journeywithmadonna

When I left you last we were headed to walk the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi coast but for a while it began to look like the Wrath of the Gods!   Overnight I got really sick, which I think was food poisoning, and I need not go into details here but I have never in my life felt like that.  By the time we arrived at our air bnb in Pimonte, with plans to do the hike the following morning, I was starting to feel a little better and was looking forward to it.  Within five minutes of our arrival Jim was in the bathroom and I need not say anymore except that Marilyn decided to claim one of the bathrooms as her own, hoping to avoid becoming the next victim in case it wasn’t food poisoning……and it worked!  We cancelled our hike with our host, who was driving us to Bomerana the next morning, and said we would try again later.  The next day we woke up to glorious sunshine and of course were disappointed we were not able to do the hike but realized Jim did not have the energy anyway……..nor did I really.   So we went for a walk around town and within an hour the skies opened and it poured rain, all day, with high winds and we thought to ourselves ‘thank God, we’re not out there!’   We got soaked on the way home and were rushing when this woman stopped in her little car in a very dangerous spot on the road and insisted we get in which we did – and she drove us to our place talking Italian very fast all the way there and we were so grateful!   This is good time to mention how wonderful the people of Italy have been – very friendly, interested in who we are and what we’re about and of course always interested in Canada and everyone has a relative or a friend there.  That night we ate in and drank a little Italian wine while the rain continued, the winds howled and our heat would not work……..pretty chilly so off to bed early we go!

Sunshine again the next day so we decided to head to Sorrento and drive the Amalfi coast.    By the time we got to Sorrento we were fed up with the traffic and kept reminding ourselves that it was the beginning of April and wondered how people coped with this during the summer months.   Jim’s been amazing behind the wheel even when he is surrounded by bikes, motorcycles, big cars, little cars, big buses, little buses, a scattered horse and buggy and once a herd of cows……..but me on the other hand I am a little tense, and I am not behind the wheel!   Actually there are times when he too is pretty tense but onward we go.   Those of you who have driven here know how fast and frenzied Italian drivers are.  They never hesitate and just come on no matter what – red lights and stop signs don’t mean much.   We learned not to slow down when approaching an orange light because if you do you’ll have the next four cars on top of you!!  Apparently they expect tourists to drive like they drive – quite exhausting really being constantly on guard.   Marilyn and I easily admitted that driving here is not for the faint of heart….or for us!  Our stop in Sorrento was mainly to tour around, have a nice walk, watch the tourists and move out pretty quickly as we were wanting to do the coastal drive and head back to Pimonte.   The drive was spectacular, the traffic steady and not too crazy because, as mentioned, it’s April after all.  Here are a few pictures but remember they were taken with my ipad and no way could I capture the awesomeness!!!

The following day we again woke up to sunshine and the Path of the Gods was in our reach!  As mentioned our air bnb host, Sofia,  had agreed to drive us but somewhere ‘lost in translation’ was the fact that she, her 16 year old nephew and his 15 year old girlfriend were walking with us!   She arrived with six large chocolate croissants, the largest and the best I have ever tasted, and off we went.  Given that it was a beautiful Saturday morning there were a lot of people on the trail and once again we wondered what would this be like in the summer?  Sophia did not speak much English, but a whole lot more than we spoke Italian, so when I asked her how busy it was in the summer she indicated it was extremely crowded but that she had never walked the Path and that this was her first time – and also the first time for her nephew and girlfriend.   Needless to say it was spectacular, a little daunting at times but not over the top at all.  It’s worth googling – just go to Path of the Gods from Bomerano to Positano and you’ll get wonderful pictures – much better than the ones below!!!  After the walk we had lunch in Positano and then Sofia suggested we take the boat to Amalfi and the bus back to Bomerano where our car was parked.   It was a fabulous 12 hour day and we were all exhausted by the end.

Sofia in the middle with Pascali and Frederico  – was great to have them along!!!

End of the walk – horse carrying lemons

Church in Amalfi

Amalfi – taken from boat ride

The following day we headed to Pompei where in AD 79 Mount Vesuvius erupted and between 1500-2000 people were killed as a result.   Once again you’ll have to google for more because, in case you can’t tell, I’m in a rush!

Last stop, Naples, where this picture of Jim was taken

and then off to the airport where we are now waiting to board our plane for Montreal.   What a great vacation it’s been but we’re all looking forward to going home, as usual, and getting back into our own beds and our own routines – as boring as they sometimes are!   Life is great, the journey was wonderful and we’re looking forward to being at home with family and friends and most of all seeing these two little munchkins in a couple of weeks.

Caroline and Cameron

Arrivederci!!!

