The Last Day

Sunday 6/28/09

Today was lovely. We started late, so we had brunch instead of breakfast which we picked up at the corner store. We ate on the bus on the way to the Dublin Zoo. The Dublin Zoo was a lot more fun then I anticipated, and we ended up spending most of the day there. By the time we got back to our hotel it was already 5pm. We considered a quick nap since both of us were tired, but I ended up reading for a bit, and then taking a nice long hot shower to ease some of the tension in my back. I really miss my bed. It’s all nice and soft, it supports my back, and very importantly it doesn’t sag in the middle. Sigh, I guess I’ll have to wait till tomorrow night to get a good night sleep. Later tonight the plan is to grab a slice of pizza for dinner, and then to pack so we’re ready for the early start in the morning. We have to catch a bus to the airport at 7am, so we’ll be waking up considerably earlier then we have been all vacation. I have to say that this vacation has really been better then I imagined it would be. After 3 weeks of travel I thought I would be exhausted beyond reason, and would need time to recover once I got home. Like a vacation from my vacation. I still feel like I will need time to adjust when I get home, but I’m more concerned about the new things at home like starting my new job, and less concerned about recovering from our trip. I’ve been quite happy with our decision to bring our lap top along on the trip, it has enabled me to journal, and keep track of our wonderful, and sometimes strange experiences. I look forward to being able to re-read this journal at some point. To all those who have been following our assorted adventures, I hope you have enjoyed the narrative. I’ll see you soon, back in the states. Good night, and God bless.

Dublin

Saturday 6/27/09

Sleeping in has to be one of my favorite things. I love waking up without hearing an alarm clock. Morgan and I have started staying up a bit later, and getting up a bit later in preparation for Monday when we’re going to have to switch our body clocks back to east coast time. Today we spent most of the day walking around down town. We stopped first at Trinity College, where Morgan was very excited to see the Book of Kells. Then we went on a tour of Dublin Castle, and Christ Cathedral. Our walk through the city was interrupted by the Dublin Pride parade, which is apparently an annual event in June. Not exactly what I had envisioned for our day in Dublin, but none the less it was memorable. Plenty of drag queens, and lots of people dressed like the village people… such a strange parade to stumble across. In the evening we attempted the pub scene again, but were somewhat disappointed by the smoky atmosphere and the sky high prices, Dublin really is an expensive city. So instead of the pub we hit the grocery store again, since we don’t have a kitchen here it was sandwiches and yogurt for us. We did a little reading, and once again it’s time for bed. Tomorrow we’re going to try to get out of the city a little and head over to Phoenix Park, maybe take in the zoo. Hopefully the weather holds out for us. It would be nice to have a nice last day in Europe.

Dublin

Friday 6/26/09

Today has been a very long day. It started early at the B&B, we had a last breakfast in the roof top garden, grabbed our things and headed for the airport. We had to take the subway to the main station, and then catch a bus to get out to the airport. Similar to last time, Ryan air didn’t fly out of Rome’s main airport, they flew out of a ‘smaller’ airport outside of the Rome city limits. Unlike in Glasgow where the smaller airport was about the size of Albany International, in Rome the ‘smaller’ airport was closer to the size of LaGuardia. So we got there and were relieved to see a sign for Ryan air up in one of the many check in lines. We hopped in line, and checked the screens to see that our flight was still planning on leaving on time. We figured out that it was leaving out of gate 22, so we knew where to go after checking in. Things were good. Then we got to the front of the check in line after waiting about half an hour. The woman at the desk told us that we were in the wrong line. It would seem that we had misinterpreted the Italian writing on the display screen, the flight wasn’t leaving out of gate 22, we needed to check in at desk 22. Great, so we run over to gate 22 and there is another huge line. So now I’m getting really worried, because we have less then an hour till our flight is suppose to leave, and Ryan air states clearly on their website that if you don’t check your baggage at least 40 minutes before the flight departs they won’t guarantee that it will make it through with you to your destination. So we waited, and waited, and at 20 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave we finally checked in. The woman at the desk was unconcerned however, and seemed to think there would be no problem with the baggage. We got through security, and got to our real gate (#4) and were ready to leave. Our departure time came and went as we waited in line, finally they let us board. Twenty minutes past our departure time they finally closed the plane… and then we sat there. For another hour, we sat there captive on the runway, until the plane finally left. Then it was another 3 hour flight to Dublin. Sigh, despite all the potential issues, we made it to Dublin in one piece, and our baggage managed to make it with us.
The first thing that registered in my mind when I stepped out of the airport was that I miss Italy already. It was cold, and overcast here, and it was starting to sprinkle. We caught a lime green double decker bus from the airport to a stop near our hotel, and checked in no problem. Our room is a little odd. I thought we were getting a standard double room, with either a double bed, or two singles. Turns out that we got both a double bed and two singles, so our room is a little more crowded then it needed to be, but is otherwise comfortable. Once again here it seems that “wifi in every room”, translates to “pay us an unreasonable amount of money and you can use the wifi in your room”. Fortunately there are a few internet café’s nearby that charge very little to use the internet, so we will most likely try to post from there tomorrow. We went for a walk after getting into the hotel, just to get a feel for the city… it started to rain. We tried to go to a pub for dinner, but they didn’t serve food, only beer. Morgan got his first Guinness in Ireland, and I tried a bit, still tastes horrible even when it’s Irish. We had planned to stay for some entertainment, but the smoky atmosphere drove us out. We went back to the hotel, picking up sandwiches on the way. I’m really quite tired, so I’m gonna call it an early night. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Last day in Italy

