Day 30 - Ireland - Day 5 (September 28)
This is our last day in Ireland. We woke up around 7:00 AM - Tina went to take her shower and let me sleep an extra half hour. After we finished our morning routine we went downstairs to breakfast. We started with fruit and coffee. Tina had French Toast, I had Kippers and poached eggs followed by toast and home made marmalade. Yummy!! Then it was back upstairs to finish packing and take the bags to the car.
Today we are going to visit the Tyrone Crystal Factory located in Dungannon about 20 miles west of Belfast http://www.tyronecrystal.com/ . We drove from our lodging just outside Enniskillen to Dungannon on A4 before turning off on A45 for a few miles reaching the factory about 10:45 AM. We went in and met the receptionist who instructed us to have a cup of coffee and she’d arrange a tour of the factory for us. Cool!
A few minutes later, after looking at their displays of crystal, a young lady named KellyAnn who took us to seats in front of a couple of display cases and gave us the history of the factory, how they’ve grown, some of their custom pieces for celebrities, etc., then told us how the tour would proceed and to be careful around the cut but unpolished crystal pieces. Then we entered the factory.
Walking through the doors we noticed how quiet it was even though there were numerous employees working on different phases of creating the crystal pieces. Our first stop was one of the storage shelves where different types of molds are kept until needed. Surprisingly the molds are made of apple wood which is a soft wood, readily available locally and which retains moisture effectively giving molds a relatively long life, up to thirty years in some cases.
Then we walked over to the furnaces where the molten crystal is held at temperatures of around 1,400 degrees Celsius. As we watched, an apprentice reached into the glass with the blowing tube and gathered up a glob of crystal on the end. This was passed to another apprentice who clamped the blowing tube into a gimbaled holder. As he did this we walked around in front of his work station to watch him create the initial crystal sphere which forms the basis for 90 percent of all pieces. He used an apple wood cup with a spherical bowl shape to form the hot crystal into a sphere, gently blowing into the tube to expand the sphere, rounding and smoothing the crystal with the wood mold, frequently dipping the cup into a bucket of water. After the sphere of crystal was formed and shaped to size, he unclamped the blowing tube and placed it with the newly formed crystal sphere on a rack for the next worker.
Next we moved over to watch as a master blower took one of the blowtubes with anewly formed sphere from the rack and dipped it into the molten crystal to add more material. Then with the larger mass of crystal he gently blew into the tube expanding the crystal into a larger sphere. This was then shaped by hand into a more elongated form. Holding the blowing tube vertical with the new crystal shape hanging from the end he stepped up onto a platform and lowered the elongated crystal shape into another applewood mold which was made of two pieces hinged at the back and with stick handles on the front. As it was lowered into the mold another apprentice closed the mold while the master continued to rotate the piece in the mold, periodically blowing into the tube to expand the crystal into the mold.
After this process, the mold was opened and the neck of the piece where it was attached to the blowing tube was lightly scored and both tube and crystal were handed off to the assistant who placed the piece into a cooling (annealing) oven. Once the piece was in the oven and over the slow moving conveyer, he tapped on the blowing tube to release the piece. The new crystal shape will travel about 80 feet on the conveyor over aperiod of four hours reaching room temperature at the other end. We just watched the initial process for making a hand blown chandelier.
From there we walked over to watch a master grinder hand carve designs into a crystal bowl shape about fifteen inches across and weighing about eight pounds. It was also destined to be part of a chandelier. We watched several others doing similar work with different shaped grinding wheels and even got to hold a couple of pieces to feel them in the initial stages of decoration. All the while KellyAnne is describing the processes used, introducing us to the craftsmen and answering our questions. We even got to meet one of their more famous designers and master carvers who has been with Tyrone for nearly forty years.
Leaving the factory area we stopped to see several large trophy pieces that were being readied for the final finishing stages which include an acid bath used to remove the outer layer of crystal and any surface blemishes. Then we went back to the display area to watch a short video. The amazing thing is that they create their own glass by hand, make the shapes by hand, carve the designs by hand and hand finish every piece that leaves the factory. Very unique in an age of automation. Out in the display area after the video, we couldn’t resist getting a memento as a memory of our trip to Ireland.
After leaving the factory we wound our way back to the M1 headed for our lodging. We made a stop for lunch at a roadside cafeteria where we had a really good meal of Peppered meatballs prepared in a wine and mushroom sauce, steamed carrots, creamed cauliflower and mashed potatoes with a real cup of coffee. Before leaving I bought a couple of newspapers to take with us for later.
We arrived at the Caldhame Lodge B&B http://www.caldhamelodge.co.uk/html/index2.html about 3:00 PM. After checking in and getting our bags to the room, Tina set about organizing for the trip back to Scotland while I went downstairs to read the papers in the common room. Sometime around 6:30 PM we drove into Glenavy to eat dinner at McGeaowns, the local pub and eatery. Tina had a shrimp salad and I had poached salmon, both were excellent. By the time we got home it was around 8:00 PM so we watched a little TV, read and went to bed around 10:00 PM.
To see all our photos click on:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Ireland Day 4
Day 29 - Ireland - Day 4 (September 27)
Overcast and mist as we got up about 7:30 AM. Packed up and went down for breakfast then loaded the car and headed off for the Kylemore Abbey http://www.kylemoreabbey.com/ out on the West Coast . By 10:30 AM the mist had cleared up as we drove into the highlands on the way to Kylemore.
Lakes everywhere! Sheep everywhere! Even wandering along the road. At one point we pulled over to watch a sheep dog (border collie) and his master work a herd of sheep into a small paddock - really amazing to see it in real life.
We reached the Abbey about 10:50 AM. After getting our tickets we made the quarter mile walk and entered the front door of the residence. Only a portion of one wing is open to the public but once again, you could see the grandeur that people with money lived in. From there we walked down to the small church. The gothic architecture of this small building is simply stunning. Built in the late 1800’s, it’s like a small cathedral with marble columns, gothic arches and beautiful stained glass tracery windows.
From the church we walked back along the lake to the visitor center where we caught a shuttle bus for the one mile ride to the Walled Garden. We spent the better part of an hour just walking around admiring the formally laid out cutting garden with all the flowers and lawns then walked through the vegetable and fruit gardens where all the food crops are grown for the table. It is amazing how much of the gardens and greenhouses have been restored. Included in the gardens were the head Gardeners home and also the “Bothy” where the laborers ate and slept.
Returning to the car we embarked on our drive up the coast on the N59 Loop Road through numerous small towns and on into Westport. From Wesport we motored north to Newport ending up in Mallaranny headed for Srahnamanragh. Ooooopps! Went too far, we should have turned inland at Westport. Oh well, not to worry. We turned around and backtracked about fifteen miles to Newport where we picked up the R311 and went over the hills to Castle Bar. From there we caught the N5 for Charlestown then followed the N17 to Sligo before turning east on N16 towards Enniskillen and our B&B.
Unless you have ever experienced irish back country roads you can’t begin to imagine how narrow, twisty turney, uppy downy, with blind rises, sheep, fast driving locals coming at you like people with a death wish. Was it nerve wracking? A little!! But mostly it was a really long day of driving. We probably covered a total of 130 miles in a little over five hours of continuous focus. Fortunately once again we had a relatively nice day with heavy mist at ties but no rain.
Eventually we found our lodging went in and got our room, the immediate drove the five miles into Black Lion for a pub dinner, drove back and decided to call it a day. Wheeeww!!
To see all our photos go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Overcast and mist as we got up about 7:30 AM. Packed up and went down for breakfast then loaded the car and headed off for the Kylemore Abbey http://www.kylemoreabbey.com/ out on the West Coast . By 10:30 AM the mist had cleared up as we drove into the highlands on the way to Kylemore.
Lakes everywhere! Sheep everywhere! Even wandering along the road. At one point we pulled over to watch a sheep dog (border collie) and his master work a herd of sheep into a small paddock - really amazing to see it in real life.
We reached the Abbey about 10:50 AM. After getting our tickets we made the quarter mile walk and entered the front door of the residence. Only a portion of one wing is open to the public but once again, you could see the grandeur that people with money lived in. From there we walked down to the small church. The gothic architecture of this small building is simply stunning. Built in the late 1800’s, it’s like a small cathedral with marble columns, gothic arches and beautiful stained glass tracery windows.
From the church we walked back along the lake to the visitor center where we caught a shuttle bus for the one mile ride to the Walled Garden. We spent the better part of an hour just walking around admiring the formally laid out cutting garden with all the flowers and lawns then walked through the vegetable and fruit gardens where all the food crops are grown for the table. It is amazing how much of the gardens and greenhouses have been restored. Included in the gardens were the head Gardeners home and also the “Bothy” where the laborers ate and slept.
Returning to the car we embarked on our drive up the coast on the N59 Loop Road through numerous small towns and on into Westport. From Wesport we motored north to Newport ending up in Mallaranny headed for Srahnamanragh. Ooooopps! Went too far, we should have turned inland at Westport. Oh well, not to worry. We turned around and backtracked about fifteen miles to Newport where we picked up the R311 and went over the hills to Castle Bar. From there we caught the N5 for Charlestown then followed the N17 to Sligo before turning east on N16 towards Enniskillen and our B&B.
Unless you have ever experienced irish back country roads you can’t begin to imagine how narrow, twisty turney, uppy downy, with blind rises, sheep, fast driving locals coming at you like people with a death wish. Was it nerve wracking? A little!! But mostly it was a really long day of driving. We probably covered a total of 130 miles in a little over five hours of continuous focus. Fortunately once again we had a relatively nice day with heavy mist at ties but no rain.
Eventually we found our lodging went in and got our room, the immediate drove the five miles into Black Lion for a pub dinner, drove back and decided to call it a day. Wheeeww!!
To see all our photos go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Ireland Day 3
Day 28 - Ireland - Day 3 (September 26)
Tina was up about 7:00 AM and I soon followed. It was heavily overcast and there was a hint of rain n the air. We had a short drive today so we weren’t in a big rush to get going. By 8:00 AM Tina had the bags packed and we took them down stairs to leave them next to the front door, then went into the dining room for breakfast. Tina had scrambled eggs and ham, I had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, along with fruit, yogurt, toast and coffee. Replete after breaking our fast we thanked our hostess and took our bags out to the car.
Leaving Cragana we took the back roads along the coast through Oranmore and into Galway. We stopped to get diesel and directions to a laundrette then drove into town proper in search of a parking spot. Eventually I pulled into a loading zone half a block from the laundrette and let Tina off with all our dirty clothes and 15 euros then I went in search of parking. I was lucky, less then a block away was a parking garage.
After getting my ticket and parking I walked over to the elevator and went down two floors ending up in a beautiful shopping mall. The exit door was only a few feet away so out I went. Turning in what I thought might be the correct direction I set off at a good clip to find Tina. Nothing looked familiar so I followed the old scout rule, “Don’t get lost, stick with right hand turns until you figure out where you are”. It worked. After the third turn to the right I ended up on the street where I entered the garage and was looking at the laundrette. Cool! I found Tina!
Thirty five minutes later we finished our laundry, packed up and took the laundry back to the car, or to where I thought the car was. Oooops, I lost the car - damn! Well after some searching we found it and loaded the laundry in it so we could walk around town. Back down the elevator, through the indoor mall and out onto the main shopping street (pedestrian only) we walked along for a ways looking in shop windows until we came to a jewelry store I wanted to visit (had a brochure from last night). We found a couple of items when I remembered we had a discount flyer back at the car. Oooops, well it was only a short walk back to the car to get it along with the map while Tina continued to shop.
Back to the store and we took our items to the counter to purchase and I flourished the discount flyer to the sales person. Oooops, wrong store. Damn! Oh well, we really wanted the items so the sale was completed and on our way we went. Our next stop was the outdoor market where fruits, fresh vegetables, baked goods, clothes, trinkets, etc., were being sold out of small stalls. We bought a couple of bagels for a snack. The walkway between the small stands was probably only four feet on average and it was packed with people. In fact, everywhere was filled with people.
We continued our walk around town finding remnants of the old city wall nestled right up to a new shopping mall. Eventually we ended up at Eyre Square where there were two parades taking place in celebration of Guinness. One was a series of young school children dressed in school colors singing, playing instruments and waving pennants. The other was a marching band playing instruments led by special cars of dignitaries. Quite fun! On our way back to the car we bought a couple of small ice cream cones to complete our mid morning snack.
Finding our way out of town to the coast, we drove west through a half dozen small villages with a couple of stops to walk on the beach and take photos. The roads were narrow but traffic was light. About fifteen miles out of Galway we veared off the main road to stay on the coast winding our way through hills with fields filled with stone walls. In fact, every where you looked, stone walls stood, even along the sides of the road. We came to an intersection that wasn’t on our map so we turned right to find a road sign and ended right back at the point we turned off the main road.
So we turned around and drove back along the main road until we found a sign for R336, turned right and followed it up to the N59, turned left and fourteen miles later turned left on R443 for the three miles to our lodging at Ballynahinch Castle http://www.ballynahinch-castle.com/ . Built in 1756 by the Martin Family and once owned by an Indian Raj, the castle sits in the wilds of Connemaran nestled in beautifully landscaped grounds alongside the Ballynahinch River.
As soon as we registered we were shown to our room, the Maharaja suite in honor of Maharaja Ranjitsihnji, a noted cricketeer for England in the late 1800’s. Pretty cool, huh.
After we unpacked we went for a short walk around the grounds in the late afternoon mist. Tomorrow morning we plan to take a short hike, its very beautiful here. After our walk we sat in the downstairs pub and had apot of tea while we read the Irish Independent newspaper.
Later, up in our room, we folded and packed all our newly laundered clothes and dressed for dinner. Going down to the dining room around 6:00 PM we were shown to a table by the window overlooking the river where we watched salmon coming to the surface as the sun lightened the western sky.
We had an amazing dinner, starting with a crab appetizer for me and a stuffed cannelloni appetizer for Tina. This was followed by a small lamb roast (medium rare) with parsley scalloped potatoes for me while Tina had the Chicken Ballatine with Gnoche. This was followed by Coffee and two wonderful deserts, Connemara Berry Cheesecake for Tina and Warm Chocolate Lava Cake for me. Simply the best meal we’ve had on our trip!! After dinner we retired upstairs to our room to relax and watch a little TV before the end of a very nice day.
Tina was up about 7:00 AM and I soon followed. It was heavily overcast and there was a hint of rain n the air. We had a short drive today so we weren’t in a big rush to get going. By 8:00 AM Tina had the bags packed and we took them down stairs to leave them next to the front door, then went into the dining room for breakfast. Tina had scrambled eggs and ham, I had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, along with fruit, yogurt, toast and coffee. Replete after breaking our fast we thanked our hostess and took our bags out to the car.
Leaving Cragana we took the back roads along the coast through Oranmore and into Galway. We stopped to get diesel and directions to a laundrette then drove into town proper in search of a parking spot. Eventually I pulled into a loading zone half a block from the laundrette and let Tina off with all our dirty clothes and 15 euros then I went in search of parking. I was lucky, less then a block away was a parking garage.
After getting my ticket and parking I walked over to the elevator and went down two floors ending up in a beautiful shopping mall. The exit door was only a few feet away so out I went. Turning in what I thought might be the correct direction I set off at a good clip to find Tina. Nothing looked familiar so I followed the old scout rule, “Don’t get lost, stick with right hand turns until you figure out where you are”. It worked. After the third turn to the right I ended up on the street where I entered the garage and was looking at the laundrette. Cool! I found Tina!
Thirty five minutes later we finished our laundry, packed up and took the laundry back to the car, or to where I thought the car was. Oooops, I lost the car - damn! Well after some searching we found it and loaded the laundry in it so we could walk around town. Back down the elevator, through the indoor mall and out onto the main shopping street (pedestrian only) we walked along for a ways looking in shop windows until we came to a jewelry store I wanted to visit (had a brochure from last night). We found a couple of items when I remembered we had a discount flyer back at the car. Oooops, well it was only a short walk back to the car to get it along with the map while Tina continued to shop.
Back to the store and we took our items to the counter to purchase and I flourished the discount flyer to the sales person. Oooops, wrong store. Damn! Oh well, we really wanted the items so the sale was completed and on our way we went. Our next stop was the outdoor market where fruits, fresh vegetables, baked goods, clothes, trinkets, etc., were being sold out of small stalls. We bought a couple of bagels for a snack. The walkway between the small stands was probably only four feet on average and it was packed with people. In fact, everywhere was filled with people.
We continued our walk around town finding remnants of the old city wall nestled right up to a new shopping mall. Eventually we ended up at Eyre Square where there were two parades taking place in celebration of Guinness. One was a series of young school children dressed in school colors singing, playing instruments and waving pennants. The other was a marching band playing instruments led by special cars of dignitaries. Quite fun! On our way back to the car we bought a couple of small ice cream cones to complete our mid morning snack.
Finding our way out of town to the coast, we drove west through a half dozen small villages with a couple of stops to walk on the beach and take photos. The roads were narrow but traffic was light. About fifteen miles out of Galway we veared off the main road to stay on the coast winding our way through hills with fields filled with stone walls. In fact, every where you looked, stone walls stood, even along the sides of the road. We came to an intersection that wasn’t on our map so we turned right to find a road sign and ended right back at the point we turned off the main road.
So we turned around and drove back along the main road until we found a sign for R336, turned right and followed it up to the N59, turned left and fourteen miles later turned left on R443 for the three miles to our lodging at Ballynahinch Castle http://www.ballynahinch-castle.com/ . Built in 1756 by the Martin Family and once owned by an Indian Raj, the castle sits in the wilds of Connemaran nestled in beautifully landscaped grounds alongside the Ballynahinch River.
As soon as we registered we were shown to our room, the Maharaja suite in honor of Maharaja Ranjitsihnji, a noted cricketeer for England in the late 1800’s. Pretty cool, huh.
After we unpacked we went for a short walk around the grounds in the late afternoon mist. Tomorrow morning we plan to take a short hike, its very beautiful here. After our walk we sat in the downstairs pub and had apot of tea while we read the Irish Independent newspaper.