The Valley of the Temples, or Valle del Templi di Agrigento as the Italians call it, is the most famous site in Sicily and a UNESCO world heritage site.  It is the largest archaeological site in the world, 1300 hectares,  and showcases the magnificent Greek temples from 5th century BC.   We spent a few hours touring around here, and counting our blessings, as it was pouring rain on our four hour drive from Siracusa and once we arrived the rain disappeared.  At the very end of our visit the skies opened up again with lots of rain for our drive to Sciacca where we spent a couple of nights.   Sciacca was picked, once again, mainly because it was a good driving distance to our next stop, and a great little stop it was.   The town has a population of just under 40,000 and its economy still relies heavily on the fishing industry as several companies prepare, preserve and season blue-fish for export all over the world.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs the name on my passport is Madonna, because that’s my legal name, and it often  is noted on in our travels in one way or another.   As a child I did not like the name, probably because it was mainly used by the nuns and meant I was in trouble, so being called  Donna was great.  Once again in this very Catholic country the name Madonna gets attention and in Sciacca the most important feast is the Madonna del Soccorso who is the patron saint of the town.  The townspeople show their gratitude to the Madonna because she saved the city from the Black Plague which reached Sciacca in 1626.  Every year in Sciacca on the 2nd of February and the 15th of August, after a High Mass, the statue of Madonna is carried through the streets by 100 barefoot fishermen.  Just thought that was worth mentioning, but then again maybe not!

Our accommodation in Sciacca was across the street from the water and within walking distance of a couple of good restaurants.   Our host recommended a typical Sicilian restaurant that was about a 15 minute walk from our place and we wandered down there earlier in the day to check it out and really enjoyed our conversation with the young hostess so we booked a reservation.  Little did we know until later that evening that she, Maria, and her husband, Morris, took over the restaurant from her parents and of course in doing so added an up-to-date menu but held on to some of the traditional Sicilian recipes.  They were lovely and spoke excellent English which, for some reason, always makes my meal taste better – guess it’s because I know what I am ordering so there’s less of a shock!  Maria is from Sciacca and Morris is from the Phillipines and they met in China where Maria lived for five years and learned the language.  They mentioned that they had friends in the Vancouver area and would like to spend some time in Canada – I think they would make an excellent addition!

View from our apartment and Jim and Marilyn waiting for me as we head out for our walk.

Great parking on this two way street!  Marilyn with Maria and Morris – such lovely young entrepreneurs.

So off we go the following morning towards Cefalu where we’ve booked ourselves into an air bnb for four nights.  Before leaving home we also watched another Rick Steeves you- tube on Palermo and Cefalu where he again recommended not taking your car into Palermo because of the driving on extremely narrow streets and of course the parking nightmare.  This time we listened, as we hadn’t in Taormina, because now we knew what he meant.   Off to Palermo on the train we go on our first day in Cefalu to tour around and see what that city had to offer – so glad we didn’t take the car as the return train trip was so relaxing and the traffic in Palermo was crazy!  Palermo is the capital of Sicily and has a population of approximately 700,000 and walking around the touristry area was actually pretty easy.   We wandered around for several hours having a great walk along the water, visiting sites such as the Palazzo dei Normanni – the Royal Palace, the magnificent Cattedrale di Palermo, the water fountain and of course a stop for lunch.   There is so much history here and a google will tell you all you want to know as my fingers are getting tired and soon I am headed to bed!   But first a few pictures

Cattedralle di Palermo

Last but not least, Cefalu, a place all three of us totally enjoyed and found very relaxing.   Beautiful beaches, small town, no need to move the car, great restaurants, excellent gelato, wonderful hiking and walking, not too many people this time of year – what’s not to like?     No doubt this town of around 14,000 explodes in the summer because of its close proximity to Palermo and also to the ferry from Mainland Italy – not sure it would be quite so pleasant in July and August.   But for us it was a great way to end our stay in Sicily and here are a few pictures to tell the tale.

What? We’re going up!
Rocco – a two hour hike up and down and so worth the sweat

Quite the view and then down we go

Great walk out on the rocks to the beach

One of the beach areas and a wonderful restaurant right around the corner where we had an excellent ‘good bye Sicily’ fish supper!   Off to the ferry tomorrow and heading towards the Amalfi coast where the plan is to hike the Path of the Gods, which Marilyn has been looking forward to for months, and also to drive that scenic drive along the Amalfi coast that we have heard so much about over the years.  Stay tuned!

First of all we didn’t stay in Costanza as I mentioned in my previous post – as in George Costanza from ‘Seinfeld’! We stayed in Cosenza which will make more sense for you folks checking out the route. We are now in Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean with a population of over five million and absolutely enjoying every moment.  The ‘Godfather’ t-shirts are for sale everywhere for those of you from the 70’s who remember the movies, and of course that’s all I really knew about Sicily – time for me to watch it again.  First stop, Taormina!  Before we left Canada we watched a few of Rick Steeves you-tubes on Italy/Sicily and he strongly recommended not bringing your car into Taormina and we should have listened………but then again what are you to do with your rental car??? Our air bnb in Taormina was at the top of an extremely steep hill, so steep in fact that when we got there and parked the car it refused to move, ie. wouldn’t start!  We couldn’t start it again to shift it a little and at that moment we made a unanimous decision that we would see Taormina on foot and let the car rest – and we stuck to it!    Of course that meant for the next two days/three nights we would be walking Taormina which would give Jim a well deserved break from driving our alpha romeo!