Thursday 6/25/09

Today was once again relaxed. Morgan and I seem to be getting tired more easily these days, and I feel like it’s related to how long we’ve been away from our normal routine. It’s not that the things we’re seeing are any less spectacular, it just seems like it’s harder to soak up the volume of information that we’re seeing. We slept in this morning, after staying up later then we should have getting through the ‘good part’ of our respective books. We had a leisurely breakfast out on the roof, and then went out exploring. We saw the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum today. Our three stops took most of the day, they were packed full of tourists, and the heat of the day seemed to zap our energy. We both got a little sun burnt as well. We came back to the B&B a little early wanting a reprise of last night’s dinner in the rooftop garden. We got another bottle of local red wine (which is quite literally cheaper then water around here) a seafood medley and some pasta… we weren’t disappointed. We had a fantastic relaxed evening. Now we just have to pack, get ready for bed, and wake up early ready to say goodbye to Italy.

Rome/Vatican

Wednesday 6/24/09

Today was packet full. We started our day with breakfast in the roof top garden. It was fantastic… the garden I mean, the breakfast was toast and coffee. Our first stop of the day was the Vatican. Somehow things were very different then I remembered them from 10+ years ago when I had seen them before. Everything was much more crowded, and security seemed even more lax, which seems strange post 9/11. I remember having to go though customs to enter Vatican City, I even have the stamp in my passport to prove it, but this time we just walked in, no security, no checkpoint. We had to go through a metal detector for St. Peters, but that was the worst of it. We saw the Vatican museum first, going fairly quickly through the exhibits, so we only spent 3 hours there, including our time at the Sistine chapel. The Sistine chapel was packet to bursting. People standing shoulder to shoulder with barely room to breath. I felt bad, because this was Morgan’s first time seeing it, and it’s not as spectacular if you can’t sit back and just look at it for a while. Next we went to the Basilica, after waiting in line for 45 minutes we were allowed to enter. It was impressive, but somehow after our recent time in Florence it just wasn’t as impressive as I had remembered it. Morgan was impressed, but again a little overwhelmed by the crowds. People in large groups get a little overpowering, but odor isn’t everything. Next we walked to St. Angelo’s castle but didn’t go in because the entry fee was a little ridiculous and we’d had our fill of castles. We spent the rest of our afternoon wondering through Rome visiting the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, and the Spanish Steps. We finished the day by stopping at a grocery store and getting pasta and a frozen seafood mix to put over it. We also picket up a couple bottles of wine. Believe it or not, it seems Italy has made a convert out of me in the wine department. I have decided that I really like red wine. So tonight we spent the evening sitting in the roof top garden, enjoying wine, a little sun, a lovely dinner and some much needed time unwinding. Morgan and I have both been delighted to find that school has not completely stamped our desire for leisure reading. Both of us have been spending evenings devouring books the way we did when we were kids… it has been really wonderful, just like I’m on vacation.