Later, up in our room, we folded and packed all our newly laundered clothes and dressed for dinner. Going down to the dining room around 6:00 PM we were shown to a table by the window overlooking the river where we watched salmon coming to the surface as the sun lightened the western sky.
We had an amazing dinner, starting with a crab appetizer for me and a stuffed cannelloni appetizer for Tina. This was followed by a small lamb roast (medium rare) with parsley scalloped potatoes for me while Tina had the Chicken Ballatine with Gnoche. This was followed by Coffee and two wonderful deserts, Connemara Berry Cheesecake for Tina and Warm Chocolate Lava Cake for me. Simply the best meal we’ve had on our trip!! After dinner we retired upstairs to our room to relax and watch a little TV before the end of a very nice day.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Ireland Day 2
Day 27 - Ireland - Day 2 (September 25)
We decided to sleep in a bit, so didn’t get up until 7:30 AM with breakfast an hour later in the downstairs dining room. Fitzpatrick Castle is bustling with tourists from all over the world and we hear German, Japanese and American as we eat. After breakfast we took our bags out to the car and then returned to map out our route and make a reservation for this evening at Springlawn B&B just outside Galway.
We start our drive just about 10:00 AM, returning to the M50 then catching the M4 east, then switching to the N6 for the small town of Athlone. We got into Athlone just about noon, parked and walked into the city center, over the river and to the old town fort which houses the Tourist Bureau. We picked up some travel information, then returned to town for lunch in a small café where we both had a delightful meal.
Leaving the café we returned to the car and drove out to an old monastery called Clonmacnoise Abbey http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ireland/clonmacnoise . We spent some time here in the museum and out in the grounds, walking through the ruins of the abbey and the cemetery which stretches back for over 1200 years. They are still doing some restoration to the towers to stabilize the stones. It was very interesting.
Leaving the Abbey we returned once again to the N6 for the drive to Oranmore, just outside Galway. Here we turned on the N18 for the short drive to Cragana and our lodging. After getting settled, we read for a while, worked on photos and the blog, then drove into town to the local pub for dinner. It was really good!! Arriving back at Springlawn we settled in for the night.
To see our photos, go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
We decided to sleep in a bit, so didn’t get up until 7:30 AM with breakfast an hour later in the downstairs dining room. Fitzpatrick Castle is bustling with tourists from all over the world and we hear German, Japanese and American as we eat. After breakfast we took our bags out to the car and then returned to map out our route and make a reservation for this evening at Springlawn B&B just outside Galway.
We start our drive just about 10:00 AM, returning to the M50 then catching the M4 east, then switching to the N6 for the small town of Athlone. We got into Athlone just about noon, parked and walked into the city center, over the river and to the old town fort which houses the Tourist Bureau. We picked up some travel information, then returned to town for lunch in a small café where we both had a delightful meal.
Leaving the café we returned to the car and drove out to an old monastery called Clonmacnoise Abbey http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ireland/clonmacnoise . We spent some time here in the museum and out in the grounds, walking through the ruins of the abbey and the cemetery which stretches back for over 1200 years. They are still doing some restoration to the towers to stabilize the stones. It was very interesting.
Leaving the Abbey we returned once again to the N6 for the drive to Oranmore, just outside Galway. Here we turned on the N18 for the short drive to Cragana and our lodging. After getting settled, we read for a while, worked on photos and the blog, then drove into town to the local pub for dinner. It was really good!! Arriving back at Springlawn we settled in for the night.
To see our photos, go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Scotland and Ireland Day 9
Day 26 - Scotland - Day 9 Morning (September 24)
Up at 5:45 AM, I took my shower and relinquished the bathroom to Tina. It was overcast and chilly. With bags packed and ready to go we got the car loaded and went back inside for breakfast. Our hostess had prepared fruit, coffee and cereal per our request and by 7:30 AM we were in the car headed for Glasgow.
I had prepared fairly detailed driving directions last night but on one of the first roundabouts we missed a turn and headed out into the country. We passed through several small towns until Tina saw a sign for Glasgow. More small villages, small roads and morning traffic but eventually we managed to get back on course and onto the A9 heading south.
Since we had to go to the airport to return the car, we connected with the M8 to bypass the center of Glasgow. Looking at the airport map provided by the car rental company, we determined that we needed to get off at the second exit to the airport. Only there was no second exit, so off we went to the town of Paisley, SW of the airport, made a circle on the next big roundabout to get back to the M8 and finally off at the airport exit. Luckily, Tina was able to properly interpret the signs and we were only 50 yards fro where we were supposed to turn in the car - and we made the trip by 9:00 AM, per plan - heheheh!
Once we squared away our rental, we got a cab to Glasgow Central to connect with our train which was scheduled to leave at 11:42 AM for the trip to Stranraer and our connection with the Stena Line ferry to Belfast. Since we were early we spent the next two hours watching trains leave and the big schedule boards for departures. Our train came in on time and we wheeled our luggage to platform 11 and boarded a day car. After stowing our luggage and getting seated it was a quiet twohour ride to the coast.
Arriving in Stranraer the train terminal was right next to the ferry terminal so it was a short walk to the next leg of our journey. After giving over our baggage for loading we spent fifteen minutes in the waiting room before boarding an absolutely huge ship with three car decks, eight or nine food service stations, several bars, a gaming area, teen area and a quiet lounge at the front of the ship which is where we went to watch the sun play on the waves and review our travel plans.
Day 26 - Ireland - Day 9 Afternoon (September 24)
The ship docked in Belfast harbor around 5:10 PM. Leaving the ship we picked up our luggage and got a taxi to the car rental agency. Well, we got a ride to the Belfast Harbor Airport terminal where we could go in and get our car. Once the paperwork was done and with keys in hand we wheeled our luggage out to the lot where the car was parked. At 6:00 PM, after loading the car and checking the map we headed for the M1 south to Dublin and the Fitzpatrick Castle our lodging for the night. If you look at a map it‘s only about a 120 mile drive.
About thirty miles from Belfast we pulled into a McDonalds for dinner. With the sun fading in the West we drove on down the M1, onto the A1, through construction sites, back to the M1, through a massive roundabout onto the M50 to go around Dublin, finally exiting south of Dublin onto a small residential road where we promptly made a wrong turn.
After several phone calls for more instructions, we eventually arrived at the Fitzpatrick Castle. At the registration desk, the manager was very nice and gave us an upgrade to the “Bridal Suite” with a sitting room, separate bedroom, two bathrooms and a balcony overlooking the gardens. By this time it’s just after 9:30 PM and we’re bushed. Tomorrow we plan on going across to Galway with several stops for sight-seeing. We’ll add our photos tomorrow evening. We’re going to bed now.
Nighty, night!
Up at 5:45 AM, I took my shower and relinquished the bathroom to Tina. It was overcast and chilly. With bags packed and ready to go we got the car loaded and went back inside for breakfast. Our hostess had prepared fruit, coffee and cereal per our request and by 7:30 AM we were in the car headed for Glasgow.
I had prepared fairly detailed driving directions last night but on one of the first roundabouts we missed a turn and headed out into the country. We passed through several small towns until Tina saw a sign for Glasgow. More small villages, small roads and morning traffic but eventually we managed to get back on course and onto the A9 heading south.
Since we had to go to the airport to return the car, we connected with the M8 to bypass the center of Glasgow. Looking at the airport map provided by the car rental company, we determined that we needed to get off at the second exit to the airport. Only there was no second exit, so off we went to the town of Paisley, SW of the airport, made a circle on the next big roundabout to get back to the M8 and finally off at the airport exit. Luckily, Tina was able to properly interpret the signs and we were only 50 yards fro where we were supposed to turn in the car - and we made the trip by 9:00 AM, per plan - heheheh!
Once we squared away our rental, we got a cab to Glasgow Central to connect with our train which was scheduled to leave at 11:42 AM for the trip to Stranraer and our connection with the Stena Line ferry to Belfast. Since we were early we spent the next two hours watching trains leave and the big schedule boards for departures. Our train came in on time and we wheeled our luggage to platform 11 and boarded a day car. After stowing our luggage and getting seated it was a quiet twohour ride to the coast.
Arriving in Stranraer the train terminal was right next to the ferry terminal so it was a short walk to the next leg of our journey. After giving over our baggage for loading we spent fifteen minutes in the waiting room before boarding an absolutely huge ship with three car decks, eight or nine food service stations, several bars, a gaming area, teen area and a quiet lounge at the front of the ship which is where we went to watch the sun play on the waves and review our travel plans.
Day 26 - Ireland - Day 9 Afternoon (September 24)
The ship docked in Belfast harbor around 5:10 PM. Leaving the ship we picked up our luggage and got a taxi to the car rental agency. Well, we got a ride to the Belfast Harbor Airport terminal where we could go in and get our car. Once the paperwork was done and with keys in hand we wheeled our luggage out to the lot where the car was parked. At 6:00 PM, after loading the car and checking the map we headed for the M1 south to Dublin and the Fitzpatrick Castle our lodging for the night. If you look at a map it‘s only about a 120 mile drive.
About thirty miles from Belfast we pulled into a McDonalds for dinner. With the sun fading in the West we drove on down the M1, onto the A1, through construction sites, back to the M1, through a massive roundabout onto the M50 to go around Dublin, finally exiting south of Dublin onto a small residential road where we promptly made a wrong turn.
After several phone calls for more instructions, we eventually arrived at the Fitzpatrick Castle. At the registration desk, the manager was very nice and gave us an upgrade to the “Bridal Suite” with a sitting room, separate bedroom, two bathrooms and a balcony overlooking the gardens. By this time it’s just after 9:30 PM and we’re bushed. Tomorrow we plan on going across to Galway with several stops for sight-seeing. We’ll add our photos tomorrow evening. We’re going to bed now.
Nighty, night!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Scotland Day 8
Day 25 - Scotland - Day 8 (September 23)
It was a beautiful morning. We were up around 6:30 AM as the sun rose above the hills across the River Tay. After a quick shower we went downstairs to breakfast to plan our day. Since we were all packed, I got the NetBook out one last time and checked our routes while Tina made some calls to confirm our “Rail/Sail” booking for tomorrow and to line up a place to stay in Stirling.
Leaving Dundee on the A90 we headed southeast towards Perth where we planned to go to the Scone Palace www.scone-palace.net .
Although its castellated mansion is only 200 years old, the present-day Scone Palace is built on the site of a medieval abbey and palace which is of pivotal importance in the history of Scotland. It saw the coronations of Scottish monarchs for hundreds of years until the Stone of Scone (the "Stone of Destiny") was moved to Westminster Abbey at the end of the 13th century, by King Edward I. There is a replica Stone of Destiny on view at Scone Palace, although the real stone is now much closer, as in 1996 it was transferred from Westminster Abbey to Edinburgh Castle.
The current palace was built in the early 19th century by David Murray, Earl of Mansfield, costing him £60,000, with William Atkinson's designs taking nine years to complete. A choice example of the Georgian Gothic style, the building contains great portraits and decorative arts collections, while the grounds once held Scottish Parliaments between 1210 and 1452, commemorated by a small chapel dedicated by the Third Earl of Mansfield.
We went into the Palace and toured the building, it is simply beautiful. As in most museums, no photos were allowed so you have to go to the web site to see all the art and antiques. After walking through the Palace we spent another half hour touring the castle grounds. The butterfly garden was a hit, lots of flowers with lots of butterflies. Also peacocks, pheasants and many farm animals. The grounds are well laid out and very well kept.
Leaving the Scone Palace we returned to A90 into the town of Stirling to visit the monument to William Wallace, one of Scotland’s principal heroes. We made it to http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/wallace/ Stirling and drove up to the parking lot below the monument. Since it was lunch time we decided to have a bite to eat at the café before ascending to the top of the monument.
Over 700 years ago, England’s King Edward I, oppressed the people of Scotland using a rule of tyranny and terror. Occupied and oppressed, the Scottish nation sought a hero to challenge the reign of cruelty. Sir William Wallace, a true patriot had a burning desire for peace and freedom. His passion and fervor for the cause of freedom united the country’s clans and gained the loyalty of its people. In 1297, a decisive battle was fought between the well armed and trained English army and a battle hardened band of Scots Highlanders led by William Wallace. Using their knowledge of the land, Wallace fashioned tactics that were well suited to his troops and at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, defeated the English. The monument was created to recognize his courageous efforts to free Scotland from England’s domination.
After our lunch we were going to take the shuttle up the hill to the base of the monument. Standing outside the cafe waiting for the bus, the admissions clerk came out and informed us that the shuttle driver was having his lunch, so we decided to walk…. Up a very steep trail… With eight or nine switchbacks… To take us up to the monument entrance… But we made it to the top of Abbey Craig and the base of the monument.. We took several photos of the outside trying not to be blown away in the high wind blowing around the top of the hill.
Going inside we learned that there are four levels reached by over 230 steps in a circular staircase. Tina was simply thrilled to have another challenge … Yeah, right!! But with perseverance we actually made it to each level, taking a rest break at each before making the final push to the summit!! Well, reaching the top of the monument anyway - heheheh! The view from the top, overlooking the Shire and town of Stirling was fantastic.
Eventually we had to get out of the wind, so we looked for an elevator… Nope, back the way we came. Down the winding staircase (with people coming up) and down the trail eventually reaching the car. From the monument we made it back into town and found our B&B, a nice place on the edge of town. We registered and took all our bags in to get organized for our trip to Ireland in the morning. After relaxing a few hours we walked to one of the local pubs for dinner, walked back and decided to call it a night since we’ll be up early.
To see all our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
It was a beautiful morning. We were up around 6:30 AM as the sun rose above the hills across the River Tay. After a quick shower we went downstairs to breakfast to plan our day. Since we were all packed, I got the NetBook out one last time and checked our routes while Tina made some calls to confirm our “Rail/Sail” booking for tomorrow and to line up a place to stay in Stirling.
Leaving Dundee on the A90 we headed southeast towards Perth where we planned to go to the Scone Palace www.scone-palace.net .
Although its castellated mansion is only 200 years old, the present-day Scone Palace is built on the site of a medieval abbey and palace which is of pivotal importance in the history of Scotland. It saw the coronations of Scottish monarchs for hundreds of years until the Stone of Scone (the "Stone of Destiny") was moved to Westminster Abbey at the end of the 13th century, by King Edward I. There is a replica Stone of Destiny on view at Scone Palace, although the real stone is now much closer, as in 1996 it was transferred from Westminster Abbey to Edinburgh Castle.
The current palace was built in the early 19th century by David Murray, Earl of Mansfield, costing him £60,000, with William Atkinson's designs taking nine years to complete. A choice example of the Georgian Gothic style, the building contains great portraits and decorative arts collections, while the grounds once held Scottish Parliaments between 1210 and 1452, commemorated by a small chapel dedicated by the Third Earl of Mansfield.
We went into the Palace and toured the building, it is simply beautiful. As in most museums, no photos were allowed so you have to go to the web site to see all the art and antiques. After walking through the Palace we spent another half hour touring the castle grounds. The butterfly garden was a hit, lots of flowers with lots of butterflies. Also peacocks, pheasants and many farm animals. The grounds are well laid out and very well kept.
Leaving the Scone Palace we returned to A90 into the town of Stirling to visit the monument to William Wallace, one of Scotland’s principal heroes. We made it to http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/wallace/ Stirling and drove up to the parking lot below the monument. Since it was lunch time we decided to have a bite to eat at the café before ascending to the top of the monument.
Over 700 years ago, England’s King Edward I, oppressed the people of Scotland using a rule of tyranny and terror. Occupied and oppressed, the Scottish nation sought a hero to challenge the reign of cruelty. Sir William Wallace, a true patriot had a burning desire for peace and freedom. His passion and fervor for the cause of freedom united the country’s clans and gained the loyalty of its people. In 1297, a decisive battle was fought between the well armed and trained English army and a battle hardened band of Scots Highlanders led by William Wallace. Using their knowledge of the land, Wallace fashioned tactics that were well suited to his troops and at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, defeated the English. The monument was created to recognize his courageous efforts to free Scotland from England’s domination.
After our lunch we were going to take the shuttle up the hill to the base of the monument. Standing outside the cafe waiting for the bus, the admissions clerk came out and informed us that the shuttle driver was having his lunch, so we decided to walk…. Up a very steep trail… With eight or nine switchbacks… To take us up to the monument entrance… But we made it to the top of Abbey Craig and the base of the monument.. We took several photos of the outside trying not to be blown away in the high wind blowing around the top of the hill.
Going inside we learned that there are four levels reached by over 230 steps in a circular staircase. Tina was simply thrilled to have another challenge … Yeah, right!! But with perseverance we actually made it to each level, taking a rest break at each before making the final push to the summit!! Well, reaching the top of the monument anyway - heheheh! The view from the top, overlooking the Shire and town of Stirling was fantastic.
Eventually we had to get out of the wind, so we looked for an elevator… Nope, back the way we came. Down the winding staircase (with people coming up) and down the trail eventually reaching the car. From the monument we made it back into town and found our B&B, a nice place on the edge of town. We registered and took all our bags in to get organized for our trip to Ireland in the morning. After relaxing a few hours we walked to one of the local pubs for dinner, walked back and decided to call it a night since we’ll be up early.
To see all our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Scotland Day 7
Day 24 - Scotland - Day 7 (September 22)
Sunshine!! According to the weather report, we should have temperatures in the high 60’s with the possibility of high winds. It’s 7:30 AM and we are downstairs having breakfast and chatting with our hostess. Today I’m having fruit and cereal, a lighter breakfast than normal for this trip - heh, heh!
After breakfast we take our bags out to the car and get ready for another day of exploring. Our rout takes us out of Montrose and up A92 towards Stonehaven. Our first stop is the small seaside village of Johnshaven just up the coast from Montrose. This is still a fishing village where the primary catch is lobster.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/johnshaven/johnshaven/index.html
We parked right next to the harbor and got out to walk around. With the tide out, the boats in the basin are high and dry. We made it down to the beach and walked along the shore then cut back through the town before returning to the car. On our way out we drove through several narrow streets before heading up a one way lane back to A92.
