A Walk in the South of France

An Early Morning Walk in Nice
Text and Photos by Kathy Hume
They say the reason so many artists flocked to the South of France is the light. The way the sun illuminates the scenery. It really is true. On an early morning walk along the Promenade des Anglais on the Côte d'Azur in Nice, I noticed that the colors shone brighter, bolder almost super saturated. The best light for photography is early in the morning or just before dusk, so at 7am I started out from The West End Hotel, and headed left along the Promenade. It was very peaceful, not many people were out yet. Walking along the beach I was struck by the blues….the sea, the sky and the umbrellas. This shot was awarded the first prize in our local photography show and remains one of my favorites. The value of being up early is being able to capture the shot without people.
Further along there was a man walking a dog. Using the “rule of thirds” I waited until the boat was at the 1/3 mark, and he was at the 2/3 mark. It was an added benefit that he turned to talk to the dog.

The air was so clear and the temperature just perfect for a hike up to Le Chateau, the park that overlooks the city. The view from up here is just incredible -- the blues of the sea, the rust color of the roofs of the buildings. Framed by blooming cactus plants, the harbor is on one side and on the other side, the Mediterranean sea stretches out forever in azure blue.

Walking down the bank past the waterfall, you come to the bottom of the hill and the Cours Saleya Market. It was just opening and everywhere you looked it was a feast for your eyes. Reds tomatoes and strawberries, green and yellow vegetables, multi colored marzipan fruit, and enticing smells of spices and dried roses was a photographer’s dream. I was on sensory overload.


After the market, as I wandered through the Old Town looking for shapes and shadows and reflections to photograph, I spotted this lingerie hanging on the side of a building. The warm color of the building contrasted with the red and black of the lingerie. The shadows gave a new dimension to the image. This photo also won first prize.
One of the best tips I ever received regarding taking photos was “turn around”. So often the best shot is behind you. When I turned around I spotted three color coordinated Gameboy playing young boys who were no doubt wondering why this crazy American woman was taking pictures of the underware.


I love the streets of the Old Town of Nice – people with dogs, flowers and paintings on the sides of the buildings. Walking along I knew that I had to share the essence of this amazing town. My sister is an artist and a photographer and I knew how much she would enjoy experiencing this wonderful part of the world. Years later (2004) we returned and together explored and photographed this part of the world. Just as I did years ago, she fell in love with the South of France.

photos discussed can be found at : http://www.kodakgallery.com/kathyhume/main/favorite_photos_of_france

Off to Savannah and The Cloisters

Leaving today for a trip down to Savannah to visit my dear friend, Mary. Mary lost her husband several months ago and due to the airlines canceling our flight, we were not even able to attend the memorial service. I am going to help Mary with the technology side of her life (programing things and showing her how to use the "talking lady" in her car and Mary is treating me to a visit to The Cloisters, where Ken and I honeymooned many years ago. Just read an article that if you have your original receipt (which I do) that you can go back for that same amount of $$. Since what we paid for 5 days would only cover around 5 hrs now, it will be interesting to see what the deal is....maybe Ken and I will be visiting there again!



I will post a review as well as photos when I return.

slight correction....to Inverness portion of Scotland Blog

Thanks to Snowfalling in Cedars...from the trip advisor board for pointing this out:

By the way (and not that it matters) many people seem to think Madonna got married at Dornoch Cathedral which isn't true. She did the deed at nearby Skibo Castle. Her son Rocco was baptised at the Cathedral; that's the connection

The Highlands

St. Andrews to the Highlands - Inverness
Thursday, June 26th

We got a bit of a late start the next morning since it took quite a bit of time to pack up the van. Traveling with 2 sets of golf clubs, 4 sets of luggage and 4 people isn’t easy. Needless to say, the back seats were very crowded.

We headed out of St. Andrews and programmed the talking lady. We thought she would take us through Dundee, but she did have a mind of her own. We got to see some nice countryside and some very narrow roads. Our first stop was at The Hermitage (http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/57/ ) another Charlotte suggestion. We parked in the upper parking lot and hiked down. There was a snack van in the lower parking lot. We took the hike along the water (about a mile) to the hall. There is a trick to getting the doors to open, but I can’t remember what it was. Once inside you can see over the falls. What was really fascinating was watching the salmon jumping up the falls. Hard to believe they can make it all the way up. Lovely walk through a peaceful woods. And hardly any bugs! Not a midge in sight.

We stopped next at the Fish ladder in Pitlochry but that was a bust. Lunch was at The Dowally Craft Centre where they serve a nice meal upstairs. The ladies there were nice and the weather showered the earth while were dining. Once back outside, the sun was again shining. We also visited Scotland’s smallest distillery, Edradour. (http://www.edradour.co.uk/ ), where we took a tour and see how Scotland’s national drink is made. It’s just on the outskirts of the town and easy to find. Its output sounds a lot - 240,000 bottles per year - but the average large Speyside distillery churns that out in a week. The small scale is part of Edradour’s charm. Unfortunately, they weren’t producing that week, so we didn’t really get the total “tour”. Mike enjoyed driving on the one lane roads…windy with a place to pass now and then and was only disappointed he didn’t meet up with any of the large tour busses from the distillery. We continued up A9 which meanders though the Cairngorm Mountains and finally found our way to Inverness.

Inverness hotel: The Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel & Spa; 8 Ness Walk; rooms 35 and 37, both our rooms were overlooking the river and castle

Nice location on the river overlooking the castle and easy walk to most of the town. Did have a swimming pool, but we never got to visit.

