The Scottish Trip

Ringing in the New Year

2012-01-15T15:20:00.000Z

It's a really good thing that I didn't base any of my New Year's resolutions on keeping our faithful blog readers well updated, because the lack of posts has been positively shameful. I've now put myself in the awkward position where I need to re-cap several weeks of exciting activities, pretty much guaranteeing that I'll leave out something or, much worse, somebody important. I've decided to give it a go anyway.

The week between Christmas and New Year went by in a rush. Not because we had an action packed calendar and were constantly on the go. Quite the contrary, our schedule was purposely relaxed ahead of the big trip to Holland at the end of the week. We decided to do a bit of a day trip on the 27th, but not one of the monstruous variety we've taken in the past. Our goals were a little more reasonable - Pluscarden Abbey and Elgin Cathedral. Our choices were a little limited by the inclusion of the dogs and the fact that a lot of historical sites were still closed for the holidays.

The day was bright but chilly and on the road we decided to add another attraction to the list - Huntly Castle. Having been before Fiona and I knew it was well worth seeing and the nearby dog park would allow us to run the dogs a little bit before arriving at the working monastery of Pluscarden. With the monks all wearing traditional white robes, it was definitely a good idea to try and avoid bringing hyperactive, muddy-footed little canines onto the grounds.

Fiona volunteered to walk the dogs while I escorted my parents around Huntly. These plans were quickly foiled by little Sydney, however, who spotted me on the castle grounds from across a field and took off like a little grey rocket to come and see us. She explored a hundred metres of fence line before finding a spot small enough to wriggle through and came dashing into the castle with all the aplomb of a viking raider.

Leaving Huntly we turned north again and soon hit Keith, where we stopped for a coffee and cocoa at a quirky little coffee shop called Boogie Woogie. They had a series of really cool clocks on the wall, all created by local artists. Keith lived up to its billing as the 'Friendly City' as a man walking his dog passed our car, noticed our trunk full of dogs and quickly came over to offer them both treats. Probably the highlight of their day.

We finally made our way through Elgin and onward to Pluscarden Abbey, which is situated in a beautiful valley just west of the town. The fields were covered in neatly rolled bales of straw and what seemed like hundreds of pheasants. They were absolutely everywhere, lending a sophisticated air to the area.

We didn't quite know what to expect from the Abbey. We knew it was a working monastery, but also quite a famous tourist attraction, having been recommended to us by several people. It may have been the bleak winter day, but it felt kind of underwhelming. There is no denying the beauty of the building itself, and the quiet serenity of hooded monks in white robes walking the grounds. Certainly it would look better in the spring or summer, with leaves on the trees and the gardens in bloom. That said, I was still glad we went. You could go into the Abbey and see a history of the monastery - this being Scotland it involved periods of stunning productivity interspersed with the usual burning and pillaging.

We left Pluscarden and wound our way back to Elgin, thinking mostly about lunch. This proved to be a difficult task, as a lot of places were still closed. We ended up in a pub off the high street, but the only seats were up on the second floor, where a seriously chilly draft seemed to come straight through the windows.

Our last stop was to be Elgin Cathedral, but the gates were closed. We walked around the site, but were soon ready to go home and hopped back into the car. We spent the evening playing a little more mahjongg - everyone was really starting to get the hang of it.

Wednesday and Thursday found me back at work. At home the time was spent doing some shopping in downtown Aberdeen, walking the dogs and watching darts in the evening. We went back to Mom and Dad's favorite restaurant, Ciao Napoli, where we had an excellent meal and some really nice wine. The waitstaff and owner are always friendly, and got quite a laugh when we ordered dessert. Fiona and I ordered our usuals - tiramisu for Fiona, profiteroles for me - and Dad ordered the tartuffo bianco. Mom ordered nothing, but Dad asked the waiter to bring an extra spoon. So when the desserts came we each got a nice dish and regular spoon, and then he brought out a large serving spoon to give to Mom.

Friday morning had us flying from Aberdeen to Schiphol. It was an incredibly smooth flight and we were there in just over an hour. We picked up our bags and headed for the train station, where we bought tickets on the Fyra train straight to Breda. The train was fast, smooth, relatively empty and incredibly easy. No changing in Dordrecht, as we used to do. Hopefully this service sticks around, although judging by the limited number of people in our carriage, I don't see how that is possible.

We spent Friday evening in the good company of Ome Wim and Tante Els in Dorst. They were their usual hospitable selves, taking us shopping in town so we could stock up on Dutch groceries to take home, cooking a wonderful meal (yay for Belgian Endive!) and watching an exciting evening of darts with us (boo for Gary Anderson losing in the quarterfinals!).

After a great night's sleep we all hopped in the little red Peugeot my parents had borrowed from my uncle and headed over to Baarle-Nassau, where we had coffee with Ome Ad and Tante Jose. They were also holding a car key and directions for us. We had made arrangements to spend New Year's Eve with my cousin Pim, who was ringing it in with friends from a holiday park in Bresskens, on the Dutch North Sea coast. Pim had everything ready, renting us a cabin and leaving us Sandra's car and a GPS with the course already laid in. I was a little nervous about driving such a long way in a strange car, on the other side of the road and in such a densely populated country, but it all proved very easy. The roads were empty, the directions were easy to follow and the car quite easy to drive. After a couple of hours, having taken a motorway through Belgium and around Antwerp, we were there.

Pim and Sandra had a fantastic group of friends that were all very welcoming and extremely tolerant of our poor Dutch. Pim and Sandra had their two kids, Dennis and Femke, their friends Timme and Neeltje, with their daughter Vera, Ron and Tienneke and Nicki and Wouter rounded out the group. After a little bit of lunch we all headed down to the bowling alley that was on site. Fiona took the opportunity to teach us all exactly how it should be done, coming out on top in the friendly competition.

The group split after that, with some of us going for a walk on the beach, and others starting off the evening with some beer and drinks. Dinner was planned to be 'gourmetten', which is a little like fondue but instead of a pot of oil there is a griddle in the middle of the table. The group had organized many different cuts of fabulous marinated meats, from teriyaki chicken to shoarma, with a dazzling array of sauces on the side. It was truly epic and utterly enjoyable. Everyone was so friendly and in such a good mood that it would have been impossible to not have a good time.

After dinner we broke out some games, including 'What am I', which both the kids and the adults both enjoyed. Fiona had fun practicing her Dutch and even managed to figure out that she was a Brussels sprout. Post Bailey's and Jagermeister we played another game where a quiz master asked personal questions which you had to answer, but could then ask of anyone else in the room. It was a really cool way to get to know everyone a little better.

Midnight came on faster than expected, proof again that time flies when you are in good company. Pim, who was coming down with the flu and looked a little bit green around the edges, managed to stay upright long enough to set off the fireworks. We all gathered outside the cabin to watch the displays that people were putting on. It was amazing and went on for the better part of 45 minutes. And these weren't just dime-store fireworks, but large, professional looking ones. It was great.

We ended the night watching some Dutch television, with some classic Dutch entertainers (Franz Bouwers and Lee Towers) ringing in the New Year. By the time we got back to our cabin it was getting on to 3am and we were absolutely exhausted.

2012 started on a a bit of a downer for some in our party, as the flu started to spread. Pim and Timme were down and out, although Pim had enough energy to make it down to the beach to witness the Polar Bear Swim. I had also volunteered to participate, but despite actually having my trunks on at some point in the morning, never quite made it into the water. The only ones from our group brave enough to do it were Ron, Wouter and Nicki. Bravo to them.

After the chaos of the Swim we said our goodbyes and heartfelt thank you's and packed up the car for the return trip. We had to be back in Baarle-Nassau by 3:30 to attend the traditional New Year's reception. The reception is an annual tradition in my mom's family and everyone takes a turn in hosting. As my parents were actually around for this one, they decided to host, and with the help of Ome Ad and others organized a grand party at a local establishment. It was great to see so many aunts, uncles, cousins and now, especially, my cousins kids. There were so many people that I hadn't seen in years, and it was great to catch up. Fiona and Sandra managed to organize family pictures. We had a nice dinner of soup and sandwiches. The little kids danced to the latest trendy songs. Jokes were told. It was wonderful to feel a part of such a large and caring family.

The next day we all piled back into the Peugeot and went to Weert, where my family lived for a few years when I was very small. We went to see our old neighbours Ome Mart and Tante Rosalie, who became and still are really good family friends. They were very welcoming and it was nice to see everyone again. Martijn stopped by and we got to meet his girlfriend (and now fiancee!) Ellen. After a hearty pea-soup lunch we went for a walk and then popped by Valerie and Ad's house. They had spent a good deal of time and effort renovating it and the results were fantastic. We got to meet their daughter, Amber, who had made a little card for us. After coffee we moved on see a little bit of downtown Weert, which had some really nice shopping streets. We then stopped in to see Martijn and Ellen's new house, which was really nice. We spoke a little bit about Scotland, as the two of them may be coming to visit sometime in 2012.

We met everyone again for dinner at a 'wok' restaurant. It was the type of place where you can fill up a plate with meat and vegetables and then you go up to the front where you choose a sauce and someone fries it all up for you. It was quite tasty, although I could tell halfway through her first plate that something was wrong with Fiona. She starting feeling ill, and it was soon apparent that she had picked up the same flu bug that Pim and Timme had suffered through. We said some hasty goodbyes and headed back to our base in Baarle-Nassau. We made it back just in time and Fiona spent the next day and half sick in bed.

We limited our activities to short visits and stuck close to Ome Ad's. I never really came down with the same thing, but I didn't quite feel right either. Two days later we were back on our feet and felt well enough to go with my parents to Den Bosch, a beautiful old city about an hour's drive away. Den Bosch has two big things going for it - Bossebollen, which are huge cream filled profiteroles covered in chocolate, and the Sint-Jan, a giant cathedral built the thirteenth century. We experienced both and they were both spectacular. We were quite glad to get into the Cathedral, as the wind was bitterly cold and seemed to cut right through you. After some more shopping and a traditional lunch of croquetten, we made our way back towards Breda, where Fiona and I could catch the train back to Schiphol for a flight back to Scotland.

I think it was in the car when I first began to feel the rumblings and queasiness. By the time we exited the train and checked our bags I had the full-on flu. We had to wait a couple of hours, during which time I drank a lot of green tea and took a few paracetemol. By the time we got to our gate I was feeling a little better, but still grateful that we would soon be home. Things were not to be, however, as there was a technical malfunction with our plane and we were delayed and hour and a half. They then found another plane, but couldn't bring it to our gate, so we all had to exit and go through security again. By this time I was turning purple again.

Once seated we could hear the wind howling outside the plane and knew it was going to be a bumpy ride, exactly what I didn't need. After 30 minutes of bumping around at the back of the plane, clutching a 'relief bag' the whole time, a flight attendant took pity on me and offered to move me to the front of the plane. I got a seat over the wing and the amount of turbulence went way down. Nonetheless I felt awful as I had to abandon Fiona at the back of the plane on a bumpy flight, and she hates those types of flights.

I managed not to embarrass myself too badly on the flight and we eventually made it home. Despite being scheduled for work the next two days, I spent them at home, being nursed back to health by my wonderful wife.

So a not so great conclusion to a wonderful Christmas and New Year's season. As we packed away the Christmas tree and all the ornaments, unsure where or if we will be unpacking them again in 2012, it was nice to reminisce about a season spent with family and friends, as it was meant to be.

Festivus

2011-12-26T16:55:00.000Z

It's been a really nice week leading up to and through Christmas. The company has been grand and we've been blessed by really unseasonably warm weather which has caused much confusion amongst the roses that are starting to bloom again in our front yard. Besides being good for the flowery flora, it also gave us a couple of nice days at the beginning of the week to coincide with some time away from work. As the snow started to melt we went over to Bennachie and did a small trek through the forest. The dogs quite enjoyed it, running on and off the path and acting as scouts for the trail ahead. They've generally been quite spoiled for the past couple of weeks, getting lots of attention from Oma and Opa. Sydney, our friend's little miniature Schnauzer, has wormed her way into several hearts with her big dog attitude stuffed inside such a small package.

On Monday evening we got all fancied up and went to the Marcliffe for dinner. It was superb. Drinks in the lounge followed by an excellent course of starters - scallops and seafood bisque for myself and Fiona and guinea fowl and crab salad for my parents. The main course was the real winner, however, as it was only a few bites in when my mother proclaimed her Chateaubriand to be the best beef she had ever eaten. Given that there was 12 ounces of it on the plate, that was probably a good thing.

During the week we took it easy, counting down the days to Christmas by taking care of the dogs, finishing up the Christmas preparations and watching way too much darts. Gary Anderson made us all reconsider our jump on to his bandwagon with a lacklustre round 1 performance against a German qualifier. Although I didn't stay up for the match (having to work the next day) I could easily follow the ebb and flow through the loud and raucous cheering and jeering coming from downstairs. Hopefully he picks things up a little in the second round. The tournament is in a break now, set to resume with more second round matches on the 28th. We'll be watching for sure.

We've also been watching a few movies. Some are Christmas classics, like 'Elf' and ... 'Die Hard'. Others were just movies we had to hand, like 'Thor' and 'The Way Back'. The latter was a decent little movie about a group of escapees from a Siberian gulag that walked to India in 1941. Yes, walked. Very inspiring. It's hard to complain about a few metres of rough trail on Bennachie after seeing that.

We've also been doing some game playing, although not as much I had originally thought we might do. Our major focus has been the Christmas puzzles. We've now completed four of them. Three 500 piece ones of mixed difficulty and one new 1000 piece puzzle to go along with our usual '12 Days of Christmas' theme. We finished that on Friday night/Saturday morning. Having worked all day I tried to convince everyone that we should call it a night at a reasonable hour, but with slightly over two-thirds of the puzzle done, the bright eyed optimists decided that it could, and should, be finished before anyone turned in. So we buckled down and knocked it out, putting in the last piece sometime just before 2am. Now that's commitment.

Christmas Eve was a wonderful and relaxing day. We had planned on a fondue supper, so we started early in the afternoon preparing meats and sauces. Using a borrowed fondue set to complement our own, we set up both a broth and an oil pot. We had always had discussions regarding the pros and cons of broth fondue over oil fondue and, judging from those conversations, you would have thought broth to be the consensus choice. But set up one next to the other and the oil was most used. Perhaps there is something in the Scottish air that just makes everyone want to deep-fry. The dinner was delicious and well complimented by the wine, a nice 2005 Bordeaux we had purchased on one of our Paris trips. Should you see a similar wine kicking about in your local store, be sure to pick it up. We had lamb, beef, pork, chicken, shrimp and scallops to fondue, but the most popular dunkers were the turkey meatballs I whipped up.

Before the accusations of sloth and gluttony start flying at us, I'll need to bring up that we did spend a few hours earlier in the day wandering around Balmedie Beach, just north of Aberdeen. The weather was ... refreshing. A cool, constant wind was blowing, but the sky was blue and the sun was shining. I think the mercury topped out at over ten degrees. The dogs had an absolute blast, running all over the dunes, dodging and weaving along the rabbit paths in the long grass. It was a beautiful walk and left us primed and ready for our dinner.