A very long, narrow and steep ‘road’ brought us to our destination where the view was fabulous off the large deck

As you can see Taormina is a hilltop town, population around 11,000, and is about an hour’s drive from Messina, where the ferry to Sicily from Italy arrives, and is also close to Mount Etna.  It is home to an ancient Greek theatre (3rd century BC) which is the 2nd oldest in Sicily.  The theatre is still used today for concerts, operatic and theatrical performances and of course welcomes many, many tourists as it was even busy when we were there.

I can’t imagine what Taormina is like during the busy tourist season as driving and walking those hills was treacherous!  The first night we walked down to dinner and of course the walk home was exhausting after a pasta dinner with wine, but we managed.  The following morning we agreed to walk up and down those hills during the day but not for supper, so we cooked at home the following two nights and had the best view for munchies and happy hour.  A few more pictures of Taormina and before I forget it was here that we had the best cannoli ever – I mean the best by far!   What is a cannoli you might ask?  It is a fried pastry shell filled with ricotta cheese, a little candied fruit and some chocolate chips……now what’s wrong with that?   Sorry no picture – we ate it too fast!

About an hour and a half drive from Taormina is Mount Etna and that was our next stop for part of the day on our way to southern Sicily.   As many of you know Mt Etna is not only the largest active volcano in Europe but also one of the world’s most active volcanoes.  It is approximately 3,326 m high and is the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps.  The latest eruption was on Christmas Eve last year when it spewed ash and caused a partial closure of Sicilian airspace.   As we drove up through the small towns my stomach began to churn as it was extremely twisty and I thought I was going to puke and I am not one to get car sick and I was in the front seat!   Finally things levelled out and we reached the top – so worth the drive and so glad to arrive and get out of the car.  Mount Etna was a lot chillier than Taormina which is why we’re all wearing our coats in the picture below.  It was certainly worth the climb and on one occasion  on the ride down I saw the partial roof of a house as the rest was covered in volcanic rock.  In 1928 a hugh eruption destroyed the town of Mascali as well as cultivated land and many buildings.  Deaths are rare because there is plentry of warning so you can get out of the area.  This was not the case however in 1979 when nine tourists were killed as they were on the edge of a crater when an explosion occurred – good thing I read that after our visit!

We walked to one of the craters, hung out with other tourists taking pictures and then took off for our next two hour drive to Avola(population of about 31,000) which was about a half hour south of Siracusa.  Avola is known as the almond-growing capital of Sicily but surpringly enough we did not get any during our brief stay……..not sure why! Here we stayed in another excellent air bnb where Carla, our host, greeted us with a great bottle of Italian wine from the region, Nero d’Avola.    Our stay in Avola was mainly to visit the city of Siracusa(population 124,000) and it’s here that the oldest Greek theatre exists.  However given that we had seen the second oldest Greek theatre in Italy we decided to give it a pass and just toured the city and the tiny Island of Ortygia which is part of Siracusa.  We walked here for two hours where we viewed, but didn’t visit, more churches, museums, piazzas, markets and of course had a great cappuccino.  We wandered off the Island and continued to walk Siracusa for a couple of more hours and ended our visit with the best gelato ever!   Mine was cinnamon and ginger and I was enjoying it so much I was totally unaware of what Jim and Marilyn had but no doubt they were equally as delicious.  I don‘t know what it is about Italy that gives me the right to indulge everytime I have a cappucino – well maybe I do!  It’s those delicious pastries sitting right next to where you place your order and the little voice in my head says “don’t listen to your rational side, those pants will still fit!  Remember that’s the reason you brought the stretchy ones” and so before I know it that pastry is on my plate.  But don’t think I’m not practicing restraint because everywhere we go there’s gelato, pastries, cannolies, chocolate and all those other treats – so I say ‘no way’ much more often than I give in!   And anyway what are holidays for if not too indulge oneself?

The first three pictures are of Ortygia and the last one is the Sanctuary of Madonna della Lacrime(our Lady of Tears).   We visited it not only because it was my namesake but also because it was an interesting looking structure.  Unfortunately, however, the whole place was closed and we were not able to go inside.   Such is life and we’re off to our next adventure tomorrow – Valley of the Temples so stay tuned!

