Hey all,
I hope your days are going along swimmingly. I am now on Pine Island once again, and will be here until early-mid August. This summer I feel a bit as though I am in limbo and just waiting to start the next adventure in Ottawa this fall. However, this is not how I like to live life. Though, when the future is big and exciting, it's hard to enjoy the present :) Nonetheless, I'm sure I can find some mischief this summer :)

I have been having some trouble trying to figure out what to do with my blog this summer. Life on Pine Island is just as it has ever been. I do believe I took every possible picture of this place last summer. I have been brainstorming for something interesting to do blog-wise this summer, but so far my creative juices are lacking. So, bare with me just a wee while longer, and perhaps I shall stumble upon something interesting :)

Drop me a line, eh. I'd love to hear what's going on in your world!!! :)

Onwards Once Again

Hey, hey,
So, just a brief update. I made it safely back to the Peg, though mighty exhausted. Since then, I've recovered from jet leg (though I'm still using it as an excuse for just about anything) :) and have kept well entertained. There was a brief trip to Caddy Lake in the Whiteshell with Clan Isaacs. There was general loafing around Winnipeg, with lots of visiting, mischief, and fun. J-Bird also managed to survive the crossing from the UK, so having another fellow vagabond home is a comfort :)
From here, I go to the lovely Pine Island. I leave tomorrow for an indefinite chunk of time. As far as I understand, we still have internet up there, so keeping in contact shouldn't be too trixy :) For those of you that still live in the Peg, I shall let you know when I'm next in the city and par chance, I shall see you then :)
I feel a bit blog weary at the moment, and definitely photo weary, so the first of the full and proper summer blogs may take some time :)
Hope all is well!!!
Love, Andrea

My Final Days in the UK

After a trip, there is always this recovery period, yet still this incredible bubble of energy inside that craves more adventure. Since before our Rome trip, I had begun to doubt whether I was ready to head back to Canada just yet. As the adventuring did not end when we got back from Rome, I really wanted to stay on longer. Though, as it turned out, I came back to Canada as scheduled. Nonetheless, my last few days in Newcastle were wonderful!

Saturday, 6 June
So, having returned late the previous night, we had a bit of a long lie. One of Tony’s friends, Kirsty, was in a rowing regatta in the town of Hexam. Her first race was at 930am. On account of morning laziness, Tony and I showed up about 3 hours late, but still caught some of the regatta. I enjoyed this as it felt so very British.



It was a cool day, but we had slept through the rain and it was really quite pleasant out (a might cooler than, Rome). Hexam is a great English village, so it was a great day of wandering the wee streets, checking out some local artists, local ale and pub grub. We had coffee in this odd little café with a very quirky artist fellow before heading back into Newcastle. Kirsty, who is a cellist, was also playing in a quartet that night in one of the cathedrals. Evidently this is a typical day of busy chaos in the life of Kirsty. We were happy to partake on the observer level and at a more leisurely pace. So, we hit up Tony’s local pub before heading to catch the quartet concert. It was a mighty fine display of musical talent and the music was great to boot. I was a bit worried that I would fall asleep from general fatigue, but the music was fantastic and kept me captivated :)
From here we went to hang out at Suzie and Kirsty’s place with their entourages. It was a very jovial evening with much hilarity :) Always good! :)

Sunday, 7 June
Now today we had an even longer lie as the Roman trip began to catch up a bit. We then met Julie for lunch in Newcastle at a great local place. Tony and I then headed off to the Baltic, which is a great local art gallery. Evidently, it’s a bit hit or miss, but there was an incredible exhibit on display at the moment. I’m afraid it is beyond words for me to describe it, but it was mighty cool! :)
It was also lovely to wander Newcastle again. Newcastle has been a little paradise for me over my time in the UK. It is a beautiful city and I will miss it dearly.