With the clear skies and good weather, we found ourselves outside on Christmas Eve, looking through my telescope at Jupiter and five of its moons, as well as what we believe to have been Uranus. No flying reindeer or sleigh, though. But perhaps you need a filter for that?

Christmas Day started a little slow as we were all still digesting a little from the night before. But once the 'Wife Saver' was in the oven and the presents popping out from under the tree, it quickly got a lot more lively. Apparently we had all made it on to the 'Nice' list, as there was a pretty good haul of presents under the tree. Our family gift exchange worked well this year, as I had my Mom and she had me. Fiona received the new Professor Layton game from Mark, so if you have anything you need from her in the next few days, I'd hurry up and get to it before she disappears into her DS. The theme for Dad was books, as he received some on Russian history and on Libya, and also a biographical book about a Scottish doctor who worked for the Tsars which he has being powering through. Mom received a nice family calendar and her sought after infinity scarf, as well as more of her favourite gemstone, amber, set in a pair of earrings. She also awoke this morning to find the Duchess of Cambridge on the front cover of the paper wearing a hat the exact same colour as the one she found under the tree. Who's the trendsetter now?

Fiona and I also found Santa had ticked most of our boxes. Fiona received a nice map of Europe, framed and mounted, with a supply of pins so that she can keep track of her worldly travels. She also found the complete set of Harry Potter movies, as well as the Harry Potter video game, so I guess JK Rowling had a good Christmas too. Her wish for socks was also granted. The wide angle lens for her camera was perhaps the greatest prize.

Santa decided I should finally do something about my driving habits and gave me some example videos under the 'Fast and Furious' banner. I also received a plethora of Scottish beer glasses, something I had been looking for in vain for the past two years. Turns out Santa (or Mrs. Claus) is just more efficient that I am. As a card-carrying member of 'Familie LeesNeus' I also received my share of books, both of the comic (Sherlock Holmes and Adele Blanc-Sec) and novel (Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman) varieties. Santa also fed my growing astronomical habit by sending an SLR camera attachment and series of filters and eye-pieces, as well as a re-chargable power supply so I am no longer dependant on those 8 C-cell batteries.

We spent the day talking to family on the phone and on Skype and preparing the evening meal. Turkey was, of course, the main attraction, and Fiona truly knocked it out of the park once again. It was a little touch and go for a few minutes, as she tried to make the call on whether it was well and truly done or not, but in the end she achieved the perfection she was looking for. Prior to the turkey we had a salad topped with sauteed lemon shrimp and a chipotle aioli. With the bird came a fine assortment of the usual suspects - braised Brussells sprouts (the last in all Aberdeen), cranberry sauce (using berries imported from, get this, Latvia), stuffing, roast potatoes and green beans. We all took it easy on the portion sizes knowing that Fiona would be carting individual Sticky Toffee Puddings to the table for dessert. They were an absolutely fabulous capper to an amazing holiday meal. To top it off we introduced Mom and Dad to the wonderful tradition of Christmas Crackers. Everyone was a winner and paper hats were worn by all. The toys were actually quite good - a slinky for Dad, a yo-yo for Mom, a clapper for me and a bracelet for Fiona. The jokes, however, were the usual groaners, with the best one being:

What do you call a line of men waiting for a haircut?

A Barber Queue.

We've spent this Boxing Day reading our new books, playing our new games and going to Castle Fraser with the faithful hounds, who are now resting quite peacefully in the living room. It has been a a truly grand Christmas. I hope it was the same for all of our dear readers, with good times shared with your families the way we were fortunate enough to spend this year with ours.

Onward and upward to New Year's Eve!

Mom and the dogs

Puzzling is harder than it looks.

Balmedie Beach on Christmas Eve

Boats queuing outside Aberdeen harbour.

Christmas Eve Fondue

Puzzle number 4: the 12 Days of Christmas. Can you spot them all?

Christmas Day chaos.

Christmas Day in Aberdeen through the wide-angle lens.

Castle Fraser - Boxing Day.

Walking the hounds in Victoria Park.

More Christmas Eve Fondue

Bucks Fizz on Christmas morning

Christmas Day - regal cooks in the kitchen.

Family for the Holidays

2011-12-19T11:04:00.005Z

My parents are here in Aberdeen to spend the holidays with us prior to our New Year's trip to Holland. They arrived last week, but after a brief rest day they moved on to Edinburgh. Apparently the train trip was nice and smooth, passing through the beautiful countryside. Auld Reekie itself was also enjoyed, with visits to Edinburgh Castle, the cathedral and the city's wonderful parks. The pub food, especially at the Jolly Judge was also a highlight. They came back on Friday evening, just in time for the World Championship of Darts. There have already been some upsets, including my pre-tourney favourite, Mark Webster and yesterday's shocking exit of Raymond van Barneveldt. We're all on the Gary Anderson bandwagon now.

The weekend was relatively quiet, with none of the usual epic day-trips planned. On Saturday the dogs got walked, the first of the Christmas puzzles was started (and finished), the crossword was attempted, beer and wine stocks were brought up to snuff and fantastic burrito bowls were had for dinner. Fiona also took the time to teach us all mah-jongg. Although it took a while to absorb all the fine detail, at the end of four rounds we were all getting into it.

Sunday was another relaxing day. A good lie-in followed by beans on toast helped to start the day off right. Proper fortification was required as the temperature had gone down significantly and there was a fresh layer of the white stuff on the ground. Not too much, only a couple of inches, but it helped in setting the proper Christmas mood.

In the afternoon we all went to the movies and saw the latest Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. It was quite entertaining, but slowed down a little too much in places. Post-film we returned to the house and had burgers on the BBQ with a colleague of mine who is moving to Oslo next week. Another good meal, finished off with Millionaire's Shortbread and mince pies.

Weekend in Paris

2011-12-17T09:03:00.002Z

We've been caught up in the hustle and bustle of pre-Christmas madness, which I am sure is not unique to us. Cards, presents, staff parties, dinners and whatnot have kept us so busy that we neglected to blog about our quick weekend trip to Paris at the end of November. We decided to tack a couple of days on to a business trip I had to take for meetings at our office on the outskirts of Fiona's favourite city.

Fiona came with me so she could see where the office was located, and whether or not the surrounding cityscape was liveable. I was stuck in meetings all day while she explored a little bit, before heading back into Paris to our usual hotel in the 15e arondisement. At the end of the day I joined the commuter rush and took the metro into town to join her.

We had Thursday and Friday to wander about and we deliberately chose not to put too many things on the agenda. On Thursday we did some shopping on the Champs-Elysees and in the surrounding areas, finding some very nice Christmassy items and a whole load of fancy mustards. We had nice long lunches at the local brasseries. It was really good to enjoy the city at such a relaxed pace.

On Friday we went to the Rodin museum to take in the sculpture. A lot of his works were located outside the old hotel he used to work from, which was nice because the weather was gorgeous and the central location of the museum meant his works had beautiful Parisien monuments in the background. 'The Thinker' was an obvious highlight, although I also particularly liked 'the Burghers of Calais' and Fiona was a fan of his bronze of Victor Hugo. Also located in the gardens - the Gates of Hell. While some people may have always guessed these were located in Paris, it was interesting to see where the devil would get his pizzas delivered.

The rest of his works were located inside the hotel and we thoroughly enjoyed our tour. Although mostly known for bronzes he did fantastic work in marble as well, which is a medium which we more enjoy. He was especially good with hands. His works had an unfinished quality to them, like he would get the majority of the work done and then walk away to start something else. He also made efficient use of all three dimensions, quite often including a different motif on the back of a sculpture. He had this wonderful sculpture of a man and woman on a rock and hidden around the back was a giant hand holding the rock up. It was brilliant.

The only real disappointment was the state of the hotel itself. Dirty, dingy and desperately in need of repair. The real problem was the fact that it clearly had so much potential. With a few million euro it could be one of the highlights of Paris. But who has a few million euro these days?

So now we're back in Aberdeen. Winter is here, with hard frosts and snow in the higher elevations. We've had the staff Christmas party, which was a success, and a relief, as I was heavily involved in organizing it. The tree is up, the Christmas cards are out the door, and the shopping has been done. Just in time for the holiday season and our first Christmas visitors.

Copenhagen

2011-11-23T15:08:00.001Z

It's nice to know I was missed. Don't I have the sweetest hubby? I think so.

Anyway, Copenhagen was great! I left early on Monday morning, said goodbye to my Dad at the airport and hopped on my flight. It was my first flight for quite a while by myself and I was nervous because I don't really like flying but I have to say, it was one of the smoothest flights I have been on, which was fantastic!

My friend Andy, came on the train and picked me up. We headed back into town and I had my first view of the city, it was so pretty. The old opera house on a big square was an impressive sight. We had to walk a couple of blocks to get to Andy's flat but fortunately it was the main shopping street so there was a lot to see, and make mental notes about so that I could go back. After settling in a bit and having a cuppa, we set out to explore. Andy was a font of information about all the historical buildings and great places to shop. We saw the old observatory tower, the royal residences, the beautiful Marble Church and took a peek at Nyhavn (the wonderfully colourful harbour). We rounded out the day with a nice meal out.

The next day, we headed to the National Gallery, there was a temporary exhibit of works by Toulouse-Lautrec as well as some fantastic European and Danish art. It was a really nice gallery. After a spot of lunch we were off again. We decided to hop on the canal boat tour, it was great. We went from the Parliament building to Nyhavn and then out into the main harbour, from which we got to see a good amount of the city. There was a chilly breeze off the water so when we got off the boat we went back to the flat to warm up a bit. Out for dinner again, this time it was a very small traditional Danish restaurant owned by a very nice couple and had a piano player, playing christmas music. The piano player was quite good, although he didn't know very many words to the english carols so we sang along to help him out. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Special mention must be made to the dessert, it is a traditional Christmas dessert, cold rice pudding sprinkled with slivered almonds and served with warm cherry sauce. I am not a huge fan of rice pudding but this one was to die for. Apparently on Christmas when it is served there is one whole almond hidden in it and whoever gets the almond wins a prize.

Wednesday morning we decided to go to see Rosenborg Castle. It is an impressive building, full of old furnishings and really neat knickknacks. There was a guy in one of the rooms that was full of information, one tidbit that was really interesting: He took us over to the wall and opened this little flap which was hiding a hole in the wall. Apparently, it was a tube that led to the other side of the castle with which the king and queen could communicate with each other. There was also another tube that led to the basement where musicians would play and the music could be heard in the dining room. The castle was also home to the crown jewels which were pretty impressive. More impressive though, was the room of ivory, while I don't agree with how ivory is obtained, it was hard to not be amazing with the carving skills. There were some amazing pieces, especially a ship made entirely out of ivory and bone.

That afternoon, I wanted to see the most touristy thing in Copenhagen, which is of course, The Little Mermaid. It was created to celebrate Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote the story. He's very big in Copenhagen, there are marked buildings where he lived and streets named after him. I had been forewarned that for some people the Mermaid is a bit disappointing. In spite of that, I have to say that I quite liked her, she had a look of melancholy on her face and she was beautifully cast, especially considering she's lost her head a couple of times. We had a nice long walk to and from the mermaid so we were wiped out when we got back.

Thursday was moving day, my friends were off to Mexico and I was headed to my hotel. Some girls from Aberdeen were arriving in the afternoon and my friend Louise, who moved to Bucharest, was also coming to join us. I said goodbye to Andy and lounged around my hotel room for a bit. Susan and Belinda arrived and we went to Tivoli Gardens, where there is a Christmas market, we walked around a bit and got the lay of the land and then headed down the main shopping street to, well, shop of course! That evening we had dinner with Louise a couple of ladies who we knew in Aberdeen who now live in Copenhagen and a friend of Louise's. We had a great time catching up with each other.

Bodil, our danish friend took us around a bit on Friday morning to show us the sights. We did a bunch of shopping mostly christmas stuff, stopped off at one of the huge department stores for lunch, where I had to have a danish, it was really tasty. I have to say, the food in Copenhagen is really good, I don't think I had one bad meal there. After stopping at the hotel to drop off some of our purchases we went back to Tivoli. It was starting to get dark and the Christmas lights were all on, it was beautiful. A couple of us stopped for hot chocolate, grogg and these little doughnut thingies. We sat outside on the patio, which was made quite cozy by blankets and heaters. We had another group dinner that night that I capped off with what else... rice pudding! We said goodbye to our friends and called it a night.

We had an early flight on Saturday and it was another nice smooth flight. I had a great time but I was very happy to come home to my hubby and my little doggy who seemed very happy to see me.

Thanks to Stacy and Belinda for the group pictures!

Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone ...

2011-11-15T20:08:00.001Z

The old Bill Withers tune is particularly apt this week, as its been terrible weather in Aberdeen this week - likely because my own personal sunshine is in Copenhagen visiting with friends. The days just go from black through various shades of grey and back to black again.

What's a lonely husband to do when his wife is away? I choose to keep her close by flipping through some her awesome photography. She really is quite brilliant. I'm attaching some pictures she took last week, walking with her Dad in Glen Dye, and the week before, walking with Casey and me at Castle Fraser. I'm extraordinarily proud of her work - I wish I had a similar talent.

Halloween and Bonfire Night

2011-11-07T21:52:00.000Z

We were semi-prepared for Halloween this year. Fiona bought a pumpkin and carved a brilliant Jack O'Lantern. We spoke about buying candy for the kids and agreed I would pick it up on the way back from work on Monday evening. Problem was, by the time I got home with the chocolate, several groups of kids had already been by. We didn't have the masses of kids that I remember from my youth, but we had several large groups totalling maybe 20. A great many of them had jokes prepared, or little songs to sing. They also seemed comfortable enough to request their own choice of candy from our bowl, or to politely ask for more.

We also went out to Banchory last night to attend our first Bonfire Night. We kind of hemmed and hawed during the day, as we were quite tired, but stuck with it and drove out to see what it was all about. The large park in the centre of Banchory was split in two, with one half fenced off for the fireworks display. The other half was dominated by a gigantic pile of wood, straw and brush, with a small mannequin perched on the very top. The pile must have been 20 feet in diameter and at least as high. It seemed well engineered and we spoke to one of the attendants to get the full story. They used cranes to place the brush on the top of the pile and maintained 'trenches' through the pile to ensure an adequate air supply (my sister would be proud!). They mixed up sawdust and diesel for the fuse, which circled the pile and entered in at various points.

At 6:30 they lit it up and the whole pile was quickly engulfed. For those right on the barrier, like us, the temperature must have flipped 50 degrees in a couple of seconds. The fire climbed up the stack and soon put a quick end to the effigy of Mr. Fawkes. It was cool to see the smouldering ash being lifted hundreds of metres into the air on the updraft.

We soon left our hot spot and moved closer to the fence where the fireworks would be. Fiona had brought her photo equipment to try and experiment with shooting fireworks - no easy task. We had a little of the hot chocolate we had brought with us and were all set up for 7pm when the first of the fireworks went up. For a relatively small town, Banchory did themselves well proud with this display. The variety of fireworks was amazing and the sheer number impressive. But as the park sits in a small valley in the centre of town, the most impressive part was the noise. The booms and bangs echoed off the surrounding trees and houses to great effect.