I have always wanted to visit Vienna, Austria’s capital, so was thrilled to be here for a couple of days.  It’s a large city with a population of almost two million but not too many tourists in March.  It is known as The City of Music thanks to Mozart and Bethoven and also as The City of Dreams thanks to Sigmund Freud.  While touring around on our first day we noticed a lot of people around St. Michael’s Church so walked in and were thrilled to find out a concert was about to begin.  We took our seats close to the front and for the next half hour listened to this wonderful high school band performing – acoustics were great!   Little did we know that the high school band were part of a world orchestra and were visiting from Bloomingdale, Florida.   Needless to say there were many Americans, or rather many proud parents, also in the  Church.  It was a great way to kickstart Vienna!  The next day we visited the Belvedere Palace as one of Marilyn’s favourite artists, Gustav Klimt, had an exhibition there. The first four pictures below are taken at the Belvedere Palace and the last one was taken on our walk through Vienna – tribute to Mozart.

Our visit in Vienna was short and sweet and then we were off to catch our overnight train to Rome.   We were thrilled to find that we had booked a private berth for the three of us and wondered how six people could actually sleep in there.  For Jim and I it brought back memories of when we travelled India two years ago with Dawn and Yves and our overnight train ride – not good memories I might add!!!  Even though space was tight on this train it was a whole lot cleaner but for this weary traveller sleep did not come easy.   So after fourteen hours we were off to pick up our rental car in Rome and head south for a few hours to Lucera where we had booked a bed and breakfast for the evening.    We were all pretty exhausted and this is the time in the trip where relationships can get testy!  Although he had driven in Italy before, Jim was re-adjusting to driving out of Rome and as you know driving in our little hamlet of Tidnish doesn’t quite cut it!  Marilyn and I were in charge of ensuring he got proper directions and because I was in the front seat, and his wife, most of that was left to me.   Following a map, as all of you know from reading my previous blogs, is not my strength and I wouldn’t say it’s Marilyn’s either.   Of course we have the GPS on the ipad which was helping but when you’re tired, a tad cranky and unsure of yourself it’s easy to get lost and so we did!   As a result what was supposed to be a three and half hour drive turned into a five and a half hour drive…….and then we arrived at our destination – see picture of Lucera below.

And what a wonderful stop it was!   Casa Cavalli is a beautifully maintained and restored old villa that has been in Antonella’s family for over 300 years.  It is in the center of Lucera where you are not allowed to enter with a vehicle unless you get a permit so thankfully they were able to get us one – maybe they could read between the lines in our email and realized we were tired and cranky!  However once we arrived that was all history as they were so welcoming and the villa with its surroundings were so beautiful.  We wished we could have stayed longer but after a good night’s sleep and a great breakfast we were on our way.

Next stop – Costanza – another place we picked on the map not because it looked great but because it was the right amount of driving distance for that day as we headed south.  The picture below was taken from our air bnb and the next two were taken across the street from our restaurant, La Cantina, and what a meal it was!   When I asked to see the menu she said it’s ‘oral’ and started talking English with a strong Italian accent.  It was one of those ‘typical’ Italian restaurants(I think) where you ordered an appetizer, then first course, then second course followed by dessert.  Not being overly hungry we decided to share and ordered one of each and thank God we did as it was tons of food, absolutely delicious even if I can’t tell you what it was because we didn’t really understand her ‘oral’ menu but it left us with no room for dessert!

Another great nights sleep – must be the wine – and we started our journey to Sicily.   Stay tuned for more!

On our last night in Berlin we ate excellent German food and of course that was washed down with a very tasty white wine!!

…….and we were off to Prague early the next morning!  Sebastian(our air bnb host in Berlin) said if  you enjoyed Berlin then you’re going to fall in love with Prague and we have!  The architecture is unbelievable and it is the most beautiful city I have ever seen.    According to our guide book “the centre of Prague is essentially a Gothic city with a Baroque face”.  Fortunately it suffered very little damage during WWII, much less than many major European cities, and had only a few bombing raids by the US airforce close to the end of the war.  Today Prague, with its population of approximately 1.3 million residents, is best known as one of Europe’s most beautiful, and most visited, cities.  Almosr 8 million tourists visit Prague yearly and although tourism is a significant industry here, the automotive industry is the largest in the Czech republic.  Prague has buildings dating from the 13th century to present day and is extremely easy to get around in on foot.   Having said that, it’s worth noting that as I have gotten older I can trip on a pebble because  when I’m tired I don’t lift my feet enough.  While walking this beautiful city for hours I was very aware of this fact but could not keep my eyes on where my feet were going because I was too busy looking up at all these beautiful buildings – thank God I didn’t break a leg because that would have definitely been bad luck.    Anyway I digress – here are a few pictures which will give you an idea of Prague’s beauty.

LOL – the beauty here is not me but the Charles Bridge in the background – gotta catch a laugh whenever you can!