Assisi

Tuesday 6/23/09

Today we journeyed towards Assisi. Things started out ok, we managed to get breakfast, and get on the train. We found Assisi just as the travel sites described, down to the last detail, we knew where to buy bus tickets, and where to store out luggage for the day, but we couldn’t for see the snags that we would encounter over the course of the day. The snags really started in Florence, we meant to stop at an ATM so we would have cash on hand for our trip to Assisi, as well as cash for our B&B once we got to Rome. Unfortunately we didn’t remember to stop before we got to the train station so we figured we would just use the ATM at the Assisi station… no such machine. So then we thought we’d see a bank on our way to the castle Rocco Maggiore, but there wasn’t one. So we figured we’d get our tickets with credit card, and stop later at an ATM… the castle only takes cash… hmm.. now we’re stuck. So Morgan runs back down the hill in search of an ATM, and I sit down to wait for him, only he came back a different way then we’d originally gone, so my well picked location to see him when he was coming back up the hill resulted in him not being able to find me when he got back, and then worrying that I got lost or hurt or injured. Once we found each other again there were a few sparks of frustration. Once that calmed down we toured the castle. It was amazing, just as I remembered it. The only thing I didn’t remember was exactly the worn down stone stairs can be after 1000 years of use. In my spectacularly clumsy way I managed to slip going down the stairs of a particularly steep and narrow passage. I did manage to stop myself from tumbling down the stairs an potentially breaking my neck, however I stopped myself by throwing out my arms, into the rough stone walls. I now have several lovely abrasions on both forearms, the one on my left forearm is a good 6 inches long, and 2.5 inches wide… great… (nearly 12 hours after the fact and they are still stinging). Unfortunately my arms were not the only thing to get damaged in the fall, my watch took a hit too, shattering the face. So after our fun at the castle we had a great time exploring the rest of Assisi. We saw the Basilica and the tomb of St. Francis. We also visited a little chapel (inside a large basilica) where St. Francis died. After that we went to the train station to board out 5:45 pm train to Rome. A couple trains came and went, we were there early, so it wasn’t concerning. Then 5:45pm came… no train. There was an announcement over the paging system… in very garbled Italian we heard something about Rome, and late. So we figured our train was late, no problem. So it was completely normal when at 6pm our train pulled into the station, we got on, and off we went. Thirty minutes into the ride the conductor comes by asks to see our tickets, I happily whip out our EuroRail Pass. He looks at it, looks at us, and asks for our reservation. Reservation? The 5:45pm train to Rome didn’t require a reservation. He says yes that’s true, but we’re not on the 5:45 train, we’re on the 6:20 train. How is that possible??? The train left the station at 6pm? Do trains leave early for no reason here in Italy?? And What happened to the 5:45 train?? We were sitting in the station at 5:45 and there was no train!! So we go back and forth for a few minutes. His English is good, but not great, and my Italian is poor at best. Finally it hits me… I look at my watch, which we’ve been using to tell time with all along… it seems that after our minor snag at the castle, my watch has managed to loose half an hour of time. I try to explain to the conductor what happened, I even showed him my watch, and my war wounds. He was unsympathetic, and basically told us to get off his train, or pay 30 euro for an ‘on the spot’ reservation. We opted to get off the train and catch the next non- reservation train coming through, which would be at the station in 30 minutes. So we got off, and we waited, and guess what, that train ended up being delayed. So finally... finally we got into Rome at almost 10:30pm and were able to find the B&B, apologize for being late, and scavenge some dinner. Exhausted it’s now time for bed.

Last day in Florence

Monday 6/22/09

Today was meant to be restful. We slept in, and then went to the central market in search of some fresh fruit. We then went and found a laundry mat, and did laundry. We took refuge inside for part of the afternoon because it was raining. We decided to cave into the hidden costs of using internet in the hotel, so that we could check our e-mail and blog. We prepared the blogs ahead of time, and made separate folders for pictures, so that we would be able to minimize our actual internet usage, because we were paying for it in half hour blocks. So we went to the desk, and rented an hour long password. We then tried to access the internet on our laptop. For whatever reason the laptop said it was connected, but wouldn’t go to any sites. So we decided to use the hotel computer for our internet needs. We loaded up our documents and pictures onto a jump drive, and plugged them into the computer. We had issues…. Issues on top of issues. The keyboard didn’t have all the same symbols, the internet settings were not the same, it seemed that logging into google account was not possible. I was able to check my mail because I didn’t have a tie in with google, but Morgan was ready to rip his hair out. I went down to the concierge and explained what was happening, and he seemed somewhat apathetic. I wasn’t about to stand idly by and pay money for something that wasn’t useful, so I asked for my money back, the man didn’t seem to see it the same way. So I banked on my ability to speak rapid English, as well as my ability to throw a mamma sized fit, and managed to make him well aware of exactly how frustrated I was with the establishment… he gave me my money back :). I went back upstairs to tell Morgan that at least we didn’t have to pay for the internet related headache, but when I got there he had managed to change internet settings, in Italian mind you, and get the computer to accept the sites we wanted it too. So that’s how we came to blog about 5 days worth of stuff at once. We were going to do it with pictures too, but it seems that the Italian computer couldn’t handle the format of the picture. We were just lucky that Morgan found something comparable to word, to be able to open the text. Later that night we went out for our dinner excursion. We had a great time at a nice restaurant, had a 4 course Italian meal with regional wine. We then went to an Opera performance. It was actually pretty good, and the singing was broken up with piano numbers which I very much enjoyed. A lovely end to what should have been a much more relaxing day.