Fiona was highly successful in catching some of the magic of the show on her camera, as you can see.

After the show we stopped off at the remains of the bonfire to warm up a little before going home for a little more hot chocolate (with Baileys this time) and a good night's sleep.

We had thought of spending a little more time outside with our new telescope, but a thick fog of gunpowder smoke was hanging over the city. We did get a really good look at the moon the night before, though. I've included a picture Fiona took through the eyepiece with her iPhone. We've ordered a camera attachment for the scope so hopefully there will be some more astrophotography in the coming months.

Munich

2011-10-29T09:39:00.000+01:00

I have been busy these past two weeks, first the photography workshop and then after a few days at home I was off again on another adventure. Our AWA group's fall trip was to Munich so I packed my warm woolies and I was on my way.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon, checked into our hotel and headed out to explore. We found shops, lots of shops. The variety of shops was great, we stopped into a couple of souvenir shops and saw some amazing handmade cookoo clocks and beer steins. We found a great traditional German restaurant and had some fantastic schnitzel and spetzel.

Friday morning dawned and we were scheduled to go on a tour. A bike tour. We went to Frankie's bike shop and met Frankie, who was our tour guide for the morning. The poor guy had been riding his bike home 2 days earlier and was hit by a car. He had a dislocated shoulder but was still willing to take us around town, now that's commitment! It was a great tour and was such a nice way to cruise around town. We saw a few nice historic buildings and heard a couple of interesting stories from the time of the Nazi regime. Then we went into the English Garden, a beautiful park full of trees, paths, streams and of course a beer garden. We stopped by the beer garden for lunch and a beer, of course, and Frankie told us that during Octoberfest they can accommodate 6000 people there. Although, being that Octoberfest was over, there were only a handful of people besides us. So we sat in the sun and enjoyed our lunches.

We took the long way back by a bunch of crazy guys surfing in the frigid glacial waters that come from the Isar river, through the park. Then we rode along the Isar and admired the beauty of Munich. It really is a pretty place. Our tour ended and we said goodbye and thanks to Frankie.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with a healthy amount of shopping and we all met up for a fantastic dinner that evening.

Saturday, our group split up, with a most of the women off on a bus tour to see Neuschwanstein Castle. Three of us were left and we decided to go and try and find some more shops specialising in handmade German items. Our search did not yield any more than the 2 we had found before, but we had a wonderful day out and about in Munich. That night we all met up again for dinner, Frankie had recommended a Mexican restaurant and being that most of the women were from the Southern US, they missed their tex-mex and so we decided to go. It wasn't a tex-mex restaurant but served fantastic authentic mexican food and the best mojitos. It was a really enjoyable evening.

Castle Fraser with the dogs

2011-10-22T14:21:00.002+01:00

I've been dog-sitting our friend's dog Sydney for the last couple of days and decided I'd take her and Casey out this morning. Not for purely altruistic reasons, more that they are sufficiently tired to allow me to go see Contagion this afternoon.

We all loaded into the car and drove the 20 minutes out between Alford and Dunecht to Castle Fraser. While doggy admission into the grounds and walled garden are strictly verboten, we did get a nice brisk autumn walk through the surrounding woodland. You can really feel a new crispness in the air. If the shorter days weren't making it obvious, the weather is positively screaming that winter is around the corner. I guess there's nothing to do but break out the woolies and enjoy the changing leaves.

Some Pictures from the Photography Workshop

2011-10-19T21:45:00.001+01:00

Here are some pictures from my photo workshop. Let me know what you think...

The Lord and Lady of Dornoch

2011-10-18T17:58:00.002+01:00

So it's a week late, but I thought I would recap our little trip up north last weekend. Fiona had to be in Inverness on Monday morning in order to join her week long photography course, which would take her out to the Hebridean islands of Skye, Harris and Lewis. I thought it would be a grand opportunity to head north of Inverness, an area of Scotland we had yet to visit. While we usually plan these things together, I took the bull by the horns on this one and looked up a good place to cosy up for the weekend with a few good attractions to visit. I guess it could have gone either way, with me assuming the role of hero or goat, but it turns out I hit it out of the park and we had an amazing weekend.

I chose the small tourist town of Dornoch, up on the northeast coast, as a home base. It was close by a few historical attractions that seemed quite interesting, the best of which was Dunrobin Castle. There was also a beautiful cathedral in town and the local pottery was quite well known. But perhaps the best reason for choosing Dornoch was the hotel - the Dornoch Castle Hotel. Part of the Bishop's Palace built in the thirteenth century, alongside the cathedral, it offered a good off season special and the grandest room in the palace, the Olde Courtroom, was still available. It was absolutely fantastic. It had a high, open beam ceiling with white plaster, a four poster bed and a working fireplace with a wood/coal fire built and ready to be lit. The walls were covered in antlers and there were little window seats where you could sit and partake in the free dram of whiskey that came with the room while looking out over the courtyard to the cathedral.

The rest of the hotel was equally amazing. They had a great bar downstairs with an even larger fireplace and good selection of beers and whiskeys, the perfect place to relax and unwind before dinner. It was good to relax because the dinner menu required some careful attention. The decisions were difficult, not because it was hard to find something good, but because it was hard to settle on only one of each course. It was good that we stayed two days, so we could spread the choice out over the weekend. Fiona had a lobster special (brought in from the firth that day), with a crab and langoustine starter. I had scallops to start with a fantastic piece of beef for the main. It was almost ruined by the gorgeous bread they put on the table beforehand. Clearly homemade it was to die for. The second night was equally good. I'd recommend the Dornoch Castle to anyone at anytime.

On Saturday morning we watched a little of the rugby to start the day and then popped off in the car a little further north to Golspie, the location of Dunrobin Castle. Dunrobin is the ancestral home of the Sutherlands, one of the most powerful of Scotland's aristocratic families. They always seemed to have a steady supply of daughters to marry into the other families and were frequently spot on in picking the right side in a war. As a result they could afford to build themselves quite a nice little country house, right on the water's edge. Unfortunately it was another one of those 'no pictures' castles, because the inside was stunning. My favourite room was the library, which was wall to wall ancient books, with a large 16th Century globe in the corner and a painting of the Duchess Eileen on the wall over the fireplace. How these northern lords stuck up in the middle of nowhere managed to get these good looking ladies to come and stay is beyond me. The painting is absolutely striking and when we looked it up we found it was done by de Laszlo, who also did a painting of the Queen Mother in Glamis Castle that we found equally fabulous. Fiona's favourite room was the old nursery, which was set up with an abundance of old toys which had clearly seen good use in earlier days. The china used for the teddy bear tea party was quite exquisite. But for such a large, imposing castle it felt very homey and comfortable. There were a lot of other highlights, in architecture and art, but it all seemed to pale in comparison to what you saw when you looked out the window.

The gardens were lush, colorful (especially for October) and laid out in nice geometrical patterns pleasing to the eye. As you walk down the outside staircases to get to the lower level gardens you pass Giant Rhubarb plants at least 8 feet tall. The fountains were all in working order and the hedges neatly trimmed.

Another feature of Dunrobin Castle is a falconry demonstration. They take the offspring of injured birds and a few other foreign species who have been abandoned and use them to keep down the local rabbit population. We got to see a great demonstration with a red-tailed hawk who could sweep down and low through the people in their seats, and the falconer showed us how he had trained it to attack rabbits. Next up was an eagle owl, who made absolutely no sound as he swooped down to get his treats. When the falconer was done with him, he put him down on the seat next to me, and the owl would look over every once in a while and give me the stink-eye. Glad I wasn't a small rodent. The last bird we saw was a peregrine falcon, who would go up to the top of the highest tree and then dive down like a bullet. The falconer would toss up a piece of chicken wing and the falcon would catch it every time. It was quite a sight.

After the castle, we went back to Dornoch and had a light lunch in town. We did a quick tour of the cathedral - Scotland's smallest cathedral - or at least we thought it would be short. We found ourselves as the only two people there, except for an exceptionally chatty Briton who hit on so many stereotypes it was hard to laugh. He welcomed us to Dornoch quite heartily and suggested it would be a good place for us to retire. He told us all about the cathedral, because the he had read up on these things - "I went to Oxford and Cambridge, you know". He had been sent up during the war to get out of London - his family was quite rich because they had been the first ones to start the tea business in Ceylon. Normally I'd call someone out when they tell me their grandparents started the tea business, but this guy sounded legit.

After a quick lunch and some pottery buying, we hit the four poster for a late afternoon nap before dinner. We hoped that the weather would hold out long enough for us to set up the telescope, but unfortunately it was a continuous blanket of cloud and light drizzle.

Sunday morning was a little sad, knowing I would have to drop Fiona off in Inverness and then carry on solo back to Aberdeen. We stopped once in Foulis, the traditional home of Clan Munro, to see if we could learn anything more about the heritage of our godsons. We learnt quite a bit, including the long and comprehensive list of their traditional enemies - that means you Mackenzies, Macdonalds and Mackays. We tried to see Foulis Castle, but Lady Munro is still in residence and we needed to book an appointment. So perhaps some other day.

Parting was indeed tough, but the week flew by and we're now back together again, at least until Fiona jets off to Munich at the end of the week. Her trip was a complete success and I imagine she will be posting some of her work in the near future.

Catch up and vacation movies

2011-10-01T18:15:00.000+01:00

We've been enjoying a ridiculously good spell of weather in the UK lately. It's been 30 C down in London, and sufficiently balmy up here in Aberdeen that I could walk home from Poker Night on Wednesday sporting just a t-shirt - no jumper - at midnight. Some people say it is to make up for the hideous summer we've had, conveniently forgetting that we had a gorgeous May and June. Hopefully it sticks around a little bit longer. The days are getting noticeably shorter, so it's nice to get as much sun as possible while we still can.

We've been social butterflies the last couple of weeks. We hosted a Beer Night for the Canadian Association that was poorly attended in terms of numbers, but wonderfully attended in terms of good company and excellent British beers. The night before we joined the Culinary Caravan of the American Women's Association over at the Lairhillock Inn. It was nice to meet some new people and the conversation was good enough that we could overlook the poor chicken and bacon pie and the criminally libelous impersonation of Banoffee pie. To be fair to the Lairhillock, the mussel starter was fabulous and Fiona's pork steaks were great.

I had another rugby breakfast at a friend's house this morning to take in the England v Scotland match. Decent enough game, made much more fun by watching it with people with a vested interest in the outcome. Now all Canada has to do is beat host and tournament favourite New Zealand by at least four tries and they are into the second round. I'm trying to come up with events as equally unlikely to occur to complete my similie, but I've got nothing. At least we will finally get to shave off those impressive tournament beards. Canada didn't do too badly, beating Tonga and playing the French tough in the first half, but the draw with Japan was disappointing. If we can keep the All Blacks to less than a half a hundred, it should be considered a good tourney.

We're off tonight to have dinner with an old colleague. It should be fun as we haven't seen each other in a couple of months. Next weekend we're off to Dornoch, north of Inverness, for a quick weekend away before Fiona goes on her photography course.

I'm trying to think of things to do while she's away for the week. I think I'll finally get around to editing the remaining video footage from our vacation. I had a play around with the footage from the camping trip and am slowly getting the hang of it. I like a couple of sections of this video in particular. The game of cards at the beginning always makes me a little homesick. The 'friendly' banter is typical of what happens when cards or dominos hit our kitchen table. The second section is what I would like these and future videos to be - good narration, everybody responding naturally - just a little reminder for us, or insight for someone else, as to what it was like to be there. It certainly beats some of the video up on the mountain, where the zooms and high winds make it seem like I was shooting shaky-cam footage for the Blair Witch Project. Sorry about that. I hope no one loses their lunch...

Braemar Games Video

2011-09-17T19:03:00.001+01:00

The nasty weather outside has given us some time to sit inside and play around with the video recorder I received for my birthday. We downloaded some footage from the Canadian vacation and the Braemar Games and have had some fun learning all about the editing process. We've put together something for Braemar and if it keeps raining we'll probably get to the other stuff this weekend.

So what does Casey do while we're busy playing Hollywood ...

Braemar Highland Gathering

2011-09-10T17:46:00.000+01:00

Our pipe band escort into the stadium

They all wear special tug-of-war shoes that they must go get at the tug-of-war supply shop.

This is the announcer who walks around commenting on all the events. I'm pretty sure he knows all contestants in all the events by name.

A successful attempt at the weight over the bar. The weight was 42lbs for the junior class. This guy came in second at 16 feet, 6 inches.

The pipes of the Atholl Highlanders, the last private army in Europe.

The man in the hat is Lukas Wenta. He's usually here with his brother Sebastian, but was on his own this year. He was quite good at all the heavy events.

Another of the heavy events - the hammer throw. This guy, Scott Ryder, was a monster.

The start of the hill run. Look at the enthusiasm in their eyes!

You can follow the contestants, barely, as they run up the hill.

Not everyone can pull off a yellow tartan.

Her Majesty the Queen, with Philip on the left.

Now that we're all caught up on news from the Canadian trip, time to get back into boring, everyday Scottish life. We did the usual post-vacation things - catching up on laundry, watering some deprived plants and tending to our garden. The garden was a mixed bag this year. We got a really good crop of parsnips - turned into a delicious curry-apple-parsnip soup by Fiona - and we managed to get a few cucumbers from a pot in the greenhouse, but the carrots were another abject failure and the beans, though tall and lush, were also a disappointment.

You could have expected we would carry the recuperation phase on into the first weekend back, but early Saturday morning we got dressed in our finest and headed out to Braemar to attend the Royal Highland Gathering.

The weather was once again quite good. We had a little bit rain here and there, but that seemed to just make it a little more authentic. By the end of the day, we had had enough sun to give me a decent sunburn.

The trip out to Braemar was quick and easy. We hadn't been out that way in quite some time, so there was a lot of rubber-necking as the scenery whizzed past. We parked again in the large, thistle-laden field and walked in through town to the fairgrounds. A few hundred metres away from the entrance we ended up behind a pipe and drum band, who were in full swing and marching towards the entrance. As we approached the gates a lot of the people behind us had to peel away to get tickets, and for a moment it seemed as if we got our own pipe and drum entrance.

We met our friends Erin and Holly in the grandstands and after moving around to try and get some decent pcitures of the tug-of-war, we settled down into our seats to watch the myriad of different events all going on at once.

I love the Braemar Gathering for this almost amateur type atmosphere - there are so many things going on at once that it seems like they are only one minor miscalculation away from a major catastrophe - like an intersection of the caber toss and 100m dash. But it all works out and you're left with a homey feel that allows you to connect with some of the athletes.

We followed the tug-of-war as best we could. It's always amusing to see the coaches of the individual military units that compete "encouraging" or "coaching" their charges. When they come back for the finals, they're all in full dress uniform, screaming tactics. And if you say, how the heck can a tug-of-war be tactical, well I can guarantee you that we saw an excellent use of tug-of-war tactics in some of the matches. I think we even saw the equivalent of the rope-a-dope strategy Ali used to beat Foreman.