Dinner: Castle Tavern, across the bridge, rt at the first street beyond the castle and you run right into it. Dinner and drinks for 4 £41.10---but with many mix ups; 2 tuna cheese Panini (except they forgot the tuna) Mike ordered the pork tenderloin special…which turned out to actually be lamb (he said it was good), Kristin had the salmon mousse, Ken had soup and the non-tuna tuna Panini and we had several pints of ale and maybe a glass of wine (should have stuck to the ale).

Friday, June 27th

Before leaving the US I had contacted Tour guide Bill Gordon of Moray Tours http://www.moraytours.com/. Got his name from the Trip Advisor board. I wanted someone to drive us around so we could all sight see and someone that would know the area and history of the area. Bill was a nice guy, and took us to some lovely places. Unfortunately he wasn’t big on the history aspect, but did know all about the area golf courses and distilleries. One of the places we stopped was Shin Falls, west of Bonar Bridge near Invershin. We hiked down to the Falls (no jumping salmon) and then had a lovely lunch at the nice restaurant owned by Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods and father of the guy who Diana was with when she died. Ken and I both had a baked potato stuffed with tuna, Mike had venison stew and I forget what Kristin and Bill had. Nice, if expensive, gift shop.

We also stopped by Dornoch golf course, most northerly first class golf course in the world, ranked 11th in the world according to Rough Guide to Britain. Dornach was where Madonna got married…and how ironic that as we were looking at the chapel, word on the street is they are getting divorced.

Next stop was Dunrobin Castle – owned by the Sutherlands one of the principal driving forces behind the Highland clearances. We visited the outside, but didn’t have enough time to do the tour. Too bad, it looked fascinating.

We had been trying to find a Highland cow, with not much success. Saw three on the A9 while we were heading towards Inverness, but none since, at least none close enough to photograph…even with an 18x optical zoom.

Back to Inverness for a little shopping and dinner. We ate at Johnny Foxes; 26 Bank St. Nice Pub. Broccoli pasta (huge amount) , sea stew; catch of the day; melon & prawn cocktail; Foxes club sandwich plus 3 pints…£2.75 each (total £45.60).


Photos to and around Inverness


July 27th

Today we are headed back to Edinburgh with a slight detour to Dornie to See the Eilean Donan Castle. It was the gloomiest day so far. First stop was a pull off by Loch Ness. Saw a pretty nifty snail, but no monsters. Next we stopped by Urquhart Castle Another time we were able to use our Explorer Pass. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urquhart_Castle )
Pretty setting on the banks of the Loch. Nice restaurant and gift shop. Good views …if only it had been a bit sunnier! Had a snack then off to Dornie.

Nice, if long, road with good views. Lots of small waterfalls coming down from the mountains and even though it was the end of June, there were still some patches of snow. I can see why the Eilean Donan Castle (http://www.eileandonancastle.com/ ) gets a lot of play. It really is beautifully situated on the water with the mountains in the background. Too bad it was so ugly out. Mike did manage to get some good photos. We had a very nice lunch and I have to say, their gift shop had a great selection of items, much more reasonably prices, so we did a little shopping. On the road again…and I have to say, our son, Mike did an excellent job of driving.

Back down A87 to A82 which we followed for quite some time. Past Glen Coe and around Loch Lomand. We were headed for Stirling. Mike really wanted to see the Wallace National Monument since he is a big fan of Braveheart. (http://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/ ) Unfortunately, it closes at 6 and even though we got there 25 mins before, they wouldn’t sell us tickets. Mike and Kristin did walk all the way up the VERY LONG hill to get to where the monument was and said the view was quite nice, but they wouldn’t let him in to see the sword…not even for 5 minutes.
We also miss out on seeing Stirling Castle. It was getting late, so we just headed back to our next hotel…The Marriott Dalmahoy.

The kids were just staying overnight and Ken and I had one more day. Dinner that night was at the Long Weekend restaurant. Time for an almost sunset walk then off to bed. The kids left early the next morning and Ken and I spent the day relaxing. It was a nice way to end the trip.

Photos from Inverness to Edinburgh

June 30th
The trip home. Sometimes when you use points for your tickets you pay the price. We had a non-stop flight over to Scotland, but the trip back wasn’t quite as easy. Off to the airport for a 9am Air France flight…to Paris…then a 5 hr layover. Not enough time to actually go into the city. Fortunately the airport wasn’t crowded. Ken found a nice waiting area with lounge chairs…all the way at the end of the terminal (2E I think), so for a while we relaxed and read. Then we discovered a bank of Internet computers. Put 3 euros in the slot for 30 mins time and then found out our computer already had time…so we check for e-mails, Yankee scores, etc. Since I still had our slip with the 30 mins of time, I gave it to a woman who was going to by one. She wanted to pay me…I told her just do something nice for someone else. She said she liked the karma thing and said we would have good karma. An hr later her prediction came true when we were upgraded to Business Class. I have to say…if you have a 7 hr flight to NYC this is the way to go. You couldn’t even reach the seats in front with your feet. There were more buttons…including one that worked the massage rollers in the seat back. Champagne (or juice) and hot cloths before we even took off, then dinner, starting with Hors-d’oeuvres: I had Terrine de foie gras de canard, chutney d’abricots et de figues, country style walnut bread, baby spinach, Ken had salmon simmered with olive oil and lemon, vegetable brunoise and caper vinaigrette…and this was just the first course.

Main Course: pan seared Filet of beef, sautéed potatoes, sautéed vegetables with Chinese artichokes.