By this time, despite the long lie, we were exhausted and headed back to Tony’s place in North Shields for a lazy afternoon. We both ended up falling asleep listening to some good music. It was very nice to just chill out and recover :)
For dinner, Tony prepared some proper British fair of Bangers and Mash. It was delicious!
That night we went to a great local pub and had some local ale. It was a wonderfully English evening :)

Monday, 8 June
Tony took yet another day off work for the purpose of extended holidaying and we headed off to the stunning township of Durham. I admit, I was getting tired of taking photos, but I took a few of Durham just for your viewing pleasure. Though, Durham is a very beautiful place and on anther day, I reckon I would have had a hay day taking pictures :) I did my best considering :) The cathedral there is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in England, and she was definitely a beauty :)


There was a service going on when we first arrived, but even the grounds around are stunning, so we had a lovely wander, checked out the cathedral, and wandered along the river banks. It was beautiful and we were super lucky with the weather. It was a shiny day in a pretty place :)



Eventually, we made it back to Newcastle. I met up with Julie for dinner, which was great. It would be our last time to kick it in the UK on this trip, so we had a right good blether :)

Tuesday, 9 June and the Homeward Journey
This was the day I left the UK. It was very hard to leave. I had really enjoyed my time there and still doubted whether I was ready to leave. By now I most definitely had to leave. Tony drove me to the airport. I had my usual battle with Easyjet, which left me a damn sight poorer than previously, but that’s the way of the buffalo. As much as I love adventuring, I hate leaving. Today was a very hard day. Damn that buffalo! Nonetheless, I flew to Paris and found my hotel. I was only leaving the following day for Canada, so figured it was worth it to get a proper sleep in a hotel, rather than pass out on a bench in the airport. Good call, it was! :)

So I flew from Paris to Heathrow. Yes, I realize how stupid this back and forth business was. I then had to book it through Heathrow and got to my departure gate 2 minutes before it closed. Luckily, for whatever reason, I fluked an upgrade to Executive class for my journey across the pond. I’d say this is the way to travel. My tush didn’t even fall asleep, I could still feel my legs, and the food even tasted good! I had some lobster thing with mango salsa for a starter, sole for my main, a chocolate cherry cheese cake for dessert, coffee in real cups, and later a full afternoon tea! I was even hesitant to get off the plane by the time we reached Toronto, so pleasant was the trip! :) Ah, but then the thought of Tim Horton’s came to mind :)
I caught my next flight with relative ease, but by now was getting good and impatient to just get to the Peg. We finally arrived at 1030pm on Wednesday night. Karen and Stephen met me at the airport and I got some good Canadian hugs upon arrival (which was right up there with the champagne arrival drinks I had in Executive class from Heathrow) :)
And that’s me home again on Canadian soil! With any luck, I will be able to see you Canadian dwellers in not such a long time! :)

Here is my phone number for the summer in Winnipeg! Drop me a line, eh! :)
204-794-2496

Day 5: Friday, 5 June: The Last Hurrah!

So this was our final day in Rome. Our flight was set to depart at 930pm or so, but we still had a full day of exploring ahead of us.
In order to preserve energy (we were getting to be the weary traveller variety, for sure), we took the metro from near our hotel to the Piazza Navona. We all wanted to get a good picture of Rome and there were some mighty pretty ones to choose from. We were all mighty pleased with our choices and then continued to wander.
For all the epic monuments, fountains, and buildings, Roman streets were small, cozy and relatively simply. Just wandering through the streets was another highlight for me. They were picturesque and just plain fun to wander through.


We ended up at the Piazza del Popollo, which sports a few mighty cathedrals. We ventured into one in particular, which was said to have original works of Raphael and Caravagio. That it did! I have been stunned by the sheer history of Britain. I was stunned in Rome repeatedly by the consistent history of incredible art and wild style!