We also had the heavy events right in front of us. They are always fun to watch. It started with the junior class, which is contestants under 25. They were impressive and we even got to see some records - including an unofficial record in a new event we invented, how deep can you make the weight in the weight-over-the-bar event sink into the soft, wet ground. Later in the day the big boys took over. Sorry, Mom, Sebastien Wenta wasn't there this year, although his brother Lukas did quite well, running neck and neck with a Briton and a guy from California. There were more record performances, but when it comes to picking up 50 pound weights and flinging them for height or distance, I'm easily impressed.

There were a multitude of other events going on as well - Highland dancing, 100 & 200 yard sprints, relay races, triple jump, high jump and a competition between drum majors. In between the pipe and drum bands would march out onto the field and play, adding to the atmosphere.

The Hill Run was also done. It's always fun to see the enthusiasm with which people do the first lap in the stadium and compare it to the bone-weary exhaustion you see when they eventually make it back. It is neat to be able to track the progess of tiny little dots as the crawl up the mountain path behind the stadium.

Twice during the day you get treated to a massed pipe and drum performance. All the bands group together and do a lap of the stadium, playing their hearts out. I'm a huge fan of bagpipes, I always imagine what that sound did to enemy soldiers behind the next hill or in the next trench. It's quite intimidating. Especially when you combine it with the big booms of the bass drums and the rattle of the snare drums. We've taken some video. Once i get it all edited down, we'll post that as well.

For some people, the highlight of the day is the arrival of the Queen and her party. This year she was wearing a cyan ensemble and had brought with her the Duke of Edinburgh and our Prime Minister, David Cameron, and his wife Samantha. Close attention is usually paid to Sam Cam's attire, so I think a few people were disappointed with a brown suit.

We left at about 4pm, feeling the effects of too much sun and a full day on a hard wooden bench. Once again, we loved the Braemar experience and would recommend it to anyone at least once in their life. Put on your kilt and your home-made cable knit sweater, wrap up some bacon rolls for lunch and go immerse yourself in a full day of Scottish pride in their culture in an atmosphere where every good effort is applauded.

After the Party

2011-09-10T08:12:00.003+01:00

After an amazing party like my parent's 40th anniversary, I guess the danger is always the post-party hangover. I'm not (strictly) speaking about the alcohol induced one either, but more a feeling of winding-down that comes naturally after such a major event. Seeing as we still had a couple of days left on our trip, it was something we were hoping to avoid. I think we succeeded.

The Sunday and Monday post-party were filled with family, food, work, play, shopping, preparation and more of the seemingly endless Alberta sunshine. Multiple trips were made back to the hall at the Dutch-Canadian Club to tie up loose ends. People played dominos in the backyard - at least until the mosquitos chased them inside. We spent a morning and afternoon shopping with Mark, Linda and Adele. The Princess Bride was watched. Adele's review - "good, but not as good as Stardust". We brought back our rental car and emptied out our hotel room. My parents and the Brooymans family prepared the tent trailer for a camping trip to the Vancouver Island. Hanneke gifted us a copy of her book on water conservation (congratulations again!). We ate outside every night. Mom and Dad opened their anniversary gift - a weekend at the Jasper Park Lodge. Cards and sequence were played nightly, when we could find room between the liquor bottles on the table. We all tackled the over-sized pasta portions at Boston Pizza.

The whole three days were like the rest of the trip, relaxed, fun and productive. The trip had turned out to be exactly what I needed. Re-connecting with my immediate family and seeing how well everyone was doing. Getting a great reminder of how wonderful my extended family are. Getting more sunshine than we would see in an entire Scottish summer. Stocking up on pickles.

After such a horribly stressful previous 4 or 5 months at work, where, I admit, I likely came closer than I would have liked to my breaking point, I got back on the plane at Edmonton airport feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. We now have a whole new series of highlights to get nostalgic about as the pictures pop up on the digital frame we keep in the living room.

Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a wonderful trip.

Party and Prep

2011-09-08T21:18:00.000+01:00

Back in Edmonton, we had a little time before the main event, scheduled for that Saturday. Knackered from the late drive on Sunday evening, we slept in on Monday and did not much of anything most of the day. A little laundry, lounging in the dry sunshine, and watching 'Stardust' with Adele.

Sufficiently relaxed, we put significantly more on the schedule for Tuesday. We went to the waterpark in West Edmonton Mall with Mark, Linda and Adele. Being a waterpark veteran, I felt it was my duty to take my little niece and show her the ropes. The problem was that it had been more than a decade (perhaps two) since I had been down any of these slides. We chose the Blue Bullet to start and as I seem to remember it being rather benign. As I rocketed down the slide at twice the speed of sound I wasn't sure if I was more frightened for my own well-being or that of my poor little niece, who must have been scared out of her wits. Luckily she came out of the tube giving us a double thumbs up and the rest of the morning and early afternoon passed with a series of slides intermittently broken up by trips to the wave pool. Favourites were the rather tame corkscrew slide and the rather more daring Tropical Typhoon. Nobody dared go on the near vertical drop followed by loop-de-loop. I kid you not, this slide looked ridiculous. You didn't get in and slide down, to start you had to get inside a tube and when the timing was right they would simply pull the floor out from under you.

We followed up the waterpark with some pretty hardcore shopping, picking up clothes, Canadiana (a Roots sweater) and comic books (a passion I share with Mark and Adele). Just before the dinner bell rang we parted ways and Fiona and I ran off to meet my good buddy Rob and his girlfriend Lindsey for dinner and a movie. As always it turned out to be a complete success - dinner was good, conversation picked up like it hadn't been years since we had seen each other and the movie - 'Crazy, Stupid Love' - was excellent.

Wednesday was low-key again. Fiona and Adele helped my mom by thinking up and making all of the table decorations for the party. I went with my Dad and bought the alcohol. Two great big check-marks for the party. Fiona spent the afternoon taking in some more sun, and Linda, Mark, Adele and I went to the local cinema to catch 'Super 8'. Other than the overly large Spielbergian helping of Daddy issues, it was another good one. The whole family got together in the evening for dinner at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant - Thanh-thanh. The wonton soup, szechaun chicken and singapore noodles were the highlights of an all our around magnificent meal. We finished the night by going back to Hanneke and Jul's to finalize our plans for the party and practice the song that we had put together.

Thursday was a work day. We all pitched in to get the house tidy for all the aunts and uncles that were arriving later that day - or should have arrived. The Brooymans's arrived first, with my Ome Wim and Tante Els and Ome Harrie and Tante Adje. The Jacobs's were supposed to arrive that evening, but were delayed in Chicago and wouldn't make it until the next day. Even more unfortunately, their bags didn't arrive until Saturday. With the house full, we checked into a nearby hotel.

The day of the party was a blur of activity. Fiona and I went early to help load the alcohol in the fridge and decorate the hall. It all went quite smoothly. We jetted back to the hotel to shower and change and then came back to the hall to meet the caterer before everyone else showed up. It ended up being a good thing we came early as, in the only glitch of the evening, the bus bringing my parents and all the extended family didn't show, making the guests of honour late for their own party.

After that, everything went amazingly well and the party was a blast on so many levels. The atmosphere was great, and we got to see so many people that we hadn't seen in a very long time. The food was great - kudos to Jim on his lemongrass pork chops - the beer was cold, and thanks to the awesome DJ combo of Fiona and my Dad, the tunes kept the dance floor full until the end of the night.

In typical Dutch tradition for a 40th anniversary party, family did a bunch of songs celebrating my parents. Our 'Yellow Submarine' knock-off went over well, and Adele's poem was heart warming. The Jacobs family's contribution can be found on YouTube, and Fiona stepped in to help Ome Wim with the Brooymans family speech.

One of the nicest things wasn't the reunion with family and friends or any of the other party acoutrements, but the actual reason for the party itself - a celebration of 40 years of marriage between two people who still make such an amazing couple. They have set a wonderful example for Fiona and myself, and I must confess that I found myself thinking what our party would be like, come 2042. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for showing us how its done right.

Calgary

2011-09-08T20:14:00.001+01:00

We had a hard time tallying when we last were in Calgary. We were thinking it may have been something like 2007. In any case, it had been long enough that a great many things had changed. There were new C-Train stops, refurbished shopping malls, extended and expanded freeways and brand new skyscrapers changing the downtown skyline. Other things hadn't changed as much - traffic was still a nightmare, construction was omnipresent and the city maintained an air of hustle and bustle that gave you the impression that everyone was permanently busy, with somewhere to go and something to do.

We carried the good weather with us into town. We stayed from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening, and while there was still small piles of ice in the shady corners of Ryan and Jenni's garden (from the previous night's hailstorm) when we arrived, it maintained a sunny 30+ C the rest of the way through our visit. There really is no way you can complain about that.

We had a kind offer of room and board with our good friends Ryan and Jenni, which we took. After a quick shower to wash off the last traces of camping, we got to spend some quality time with our godsons, Sam and Ben. They've become little men, with interests in ninjas, Star Wars and strange little shapeshifting robots that turn into spheres. We all piled into the minivan for a trip to the local Montana's for dinner. Strawberry daiquiries, ice-cold Molson's and some chicken and rib combos quickly knocked what energy remained and we called it a night on the early side.

The next day started with a leisurely breakfast of Eggs Benny. We got to watch little Ben work the iPad like a maestro, playing Cut the Rope at a level well-beyond the average 4 year old. Having seen the iPad in action both at Hanneke and Jul's and now at Ryan and Jenni's we decided it was time to get on board, and all piled back in the minivan for a trip to the Apple store at Chinook Mall. We used to go there all the time when we lived in Calgary, but it's all grown up now. High end stores have moved in - Apple, Victoria's Secret, a variety of places to buy cupcakes (they're all the rage!), and many others. The boys were interested in the Lego store, and they were amazingly well-behaved during the ridiculously long wait for service in the Apple store.

Done with the mall, we navigated through some particularly gnarly traffic to Bowness Park, one of the few Calgary parks to which we had never been. Even though it was a little busy in the park, it was still quite serene. Sam and Ben enjoyed seeing the ducks in the pond and, being twins, were ideally suited for the teeter-totter in the playground. We walked back to the car along the river which hosted a huge number of people in all kinds of rafts, tubes and inflatables. Apparently it's right up there with cupcakes as the thing to do. And with the weather we were having, I could see why.

We went back to Tuscany for a BBQ dinner - some monstrous, and incredibly delicious, steaks, done to perfection, corn and asparagus. While it probably would have been a good idea for us to do something to work off the calories, we instead put the iPad to work, dialing up Tara and Christian in Singapore on Skype. It seemed like ages since we had all hung out together, and I guess that is probably because it has been at least that long. We got thoroughly caught up. I'm not quite sure when the variety of silly hats came in, or why, but they added to the atmosphere.

After the boys demonstrated their never-fail technique of several hundred high-speed laps around the coffee table as a pre-bedtime ritual, we broke out the crokinole table and proceeded to take our kindly hosts out behind the woodshed for an old-fashioned whuppin'.

Sunday morning started with good lie-in. The fact that we could do this with a couple of 4 year olds in the house, proves once again what rock stars our godsons are. Our last stop before moving on was another old favourite, Peter's Drive-in, for a burger and milkshake. Not much had changed there, with the same amazing shakes being served. It did seem as if a large fries tripled in size in the intervening years, but who's complaining?

After lunch we struck out for the deep south, to meet up with our old neighbours from the days on Bridlewood Avenue. Natalie and Curtis hosted, with Gabrielle and Keigan (the entertainment for the evening) there to greet us as well. Sean and Dee-ya soon arrived, with Jocelyn and Spencer . The kids were soon fighting the heat with a hose and swimming pool, although their efforts to fill an entire garbage bag with water took the majority of the focus.

It was great to catch up with our friends again. Good to hear that everyone was doing well and that life in Calgary was treating them well. It certainly reminded us of the good ole days when a sunny weekend afternoon would almost certainly end up with all of us sitting on someone's deck or patio. It reminded us of what you miss when move as often as we have - a chance to build really good, strong friendships with the people you live around.

After another delicious BBQ, with more baked beans than was probably good for two people with a 4 hour drive in front of them, we hit the road, headed for home.

We left a few friends unvisited, a theme we would have to revisit in Edmonton, and for that we are sorry. Damn work, and its restrictive deadlines.

Icefields Parkway

2011-09-06T20:16:00.004+01:00

I've always thought my parents should teach a course in camping. They really are the consumate pros. You really gain an appreciation for it when you see them break down a campsite. Their routine is amazing - quick, clean and efficient. The only problem was that, before we knew it, it was time to get in separate cars and go separate ways. Fiona and I were heading down the Icefields Parkway through Banff to see friends in Calgary. Hanneke and Jul were heading back to Edmonton in their own car. Linda and Dad were heading home a little more quickly so that they could pick up their registration for the 10km race they were doing the next day. Their cheering section, Mom, Mark and Adele, went with them.

So it was still morning when we found ourselves alone and traveling through the mountains, like we used to do when we were crazy kids, just out of school and living in Calgary. In fact as we drove a nice, sunny Icefields Parkway, we reminisced about the time we came up the other way in the middle of winter. We were driving our old Honda Civic hatchback, it was very, very dark and snowing very, very hard. I think back and wonder why the road was actually open. I think we only saw 4 or 5 people the entire 5 hour drive and in places the snow was piled so high on the side of the road that we couldn't see road signs 3 or 4 metres high. It was incredibly scary. This was better.

We stopped at the Athabasca Falls, another standard tourist trap to let photog Fiona do her thing. She got some really good shots of the falls, including one with an inukshuk that someone had precariously placed nearby - that one's for you Linda. Unfortunately, upon returning to the car she stumbled and made the completely valid choice to save her pretty face over the camera, and the casing holding the lens snapped off when it hit the ground. We were devastated, thinking that we would get no more pictures for the duration of the trip. But Fiona pulled it together and set up a field repair station at the side of the road. Doing her best MacGyver impersonation she put the camera back together again using only her wits and men's manicure set. What a lady!

The rest of the trip was a series of scenic high points. The Unending Range, stretching along the highway, the glaciers, Columbia and Athabasca, receding into the mountain, and lakes so blue-green as to defy the imagination. Considering how long it had been, and how long it might be before we see the Rockies again, I'm glad we got them at their best and that we got a good long, unhurried drive to enjoy them on.

We pulled into Ryan and Jenni's in the late afternoon ready to replace the majestic mountains with the hustle and bustle of constantly growing Calgary.

The Road to Miette

2011-09-06T19:59:00.001+01:00

After the morning at Pyramid Lake we could finally answer in the affirmative to Adele's constant queries of 'Are we going to the Hot Springs now?"

The road to Miette goes past some of the best Bighorn sheep viewing spots in the whole park, so we were hopeful that we would be able to knock another of the big mammals off our checklist. After the near-bear encounter in the morning, why not? And we did indeed get a nice herd of sheep, just off the side of the road near the Miette turnoff. Fiona and Adele got out of the car to take a picture. The little ones posed nicely and the picture was soon in the bag. But one of the ewes must have thought the hot springs sounded good as well, because she followed Fiona and Adele back to the car. She must have realized the only room left in the car was in the boot so she eventually lost interest and returned to the herd.