Reaching the highway, we turned north once again. Our next stop was the castle of Dunnottar, perched high on a craig above the sea. The site on which the
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stonehaven/dunnottarcastle/
Castle sits has been inhabited since Pictish times (5000 BC to 700 AD) although an exact date is not known. The name Dunnottar stems from the Pictish word "Dun" which means hill fort or place of strength. For more on the Picts go to:
http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/origin1.html .
Dunnottar Castle was home to one of the most powerful families in Scotland, the Earls Marischal, from the 14th century when Sir William Keith, the 1st Earl Marischal, built his Tower House, also known as the Keep. The Earl Marischal was an office bestowed on the Keiths by James II. The role was one of the three great offices of State, along with the Constable and the Steward. The Earl Marischal had specific responsibility for ceremonial events, the Honours (Crown, Scepter and Sword) of Scotland and for the safety of the King's person within parliament. William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles II, all graced the Castle with their presence. Most famously though, it was at Dunnottar Castle that a small garrison held out against the might of Cromwell’s army for eight months and saved the Scottish Crown Jewels, the ‘Honours of Scotland’, from destruction. Crown, scepter and sword now take pride of place in Edinburgh Castle.
The walk to the castle is strenuous, descending from the parking lot along a narrow lane to a series of winding steps leading down the crest of a hill to the base of the rock which the castle stands on. Then the steps wind up to the castle entrance. Lots of nooks and cranny’s, towers with spiral staircases, hidden rooms and absolutely meticulously kept grounds. We spent almost two hours wandering around taking pictures, oohhing and aahhing over the setting, the play of sunlight on water and fields. With few people around we could take our time.
We slowly made our way back up to the other side where we went out on a broad grassy plain across a massive gulch from the castle to take a few pictures without the sun being in our face. Then it was back to the car for the journey into “Stonehaven. We reached the back entrance to Stonehaven, high on a cliff above the harbor http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stonehaven/stonehaven/index.html.
After a brief stop for pictures, we continued down the one way road to the town center and the visitor information center. After booking a room for the night in Dundee, we got information about a great little restaurant out on the end of the pier. So we walked down to the beach where we met several interesting people with their dogs, then walked along the beach and boardwalk to the “Boat Yard” café. The sun was warm so we decided to sit outside on the patio to eat lunch. We each had a Panini and homemade soup - simply delicious. After lunch we walked through town back to the car where we got out the map and our activity list to find out where we were going next. Turns out we had another castle on our list, Edzel Castle http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edzell/edzellcastle/.
Leaving Stonehaven, we headed inland and got on A90, a four lane divided highway and headed south towards the town of Brechin about 25 miles away. It was a nice easy drive with very little traffic and we got to the Brechin turn off twenty minutes later. Crossing over the A90 we headed for a small town called Edzell where the ruins are located. The castle was more of a Baronial home than a massive walled fortification.
This is a remarkable and very beautiful complex, with a late-medieval tower house incorporated into a 16th century courtyard mansion, and a walled garden with a bathhouse and summer house laid out in 1604. The original four story tower house was completed in the mid 1500’s, with a huge expansion following the outer wall making an “L” shape. Late in the 1500’s several other structures were added to make room for the larger staff necessary to support a growing family. The formal garden was planned and built by Sir David Lindsay, Lord Edzell, about 1604 and was recreated in the 1930s. The formal garden and carved wall decorations is unique in Britain. The carvings depict the Planetary Deities, Liberal Arts and Cardinal Virtues.
Once again we were the only visitors so we were able to wander around without feeling pressured to move along. We really enjoyed our time there - very peaceful, but it was time to find our way to our lodging, Balgowan House B&B, a four star lodging.
We got back to A90 and drove into Dundee to the city center. Due to construction we got totally lost and eventually ended up high on the hill above the city. We continued driving around, working our way back towards where we thought we should be when I pulled over so Tina could ask directions. Once again our lucky star was shining. Turns out the young man we were talking to was going to the same road our lodging was on, so we gave him a lift and he gave us directions. After dropping him off it was only about a half mile down the road.
http://guide.visitscotland.com/vs/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,ACC82560Svs,curr,GBP,season,at1,selectedEntry,home/home.html
Pulling into the parking area we met our host David, a semi-pro soccer player with Dundee United http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/ which has been in existence for over 100 years. He showed us around his lovely home then took us up to our room. Once we got settled in, we walked down the street to the Invercarse Hotel http://www.bw-invercarsehotel.co.uk/ for dinner. It was a very nice dinner in a lovely setting, but nothing to write home about.
After coffee we walked back to our lodging, went up to our room and settled in for the night, me to work on photos and the blog, Tina to relax and watch a little TV.
To see all our photos go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Sunshine!! According to the weather report, we should have temperatures in the high 60’s with the possibility of high winds. It’s 7:30 AM and we are downstairs having breakfast and chatting with our hostess. Today I’m having fruit and cereal, a lighter breakfast than normal for this trip - heh, heh!
After breakfast we take our bags out to the car and get ready for another day of exploring. Our rout takes us out of Montrose and up A92 towards Stonehaven. Our first stop is the small seaside village of Johnshaven just up the coast from Montrose. This is still a fishing village where the primary catch is lobster.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/johnshaven/johnshaven/index.html
We parked right next to the harbor and got out to walk around. With the tide out, the boats in the basin are high and dry. We made it down to the beach and walked along the shore then cut back through the town before returning to the car. On our way out we drove through several narrow streets before heading up a one way lane back to A92.
Reaching the highway, we turned north once again. Our next stop was the castle of Dunnottar, perched high on a craig above the sea. The site on which the
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stonehaven/dunnottarcastle/
Castle sits has been inhabited since Pictish times (5000 BC to 700 AD) although an exact date is not known. The name Dunnottar stems from the Pictish word "Dun" which means hill fort or place of strength. For more on the Picts go to:
http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/origin1.html .
Dunnottar Castle was home to one of the most powerful families in Scotland, the Earls Marischal, from the 14th century when Sir William Keith, the 1st Earl Marischal, built his Tower House, also known as the Keep. The Earl Marischal was an office bestowed on the Keiths by James II. The role was one of the three great offices of State, along with the Constable and the Steward. The Earl Marischal had specific responsibility for ceremonial events, the Honours (Crown, Scepter and Sword) of Scotland and for the safety of the King's person within parliament. William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles II, all graced the Castle with their presence. Most famously though, it was at Dunnottar Castle that a small garrison held out against the might of Cromwell’s army for eight months and saved the Scottish Crown Jewels, the ‘Honours of Scotland’, from destruction. Crown, scepter and sword now take pride of place in Edinburgh Castle.
The walk to the castle is strenuous, descending from the parking lot along a narrow lane to a series of winding steps leading down the crest of a hill to the base of the rock which the castle stands on. Then the steps wind up to the castle entrance. Lots of nooks and cranny’s, towers with spiral staircases, hidden rooms and absolutely meticulously kept grounds. We spent almost two hours wandering around taking pictures, oohhing and aahhing over the setting, the play of sunlight on water and fields. With few people around we could take our time.
We slowly made our way back up to the other side where we went out on a broad grassy plain across a massive gulch from the castle to take a few pictures without the sun being in our face. Then it was back to the car for the journey into “Stonehaven. We reached the back entrance to Stonehaven, high on a cliff above the harbor http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stonehaven/stonehaven/index.html.
After a brief stop for pictures, we continued down the one way road to the town center and the visitor information center. After booking a room for the night in Dundee, we got information about a great little restaurant out on the end of the pier. So we walked down to the beach where we met several interesting people with their dogs, then walked along the beach and boardwalk to the “Boat Yard” café. The sun was warm so we decided to sit outside on the patio to eat lunch. We each had a Panini and homemade soup - simply delicious. After lunch we walked through town back to the car where we got out the map and our activity list to find out where we were going next. Turns out we had another castle on our list, Edzel Castle http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edzell/edzellcastle/.
Leaving Stonehaven, we headed inland and got on A90, a four lane divided highway and headed south towards the town of Brechin about 25 miles away. It was a nice easy drive with very little traffic and we got to the Brechin turn off twenty minutes later. Crossing over the A90 we headed for a small town called Edzell where the ruins are located. The castle was more of a Baronial home than a massive walled fortification.
This is a remarkable and very beautiful complex, with a late-medieval tower house incorporated into a 16th century courtyard mansion, and a walled garden with a bathhouse and summer house laid out in 1604. The original four story tower house was completed in the mid 1500’s, with a huge expansion following the outer wall making an “L” shape. Late in the 1500’s several other structures were added to make room for the larger staff necessary to support a growing family. The formal garden was planned and built by Sir David Lindsay, Lord Edzell, about 1604 and was recreated in the 1930s. The formal garden and carved wall decorations is unique in Britain. The carvings depict the Planetary Deities, Liberal Arts and Cardinal Virtues.
Once again we were the only visitors so we were able to wander around without feeling pressured to move along. We really enjoyed our time there - very peaceful, but it was time to find our way to our lodging, Balgowan House B&B, a four star lodging.
We got back to A90 and drove into Dundee to the city center. Due to construction we got totally lost and eventually ended up high on the hill above the city. We continued driving around, working our way back towards where we thought we should be when I pulled over so Tina could ask directions. Once again our lucky star was shining. Turns out the young man we were talking to was going to the same road our lodging was on, so we gave him a lift and he gave us directions. After dropping him off it was only about a half mile down the road.
http://guide.visitscotland.com/vs/guide/5,en,SCH1/objectId,ACC82560Svs,curr,GBP,season,at1,selectedEntry,home/home.html
Pulling into the parking area we met our host David, a semi-pro soccer player with Dundee United http://www.dundeeunitedfc.co.uk/ which has been in existence for over 100 years. He showed us around his lovely home then took us up to our room. Once we got settled in, we walked down the street to the Invercarse Hotel http://www.bw-invercarsehotel.co.uk/ for dinner. It was a very nice dinner in a lovely setting, but nothing to write home about.
After coffee we walked back to our lodging, went up to our room and settled in for the night, me to work on photos and the blog, Tina to relax and watch a little TV.
To see all our photos go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Monday, September 21, 2009
Scotland - Day 6
Day 23 - Scotland - Day 6 (September 21)
The chilly weather is still holding but the rain is over on the West Coast so we’re happy to put warm clothes on. After getting up and taking our bags to the car we went back to the hotel for breakfast. Today we are driving up past Dundee to the seaside town of Arbroath.
Leaving Perth city center we cross the River Tay and take the A85 which connects with the A90, a four lane divided highway with speeds averaging about 70 mph. We have a nice drive up to Dundee when traffic slows, but we skirt the town and soon pick up speed again, navigating our way through a half dozen roundabouts.
Leaving Dundee behind we head for the coast taking the A972 and A92 up to Arbroath where we manage to locate the local tourist bureau, right next to the boat harbor. Walking into the lobby, a young lady came over to help us with thing to do. One suggestion was to go for a short hike out along the coast on the bluff above the North Sea to another small town called Auchmithie. There was a really great little restaurant there called “The But and Ben” where we could have lunch. After that, we could go to the Abby ruins before leaving town. This all sounded like a pretty good idea, so we said, “Why Not”. Famous last words…
With our decision to go for a seaside hike, she suggested we make reservations for lunch as it is a small place and usually very busy. So we asked her to do that for us. Since it was only 9:50 AM, I thought we could be there by noon, so that was our reservation.
Leaving the visitor center we drove through town and down to the end of the quay for the start of our hike. After parking the car we got our boots on, sweaters and jackets grabbed our cameras and headed up onto the bluffs. Most of the area is on Devonian Sandstone and the cliffs have been eroded to fantastic shapes. http://www.geoplacestogo.org.uk/#/arbroath-geodiversity-trail/4534755397 . The trail is part of a Geodiversity project supported by the British Geologic Survey. We made good time, even with stops but the distance turned out to be about five miles instead of three and Tina was pretty tired by the time we got there.
We got to the small building with the restaurant just a few minutes past noon and went inside. The waitress seated us at a table and brought us a pot of tea. This was heavenly as we were in a warm, dry room with a hot drink. I had the specialty, smoked haddock in a white sauce wrapped in a thin pancake. This came with two boiled potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli plus a hot buttered scone. Yummy!! Tina had the lobster salad which turned out to be a whole chilled lobster split in two with a small side salad of mixed greens along with a hot buttered scone. Yummy too!!
After lunch we decided to catch the bus back to Arbroath so we spent some time walking around town, down to the beach and the old boat harbor before the bus came. We caught the 2:30 PM bus for the ten minute ride into Arbroath and got off in the middle of town, about a mile from the car. Arriving at the quay, Tina was slowing down so I headed off for the car and drove back to pick her up.
We went back into town to the Visitor Center and asked for help making reservations for our nights lodging. While that was being done we jokingly let the young lady know that the hike is a bit longer than three miles. She couldn’t believe it so she got a copy of the trail map and in the first paragraph found, “…winds along the path to Auchmithie for about 9 kilometers.” She was very apologetic, but we told her we had a good walk, just a little longer than expected.
Once we had our reservation we drove up to the Abbey Ruins where we took a few photos. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/arbroath/arbroathabbey/index.html . Since it was about ten pounds to get into the museum and walk around the abbey we decided to give it a pass - much to Tina’s relief.
Leaving Arbroath Abbey we headed out on A92 for the fifteen mile drive into Montrose and our B&B, the Oaklands Guesthouse. After registering we took our bags up to the room and took some time to relax before dinner. After a while I took the NetBook downstairs and got a good high speed internet connection and uploaded the last five days worth of photos and wrote the blog. We walked across the street and back towards town about 7:00 PM to a small local pub where we had a very nice dinner, then returned to the Inn and called it a night.
Photos are up - yippee!! Go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
The chilly weather is still holding but the rain is over on the West Coast so we’re happy to put warm clothes on. After getting up and taking our bags to the car we went back to the hotel for breakfast. Today we are driving up past Dundee to the seaside town of Arbroath.
Leaving Perth city center we cross the River Tay and take the A85 which connects with the A90, a four lane divided highway with speeds averaging about 70 mph. We have a nice drive up to Dundee when traffic slows, but we skirt the town and soon pick up speed again, navigating our way through a half dozen roundabouts.
Leaving Dundee behind we head for the coast taking the A972 and A92 up to Arbroath where we manage to locate the local tourist bureau, right next to the boat harbor. Walking into the lobby, a young lady came over to help us with thing to do. One suggestion was to go for a short hike out along the coast on the bluff above the North Sea to another small town called Auchmithie. There was a really great little restaurant there called “The But and Ben” where we could have lunch. After that, we could go to the Abby ruins before leaving town. This all sounded like a pretty good idea, so we said, “Why Not”. Famous last words…
With our decision to go for a seaside hike, she suggested we make reservations for lunch as it is a small place and usually very busy. So we asked her to do that for us. Since it was only 9:50 AM, I thought we could be there by noon, so that was our reservation.
Leaving the visitor center we drove through town and down to the end of the quay for the start of our hike. After parking the car we got our boots on, sweaters and jackets grabbed our cameras and headed up onto the bluffs. Most of the area is on Devonian Sandstone and the cliffs have been eroded to fantastic shapes. http://www.geoplacestogo.org.uk/#/arbroath-geodiversity-trail/4534755397 . The trail is part of a Geodiversity project supported by the British Geologic Survey. We made good time, even with stops but the distance turned out to be about five miles instead of three and Tina was pretty tired by the time we got there.
We got to the small building with the restaurant just a few minutes past noon and went inside. The waitress seated us at a table and brought us a pot of tea. This was heavenly as we were in a warm, dry room with a hot drink. I had the specialty, smoked haddock in a white sauce wrapped in a thin pancake. This came with two boiled potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli plus a hot buttered scone. Yummy!! Tina had the lobster salad which turned out to be a whole chilled lobster split in two with a small side salad of mixed greens along with a hot buttered scone. Yummy too!!
After lunch we decided to catch the bus back to Arbroath so we spent some time walking around town, down to the beach and the old boat harbor before the bus came. We caught the 2:30 PM bus for the ten minute ride into Arbroath and got off in the middle of town, about a mile from the car. Arriving at the quay, Tina was slowing down so I headed off for the car and drove back to pick her up.
We went back into town to the Visitor Center and asked for help making reservations for our nights lodging. While that was being done we jokingly let the young lady know that the hike is a bit longer than three miles. She couldn’t believe it so she got a copy of the trail map and in the first paragraph found, “…winds along the path to Auchmithie for about 9 kilometers.” She was very apologetic, but we told her we had a good walk, just a little longer than expected.
Once we had our reservation we drove up to the Abbey Ruins where we took a few photos. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/arbroath/arbroathabbey/index.html . Since it was about ten pounds to get into the museum and walk around the abbey we decided to give it a pass - much to Tina’s relief.
Leaving Arbroath Abbey we headed out on A92 for the fifteen mile drive into Montrose and our B&B, the Oaklands Guesthouse. After registering we took our bags up to the room and took some time to relax before dinner. After a while I took the NetBook downstairs and got a good high speed internet connection and uploaded the last five days worth of photos and wrote the blog. We walked across the street and back towards town about 7:00 PM to a small local pub where we had a very nice dinner, then returned to the Inn and called it a night.
Photos are up - yippee!! Go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Scotland - Day 5
Day 22 - Scotland - Day 5 (September 20)
Once again we woke to another nice day, but still cold enough for jeans, a long sleeve shirt and sweater. After showers and packing we went downstairs for our last breakfast at the Albannach B&B. After settling our bill we got the car packed and set out for Stirling Castle. We followed Main Street north out of Alexandria to Balloch where we got on A811 for the 35 mile drive through the countryside.
It was beautiful drive with the sun peaking through the clouds now and then to paint the hills surrounding us as we drove past small hamlets, cattle and sheep pastures and fields recently harvested. Our average speed was somewhere around 35 as we wound around through the hills finally coming to the flat lands around the town of Stirling, where we could see the castle high on a hill above the town.
Winding our way through the narrow cobble streets of Stirling we finally found the correct street and headed up the hill finally topping out at the car park next to the castle. We paid for parking and made our way to the postern gate and enterd the castle grounds. Stirling Castle http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/stirlingcastle/ was even more enjoyable than our visit to Edinburg Castle. Since it was early there were fewer people and we could wander around checking out pretty much anything we wanted to see except for the Royal Palace which was closed for restoration. We spent about two hours to see everything including a long walk along the ramparts surrounding the old bailey. It was a real enjoyable stop.