From here we returned to the Spanish steps for more photos.
We then hit up this kicking sandwich shop for the second time (not both in the same day, mind). Here they played 80s music, which I thoroughly enjoyed, had over the top waiters, and massive sandwiches, which delighted Tony to no end :) I do believe the very idea of this shop will warm all our hearts for years to come :) Here’s Julie enjoying the fantastic iced coffee that they whipped up for her :)

From here we went back to the Roman ruins area to check out the Capatine Museum. This museum was still epic, though not quite to the same level as the Vatican. However, I certainly enjoyed this one much more. It was chalk-a-block full of kicking art and statues, but very nearly empty. In some galleries, we were the only folk taking a gander :) Much more laid back, to say the least :)


Caught in a mimicking game :)


Attack of the mighty Roman hand!

By this time we had seen it just about in full, it was time to head back to the hotel and collect our bags before heading to the airport. We had enough time to have a quick snack and grab the last of the wonderful Italian coffee before the shuttle to the airport. Now, I haven’t really mentioned traffic in Rome, I believe the time has come. It is pure madness. Cars motor along the unlined streets and flail about the massive round-abouts. Then you have the vespas dashing in and out of the traffic, here, there, and everywhere. As a pedestrian, if you are ever going to cross the street, you just start crossing. By some act of the gods, the traffics stops for you. It takes some getting used to, but is really quite comfortable once you do adjust :) We were quite savy by the time we left. However, the drive into Rome from the airport took about 40 minutes. Going out, on account of the traffic, it took near on an hour and a half. Madness!
Anyways, we eventually made it, checked in, grabbed some food, and waited for our flight. We made it back to Newcastle in good form. We caught the metro and made it to our respective sleeping establishments safely, though wearily.
I was staying with Tony for the next few days before catching my flight to Paris, to catch my flight back to Canada. However, when we got to his, it was about 1130pm and we quickly discovered that the locks had been changed during our Roman holiday. After trying all possible doors, Tony tried to see which of his neighbours might possible be up that we could ring and be buzzed in. Just as we were guessing who to ring, a neighbour was meandering home and let us in! What luck! It was still funny when we were let in, but that is definitely something that can become not so funny pretty quickly :)
And that was us, all weary travelers happily home and pleasantly exhausted from a great holiday in Rome!!! :)

Day 4: Thursday, 4 June: Digging the Ancient Roman Ruins

This day we had a bit of a longer lie, which was mighty necessary. Then, off to the Coliseum. Now this is a mighty, mighty structure! It’s mostly the raw brick now, but back in the day this baby was decked out in marble! Later this day we ventured to this massively massive marble monument to the unnamed soldier. I have never been as hot as on this structure, and I’m not talking about looks, kids! It was smokin’ up there on account of the white marble. I cannot even begin to imagine how painfully hot it must have been in the coliseum with thousands of folk, the sweat of the games, and the white marble with the hot days sun! The very thought makes me want to pass to the next earth! ;)



This was a mighty cool historical do-ha to check out, though :) Even in ruins, she’s mighty. Now a days you can see what the Roman citizens couldn’t: the network under the stage floor. They have restored a small bit of the stands to show what it would have been like back in the day, otherwise it’s a might confusing :) We decided to take a tour of the collisueu, which proved to be handy. We had an Italian guide, who kept commenting on this persistent laziness of Italian, which was funny. We also learned a fair sum of info from him, which always adds to the experience.


From here we boogied on to the Roman forum. This was pretty cool as well, though the whole epic-ness began to wear a bit. Rome has simple been epic for centuries. It began even before the Romans and just seemed to change style over the years, but kept that same monumental kind of way about it! I thought the Roman ruins here would be more intact, but they were very much the ruins. You could still see how grand it all was back in the day and in such a prime location! :)





So, after a wander through Old Rome, we headed out for some grub. We hit up this total mafia joint and had some mafia beer and good mafia food :) It was refreshing and entertaining all at once :)


From here we checked out that previously stated massively marble monument to the unnamed soldier. This was pretty cool and we got some good and epic pics of the city ;)