Florence

Sunday 6/21/09
Today started with rain, which was good and bad. It was good because we planned on spending the morning at the Uffizi, bad because everyone else in Florence seemed to change their plans to go to a museum on a rainy day as well. We got to the museum 10 minutes before it opened, and still managed to wait in line for an hour. I think it was still better then it might have been, as we were leaving the line was more then 4 times what it was at 8am. We went through every inch of that gallery, but towards the end of it, the rooms were getting crowded enough that it wasn’t as much fun to linger over paintings to read the full descriptions. After the museum in the morning we grabbed sandwiches for lunch and then headed back to the room for a quick nap. The nap was much needed, as both of us had tossed and turned last night. We’ve decided that the bed sags in the middle, which explains why both of us have woken up with back aches (we both like to sleep on our stomachs). After the nap we went out again feeling much refreshed. We stopped for gelato and listened to a fantastic opera singer in one of the piazzas. Then we went to Santa Croix. After that we went across the river and walked for a long ways up the hill to find out that Boboli Gardens was closed. That was frustrating; we were both looking forward to that. So we went to our next item on the schedule, which was having a picnic dinner at Piazza Michelangelo and to see a sunset over looking the city. We were a little early, so we admired the view from multiple angles, then settled down to write some post cards and read a book in the sun. We got up to get a panini and a small pizza from a local shop, along with a bottle of Chianti wine to split. The wine was very good, and the sunset was stunning. The sunset may have been more stunning because of the wine, but I’ll know when I look at the pictures tomorrow. We stayed around a little after sunset to watch the lights come on, and attempt a few night photos of the city. The walk home was pleasantly uneventful. Tomorrow is our last day in Florence. This city has been wonderful to us. Despite the car traffic that was initially off putting, Florence has proved itself to be a highly accessible pedestrian city which is full of hidden wonders.

Florence

Saturday 6/20/09
Today was a fantastic day. We started the morning feeling rested and refreshed after getting more then the usual amount of sleep. We had a lovely, leisurely breakfast at the hotel, and then took off towards the Dome. We arrived at San Maria del Fiori reasonably early, and we took time to look at the doors of the baptistery before going into the church. The church is amazingly large, and has beautiful fresco’s painted on the inside of the dome. We also were able to climb up to the cupola of the dome, 463 stairs is a long way to go, but it was absolutely worth it for the stunning view. We spent some time at the top of the dome looking out at the city, and enjoying the wonderful breeze that was cooling us off. After the dome, we walked towards San Lorenzo. We stopped for lunch at a little outdoor café where we could watch people going into San Lorenzo Market, which is famous for it’s leather sales. After lunch we explored the market ourselves, finding many nice things, including a new belt and wallet for Morgan. We also explored San Lorenzo church. We then journeyed back to our hotel for a little respite from the heat, and a quick nap to refresh. We decided that part of the reason we were feeling burnt out yesterday is that we’ve been going non stop wanting to see everything. We therefore decided that we will both be happier taking a little break in the middle of the day, to recharge batteries so we can enjoy the evening as well. After our break we walked to San Maria Novella, we weren’t able to go in, because it was closed for a service. We then walked down to the river, and along it, viewing many wonderful bridges including Ponto Vecchio. We walked across Ponto Vecchio and then back towards Plazza della Signoria. We stopped at a little shop for a slice of pizza and a gelato. The gelato was probably the best we’ve had in italy, it was coconut, and it was to die for! We took our gelato with us to Plazza della Signoria. The Plazza was the original resting place of the David by Michelangelo and is now home to a replica of the David, as well as many other famous statues all seated in front of the city hall. From there we journeyed back towards the hotel via the Dome. As we approached the Dome we noticed parade barriers that had been put up all around the Dome, it seems that the Firenze Marathon was being run tonight. Today has been full of wonderful surprises, and we are both enjoying ourselves immensely. Tomorrow we see the Uffizi in the morning, hopefully its not too crowded, but I’m guessing we’re going to be waiting in line for a while.