Desserts---you could have several if you wished
Chocolate almond cake with crème de caramel; chocolate raspberry cookie, sorbets et petits four secs, choice of fresh fruit.

And all the wine, beer etc. you wanted.
Our movie screens worked so I watched several movies. The seats almost fully recline. Really really nice. We didn’t even mind that our flight was delayed from taking off. A few hours later they showed up with Chicken and apricot brochette, smoked breast of duck, fennel salad, comte’ cheese and walnut bread, yogurt and fresh fruit.

Sort of the perfect way to end the perfect trip!

So Long…until the next time….
Kathy

Scotland Trip - St. Andrews

St. Andrews

St. Andrews hotels:
Ken and Kathy stayed at the St. Andrews Golf Hotel; 40 the Scores; Kristin and Mike stayed at Dunvegan’s; 7 Pilmour Pl

We arrived at our hotel around 6pm and were fortunate to find parking. It was graduation week at St. Andrews University and a lot of parents were in town. The second the car stopped both Mike and Ken almost ran down to the Old Course which was only a few hundred yards away. I swear Ken had tears in his eyes as he got his first look. It was heard to tear them away, but we were supposed to be meeting up with Charlotte and Jamie so they could introduce Ken and Mike to their caddies….Jimmy (Jamie’s dad) and Dennis, Jimmy’s friend. Jimmy had been caddying the Old Course since he was 13….he’s 72 now. That’s a lot of rounds of golf. He had caddied for Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Rita Hayworth, James Gardner, Sean Connery….and now Ken Hume. He was just what Ken was looking for, someone with a great sense of humor, tremendous knowledge of the course, good golf tips and plenty of stories.

Ken and I checked into our hotel, room 18, lovely view, nice room, if a bit on the expensive side ($400/night…at least that included breakfast). The kid’s hotel, Dunvegan’s, was more reasonably priced, and they got breakfast too.

We were supposed to be taking a tour of St. Andrews with Charlotte, but everyone was so wiped out that we decided just to go to Dunvegan’s (http://www.dunvegan-hotel.com/) for a drink. That is where the kids were staying…they only had one room available. Owned by Jack (from Texas) and his lovely wife, Sheena, it is the place to see and been seen at if you are a golfer. So while the boys discussed golf, Charlotte filled Kristin and I in on the history and stories of St. Andrews.

Soon Charlotte and Jamie and Jimmy left and the four of us stayed for dinner. We dined on homemade soup, smoked salmon (Kristin said it was the best she ever had). I had a chicken salad that was good, Mike had a cheeseburger, and Ken had a salmon filet. After dinner we walked back to our hotel. It was around 9pm and still very light outside. That night there was a lovely sunset which we could see from our room. (18) We overlooked the park running along the Scores, as well as the sea, West Sands, the beach they used for the opening scene of Chariots of Fire and the Old Course.


Tuesday, June 24
Ken and I were staying at the St. Andrews Golf Hotel and a very nice breakfast was included. We thought it was just the buffet, but found out after we were done, that they actually had a regular menu you could order off as well. The kids also had breakfast included at Dunvegans. We met up around 10 or so. The boys wanted to avail themselves of the very nice practice facility and Kristin and I went for a walk up to the castle. On the way we passed a beautiful house with a sign that said come walk in our gardens. There was a donation box and it turned out that the folks in the house sponsor a scholarship for pediatric cardiac care as their granddaughter had died as a baby. The gardens were very lovely. So many varieties and colors of flowers, all leading down a path to a gazebo that overlooked the sea. After that we toured the museum that was at the castle and part of our Explorer passport. It was interesting to see the history of the town. Afterwards, we walked around the castle…or what is left of it…not much. Interesting tunnel underground, but since both Kristin and I are a bit claustrophobic we decided to pass on going underground. By this time it was getting late, so we met the boys back at Ma Bells (basement of the St. Andrews Golf Hotel) for lunch. Nice pub, but very quiet. Mike and Kristin had the ham and mango sandwich, but said it was too sweet. I had a chicken Caesar, which was great once I removed the sardines! Ma Bells is supposed to be one of the “in” places when the university is in session.


The New Course
Mike said that when he approached the first tee at the new course his knees were knocking. He didn’t want to embarrass his dad or himself. He didn’t want to be like the golfer that Dennis and Jimmy had told them about Monday night that had a 31…and that was just the first hole. Mike tried to come close..with a 9, but then he got his act together, let the nerves go, and even birdied a hole. It was good planning for them to play the New Course first, which actually is a bit more difficult. Gave a chance for Jimmy and Dennis to get to know their level of play and give them helpful suggestions. Mike said these guys really know their stuff. It they tell you hit to the left…and you do it, you end up just fine. Mike is a sports writer and had written about his dad and golf, as well as preparing for the Old Course. Links are below.

Picking Splinters: Like Father Like Son to the 'Tee'

Picking Splinters: Cold Feet On the Scottish Green

Meanwhile, while the boys were getting battered by the wind, occasional rain, and cold on the New Course, Kristin and I were enjoying a girl’s spa day at the Old Course Hotel. (http://oldcoursehotel.kohler.com/spa/spa_index.html)
If you have two services, you can also use all the spa facilities for the day. Kristin decided to work out in their well equipped gym. I decided to pursue a more relaxing experience, testing out the several steam rooms, saunas, and thermal spa. I did, however, pass on the Plunge pool….8 feet deep of VERY cold water. Stuck my toe in…that was enough. The thermal spa has 5 stations that have multiple jets and you sort of follow the flow. Very relaxing. There is also a lap pool with a waterfall at the end. We had scheduled our services for approximately the same time. Kristin had a facial and a massage. I have the Sea Lime Sigh and a detoxifying wrap. I have to say, I have been to many different spas, and had many different services. This was by far the best and most relaxing. After our services, we relaxed by the pool, then decided to try the rooftop spa (well I decided and had to talk Kristin into it…she hates being cold) But it was quite nice, with a warm hot tub and the cool air. Unfortunately it began to rain and we were running short of time. So we finished up and headed off to meet the boys who were reliving their New Course experience with a few brews at Dunvegans.