The old town square …..picture on top left is of Prague’s astronomical clock which is the oldest functioning one in the world and is from around 1410.  On the hour crowds gather(including us) to watch as the little windows open where you can witness the ‘walk of the apostles’ and just below them what looks like a dancing skeleton but is actually a ‘figure of death’.  Picture on top right is of Tyn Cathedral – an example of Gothic architecture – and if you were to go up the street in the middle of the picture on the bottom you would arrive at our air bnb.  It was excellent, as was the location, because from there  we walked everywhere and saw all we wanted to see and could possibly manage in a few days.  One of the highlights of our short visit was attending Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concert at the Mirror Chapel concert hall, Clementinum(see picture below).  This chapel was built in 1724, has marbled floors and walls that are well matched with stucco decoration – parquet colours, ceiling frescoes and mirror decorated ceiling – sound was fabulous!

St. Nicholas Church is the most famous Baroque Church in Prague and the most

valued Baroque building north of the Alps.  It took approximately 100 years to complete(around 1750) and involved three generations of great Baroque architects – father, son and son-in-law.  It is massive and was so worth the visit and of course the three pictures above give you just a hint of  is beauty.

The Prague Castle is the largest castle in the world and now houses the office of the President of the Czech Republic.

It is over a thousand years old(870-1929) and you would need a great deal of time to see the whole thing –  time we didn’t have so we once again went quickly through and saw what we could.  It also houses the Czech crown jewels which are the fourth oldest in Europe.

Charles Bridge, one of Prague’s many bridges, and certainly its most famous, was completed in 1400 and has withstood centuries of varied traffic and many floods.  Legend has it that its longevity is due to eggs in the mortar – I’ve started eating more eggs!  As you walk acrross there are many statues of Catholic saints and of course some of them are being worked on(as they probably should be!!)

The Jewish Cemetery, Museum and Synagogue – the Jewish  cemetery is one of the largest in Europe and dates from the first half of the 15th century until 1786.   As you can see from the picture below, which is just a small portion of the cemetery, thousands  of gravestones are crammed into this space.

While we were walking through the Jewish quarter it was quite emotional at times as you witnessed people breaking down into tears.  Obviously they saw some of their family names among the 80,000 names of Czech and Moravian Jews who perished under the nazis – these names were written on the walls of the synagogue.  In addition to this there was an area of children’s drawings from Terezin(1942-44) who were Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  I witnessed one woman about my age break down crying as she pointed one particular child’s drawing to her daughter who took a picture and began to cry.   Needless to say I was drawn to tears myself.

We took a boat ride on River Vltava after we visited the Jewish quarter and it was a welcomed relief after the sadness witnessed there.  There is so much to see in Prague and although there are other pictures and areas I could cover in this blog, I won’t, as it is getting way too long and you’re probably asleep by now……….and I should be.  Let me sum it up by saying put it on the bucket list! The people were great, the city and its architecure were unbelievable, food was good and although the meal was a little heavy the duck was excellent.  Stay tuned for our very short stay in Vienna!

Three Nights in Berlin – We got off to a rough start as our flight out of Montreal was just a little late leaving due to snowy conditions and our connection to Berlin from Frankfurt was pretty tight.   We rushed through the Frankfurt airport which, as many of you know, is not an easy thing to do and, with permission, broke through the lineup at security which caused us to be the receivers of some disgruntled looks.   All to no avail as the plane was taxying the tarmac as we arrived and off to Lufthansa Services we go to get rebooked.   This seemed to be an issue for many, many others as the lineup was quite long but fortunately we were able to catch a plane three hours later.

Berlin, the capital of Germany, has a population of over three and a half million. This time of year, ie. early spring, the temperature can range from 0 to 10 and that’s about what we had these past few days with occasional showers. Fortunately we were prepared for this and kept reminding ourselves when it rained that no one had to shovel – life is good!! We spent our time being typical tourists visiting the parliament buildings, Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial and one of the highlights was a free concert at the Berliner philoharmonica. During the summer they have a concert series at lunch with over 1500 people using the lunch hour to relax, eat their lunch and listen to music. Off-season there is still a free lunch concert every Tuesday at 1pm sometimes with students performing and either they are always fabulous or we just lucked out – a wonderful 45 minute break from the hustle and bustle of being a tourist.  You have to get there early to get a seat on the floor or stairs or stand up – only people with a disability get a seat.  Remember all pictures are unprofessionally taken with my ipad so no complaints are welcomed as that is not about to change.

Lunch time concert series during which you are not allowed to take pictures but I didn’t know this, and many others were, so I did, but a very firm, yet kind, security person came and told me it wasn’t allowed but I thought I would insert it here as the damage was already done, so to speak. A wonderful  Concert and although it looks as though it wasn’t a great view, it wasn’t bad, and of course the view didn’t impact the sound which was fabulous.

