Fetchez la vache!

Our time in the Trossachs has been enjoyable - we've been blessed with some good, if not variable, weather and have been able to get to see quite a bit. We drove around the lochs yesterday scouting locations and things to see and do on future trips. The West Highland Way runs along the east side of the loch, so there were lots of campsites. We're thinking about coming back with Casey sometime and doing some camping, perhaps making our way up a mountain or two.

Not to say that all was sunshine and lollipops on our trip. We were haunted by a Wee Demon for several hours on Saturday morning. We struggled and gave it our best but I'm afraid it had us completely beat. The Wee Demon is the name of the nine hole golf course attached to our hotel. We struggled mightily against the up and down layout and thin fairways, but we hit just enough good shots to keep us playing. Fiona parred the final hole with a gorgeous drive onto the green. As in many other things, it's not how you start, it's how you finish....

We took the scenic route home, past several small towns and lochs that had us working on pinning down the exact date of our return. Each loch we passed resulted in us changing our plans to include one more view, one more hike or a different hotel. The Trossachs surely live up to their reputation as the most scenic part of Scotland.

We passed through the small town of Doune at about noon today, and as we had no set plan or itinerary we played a hunch and turned in at Doune castle. We've been doing much more of this lately - moving away from days planned out to the hour and just going into an area with open schedule and going with what looks interesting at the time. It paid off big time today. Doune castle was awesome. Especially for people with our comic and historical tastes.

Doune was built by the Duke of Albany, who was an important man early in the Stuart dynasty. It's in magnificent shape and situated in a scenic river valley. But it's the castle, and not its past inhabitants, that is the true star. Movie star, that is.

Doune Castle was used by Monty Python in "The Holy Grail". They play it up to the hilt, with Terry Jones narrating the audio tour, which points out where they wheeled in the Trojan Rabbit, where the insulting Frenchman laid into the filthy, English knig-hets ("your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries"), where the king had a hard time convincing the sentries who to let in and out, where Lancelot saved Galahad from the maidens and where he later laid waste to an entire wedding party. All this pop culture was mixed with wonderful historical anecdotes, beautiful natural surroundings and decorations & bagpipe music for a forthcoming wedding in the great hall. Not sure where it stands exactly on the top ten list, but it is definitely one of our favorite castles.

Catching up in the Trossachs

With our latest visitors having completed what turned out to be a tortuous return trip home, we bucked down and started trying to tick off some of the major items on "to do" list.

1. Find a new place to live.

We have been to see a few properties. Some good, some bad. Our leading candidate was a detached house just a few blocks from where we are now, but someone (actually the latest addition to my staff at work) managed to grab that before we had a chance to view it. We're trying to stick to our list of musts - a garden, a master ensuite, parking, etc ... but it is hard. Fiona's leg work has us leaning towards a rather large place (5 bedroom) in the West End. It's way too much house for us - we'd probably never go up to the third floor - but it has a brand new kitchen, which is a perk that you seldom see. We need to wrap up this whole process sometime soon - we're aiming for the end of next week.

2. Driver's licenses

We're allowed to use our American licenses for one year here in the UK before having to switch over. As time seems to have raced by, we're fast approaching the deadline. We are a little luckier than your average couple coming from the US in that anyone who passed a driver's test in Canada can simply trade their license for a UK one. No trades with the American license. The problem is that we traded our Canadian licenses for American ones when we lived in Houston. My mother had to run around the registry agents in Edmonton to cobble together some suitable documentation - thanks again Mom, you're a lifesaver. With that taken care of the only other problem was finding someone who had known us in the UK for at least two years to sign our photos - which, if you really think about it, is a difficult problem to solve. We decided to drive to Glasgow which has one of the few registration offices that will do an identity check and not require you to give up your passport for 6 weeks.

We left early Friday morning and drove through the heart of Scotland. We passed some beautiful scenery - Stirling Castle sitting above Perth, a golf tournament at Gleneagles being filmed for TV, the Erskine Bridge crossing the Firth of Clyde and a most impressive cloudbank sitting just off shore. Glasgow itself did not make a good first impression. Road works coming into the city for miles, old factories and historic buidlings sullied with soot. Once into town, though, our impressions changed quite a bit. There is an abundance of fantastic architecture and it looks like there is plenty of good shopping as well.

We headed straight for the registry where we were ushered through by one of the UK's top bureaucrats. The whole system was quite efficient and impressive. In three weeks we should be able to cross this worry completely off our list ... and replace it with the fact that we now have to trade in our Renault for a car with automatic transmission. Oh well, one thing at a time.