Pisa

Friday 6/19/09
Today has been another day full of travel. We woke up early in Venice and caught a water bus towards the train station. We made a quick stop at the Rialto Market to pick up another couple croissants and a kilo of cherries. They were so wonderful yesterday we had to have more. Then we got to the train station, and got on a train to Florence. We reached Florence around lunch time, and found our hotel with no trouble. The room is the nicest we have stayed in so far, which is good because we are here for several days. The only snag is the “wifi access in every room” advertisement that they have on the web, means pays us outrageous fees to use the wifi in your room. So even though I’m writing this now, it may not get posted for a few days. We’ll be keeping and eye out for café’s that have wifi access, but I’m not hopeful that it will happen before Rome. After checking in, we unloaded our stuff, and went back to the train station to board a train for Pisa. Along the way we bought lunch at a shop just down the street from our hotel. We were quite pleased to find that the food was very good, and significantly cheaper then Venice, yay Florence! Once in Pisa we walked for about a half hour to get from the train station to the tower and dome. We went on a tour of the dome, but the cathedral was closed. We were also very excited to find that they are once again letting tourists into the tower. So we climbed several hundred stairs, after paying primo dollar, to have a view from the top of the leaning tower of Pisa. It’s the kind of thing that you really have to do, even though it’s expensive, because it’s once in a lifetime kind of thing, the kind of thing that you can tell your kids about some day when the thing collapses, which I am certain it will do in my lifetime. It is leaning significantly more then I remembered, and that’s after a project done to try and correct some of it’s tilt. We also spent a little time relaxing in the shade of the tower, eating a gelato, which made both of us feel a little refreshed. We seem to be going through water at a quazi alarming rate, and yet both still feel dehydrated at the end of the day. I don’t know what it is about Italy, but the combination of heat, sun, humidity, and constant walking around seems to be draining us quickly. Coming back on the train from Pisa was the first time on this trip that I felt like maybe 3 weeks was too much. We both seem to have hit a wall, and are much more easily exhausted then we were only days before. Tonight we’re crawling into bed at 9:30pm, something we haven’t done all trip. Hopefully with a little more rest tonight, we will be energized to face tomorrow.

Venice

Thursday 6/18/09
Today was an absolutely wonderful day. We started the day at the Rialto market, where we walked through table upon table of fresh produce and fresh fish; I’m talking so fresh it was still moving. We bought cherries that were so ripe they were an explosion of flavor in the mouth. We didn’t have a good concept of the weight of cherries, and they were priced by the kilo gram, so we figured we’d get one… well one kilo gram is more cherries then either of us imagined. Almost three times the amount we would normally get in the store. So we gorged ourselves on cherries and a croissant a piece for breakfast, and had some more cherries for mid morning snack, and somehow managed to finish off a kilo of cherries in under 3 hours with little to no difficulty. It was so leisurely and wonderful to sit on the steps of a cathedral and munch on cherries and watch the world go by. We saw the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari which was full of lovely artwork which is quite famous, but I hadn’t heard of many of them. We also saw Santa Maria della Salute, for which is the large domed cathedral which the Venice skyline is famous. We journeyed to Piazza San Marco where we saw the Basilica San Marco which was absolutely stunning. The inside was utterly beautiful. The stone floor was covered in various designs, and the cavernous domed ceiling was covered in a mosaic of little gold tiles that sparkled in between frescos of famous biblical scenes and a variety of saints. Unfortunately photography is forbidden inside, so we couldn’t get pictures. Next we went to the Campanile which is the bell tower located in the square. We waited in line for much shorter a time then expected, and then were able to take an elevator all the way to the top for a spectacular view of the city. Next we took a little siesta for lunch and got out of the heat for a couple hours and rested our tired feet and backs. Then we were out again to do some more exploring. We have found that one of our favorite ways to explore is to go out and get lost. Call it luck, but we find the most interesting things while we’re lost. We found the Plazzo Contarini Del Bovolo which is famous for it’s “snail staircase” which climbs it’s way up the side of the building. We grabbed a quick and cheap dinner at a café knowing that we would want to sit at a more expensive café later and enjoy coffee and dessert. So later we ended up back in Piazza San Marco and we got Caffe Latte and Tiramisu at one of the outdoor café’s in the square. We sat and savored our coffee and listened to a several bands play live music all evening. We sat there savoring the moment for almost 3 hours, so I’d say we got our money’s worth for the over priced coffee. We also met a lovely couple who was also traveling, and had a fun time conversing with them and people watching together. We finally left the square at 10:30pm, but things weren’t calming down, it seemed that there are even more people in Venice at night then by day. It was amazing to see the number of people who gathered in the square to listen to music, or have a gelato and enjoy the ambiance. Tomorrow we are up early once again to catch a train. We’re planning to see Pisa and then on to Florence.