The hot springs were a welcome attraction to people who had been covered in fire smoke and hard earned hiking sweat. The showers you use before entering the pool seemed like enough to justify the trip until you first set foot in the hot pool. It was heavenly. Muscles you didn't even know were tense instantly relaxed.

The only thing better than sitting in that pool was a quick dip in one of the cold pools - one 14C and the other 22C - followed by getting back in the hot pool. The cold was shockingly cold, not refreshing or any other kind of good cold. But your whole skin would come alive when you got back into the hot pool.

The location of the springs is also source of wonder, especially for those with any kind of appreciation of geology. The mountainside were alternately a mix of structured layers and massive, homogenous blocks. It was really quite fantastic. We made one more stop at some small falls on the way back and I snapped the last picture in the group on the post. I think it's one of my favourites.

You'd figure that we saved the grandest dinner for the last night in the park, and you'd be right. A couple of fire-roasted hot-dogs, along with leftover brats and burgers really hit the spot. It was nice and relaxed without being melancholy. The badminton smashes were a little less severe, the Tick was a little less cut-throat and the company of family that we don't see nearly as often as we would really like was thoroughly enjoyed. It was the kind of scene and evening that you would go back to when you need your 'happy place'.

Pyramid Lake

2011-09-06T19:35:00.000+01:00

"Cynthia,

Won't you take me to

Pyramid Lake with you"

On our last full day in Jasper, we were looking for a good scenic hike in the morning as a prelude to what was surely going to be Adele's highlight of the week, a trip to the Miette Hot Springs in the afternoon. There were several good reasons to choose Pyramid Lake besides the nostalgia of a Blue Rodeo lyric, it's nearby to the Jasper township, has an extensive set of trails that would allow a choice of distances and sits underneath the utterly breathtaking and multi-coloured magnificence of Pyramid Mountain.

The day was nice, but not spectacular. Some low cloud hung around the mountain tops, but where one might have thought that would detract from the view, it seemed to add a little extra something. We sort of walked around the lake, not having chosen a path or destination, and ended up at the island that juts out into the lake. It was quite clear why this particular spot had been and still was so popular. There were great views over the lake to the mountains in the distance, including snow covered Edith Cavell, and my personal favourite - Unnamed. Lakeside the clear waters reflected the little sun that we had, and large dragonflies took the time to land on your shoulder for a rest. We took the obligatory family photo and quickly moved on lest we spend the whole day on the tiny island.

We finally chose a path to complete our journey and after crossing a little bridge we branched off into a more forested section. We were surrounded by trees and had the path all to ourselves - or so we thought. We couldn't have been more than a couple of hundred metres from the branch point when Fiona remarked on some sounds that seemed to be coming from the trees. Our little convoy stopped for a few seconds and after scanning the trees I quickly and smartly pointed up to the large tree just in front of us.

"It's a porcupine, about 30 feet up", I said. "Look, you can see his tail hanging down below that branch ..."

I'm not quite sure if it was intended, but Linda's response was whip-smart - "Where's the porcupine? Is it next to the bear?"

At the word bear, I believe about half of our convoy turned and hightailed it back down the path. The rest of us stopped to take a look and snap a photo. He seemed a little sad, like we disturbed him. He wasn't overly large, perhaps a couple of years old and he followed our conversation, moving his head to look at whomever was talking. We could have walked directly under him and continued on, but at the time, not knowing if was still a cub with an over-protective mother around, it was probably a good decision to turn around. All-in-all a really cool experience. If I told you it was the equivalent of finding some cool mushrooms and slime molds later on in the walk, you would know I was lying.

We had lunch at the Pyramid Lake Resort. We got a long table and the panko crusted chicken tenders were a hit with most people. My elk, bison and beef sliders also went down quite well.

It was a great morning in all respects for me. I think I got to walk and talk with everyone, I saw a bear close-up and the mountains looked spectacular.

Maligne Lake

2011-09-06T17:08:00.001+01:00

Wednesday dawned like the rest of the week - cool and crisp, refreshing to some, irritating to others. A belly full of pancakes soon got everyone's motor running and we hustled off to Maligne Lake fo a day of hiking, boating and wildlife watching.

Not long after passing the Maligne Canyon turnoff, we ran into our first 'bear jam'. We found a suitable place on the side of the road with the other gawkers and took in the rather adorable sight of a mother black bear and two cubs trundling along the treeline at the top of a small ridge next to the highway. Because the cubs were still quite small, we only saw glimpses as the ducked in and out of the trees and shrubs. They were definitely cute, though, like really little people in very fuzzy pajamas.

We worked our way out of the jam and continued out toward the lake. We passed the beautiful sight of Medicine Lake, where Jul, playing his common role of nature guide/knower of all things wild and wonderful (no kidding - for all Adele's questions about the great wilderness around us, there was only one reply - 'Ask Uncle Jul'), informed us of the fun fact that the rather large lake in front of us reduced down to only a trickle of a stream in the autumn.

We left Medicine Lake behind and soon got to Maligne Lake. We saw trout swimming and jumping in one of the outlet streams, and a friendly cowbird posed for Fiona. We started on a quick jaunt down a lakeside path, but were soon heading in the other direction as our stomachs told us that the pancakes were gone and new sustenance was required. Showing no fear of the tourist trap prices, we marched into the lodge beside the lake and were kindly treated to lunch by Hanneke and Jul. They had decent beef stew, good soup and chili and a fine collection of sweets that went over well with our crowd. In keeping with his scientific duties, Jul even took time out to show that the well-known hypothesis that you should never eat anything bigger than your own head did not apply to chocolate chip cookies.

Appetites sated once again, we convened on the patio of the lodge to determine what was next for the day - a hike into the hills, canoeing on the lake, a trip to Spirit Island? Ten minutes later we were all back in the cars, heading back towards Jasper. Some would argue this was due to the light rain and ugly clouds starting to obscure the hills. It certainly was not for fear of a gruelling hike and vigorous exercise, because that afternoon we undertook perhaps the most difficult hike in all of Jasper National Park. Only a couple of kilometers long, without any large changes in elevation, it has deceived many and turned quick little 30 minute hikes into long, hard slogs stretching into hours - Connaught Drive. Otherwise known as Main Street Jasper. Somehow we managed to burn an entire afternoon walking up and down the main drag of this sleepy little village. There were some important finds, however - Adele got her snow globe, fresh, cold beer was purchased, we all got kudos on our wine selecting ability (yay, glam-ping!), further appreciation was gained for the stunning beauty of Leona Amman's art, and I learned that my little niece could eat two entire bags of flavoured popcorn and still have room for dinner.

Although thoroughly exhausted from the long trek up and down Connaught, we dove right into making dinner. The excitement of 'Bratwurst Night' gave us wings. A fire was made and the brats were cooked. We served them on fresh buns with pickles, onions and mustard. Even for non-sausage fans (you will remain unidentified), they were a hit. Was it the cinnamon, or the lemon peel, or just the extra care and attention that comes with hand-crafted sausage from highly skilled artisans? We'll never know, but I'm sure it was the latter.

The evening progressed as the others have - more badminton, more new methods for getting badminton birdies out of trees (or badminton raquets stuck in them), another round of Tick, and a fairly early bedtime as the clouds cleared and we came full circle to a cool, crisp darkness.

Maligne Canyon

2011-09-06T13:18:00.001+01:00

Post-lunch we were all looking for something nearby and easy, so as not to jostle the large lunch. We settled on the very touristy Maligne Canyon. The drive there was scenic, but surprisingly short on bighorn sheep.

We parked between the coaches and rental cars and headed down the path. I think we had all seen it before, bar Mark and Adele, but it still made an impact. I think Fiona did a wonderful job of capturing the movement of the water and the colour of the rocks. We just took our time strolling down past the fourth bridge and enjoyed the sunlight filtering through the lodgepoles. They really should find a way to do something about the fact that every trip down into the canyon must be followed by a trip back up. But we toughed it out, carrying several of the layers we had put on that morning when things were significantly cooler.

Fiona, Adele and I drove back to the campsite together and came upon a mother elk and her calf feeding on the long grass at the side of the road. We got quite close as we passed them in the car, but they seemed intent to keep on feeding, concentrating more on flicking away the slightly more irritating mosquitoes with their big ears. We would see these two again the next day.

We cooked burgers on the firepit that night, and another batch of marshmallows were skewered and roasted for their sins by Adele. The campsite was a well-oiled machine at this point with everyone taking turns fetching water, doing dishes, clearing up and fetching the long pole to knock the badminton birdie out of the tree. We played a 'friendly' game of Tick, which had to be called because of darkness. I won't record who won or lost, as the Brooymans family tradition tends to disregard details like that.

A good night's sleep was well earned - more so perhaps by the three mountaineers who had gone up Whistlers, but a full day in the great outdoors tends to knock you right out. It did help that those in the tent-trailer had figured out that the little ceramic heater could be kept on all night. The hum of the heater did play a guilty little tune to my ear, thinking about those brave volunteer tenters tucked in their sleeping bags. Know that your sacrifice was appreciated!

Around the Campfire and Whistlers Mountain

2011-09-04T12:35:00.002+01:00

On Monday morning we packed up the gear and drove out to Jasper. We had lunch at Tim Horton's in Edson, but the nostalgia of a honey cruller couldn't match the emotional impact of the first sight of the mountains as you come over Obed Summit. Fiona and I both had tears in our eyes. We've spent some time travelling through the countryside and mountains of Scotland, and have found ourselves making extremely positive comparisons between the two. I think this was mainly because it had been so long since we had been in the Rockies. There really is no comparison. The mountains are proper, rugged mountains, with a degree of wilderness that leaves you with the impression that survival should not be taken for granted. The Scottish wilderness, while incredibly beautiful, gives you a more welcoming first impression, like you could build a nice summer home in most places.

We set up camp at Whistlers campground, taking up two sites - with a couple of tents on one and the tent-trailer on the other. The weather continued to co-operate, with no rain in the immediate vicinity. Soon we were doing all those things you do when camping in Canada - chopping firewood, building a fire, commenting on how poorly others had built or manipulated the fire and fixing their fire-related mistakes.

We witnessed the birth of a new Canadian frontier character - the LumberMark, as Mark busied himself providing a large pile of chopped firewood for the camp. Never one to rest on his laurels, Mark also assumed the role of chief coffee-maker, proving once again he is a true Renaissance man.

The local squirrel soon came to visit the camp, intent on stealing all varieties of nuts that we were enjoying with our fire-side beers. He posed beautifully for Fiona's pictures before being run off by a rival.

Dinner for the evening was a Brooymans camping delicacy - canned ham pasta. In our first tentative steps in a move towards glam-ping, it was enjoyed with a nice wine, which turned into rum and cokes as it grew dark. Adele was soon roasting marshmallows, with advice streaming in from all sides on how exactly that should be done. The first night was clear and crisp, and as the sun ducked behind the mountain, the stars came out. We tried to use Hanneke's new iPad to help identify the constellations, but even the temperatures that were rapidly approaching freezing could not convince it that it wasn't in Ghana.

The first night in the tent-trailer was quite cold and combining that with the snoring of a certain semi-Scotsman resulted in some surly campers that morning. A roaring fire, a nice coffee and a hearty breakfast soon lifted the gloom and we headed off to our first destination - the gondola up Whistlers mountain.

We had seen the little red carriages going up and down the mountain from our campsite, and with a dodgy forecast for the rest of the week figured that we should take this earliest opportunity to go up to the top and see the sights. According to Hanneke and Jul, we might even get to see some ptarmigan.

We were a little dismayed to see the price of the gondola ticket, but paid the toll and, in the end, were happy that we did. Normally my fear of heights would have presented a problem, but with a firm death-grip on an internal railing, eyes fixed firmly ahead and an inquisitive niece to distract me I made it to the top without losing my marbles.

We all walked out of the gondola house together, but upon turning the corner were soon split into various groups by a cold, biting wind. Some decided to stay closer to the shelter of the gondola house, Hanneke and Jul went off in search of the elusive ptarmigan (finding only feathers) and Dad, Adele and Mark had the mettle to finish the hike all the way to the summit. I decided to quit halfway up in order to spend some more time taking pictures and tracking down the cute little pikas - I assure you it was not due to any fitness related issues.

It was incredibly scenic from the top. There was a wide, branching valley, with the Jasper townsite situated in the middle, with blue lakes and rivers snaking through. Pyramid mountain displayed an incredible range of colours. Little flowers managed to grow behind the shelter of a boulder on the scree slope, and little pikas ran out onto patches of grass to stuff their little faces.

After an hour or so at the top, everyone was cold enough to stomach the idea of heading back down. We went into town and had lunch at a brewpub Jul recommended. Other than a really strange painting of Mark Messier and Gary Coleman (?!), everyone was well satisfied and ready for our first afternoon in the mountains.

Arrived in Edmonton

2011-09-02T22:32:00.000+01:00

We had a good long sleep in to shake the last remnants of the jet-lag, but another beautiful day soon dragged us out into the sunshine. We took care of some mundane details - picking up a rented Impala with an amazingly large boot, visited our Canadian bank and renewed our acquaintance with a long deserved trip to the local A&W for Teenburgers and onion rings.

We were invited to Hanneke and Jul's for dinner one evening, enjoyed outside on the patio. The meal, as usual, was fantastic - a nice Italian roast chicken, some moose sausages, Korean beef ribs and the most amazing Puerto Rican spiced chicken wings. As usual, my sister and brother-in-law out-did themselves.

The next day, I had another trip to their place, this time to make bratwurst with Jul, who had recently taken a suasage-making course. We had a few beers, mixed, tasted, altered and stuffed. It was great. And the results were fantastic. The lemon peel and cinnamon really made them sing. We packed up a bunch for his freezer and then another 15 or 20 to take on the family camping trip that was to start on Monday.

We did some shopping at the local malls, stocking up on Canadian goodies, and Fiona went off in search of her much longed for Columbia sandals. Alas and alack, they proved to be unobtainable.

Sunday evening we packed up for an early start on Monday - destination: Jasper.

Greenland

2011-09-02T21:46:00.001+01:00

We were very much looking forward to our trip back to Canada, even though we were never fans of the long trans-Atlantic flight. We've had too many journeys with wailing toddlers kicking the backs of our seats and cramped chairs restricting our ability to maintain any type of comfort. The thrill of air travel is gone for us, which is a bit of a pity considering the magic involved in believing that a slight pressure differential over an air foil can keep a multi-hundred ton piece of metal flying safely through -60C temperatures at 30,000 feet.

But thanks to an Air Canada window seat and clear day over Greenland, a proper sense of awe and wonder has been returned. There were phenomenal sights of massive glaciers snaking and weaving between mountains and breaking up into the sea. Icebergs filled the bays and drifted out into a clear blue sea. As we moved further west, the mountains and glaciers disappeared and it was endless featureless snow as far as the eye could see.