Before moving on from Glasgow we found a nice place for lunch. I don't know if this is a chain or just a local place, but if you ever see one we highly recommend it. The name may have had something to do with it. I only have good things to say about Fifi's ....

3. Relax

Fiona had been thoughtful enough to book us a little holiday that took advantage of a drive we had to take anyway. The Trossachs are a series of large interconnected lochs near Glasgow that are part of a National Park. This has been described by many as the most scenic part of Scotland, which, if you have been following the blog, is saying quite a bit. The lochs are ringed with mountains, hills and forests of oak that go a long way towards fulfilling the promise. We're at a hotel on Loch Lomond, the largest of the lochs. Cameron House is our kind of place, where all the details are taken care of, including heaters behind the mirrors in the bathroom so they don't fog up, high speed internet, a nine hole golf course and a fantastic view. We did some wandering and driving around the area and found some nice shots for the blog. We didn't get all the way around Rob Roy's cave, it's on the other side of the loch and a quite a hike from the nearest road. We did find and follow a cute little shrew around one of our stops - he seemed so intent on going somewhere - but with no discernible plan. I think we'll take a page out of his playbook and just go with whatever moves us this weekend - some golf, some napping and enjoying the fine Scottish scenery.

A Scottish Day Trip - "If it were done, when t'is done, then t'were well it were done quickly"

A beautiful day greeted us when we awoke this morning. All the better as we had planned a day trip to try and show off as much of Scotland as possible to Linda, Mark and Adele. We made up some sandwiches, packed up the dog and hit the road.

We headed northwest towards Inverness. Our first stop was Cawdor Castle, which some might recognize as MacBeth's old stomping grounds - at least according to Billy Shakespeare. The actual castle dates from a much later period (16th century), but those notes probably didn't reach Spain as busloads of Spanish tourists crawled all over the grounds in their typically Spanish fashion.

The castle and grounds are fabulous - well laid out, well cared for and the guide notes have an injection of self-deprecating humour that we as Canadians can appreciate. It is still lived in by the family that owns it, which means you get a cool juxtaposition of centuries old tapestries hanging in the same room as a framed photo of Aunt Judy. Fiona and Casey went around on the garden paths through the woods and they are highly recommended as well.

Before moving on we broke out the sandwiches and had a nice picnic on the grounds. The weather continued to oblige and I think we all got a little bit of work done on our tans.

We rolled on through some spectacular scenery - an arched railway bridge that somehow we hadn't noticed before - and pulled in to Culloden Moor and the battlefield memorial. Linda, Mark and Adele went through the interpretive centre, which Linda found incredibly informative and affecting and Adele just found it sad for the poor Highlanders - it was just not "fair".

We pushed on through Inverness and down the coast of Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle. The ruins were well enjoyed by little Adele, who scampered around, in, up, down and over everything. The views were quite nice. Last time we were here was in the autumn of last year, when the leaves were changing color. It loses none of its magnificence in the summer sun.

We've arrived back at home again, to continue our nightly Wii ritual. Adele has really taken to beating her poor uncle about the head with a kendo stick. I'm not sure how much sympathy that generates, but I'll take all I can get.

Fun and Games with Visitors

We went to the train station on Monday night to pick up the next batch of visitors - my sister Linda, her partner Mark and her daughter Adele. We had a minor panic attack when they weren't on the train they had specified, but an extremely helpful ScotRail employee assured us they probably just missed a connection and would be in a few minutes later, which they were.

The house was crowded for one night, as Fiona's mom was still with us as well, but it was nice to have a house full of family. Casey was especially excited.

We said goodbye to Ethna early Tuesday morning. We had a great time with her in Dublin and back in Scotland. She's a wonderfully caring and generous lady and we'll miss having her around. She had a smooth trip back to the US - good considering she had three stops.

We've been taking it pretty easy with Linda, Adele and Mark. I've had to work all this week, but I've made it home for lunch each day. Fiona has been taking them to see some sights - out to Braemar to see the heather in bloom, shopping and to the beach. Evenings have been spent playing Wii, enjoying some long dinners and reading. We're planning a trip out to Inverness and area tomorrow that should be quite fun.

Along with the fun and excitement of having family around, we've had some bad news recently as well. We've been told by our landlord that he won't be extending our lease past October. We've grown to like our place and recognize how unique it is in terms of decor, size, affordability and location. It's going to be hard to move in October.