Italy here we come

Wednesday 6/17/09
Today was wonderful and exhausting. We woke up at 4 am to leave our hotel in Scotland. It was a dreary morning; even though the sun had already come up (rising at 3am this far north) the sky was full of stormy rain clouds. The drive to Prestwick airport was mostly uneventful. About an hour into the trip it seemed that the main road was closed and we would have to detour, but fortunately the road “opened” just in time. To be more accurate we had seen signs that this particular stretch of road was closed from 10pm to 6am, and it was 6:15am by the time we had to drive on it so we just drove around the sign and continued on, because there was no one awake at that hour to ask for different directions. Once we got to the airport things ran pretty smoothly. Morgan and I both got new novels at the book shop because we had finished the ones we brought. We got ready for our ryanair flight, which seems a lot like a European version of southwest. There was a general scramble as the flight started boarding because the seating was first come first serve. We also learned why ryanair is so cheap. The whole plane is advertisement space. Every over head bin had an advertisement. The flight team sold snacks, cigarettes, liqueurs, raffle tickets and other duty free items the whole time we were air born. Once in Bergamo we managed to find the right bus line outside the terminal to take us to the train station. When the bus came we hopped on assuming that we purchase tickets on board. Unfortunately there was no one selling tickets, and every one else seemed to already have them… so our first act in Italy was to steal a bus ride…. perfect, brilliant start… at least we didn’t get caught. After our initial issues with the bus, the train system was easy. We were able to find our train, and get off at the appropriate stops, and made it to Venice right on time. What a beautiful train ride, and what a glorious city. After we got here we hopped a tragatto which is a water bus which travels down the main canal. We found and checked into our hotel with no problem. We even made it up the 4 story walk up to our room with our packs on in humid weather without dying. After we got settled in our rooms we went out and explored the city on foot. We took in the beautiful view from the Accademia bridge, and wondered through the San Marco district. We stopped for dinner at a little hole in the wall restaurant called “Da Mario’s.” We walked in and were almost the only people there. We got seats, and then I expected to be handed a menu. Instead a tiny old lady proceeded to rattle off in Italian what was on the menu. Morgan and I both sputtered a little trying to understand what she was saying, and in the end we did manage to get food. We had gnocchi with marinara sauce for Morgan and with meat sauce for me. We also had a lovely salad and a carafe of red wine to split. I have to say it was possibly some of the best gnocchi that I have ever tasted… as though it was made fresh only hours before we ate it. After dinner we continued to wonder and only went in circles twice. We ended the evening in San Marco square listening to live entertainment for the outdoor café’s. It was wonderful, we even danced together for a little while, like something out of a fairy tale. Finally we walked home along the Grand Canal, and then headed up the 70+ stairs to bed. Tomorrow should be even more fun!

Last day in Scotland

Tuesday 6/16/09
There has been a serious laundry meltdown. Yesterday when we got to the hotel they offered to do the laundry as a free service that the hotel provides. I specifically asked about how much time it would take to get the laundry back, because we were taking a long trip the following day, and needed our warm clothes washed. I was told it would take 3 hours. After 5 hours, I asked about the laundry, it hadn’t been moved out of the dryer. After another 2 hours, I was told they just needed another 10 minutes because it wasn’t quite dry. At 10 pm we were getting ready for bed and I went for a final check on the laundry... no one was at the desk; apparently they had all gone to bed. Right, so being skeptical that it had actually been finished, I managed to break into the laundry room, which is normally for house staff only. I found our laundry, in a very tiny dryer which was so jam-packed that none of the clothes had dried at all. So I took out half the load, and restarted half the load so it would be dry in the morning. Woke up this morning, and found that the laundry was still not dry, apparently the dryer is broken, and hadn’t been blowing any air at the clothes, just tumbling them over and over. So what’s a girl to do? I grabbed pants, underwear and a shirt for Morgan and myself and proceeded to spend the next hour ironing wet clothing so that we would have something warm to wear. Not exactly how I planned to spend my morning. Fortunately the morning did improve greatly. We made it to the train station a little early, and were able to walk to the grocery store next door and grab some breakfast. The train ride on the Jacobite was quite an adventure, the scenery was unbelievable and we took tons of pictures, all be it from a moving train, so they’re not all good, but there are some stunning shots. On the trip out our train was filmed crossing the viaduct for an independent film. We had a lovely dinner tonight at “The Grog and Gruel.” We also got to listen to a bagpipe core playing out on the street during dinner. Tonight we are packing, and getting organized for our trip tomorrow. Should be very exciting, despite the early hour. Italy here we come!