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Marilyn and I at the Brandenburg Gate which according to the guide is a symbol of German unity and one of the city’s most famous landmarks

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. There are 271 concrete slabs, organized in rows, 54 going north-south and 87 heading east-west.  Although it doesn’t look like it in this picture the slabs vary in height and you can walk between them which we did and sometimes you feel as though you are underground because the ground is slanted.  Inside the “place of information” are the names of approximately 3 million Jewish Holocaust victims. Of course we have heard so much about this over the past number of years but walking through these concrete slabs was eerily confusing and drove the reality home to this typical tourist. Very much worth the visit!

No trip to Berlin is complete without a visit to the Berlin Wall which divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. We arrived here later in the day so did not do the whole walk or visit the Museum but of course if you want to know more than this there’s always google!! No trip is complete without the picture either so here’s Jim leaning against a portion of the wall.

We also visited the Reichstag Dome, top of the parliament building, where you have to have a reservation to go in and security is super tight.   We were pretty impressed with the 360 degree view of Berlin, as were the hundreds of students visiting, and the audio guide was super informative.   The picture below is not mine but is credited to wikipedia.

Next stop Museum Island where I/we got ‘museumed out’……but glad we did it!  I am not going to write much about the museums here because you can easily google for more info but the Pergamon, the Neues and the National Art Gallery took most of the day and as you can imagine we were moving along pretty quickly – the way I like to do museums!  The other one we did that I believe was our favourite was the Berliner Dom Cathedral so I’ve included a few pictures here.   It has a very long history and was restored after the second world war and truly is magnificent.   Here we walked up the almost 300 steps to the top so we could see the 360 degree view – “oh legs don’t fail me now” was my prayer all the way up and then again all the way down – not for the faint of heart but definitely worth the hike.

Jim outside Berliner Dom

Fabulous organ

Looking towards the Dom and those tiny spots on the top are people walking

So that’s our fast and furious tour of Berlin and it’s been a great city to spend a few nights!  We found the people here to be very friendly and whenever we were stopped looking at our map, which was very frequent, someone approached us with a smile to help……and usually spoke English, thank the Lord!   Language was never an issue nor was transportation – we used the tram, the U-bahn(underground train) and S-bahn(above ground train) and of course our legs walking over 15km per day.   All that walking helped(I hope) to work off the German food which we totally enjoyed on two nights and this was a surprise to me because when I have had German food in Canada I haven’t been crazy about it – here it was delicious and that makes sense!   One night we had Korean barbeque which our air bnb host recommended and it too was delicious…….and our air bnb was great!   So much more to add but exhausted so headed to bed as we have an early start in the morning to catch our train to Prague – stay tuned!

:………and our first stop is Aviemore(population approx. 2500) in Cairngorms National Park. What we didn’t know is that this week is the school break and you know what that means – everything’s booked except high end hotels and we’re more 3 star people than 5 star…….well I take that back, we are actually five star but they’re frugal stars!!! After much searching on booking.com and air bnb we finally found Margaret’s place which looked fabulous with good reviews so we were surprised it was available. When we arrived she told us she had been away to England and didn’t expect to be back so soon and had just marked it as available when she got our booking – lucky us as it was great! That prompted us to start looking elsewhere, ie. plan ahead, and book for the next four nights which we did so the pressure was off.   Aviemore reminded us a little of Banff, although on a much smaller scale, as there were all kinds of tourists about, mostly with kids, lots of hikers and bikers and good looking people in sports gear and in great shape.   We were only spending one night so we planned a hike for the morning in the Park and ended up in Loch Morlich which was quite beautiful and not too strenous so we walked around the loch for two hours.

N

Next stop on Jim’s itinerary was Culloden where the Jacobite uprising of 1745 occurred with Bonnie Prince Charlie, otherwise known as the ‘young pretender’.   Here’s the picture but google for more info if you wish or ask Jim when you see him as this was a bit of a surprise stop for me – guess I wasn’t paying attention during the history lecture!

From there we were en route to the Isle of Skye where we stayed in another air bnb in Kyle of Lochalsh at the foot of the bridge.   It was not quite as grand as Margaret’s, but Lynne was a  kind and quirky host who was a hard-working gardener by day and very accommodating to what we needed.   It was a great place to spend the night and we were off early the next morning, again in the rain, to explore the Isle which I had heard so much about from Jim over the years – it better not disappoint!  The first picture below is of a castle close to Kyle of Lochalsh but I forgot the name of it already – spectacular spot.  The next picture is our view from our air bnb in K of L, looking towards the Isle of Skye.

The Isle of Skye certainly did not disappoint – it was magnificent and no picture taken with my ipad will do it justice, but what odds, you will get an idea and can google for more.   We spent the day exploring this fabulous Island which is home to  approximately  11,000 people.  It’s the largest northerly island in the inner Hebrides and both Clans MacDonald and MacLeod have their clan castles on the Island but they were not open.  Seems there is no ‘Murdoch’ clan as they are part of Clan MacDonald so it would have been neat to visit the castle but this was not in the cards…..life goes on!    I think it was here we first encountered single-track roads, meaning they’re basically one lane with a place to pull over every now and then if a car is approaching.   As you can imagine this makes for a slow journey but it is so exquisitely beautiful and remote that you don’t really mind.  Of course there’s also scattered sheep on the road so they slow you down as well.  Here are a few few pictures which hopefully speak for themselves.