It's been an interesting few days in the cricket world as well, with the final test match of the Ashes series underway. England had a decent first innings, but people were still feeling pretty gloomy as Australia came to bat. In an unexpected but not unwelcome turn of events, the English bowlers found their groove and managed to bowl out the Aussies before the start of the evening session. Last we looked they had a 199 run lead with none out in their second innings. Weather permitting it looks like the Ashes will be returning to England.

Ireland - Day 3

Another day, another giant Irish breakfast. We would need every calorie today, as we had big plans to see quite a few sights on day 3.

We took a taxi to Trinity College where the main attraction is the Book of Kells - ancient copies of the four gospels. It is also a working univeristy (opened by Queen Elizabeth I in the 1500's), but we had a hard time imagining how students could concentrate with the masses of tourists. We stood in a substantial queue but eventually made it in. The flyers and posters show clear, bright pages with vivid colours and we were unprepared for what should have been obvious, that a 1200 year old book is most likely to be a little faded. The number of tourists was also a little off-putting - it was hard to really see everything and take the time that the display deserved.

We also enjoyed the old library. Old, dark wood panelling and barrel vaulted ceiling, all walls covered by ancient books. A exhibition of books and letters related to the life and time of Napoleon was also quite interesting. The gift shop seemed to be of most interest to everyone, though.

Our next stop was just down the street from the College. A statue of Molly Malone at the head of Grafton Street. She's the subject of an Irish pub song - she's the one selling "cockles and mussels, alive, alive-oh". Locally the statue is referred to as the "Tart with a Cart". Looking at the picture, it seems apt.

Leprechaun count: 1.

I think I know what the problem was with finding these sprites before - I was looking for something that topped out at maybe 2 or three feet. Apparently the leprechauns have been working out and hitting the steroids, because they're now well over 6 feet tall. I guess it helps keep the pot o' gold safe.

Dublin Castle was next. It was an interesting hodge-podge of historical buildings and exhibits. There was a barrel tower and some oddly painted side buildings, a grand hall, a nice garden and the Chester Beatty Library. The latter is worth mentioning because of its exhibit of rare and ancient books. It was an amazing combination of Chinese, European, Persian, Mughal and Islamic books. The detail in the illustrations was awe-inspiring. We would definitely recommend this slightly out of the way location.

After a lunch that included a nice sherry trifle for Ethna, we went into Christ Church Cathedral. It was beautifully laid out with gorgeous floors - a first for us and our major church tours. Usually the walls, ceilings and windows receive most of the attention. Here the floors were just as amazing. A choir was also practising, which helped set the mood. The crypt was also open for tours, filled with relics and treasures. We would recommend this church over the slightly more famous St. Patrick's.

St. Patrick's was a little disappointing. Still beautiful and quite grand, and with Jonathan Swift buried just inside the doorway, it was a little less impressive than Christ Church. But how can you go to Dublin without seeing St. Pat's.

We circled back to Grafton Street to do some shopping. It was a nice mixture of high end and regular shoppes. Fiona bought me a traditional Claddagh ring. We somehow made it past the Hermes store with our wallets intact.

We found an evening mass at small downtown church, after which we stumbled upon a fantastic little restaurant called the Mermaid Cafe. The staff were fabulous and friendly and the food was some of the best we have had on this trip. Fiona's pork chop was especially good. It is not often that I get jealous of someone else's order, but I have to admit I was a little green ...

After supper we re-traced Ethna's old route to work, going first through Temple Bar and across the Ha'penny Bridge (toll used to be a ha'penny). We walked along the Liffey to Bachelor's Row. Unfortunately the building she used to work in was being renovated, so it was covered up with a tarp.

We walked a little further to O'Connell Street, where statues of the Irish Patriots who took part in the Easter Rebellion are located. We stopped in front of the Post Office, where they made their stand and marveled at the Spire, a 300 foot spike in the place where Admiral Nelson's column used to be (blown up by the IRA in '66). A little further down towards the docks we came upon the Custom's House and a series of statues to commemorate all those who left Ireland during the Potato Famine.

By the time we got back to our hotel it was quite late. Our plans for a quick drink in the bar were scuttled by the vast numbers of hurley fans which seem to have invaded our hotel. Everyone is pretty jazzed for Limerick v Tipperary on Sunday. I've seen some hurley on TV the last few days and I now wish I had tickets. It looks like an exciting game that would be well worth watching.

Back to Scotland in the morning!