Scotland V: the Road to Invararay

We had to return the Vauxhall on Thursday afternoon, but were in no particular rush to get back to Glasgow. Instead, we plotted a winding route through Argyle, looping down to the Campbell clan seat at Inveraray before returning to Loch Lomond and truly starting the march back to Stuttgart. Once again, I found myself both enjoying the challenge of driving on the left (my lane placement had much improved) and frequently wishing we had set up A as a second driver. It's hard to gaze up the craggy shoulders of a Ben while keeping your eyes on the road! With a frequency and style particular to Scotland, the landscape tripped us into gasps, oohs, and ahhs at regular intervals. You never knew when a castle would appear between the trees just as a patch of sunlight skidded off a hill to illuminate it! 

Kilchurn Castle in a splash of sunlight

Inveraray Castle is a famous stop-off on Highland tours, and although the structure one sees is largely 17th-19th century, its roots are medieval. The part that we (and a tour bus of Swiss tourists) were allowed to tour through included Rob Roy's sporran, displays of weapons that were probably used during Jacobite uprisings, and a supposedly haunted bedroom... next to a room full of family memorabilia. Elephant polo trophy, anyone? The house is still the residence of the current Duke of Argyll and his family.

Some of the bayonetts have notches in them...

Nearly as impressive as the house were the grounds, including a large formal garden and both wild and of woods. The clouds had broken as we walked the crushed gravel paths and wove around dripping foliage. Bits of elegant stone architecture lured us deeper into the grounds and away from the tour busses. We didn't have time to take the full Woodland Walk, but we crossed one of the Stone Bridges and followed the road towards a white tower. It was just another of those moments where we thought we had stumbled into a fantasy story, or at least into a Jane Austen novel!

A pausing for an Austen moment

 

Our Inverary wanderings were fueled by Roxy's Cafe in Oban. When I woke up that morning, I realized it would be the last "real" morning in Scotland. The focus on the next day would be getting to Edinburgh, then getting to the airport, then getting to Stuttgart. One of the joys of travelling with a coffee- and book-loving friend is the shared joy of finding a cozy space, enjoying a drink, and opening individual books to read or write. So it was that I had my last stomach-bursting dollop of clotted cream, sandwiched between Buckley-sized meringues. It was a lovely farewell to the Highlands, as we returned to Glasgow and tried not to think about the fact that we had less than 24 hours left in Scotland...

Buffalo-sized meringue, or meringue-sized buffalo? 

Scotland III - Exploring the West Coast (Dunstaffnage)

Ft William was the northernmost point on our Highland Loop. On Wednesday morning, we packed up our trusty Vauxhall and wound our way back down along the coast towards Oban. Our plan was to wander leisurely southward, catch the ferry in Oban, and spend the afternoon duffing about on the Isle of Mull. Things didn't go exactly as planned, but plans are flexible, and we had a stellar day regardless. It helped that our first stop was a castle, which we would have missed except that it popped up on Google Maps as I was looking at our route!

The MacDougall family chapel at Dunstaffnage 

Scotland I - Edinburgh

This is part 1 of a 4-part series on my trip to Scotland with A - Stay tuned for segments on hiking in the Highlands, sitting in on a "session," visiting a whisky distillery on the west coast, and Glasgow!

Last Friday we boarded our flight from Stuttgart to Edinburgh, touching down in what we would later term "not really raining" between the green fields flecked with woolly backs. There is a convenient light rail which took us within 5-10 minutes' walk from our Air BnB, then we were out to find some food, a pub, and gear up for a full day tomorrow...

An afternoon deluge was followed by a brilliant double rainbow!

Burg Hohenzollern

... And I'm back in Germany! Truly, I just landed here again (from the UK, not the US, but more on that next week). This trip started out the way the last one ended; with a visit to a lovely Swebian castle, perched on a hilltop above farms and villages. Wanting to make a hike out of it, we parked in the little town of Bisingen and slowly made our way upward. I felt a bit like a peasant, watching the towers grow taller as we approached! 

Burg Hohenneufen, und Auf Wiedersehen

Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland! Another trip in the books, we're homeward bound. We did a little final shopping in Stuttgart, including a visit to the tower at Killesberg and some refreshing Schorle (fruit juice mixed with sparkling water, coming soon to a cider pressing near you!) in the park. We missed out on visiting the museum of Jon's new employer (the Mercedes-Benz museum is closed on Monday, Google lied to us!), and Jon had blisters from previous weeks of hiking up and down mountains, and it was bloody hot... but the Apfelschorle was all the more refreshing for it!