Dinner that night was at Ziggy’s, 6 Murray Place, which was right behind our hotel. Sort of a music themed pub. Ken got the filet steak, which they claimed was the finest in Scotland…maybe it was, but not what we are use to for fine steak. We also had the line coconut chicken, the lasagna, garlic prawns, and one surf and turf. They did have the St. Andrews ale, which they both loved. (£73.50) After dinner we stopped by the very nice bar in our hotel for after dinner drinks. Very classy place.

Wednesday, June 25th
After breakfast at our respective hotels, Kristin and I headed off for some sightseeing and shopping. We stopped at the Public Library (Church Square, between South and Market) where we got library cards that enabled us to use the free internet computers and catch up on our e-mails. It was a good time to do this, as it was raining and we had left our umbrellas back in the room. We stopped by a few shops, ended up buying 2 cheap umbrellas, had a delightful lunch in a café that specialized in soup, then since it started clearing up, headed down to the Cathedral and Cemetery. Once again we were able to use our Explorer passes to gain entrance into the museum. Very ancient gravestones, quite fascinating. One with husband and wife, hands entwined. The story is she died while dancing at her wedding. (Ken would say this is proof you should never have to dance at weddings). We also saw Old Tom Morris’s grave, as well as his son’s who died on Christmas day at the age of 24, just weeks after his wife died giving birth to their child, who also died. Very sad. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Morris,_Jr.)
We did not climb the tower, which at 100 feet high gives great views, but since it was very overcast, and let’s face it…that’s a lot of stairs, we decided to pass. Here is a link to more information on the Cathedral and tower
(http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/standrews/cathedral/index.html). Kristin and I headed back, stopping at James Pirie’s (http://www.jamespirie.co.uk/standrews/welcome.cfm )which had great gift items. It is at 7 Greyfriers Garden St.

In the meantime, the boys went back to the practice facility, which they thought was just awesome, then had lunch at the Scores hotel before their 12:50 tee time. (club sandwich; bree and ham..which turned out to be that fatty bacon) When they got to the course, they found out the Manning family (as in Super Bowl winning quarterback, Eli and his brothers, had teed off just a few groups ahead.

Meanwhile, we stopped by Dunvegan’s to drop off our packages and found out the same thing. Kristin and I had a 3pm “Afternoon” tea time at the Old Course hotel, so we walked over. The path to the hotel leads by the 17th green, and as we were walking we spotted the Manning boys, so we stopped to take a few photos.
The tea part of the tea was great. Very tasty in cute tea bags. The scones were a bit of a disappointment and the clotted cream looked like it had been sitting out for days. They did have tiny lemon pancakes that were good and the desserts were very nice. We overlooked the 17th hole, so we watched to make sure our boys didn’t pass us by. It was sunny one minute and raining sideways the next. After tea we went out to see if we could see them and it wasn’t long before we spotted them teeing off. We didn’t realize that they were hitting over the hotel...pretty much where we were standing. They soon spotted us and Jimmy told us we could walk with them the rest of the way. We stopped for photos on the Swilkin Bridge, and then watched them tee off on the 18th. It really was quite exciting. Mike will be posting a “guest review” about playing on both the New and the Old Course. The link to his Picking Splinters column on the experience is below.

http://www.fcnp.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3255:picking-splinters-sharing-st-andrews&catid=19:sports&Itemid=77

Of course, after a round on the Old Course you have to go to Dunvegan’s. The boys shared their day, the thrill, the excitement, the sun, the sideways rain. It was indeed a day to remember. I hope to post a guest blog by Mike soon with lots of details about playing the New and Old Courses.

Dinner that night was at Number Forty in the St. Andrews Golf Hotel
Kathy had Leek and gruyere tart and Haricots verts (£11.50 and £2.95); Ken had Scottish smoked haddock, poached egg, new potatoes and mustard cream (£14.95); Kristin had some sort of fish; Michael had spring lamb cutlet, shepherds pie and slow cooked shank (£17.50). We had a table overlooking the bay. Very nice, very classy place to dine. There were lots of families there celebrating graduation and lots of guys in Kilts. All in all, I’d say our time in St. Andrews was a great success.

St. Andrew’s photos
Scotland - St. Andrews

Scotland Trip - Edinburgh to St. Andrews

Scotland
June 18 – June 30th
Ken, Kathy, Mike and Kristin

The trip to Scotland was a birthday trip for my husband, Ken. Our son, Mike, said that we needed to take dad to Scotland to play on the Old Course because he’d never get there himself. So last September (I believe it was 5am the first Wednesday to be exact…9 am Scotland time) I entered the lottery to see if we couldn’t get tee times on the Old Course, the mecca for golfers. http://www.standrews.org.uk/golf/book_golf/index.html

Around 3 months later, we got the good news. Got tee times for Mike and Ken for The Old Course as well as The New Course (you need to book…and pay for both). Total cost was approximately $800 which has to be paid immediately. Once we had the tee times in hand, I began to plan the trip. Ken’s birthday was in December, so we wanted to get something put together by then.