Up top there also happened to be a Basilica, so we checked that out. It just happened to contain some paintings and that by Rafael, which was cool.
Then, gelato. One does what one has to do and my, my it was good :)
Now, back to Roman Holiday. Our dear Audrey goes to this big rock thing carved into a face with her journalist fellow. The tale goes that if you are telling a lie, when you stick you hand into the mouth of this face, it will eat your hand. It’s called the Bocca della Veritas. So, Aurdrey and her fellow, who are both telling lies regarding their personal identities, stick their hands in. It’s a tragic tale about how they both become amputees :) Just kidding, nothing happens. We felt the need to test our own honesty, so off we went.
Julie was obviously nervous about something…curious. And Tony refused to try at all. We are still theorizing about what lies he might be living :)


From here we headed back to the hotel to rest up. It was to be out last night in Rome and we were after some good food. There was one place listed in the guide book that was said to have invented the deep dish pizza. I am quite a fan of pizza any day, so away we went to this Italian pizzeria in a great little hide-away location. We had another great night of wine and good food. The pizza was yum! We chased it with various desserts and liqueurs. Julie and I tried the Italian liqueur, limoncello, which was shockingly pleasant and refreshing :) I’d recommend it chilled, if you can find it in you local :)

Day 3: Wednesday, 3 June: Oi! The Vatican!

On account of the Vatican being the main tourist attraction in Rome and being well known for its’ might line ups, we pre booked our tickets for 1030. Once again, we had a snappy start and booked it to the Vatican to make out time.



As amazing as the Vatican is, it is a feat of strength. It is rooms, and halls, and corridors, and stairs, and floors of mega art. It was cool, but exhausting and a total labyrinth that is absolutely heaving with people.






And here is an arty ball that some bloke comes and spins every 15 minutes. Kinda cool


My favourite gallery was the maps hall. It is huge murals of ancient maps. I could have spent hours in here, but with the onset of fatigue, the constant flow of people, and no idea where the end of the Vatican might be, we pressed on.



It was something else to see the Sistine Chapel. I can’t say it smelled so good, having thousands of exhausted and hot tourist wander through each day, but it was might impressive. You are allowed to take pictures throughout the Vatican, except for in the chapel. Nonetheless, I risked my blood for you and snipped this flash-free (for those of you who are concerned about the preservation of art) and blurry photo of the roof. Yes, that there fuzzy image is Adam and God. It was a lot to take in, but was pretty snazzy.


After a further wander, having totally lost any sense of direction, we made our way out. Here's the snazzy staircase that was the way out


We refreshed with beer and pizza at respective establishments, before heading back to St Peter’s square with the intent of entering the Basilica. The line to enter the basilica wrapped around the whole of the square, just about. We figured it would have been about a 2-3 hour wait and thus not worth it. So, after a short photo session, we wandered onwards.
We had the intention to wander through a park near the Vatican, but were never able to find the entrance. And, in a thoroughly exhausted state we gave up and headed back to the hotel, stopping for cappuccinos and gelato on the way :)


We rested and then headed out again for at 8ish. Funnily enough, we ended up in the very same are we had eaten the previous night, but ate at a different local. This place felt very local and we well enjoyed the night. Again, we hit up the gelato joint before wandering back to the hotel to rest our very weary bones :)

ROMA!

Okay, so my last day of work (Saturday, 30 May) went smoothly enough. I waltzed out of the place happily enough, and had to book it home to pack up. The packing took excessively long due to an overwhelming hatred of packing. The process involved about 2 beers, 4 cups of tea, some coffee, dinner, a film, and some procrastinating phone calls. Nonetheless, after a noble effort, all my junk was tucked away into the two massive suitcases. I had sold my bike, but never seemed quite able to even advertise my guitar. So, I left it to my flat mate. This way, my beautiful guitar will forever live in my happy house in Inverness…well, in my mind at least :)

Then, Sunday morning came swiftly and I hauled my bags to the bus station (with the help of the cabbie, of course) and headed for Newcastle.