Finally we returned to the car and wound our way around the town to the plains below where we got on the M9 for Perth. After a couple of roundabouts we finally reached a double lane freeway where we could move along at 70 mph for the 36 mile drive. Pulling into Perth we found our way into the center of town and parked next to the Visitor Center. We got some information on lodgings and walked over to the Jarvis Ramada where we booked a room for the night, got our bags from the car and walked back into town for lunch.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town just enjoying the sights. Perth is a lovely town with a ring road circling the heart of the old town and a pedestrian only shopping street running through the center. Eventually we returned to our room to rest up, work on the blog, upload photos and get ready for dinner. We finally went out to a small Itallian restaurant and had a nice simple dinner then returned to our hotel for the evening.
To see all our photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Once again we woke to another nice day, but still cold enough for jeans, a long sleeve shirt and sweater. After showers and packing we went downstairs for our last breakfast at the Albannach B&B. After settling our bill we got the car packed and set out for Stirling Castle. We followed Main Street north out of Alexandria to Balloch where we got on A811 for the 35 mile drive through the countryside.
It was beautiful drive with the sun peaking through the clouds now and then to paint the hills surrounding us as we drove past small hamlets, cattle and sheep pastures and fields recently harvested. Our average speed was somewhere around 35 as we wound around through the hills finally coming to the flat lands around the town of Stirling, where we could see the castle high on a hill above the town.
Winding our way through the narrow cobble streets of Stirling we finally found the correct street and headed up the hill finally topping out at the car park next to the castle. We paid for parking and made our way to the postern gate and enterd the castle grounds. Stirling Castle http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/stirlingcastle/ was even more enjoyable than our visit to Edinburg Castle. Since it was early there were fewer people and we could wander around checking out pretty much anything we wanted to see except for the Royal Palace which was closed for restoration. We spent about two hours to see everything including a long walk along the ramparts surrounding the old bailey. It was a real enjoyable stop.
Finally we returned to the car and wound our way around the town to the plains below where we got on the M9 for Perth. After a couple of roundabouts we finally reached a double lane freeway where we could move along at 70 mph for the 36 mile drive. Pulling into Perth we found our way into the center of town and parked next to the Visitor Center. We got some information on lodgings and walked over to the Jarvis Ramada where we booked a room for the night, got our bags from the car and walked back into town for lunch.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town just enjoying the sights. Perth is a lovely town with a ring road circling the heart of the old town and a pedestrian only shopping street running through the center. Eventually we returned to our room to rest up, work on the blog, upload photos and get ready for dinner. We finally went out to a small Itallian restaurant and had a nice simple dinner then returned to our hotel for the evening.
To see all our photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Scotland - Day 4
Day 21 - Scotland - Day 4 (September 19)
Another nice morning outside but cold enough for jeans, a long sleeve shirt and sweater. After breakfast we gathered up cameras, umbrellas and guidebook and headed for the Alexandria train station, a short walk from our lodgings.
The train pulled into the station, powered by overhead electric wires and we got on and found seats for the 45 minute ride into Glasgow. The train is comfortable and quite fast though it makes about ten stops before we arrive at the Queen Street Station in Glasgow. Since we are transferring to another train, we headed upstairs for the train to Edinburgh. After asking one of the station guards where to go we found our platform and boarded the train. This one is larger and more substantial being a diesel-electric.
Once aboard our train left the station for the 45 minute run to Edinburgh. Well, it would have been a 45 minute ride if we hadn’t been shunted aside for over twenty minutes while several trains passed us. Eventually we regained our tracks and completed our run into Edinburgh. We got off the train and found our way outside up to one of the main roads paralleling the station and oriented ourselves to the map.
Once we figured out where we were, we headed off for Edinburgh Castle http://www.edinburghcastle.biz/ which is situated on the peak of a hill overlooking the town of Edinburgh, of course… don’t all castles sit on top of hills? After a steady half mile walk and climb we reached the gates of the castle, along with several hundred other visitors. After passing through the gates and paying our entrance fee we took a self guided tour of the castle and grounds. Unlike the castle at Dumbarton, this one was almost complete with much restoration work still in progress, leaving several sections of the castle off limits. Other than the crowds we enjoyed our visit.
The walk out of the castle back toward town led us directly onto a street called “The Royal Mile” http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/edin/royal.html a pedestrian only shopping district in the heart of Edinburg. We were surprised because we had heard that the shops on both sides of the street were supposed to be fairly exclusive but it turned out that most of them were souvenir shops with much the same goods in every one. Since we were to be home by 5:00 PM we weren’t able to do as much as we wanted, such as climbing to the top of Colton Hill http://planetadventure.blogspot.com/2006/11/culloden-batle-field-culloden.html to see all the monuments. We continued our return walk to the train station, found our platform and boarded just in time.
The return trip also had a lay by, but only for about five minutes. We made it into Glasgow, walked down to the lower station to find our train. Once again, the train left just after we boarded. The return trip to Alexandria was pleasant and we arrived about 4:30 PM for the five minute walk back to our lodging. Our plan was to visit with family for the evening so we called Aunt Elsa and arranged to be there about 6:00 PM. We grabbed a quick dinner at a café down the street then drove over to Elsa’s.
My cousin Peter and his wife Hazel came over with bottle of wine which was quickly shared round. We had a very nice visit but eventually had to leave to go home plan our next few days and pack. We finally dropped into bed around 11:00 PM, tired but happy to have been able to meet members of my family I had never met before.
Tosee our photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Another nice morning outside but cold enough for jeans, a long sleeve shirt and sweater. After breakfast we gathered up cameras, umbrellas and guidebook and headed for the Alexandria train station, a short walk from our lodgings.
The train pulled into the station, powered by overhead electric wires and we got on and found seats for the 45 minute ride into Glasgow. The train is comfortable and quite fast though it makes about ten stops before we arrive at the Queen Street Station in Glasgow. Since we are transferring to another train, we headed upstairs for the train to Edinburgh. After asking one of the station guards where to go we found our platform and boarded the train. This one is larger and more substantial being a diesel-electric.
Once aboard our train left the station for the 45 minute run to Edinburgh. Well, it would have been a 45 minute ride if we hadn’t been shunted aside for over twenty minutes while several trains passed us. Eventually we regained our tracks and completed our run into Edinburgh. We got off the train and found our way outside up to one of the main roads paralleling the station and oriented ourselves to the map.
Once we figured out where we were, we headed off for Edinburgh Castle http://www.edinburghcastle.biz/ which is situated on the peak of a hill overlooking the town of Edinburgh, of course… don’t all castles sit on top of hills? After a steady half mile walk and climb we reached the gates of the castle, along with several hundred other visitors. After passing through the gates and paying our entrance fee we took a self guided tour of the castle and grounds. Unlike the castle at Dumbarton, this one was almost complete with much restoration work still in progress, leaving several sections of the castle off limits. Other than the crowds we enjoyed our visit.
The walk out of the castle back toward town led us directly onto a street called “The Royal Mile” http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/edin/royal.html a pedestrian only shopping district in the heart of Edinburg. We were surprised because we had heard that the shops on both sides of the street were supposed to be fairly exclusive but it turned out that most of them were souvenir shops with much the same goods in every one. Since we were to be home by 5:00 PM we weren’t able to do as much as we wanted, such as climbing to the top of Colton Hill http://planetadventure.blogspot.com/2006/11/culloden-batle-field-culloden.html to see all the monuments. We continued our return walk to the train station, found our platform and boarded just in time.
The return trip also had a lay by, but only for about five minutes. We made it into Glasgow, walked down to the lower station to find our train. Once again, the train left just after we boarded. The return trip to Alexandria was pleasant and we arrived about 4:30 PM for the five minute walk back to our lodging. Our plan was to visit with family for the evening so we called Aunt Elsa and arranged to be there about 6:00 PM. We grabbed a quick dinner at a café down the street then drove over to Elsa’s.
My cousin Peter and his wife Hazel came over with bottle of wine which was quickly shared round. We had a very nice visit but eventually had to leave to go home plan our next few days and pack. We finally dropped into bed around 11:00 PM, tired but happy to have been able to meet members of my family I had never met before.
Tosee our photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Friday, September 18, 2009
Scotland - Day 3
Day 20 - Scotland - Day 3 (September 18)
We woke up this morning to a chilly, cloudy day but at least it wasn’t raining. I had a quick shower and put on a pair of jeans, tee shirt and long sleeve shirt letting Tina get up a little later. Downstairs for breakfast and coffee, I met two other couples - one was with a group of thirty friends doing a Rally motor trip in a beautiful 1968 MGB GT Fastback Coupe The other couple, well I really only met the wife, were in town for a golf tourney, he was caddying for a friend and she was going to watch. About thirty minutes later Tina came down and we visited with everyone while she ate and I drank coffee.
After breakfast we took care of some errands, arranged to do a load of laundry then headed out for Dumbarton and the Dumbarton Castle. Dumbarton was the centre of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde from the 5th century until 1018. The castle and fortifications are impressively situated on a volcanic rock overlooking the Firth of Clyde, providing an important royal refuge. It was only a twenty minute drive and we did fine getting into Dumbarton, but once there I made the mistake of turning onto what I thought was Victoria Street and turned out to be a grocery store. Eventually we found our way out and got back on the correct route ending up at the foot of the castle about a quarter mile away.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dumbarton/dumbartoncastle/index.html
The castle is mostly in ruins today but there are several remaining structures including the Governors House, French Prison and Magazine building, ramparts, gun emplacements and stone walls. Dumbarton Castle guards the point where the River Leven joins the River Clyde. Its recorded history reaches back 1,500 years. At that time the place was known as Alt Clut, ‘Rock of the Clyde’. Later it became known by the Gaelic name Dun Breatann, ‘Fortress of the Britons’, from which the name Dumbarton is derived. In the Middle Ages, Dumbarton Rock became an important royal castle. When it was first built in the 1220s, the Norwegian frontier lay just 10 miles (16km) downriver, and Dumbarton served as a Border stronghold. The Battle of Largs in 1263 effectively removed the threat from Norway, but it was soon replaced by an even greater menace from England. Dumbarton Rock is everything one imagines a mighty Dark-Age stronghold to have been. A volcanic plug, the rock rises up almost sheer from the murky waters that swirl around its base, and from its twin peaks – White Tower Crag and the Beak – you can see for miles.
The medieval castle was built by Alexander II of Scotland around 1220 as a bulwark against the threat from Norway, whose kings ruled the Hebrides and the islands in the Clyde. The castle’s geographical position, distanced from the political heartland of the country, reduced its importance somewhat, but it also made it a good postern, or back gate, through which her rulers could come and go with comparative ease. David II (in 1333–4) and Mary Queen of Scots (in 1548) both sheltered here until ships could take them to France and safety. In later centuries, the rock became a formidable garrison fortress, its defenses bristling with guns. It last saw military action as recently as the Second World War.
We entered through the Governors House and began our very long climb up under the guard house and through the Portcullis Arch on the way up to the French Prison, the Duke of Argyll’s Battery and Magazine building, all situated on the “Beak”. After retracing our steps back down towards the Portcullis we started up another series of very steep stone steps to the top of “White Tower Craig” overlooking the Firth of Clyde, with a stunning vista out across the Firth and overlooking Dumbarton and the surrounding countryside. After returning to the lower bastions, our last short hike was along the lower ramparts and gun battery’s fortifying the western side of White Tower Craig. All in all it was a very impressive fortification with immaculately kept grounds.
Returning to the car we had our picnic lunch before returning to Alexandria for a visit with my cousin David, his daughter Claire and Granddaughter Kayla. We had a nice visit staying for around three hours before leaving to pick up Aunt Elsa to go to dinner. We went to an Italian Restaurant in Balloch and had a very nice dinner then returned to Elsa’s for a visit. We had the NetBook with us so we were able to show her some of our photos from the River Cruise. By 6:00 PM it was getting dark so we took our leave and returned to our lodgings to plan our next outing, a train trip to Edinburgh via Glasgow.
Just a note, we have very slow internet service so photos from the last five days haven’t been up loaded yet. I’ll post a note as soon as we’re able to put them up on the Picasa web site.
We woke up this morning to a chilly, cloudy day but at least it wasn’t raining. I had a quick shower and put on a pair of jeans, tee shirt and long sleeve shirt letting Tina get up a little later. Downstairs for breakfast and coffee, I met two other couples - one was with a group of thirty friends doing a Rally motor trip in a beautiful 1968 MGB GT Fastback Coupe The other couple, well I really only met the wife, were in town for a golf tourney, he was caddying for a friend and she was going to watch. About thirty minutes later Tina came down and we visited with everyone while she ate and I drank coffee.
After breakfast we took care of some errands, arranged to do a load of laundry then headed out for Dumbarton and the Dumbarton Castle. Dumbarton was the centre of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde from the 5th century until 1018. The castle and fortifications are impressively situated on a volcanic rock overlooking the Firth of Clyde, providing an important royal refuge. It was only a twenty minute drive and we did fine getting into Dumbarton, but once there I made the mistake of turning onto what I thought was Victoria Street and turned out to be a grocery store. Eventually we found our way out and got back on the correct route ending up at the foot of the castle about a quarter mile away.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dumbarton/dumbartoncastle/index.html
The castle is mostly in ruins today but there are several remaining structures including the Governors House, French Prison and Magazine building, ramparts, gun emplacements and stone walls. Dumbarton Castle guards the point where the River Leven joins the River Clyde. Its recorded history reaches back 1,500 years. At that time the place was known as Alt Clut, ‘Rock of the Clyde’. Later it became known by the Gaelic name Dun Breatann, ‘Fortress of the Britons’, from which the name Dumbarton is derived. In the Middle Ages, Dumbarton Rock became an important royal castle. When it was first built in the 1220s, the Norwegian frontier lay just 10 miles (16km) downriver, and Dumbarton served as a Border stronghold. The Battle of Largs in 1263 effectively removed the threat from Norway, but it was soon replaced by an even greater menace from England. Dumbarton Rock is everything one imagines a mighty Dark-Age stronghold to have been. A volcanic plug, the rock rises up almost sheer from the murky waters that swirl around its base, and from its twin peaks – White Tower Crag and the Beak – you can see for miles.
The medieval castle was built by Alexander II of Scotland around 1220 as a bulwark against the threat from Norway, whose kings ruled the Hebrides and the islands in the Clyde. The castle’s geographical position, distanced from the political heartland of the country, reduced its importance somewhat, but it also made it a good postern, or back gate, through which her rulers could come and go with comparative ease. David II (in 1333–4) and Mary Queen of Scots (in 1548) both sheltered here until ships could take them to France and safety. In later centuries, the rock became a formidable garrison fortress, its defenses bristling with guns. It last saw military action as recently as the Second World War.
We entered through the Governors House and began our very long climb up under the guard house and through the Portcullis Arch on the way up to the French Prison, the Duke of Argyll’s Battery and Magazine building, all situated on the “Beak”. After retracing our steps back down towards the Portcullis we started up another series of very steep stone steps to the top of “White Tower Craig” overlooking the Firth of Clyde, with a stunning vista out across the Firth and overlooking Dumbarton and the surrounding countryside. After returning to the lower bastions, our last short hike was along the lower ramparts and gun battery’s fortifying the western side of White Tower Craig. All in all it was a very impressive fortification with immaculately kept grounds.
Returning to the car we had our picnic lunch before returning to Alexandria for a visit with my cousin David, his daughter Claire and Granddaughter Kayla. We had a nice visit staying for around three hours before leaving to pick up Aunt Elsa to go to dinner. We went to an Italian Restaurant in Balloch and had a very nice dinner then returned to Elsa’s for a visit. We had the NetBook with us so we were able to show her some of our photos from the River Cruise. By 6:00 PM it was getting dark so we took our leave and returned to our lodgings to plan our next outing, a train trip to Edinburgh via Glasgow.
Just a note, we have very slow internet service so photos from the last five days haven’t been up loaded yet. I’ll post a note as soon as we’re able to put them up on the Picasa web site.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Scotland - Day 2
Day 19 - Scotland - Day 2 (September 17)
Since we didn’t have a schedule we slept in until 7:30 AM. After a quick get up we went downstairs to breakfast and coffee. Since my Aunt had to go the clinic this morning we decided to go for a drive . Talking to Jim he suggested a drive along the West shore of Loch Lomond with a stop for lunch in Inverarnan at the “Drovers Pub”. Sounded like a plan.
By 9:00 AM we were on the road making a stop in Balloch at the Tourist Information center for a better map of the area. They suggested we include a stop at Inverary Castle over on Loch Fyne with a stop at the Fyne Oyster Bar for lunch. With maps in hand, we made it out to the A82 and headed North along the Loch. Our first stop was in a small village called Luss about nine miles from Balloch.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/luss/luss/index.html.
We pulled into a car park and walked into the village on the shore of the Loch. A small community of twenty or so crofters stone cottages, a couple of larger homes, a church, cemetery and several small shops, Luss also has a large pier for lake cruises. We walked all around village stopping for photos and to do a little shopping to help the local economy.
Leaving Luss we got back on A82 and continued up to Tarbet where we continued up the lake shore towards Inverarnan. The road got narrower and windier (twisty-turney) and was expected to be like that for the next ten miles to our lunch stop. We decided that it would be better to back track and take the A83 towards Inverary, so we did. The drive from Tarbet took us into the mountains past Bein Ime at 3,500 feet elevation, and down through a beautiful valley to Cairndow on Loch Fyne.
Following the shore of the Loch we made it to the Fyne Oyster Bar for our alternate lunch stop. On learning that we had a 35 to45 minute wait, we went next door to a small café and ordered a couple of sandwiches, leak an potato soup, a pastry and coffee and went outside to eat. We were joined by a family from Glasgow who were out for a day trip. After a nice lunch with them we continued another five miles to Inverary, a small town on Loch Fyne.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/inveraray/inveraray/index.html
We drove up to the castle and parked in a large car park (http://www.inveraray-castle.com/Pages/content.asp) and walked the short distance to the entrance to purchase our tickets. We couldn’t take pictures inside but it was truly a magnificent home for a succession of Dukes of Argyll and their families. The castle is still lived in by the present Duke and his family so much of the castle is closed to the public but we enjoyed it very much!
