remembered a pub nearby that they had been to before in Ribchester. It was a full restaurant and inn. We sat outside to enjoy the gorgeous afternoon and Jim and I, we both agreed, it was the best bitter we had ever had.It was darker than usual and very tasty.

 

We ended our trip with a visit to the local Tesco grocery store. We picked up a few things we knew we could use at the timeshare in Scotland where we would be tomorrow. Back at the house,  we watched the Wimbledon semi-finals with Andy Murray beating Janiswicz.

 

 

Thursday, July 4

Today was a travel day. Said goodbye to the Adamsons, taxi to Euston station, train to Manchester and picked up our car. We ate lunch at YO! Sushi in the train station. We sat at the counter and plates of food came by on a conveyer belt. You see something you like, you pick it up - neat.

Avis gave us our little Fiat 500, we plugged in our Tom-Tom and off we went. About an hour later we arrived at Jim and Jill's house. We spent the afternoon yakking with a cup of coffee. For dinner, we went out to a pretty good Mexican restaurant. Go figure. It was out on the top of one of the rolling hills in the booneys. Who would of thought? We are spending the night and tomorrow night with them, before we head for Scotland.

Wednesday, July 3

Our last full day in London - we take a London Walk Tour through Little Venice. Yes, there are canals, but just a few. The tour was more about very expensive homes owned by famous people and interesting tidbits: Randolph Street was where many rich guys installed their mistresses and some think that is where the term "Randy" came from. One of the people who has lived in this area was Alan Turing of computer and code breaking fame. He committed suicide by eating a poisoned apple and our tour guide said that the Apple logo is a tribute to him.

We ended the day with a good meal at our local gourmet restaurant called RSJ - second time.

Tuesday, July 2

Today was transportation day. We used a bus, a subway, and  the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) to go over to the Olympic Village from last year to ride a cable car called the Emirates Air, see the Thames Barrier which is a movable dam-like structure which keeps London safe from floods but allows river traffic, and ate lunch at The Gun pub on the Isle of Dogs. Quite a day in a section of London that I bet a lot of people never see.

In the evening, we walked across Blackfriars Bridge to St. Bride's church for a choral concert by the BBC singers. They performed three pieces, one of them by Benjamin Britten. The first, by a relatively new composer who composed a hit piece for Kate and William's wedding was based on a Welsh folk tale and was quite dramatic. There was the main set of singers, brass, and a children's choir, and several soloists.

On our walk back, we stopped at Dogget's Restaurant at the south end of Blackfriar's Bridge and had a nightcap. Good Day.

Monday, July 1

Not much happened until lunch time. We walked over to Gourmet Pizza, less than a 5 min walk and on the river, to eat with friends of Lynda's and Frank's - Leslie and Harvey. Nice people who were both very senior government lawyers and never had kids. They are staying at a friend's house for a month. It was a slow lunch with lots of different subjects discussed including saxophones. They are both musicians and talked to Linda about her playing and what they play in Charlottesville.

Afterwards, Linda and I took a detour over to Waterloo Station to top-off our Oyster card (subway and bus card) and get some cash. Then reading and resting. We took our good old trusty bus, RV1, over near the Globe Theatre, and ate at a Greek restaurant right on the water. We had the regular stuff and then walked home along the river. 

The weather continues to be outrageous - blue sky and mid-60's. Even if it becomes overcast, the temperature is still perfect for walking around town.

Sunday, June 30

We took the tube to Euston Underground and Train station (where we will leave from on Thursday to travel to Manchester) to catch a train to Blenchley Park, called the home of the codebreakers. During WWII, this is where the captured German Enigma machine was studied and things called Bombes were developed to decypher intercepted messages. Alan Turing was one of the main brains behind this very successful operation. Its a large area on the grounds of a former estate. The mansion was a bit different. It was built with many different architectural styles. Once the government moved in, several large ugly buildings were constructed to house all of the people (most of whom were women). Women were employed as drivers, secretaries, cryptographers - just about all positions except managers. Same old thing.

We ate a horrible tasting lunch in the cafeteria and then went on a one hour guided tour of the grounds. During the tour there was a fly-over of a WWII C-130. They had a name for it, but I don't remember what it was. Something like Wasp or Hornet. It really was used during the war. In addition, there was a classic car picnic going on - Jaguars, MGs, Triumphs, and Porsches. They even had one MGB-GT - like the one we owned in the 60's. But, someone had installed a sunroof. Very un-British.

Later, we met the boys in SOHO to go pub hopping. 5 historic, mostly British pubs. One was Dutch. I thought that many pubs  would be a chore, but it turned out to be very entertaining. At each pub, we sat in a different configuration, so you talked to others, plus after each drink you were getting up and walking to the next pub to test your drunkeness. Finally, just before 10:00, we ended up at a Chinese restaurant. Chinatown is next to SOHO. We ordered one  of those items on the menu which feeds six people and has a variety of meat and veggies. The food was great and high quality - roast duck, shrimp, diced pork, roast pork, fried rice, roast beef, and a vegetable dish. We ate almost everything and closed the restaurant.

We all took the #176 bus back and we got off at the south end of Waterloo Bridge, said goodbye to the boys, and walked along the river back to the apartment.