Tony met me at the bus station, much to my relief. Together, we lugged the luggage to his place. Now the fun begins. I stress about baggage and lugging it places. So, with it properly installed at Tony’s, it felt like holiday time! Hoo RAH! We promptly headed out with that holiday notion to wander North Shields and Tynemouth. We got some chips (from a proper English chippy) and took the river walk to smell the sea and enjoy the beautiful day. We eventually made it back to Tony’s just in time to have Julie join us for supper. Tony, once again, cooked up a wonderful feast, even with a broken oven! It was a great night to mark the beginning of the holiday.

Day 1: Monday, 1 June: To Rome!
After a leisurely morning that involved final packing and preparations, we caught the metro to the airport to meet Julie and head off to Rome!




So, the flight went smoothly enough and we quickly found the hotel. We met Otis, the kickingly old school lift in the hotel, which would prove both handy and entertaining throughout our trip :) After a quick glance at the digs, we headed off for some of Italy’s best :) We stumbled upon this cool Basilica on our way. It was massive. Can you find Julie? There was also some cool modern door art:




We had a lovely meal with some tasty wine. Now, though days of travel sound easy, they are somehow exhausting! The mix of travel-fatigue and wine, put us all in the mood for sleep. So, back to the hotel we went to hit the hay. (In our defence, you may be thinking that this is shockingly early for such young and lively folk, but we only arrived into the Rome airport at 830pm, so it wasn’t so early after all).

Day 2: Tueday, 2 June: A Roman Wander
We had an easy start this fine morning, which included fantastic Roman coffee and a bit of breakfast. This day we decided to keep it simple and wander some of the areas of Rome, which is a remarkably epic experience! :)



First off, we hit up the Spanish Steps. This sight you may be acquainted with on account of Audrey Hepburn’s film Roman Holiday. It was just as lovely for us as it was for her, I’m sure. There are these lovely artists selling their pics on top of the steps, with a snazzy fountain lying at its feet. Please note that this slick looking stair case is marble. More on marble and Rome to come :)





We then wandered along the River Tiber. It was a nice walk, but I really felt they could do so much more with the riverside. I think they might still be gearing up for peak tourist season, though. For us, the riverside was mostly bare, but it seemed there was a bit of construction and similar such activity going on to beautify the area. We hit up a nice café here for some panini and definitely more coffee.

From here, we ventured to the Piazza Navona to check out some more artists, and massively massive fountains complete with statues. This seems to be a mighty consistent them in Rome.
To be honest, I can’t remember the order of this day… but in some order these are the things we did :)
We checked out the Pantheon. This was kind of cool, but honestly I expected something a bit more pagan, as it likely was back in Roman times. Now is has been Catholicized and acts much like the other churches and cathedrals in Rome. None the less, the massive hole in the roof posed an interesting photo piece :)





Finally, we wandered on to the Fontane Travastere. Now this would be the most massive of epically massive Roman fountains. This place was also heaving with tourist. None the less, we made our way down to the fountain, made wishes, took photos, and enjoyed the epic-ness of the place. :)




I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t like Rome so much for all the tourist. However, I loved it. Rome has a wonderful atmosphere. The locals don’t seem to absolutely loathe the tourists, as the Parisians do, and even were quite willing to play around with and charm the travellers. Many a male Roman teased Tony for being some sort of Casanova, having two fine looking ladies by his side :) I was most definitely aware of where my purse was and who was near me at all times, but Rome still felt safe to me and really quite pleasant. The streets were fantastic. Here are some streets, windows and buildings:




Pasta has never really been a favoured food of mine, so I kind of expected to not enjoy the food so much. Wrong-o, boy! The food was amazing. I suppose if you are going to like pasta it will have to be in Italy. I had a wonderful ravioli, which is usually filled with ricotta cheese and spinach, and with a walnut sauce. Yum! All the food we had was lovely and with fine beverages to boot. The Italians have found the perfect combination of beverages: cappuccinos and wine (not together, but at various times of the day, of course). I was mighty happy with this arrangement :)
So, after our wanderings, Julie, who was battling a cold, decided to head back to the hotel to recuperate for a few hours, whilst Tony and I continued some general wanderings. We headed to the Villa Borghese, which is a good sized parky area for a nice wander. There are these magnificent trees that just smack of Rome to me. It was nice to get up and close to some of this fine looking flora.