Wieder in Wien

There are some lovely cities in Europe. Prague is romantic, Amsterdam is egalitarian with wild tourists, and Vienna is elegant. I miss it. Turns out, there was a way to get on a train in the Czech, give ourselves a couple hours' "layover" between trains in Vienna. So, we walked from the beautiful new Hauptbahnhof (main train station) into the city center. 

Fountain at the Oper (Opera house)

Brno

The day that it started raining in Baden-Würtemberg, we jumped on the train and headed to the Czech Republic. After a train ride, frantically running around rainy Nuremberg trying to find our bus, a double-decker ride to Prague, and a helpful Czech conductor (with cousins in the US) putting us in the correct train, we were relieved to see our friends waiting for us at the train station in Brno. Lucie and Ales whisked our hungry selves off to one of the good local eats in downtown Brno. Pilsner Urquell, fried cheese, stuffed peppers, knedliky, and excellent company brought us back to wakefulness.

Castles and churches in Esslingen

Monday was a holiday for us, but the rest of the world was back to work. Anne rode her bike to the office that morning so that we could use her car to go to Esslingen, a town only 20 minutes away by car but an hour away by train. Still unsure of what all the road signs meant, we jumped into the kiwi and went on an adventure.

Löwenstein

We spent our first full day in Germany with friends in the wine region around Stuttgart. Bea, who visited us with Anne in April, is from a town called Löwenstein. Most of her family still lives there and operates a wonderful winery.

L’été à les fortifications

June means another trip to Quebec! A significant amount of work has been done on the fortifications in the past year, and I spent a warm, sunny afternoon checking them out. 

Another Christmas in Quebec City (aka, M. leaves the USA)

Almost a year ago I asked M if he would join me at my company's Christmas party in 2015. At that time, he didn't have a passport and was vehemently opposed to airplanes. True to his word, we touched down in Quebec together last Saturday. That left Sunday to explore the walled city before I had to go to work on Monday. (Apologies for the poor photo quality. All were taken on our phones!)

First Quebecois breakfast: Crepe! (we went back 2 more times...)

le Citadelle de Quebec

In my previous 3 trips to Quebec City, I have never had a chance to visit the "castle" at the top of the town. Two weeks ago, I took the Saturday before the party to wander the Plains of Abraham and learn a little more about the active fortification.

Morning Run, Québec City

Plains of Abraham, where the British defeated the French
in the French and Indian War

Saturday morning in Québec City dawned clear and sunny over the St Lawrence. I slept in, then put my running shoes on and headed up the hill, into the old city. I would have had better luck with my run had the weather not been so beautiful, as I spent a good chunk of time taking pictures!

Granada

Our walk from the bus to White Nest hostel took us through the tiny, crooked streets of the Albacin (Moorish) neighborhood. The hostel is actually close to the bottom of the ravine that runs below the Alhambra. The stream at the bottom was a natural air conditioner- a welcome change after Sevilla. We wandered the streets on Saturday and shared a tortilla with ali-oli sauce and mojitos (hey, it was still hot out and we had had sangria the past 3 days!) at a great little cafe on a pedestrian street filled with bars.

Sunday we were up early and had hiked to the Alhambra by 8. We were with the first group in to the palaces at 830. I don't think that either of us were really ready for what we saw. The level of artistry and intricacy in the tile, stone, wood, and plaster work was stunning. We took a full three hours to wander the multiple palaces, the lush gardens, museum, and fortress. 
The sun was hot as we came back into town, and we were glad that we had done our major sightseeing so early. After a break at the hostel and lunch we wandered town again, stopping in shops, drinking espresso, and winding down to the river. Granada is at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, which still had streaks of snow in July. The river itself was low but glacier blue. 

We spent an hour or two resting and then got dinner before the flamenco show. I stopped in a kebap stand and got pita falafel, while emily opted for shrimp at a cafe that we had stopped at earlier in the day. The only problem was that our waiter had thought she'd ordered razor clams. You should have seen the look on her face. Absolute horror. i think it was made up for when the shrimp finally came. 

The flamenco was at a place called El Chien Andalou, the Andalusian Dog. We were in a long, low, barrel vaulted basement packed with low stools and tables. We ended up sharing our table with an Italian lady (who also spoke Spanish and French), a French lady, and her two sons. The show began with a solo guitarist, added a singer, and then added a dancer. Linda warned me that flamenco was "soooo intense," and was she ever right! I wish i could have seen the lady's feet, because the rhythms coming from the floor and the guitar and the singer and the dancer's hands were captivating. Everything about it was captivating.