Our return trip back to Bonhill was much easier than the morning drive and we got home by 5:00 PM with a stop at the grocery for some dinner fixins. On arrival, Jim told us Claire had called and wanted us to call her back. When we got her she told us Aunt Elsa was at the hospital and would be there overnight for observation. Apparently she was being monitored for her heart condition and her recent test was not as it should have been, but it wasn‘t an emergency. We made plans to go to Claire’s after lunch tomorrow then retired to our room for the evening, to work on the blog, download photos and watch a movie.
To see our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Since we didn’t have a schedule we slept in until 7:30 AM. After a quick get up we went downstairs to breakfast and coffee. Since my Aunt had to go the clinic this morning we decided to go for a drive . Talking to Jim he suggested a drive along the West shore of Loch Lomond with a stop for lunch in Inverarnan at the “Drovers Pub”. Sounded like a plan.
By 9:00 AM we were on the road making a stop in Balloch at the Tourist Information center for a better map of the area. They suggested we include a stop at Inverary Castle over on Loch Fyne with a stop at the Fyne Oyster Bar for lunch. With maps in hand, we made it out to the A82 and headed North along the Loch. Our first stop was in a small village called Luss about nine miles from Balloch.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/luss/luss/index.html.
We pulled into a car park and walked into the village on the shore of the Loch. A small community of twenty or so crofters stone cottages, a couple of larger homes, a church, cemetery and several small shops, Luss also has a large pier for lake cruises. We walked all around village stopping for photos and to do a little shopping to help the local economy.
Leaving Luss we got back on A82 and continued up to Tarbet where we continued up the lake shore towards Inverarnan. The road got narrower and windier (twisty-turney) and was expected to be like that for the next ten miles to our lunch stop. We decided that it would be better to back track and take the A83 towards Inverary, so we did. The drive from Tarbet took us into the mountains past Bein Ime at 3,500 feet elevation, and down through a beautiful valley to Cairndow on Loch Fyne.
Following the shore of the Loch we made it to the Fyne Oyster Bar for our alternate lunch stop. On learning that we had a 35 to45 minute wait, we went next door to a small café and ordered a couple of sandwiches, leak an potato soup, a pastry and coffee and went outside to eat. We were joined by a family from Glasgow who were out for a day trip. After a nice lunch with them we continued another five miles to Inverary, a small town on Loch Fyne.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/inveraray/inveraray/index.html
We drove up to the castle and parked in a large car park (http://www.inveraray-castle.com/Pages/content.asp) and walked the short distance to the entrance to purchase our tickets. We couldn’t take pictures inside but it was truly a magnificent home for a succession of Dukes of Argyll and their families. The castle is still lived in by the present Duke and his family so much of the castle is closed to the public but we enjoyed it very much!
Our return trip back to Bonhill was much easier than the morning drive and we got home by 5:00 PM with a stop at the grocery for some dinner fixins. On arrival, Jim told us Claire had called and wanted us to call her back. When we got her she told us Aunt Elsa was at the hospital and would be there overnight for observation. Apparently she was being monitored for her heart condition and her recent test was not as it should have been, but it wasn‘t an emergency. We made plans to go to Claire’s after lunch tomorrow then retired to our room for the evening, to work on the blog, download photos and watch a movie.
To see our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Scotland - Day 1
Day 18 - Scotland - Day 1 (September 16)
I woke up about 4:00 AM and had a shower before Tina got up. At 4:15 AM we got our wake up call and called Shanda to let them know it was get up time. By 4:45 AM we had all our bags downstairs and closed out our account with the hotel. At 5:00 AM our bags were put in the taxi and we left for the airport. We got to the airport and saw Shanda and Denise to their departure point. They had about a 3 hour wait before their flight.
With the girls safely squared away, Tina and I headed for the other terminal to check in with British Airways. We got to the check-in counter nd nobody was there. Fortunately there was a small café next to it so we had breakfast and coffee. After checking our travel documents, Tina noticed that our flight to London was being handled by Malev Airlines, so we walked over to their check-in counter and got our boarding passes for the two hour flight to Gatwick.
The flight was uneventful and since our bags were checked through to Glasgow we went through UK passport control, got our new boarding passes, went through security and out to our gate where we only had a half hour wait before being able to board. Gatwick to Glasgow was only about 90 minutes, so we went up and down arriving in Glasgow about 1:00 PM. We quickly went through customs retrieved our bags and found our way to the car rental desk where we got our rental.
From there we pulled our bags through the airport, across the main road through Gatwick and over to the rental car park where we got the keys to our car, a new Pugeot SUV (mini suv) with a diesel and stick shift. What fun!! So it was back to the rental desk in the airport to see if we could get an automatic as requested - no luck - so we decided to give it a whirl. Oh Yeah… Left hand shift, right hand drive on the left (wrong) side of the road, in a strange country with minimal directions and no good map… and narrow roads with lots of roundabouts. With Tina navigating we actually made it out of the airport and onto the A82 headed for Alexandria. One good thing, we were enjoying another beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the high 60’s.
Talk about a baptism by fire, we got lucky and only made one wrong turn out of a roundabout and that was easily corrected.
Eventually we made it out to Bonhill and pulled off the road to call our B&B for directions. Ooooopps - Tina’s cell phone doesn’t work. Once again we had a piece of good luck, there was another car parked a few feet away so Tina asked the driver for directions. He said, “Follow me”, and off we went! Turns out we were only about a half mile (and 5 or 6 turns) from our B&B. We thanked him for his help, parked around the corner and walked back to our lodgings to check in. The Albannach B&B is a quaint little two story house with four rooms to let, a dining room, nice backyard and very friendly hosts, Jim and Margaret. They welcomed us to their home, gave us our key, showed us around and helped get our bags upstairs to our room, a little garret bedroom with bath.
After settling in, we called Aunt Elsa on our innkeepers phone but she was out. So Tina sent me to the store for some snacks then we went for a walk around the town of West Bonhill. When we got back, Aunt Elsa had returned our call so we tried to call her back, again no answer. So we googled directions to her home and it turns out to be only about a mile away. After some more learning opportunities we made it to Elsa’s and she met us at her gate.
We got to visit for a couple of hours before returning to our lodging, I didn’t want to try and drive back in the dark. Once we got back there our hosts suggested we drive into Balloch for dinner, an easy drive, just go north on Main Street for about three miles, go straight through the first roundabout, then take the third exit at the second roundabout and you’re in Balloch. She was right, it was easy to get there and we finally found a place to have dinner, “Tulley Inn” where I had a rib eye steak with steak fries and Tina had a big cheeseburger. Everything was great, but we were definitely running on empty by the time we got back to our room where we watched a little TV then turned out the lights. Here is a link to the area we are in:
http://www.loch-lomond.net/villages/alexandria/vale_of_leven.html
To see our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
I woke up about 4:00 AM and had a shower before Tina got up. At 4:15 AM we got our wake up call and called Shanda to let them know it was get up time. By 4:45 AM we had all our bags downstairs and closed out our account with the hotel. At 5:00 AM our bags were put in the taxi and we left for the airport. We got to the airport and saw Shanda and Denise to their departure point. They had about a 3 hour wait before their flight.
With the girls safely squared away, Tina and I headed for the other terminal to check in with British Airways. We got to the check-in counter nd nobody was there. Fortunately there was a small café next to it so we had breakfast and coffee. After checking our travel documents, Tina noticed that our flight to London was being handled by Malev Airlines, so we walked over to their check-in counter and got our boarding passes for the two hour flight to Gatwick.
The flight was uneventful and since our bags were checked through to Glasgow we went through UK passport control, got our new boarding passes, went through security and out to our gate where we only had a half hour wait before being able to board. Gatwick to Glasgow was only about 90 minutes, so we went up and down arriving in Glasgow about 1:00 PM. We quickly went through customs retrieved our bags and found our way to the car rental desk where we got our rental.
From there we pulled our bags through the airport, across the main road through Gatwick and over to the rental car park where we got the keys to our car, a new Pugeot SUV (mini suv) with a diesel and stick shift. What fun!! So it was back to the rental desk in the airport to see if we could get an automatic as requested - no luck - so we decided to give it a whirl. Oh Yeah… Left hand shift, right hand drive on the left (wrong) side of the road, in a strange country with minimal directions and no good map… and narrow roads with lots of roundabouts. With Tina navigating we actually made it out of the airport and onto the A82 headed for Alexandria. One good thing, we were enjoying another beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the high 60’s.
Talk about a baptism by fire, we got lucky and only made one wrong turn out of a roundabout and that was easily corrected.
Eventually we made it out to Bonhill and pulled off the road to call our B&B for directions. Ooooopps - Tina’s cell phone doesn’t work. Once again we had a piece of good luck, there was another car parked a few feet away so Tina asked the driver for directions. He said, “Follow me”, and off we went! Turns out we were only about a half mile (and 5 or 6 turns) from our B&B. We thanked him for his help, parked around the corner and walked back to our lodgings to check in. The Albannach B&B is a quaint little two story house with four rooms to let, a dining room, nice backyard and very friendly hosts, Jim and Margaret. They welcomed us to their home, gave us our key, showed us around and helped get our bags upstairs to our room, a little garret bedroom with bath.
After settling in, we called Aunt Elsa on our innkeepers phone but she was out. So Tina sent me to the store for some snacks then we went for a walk around the town of West Bonhill. When we got back, Aunt Elsa had returned our call so we tried to call her back, again no answer. So we googled directions to her home and it turns out to be only about a mile away. After some more learning opportunities we made it to Elsa’s and she met us at her gate.
We got to visit for a couple of hours before returning to our lodging, I didn’t want to try and drive back in the dark. Once we got back there our hosts suggested we drive into Balloch for dinner, an easy drive, just go north on Main Street for about three miles, go straight through the first roundabout, then take the third exit at the second roundabout and you’re in Balloch. She was right, it was easy to get there and we finally found a place to have dinner, “Tulley Inn” where I had a rib eye steak with steak fries and Tina had a big cheeseburger. Everything was great, but we were definitely running on empty by the time we got back to our room where we watched a little TV then turned out the lights. Here is a link to the area we are in:
http://www.loch-lomond.net/villages/alexandria/vale_of_leven.html
To see our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Budapest - Day 3
Day 16 - Budapest Day 3 (September 14)
Everybody was up by 8:00 AM since we were no longer on a schedule. After taking care of our morning wakeup we got together to go to breakfast. Getting down to the lobby, we decided to find a small café out on one of the streets in our area. Heading down Vacci Utca we stopped at several small cafes checking out their menus. Most only had pastries. Eventually we found one that had more of a breakfast selection so that’s where we stopped. After breakfast, we decided to walk down to the end of Vacci Utca to the Central Market Hall, a huge steel and glass building with three floors of shopping.
Just prior to the turn of the 20th century, when the cities of Buda, Pest, and Obuda (Old Buda) merged to form one city, city leaders recognized a need for more and better market places and a decision was made to build covered markets similar to those in larger European cities, such as Paris. The largest was dubbed The Great Market Hall and would be situated on the Pest end of the Liberty Bridge and construction commenced in 1894 and it opened in 1896, when it was declared among the finest and most modern covered markets on the continent.
Inside the market hall, the cavernous structure is supported by slender steel columns, allowing for extensive sunlight to make its way into the market. Sometimes referred to as “a symphony in iron”, this ornate market had a canal that ran through the center, allowing goods to be delivered to the market’s traders via barge and a thruway for wagons. Walking through the market we found three stories of stalls selling a variety of wares. On the busy ground level, there are lots of fruit and vegetable vendors. In the basement, there’s a supermarket, a number of fishmongers, and vendors selling game meat and on the upper floor, beautiful Hungarian arts and crafts.
After a couple of hours walking around the market we headed for the waterfront to walk along the river walk where we eventually stopped at Dunasorco for lunch. This is a family style restaurant with a view of Buda from the outside terrace. We all ordered something different and when finished, we all agreed that it was one of the best meals we had on the entire trip.
After lunch we continued our walk along the river until we came to the “Chain Bridge”, one of Budapest’s most historic landmarks. This was the first connection between the two cities, Buda and Pest which were still separate cities when the bridge was built. The 375 meter (1230ft) long and 16 meter wide bridge was opened in 1849. Eight years later a 350 meter long tunnel was dug through the base of Castle Hill to connect the bridge to the outlying districts of Buda. The bridge and the tunnel ignited an economic revival that lead to Budapest's golden century and it was one of the factors that made the provincial towns of Pest and Buda into a fast-growing metropolitan. In 1989 people demonstrated on the chain bridge for freedom and independence. Since then, the bridge has become a symbol of Hungarian liberty.
We crossed the bridge and walked over to the funicular for a ride to the top of Castle Hill. The Funicular Railway offers a beautiful nostalgic ride with one of the most unique city panoramic views in the world. Built in 1868-1870 it is the only one that has coaches that look like a three-step staircase. Originally steam-powered, now it runs on electricity. Up until 1928 it was the only public transport to the Royal Palace. Budapest Funicular is now part of the Unesco World Heritage. And as I have heard, this is basically the one and only property of Budapest Public Transportation Co. which is actually profitable.
After we got off the funicular at the top of Castle Hill we were able to walk all around the Royal Palace grounds. The foundations of the castle, which would later be besieged no less than 31 times, were laid in the 13th century after Mongol tribes had invaded Hungary. In 1243 King Béla built a keep surrounded by thick walls on a site which was previously occupied by a small farming community. Around the keep, a small town called Buda started to grow. During the Reign of King Lajos the Great, the keep was fortified and a palace was built. Later, during the reign of Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437), the castle was again expanded, resulting in one of the greatest palaces in Europe.
At the end of the 15th century, during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus the castle was restored and new wings were added to the palace. Very little remains of this beautiful palace of the 15th century, as the buildings were almost completely demolished when Budapest was recaptured by the Turks. A new palace, designed in a Baroque style was built between 1714 and 1723 by King Charles III of Habsburg. The palace was extended by King Charles's daughter, the empress Maria Theresa, but the great fire of 1810 and the attack of the castle during the Hungarian rising destroyed much of the new palace. Today, much of the palace has been restored with a museum and large halls for receptions and other public functions.
We spent some time looking at the beautiful statues and some of the restoration work being done on the original keep walls before returning to the funicular for the return to the Pest side of the Danube. After crossing the Chain Bridge again, we caught one of the famous “Yellow Trams” that run throughout the city. The yellow tram is a distinctive feature of Budapest’s urban landscape and is also known as the "négyes-hatos" (the 'four and six'). Trams play a vital role in the city's transport system, and since the renewal of the tracks in ten yeas ago it was a very smooth ride. We got off the tram near Elizabeth Bridge and walked back to our hotel for a rest before going to dinner.
Around 5:30 PM we ventured out again for a short walk up to Deak Ferenc Square where we stopped to tour the Lutheran Church. This is the oldest Lutheran church in Budapest. Built by Mihály Pollack in Neoclassic Empire style, its foundation-stone was laid in 1799 and with the help of donations by the citizens of Budapest it was consecrated on Whit Sunday in 1811. The clock and bell in its little bell tower started work in 1829, showing the time and announcing holidays or danger. It called the congregation to a day of rejoicing in October 1831 at the passing of the cholera-epidemic, and it tolled in 1838 when the Danube burst its banks. The church itself provided shelter for those whose homes were destroyed by the floods.
After our visit to the Lutheran Church we walked back to a restaurant right across from the hotel where we all ordered something Hungarian for dinner. Everything was very good, even my “Wild Boar Stew”. After dinner we went up to our room and played a couple of games of “Hand and Foot” before turning in for the night.
Everybody was up by 8:00 AM since we were no longer on a schedule. After taking care of our morning wakeup we got together to go to breakfast. Getting down to the lobby, we decided to find a small café out on one of the streets in our area. Heading down Vacci Utca we stopped at several small cafes checking out their menus. Most only had pastries. Eventually we found one that had more of a breakfast selection so that’s where we stopped. After breakfast, we decided to walk down to the end of Vacci Utca to the Central Market Hall, a huge steel and glass building with three floors of shopping.
Just prior to the turn of the 20th century, when the cities of Buda, Pest, and Obuda (Old Buda) merged to form one city, city leaders recognized a need for more and better market places and a decision was made to build covered markets similar to those in larger European cities, such as Paris. The largest was dubbed The Great Market Hall and would be situated on the Pest end of the Liberty Bridge and construction commenced in 1894 and it opened in 1896, when it was declared among the finest and most modern covered markets on the continent.
Inside the market hall, the cavernous structure is supported by slender steel columns, allowing for extensive sunlight to make its way into the market. Sometimes referred to as “a symphony in iron”, this ornate market had a canal that ran through the center, allowing goods to be delivered to the market’s traders via barge and a thruway for wagons. Walking through the market we found three stories of stalls selling a variety of wares. On the busy ground level, there are lots of fruit and vegetable vendors. In the basement, there’s a supermarket, a number of fishmongers, and vendors selling game meat and on the upper floor, beautiful Hungarian arts and crafts.
After a couple of hours walking around the market we headed for the waterfront to walk along the river walk where we eventually stopped at Dunasorco for lunch. This is a family style restaurant with a view of Buda from the outside terrace. We all ordered something different and when finished, we all agreed that it was one of the best meals we had on the entire trip.
After lunch we continued our walk along the river until we came to the “Chain Bridge”, one of Budapest’s most historic landmarks. This was the first connection between the two cities, Buda and Pest which were still separate cities when the bridge was built. The 375 meter (1230ft) long and 16 meter wide bridge was opened in 1849. Eight years later a 350 meter long tunnel was dug through the base of Castle Hill to connect the bridge to the outlying districts of Buda. The bridge and the tunnel ignited an economic revival that lead to Budapest's golden century and it was one of the factors that made the provincial towns of Pest and Buda into a fast-growing metropolitan. In 1989 people demonstrated on the chain bridge for freedom and independence. Since then, the bridge has become a symbol of Hungarian liberty.