We then wandered down the Via del Corso, which is said to be “shamelessly glamorous” and one runs the chance of seeing Victoria Beckham types. We just found it a decently cool pedestrian street, packed with people and shops and street performers. We also stumbles into a pretty cool cathedral to check out some gold baroque styles. Man, if I though St. Petersburg, Russia was a bit overdone with the gold baroque architecture, it has nothing on Rome! :) That is a mighty impressive style! :)


We then made our way back to the hotel to meet Julie and then head out for some supper. Tourist go for food at like 6 or 7 usually. We were a bit more lackadaisical and ate like the Romans, no earlier than 8 or 9. Sometime we went for a drink first at 8ish, then wandered on for food for 9ish. This was definitely a great way to be J I think our suppers and nights out were my favourite bits of time. As impressive and beautiful as Rome is, this part of our time there was prime :) We hit up a place not too far from the hotel and had fabulous food and good wine whilst sitting outside and breathing in that lovely Roman air. Afterwards, we picked up some gelato. I got pistachio and blackberry, which happened to be purple and green. So, not only was mine the best tasting, but also the best looking by sporting the best colour combination out there ;)




From here, we just wandered home, laughing, and enjoying the night air of Rome. Happily, we all felt very safe in Rome, even at night :)

The Pre-Holiday Holiday

So, I would most definately recommend a pre-holiday holiday to anyone. Though, it may run the risk of confusing a person entirely, it is really a remarkably enjoyable event :)
So, I worked Friday morning, very impatient for the pre-holiday to begin. I met Tony at the train station at 8 and we headed to Johnny Fox's for a drink to cap off the weekend. We were chilling out with some Belhaven's Best when the band came on. So, we figured we'd check out the digs. And do you know who was our dear lead guitarist? You guessed it! DONALD! I nearly laughed myself off my seat and Tony quite quickly began to love Donald as well. So, we chilled and enjoyed that wonderful playing and singing that can only be Donald before heading back to mine and crashing.

The next morning we had a snappy start and were up and away to Cromarty for a 1030 boat tour of the Moray Firth. We had coffee for our hour bus ride out, which was a pure genius idea, by my opinion. So, first things first, we got to put on these snazzy jump suits, which i really dug. They came in quite handy later on when it started to rain a bit. So, regardless of your feelings about jumpsuits, these babies were pure gold :)


Then we took off in the kicking boat with twin 150 horse power motors, doing some loops and twirls to get everyone used to the motion of the boat


The boat tour was great and not only because we got biscuits and orange juice half way through :) We got to see some pretty cool sights on both land and see. We observed some dolphins kicking it in the firth. Some were playing, some were eating, and some were playing with what they were eating. It is mighty cool to see these animals doing what they do. They got much closer than this and did far cooler stuff than what this picture captured. Tony got a great picture of one of the dolphins tossing its fishy lunch ahead of it and then catching it again.


Some of the rugged coast line


Here are some left over observation stations from WWII. Cromarty Firth was blocked off from the Moray Firth and the North Sea by a massive chain netting and these stations were on both sides of the mouth of the firth. I figure they'd be prime camping sights now a days :) Though, i don't think i'd cross this bridge too soon