This is the road for two way traffic – basically us and the sheep……and the cows if they decide!

Our day on the road ended with a ferry trip from the Isle of Skye to Mallaig where we spent the night at Esther’s place, another air bnb with which we were quite pleased and this one included breakfast and although it was continental, it was  quite substantial.  The first picture is the beautiful view from our little apt. but admittedly the view is hard to see in this one and the second picture is of Jim on our way to dinner up and down a very steep hill to a great restaurant where I had my first cullen skink, fish soup that was delicious!

Up early in the morning and on our way to Lochaline which is very close to where Jim planted trees for two  months in 1974.  Again single track roads, slow travelling but it doesn’t matter as we are not in a hurry.   Hard to believe that people live so remotely and some areas make Tidnish look like a metropolis.  After hours of driving we arrive in Lochaline and then off to Drimnin where I hold my breath frequently and pray a car is not coming around a corner or up a blind hill…….and then the end of the road!  It is so remote that a man sees us and asks us if we’re lost and we explain that Jim had planted trees here many years ago and just wanted to come back to re-visit the area.   He kind of looked at us strangely with questioning eyes that begged the question “why?”  Off we go to check into our little Lochaline hotel, take a walk and chat about how nothing had really changed in all those years – a walk down memory lane for sure, at least for Jim!  The first photo is Jim in Drimnin(all the trees are behind me) and the next picture is looking out from our window in Lochaline……and the hotel is for sale in case you’re interested!

From Lochaline we took the ferry to the Isle of Mull where we spent the day roaming around in not great weather again but what a beautiful place and yet again very remote.  Stopped at Tobermory where there is a golf course and Jim noted that when they were planting trees all those years ago they could look over to Tobermory and see golfers on the golf course and always wanted to visit – today’s the day, 44 years later!   The first picture is again of the single track road as I still can’t believe we drove on them for hours with no damage to the car or ourselves and the next picture is just one of the beautiful Isle of Mull.  Tobermory is the third picture and the last is one taken in beautiful Oban where we hunkered down for the night as we’re off tomorrow to return the car and head towards Belfast, Northern Ireland on the ferry.

But before I go there are a couple more pictures to show.   The first is of the mountain, Ben Nevis,  the highest mountain in the British Isles where 9 out of 10 days it is raining and 100,000 people ascent each year.    When we visited  it did not defy statistics, meaning it was raining, so we did not attempt to hike, never mind climb!    Jim talked about climbing it all those years ago but said at that time he was in the best shape he had ever been in after planting trees for two months up and down the hills of Scotland with trees on his back.   So here’s Ben Nevis, minus the top, in the rain and a picture of Jim in Scotland taken when he was planting trees.  I dug this up before we left and no doubt he’ll be surprised to see it here!

The rough landing was definitely worth it!  As most of you probably know Edinburgh is a fabulous historical city with a population of close to half a million people. It is the capital of Scotland and home to the Scottish parliament and walking the streets of Edinburgh is definitely like walking back in time. What made our trip here extra special was because we also were walking back in time and meeting our friends, Alison and Steve, from England. Jim and I have known Alison from the mid 1970s when we all lived in Alberta and met Steve in the 1990s when he and Alison hooked up together back in England. When they heard we were coming to Scotland Alison said we’ll meet you there so we quickly booked an air bnb and have spent a few days together. We walked the streets of Edinburgh, marvelled at the architecture, visited the Royal Yacht and the castle, rode the hop on/hop off bus, walked the Royal Mile, caught up on all the happenings over the years, reminisced with loads of laughter and a few tears while eating good food, drinking excellent wine and scotch(Jim and Steve). It was so much fun and hard to believe how many years have passed……we will be doing it again but in another city!

!    Edinburgh castle  dates from the 12-20th century and has been a fortress, a royal palace, military garrison and state prison

 Royalty walking the Royal mile, Steve, Alison and Jim

  ……and here they are again but you can see them this time, well kind of!

The first time I saw the piper I was so excited but must admit that wore thin after a while but couldn’t resist a picture.  Our last stop of the day was the Royal Yacht Britannia which is now permanently berthed in Edinburgh.  It was in service for the Royal family from 1954-97 and sailed over a million miles but became increasingly too expensive to sail…….and likely was empty as the Royal family flew to the destinations and met it there.