I booked the air portion through Delta using American Express points. Since Ken and I had more flexibility we arrived a few days before and stayed a day longer than Mike and Kristin. I figured we’d need a day or two to adjust to the time change and the stress of traveling. Since we were leaving from Newark and returning to JFK, we used a driver. The trip over was actually on a Continental plane. No individual movie screens on the back of the seats and the movie was 27 Dresses…one I had just recently seen, so I tried (and I think I succeeded) to sleep.

Thursday, June 19th
Marriott Damahoy Hotel and Country Club
Kirknewton

Plane was delayed around 2 hrs, but we got to Edinburgh and thanks to Martin McCray, guest relation manager at the Marriott Dalmahoy, (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/edigs-marriott-dalmahoy-hotel-and-country-club/) our driver, David, was waiting outside the airport to take us the 7 or so miles to the hotel. David was a great tour guide, pointed out things along the way. The hotel is in a lovely setting on the top of a hill. The hotel is surrounded by two golf courses, and farm land (cows, sheep, polo horses) and beautiful landscaping. Since we arrived early, our room wasn’t ready, so we headed over to the golf club pub for a light lunch. And yes, having the dollar being half the value of the £, did make everything quite expensive. I had an egg salad sandwich and Ken had a bowl of leek and potato soup (very good!).

After lunch we walked around the property, checked out the golf practice range (nice putting area and driving range) and finally checked into Room 80. As noted by many posts on Trip Advisor, this hotel is quite spread out, with the rooms quite a distance from the lobby. Ours was one of the closest, but it still was a hike. Our room was on the bottom floor, not much of a view (overlooked a bush) but nice size. Only problem was the toilet was very close to the wall…a bit cramped! The hotel does have free wireless and if you leave your laptop at home, two computers where you can buy internet time. (either via cards sold at the front desk or just inputting your credit card number). We met Lindsey Cheney, another guest relations manager who had been most helpful in obtaining a tee time for Ken and spa appt for me.

One negative I had read about this property was the food wasn’t all that great and the service not too fast. Well, service certainly wasn’t as fast as NYC restaurants, but we thought overall the food was very good. They were a bit understaffed, but they also sent us a complimentary bottle of wine to make up for our dinner that night being a bit delayed. Our waitress at the Long Weekend restaurant, Emma Campbell, was “in training” and she is going to be a super star. She handled doing twice the work with poise and a smile. I had a stuffed potato (chicken, brie and bacon (frankly they could lose the bacon…very fatty) but the chicken was great and the brie gave it a nice flavor. Ken had fish and chip with mushy peas (since I consider peas little green balls of mushy poison, I found this quite a disgusting dish.

Breakfast the next day was included and they have a nice buffet spread. I even tried a little haggis…sort of tasted like liverwurst, but a bit too spicy for me. Nice pastries, eggs, fresh fruit, and the bacon that everyone talks about. As folks on the board have mentioned, beef and bacon are two things to avoid. On the other hand, Kristin, our connoisseur of all things salmon, said the salmon dishes she had in Scotland were the best she ever had.

Friday, June 20th
Ken went off to practice golf and I took a long walk down to the main road. Made friends with the horses, and took many, many photos. (Marriott Dalmahoy photos) The sky in Scotland is just so amazing. Blue one minute filled with white fluffy clouds, then grey dark clouds the next. If it is raining, just wait ten minutes and the sun will come back out. Ken had an early afternoon tee time on the West Course (£40), so I checked out the work out room (very nice and quite well equipped) and the pool (very shallow). There was also a nice locker room, nice sauna and very nice steam room (changing color lights in the ceiling and nice eucalyptus smell).

Ken enjoyed the golf, but found the course quite confusing and actually played a few holes on the East Course until a nice local golfer straighten him out. Dinner that night was in Pentland, their nice restaurant overlooking the East golf course. Of course since I left my camera in the room there was an amazing rainbow. I had a late lunch (I did the high tea (scone, biscuit, 4 tiny ham or egg sandwiches and a piece of chocolate cake—which looked good, but I passed on) in the bar area overlooking the East Course) and I wasn’t very hungry, so just had the asparagus (very good) and a chicken Caesar salad in a parmesan crust bowl (also very good). Ken had the salmon and said it was excellent. (approx $80 total) So along with our complimentary bottle of wine, life was good.

Saturday, June 21st

Breakfast again at the Pentland restaurant then off to downtown Edinburgh. We had a great taxi driver who told us about the Scotland £5 note that had Jack Nicolaus’s picture on it. He told us it was quite rare now but he thought he could get one for us. He took our cell # and told us he’d call if he did. He dropped us off at the Radisson SAS (http://www.edinburgh.radissonsas.com/) right on The Royal Mile…almost at the middle of it. (note: Free internet in the lobby…only two computers, but ask at desk for password).

We had asked for two non-smoking rooms, but they only had one. In order to get the second we had to upgrade to a preferred room, but that did include breakfast for two, free water (2 large bottles, one sparkling), chocolates, free movies and very nice amenities. Considering the cost of breakfast, it was well worth it. Our room was a lovely room (115 - £361 for 2 nights inc upgrade w/breakfast) overlooking the Royal Mile. Very soundproofed. Flat screen TV and lots of movie choices, all for free. The kids were in #241 (£301 for the 2 nights – view overlooking the side street). We unpacked and waited for Mike and Kristin to arrive. They flew over on Delta, and only had a small delay, so they arrived right around lunch.