Scotland

Monday 6/15/09
Got up bright and early this morning and had a fantastic ‘Traditional English Breakfast’ as supplied by our bed and breakfast host. We were very well fed and very optimistic about the day’s journey north. When we left Keswick the sky was mildly cloudy, but there were also patches of blue sky, although it was colder then it had been the day before. Our journey north went relatively smoothly, all the roads were well marked, and the directions were accurate, considering how lost we got on our last 4 hour car ride, this was a piece of cake. The only hitch was that it was raining, heavily. We past 4-5 lit up display signs on our way up that said “Danger Heavy Rain and Flooding, Use Caution!” Fortunately, although we did have heavy rain, we did not encounter flooding. We were able to appreciate how beautiful a drive it would have been if the sky hadn’t been shades of grey or black, and if the clouds hadn’t been low enough in places to swallow the tops of the mountains we were passing. We did have a couple occasions where we were able to pull off when the rain paused and take a few pictures, but the rain always caught up with us quickly. Once we got to Fort William we had intended to do laundry tonight, so we asked at our hotel where the nearest laundry mat was. They happily told us that they do laundry at the hotel free of charge for guests. So we loaded up all the clothes we needed cleaned which entailed changing out of what we were wearing into something that hadn’t been worn as often, unfortunately that meant shorts for both of us. So our time exploring the shops in the town, and some of the surrounding hillsides has been much colder then either of us anticipated, mainly due to the fact that we’re both in shorts while our laundry is being completed. Since the stores here all seem to close by 5pm anyways we decided to retire to the hotel early, and take a nap or read a book. I find it very funny that a couple days ago Morgan decided to pick up the Dan Brown novel that I brought with me, and now is sitting next to me so enthralled in the suspense that he ‘grumps’ if interrupted. Soon I’ll have to try to pry the book out of his hands, so that we can go find some dinner. However it might be simpler to wait another hour and let him finish. I don’t know what we will do this evening. It’s still raining outside, so not much chance for more exploring, and all the shops have closed with the exception of the pubs. Originally we had planned to see the new Harry Potter movie tonight, but it seems that either we read the release date wrong, or the release date has been changed yet again, because it is now not coming out until next month. We may still go see a movie if the weather doesn’t improve. With luck tomorrow’s weather will improve for our train ride on the ‘Jacobite train’ across Scotland to the coast.

Keswick

Sunday 6/14/09
Today was spent driving up to the Lake District of England. The drive was absolutely stunning. The weather chose to cooperate with us, and we had bright sunshine, and the warmest temperatures we have had yet. The colors and the depth of the scenery is so amazing, it’s hard to translate it into photos. We got to Keswick just after lunch. We spent the afternoon driving around through the hills, finding beautiful views, and visiting ‘tourist sites.” I put that in quotes because apparently theses are very famous sites, but I guess you have more into history, or local culture to have heard of them. We saw a stone circle, a couple bridges, and old house, and a big rock. We got dinner at the Keswickian, a fish and chips place in the center of Keswick, and then took our food to the park to eat. All in all today has been a lovely day. Tomorrow we once again journey north in search of new adventures.