That brief interlude and two and a half movies (Battle L.A. - better than advertised, Sucker Punch - felt kinda skeevy for watching, but enjoyed the Zack Snyder flare, and half of the Lincoln Lawyer - two thumbs up) made the 9 hours fly by. My parents and a brilliant blue sky filled with sunshine met us at the airport in Edmonton. A great start to our return trip.

12th Night

2011-07-22T22:27:00.003+01:00

After an epically rough week at work we started the weekend on a definite high. Fiona had purchased tickets to go see a Shakespeare play, 12th Night, at Drum Castle. I was looking forward to it for a few reasons:

Le pique-nique. Fiona packed a fantastic picnic basket - cheese, meats, a baguette, fruit and profiteroles. A bottle of champagne chilling in a cooler bag. A thermos of hot chocolate for when the sun went down. It was all extremely tasty. I was a little worried about the size of our picnic, but those fears were instantly waylaid when we walked onto the grounds and saw a couple sitting in their fold out chairs eating a full roast chicken dinner, with a bottle of wine to boot.
Location, location, location. We've been to Drum Castle a few times, but have never gone inside. Casey really enjoys walking the grounds. I thought it would be a great location for an outdoor Shakespeare play, and I was right. The castle in the background helps set the mood and transport you to the appropriate era. It was also helped by the troupe putting on the production. It was five people playing all the parts, flipping through costumes faster than you could imagine. Men playing women, women playing men. It just gave you the feeling that you were back in the 16th century and a traveling theatre group happened to pull up at your lord's castle.
Outdoor theatre is always cool. A little bit of double meaning here, because it was positively frigid tonight. There seemed to be no recognition from Ma Nature that it is, in fact, the middle of July. People were huddled under blankets and wearing toques. The hot chocolate was thoroughly enjoyed. But we, nonetheless, have an affinity for outdoor theatre, and weather played a large role in shaping that as well. Just after we got together we went to see Shakespeare in the Park in Edmonton. It was a hot summer evening and it was a larger stage production of King Lear. As they do on a lot of prairie summer evenings, a large thunderstorm was brewing in the background during Act 1. Somewhere in the middle of Act 2, Lear was on stage raging against his horrible daughters and just as he finished a soliloquy calling down thunder and lightning, a huge crack of thunder split the sky. Not just regular rumbling either, but just a single, earth shattering crack, preceded by a magnificent flash, and followed by a low rumbling that went on for a few minutes more. Everyone, the actor playing Lear included, just went silent for a minute and admired the Universe's epic sense of timing. We didn't get quite the same dramatics this time around - just a light Scottish sprinkle, which the actors later said 'they refused to call rain' - but seeing art outside always adds a little something special.

We did have a great time. The troupe, Illyria, were excellent, with the girl playing Sir Toby and Olivia being our favourite. In fact, I would venture to say that Sir Toby was the perfect tonic for a week where work has just seemed to be conspiring to find a way to break me. Mix in some good nibbles, and a good wife to share your blanket with and call it therapy. Bring on the next week!

Summer Sun in Aberdeen

2011-07-09T10:56:00.003+01:00

We've had some glorious weather in Aberdeen the last two weeks. The sun has been high in the sky and we've had temperatures up and over 20C. That's a big deal here.

The best part of all of it is that we've been having these temperatures at convenient times - like weekends - which is not usually the case. There's nothing worse than having to look at sunshine and blue sky all week through the office window and then spend your weekends in the rain.

Last weekend we were enjoying the sun in back garden - reading, napping, gardening - and picked up some slight sunburns. No sight of red skin after weeks in the Canaries and Florence, but an afternoon in Aberdeen and we're looking like lobsters. But, no complaints. That bout of sunshine was timed perfectly for Fiona's 5km charity run. She was running with a group of other ladies and wives from my company and had put in a good amount of training in the weeks leading up to the event. The course was essentially a lap up and down Beach Boulevard and the weather was glorious. In contrast, the year before the ladies ran in a full-on squall, with wind and rain making it much harder. Fiona did an amazing job, finishing the run in good time and raising some much needed cash to boot. I'm intensely proud of her. The event itself was fun as well, with a giant sea of pink taking over the cricket grounds next to Pittodrie stadium. We kept it social by all going out for lunch afterwards, where Fiona taught the rest of the ladies the healing powers of a post-race frozen daquiri.

We had brilliant weather yet again yesterday for the company BBQ. We had to change the date at the last minute for this after we consulted a calendar and found our original date sat smack dab in the middle of Ramadan. As it goes with last minute changes, I was sure that we would end up having rubbish weather on the day, with the original date getting all the sun. But that big ole flaming ball of gas chose to run counter to all the weatherman's predictions and was the star of the day. We couldn't have had it any better. The food was decent, the drinks were cold and everyone enjoyed an afternoon out of the office. We brought a football, boulles and a frisbee, all of which were put to good use. We even got to hit some balls in the driving range - Fiona showing everyone the proper technique of course. And best of all, no one died on the bouncy castle.

Secretly, though, I'm a little glad that it has clouded over today. It's been awful hard to justify going out and sitting in a dark movie theatre to watch giant shapeshifting robots while we were enjoying our best Scottish summer weather.

Vienna - Day 4

2011-06-21T19:35:00.010+01:00

Our last full day in Vienna had a couple of things on the agenda - the Belvedere Palace and its accompanying art museum, the Haus Der Muzik, an interactive music museum and it all capped off by a nice dinner out to celebrate Fiona's birthday.

The streets were extremely quiet on Sunday morning, which allowed us to walk at our own pace and admire the fabulous buildings and scenery. We were awfully impressed with the French embassy and its duelling gold mosaics. Right across the street was a monument to Soviet soldiers who liberated Vienna in WWII. With the fountain and spray it was quite impressive - glad it didn't get pulled down with the wall.

RIght behind the monument was the lower entrance to the Belvedere Palace, but we ignored it and hiked all the way around the outside wall to the upper entrance. The Belevedere Palace was where Prince Eugene of Savoy, the great general, hung his hat. He had pretty good taste, because the place looked spectacular both inside and out.

The art inside the Upper Belvedere was a mixed bag. It had advertised one of the best collection of Schiele, which had us somewhat excited because we had never heard of him before. He was disappointing, perhaps the reason why we hadn't heard his name before. The other major attraction was Gustav Klimt's 'The Kiss'. It was spectacular. The type of painting that you stand in front of and lose track of time. I was never a big fan of it in prints or the millions of other things its been imprinted on, but in person it was really good. We also saw a really nice Monet ('Chef Paul') and found out we really liked Waldmuller, mostly for the happy-go-lucky tone of his subjects compared to those of his contemporaries. Again no pictures, so we can't share our favourites, but we did sneak an illicit one out the back window overlooking the garden, which looked much better from on high than at ground level. They also served a pretty mean chocolate mousse torte in the garden.

We next walked to the Haus der Muzik. We got a little rained on the process, but as with everything in Vienna it wasn't very far so no harm done. The HdM was an eclectic mix of kids museum, science museum and historical music museum. The first floor had a room that was split in three - the first third had an exhibition on the history of the Vienna Philharmonic - old tickets, lists of conductors, typical museum stuff. Next to that was an interactive exhibit where two people could throw dice on a light board and generate their own waltz. Each number on the die corresponded to a bar of music. Each person rolled four times and the resulting melodies combined to make a waltz. It was quite fun, we composed two and danced to the counter to buy the sheet music. The last part of the room was blocked off and made to look like the inside of a theatre. Inside they played orchestra concerts on a big screen. When we were in they were showing last year's big outdoor concert at Schonbrunn. It looked like the type of event to put on the calendar. The second floor took and interactive scientific approach. The first room played sounds as you would hear them in the womb. Each of the other rooms had interactive screens that taught about umpteen different facets of sound and music. It was all very interesting. The next floor had several different rooms that concentrated on different ways to combine sounds into music. They had entire walls where you could stick your head into crevices to hear different sounds - from Times Square at night to interstellar static. At the end they had constructed a multitude of stations where you could create sounds by gestures, or punches or with your own voice. The last floor was split into five different rooms, each detailing the life, history and musical impact of 5 great composers. The true highlight, though, was an exhibit where you could pick up the conductor's baton in front of a big screen with a recording of the Vienna Philharmonic. You could choose your song and then had to keep time with the baton, the musicians on the screen playing slower or faster according to your movements. The people ahead of us were hopeless, being stopped halfway through their music with snide recorded comments from the band like "If you want us to play The Blue Danube, why do you conduct 'La Cucaracha'" and "I've been in the Vienna Philharmonic for 37 years and this is the first time I have cried while playing". We thought it was impossible. But the birthday girl rocked it. She conducted the orchestra like a natural, getting all the way through Eine Klein Nachtmuzik. Everyone waiting for their turn gave her a standing ovation. We had a really great time and would recommend it to anyone.

A short, sharp rainshower forced us into a most shameful lunch - damn you, McDonald's for being the only close and convenient place. We quickly regained our Austrian street cred, however, by stopping for torte, coffee and beer at a nearby cafe once the storm had cleared.

We gave ourselves plenty of time at the hotel to get ready for dinner. The concierge had booked us in at Do & Co, a swanky place on the 7th floor of a building overlooking the main cathedral. So we got all dolled up and took a taxi. The driver tried in his best English to convince me I should have worn a jacket, but we were sure we had already seen all the rain we were going to get. When we arrived at the restaurant we realised that it was going to be what we had hoped. The view was amazing. I sat with my back to the window, achieving the dual purpose of letting the birthday girl get the view and not aggravating my fear of heights. The food was great - my nice beef carpaccio starter was easily outshone by Fiona's tempura shrimp in chilli sauce, and our duelling Austrian mains, a Wiener Schnitzel the size of her head for Fiona and Franz Josef's favourite Tafelspitz for me, were both terrific and dessert went down so fast I'm not sure I even remember what it was. But the company was even better. The birthday girl looked absolutely radiant and I felt like the luckiest guy in the room. Except for maybe the small dog who came in with the couple beside us. He had quite the smile on when the waitress brought him some water. Yes. A dog in a high end restaurant. Nobody batted an eye.

We ended the night in the bar one floor down having a Drambuie and a Cosmopolitan - you can guess which belonged to whom. Sufficiently fortified we walked all the way back to the hotel, enjoying the cool night air. We resigned ourselves to only do a little blogging and card writing the next morning, to facilitate a nice lie-in ahead of our trip back. I think we left some things undone in Vienna, which leaves us good reason to come back. There was a lot we liked - the food, the architecture, the extremely friendly locals and all just two short 1.5 hour flights away.

This does mean that our next trip now won't be until August, when we finally return to Canada. We are really, really looking forward to it, so hopefully the work-filled days in between fly by and before we know it we're flying again.

Vienna - Day 3

2011-06-19T17:19:00.017+01:00

After feeling some pressure to knock more and more of the multitude of Vienna's sights off the list, it felt strange to be approaching this day with only two items on the to-do list. I guess that had mostly to do with the magnitude of those sights - the Schonbrunn Palace and the Vienna Opera House.

First was Schloss Schonbrunn, another one of the Habsburg's Palaces. You know how it goes, when you get tired of knocking around the 1000+ rooms of the Hofburg, or you just can't stand anymore gold brocade you need another small 1000+ room palace to retreat to.

In order to keep some of our energy for walking the immense grounds we decided to take the subway. We got a quick tour of the Naschmarkt on the way there. The Naschmarkt is one of Vienna's outdoor markets, specialising in food, spices and produce. It was incredible how many different types of olives you can have shoved in your direction over a mere 200 meters. And they were stuffed with any and every substance known to man. The flea market set up at the end was similar. We had trouble thinking of items that we didn't see. It was this huge semi-organized jumble of people's old junk.

The subway was as efficient and easy as you expect it should be in Austria and we were soon at the Palace. We bought some tickets to tour the inside of the palace, but since it's usually quite busy you are assigned a specific start and end time during which you can tour. We had about an hour before our timeslot so we started touring the gardens. We began in the Crown Prince's garden which was a small side garden, nicely laid out in two sections - one sort of flower & hedge design and a second part that had a whole bunch of citrus trees around an ancient yew tree. The different types of limes, oranges and lemons were all gnarly and ancient looking.

We spent a little bit of time looking over the massive back gardens, all the way to the Neptune Fountain and the Gloriette at the top of the hill. It was truly mind-blowing and absolutely stunning.

Our tour of the house was fun and initiated a lot of comparisons to the Hofburg and Versailles. The styles were very similar, with lots of gold - probably too much gold. The most striking rooms were small antechambers built to hold Marie-Theresa's Chinese pottery collections. They were these small oval rooms with beautiful inlaid designs on the floor and dozens of small shelves holding the vases.

Post-tour we hit the Palace restaurant for some sausage and sauerkraut. The patio was populated with fat, sassy little sparrows that dove in and out between the tables. There was an old man a few seats down who was kindly sharing his cream torte with them. It was quite cute to see them hop up and take a few bites while the old man attacked the torte from the other side with knife and fork.

Suitably fuelled we spent some more time walking in the gardens, touring the tree-lined lanes to see statues and fountains. We really liked the faux Roman ruins, specially designed in the 1700's to look like authentic ruins, then left in disrepair for so long that they started to more and more resemble their inspiration.

After spending a suitable amount of time gawping at the Neptune Fountain and getting some nice shots of the gardens, we hiked up the hill to the Gloriette, a small building at the top which you could climb to get an even better view.

We left Schonbrunn tired but happy, having seen another one of Vienna's must-see attractions.

We went back to the hotel to pretty up for our night at the Opera House. We were quite excited. Even though we had seen Giselle before, it had been with a touring company and we were expecting a much higher level. Plus, the venue itself was a thing to behold. Although it was absolutely enormous on the outside and the seating ran up for 5 stories, it felt small and intimate, a perfect place for a good ballet. It felt grand to be part of the smartly dressed masses making our way into the theatre.

The ballet itself was superb. Although we were both impressed with the two leads, but even more impressed with the two secondary leads. The sets were magnificent and staging was great. The orchestra brought it all together. All-in-all a fabulous night, even if we had to run through the rain to catch a taxi back to the hotel. If you're ever in Vienna, find a reason to see something at the StatsOper.

Vienna - Day 2

2011-06-17T21:59:00.015+01:00

After our lie-in we went downstairs to partake of the complimentary hotel breakfast. We've gotten used to disregarding hotel breakfasts due to their lack of originality and insanely high prices, but we went for this one as it was reputed to be one of the best in Vienna. Well done to the Hotel Kaiserhof! The breakfast was a nice mix of bread, pastries, fruit, cold cuts, cheese and warm items. We were well fortified for our day by the time we left.

Our first stop was Stephansdom, or St. Stephen's Cathedral, which sits on a large plaza from which several good shopping streets radiate. We thoroughly enjoyed our walk over because the architecture here is very impressive. Each building is unique and the mix of modern and older styles is very visually appealing. Each building, no matter its style, also has extra adornments like painted walls, window boxes, gargoyles or statues. As you walk down a main street you peek down the side streets and see all these unique buildings and usually some type of grand building or monument at the end. It's really quite cool.