We crossed the bridge and walked over to the funicular for a ride to the top of Castle Hill. The Funicular Railway offers a beautiful nostalgic ride with one of the most unique city panoramic views in the world. Built in 1868-1870 it is the only one that has coaches that look like a three-step staircase. Originally steam-powered, now it runs on electricity. Up until 1928 it was the only public transport to the Royal Palace. Budapest Funicular is now part of the Unesco World Heritage. And as I have heard, this is basically the one and only property of Budapest Public Transportation Co. which is actually profitable.
After we got off the funicular at the top of Castle Hill we were able to walk all around the Royal Palace grounds. The foundations of the castle, which would later be besieged no less than 31 times, were laid in the 13th century after Mongol tribes had invaded Hungary. In 1243 King Béla built a keep surrounded by thick walls on a site which was previously occupied by a small farming community. Around the keep, a small town called Buda started to grow. During the Reign of King Lajos the Great, the keep was fortified and a palace was built. Later, during the reign of Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437), the castle was again expanded, resulting in one of the greatest palaces in Europe.
At the end of the 15th century, during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus the castle was restored and new wings were added to the palace. Very little remains of this beautiful palace of the 15th century, as the buildings were almost completely demolished when Budapest was recaptured by the Turks. A new palace, designed in a Baroque style was built between 1714 and 1723 by King Charles III of Habsburg. The palace was extended by King Charles's daughter, the empress Maria Theresa, but the great fire of 1810 and the attack of the castle during the Hungarian rising destroyed much of the new palace. Today, much of the palace has been restored with a museum and large halls for receptions and other public functions.
We spent some time looking at the beautiful statues and some of the restoration work being done on the original keep walls before returning to the funicular for the return to the Pest side of the Danube. After crossing the Chain Bridge again, we caught one of the famous “Yellow Trams” that run throughout the city. The yellow tram is a distinctive feature of Budapest’s urban landscape and is also known as the "négyes-hatos" (the 'four and six'). Trams play a vital role in the city's transport system, and since the renewal of the tracks in ten yeas ago it was a very smooth ride. We got off the tram near Elizabeth Bridge and walked back to our hotel for a rest before going to dinner.
Around 5:30 PM we ventured out again for a short walk up to Deak Ferenc Square where we stopped to tour the Lutheran Church. This is the oldest Lutheran church in Budapest. Built by Mihály Pollack in Neoclassic Empire style, its foundation-stone was laid in 1799 and with the help of donations by the citizens of Budapest it was consecrated on Whit Sunday in 1811. The clock and bell in its little bell tower started work in 1829, showing the time and announcing holidays or danger. It called the congregation to a day of rejoicing in October 1831 at the passing of the cholera-epidemic, and it tolled in 1838 when the Danube burst its banks. The church itself provided shelter for those whose homes were destroyed by the floods.
After our visit to the Lutheran Church we walked back to a restaurant right across from the hotel where we all ordered something Hungarian for dinner. Everything was very good, even my “Wild Boar Stew”. After dinner we went up to our room and played a couple of games of “Hand and Foot” before turning in for the night.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Budapest - Day 2
Day 15 - Budapest Day 2 (September 13)
Everybody was up by 7:00 AM to finish packing and settle our bill. We had ordered a cab for 9:00 AM, so we went in to the dining room and had breakfast, said our good byes and left the ship for the drive to the Mercure City Center Hotel located on the famous Vaci Utka, shopping street in the heart of Budapest on the Pest side of the river. The street known as Vaci was formed in the 18th century, though most of the lovely architecture is from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The avenue has long been a place where the rich and famous of Budapest enjoyed spending their money though, at first, it was a shopping area accessible to most. However, as it became fashionable in the early decades of the 20th century for the well-to-do to enjoy an early evening stroll down Vaci Street, the stores here became more and more exclusive. While many of the shops are Euro-fashion boutiques, lately, as Budapest’s tourism industry has grown, vacationers will find a fair number of souvenir shops located on Vaci Street and the small streets that cross it. Many bars and cafes also line the street, offering a place to grab a bite to eat or an alcoholic beverage, including some excellent local fare. Check out the courtyards not facing the main street. There you’ll find small “Mom and Pop-type” eateries that offer some of the best cuisine in the city.
We got to the hotel around 10:00 AM, unloaded our bags into storage and wandered around for several hours before having lunch in a small street-side café. After lunch we walked back to the hotel, got our rooms and spent the afternoon relaxing and planning our next few days adventure. For dinner we went downstairs to an Italian restaurant for pizza. After dinner, we continued our exploration of the area around our hotel finding several interesting shops we’ll revisit.
Eventually we got back to the hotel and played a couple of games of “Hand and Foot” before bidding each other good night and see you in the morning.
Everybody was up by 7:00 AM to finish packing and settle our bill. We had ordered a cab for 9:00 AM, so we went in to the dining room and had breakfast, said our good byes and left the ship for the drive to the Mercure City Center Hotel located on the famous Vaci Utka, shopping street in the heart of Budapest on the Pest side of the river. The street known as Vaci was formed in the 18th century, though most of the lovely architecture is from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The avenue has long been a place where the rich and famous of Budapest enjoyed spending their money though, at first, it was a shopping area accessible to most. However, as it became fashionable in the early decades of the 20th century for the well-to-do to enjoy an early evening stroll down Vaci Street, the stores here became more and more exclusive. While many of the shops are Euro-fashion boutiques, lately, as Budapest’s tourism industry has grown, vacationers will find a fair number of souvenir shops located on Vaci Street and the small streets that cross it. Many bars and cafes also line the street, offering a place to grab a bite to eat or an alcoholic beverage, including some excellent local fare. Check out the courtyards not facing the main street. There you’ll find small “Mom and Pop-type” eateries that offer some of the best cuisine in the city.
We got to the hotel around 10:00 AM, unloaded our bags into storage and wandered around for several hours before having lunch in a small street-side café. After lunch we walked back to the hotel, got our rooms and spent the afternoon relaxing and planning our next few days adventure. For dinner we went downstairs to an Italian restaurant for pizza. After dinner, we continued our exploration of the area around our hotel finding several interesting shops we’ll revisit.
Eventually we got back to the hotel and played a couple of games of “Hand and Foot” before bidding each other good night and see you in the morning.
Budapest - Day 1
Day 14 - Budapest Day 1 (September 12)
Our ship is tied up to the quay just below the famous “Chain Bridge” linking Buda and Pest (http://www.aviewoncities.com/budapest/chainbridge.htm). Both halves of the city combine to form the capital city of Hungary, Budapest, pronounced Budapesht. We have been really fortunate with the weather and today continues in that van, with the temperature expected to reach the high 80’s.
We’re all up and ready to get breakfast by 7:30 AM so we can catch our 8:30 AM bus and walking tour of the city. Every one of our tours where we board abus, the bus has been a large, very new, 50 seater. This is amazing given how narrow and winding the streets are, but the drivers are truly amazing, whipping the bus around like a pro race car driver.
Turning in our room keys for boarding passes we hook up our ear bugs to the receivers and hop on the bus for a brief tour of the city. Our fist stop is at “Hero Square” or Millenial Square which was built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin. We are able to get out and take pictures while our guide talks about the monument which consists of two semi-circles on the top of which the symbols of War and Peace, Work and Wellfare, Knowledge and Glory can be seen. The niches below are decorated by the statues of kings, governors and famous characters of the Hungarian history. At the foot of each statue a small relief depicts the most important moment of the life of the personality.
In the middle of Heroes' square stands a 36 meter high corinthian column with the statue of Archangel Gabriel on the top, the symbol of the Roman Catholic religion. At the pedestal the equestrian statues commemorate Árpád and the seven chieftains of the Hungarian tribes, who settled their people in the present territory of Hungary. His descendants formed the Hungarian royal dynasty. In front of the column is the tomb of the unknown soldier commemorating all the unknown heroes who fought for Hungary. The monuments in the square are really impressive. Flanking the square are the Museum of Modern Art and Museum of Fine Arts which have excellent exhibitions, such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt and collections of Spanish and French paintings.
From Heroes Square we reboard the bus for a drive through the city past the two major parks and principal bath house, Széchenyi Baths, set amidst the tranquil surroundings of the Városliget (City Park). The Széchenyi Baths is a grand old building to which Budapest families flock during the summer. The unisex outdoor pool has a extremely convivial atmosphere - old timers play chess on floating boards while everyone else just lazes around. The Széchenyi's Turkish baths are housed away from the main pool, while outside there's a statue of Zsigmond Vilmos who discovered the thermal springs (http://www.szechenyibath.com/).
Leaving the Pest side of the city we cross the river on Liberty Bridge and make our way to the top of “Capital” Hill where we get out for splendid photos of both sides of the city and Danube. This is a quick stop as there are probably 300 to 400 tourists all trying to reach the same overlook at the same time.
From Capital hill we continue to wind around the Buda side of the river to reach the Castle District, site of the famous Mathias Church, built in the 13th century and Budapest’s first parish church. The church takes its more common name from King Matthias, who ruled from 1458-90, well-known as a patron of the arts and enlightenment and revered for reconstructing the Hungarian state after years upon years of feudal anarchy. In 1541, when the Turks captured Buda, The Church became a mosque. The ruling regime shipped precious ecclesiastical treasures off to Bratislava and, appallingly, whitewashed over the ornate frescoes that graced the walls of the church. Beautiful interior furnishings were stripped out and discarded. In 1686, the Turks were overthrown and local architects and builders made attempts to restore the church with little success. It wasn’t until the late 19th century, that the church was largely restored to its original splendor.
The church sits in a residential and shopping district with Fisherman’s Bastion sitting on the top edge of the hill guarding the Castle District. We spent several hours walking and shopping before re-boarding our bus for the trip back to the ship and lunch. After lunch we once more got on a bus for a trip to a small hill town and diamond factory. Both stops were interesting but very commercial in nature, but it was the last day of our trip so we went anyway. Dinner was very nice as we spent time with several couple we met on the trip. We stayed up for several hours packing and preparing for our morning departure.
To see all of today's photos, click on:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Our ship is tied up to the quay just below the famous “Chain Bridge” linking Buda and Pest (http://www.aviewoncities.com/budapest/chainbridge.htm). Both halves of the city combine to form the capital city of Hungary, Budapest, pronounced Budapesht. We have been really fortunate with the weather and today continues in that van, with the temperature expected to reach the high 80’s.
We’re all up and ready to get breakfast by 7:30 AM so we can catch our 8:30 AM bus and walking tour of the city. Every one of our tours where we board abus, the bus has been a large, very new, 50 seater. This is amazing given how narrow and winding the streets are, but the drivers are truly amazing, whipping the bus around like a pro race car driver.
Turning in our room keys for boarding passes we hook up our ear bugs to the receivers and hop on the bus for a brief tour of the city. Our fist stop is at “Hero Square” or Millenial Square which was built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin. We are able to get out and take pictures while our guide talks about the monument which consists of two semi-circles on the top of which the symbols of War and Peace, Work and Wellfare, Knowledge and Glory can be seen. The niches below are decorated by the statues of kings, governors and famous characters of the Hungarian history. At the foot of each statue a small relief depicts the most important moment of the life of the personality.
In the middle of Heroes' square stands a 36 meter high corinthian column with the statue of Archangel Gabriel on the top, the symbol of the Roman Catholic religion. At the pedestal the equestrian statues commemorate Árpád and the seven chieftains of the Hungarian tribes, who settled their people in the present territory of Hungary. His descendants formed the Hungarian royal dynasty. In front of the column is the tomb of the unknown soldier commemorating all the unknown heroes who fought for Hungary. The monuments in the square are really impressive. Flanking the square are the Museum of Modern Art and Museum of Fine Arts which have excellent exhibitions, such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt and collections of Spanish and French paintings.
From Heroes Square we reboard the bus for a drive through the city past the two major parks and principal bath house, Széchenyi Baths, set amidst the tranquil surroundings of the Városliget (City Park). The Széchenyi Baths is a grand old building to which Budapest families flock during the summer. The unisex outdoor pool has a extremely convivial atmosphere - old timers play chess on floating boards while everyone else just lazes around. The Széchenyi's Turkish baths are housed away from the main pool, while outside there's a statue of Zsigmond Vilmos who discovered the thermal springs (http://www.szechenyibath.com/).
Leaving the Pest side of the city we cross the river on Liberty Bridge and make our way to the top of “Capital” Hill where we get out for splendid photos of both sides of the city and Danube. This is a quick stop as there are probably 300 to 400 tourists all trying to reach the same overlook at the same time.
From Capital hill we continue to wind around the Buda side of the river to reach the Castle District, site of the famous Mathias Church, built in the 13th century and Budapest’s first parish church. The church takes its more common name from King Matthias, who ruled from 1458-90, well-known as a patron of the arts and enlightenment and revered for reconstructing the Hungarian state after years upon years of feudal anarchy. In 1541, when the Turks captured Buda, The Church became a mosque. The ruling regime shipped precious ecclesiastical treasures off to Bratislava and, appallingly, whitewashed over the ornate frescoes that graced the walls of the church. Beautiful interior furnishings were stripped out and discarded. In 1686, the Turks were overthrown and local architects and builders made attempts to restore the church with little success. It wasn’t until the late 19th century, that the church was largely restored to its original splendor.
The church sits in a residential and shopping district with Fisherman’s Bastion sitting on the top edge of the hill guarding the Castle District. We spent several hours walking and shopping before re-boarding our bus for the trip back to the ship and lunch. After lunch we once more got on a bus for a trip to a small hill town and diamond factory. Both stops were interesting but very commercial in nature, but it was the last day of our trip so we went anyway. Dinner was very nice as we spent time with several couple we met on the trip. We stayed up for several hours packing and preparing for our morning departure.
To see all of today's photos, click on:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Friday, September 11, 2009
Bratislava
Day 13 - Bratislava (September 11)
I was up around 5:30 AM to take my shower. The sun was just lighting the eastern sky and it promised to be another warm and beautiful day. Tina was thinking about getting up as I left our room for the lounge with computer in hand. Grabbing a cup of coffee I went to work organizing yesterdays photos for upload to the web. Tina joined me about 6:45 AM to read the morning news before we went down to breakfast. Before long Shanda and Denise showed up and the ladies went downstairs for breakfast. After taking the NetBok back to the cabin I joined them for a bite to eat. We wanted to eat early as we had another early morning walking tour of Bratislava, capital city of Slovakia.
Slovakia is relatively young country with a long cultural heritage. Formed in 1992 when the Czech and Slovak prime ministers decided to split the state peacefully and fairly to be representative of the two national identities. Landlocked and mostly mountainous, Slovakia is about the size of West Virginia. Slovak people populated the region during the fifth century becoming the Great Moravian Empire in 833. In 907 the area came under Hungarian rule adopting Roman Catholicism and the Latin alphabet. Modern Slovakia has suffered under communism and various bursts of nationalism but today the republic is stable and the country has become a member of the European Union. Blessed with natural resources such as timber, copper and iron ore the country is maintaining forward momentum with plenty of jobs available to young people.
Leaving the ship we boarded a tour trolley with our guide for the short trip into the heart of the city. We got out in the square fronting the National Theater and walked along a broad cobblestone park flanked by towering chestnut and plane trees. Along one side of the side of the park were restaurants and small shops with residential apartments above. On the other side were luxury hotels such as the Carlton and Savoy. Along the way were lots of statues, fountains and benches. Reaching the end of the park we came out next to the Maria Teresa Church. Across the highway were the last remaining city walls surrounding the National Museum.
Walking along the first of many pedestrian only streets we entered the heart of the old city where all the streets were lined with shops, residences and interspersed with public squares and churches. We passed the only remaining city gate, St Michael’s Gate and ended up in front of the Primatial Palace. At this point our guide finished the walking tour and we were free to spend another hour in the city for a walkabout on our own. We spent some time visiting the many street vendors selling souvenirs and slowly winding our way back to the ship. All around the city center, there are buses, electric trolleys, cars and bicycles filled with people going to work and shopping. Bratislava is definitely a vibrant city filled with young people attending university. Like most of the cities we’ve visited, things don’t really start to come to life in the shopping districts until almost noon, but we had an enjoyable visit.
Returning to the ship we had lunch and spent the afternoon reading, watching the scenery or attending a lecture on Hungary. Later we attended the Captains Farewell dinner where the crew and staff were recognized. All the while the ship continued down the Danube to Budapest where we docked around 11:30 PM. It was really stunning to come in by water at night with Parliament and all of the government buildings along with the Presidential Palace and the Chain Bridge lit up providing a spectacular light show.
To see all of today’s photos, click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
I was up around 5:30 AM to take my shower. The sun was just lighting the eastern sky and it promised to be another warm and beautiful day. Tina was thinking about getting up as I left our room for the lounge with computer in hand. Grabbing a cup of coffee I went to work organizing yesterdays photos for upload to the web. Tina joined me about 6:45 AM to read the morning news before we went down to breakfast. Before long Shanda and Denise showed up and the ladies went downstairs for breakfast. After taking the NetBok back to the cabin I joined them for a bite to eat. We wanted to eat early as we had another early morning walking tour of Bratislava, capital city of Slovakia.
Slovakia is relatively young country with a long cultural heritage. Formed in 1992 when the Czech and Slovak prime ministers decided to split the state peacefully and fairly to be representative of the two national identities. Landlocked and mostly mountainous, Slovakia is about the size of West Virginia. Slovak people populated the region during the fifth century becoming the Great Moravian Empire in 833. In 907 the area came under Hungarian rule adopting Roman Catholicism and the Latin alphabet. Modern Slovakia has suffered under communism and various bursts of nationalism but today the republic is stable and the country has become a member of the European Union. Blessed with natural resources such as timber, copper and iron ore the country is maintaining forward momentum with plenty of jobs available to young people.
Leaving the ship we boarded a tour trolley with our guide for the short trip into the heart of the city. We got out in the square fronting the National Theater and walked along a broad cobblestone park flanked by towering chestnut and plane trees. Along one side of the side of the park were restaurants and small shops with residential apartments above. On the other side were luxury hotels such as the Carlton and Savoy. Along the way were lots of statues, fountains and benches. Reaching the end of the park we came out next to the Maria Teresa Church. Across the highway were the last remaining city walls surrounding the National Museum.