We headed across the street to the Whisky pub (lunch for 4: roasted stuffed red peppers, steak pie, 2 soups – really good… which they comped us since it took so long to come: £28.30) where Ken and Mike had the first of their many pints of brew for the week. One thing that I thought was quite interesting was the McCondom Whisky condom dispenser machine in the ladies room. After lunch we walked down the hill towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse, stopping at the Canongate Church and Cemetery. At the bottom of the hill is the Parliament building, very contemporary, sort of out of place, but quite interesting. Across the street is the palace. None of our group was interested in going inside, so we walked towards Arthur’s Seat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur)
Mike and Kristin noticed folks climbing and immediately decided they wanted to climb to the top (what can I say…they are young and have lots of energy).

Ken and I watched them until they reached the first plateau, then we decided to see if we could find Calton Hill. We walked back towards the palace, and stopped by a small bookstore. I noticed they sold the Explorer passes (http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/explorer), but since I wasn’t sure what the kids wanted in the way of sightseeing, I decided to hold off buying….big mistake! Ken and I found steps and a path leading up to Calton Hill and climbed to the top (or what we thought was the top) but it was only the ½ way mark, the place the bus tours drop you off at. We were tired and trying to decide what to do when our travel cell phone rang…it was the cab driver who had found a Jack Nichlaus £5. Since we decided we wanted to go back to the hotel, we told him where we were and he came and picked us up. We gave him £10 plus the fare and a nice tip. As we found out later, these bills are quite rare and sell for a bit more than £10.

Once back to the hotel, Ken crashed, but I decided to go shopping so I walked up the hill towards the Edinburgh Castle. Got back and found the kids had come back from their climb. They made it to the top, took one photo…and then the batteries in the camera died. Dinner that night was at the Mitre Bar right across from the hotel. Nice place, and fortunately we figured out you had to place you orders at the bar, or we’d still be sitting there. Kristin had Cullen Skink and Mike had Sausage and Mash…quite an interesting presentation (see Edinburgh photo link below)

Sunday, June 22nd
Since we had paid the extra charge for the deluxe rooms, Ken and I got free breakfast. Scottish breakfasts are quite large and much more than we could eat, so Mike and Kristin came down. Plus the room had a great Espresso machine that everyone enjoyed. After breakfast we headed down to the Edinburgh Castle. (http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/index/tour/3d-2.htm)
One of the few mistakes I made on this trip was not getting the Scotland explorer pass (£107 for 3 adults and one “concession…their name for senior…or anyone 60 or older) the day before where it was being sold in a bookstore by Holyroodhouse. We ended up waiting in a line for about 45 mins at the castle. Once we got our passes, we walked up to the top and enjoyed the panoramic view. The kids particularly enjoyed seeing Arthur’s Seat, knowing they were on top of it yesterday. We visited St. Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest structure in the city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Margaret) with very nice stained glass windows. We went through the war memorial and one of the museums. Beautiful flowers everywhere. We went through some of the castle rooms. I had been reading about Mary, Queen of Scotland, and it was interesting to see where she lived for a while. After visiting the castle we went to The Witchery (http://www.thewitchery.com/ ) for lunch (another Charlotte recommendation). They have a prix fixed lunch menu ) £12.95 for two courses) and the food was really great.
the Prix fixed menu consisted of: Soup ‘au pistou’
Assiette of charcuterie
Crevette and champion pear salad, sauce Marie rose – I had this…fantastic
***
Confit of Border chicken leg w/spring greens, creamed potatoes
Home smoked cod, broad bean and chickpea cassoulet
Courgette risotto, smoked garlic, and aged parmesan – also this

The room was a little small, but certainly had the ambiance! After lunch we went back to our hotel to meet up with Charlotte.

One of the great things about the internet is how you can meet up with truly amazing people. I was looking for a tour in St. Andrews…just something to pass the time while the boys golfed. Little did I know that e-mailing Twisted Tales of St. Andrews for information about a tour (charlotte.cotd@hotmail.co.uk) would turn out so well. Charlotte e-mailed me back and that began a 6 month time in which she was invaluable in helping to plan our trip. She sent me books, did up maps with suggested stops along the way and by the time we got to Edinburgh, I felt that she was a good friend and I was really looking forward to meeting her.

We met up with Charlotte at the hotel and were joined by her friend, Jamie, who is a drummer for The Goodnights (http://www.myspace.com/theunknowndundee) Check out the band and hear the music at the link above. Both Charlotte and Jamie were great, filling us in on the local history.

We toured part of the Old Town, including Greyfriers Kirk, In the Kirkyard lie the remains of many distinguished Scots. The collection of 17th century monuments is said to be one of the finest in Scotland and one of the best in Britain. Edinburgh's most famous dog, Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye terrier, is thought to lie about 50 yards from his master, John Gray. The Kirkyard also contains the Covenanters' Prison (http://www.covenanter.org.uk/Greyfriars/) and the Martyrs' Monument. There have also been many claims of poltergeists or ghost in this area. The gravestones certainly are interesting and Charlotte had keys to the Black Mausoleum – the lair of the world famous Mackenzie Poltergeist . Hundreds of people claim to have been attacked by the entity in this Mausoleum. The MacKenzie Poltergeist is now regarded as the best documented supernatural case of all. Unfortunately (or probably fortunately!) we did not run into Mr. MacKenzie.