St. Stephen's was under serious reconstruction, so we didn't get to see all of it, although the scaffolding was covered in tarps that showed what the restored wall underneath would look like. Fortunately we could still see the roof which is made up of patterned tiles and was quite pretty. Inside it was not too different from most of the the other major cathedrals we have visited, with one major exception - the addition of colour. They had covered the large windows with long strips of brilliantly coloured plastic which had the effect of throwing purples, greens and oranges all over the church. It was otherworldly and I quite liked it. We didn't have the guts to head up either of the two towers as although it wasn't as hot as in Florence, it was very humid.

We went down one of the major shopping streets towards the Hofburg. It was a really nice atmosphere. Touristy, but still authentic, with beautiful buildings and enough, but not too many, people. Fiona bought a pair of shoes at a Salamander shop.

The Hofburg was the Imperial Residence of the Habsburgs, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is a massive complex of buildings with what seems like a dozen or so museums and tourist attractions. Things we didn't go see - the Lippizaner Stallions and the horse riding school, the imperial treasury and the papyrus museum. After taking a few snapshots of the statues outside and the horses waiting for people to fill their carriages, we headed into the first attraction - a three-headed monster that consisted of the Silver Room, the Sisi Museum and the Royal Apartments.

The Silver Room was an assembly of all the Habsburg's silver and porcelain and it was about as interesting as room after room of gold plates and silver knives can be. Don't get me wrong, there were definitely more than a few items that were well worth gawping at, but we weren't stopping to read every description or listen to every anecdote about table settings on the audio guide. Some items we did like - a few very fine silver bottle hangers so that everyone could know what was in an opened bottle or jug, and the interesting nugget that some of the items in the museum are still used at Austrian state functions.

The next phase was the Sisi Museum, dedicated the Empress Elizabeth, known to everyone as Sisi and, apparently, for reasons we have yet to discover, beloved by all. She married Franz-Josef and was Empress for quite some time, but never really liked the gig. Most of her quotes were of the "woe is me, I have to put up with this terrible life of opulence" variety, which doesn't garner much sympathy in my book. Her husband sounded like a pretty decent guy, one of the first absolute monarchs to take on the role of a public servant. Apparently he worked 16 hours a day, taking audiences with the public and meeting with ministers. I'll need to find a book to do some more reading on both him and the rest of his Habsburg clan.

The last stop were the Royal Apartments which were similar in taste and style to those we saw in Versailles. By this time we were developing an appetite, so we breezed through a little quicker than we probably should have. I guess knowing that we were going to visit Schonbrunn Palace, the secondary palace of the Habsburgs, the next day meant we could afford to skip through some of the boring bits.

We did some wandering around the Hofburg, taking in the scenes and the statues - the one of Prince Eugene of Savoy was particularly impressive - before finding a nice cafe for lunch. The actual lunch was nothing special, but the dessert was a delicious torte. The hardest part was definitely choosing just one from the fine menu of several dozen.

Suitably refreshed we walked all the way around the massive complex (we hadn't planned it too well) to see the Great Hall in the library. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. The library is awe-inspiring, and not just for the thousands of extremely old volumes. The decor was suited to a six century imperial dynasty - which is to say that it was the exact opposite of understated. But it was still cool - there were secret rooms hidden behind book cases and grand spiral staircases to get to the higher shelves and the second floor. There was also an ongoing exhibit talking about all the cultures and nation-states that were part of the Empire. It was a miracle it all hung together as long as it did.

Our final stop for the day was the Kunst Historisch Museum, which is essentially an art history museum. It sits right next to the Natural History Museum, which is built as a mirror image to echo the whole art versus science debate. The guide book listed it as a must see, and it did not disappoint. The first exhibit is the building itself which is all marble and probably more opulent than it is good for one building to be. Even having visited the Louvre and the Uffizi, I felt like a country bumpkin, walking around with my mouth agape.

The museum itself is split into two sections, one of paintings and another of ancient statuary and Egyptian artifacts. We started with the paintings. The rooms were nicely separated by different schools of art and the collections were very impressive. We saw some very nice Raphaels, a room full of Caravaggios, another room full of Ruebens, and everyone's favorite portrait artist - Holbein. There was a special exhibit of Jan Fabre's work hanging throughout all the rooms, which we initially dismissed. But when we went in for a closer look and found out his large, blue curtains were actually silk covered in (wait for it ...) ball point pen that we found an ounce of respect for his madness.

We only had an hour left when we came to the Egyptian and Greek exhibit. The assembled sarcophagi were astonishing in their condition and extravagance. The rooms holding the old Greek and Roman statues were also magnificent, with beautiful bas-relief mouldings and ancient mosaic floors rescued from old villas.

We thoroughly enjoyed this museum and agree it is a must-see for any art lover visiting Vienna. We're deciding on exactly where it ranks in our world top 5, but it is definitely up their with the Louvre. Given the quality of the art, the layout and the lack of Louvre-sized crowds, I would say that right now it probably has the edge.

We left the museum and walked back through the very sunny streets of Vienna towards the hotel. At one point a large procession of cyclists passed by, all in varying states of undress and unruly-ness. It was a little weird. It being only 6pm we found a wine bar to pass an hour or so before settling down to a nice dinner at a Vietnamese noodle house. The schnitzel will have to wait for another day.

Vienna

2011-06-17T21:03:00.004+01:00

After a bit of running around and stress we had a very relaxing and enjoyable trip into Vienna. We needed to drop off Casey at the kennel in the morning for our flight and even though I drive through some of the worst traffic known to mankind every morning at about the same time, we neglected to factor it in to our timing. We came to a full standstill on the way to the kennel and saw our ample time allocation work itself down to a mere 45 minutes. Nevertheless, we managed to drop off our bags and get on the plane in good order.

We love taking the KLM flight to Schiphol. It's always nice and roomy on the plane and the hour and half passes by so quickly. Soon we were wandering the halls of the worlds largest airport/shopping mall looking for a way to burn a few hours. We found a really great little bar/restaurant and had a few croquettes and fries with mayonnaise. We also bought some Dutch language comic books which Fiona read to me and translated. Our flight to Vienna was a carbon copy of our first flight - an hour and half in a roomy plane with beautiful views, this time of the of the Austrian countryside as we came in to land.

We took a quick taxi into the Innere Stadt and settled into our hotel quite nicely. Other than the fact that we got two single beds pushed together instead of a king-size, we have absolutely no complaints. The AC works well and the neighbours are quiet.

We asked the hotel concierge for a late dinner recommendation and she pointed us to a place a few blocks down. It was a beautiful night in Vienna, not too warm, and quiet. As we walked down the street we would be hit with intermittent blasts of amazing aromas coming from the blooming trees. We're still not sure what they were.

We got a seat outside at the restaurant, sitting down for dinner at a respectable European 9pm. The concierge gained our total confidence as the recommendation turned out to be a hit. We had a great Austrian red wine - a blaufrankische. Fiona had a great shrimp starter with a wasabi sauce and a deadly hot chili-mango relish. She kept complaining about the burn but in the end there was nothing left on her plate. She had a nice veal steak with scallops for a main while I was challenged with a hefty portion of prosciutto wrapped pork. Needless to say, we skipped dessert.

When we got back to the hotel we pretty much fell into bed. When the alarm went off at 8am the next morning, we pointedly ignored it. Vienna has so many things to see that you can get quite stressed thinking you might miss one thing or the other. So it makes sense to start with a relaxed attitude, exemplified by a good sleep-in. I hope Vienna is ready for us!

Backyard Sunshine

2011-06-12T17:03:00.003+01:00

We're spending the afternoon out in the garden, puttering around and enjoying a beautiful Sunday. THe sky is blue, the weather is pleasant and our garden is growing, blooming and producing. We went out to a ceilidh last night put on by some Canadian ex-pat friends who are returning to the mothership. We danced a few Gay Gordons and had a really good time, so it feels extra good to be resting our dancing feet this afternoon.

We put together a little video tour of our garden, for those who might be interested.

Florence - Day 4

2011-06-02T20:41:00.014+01:00

Our last full day in Florence dawned as all the other had, with full and glorious sunshine. We were well and truly blessed when it came to the weather on this trip.

We had now seen most of the major tourist attractions and the problem was that the remaining ones, like the Pitti Palace or the Palazzo Vecchio, would likely be closed, as most museums and palazzos close on Mondays. So we settled on a nice relaxing afternoon in the Boboli Gardens, situated just behind the Pitti Palace. It promised large landscaped areas with tree-lined walks, impressive fountains and possibly one more gelato in the sun.

When we reached the gates, however, we saw that it too was closed. This time under some obscure tradition where it closes the first and last Monday of the month. So we trekked on, deciding to make for San Miniato, a church up on a hill on the outskirts of Florence that is known to have terrific views of the city. After a half-hour of frustration, though, we had to admit we were lost. Lucky for us we happened upon some Germans who seemed to have the same problem. We chatted with them for a while and then realised that between us we had the solution: they had a map and we had Fiona's extraordinary map reading and orienteering skills. So we eventually found the right way and parted ways with our fellow lost souls. As seems to happen when we get lost trying to find something in particular, we stumbled across some other hidden gems - perfect Tuscan views looking down onto the city over olive groves and old terracotta roofs.

It was hot this day, so we were glad when we eventually made it to San Miniato. We were even more relieved when it proved to be absolutely worth the effort. The view over the city was amazing. The church itself was also quite nice, with a golden mosaic over the altar and wonderful carvings and marble inlays elsewhere.

We went across the street for lunch and sat on the cafe patio, which also had an amazing view. We sat and stared while the typically 'relaxed' Italian service took its time getting our orders. We can't count how many tables (mostly of North Americans) we saw, here and elsewhere, that sat down and ended up leaving before getting their drinks or food because they thought the service was too slow. We realized quite quickly that if you were in any sort of rush, don't bother sitting down, just get some street food. If it really bothers you that a full half hour will elapse between the time you sit down and the waiter brings your drink, Italy is not for you. With a view like we had at this particular cafe, why would anyone begrudge a few more minutes?

With our plans for the day in disarray, we improvised. We wanted to be back at San Miniato for sunset, so we could get some good shots for our faithful blog readers, but what to do with the 6 hours in between? We walked down through the Piazzale Michelangelo, which had more stunning views plus an outdoor version of David, and then back down the hill to find the small piazza with the Bartolini sculptures we read about the day before. We eventually found Piazza Demidoff, where the Bartolini had been erected to commemorate a city magnate from the 1800's. Although it had seen its share of weather, it was still very impressive. The green space that surrounded it was so inviting that we decided to stay a while, staking a claim to one of the park benches. Fiona, the good wife that she is, let me use her lap as a pillow for a very satisfying mid-afternoon nap - very much a la 'Notting Hill' with the gender roles reversed.

Suitably energized, we stopped at a small store to pick up some items for dinner and headed back up the hill. We made it back to San Miniato just as the monks were beginning their vespers, all done in Gregorian chant, so we stuck around for a half hour and bathed in the serenity. It was one of the most relaxing experiences.

We then went back to our little cafe with the view to have another birra e vino. By the time we finished, the sun was going down and we headed back to the Piazzele Michelangelo to stake out a good spot. Fiona had been reading up on shooting sunsets and she took a great many excellent shots. The last of the sunlight was still fading away as we power-walked back to the hotel, where we took a small bottle of champagne up to the rooftop patio. We looked at all the pictures we took and remembered all the places we had gone and food we had eaten. We hit the bed exhausted.

The next day we packed up our belongings, noting that there seemed to be significantly more than what we came with. We had a late afternoon flight so we managed to squeak in a tour of the church across the piazza from our hotel, Santa Maria Novella, acquire some excellent Tuscan balsamic vinegar and even pick out a nice stone mosaic, just small enough to still squeeze into the suitcase.

The cab ride back to the airport was an adventure. Because the rate is set from downtown hotels to the airport, it is in the cabbie's interest to get you there as soon as possible. We initially marvelled at the skill of our driver as he ducked and weaved around, through and out of traffic. We got a little more worried however when we came within inches from being sideswiped by an enormous tour bus. Our driver wasn't even phased.

Our return flights were uneventful. As we spiralled in towards Aberdeen airport, the sun was illuminating the green fields all the way from the seaside to the mountains. It was such a spectacular view and reminded us of the special beauty our 'home' has. Even after a vacation such as the one we just had, with very little negative to say about anything, it still felt nice to be back home.

Florence Day 3

2011-06-02T20:20:00.007+01:00

We started day 3 in Florence with a good long sleep in. It was quite necessary after all the running around of the day before. Our efforts to make the most of the very comfortable bed were interrupted by a loudspeaker in the square outside our window. Apparently there was a fun run going on and our square was the meeting point and finish line. The guy on the microphone had the job of pumping everyone up before their run, so he was going at it with much enthusiasm and at a high volume.

We eventually got up and started to wander down towards the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge across the Arno. We had no real plan for the day, except that we had to be at the Galleria dell'Academia by 2pm. The Ponte Vecchio was, as expected for all the major Florentine tourist attractions, quite busy, but that felt just right given the large amount of shops built up onto and over the sides of the bridge. Traditionally, and still, they have always been jewellery shops. We spent some time window shopping and eventually settled on a nice white gold pendant for Fiona in the shape of Florence's fleur-de-lis symbol.

We walked a little further down the bridge toward the Pitti Palace on the other side of the river. There we came across a shop selling another of Florence's traditional wares - painted ceramics. The dishes, plates, mugs and platters were all beautiful. We picked one out to hang on our wall and headed back towards the hotel to drop it off. On our way back we passed the Mercato Nuovo, a covered market that contains a statue of a boar. It is said that if you rub the nose of the boar and drop a coin in his fountain, you will be guaranteed to return to Florence one day. We ignored the pig and dropped some coin in the hands of one of the market's merchants, who happened to be selling the last remaining traditional Florentine commodity - leather. Our leather came in the form of a beautiful purple handbag for Fiona. Knowing her passion for handbags, I was well proud that she had managed to pass by so many other stalls, intent on getting the one she wanted, and haggling the merchant down 15 euros to boot!

After dropping the results of our retail therapy at the hotel we had to put on a brisk pace to get to the Galleria in time. When we arrived we found that there was absolutely no line, meaning our reserved tickets bought us nothing extra - but better safe than sorry. We breezed through the first couple of rooms, taking in a few Michelangelo's amongst the other mostly religious paintings. We took a detour into a room for medieval and renaissance instruments that was really cool. They had displays of many different and elaborate instruments and then a series of computers set up where you could hear them played. We particularly enjoyed the 'serpent' and the 'trumpet-marine', which sounds exactly like a group of trumpets but is actually a stringed instrument.

Further on in the museum were a series of unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo, showing arms and torsos emerging from large blocks of marble. It was unclear whether his intent was to leave them unfinished or if he had been called away to do something else, but it was neat to see how they seemed to develop from a shapeless mass. Standing at the end of the hall, in a perfect dome of light, was the main attraction - Michelangelo's David. Unlike the Venus de Milo, which we saw at the Louvre, there was no let down. It is truly and utterly breathtaking. We spent quite some time walking around and taking in all the angles. Every minute detail is perfect, including veins on the arms. A must-see for anyone in coming to Florence.