"Two women lost in an unknown city. Now that's what I call an adventure." - Elanor Lavish

Third time's the charm. I wrote a lovely post all about Sintra and the Algarve, only to have HipGeo lose it. Let's try this again.

Hiking fuel!

We hiked up the hill to the Moorish castle on Sunday. The skies were clear and the castle towers gave us a wonderful view of the park, palaces in the valley, and Pena palace just above us. The stone walls were rebuilt in the 19th century and wind dizzyingly along the high ridge. Emily didn't seem so sure about the lack of railings... On the way down we stopped for a 6:00 dinner, for which we paid lunchtime prices. The place we ate at had a view of Sintra palace over the valley and we amused ourselves throwing olive pits at pigeons. 
In the evening we unwound at Nice Way Sintra Hostel and laid out a plan for the morning. 

A nice couple from Calgary took this picture for us.

I was out the door early and took the 8:20 train to the town of Mem Martins. After an hour of wandering the same street and asking locals where the Crossfit gym was, i was ready to call it quits and head back to Sintra before Em started to worry. As i walked by a cafe on my way to the train station, i saw a man on the window with a crossfit Sintra tshirt - so i walked in and asked him if he could tell me where his gym is. He smiled and asked "Rebecca?" Paolo was the gym owner and drove us to the gym, put me through a warmup and mobility work, coached my cleans, and then gave me a 10 minute burpee-box jump + wall ball AMRAP. finally, since i was concerned about being back by 11 (at whicb point Emily was allowed to start worrying), he drove me back to the central square in Sintra. I call it Portuguese hospitality. In Paolo's words, "that's Crossfit."
Meanwhile, Emily had been on her own adventure to mail a dozen postcards and find a grocery store for lunch food. She walked all the way past the train station before finding a tiny grocery in a back alley in central Sintra. We lunched on chorrizo, cheese, and oranges.
The skies were cloudy and the temperatures cooler that day, which made for a more comfortable hike through Quinta da Regaleira and up to Pena Palace, but no views from either. Quinta da Regaleira has amazing grounds, including a well with a spiral staircase carved into the outside. When you descend you find a network of tunnels which exit to other parts of the gardens. The house is equally ornate and exotic. The floors are tiled with mosaics, the walls muraled, and the ceilings carved. It has exactly the rooms you need to play Clue, too... The perfect place for hosting a mystery dinner,we thought!
After a stop for shopping in town, we hiked up to Pena Palace. It was a fairytale. High, brightly painted walls on the outside with colourfully decorated, warm living spaces inside. This, combined with the cooler temperatures and forests of Sintra, explains why the Portuguese royals loved vacationing there.
We were ravenous by the time we made it back down the hill and into town. 

After wandering a little while we wound up at a fantastic little cafe/tea house called Saudade. We split a half bottle of a local green wine, and i had perhaps the best Panini of my life. 
Tuesday morning we rolled out early and made our way back to Lisbon by train, and by bus from Lisbon to Albufeira. Albufeira is a resort town on the Algarve coast known for its beaches. We stumbled around town (literally- I'm glad my tablet survived the wipeout) before finally figuring out our tickets for the next day and how to get to our hostel. 
Aside- the local bus driver didn't speak any English, we don't speak Portuguese... So broken Spanish on both sides it was as we tried to figure out what time to catch the bus back to the station. "español? A que hora mañana... El bus... Aqui?" "mañana...?" "si.", at which point our driver walked off and was back two minutes later with a schedule.

Lost and Found hostel was exactly what we needed. A quiet little oasis on the outskirts of town with rooms and kitchen wrapped around a tiled and flower filled courtyard. We changed into our bathing suits and walked the mile to the beach. An hour napping in the sun, splashing in the surf, and watching the sailboats pass was exhausting. We picked up groceries on the way home and made a MASSIVE Denver scramble. Yum! Our hosts let us use their clothes line to dry the two sink-loads of laundry that followed. Our shirts smelled like sea breeze when we brought them in. The last part of the evening was consumed by "A Room with a View" and spritzer.

Wednesday was another early morning. We caught a 7:10 bus at 7:25 - we knew Portuguese busses tend to run a little late, but we were getting nervous! - and finally our bus to Sevilla. There I will leave you, because i have already been writing for an hour as we roll across Andalusia towards Granada...

Guest Blogging 101

Moorish castle on the rocky outcropping above our hostel.

I am guest blogging. That's what Becca told me. Apparently even when the blog is 50% about you, you are a guest. Of course, you would know that Becca didn't write this entry because I sound nothing l like her....at least I don't think so. Maybe it's likes being sisters and thinking you look nothing alike when in reality you are practically identical. Anyways, you decide. 