Charlotte also showed us the window where J.K. Rowlings sat to write the first Harry Potter book, as well as the local private school whose building serves as a model for Hogwarts, and the street that serves as the model for Dragon Alley. We also walked down Victoria Street, a lovely curved street of colorful buildings.

We had dinner that night at Maggie Dicksons; 92 Grassmarket (£57.70) BLT sandwich, curly fries, Haddock (fish and chips…huge), nicoise salad, ½ pound hamburger, tuna Panini and drinks for 6. We left Jamie and Charlotte knowing we would see them the next day in St. Andrews and stopped by Whistle Binkie's, 6 Niddry Street, which was right next to our hotel. Charlotte had recommended it as a place for good music. We stayed for a while then decided we were tired. On the way back to the hotel, the kids heard more music coming from across the street and decided to have just one more drink before turning in…..

For photos of Edinburgh:
Photos of Edinburgh

Monday, June 23rd

Up early. The kids were meeting us in our room at 9 for breakfast as we wanted to get an early start on the road to St. Andrews. Charlotte had mapped out many things to see along the way. Unfortunately, Mike was a bit under the weather, a combination of jetlag and REALLY enjoying the pub scene last night in Edinburgh. So Ken and I went out for a walk, stopped in the Bank of Scotland to change a bit of our travelers check into pounds and by the time we got back, Mike was feeling slightly better. They walked over to get the rental car (Hertz…still having a few problems since they over charged us.) We had a navigation system, but by the time she (aka the talking lady…with a British accent) told us which way to go, we were by the road…so it was a bit confusing getting out of Edinburgh, but by the time we crossed the bridge over the Firth of Fourth, it was smooth sailing.

Our first stop was St. Bridget Kirk in Dalgety Bay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalgety_Bay) This is the ruins of a 12th century church and cemetery right on the water. We couldn’t find out how to get there, but stumbled across the Fife Coastal path which lead us there.

Next stop was Aberdour Castle (http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/aberdour/aberdourcastle/index.html) where we had a delightful lunch in the café. Pretty much everything we ordered was out of stock…and the 3rd time the woman stopped by our table with “we have a little problem….” We all just smiled…But the food we ended up with was great. We walked around the castle…totally missing the upstairs ballroom, and then walked around the lovely gardens. Parking for the castle is by the Aberdour train station.

Next was Pittenween, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittenweem ) a delightful village. We parked up by the church & cemetery and took a path down to the water. Our path took us by St. Filian’s cave, but we didn’t go in. I think you need to obtain the key from a local merchant. We did walk down to the harbour.

A few miles down the road was (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anstruther ) Anstruther. Initially we had planned on being here around lunch and were going to sample the world famous fish and chips, but since we had already dine, we just walked along the water.

Our final stop was Crail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crail ). Here I wanted to visit the Crail Pottery (http://www.crailpottery.com/pottery.htm ) but we got there just after closing time. We walked down a path to find out we were at the top of the hill overlooking the harbor. For the best photos you need to be at the bottom, but we were tired and the boys wanted to go on to St. Andrews, so we just left. We only made one more stop. A lovely church that was on the side of the road. The sky was just so spectacular that we had to stop to take a few photos.
The next thing we knew we were pulling into St. Andrews.

To view photos from our trip from Edinburgh to St. Andrews:
photos on the way to St. Andrews

more to come....St. Andrews...Inverness..the Highlands...stay tuned

Scotland

5 days and counting......Dan Smith (dan@crttravel.com) helped us with planning where to stay and Charlotte Golledge
Twisted Tales of St Andrews
www.blackhart.uk.com/standrews.htmlTel 08000 842 220 was the best tour guide ever

St John photos

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=7w8gsjn.a4suon9f&x=0&y=-y43gm5&localeid=en_US

if that doesn't work, just go to my website, click on albums on the top right and then on the St. John album

St. John - 5/27 - 5/31 - Westin Hotel Trip Report

Trip to St. John
May 27 – 31st, 2008

Westin Hotel

Arrived Tuesday mid day. The Westin has a check in place right at the St. Thomas airport and they bus you over to their ferry. I think there is a charge, but since we were part of a group, our fees were included in our trip. We had a nice large room, but in bldg 23 which is very far from everything. Big termite nest in the trees behind our room. You'd think they'd want to do something about that. Only downside to the room was the AC unit which blew right on your head….so you would freeze when it came on and get hot when it was off…and it did that hundred of times a night…so neither of us had very relaxing (or complete) nights sleeping. Since there were no screens in the sliders, you couldn’t just turn it off and open the windows.Tuesday we just walked around checked out the place. Cool iquanas. They feed them every day at 3 and they flock to the feeding area. Some really large (3 - 4 feet) ones. Tuesday night we had the company cocktail party then we grabbed dinner at the hotel beach bar...the food here is just so so..and quite expensive. Good raspberry smoothies ($7)...that's without rum! Early to bed Tue night since we had been up at 3am to start the trip.Wed I walked around the place taking some flower photos. Then breakfast...we got a $25 per day per person credit...and you need it. Did have great waffles with mangos, blueberry, strawberries and pecans...very good.. Ken had granola...and they brought him a box of Kellogg’s! Well what do you expect for $9. After breakfast we went down to the Westin beach. Fairly small...and murky water (NOTHING like Anguilla) Warm and wet, but lots of seaweed and you can't see your feet. Fortunately I brought our two swimway floats and Ken and I floated on the water for hours. The Westin does provide floats but ours are Swimways (http://www.swimways.com/product-detail.asp?cid=&pid=73989F34-3F15-4912-802F-87F44157316C) with a nice little shade covering that rather acted as a sail. Saw a whole school of fish jump out of the water, but not much else. It was very relaxing. Had lunch at the hotel...I had the chicken sandwich special...(not much special) and Ken had a nice Caesar salad with grilled shrimp that looked good...lunch for two with drinks and tip is around $50. At least there's no sales tax! Back to the beach for a little longer than off to the room to shower and nap.Had dinner Wed night at ZoZos (http://www.zozos.net/) . For a list of St. John Restaurants: www.stjohnusvi.com/restaur.html
The taxi's from the Westin will take you into town for $4 each person ($5 with tip) I had the Caribbean lobster which was great, but the lobster fettuccini appetizer was even better. Done in saffron cream with corn and pine nuts...just wonderful. ZoZo's overlooks Cruz Bay...perfect for the sunset that wasn't. The taxi’s cruise the town, so it really isn’t a problem getting one back. The taxi’s aren’t like NYC ones…they are open air and seat from 9 – 20+ people, so sometimes you wait until they fill up. You pay the posted per person rate once you arrive at your destination. I think the rates from the Westin were slightly discounted.