The next room was a particular highlight for us because it was the workroom of Lorenzo Bartolini. While it had very few finished marble sculptures, it had plaster casts of many of his great works, some of which we had seen and others which were new. There were also easily a hundred busts. If you haven't seen any of Bartolini's work, you have to go find some, he is a true genius. The way he depicts draped fabrics and faces is absolutely unreal. We saw some plaster casts that had more information on where the actual marbles were, and we found out that a nice series were in one of the smaller piazzas in Florence. We put it on the agenda for the next day. We also saw that one of our new favourites, a statue of two young ladies as dancers, was actually in Inverary Castle in Scotland, near Glasgow. Now we just have to find some way of convincing the Duke of Argyll to let us in to have a peak!

We left the museum and made our way back to the main square near the Duomo. We found a good patio spot for people watching and ordered some drinks. Fiona had a French mojito, which is like a regular mojito but substitutes champagne for the soda and adds fresh strawberries and strawberry pulp. She quite enjoyed them. It was nice to be able to while away the afternoon enjoying the sunshine, superb views and providing the odd commentary on the state of some tourists dress.

Post-patio we did a quick change and found another patio for dinner - another bottle of the fabulous Brunello and pizza. We had started with an Italian cheese plate that was really good as well. For us it rare to finish all of a cheese plate - there's usually a strange tasting blue or a really runny, mouldy tasting brie that gets left on the plate. On this day all the cheeses were gone.

Sitting on the same patio a few days earlier, looking back at our hotel, we had noticed the tops of some trees sticking out over the top floor. I noted that there was no way there were trees there that high, so there must be some type of rooftop patio. Fiona remembered seeing one on the web, so we went back to our friendly concierge and inquired. She pointed out a route to the patio and we spent the rest of the night up there, watching the sunset, completely alone on top of a hotel filled with hundreds of people. It was magical.

Florence Day 2

2011-06-01T21:47:00.017+01:00

We were up bright and early, and not only because the fabulous Florentine sunshine was already beginning to peek through our curtains. Today we were planning on going to the Uffizi, the large museum which is basically Florence's version of the Louvre. All the guidebooks speak about the endless queues, suggesting a two hour wait should not be unexpected. So Fiona booked ahead, reserving us an 8:30am timeslot to get in. In the end I'm not sure how much time the reservation saved us, as the regular queues were only about half an hour at the time, but it was nice to be able to just walk right in and get the museum-going experience underway.

We were quite excited about the Uffizi because of its emphasis on sculpture and the classic masters of painting. In that sense we were not let down. The museum essentially consists of a series of long corridors, with sculptures lined up at intervals along the wall as well as the occasional painting. All the Roman emperors are represented in bust form, with many larger full form pieces as well. Off the corridor were a myriad of interconnected rooms that held collections of paintings. Unfortunately the Uffizi has a no pictures policy, or we would definitely be showing you all of our favorites. The best would have to be the Botticellis - the Birth of Venus and the less well-known Primavera. I think they vie for trip-wide highlights. There were also several dark and extremely violent Carvaggios that drew the eye. Some of the rooms were closed for restoration - including the map room and hall of miniatures, which would have been extremely cool to see. The museum itself also had exquisitely painted ceiling panels that would have kept you busy all day, had you decided to try and take in all the detail. It also had a great view out over the Arno and looking down at the Ponte Vecchio. After a couple of hours we took a break on the outdoor patio, refreshing ourselves before heading back in for more. All in all I would have to say that there are a lot of things to like about the Uffizi. Unlike the Louvre, you don't get intimidated by the size - it works out to a nice morning of museum-ing and you're not all art-ed out by the time your done (I apologize to the English language for that last sentence).

Our next stop was the Baptistry, a Medici chapel in front of the Duomo. Standing next to the cathedral it looked small, but inside it was still quite substantial. Significant Florentine figures had been baptized here in the past, including the poet Dante. The outside is covered in the same green and white marble as the Duomo, although the three sets of doors are even more elaborate - covered in carved or molded copper showing various religious scenes. Inside the decor is rather sparing, until you look up at the roof, which is covered in a beautiful golden mosaic. It really is staggering in its beauty.

Post-Baptistry we had a quick panini and walked over to the Capelle de Medici, next to San Lorenzo church. When you walk in, the entrance is like a basement warehouse and entirely unimpressive. But when you turn the corner into the actual chapel, your socks are nearly blown clear off. The only comparison I can make is to Napoleon's tomb in Paris. It is an enormous, gorgeous, marble inlaid temple to the vanity of the Medicis, of which all the majors are buried here. The layout and craftsmanship is un-paralleled. Even though half of it was covered in scaffold, it was still well worth the visit. The little Michelangelo designed side-chapel has a couple of gorgeous sculptures and a really cool unfinished nave where his ideas for the final design are still scribbled on the wall. Again - no pictures, which was truly a shame.

We next went down to the Galleria dell'Academia, the home of David. Having had some success with a museum reservation and seeing the extremely long queue, we booked some tickets for the following day (2pm this time!) and grabbed ourselves a quick gelato for the cross-town walk to Santa Croce.

In what seems like a recurring theme with Florentine churches, Santa Croce had an elaborate facade covering a somewhat older, plainer main building. Perhaps they all got a group discount when the marble salesman came to town? Santa Croce's main claim to fame are the myriad of important and famous Italians buried within - Gallileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Enrico Fermi, Machiavelli, Dante and Marconi (inventor of the wireless, not the pasta). We even got to see a beautiful statue commemorating our favorite sculptor - Lorenzo Bartolini. By the time we got through it all we were completely bushed and headed back to our hotel for a nice two-hour mid-day nap.

That evening we got all dressed up and walked across the Arno to a restaurant the hotel recommended for my birthday meal. It was quite a treat. If you chose to eat seafood, you would have to walk into the restaurant (we were seated on the patio), where they had an extensive seafood counter like you would have in any good grocery store. There you would pick out what you wanted to eat and let them know how you wanted it done. Fiona and I were overwhelmed and not feeling very creative so we let our waiter make some suggestions. We ended up having a pasta dish with scampi and langoustines followed by a fabulous grilled Mediterranean lobster. Delish! It was an amazing evening with good wine, good food and great company. I'll remember birthday number 35 for quite some time.

Florence Day 1

2011-05-28T17:56:00.005+01:00

Our first full day in Florence started with a little indecision. What should we go see first? There are so many options here that we were having trouble prioritizing things. In the end we decided on just a couple and allowed ourselves time to wander and discover, which is probably the way Firenze should be done. The small winding roads of the Centro Storico were bathed in sunshine - a high of 30 degrees plus was expected. We thought it would take time to get used to the heat again, but given the setting it felt right.

We decided not to fight the hype and give in to the Duomo right away. We made our way back to the main square and around the cathedral to a small side entrance where we got to pay 6 euros a piece for the privilege of climbing 400 plus narrow, steep stone stairs to the top of the gargantuan dome and up to the cupola on top. There's no getting around how much work the stairs are, but it is absolutely worth it, even before you get all the way to the top. There is a brief respite as you walk along the inside of the dome taking in the magnificent fresco. How they managed to get it all done so high up so long ago, and do it with perfect perspective is beyond me. I started getting the heebie-jeebies as we walked along the narrow stone ledge several hundred feet above the cathedral floor. A few more stairs, including some extremely steep ones at the top part of the dome, and we popped back out into the fresh air at the very top of the cupola. The view was astounding, the entire city spread out below and perfect Tuscan scenes of rolling hills and terracotta roofs stretching to the horizon. We started down not looking forward to more stairs, but going down was significantly easier.

Afterwards, with feet back firmly on the ground, we queued for a few minutes to get into the cathedral itself. Everything you marvel at about the outside, is doubled and tripled inside the building. The marble designs on the floor are amazing. I think it was the top attraction, even over the large paintings, stained glass and wall clock.

We thought about tacking on the Baptistry, but it had yet to open, so we wandered over to the Piazza della Republica for a quick lunch. Although Fiona's undercooked shrimp left something to be desired, the post lunch giant gelato made up for it.

Post-gelato we went to the Piazza del Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, which has several large sculptures in the courtyard, including a copy of the famous David, a beautiful bronze of Perseus slaying Medusa and another copy, this of the slightly less famous Rape of the Sabine Women. It definitely got our sculpture antennae buzzing - this seems to be the perfect city to indulge our new found passion.

We jumped right in to one of the finest collection of sculptures at the Museo Bargello. Besides the many fine main items - we especially liked Giambologna's stuff, including his Portrait of a Lady - we also spent much time marvelling at the carved ivory. There were intricately carved panels with such small details that you wonder how it was all put together. Another favorite was a chess board built with ivory inlay and with a backgammon board on the back. The craftsmanship was amazing. Unfortunately, we are finding that many of the museums here have a very strict 'no pictures' policy. While we always have the museum guide from the gift shop, it means our loyal blog followers will just have to come all the way to Florence to see what we're raving about.

We made our way slowly back to the hotel doing some window shopping as well as some of the more expensive kind. We purchased some great purple golf shirts with Florence's fleur-de-lis emblem at a Fiorentina store, enjoyed a paper making demonstration at an artisan shop and thoroughly enjoyed the sunny afternoon.

We got back to our hotel for a quick clean up and in time for the very helpful concierge to make us a dinner reservation at a local restaurant called Buca Mario. Before dinner we went out onto the piazza to the wine bar in front of the hotel and spent a wonderful couple of hours discovering two new favourites - a totally rich, delicious, devilishly-good red wine called Brunello di Montalcino (we spent way too much on a bottle of the 1999, but if you find any Brunello in even years - 02, 04 or 06 - you should be right as rain) and manna from heaven in the form of pizzetta, small strips of thin focaccia, covered with herbs, olive oil, garlic and a little bit of tomato sauce. Combine it all with a pleasant seat on a sunshiny piazza and you have the Tuscan heaven you come to Firenze to find.

Buca Mario was a hit as well, later that night. Highlights included the rigatoni primo platti, the veal and aspargus, and, of course, the tiramisu. We ended up chatting most of the evening with a really nice couple from North Carolina, as it seems the restaurant seated all English speaking people together in one corner of the establishment. The streets were just as inviting in the moonlight afterwards as they were in the sunshine before and we did a few turns in the piazza to walk off the dinner before turning in for the night - exhausted but well pleased with our first full day in Florence. If the rest are like this, it's going to be a trip to remember.

Abbastanza Bene!

2011-05-26T20:53:00.004+01:00

At some point earlier this week it looked as if the world was conspiring to keep us from having a good time on our vacation in Florence - wind storms and volcanic ash clouds shutting down Scottish airports, calls for 4 days of thunderstorms during our stay, a potential bag-losing one hour transfer in Paris and an almost complete blanking of all the Italian we learnt over the past few months.

But the gods were smiling on us today and now we're tucked into our hotel room on the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, having enjoyed a good trip, a brief walk around the city and nice dinner out on the piazza. The weather is great - 30C with blue skies, sun and a cooling breeze, sort of what we hoped we would have had on our trip to the Canaries a couple of months ago.

We took a quick taxi from Amerigo Vespucci airport to our hotel. Our room has a view over the piazza and on to the church, which has this amazing white and green marble facade bolted on to the front of what is clearly a much older and more run down structure.

We also walked a few piazzas further to see the Duomo. It took us some time to pick our jaws up off the floor. It is absolutely immense. On top of that is is covered in red and green and white marble, statues and relief carvings. THe dome is enormous. I'm really looking forward to going back and taking a look at the inside as well.

We walked back to the piazza in front of our hotel and had dinner outside at one of the restaurants. We shared a plate of prosciutto e melone. The prosciutto was easily the best I've ever eaten, and the melon was deliciously sweet. Fiona had some spaghetti carbonara and I had some mushroom risotto. We finished off with a large gelato cioccolato. Fabulous.

Ignoring the commotion coming from the next piazza, where 'Jersey Shore' is filming, we're now back at the hotel, preparing for a good night's sleep ahead of what will surely be a fantastic day of sightseeing tomorrow.

Before I sign off, just a 'Happy Birthday' to my Dad, who gave me the deep appreciation for history, culture and politics that will make this trip such a good one. Thanks, Dad. Wish we could be touring these grand old churches together.

It looks like our internet connection is some type of Renaissance affair - perhaps a combination of mice and pigeons passing on paper messages. It doesn't look like we will succeed in posting any pictures while we are here. Keep an eye on these spaces, we'll likely do some posts and then add the pictures when we get back to Scotland.

More of Istanbul

2011-05-25T22:16:00.009+01:00

Here are some more pictures of my trip to Istanbul. Sorry ran out of time to write more...

Istanbul

2011-05-24T21:17:00.013+01:00

Well I was off again on another adventure, with some ladies from the AWA here in Aberdeen. I have been on a couple of these trips and felt like a seasoned veteran. We headed off to Istanbul on Wednesday and arrived in the wee hours of the morning at our hotel. We were up early the next day for our group tour of some of the major sights. Our guide, Abdullah, came to pick us up and loaded us into the bus for a trip around the old city walls. These walls were impressive, he told us that when they were built they weren't just one wall but a series of walls and moats all to keep people out. The walls seemed to stretch on forever, I couldn't help but wonder how huge a feat it was to build them that long ago. Our next stop was the Hippodrome or what is now called the Sultan Ahmet Square located just in front of the Blue Mosque. The square holds a few adornments in the form of obelisks brought by the rulers of Constantinople. For example, the obelisk of Thutmose III was erected in 390 AD. There is very little remaining that hints of the former days of sport and chariot racing that once occurred there.

Next we headed through the gates to the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque is an impressive building, with it's six minarets reaching toward the sky. There are several rules when you enter the mosque, no shoes, women must cover their upper arms but the rule about covering your head was not enforced. The mosque was very different from other religious buildings I have been in, there was no furniture, only wall-to-wall carpet, low hanging lights, beautiful tiled walls and ceilings and some wonderful stained glass windows. The name - "blue mosque" is not the official name of the mosque but it is known by that name due to the blue tiles inside.

We then walked from the mosque towards the Aya Sofya. We weren't due to go inside the building so we passed it by and went to the Basilica Cistern. This cistern was built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian I. It was really cool to see how they used this cistern to filter their water for the Palaces of Constantinople.

As we stepped out of the cistern, we were pleasantly surprised to see that we had missed a rainstorm. We walked on, to the Topkapi Palace. Again we weren't meant to go into the palace so we strolled through the gardens as Abdullah told us more about the palace itself. It made us mark it on our list of places to visit while we were there.

As all good tours go (well at least in the mind of the women) our tour ended at the Grand Bazaar, we bade farewell to Abdullah and started shopping. The shopping in the bazaar is an experience. The tradesmen are great sales people and make you laugh and catch your attention with their comments and questions. There are some very beautiful handmade things for sale here and we spent most of the afternoon strolling through the massive bazaar. Stopping every once and a while for a fresh orange juice or some hummus. We had a great time!

Back to the hotel to meet up for some food and share our shopping stories and early to bed so we could have a good night sleep and be rested for another day of sightseeing.