One quick story before we leave Edinburgh.  When we finished the hop on/off city tour we popped into a pub on Rose St for a brew.   While chatting away we were interrupted by an older gentleman at the next table, well older than us, and he said  “sorry to interrupt but I couldn’t help overhearing and many years ago I was in a squash tournament in Ireland in County Cork and I haven’t been back but I never forgot that accent.   What part are you from?”  I smiled and when I said Canada he said “well I’ve made a real fool of meself now haven’t I?”  We told him about Newfoundland and the Irish and Nova Scotia and the Scottish and all was well.  He politely smiled and went back chatting with his friend……..guess I was talking rather rapidly with that Irish lilt most Newfoundlanders are known for!

We left Halifax in the pouring rain for our five hour direct WJ flight to Glasgow and I was hoping to catch some sleep on our overnight journey.   My seatmate, almost 2 year old Beatrice, had other plans however and as soon as she saw me and my head of grey hair she said “nana”!  She was wide eyed with big blue eyes and pigtails and I knew sleep was not going to come easily.   If I closed my eyes she would give me a little shrug to show me something and on one occasion opened my eyes much to her mother’s dismay.   I reminded myself of my recent trip from Calgary to NS with our two year old granddaughter, Caroline, and thought “I can catch up on my sleep later.”  Finally after two hours she passed out across two seats and her mother was on the floor with her head on the seat as she was so relieved and so was I.   Sleep, however, did not come and two hours later Beatrice was awake and not so pleasant as it was clear exhaustion had set in.  The seatbelt sign was on due to increasing turbulence and Beatrice did not like being restrained so we all had to hear her moans,  groans and sometimes screams but no one really seemed to mind.   Within a half hour the co-pilot apologized for the turbulence and reminded us to keep our seatbelts on as we would be landing shortly.  Another ten minutes and we could see land – I was so relieved until we shot up in the air again into the clouds and more turbulence.  A few minutes later the flight attendant apologized, again, for the turbulence and said we  couldn’t land because of high winds but that we had enough fuel for about 45 mins……….and then what I wanted to shout but all was silent.   A half hour later we were still circling the airport and dealing with turbulence when little Beatrice, who had been quiet, projectile puked and fortunately it landed a few inches away from me, rather than on me.  I grabbed the puke bag, gave it to her mom who looked shocked and said “she’s never thrown up before…….ever!”   My lucky day I thought as I grabbed whatever napkins and puke bags I could  find as all the flight attendants were buckled in their seats.  A few minutes later it seemed the pilot accelerated, everybody was quiet and finally we landed with a bang and everyone clapped, even white little Beatrice!   Later that day we learned that storm Callum, coming from northern Ireland, was the cause of the upset and that there were many cancellations in Scotland and Ireland as a result.   The rain continued for two days, sometimes quite heavy, so we happily spent two days touring around on the hop on/hop off bus and learned a great d eal about this old city.

Glasgow is the most populated city in Scotland and the third most populated in the UK.  The population grew during the industrial revolution(shipbuilding and marine engineering) and by the late 19th early 20th century the population was over one million Glaswegians which is what the people of Glasgow call themselves.  Today the population is approximately 621,000 partly due to urban renewal in the 1960’s when large-scale relocation of people was underway, mainly meaning the boundaries were changed and many smaller towns were formed.  Today over a million people still live in the greater Glasgow area.  It is in the top five of cities to visit in the UK and it’s very obvious even at this time of year when tourism is starting to slow down.   It is built along the River Clyde  and when we walked along the river, on the only day it didn’t rain, we were amazed that there were no boats, canoes or kayaks on the river as it was a beautiful fall day.   When we asked about this we couldn’t get a clear answer and were uncertain if it was to do with pollution or liability/legal issues on the River Clyde – more exploring needs to be done!    As tourists we visited the Cathedral, the Barras weekend market which was a bit of a disappointment and highly over-rated, the Glasgow Green and People’s Palace, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Riverside Museum, George Square and St. Enoch Shopping Centre but didn’t buy much – you can google for more info if you wish!  Overall we enjoyed our stay here, visited a few pubs, tried the scotch, haggis and meat pies and although we will probably try the meat pies and scotch again we are done with the haggis……not our cup of tea so to speak!   The people here are extremely friendly and as I was told by one young man at the pub “Glaswegians are the friendliest people in the world.”  Tomorrow we are headed to Edinburgh to meet our friends, Alison and Steve, and are quite pleased about this reunion!  Here are a few pictures but we didn’t  take many as it’s no fun having your picture taken while you’re standing in the rain!

The cathedral

What’s most interesting about this cathedral, built from the 1200’s to 1500’s, was the stained glass which was all over the place…..here’s a little sample.

Walk for the kidney foundation

On Sunday, the only day it thankfully didn’t rain, we walked the River Clyde for over two hours as did these bridge walkers raising money for kidney research – an amazing turnout.

Walking the river Clyde with some interesting buildings in the background – Glasgow is known for its architecture

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum was so worth the visit

Walked for three hours and now how do we get home?