Up early Thursday...walked over to make use of the free internet. Two computers in lobby...sometimes only one. But fast, and free. Breakfast...I had the same thing, Ken had eggs, bacon. They have a problem getting decaf coffee around here, but the juice is good. We decided to tour the island today, but missed the 9:30 tour (also one at 1:30) but were lucky enough to hook up with a nice taxi driver (Carlyle) that took Ken and I and an extended family (4 generations) of 6 around. $25 per person for about 2 1/2 to 3 hrs....ours took longer since we started out then had to go back to get the other family. Saw a lot of the north shore, nice scenery, including the overlook above Trunk Bay, but it looked nothing like the postage stamp…everything was sort of blah since the sky was so gray. We have been told it is because of the sand storm in the Sahara in Africa and the fact that it really hasn't rained...so it just creates a lot of hazy skies. You just don’t get the pretty turquoise water without sun and blue sky. We spent some time walking around the Annenberg Plantation ruins. Did get some nice photos...including one of a tarantula spider leg (he or she was shy) and some cool jack spaniel wasps.
Really interesting PBS Dance in America special filmed partly in St. John. Check out this website and scroll down on the RT side to access the ones filed in St. John. The synchronized swim one is amazing. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/shows/wolftrap/program.html) The Yosemite “luminescent flight” is also great. Stopped at the Chateau Bordeaux on the top of the mountain to take a few photos and I made a quick stop in the gift shop. So glad we weren't driving. There are lots of very narrow, very windy, very steep roads. Came back, had lunch at the Westin (fruit, nut bread minus nuts and mango sorbet for me and turkey club wrap for Ken...once again around $50). We decided to go back to room to unwind...and took a 3 hr power nap.
We went to dinner Thursday night with friends to the Waterfront Bistro in Cruz Bay. Since we arrived early, Sue and I were able to do a little shopping ...I got two very nice shell based necklaces and some pretty blue earrings using a local blue stone. We had a lovely table overlooking the water. The dinner was great. Sue and I both had the filet minion and it was just so tender ....melted in your mouth. Ken had the lamb and John had the salmon, and everyone thought it was the best food they had so far. Joe is the owner and a very nice enterprising young man...our taxi driver filled us in on him on the ride back. The restaurant overlooks the lights of St.; John and it was cool and not buggy...two things that make me happy when dining essentially outdoors.

Friday: The sun...the sun...finally we see the sun...but it is also around 90 degrees and it is 8 am! This is our 4th ...well really 3 1/2 day here. We decided to go over to Trunk Bay
…too bad it is such a lengthy process, as well as an expensive one....$18 each way for the taxi, $8 to get into the park...$14 more to rent chairs and then you hope there aren't a lot of cruise ships in town. I checked the Cruise Ship Calendar (http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/) and today there aren't supposed to be any in St. Thomas where all the day trippers come from. The waters of Trunk Bay are clear, warm, and oh so blue. Lots of birds flying around and as you float you look over the distant hills. The chairs they rent are the beach sand chairs, and not in the best condition. No umbrellas, but if you get there early enough, there is space in the shade under the trees. There is a shower facility, restroom, restaurant (Ken’s hotdog with sauerkraut was good…my hamburger pretty much not edible). They did sell mixed alcoholic drinks which surprised me for a state park. We spent around 5 hrs just reading and floating, then back to the Westin…quick note…some Taxi’s have Westin on the top…some do not. The one we got on the way back was not a Westin Taxi…and didn’t know the meaning of shock absorbers! Dinner that night was the company dinner at the Westin Beach and even though it was a buffet, it was fabulous. Lots of variety of food all perfectly prepared. One thing about the Westin, all of the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

Up early the next morning…we did the breakfast buffet (not worth the $24!) but since we had to eat fast to catch the 9am ferry that was pretty much our only option.

Back to St. Thomas….Ferry ride back was MUCH smoother that the trip over. Airlines left pretty much on time and we got back safe and sound.

I will post photos shortly, but nothing really outstanding due to overcast days and the fact that the one sunny day I left my camera in the room since I was going to be in the water. Will add the link to the photos later.

St. John - 5/27 - 5/31

Less than a week until we leave for St. John. We will only be there 5 days, and will be with a group, so it is really just an R & R vacation. This is a trip that my husband, Ken won from his company. It is a nice way to travel when some is picking up part of the tab! We will be staying at the Westin Hotel in Cruz Bay.