That all being said, we made it to Sintra! This is what today looked like:
- pack up and stow bags at hostel in Lisbon
- 9.30 head to awesome metal elevator in the center of the city that we attempted and failed to take 3 times the day before
- get on metro to water, transfer to bus, head for tile museum
- 10.30 very kind old Portuguese woman walks lost Americans to the museum
- ART EXTRAVAGANZA
- stop for coffee, realize we are starving, and head for grocery store to get a snack
- 12.00 failed attempt to find post office
-12.30 tapas for lunch. Tapas may be Spain's greatest contribution to the world thus far.
- back to hostel, grab bags, and hit the road.....aka tiled sidewalk...for the train station
- 1.30 take train to Sintra, walk to new hostel, check in with the very frazzled new girl
- find bakery that welsh cook at Portuguese hostel recommended. Mmmmmmm.
- make way up mountain by foot to large, old, fabulous castle. Funny thing, there are very high walls and no railings. And everyone seems to survive just fine. Take note, USA.
- meet sweet couple from Calgary in castle
- hike down mountain. We took only one wrong turn AND came upon the gatehouse so it was totally worth it.
- eat at funky cafe
- stroll home.....and here we are

Takeaway: never try to convince me that we were not created to create. I won't believe you.

View from our room

Across Wales: Caernarfon to Shrewsbury

There's nothing quite like waking up in a misty sea town. After a lovely breakfast at the Cartref Guest House, we headed out to the Isle of Anglesey and explored Beaumaris Castle. I knew it already thanks to the model in the Encarta Encyclopedia we had on our first PC when I was in middle school... but nothing is like actually walking through the gate and climbing to the top of the tower!

We said it was going to be our "castles and gardens" trip, so of course we followed up Beaumaris by driving through Bangor, Betws-y-Coed, and Llanwrst (beautiful walk near the woolen mill and stop in) on our way to Bodnant Garden. The colours were changing in the wilder gardens, and the formal gardens were pristine in their green.

Mum is camouflaged in her red coat!

Our route to shrewsbury was a little roundabout... we sort of routed ourselves through the middle of nowhere (oops) and enjoyed some rugged Welsh scenery before tucking into the Buck's Head Inn for dinner and a sleep :)

I may have fallen in love with Snowdonia NP...

Goodbye Graz

I have not really had time to be sad about leaving Graz- everything is has happened so fast here that even sitting on the train (with a roller duffel, small duffel, and two large backpacks) on my way from Graz to Vienna for the last time still seems like just another part of my routine. 

Even though the last week has been "normal," there are so many moments that stand out as having been really exceptional. Like Monday night, when Ruth and I made a quick trip to meet some of our new Austrian friends at a pub and ended up hanging out and watching a movie for the entire evening. Or last night, when the same three guys (+Maria!) came over, and Basti made us Kaiserschmarrn. Christoph brought Maria and I "goodbye Austria survival" gifts of Manner Schnitte and Mozartkugeln. In Maria's words, "unglaublich," unbelievable! 

Basti, Maria, Peter, Christoph, and me- last goodbye!

I have also managed to say goodbye to so many friends, spend an entire day hiking in the Vorberge (foothills), fail my first university exam (and therefore the class), score an A on an oral history exam, 

sell my bicycle (for the same amount I bought it for!), go for one last coffee at Café Binder, and move out of my apartment.

On Tuesday I escaped to the edge of Graz and hiked up the castle ruins which have been tempting me since I first arrived in Graz.... (click Read more)Ruine Gösting's foundationd date back to the 13th century and are free to wander through, including the chapel and the tower. From the small Gasthaus terrasse you have a fantastic view down the Mur valley and over Graz. I spent an hour wandering through dark chambers and crumbling walls. The Auer family, owners of a bread kingdom in Graz, have plans to do some rennovation and plant vines on the hillside. I think it will be worth a trip back!

Mittlealterfest Oberkapfenberg

Today Bastian drove Ruth, his friend Peter, and myself to Kapfenberg (second largest city in the Steiermark) for their medieval festival. I felt like a kid in a candy shop!
The full album is in the Photo Gallery or on Picasa for your viewing pleasure.

Horns were blown, imaginary arrows were shot

Trumpets, drums, and flags spinners performed 

(click Read more)

Swords were admired and silly hats were worn 

Peter and Bastian were great guides  

Kaspresknödel was eaten in the castle

Axes were thrown (3 for 4 and 1 for 4, respectively)

Funny songs were sung

What a fun afternoon! I will post about yesterday's hiking trip later this week, after I trade photos with the rest of the hikers.