Walking along the first of many pedestrian only streets we entered the heart of the old city where all the streets were lined with shops, residences and interspersed with public squares and churches. We passed the only remaining city gate, St Michael’s Gate and ended up in front of the Primatial Palace. At this point our guide finished the walking tour and we were free to spend another hour in the city for a walkabout on our own. We spent some time visiting the many street vendors selling souvenirs and slowly winding our way back to the ship. All around the city center, there are buses, electric trolleys, cars and bicycles filled with people going to work and shopping. Bratislava is definitely a vibrant city filled with young people attending university. Like most of the cities we’ve visited, things don’t really start to come to life in the shopping districts until almost noon, but we had an enjoyable visit.
Returning to the ship we had lunch and spent the afternoon reading, watching the scenery or attending a lecture on Hungary. Later we attended the Captains Farewell dinner where the crew and staff were recognized. All the while the ship continued down the Danube to Budapest where we docked around 11:30 PM. It was really stunning to come in by water at night with Parliament and all of the government buildings along with the Presidential Palace and the Chain Bridge lit up providing a spectacular light show.
To see all of today’s photos, click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Vienna
Day 12 - Vienna (September 10)
The sun is shining and it is warming up as we get up at 6:00 AM to start our day. We have been fortunate with our weather, we’ve only had a couple of days with any rain at all, otherwise it has been short sleeve shirts, shorts and sandals every day. After my morning shower, etc., I grabbed the laptop and went to the lounge to update the blog, check email, and upload photos while Tina took over the bathroom for a more leisurely get up.
Soon joined by Tina, Denise and Shanda, we go downstairs to breakfast. By 8:15 AM we’re ready for our shore excursion in Vienna, but it has clouded over and begun to rain, so we made a quick stop in our rooms to get umbrellas. Then we turned in our room keys for our boarding passes, grabbed a receiver for our walking tour and headed out side to get on the bus.
Vienna (Wiem) is a big city, capital of the Republic of Austria with nearly two million inhabitants. The cathedral of St Stephen, built between 1263 and 1511, is the symbol of the city with towers over 450 feet tall making it one of the most impressive churches in Europe. Originally settled by Celts, the Romans soon made Vienna one of their important bastions against the barbarians on the north side of the river (http://www.aboutvienna.org/).
During the middle ages, Vienna was home to the Badenburg Dynasty, and in 1440 AD, it became the resident city of the house of Habsborg eventually becoming the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural centre for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. In 1804, Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European and world politics. After WWII, much of the city was in ruins but the people banded together over the next thirty years rebuilt the inner city using much of the same styles as had been in existence before the war. Today, Vienna is host to several United Nations Organizations along with other world organizations such as OPEC. But perhaps more importantly, Vienna is the home of Johann Straus composer of the famous Blue Danube Waltz.v
Our guides arrived and everybody boarded our busses for the one hour bus tour of Vienna. Soon we made a circuit of the city on the ring road passing by many famous and beautiful buildings. Our destination was the heart of the city, St Stephens Square, where we began our 90 minute walking tour. St Stephan Cathedral (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/vienna-stephansdom.htm) is thevmother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. Its Romanesque and Gothic form seen today, was largely initiated by Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first being a parish church consecrated in 1147. With its multi-colored tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols. Like many important buildings throughout Europe, it is undergoing significant restoration and maintenance.
Starting in the square we make our way along pedestrian only shopping areas past stores with names like Cartier, Prada, Benneton, Tiffany, Tommy Hilfiger and many others. Not exactly a place where we will shop much. At the end of the guided tour we went off on our own looking for a place to stop for a rest. We found a Chocolate shop where we could sit out in front under the umbrellas. We ordered coffee and watched people walk by. Just as our order came it started to rain -our timing was excellent! Fortunately it only rained for a few minutes and quit by the time we finished our drinks. We checked out the goodies inside before leaving but with prices approaching $40 for a six ounce box of chocolates, we decided to get a few small treats and walk back to the ship. We arrived back at the ship in time for lunch then spent the afternoon relaxing.
Since we were going to the Mozart Concert in town, we had an early dinner before boarding the bus for the Arsenal, a military museum in the heart of town. Arriving at the Arsenal, we got off the bus and walked into what turned out to be a simply stunning performance hall. Since we were one of the first to enter, we got front row seats, no more than ten feet from the performers.
It turned out to be a chamber orchestra with three violins, a viola, bass fiddle, electric piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, French horn and drums. We were given a 90 minute performance with pieces by Mozart, Strauss and Franz List. Along with the music we were given two ballet pieces with dancers from the Vienna Ballet Company and three operetta pieces, one of which was a duet, performed by members of the Vienna Opera Company. The entire show was simply magnificent!! The acoustics were incredible and the music marvelous.
After getting back to the ship we all went into the lounge for a bowl of Hungarian Goulash - pretty good! By 11:20 PM we decided to give it up and go to bed. What a great evening adventure!
To see all our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
The sun is shining and it is warming up as we get up at 6:00 AM to start our day. We have been fortunate with our weather, we’ve only had a couple of days with any rain at all, otherwise it has been short sleeve shirts, shorts and sandals every day. After my morning shower, etc., I grabbed the laptop and went to the lounge to update the blog, check email, and upload photos while Tina took over the bathroom for a more leisurely get up.
Soon joined by Tina, Denise and Shanda, we go downstairs to breakfast. By 8:15 AM we’re ready for our shore excursion in Vienna, but it has clouded over and begun to rain, so we made a quick stop in our rooms to get umbrellas. Then we turned in our room keys for our boarding passes, grabbed a receiver for our walking tour and headed out side to get on the bus.
Vienna (Wiem) is a big city, capital of the Republic of Austria with nearly two million inhabitants. The cathedral of St Stephen, built between 1263 and 1511, is the symbol of the city with towers over 450 feet tall making it one of the most impressive churches in Europe. Originally settled by Celts, the Romans soon made Vienna one of their important bastions against the barbarians on the north side of the river (http://www.aboutvienna.org/).
During the middle ages, Vienna was home to the Badenburg Dynasty, and in 1440 AD, it became the resident city of the house of Habsborg eventually becoming the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural centre for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. In 1804, Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European and world politics. After WWII, much of the city was in ruins but the people banded together over the next thirty years rebuilt the inner city using much of the same styles as had been in existence before the war. Today, Vienna is host to several United Nations Organizations along with other world organizations such as OPEC. But perhaps more importantly, Vienna is the home of Johann Straus composer of the famous Blue Danube Waltz.v
Our guides arrived and everybody boarded our busses for the one hour bus tour of Vienna. Soon we made a circuit of the city on the ring road passing by many famous and beautiful buildings. Our destination was the heart of the city, St Stephens Square, where we began our 90 minute walking tour. St Stephan Cathedral (http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/vienna-stephansdom.htm) is thevmother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. Its Romanesque and Gothic form seen today, was largely initiated by Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first being a parish church consecrated in 1147. With its multi-colored tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols. Like many important buildings throughout Europe, it is undergoing significant restoration and maintenance.
Starting in the square we make our way along pedestrian only shopping areas past stores with names like Cartier, Prada, Benneton, Tiffany, Tommy Hilfiger and many others. Not exactly a place where we will shop much. At the end of the guided tour we went off on our own looking for a place to stop for a rest. We found a Chocolate shop where we could sit out in front under the umbrellas. We ordered coffee and watched people walk by. Just as our order came it started to rain -our timing was excellent! Fortunately it only rained for a few minutes and quit by the time we finished our drinks. We checked out the goodies inside before leaving but with prices approaching $40 for a six ounce box of chocolates, we decided to get a few small treats and walk back to the ship. We arrived back at the ship in time for lunch then spent the afternoon relaxing.
Since we were going to the Mozart Concert in town, we had an early dinner before boarding the bus for the Arsenal, a military museum in the heart of town. Arriving at the Arsenal, we got off the bus and walked into what turned out to be a simply stunning performance hall. Since we were one of the first to enter, we got front row seats, no more than ten feet from the performers.
It turned out to be a chamber orchestra with three violins, a viola, bass fiddle, electric piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, French horn and drums. We were given a 90 minute performance with pieces by Mozart, Strauss and Franz List. Along with the music we were given two ballet pieces with dancers from the Vienna Ballet Company and three operetta pieces, one of which was a duet, performed by members of the Vienna Opera Company. The entire show was simply magnificent!! The acoustics were incredible and the music marvelous.
After getting back to the ship we all went into the lounge for a bowl of Hungarian Goulash - pretty good! By 11:20 PM we decided to give it up and go to bed. What a great evening adventure!
To see all our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Melk, Austria
Day 11 - Melk (September 9)
Tina and I both woke up at 6:30 AM as he ship sailed along the Danube. The sun was out and a light mist was lifting off the water. Since Tina wasn’t hungry I volunteered to go have breakfast and bring her back a cup of coffee. By 7:30 AM I was back at our room with coffee cup in hand to the welcome of a my bride. As Tina finished getting ready for the day I prepared to download everyone’s photos from yesterday. About that time the ladies next door came knocking and Tina decided to join them for breakfast while I finished the downloads.
Most of the day was spent on the Danube cruising past beautiful farms, small communities with their church spires and lots of ancient castle ruins perched high atop the hills. The ship docked in the city of Melk around 1:00 PM, just after lunch. We were stopping here to see the Abbey, a 900-year-old Benedictine monastery featuring Austria’s finest Italian baroque architecture and walk through the town.
Melk has played an important role in the Danube region since Roman times, when a fortress was built on the promontory overlooking a tiny "arm" of the Danube. Melk also appears in the German epic poem Nibelungenlied, in which it is called "Medelike". The rock-strewn bluff where the abbey now stands was the seat of the Babenbergs, who ruled Austria from 976 until the Hapsburgs took over.
In the 11th century, Leopold II of Babenberg presented the palace at Melk to Benedictine monks, who turned it into a fortified abbey. Its influence and reputation as a center of learning and culture spread throughout Austria, as reflected in Umberto Eco's popular novel The Name of the Rose. Eco researched his novel in the abbey's library. For more on the Abbey go to: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/melk-abbey.htm
Melk Abbey suffered damaged during the Reformation and the 1683 Turkish invasion, but it was spared direct attack when the Ottoman armies were halted outside Vienna. Reconstruction of the abbey began in 1702 in full Baroque style and was completed in 1736. The abbey church was damaged by fire in 1947, but is now almost completely restored.
After touring the Abbey, we walked back to town along a gravel stairways and small alleys. It is a very nice town and the central pedestrian only shopping district was, like many we have been to, is set up for residents as well as tourists. We made a stop at a great little pottery shop where we bought several unique items.
Leaving the town of Melk we walked across the Iron Bridge and through the Princess Forest back to the river and our ship. Back on the river, the ship continued our cruise down river. Later that evening, we had our daily briefing then went in to the dining room where The girls had arranged for three other couples to join us for dinner to celebrate Tina’s and my 18th Anniversary. John and Cynthia from Sydney, Don and Ann from Kansas, and Rene and Claire from San Diego. Just before the first course, we were presented with a lovely framed watercolor from Rene. He had painted it during the stop at Nuremburg and had it framed and glassed especially for us. After dinner, the staff came out with a small chocolate cake with a fire cracker candle on it and sang “Happy Anniversary” to us.
Just after dinner we arrived at the town of Durstenburg, where we were to spend the night. At 9:00 PM we all joined our Activities Director, Marcus, for a walk and talk about town. Even though the sun had gone down there were plenty of flashlights and street lamps. We walked up into town with several stops for a brief talk on the history of the area including a stop at the local cemetery. This is a very small plot of land in the center of town. Since there is always people dying and needing to be buried, the plots are recycled with the bones of prior residents being added to the bone pile. From there we continued back to the river and along the quay to the base of the town church which is painted a stunning blue with white accents well lit up. Looking up at the spire you could see the castle ruin, also lit up, on the hill above town. It was all very pretty.
Returning to the ship, we all retired for the night.
To see all our photos go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Tina and I both woke up at 6:30 AM as he ship sailed along the Danube. The sun was out and a light mist was lifting off the water. Since Tina wasn’t hungry I volunteered to go have breakfast and bring her back a cup of coffee. By 7:30 AM I was back at our room with coffee cup in hand to the welcome of a my bride. As Tina finished getting ready for the day I prepared to download everyone’s photos from yesterday. About that time the ladies next door came knocking and Tina decided to join them for breakfast while I finished the downloads.
Most of the day was spent on the Danube cruising past beautiful farms, small communities with their church spires and lots of ancient castle ruins perched high atop the hills. The ship docked in the city of Melk around 1:00 PM, just after lunch. We were stopping here to see the Abbey, a 900-year-old Benedictine monastery featuring Austria’s finest Italian baroque architecture and walk through the town.
Melk has played an important role in the Danube region since Roman times, when a fortress was built on the promontory overlooking a tiny "arm" of the Danube. Melk also appears in the German epic poem Nibelungenlied, in which it is called "Medelike". The rock-strewn bluff where the abbey now stands was the seat of the Babenbergs, who ruled Austria from 976 until the Hapsburgs took over.
In the 11th century, Leopold II of Babenberg presented the palace at Melk to Benedictine monks, who turned it into a fortified abbey. Its influence and reputation as a center of learning and culture spread throughout Austria, as reflected in Umberto Eco's popular novel The Name of the Rose. Eco researched his novel in the abbey's library. For more on the Abbey go to: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/melk-abbey.htm
Melk Abbey suffered damaged during the Reformation and the 1683 Turkish invasion, but it was spared direct attack when the Ottoman armies were halted outside Vienna. Reconstruction of the abbey began in 1702 in full Baroque style and was completed in 1736. The abbey church was damaged by fire in 1947, but is now almost completely restored.
After touring the Abbey, we walked back to town along a gravel stairways and small alleys. It is a very nice town and the central pedestrian only shopping district was, like many we have been to, is set up for residents as well as tourists. We made a stop at a great little pottery shop where we bought several unique items.
Leaving the town of Melk we walked across the Iron Bridge and through the Princess Forest back to the river and our ship. Back on the river, the ship continued our cruise down river. Later that evening, we had our daily briefing then went in to the dining room where The girls had arranged for three other couples to join us for dinner to celebrate Tina’s and my 18th Anniversary. John and Cynthia from Sydney, Don and Ann from Kansas, and Rene and Claire from San Diego. Just before the first course, we were presented with a lovely framed watercolor from Rene. He had painted it during the stop at Nuremburg and had it framed and glassed especially for us. After dinner, the staff came out with a small chocolate cake with a fire cracker candle on it and sang “Happy Anniversary” to us.
Just after dinner we arrived at the town of Durstenburg, where we were to spend the night. At 9:00 PM we all joined our Activities Director, Marcus, for a walk and talk about town. Even though the sun had gone down there were plenty of flashlights and street lamps. We walked up into town with several stops for a brief talk on the history of the area including a stop at the local cemetery. This is a very small plot of land in the center of town. Since there is always people dying and needing to be buried, the plots are recycled with the bones of prior residents being added to the bone pile. From there we continued back to the river and along the quay to the base of the town church which is painted a stunning blue with white accents well lit up. Looking up at the spire you could see the castle ruin, also lit up, on the hill above town. It was all very pretty.
Returning to the ship, we all retired for the night.
To see all our photos go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Passau
Day 10 - Passau (September 8)
I got up early and showered so I could get our blog and photos uploaded to the web while Tina and the girls went to breakfast. Since I had good connections to the web I also managed to get two more days of photos up to Picassa.
With the sun out and a promise of a warm day, the ship docked at the town of Passau which is located at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Inn and Ilz. This is where Frederick Barbarossa, in 1189, gathered his legendary Crusaders and where sometime in the 1200’s legend has it that the great Bavarian Nibelungen poetry cycle was forged. The city thrived for the next four hundred years until in 1662 it all but burned to it’s foundations. Due to its location and having built its riches on the salt trade, Passau was quickly rebuilt to its former glorious splendor.
Since it was early, we decided to forego the walking tour and head off to explore on our own. We stepped off the ship around 9:30 AM and walked along the quay until we found a side street running up the hill into town. We emerged into a pedestrian only shopping area which serviced locals and tourists alike with department stores, hardware, fruit and bakery shops, butcher shops and other specialty stores for shoes, and other everyday items. Since it was early, delivery trucks jockeyed for positions to unload their gods without running over the people. Many of the restaurants were setting up their outdoor tables as the sun continued to warm the platz.
After several hours of shopping we headed for St Stephens Cathedral, the largest Baroque Cathedral north of the Alps. Construction of the cathedral started in 1221 and continued over a period of thirty or so years. It is built on the site of the original church dedicated to St Stephan in 720 AD. Partially destroyed in the fire of 1662, the Italian architect Carlo Lurago integrated the remains into a coherent masterpiece. We were unable to enter the cathedral since it was under renovation for restoration (and we didn’t have a ticket - heh, heh - who knew?) so wandered around the outside before heading back down to a different part of town on the way back to the ship.
By now it is lunch time and everyone was returning for our 1:00 PM departure. We spent the rest of the day relaxing as we continued down river to the town of Lenz where we will tie up for the night.
I got up early and showered so I could get our blog and photos uploaded to the web while Tina and the girls went to breakfast. Since I had good connections to the web I also managed to get two more days of photos up to Picassa.
With the sun out and a promise of a warm day, the ship docked at the town of Passau which is located at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Inn and Ilz. This is where Frederick Barbarossa, in 1189, gathered his legendary Crusaders and where sometime in the 1200’s legend has it that the great Bavarian Nibelungen poetry cycle was forged. The city thrived for the next four hundred years until in 1662 it all but burned to it’s foundations. Due to its location and having built its riches on the salt trade, Passau was quickly rebuilt to its former glorious splendor.
Since it was early, we decided to forego the walking tour and head off to explore on our own. We stepped off the ship around 9:30 AM and walked along the quay until we found a side street running up the hill into town. We emerged into a pedestrian only shopping area which serviced locals and tourists alike with department stores, hardware, fruit and bakery shops, butcher shops and other specialty stores for shoes, and other everyday items. Since it was early, delivery trucks jockeyed for positions to unload their gods without running over the people. Many of the restaurants were setting up their outdoor tables as the sun continued to warm the platz.