Last day in Wales

Saturday 6/13/09
Today started bright and foggy, like the sun was hiding just behind the clouds that were hanging over the valley where we’re staying. We wanted to get an early start because we were trying to see two castles this morning. We had planned to eat our breakfast while traveling to Beaumaris Castle, but Morgan got sidetracked by a few things along the way. We stopped at Conwy Falls which is located only a few minutes from where we are staying. The falls were lovely, but the hike down to them and back was much more then I ever want to do before breakfast. Morgan has this annoying habit of not wanting to eat breakfast as the start of his day, he’d rather work up an appetite, I on the other hand get very grumpy if I’m being forced to do something requiring energy while I’m hungry, so he’s bright and energetic, and I’m grumpy and ill tempered not a good mix. After breakfast we stopped at a place called the Ugly House. It is described as such because the stones that make it are much larger and more ill fitting then they should be… it didn’t look that ugly to me, but what do I know? Beaumaris Castle was a lot of fun because Morgan and I discovered what felt like endless passage ways within the walls which had hidden rooms, and all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore. Next we went to Caernafon Castle which is the biggest castle in Wales. We climbed to the top of each of their 6 watch towers (rather Morgan climbed all 6, I managed 5 out of 6, and was too tired for the last one). After more then 500 stairs (at which point I lost count) my calves were hurting, and I just wasn’t motivated for the last tower. The castle was really amazing, but I have to say I like many of the other castles we have toured more, I think it’s because they are partially in ruins, somehow it makes it feel more romantic, and exciting… Caernafon was still well kept, and occasionally used for functions. Recent history has Prince Charles being crowned Prince of Wales there. We had lunch in a quaint little café a couple blocks from the castle, then took a drive over to Snowdon Mountain, where we were going to take a steam train to the summit. Unfortunately the train was sold out, being that it was the first sunny Saturday Wales has had in several weeks. So we took a drive exploring other smaller mountains, and found some really stunning views. We sat for a little while by a babbling stream, Morgan wrote a few postcards and I read in the sun, it was lovely. We then went out to dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate our last meal in Wales. It has been quite an adventure, not always what I expected, and quite challenging at times, but really quite wonderful over all. Tomorrow we wake early to drive to Keswick, should be interesting.

Day 5

Friday 6/12/09
Today started out with a trip to Ty Mawr which is the house of the man who first translated the bible into welsh. It was a lovely drive to get there; unfortunately when we did we found that they were not open. So we took some pictures of the outside, and walked through their gardens. They had so many different colors of columbine, it was really beautiful. We next visited a Neolithic Burial Chamber, which was a short walk through some farmers field, careful not to step on any of the land mines that the sheep had left. The chamber was really quite impressive considering it had been there since roughly 2000BC. A cute and quirky local sheep dog showed up, and followed us around. He was more then happy to have Morgan throw a stick for him. Next we went to Harlech Castle, which was quite amazing. While we were there a group of kids from the Welsh Ballet Institute was practicing choreography for A Midsummer Nights Dream in the main green. Next we tried to find a place to grab some lunch… and what did we find, but an Aldi’s! It was great, we got food for lunch, dinner (with wine) and breakfast the next day for less then the cost of eating lunch out. Next we went to Portmerion which is a little village which is designed to look like an Italian village. They had a number of shops and trails to walk through the gardens. We then stopped at Criccieth Castle which is right on the ocean. It was much more ruined then many of the other castles we had visited. Mostly it was just a foundation; there weren’t any towers or rooms to explore. There were however cute little plants all over growing out of the walls, quite amazing. This evening has been relaxed, we made dinner, had some down time to blog, and read, and soon it will be time for bed. Today was really great.

Day 4

Thursday 6/11/09
I am actually writing this entry Friday morning, because yesterday was such a jam packed day that Morgan and I got back to the Eagles and just collapsed into bed. The day started by waking up and realizing that for the first time in Wales we had blue sky and sunshine. We went to Tintern Abby first, and it was absolutely magnificent. The ruins were absolutely impressive, and massive. From there we went to Roman Baths, and a Roman forum in Caerleon. From there we went to Tredegar house and took a tour. The house was once home to the Morgan lineage, so it was fun to visit and speculate about Morgan’s potentially distant cousins. The house has been restored to its previous splendor, and was really amazing to see. We found out in the 4th room that we weren’t allowed to take pictures, but we had taken some before we were told we shouldn’t. Morgan was happy that he was able to get a picture of the Morgan family crest before they outlawed photography. From there we went to the St. Fagan’s Museum of Welsh National History. It was meant to be something like visiting colonial Williamsburg in the states, there were various housed from different periods of Welsh history which had been decorated from that time period, and there were people in costume within those houses able to answer questions about the time period. Unfortunately there was some movie that was using several of the houses as part of a filming set, so the Museums actors were tied up as extras. It felt very strange exploring what felt like an abandoned village for the most part, looking through windows to see the decor of the house. From there we proceeded to drive 4 hours north to get back to the Eagles Bunkhouse. The drive was absolutely spectacular because of the clear skies we could see hills in the distance, and the sun lit up amazing vistas. We even saw the sun set ( at 9:40pm). We stopped at an Inn called The Unicorn for dinner, and I have to say that I got very frustrated with my dinner. I was feeling kinda tired from our jam packed day, and was looking for some comfort food for dinner, so I ordered the Lasagna. Unfortunately their idea of lasagna was undrained ground beef, noodles and a little cheese melted on top… absolutely no tomato sauce! It was quite disgusting! But other then that the day was lovely. Now off to another adventure.