After several hours of shopping we headed for St Stephens Cathedral, the largest Baroque Cathedral north of the Alps. Construction of the cathedral started in 1221 and continued over a period of thirty or so years. It is built on the site of the original church dedicated to St Stephan in 720 AD. Partially destroyed in the fire of 1662, the Italian architect Carlo Lurago integrated the remains into a coherent masterpiece. We were unable to enter the cathedral since it was under renovation for restoration (and we didn’t have a ticket - heh, heh - who knew?) so wandered around the outside before heading back down to a different part of town on the way back to the ship.
By now it is lunch time and everyone was returning for our 1:00 PM departure. We spent the rest of the day relaxing as we continued down river to the town of Lenz where we will tie up for the night.
Regensburg
Day 9 - Regensburg (September 7)
We managed to sleep in until 7:30 AM before the ladies next door woke sup with a knock, knock, knock… “We’re up”, we cried and jumped out of bed. After showers and other morning stuff we made our way to the dining room for breakfast.
After breakfast we listened to the daily briefing in the lounge while I worked on the blog and uploaded photos to the web. I managed to get several days worth up before losing the satellite connection, caused by moving into another set of locks. We continued to cruise down the canal/river towards Regensburg and our connection with the Danube.
Once again we had a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. The countryside is stunning in its variety as we pass well tended villages with agricultural fields, high hills with trees galore, rocky promontories with castles perched atop them, industrial factories, large towns and cities, sheep and lots more locks.
By 2:45PM we docked in Regensburg, originally settled by Celts migrating northwest to Gaul. The town became a center of religious life in the middle ages after it was converted to Christianity in the 7th century. During the period 540 to 1225 the town developed into an important trading center and in 1245 became a ”Free Imperial City”. The city has many Italian style towers erected by the major merchant families as well as a 1,000 foot stone bridge spanning the river and the Cathedral of St Peter, erected over a period of three centuries.
At 3:00 PM we got off the ship and met our guide for a walking tour of the city.
As we moved down the quay to town, our guide pointed to the last vestiges of the city wall and river gate with its guard tower integrated into some of the newer buildings dating back to the mid 17th century, when most of the wall was torn down so the stones and bricks could be used elsewhere.
We walked up to the entrance to the stone bridge built in the 1100’s and watched as several students engaged in an archeological excavation at the foot of the bridge before the area is renovated in a maintenance project. The old town center which was originally about ten by twenty blocks within the walls, is very medieval with lots of small winding cobble streets and alleys connecting large squares.
Eventually we ended up at St Peters Cathedral and went inside to see the beautiful stained glass windows and all the sculptures. After the cathedral we spent another two hours exploring the town and shopping before returning to the river for a dinner of brauts and sauerkraut at one of the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Europe. Legend has it that the workmen erecting the old stone bridge were fed on the same spot.
After dinner we returned to town for another hour of exploration before returning to the ship where the ladies went to the lounge to listen to music while I worked to download every bodies pictures and write the blog. By 10:30 PM we decided to call it a night.
To see all of our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
We managed to sleep in until 7:30 AM before the ladies next door woke sup with a knock, knock, knock… “We’re up”, we cried and jumped out of bed. After showers and other morning stuff we made our way to the dining room for breakfast.
After breakfast we listened to the daily briefing in the lounge while I worked on the blog and uploaded photos to the web. I managed to get several days worth up before losing the satellite connection, caused by moving into another set of locks. We continued to cruise down the canal/river towards Regensburg and our connection with the Danube.
Once again we had a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. The countryside is stunning in its variety as we pass well tended villages with agricultural fields, high hills with trees galore, rocky promontories with castles perched atop them, industrial factories, large towns and cities, sheep and lots more locks.
By 2:45PM we docked in Regensburg, originally settled by Celts migrating northwest to Gaul. The town became a center of religious life in the middle ages after it was converted to Christianity in the 7th century. During the period 540 to 1225 the town developed into an important trading center and in 1245 became a ”Free Imperial City”. The city has many Italian style towers erected by the major merchant families as well as a 1,000 foot stone bridge spanning the river and the Cathedral of St Peter, erected over a period of three centuries.
At 3:00 PM we got off the ship and met our guide for a walking tour of the city.
As we moved down the quay to town, our guide pointed to the last vestiges of the city wall and river gate with its guard tower integrated into some of the newer buildings dating back to the mid 17th century, when most of the wall was torn down so the stones and bricks could be used elsewhere.
We walked up to the entrance to the stone bridge built in the 1100’s and watched as several students engaged in an archeological excavation at the foot of the bridge before the area is renovated in a maintenance project. The old town center which was originally about ten by twenty blocks within the walls, is very medieval with lots of small winding cobble streets and alleys connecting large squares.
Eventually we ended up at St Peters Cathedral and went inside to see the beautiful stained glass windows and all the sculptures. After the cathedral we spent another two hours exploring the town and shopping before returning to the river for a dinner of brauts and sauerkraut at one of the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Europe. Legend has it that the workmen erecting the old stone bridge were fed on the same spot.
After dinner we returned to town for another hour of exploration before returning to the ship where the ladies went to the lounge to listen to music while I worked to download every bodies pictures and write the blog. By 10:30 PM we decided to call it a night.
To see all of our photos click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski
Monday, September 7, 2009
Nuremburg
Day 8 - Nuremburg (September 6)
Another beautiful morning with the sun shining through broken clouds and a temperature in the mid 50’s. We decided that today's adventure, a walking tour of old town Nuremburg and another castle, would be similar to yesterday so we decided to take a break and give our legs a rest. So we stayed on board and marveled at the number of locks and low bridges we passed. We made a brief stop to let everyone off for the bus ride to town for the walking tour, then continued on down (actually up) the river (canal).
The captain has closed the sun deck and lowered the canopies in order to clear some of the lowest bridges. At the same time he has lowered the pilot house. For some of the bridges, the captain has the pilot house lowered even with the sun deck only a small plexi-glass bubble sticks up above the pilot house where the captain is able to put the upper half of his head to see out.
Most of the locks we are passing through are very narrow. By this I mean that there is only about four inches of clearance on each side of the ship. We have been stair-stepping up the Rhine/Main/Danube Canal about ten to twelve feet at a time as we head for the Danube. The ship is equipped with bow and stern side thrusters, hydraulically powered water jets that can swivel 360 degrees. As we near the lock openings the main engines are disengaged and the ship is pulled forward into the lock with both bow thrusters, each pointed aft and angled slightly outward. It’s pretty slick as it allows the captain to control our position relative to the lock walls fairly precisely.
After lunch, Tina, Denise, Shanda and I went up to the lounge and played two games of “Hand and Foot” which lasted slightly over four hours with Tina and I taking both games. The countryside we are passing through is widely varied with farms predominating. Since we are on a river, most farmlands are on sloping fields running up to steeper hillsides forested with a wide variety of deciduous trees. Some of the hills come right down to the river and have many ruined castles perched atop large outcroppings of granite. A very beautiful day for a restful cruise.
Just about 7:00 PM, the tours returned to the boat just outside Nuremburg and we all went into dinner. Most dinners run around two plus hours. We always have a choice of seating, sometimes at a table for six, sometimes a table for eight. So we are usually dining with different people every night (mornings too). This is nice since we get to meet many of our fellow travelers and learn about them. It makes the trip so much more enjoyable. The dinners have been very well prepared though not everything has been to our taste - heh, heh.
The dinners start with a choice of (two) appetizer, choice of salad, choice of soup, choice of main course, choice of desert and a plate of cheese along with your choice of beverage. Needless to say, when serving two hundred people at one time, it takes awhile for orders to be taken, to bring out a course, remove the plates (or bowls), bring out the next course, remove the plates (or bowls), etc., in order to serve a complete meal. So there is lots of time for conversations between courses.
After dinner we decided not to stay for music in the lounge and retired to our rooms to read a little before going to bed.
Another beautiful morning with the sun shining through broken clouds and a temperature in the mid 50’s. We decided that today's adventure, a walking tour of old town Nuremburg and another castle, would be similar to yesterday so we decided to take a break and give our legs a rest. So we stayed on board and marveled at the number of locks and low bridges we passed. We made a brief stop to let everyone off for the bus ride to town for the walking tour, then continued on down (actually up) the river (canal).
The captain has closed the sun deck and lowered the canopies in order to clear some of the lowest bridges. At the same time he has lowered the pilot house. For some of the bridges, the captain has the pilot house lowered even with the sun deck only a small plexi-glass bubble sticks up above the pilot house where the captain is able to put the upper half of his head to see out.
Most of the locks we are passing through are very narrow. By this I mean that there is only about four inches of clearance on each side of the ship. We have been stair-stepping up the Rhine/Main/Danube Canal about ten to twelve feet at a time as we head for the Danube. The ship is equipped with bow and stern side thrusters, hydraulically powered water jets that can swivel 360 degrees. As we near the lock openings the main engines are disengaged and the ship is pulled forward into the lock with both bow thrusters, each pointed aft and angled slightly outward. It’s pretty slick as it allows the captain to control our position relative to the lock walls fairly precisely.
After lunch, Tina, Denise, Shanda and I went up to the lounge and played two games of “Hand and Foot” which lasted slightly over four hours with Tina and I taking both games. The countryside we are passing through is widely varied with farms predominating. Since we are on a river, most farmlands are on sloping fields running up to steeper hillsides forested with a wide variety of deciduous trees. Some of the hills come right down to the river and have many ruined castles perched atop large outcroppings of granite. A very beautiful day for a restful cruise.
Just about 7:00 PM, the tours returned to the boat just outside Nuremburg and we all went into dinner. Most dinners run around two plus hours. We always have a choice of seating, sometimes at a table for six, sometimes a table for eight. So we are usually dining with different people every night (mornings too). This is nice since we get to meet many of our fellow travelers and learn about them. It makes the trip so much more enjoyable. The dinners have been very well prepared though not everything has been to our taste - heh, heh.
The dinners start with a choice of (two) appetizer, choice of salad, choice of soup, choice of main course, choice of desert and a plate of cheese along with your choice of beverage. Needless to say, when serving two hundred people at one time, it takes awhile for orders to be taken, to bring out a course, remove the plates (or bowls), bring out the next course, remove the plates (or bowls), etc., in order to serve a complete meal. So there is lots of time for conversations between courses.
After dinner we decided not to stay for music in the lounge and retired to our rooms to read a little before going to bed.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Wurzburg and Rothenburg
Day 7 - Wurzburg (September 5)
6:00 AM and dawn is breaking in the east. Of course, it’s cloudy here so I can’t really tell where east is but at least it’s not raining. We decide to have an early breakfast since our shore excursion to Wurzburg starts at 8:30 AM this morning.
Würzburg, in southwestern Germany, in was first used as a fortification by Celts and the site of the martyrdom of Saint Kilian, a Christian missionary, in 689. Founded by christianized Franks it became an Episcopal See in 741. Würzburg has one of the biggest railroad junctions in Germany because of it‘s industrial center. It is also the commercial hub of an agricultural region noted for its vineyards. The city is big into wine and beer, machinery, scientific instruments, paper, pianos, chemicals, and textiles.
Since it was likely to be chilly and rainy we dressed in layers and took our umbrellas. The ship tied up alongside a quay on the outskirts of Würzburg. After leaving the ship we walked to our bus for the short ride into town where we are going to visit a large rococo Episcopal and Ducal palace built during the period 1720-1744. Though heavily damaged during WW II, the palace was fully restored to its original grandeur by 1987. We arrived at the immense square which fronts the palace and exit our bus. Our guide lets us take photos of the outside but informs us that no picture taking is allowed inside. To see what we saw, click on this link:
http://www.residenz-wuerzburg.de/englisch/residenz/tour.htm
Then go to the bottom of the page and click on any room to see photos. We started our tour in Vestibule, then into the Garden Hall and up the Grand Staircase into the White Hall. Next was the Imperial Hall followed by the Southern Imperal Apartments. After completing our tour of the palace interior we went around to the back to see the gardens where numerous wedding groups were doing photo shoots. Then it was back to the bus for the ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (Rothenburg above the Tauber River).
One of the surprising aspects of our trip was the road system. Though Germany is recognized for the “Autobahn”, much of the transportation system consists of roads barely wide enough for our bus, no center line, running past agricultural fields and small villages with clusters of 15 to 30 houses and farm buildings. Along with these small country roads, are two-lane roads with 8 foot lanes. It’s really only in the cities and large urban areas that you find the wider multi-lane roads. But this makes sense when you factor in the well developed rail system, and the rivers and canals as major transportation modes for transport of goods. What makes the river/canal system work is the well maintained locks, in fact for our trip we will transit over 60 sets of locks.
After a ninety minute drive through the countryside we arrive in Rothenburg, a well-preserved medieval old town. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City which gave it the right to self governance and not have to send tax revenue to the central government. The town dates from the mid 10th century with the building of the castle by the Count of Comburg-Rothenburg. In 1170 the city of Rothenburg was founded at the time of the building of Staufer castle. The center of town was the market square and Jakob’s Church, our destination for lunch and walking tour.
Arriving in town, we stop in a large bus park and walk into town passing through one of the entrances in the old covered wall that surrounds old town. Our guide takes us to one of the many restaurants where we go upstairs for a lunch of bratwurst, saurkraut and mashed potatoes with a custard tart for desert - very nice. After lunch we go on a walking tour around old town before being released to spend the afternoon exploring on our own.
As we walk around looking in shops and wandering along the many small connecting alleyways, the city has a medieval street festival going on with locals dressed in period costume, with tents and cooking fires, there are displays of blacksmithing, leatherwork, cooking, cloth making and many other daily crafts that were part of day to day living. At one point we encountered a wedding procession about to enter Jacobs church including. Along with the bride and groom there were drummers, several people playing fifes and people waving banners.
We had a really enjoyable time in Rothenburg with sunshine most of the day, in fact we had our jackets off most of the time. At 5:00 PM we all met up at the Market Square for the walk back to the bus. Our drive from Rothenburg took us out of town and onto the Autobahn before dropping back down to the River Main and our ship. After cleaning up and changing we went in to dinner then retired to our respective cabins for the evening. With all the walking and hiking we all decided to try and get a good nights sleep.
6:00 AM and dawn is breaking in the east. Of course, it’s cloudy here so I can’t really tell where east is but at least it’s not raining. We decide to have an early breakfast since our shore excursion to Wurzburg starts at 8:30 AM this morning.
Würzburg, in southwestern Germany, in was first used as a fortification by Celts and the site of the martyrdom of Saint Kilian, a Christian missionary, in 689. Founded by christianized Franks it became an Episcopal See in 741. Würzburg has one of the biggest railroad junctions in Germany because of it‘s industrial center. It is also the commercial hub of an agricultural region noted for its vineyards. The city is big into wine and beer, machinery, scientific instruments, paper, pianos, chemicals, and textiles.
Since it was likely to be chilly and rainy we dressed in layers and took our umbrellas. The ship tied up alongside a quay on the outskirts of Würzburg. After leaving the ship we walked to our bus for the short ride into town where we are going to visit a large rococo Episcopal and Ducal palace built during the period 1720-1744. Though heavily damaged during WW II, the palace was fully restored to its original grandeur by 1987. We arrived at the immense square which fronts the palace and exit our bus. Our guide lets us take photos of the outside but informs us that no picture taking is allowed inside. To see what we saw, click on this link:
http://www.residenz-wuerzburg.de/englisch/residenz/tour.htm
Then go to the bottom of the page and click on any room to see photos. We started our tour in Vestibule, then into the Garden Hall and up the Grand Staircase into the White Hall. Next was the Imperial Hall followed by the Southern Imperal Apartments. After completing our tour of the palace interior we went around to the back to see the gardens where numerous wedding groups were doing photo shoots. Then it was back to the bus for the ride to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (Rothenburg above the Tauber River).
One of the surprising aspects of our trip was the road system. Though Germany is recognized for the “Autobahn”, much of the transportation system consists of roads barely wide enough for our bus, no center line, running past agricultural fields and small villages with clusters of 15 to 30 houses and farm buildings. Along with these small country roads, are two-lane roads with 8 foot lanes. It’s really only in the cities and large urban areas that you find the wider multi-lane roads. But this makes sense when you factor in the well developed rail system, and the rivers and canals as major transportation modes for transport of goods. What makes the river/canal system work is the well maintained locks, in fact for our trip we will transit over 60 sets of locks.
After a ninety minute drive through the countryside we arrive in Rothenburg, a well-preserved medieval old town. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City which gave it the right to self governance and not have to send tax revenue to the central government. The town dates from the mid 10th century with the building of the castle by the Count of Comburg-Rothenburg. In 1170 the city of Rothenburg was founded at the time of the building of Staufer castle. The center of town was the market square and Jakob’s Church, our destination for lunch and walking tour.
Arriving in town, we stop in a large bus park and walk into town passing through one of the entrances in the old covered wall that surrounds old town. Our guide takes us to one of the many restaurants where we go upstairs for a lunch of bratwurst, saurkraut and mashed potatoes with a custard tart for desert - very nice. After lunch we go on a walking tour around old town before being released to spend the afternoon exploring on our own.
As we walk around looking in shops and wandering along the many small connecting alleyways, the city has a medieval street festival going on with locals dressed in period costume, with tents and cooking fires, there are displays of blacksmithing, leatherwork, cooking, cloth making and many other daily crafts that were part of day to day living. At one point we encountered a wedding procession about to enter Jacobs church including. Along with the bride and groom there were drummers, several people playing fifes and people waving banners.
We had a really enjoyable time in Rothenburg with sunshine most of the day, in fact we had our jackets off most of the time. At 5:00 PM we all met up at the Market Square for the walk back to the bus. Our drive from Rothenburg took us out of town and onto the Autobahn before dropping back down to the River Main and our ship. After cleaning up and changing we went in to dinner then retired to our respective cabins for the evening. With all the walking and hiking we all decided to try and get a good nights sleep.
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