And then finally back to the quaint fishing village of Cromarty






Once back in the village we hit up some fab lunch at a great cafe. I had a mighty tasty seafood chowder, which hit the spot after getting a bit cold on the boat tour. We then wandered the town, before checking out a short hike to a viewpoint near the point of the firth.
After thoroughly exhausting ourselves, we headed back to the bus stop to catch the bus home. Our dead 415 bus just decided not to come, which, evidently just happens sometimes in Cromarty. Some of their buses purely exist on paper. Nonetheless, the 515 bus wasn't more than an hours wait away...or so we hoped :)
I, personally, had a mighty difficult time staying awake on this bus back to Inverness. We headed back to mine for a rest and a taste of the Hendricks Gin, which is a Scottish gin that is taken with cucumber, rather than lime. This was a mighty necessary little break for the both of us.
Eventually we gathered enough strength and headed back into town for some supper. We headed to Hootenany's for some tasty thai food, which hit the spot quite well. We met a wierd Glaswegian lassie, and then enjoyed some wonderful traditional Scottish music. It was 3 shy looking fellows from the islands that played the bagpipes (a lowlander/northumbrian verson, we theorized), guitars, and a larger and deeper version of the tin whistle. They rocked the house and we got to see a smashing run of 'strip the willow.' Now, if you don't know about this song and dance, it is a wild bit of flaling, twirling, and spinning in and among a good sum of folk to some mighty lively music. It was a great night with wonderful music, good food, tasty local beers, and fantastic company. This was a mighty fine day :)

The following day we had a bit of a longer lie before heading out and finding Tony a decent version of the full highland breakfast :) Our waitress was a bit swarthy, but it was a hearty start to another full day :) From breakfast we headed off to Drumnadrochit to test our luck along the Loch Ness, home of the fearsome Nessie :)
Do you see her in this picture??? :)No, eh... ah well, maybe next time. I was once told by an old fellow that it takes a dram to see Nessie, but not a wee one :)


We were warned by a local of Drumnadrochit that the bridge on our wee hike had washed out and that we may not be able to make it to the loch. We figured we'd give it a go anyways, and it ended up taking some courage and balance to cross the river, but we survived :) Unharmed, even :)


A pretty pretty river, all in all :)


First, took a short hike down towards the loch. I was blown away at the carpets of bluebells (which are really purple, much to my delight) of the forest floor.


Back in Drumnadrochit we hit up the local pub for some haggis and stout for lunch. We capped this off with some fantastic desert. I had a whisky cake of pure bliss and Tony had a liquered cheesecake which was mighty fine as well. We very merrily headed off for another hike. This time we headed up into the hills to catch some good sights of the town and loch.


This was a pretty cool hike in a pine forest. It was very different from the mornings' lowland hike and even had some educational plaques here and there :) We were super lucky with the weather while we were hiking in the hills.


There was a good and old, huge Red Pine something or other at the trailhead. Here's Tony, who is 6'4" or so looking not so tall in the massively huge tree trunk :)


Now it was a good thing Tony was along, because I couldn't seem to keep any sense of direction on this particular day. Eventually, we wandered back to the town, no thanks to my direction :) and had a cup of tea while waiting for the bus back to Inverness.

Back in Inverness we had a great dinner at a cool local restaurant before heading back to Hoots to see what music might be had on Sunday night. It seemed to be a few old guys playing a Scottish hippie version of Simon and Garfunkle with some Metallica undertones. Nonetheless, we enjoyed a lovely night listening to this quite tame folk music.

And then it was Monday morning and the final day of the pre-holiday holiday. We decided to putz around Inverness. We walked the charming Ness Islands, wandered up to an old pictish settlement, which is now an odd hill in the middle of a large and creepy cemerery, had some lunch, and checked out a cool exhibition at the Castle gallery. We then hit up the legendary Leeky's cafe & bookstore for some amazing sticky toffee pudding and coffee. This is the stuff dreams are made of, folks :)
After a peruse through the old maps and pictures, it was nearing the time for Tony's train back to Newcastle and my bus up to work, so we headed off to the station.

So, it was a mighty fine weekend. One of the best kinds, I'd say :)
Now, I have a week to rest up, pack up, and move out. Then, onward to Newcastle and ROME!!! I'd say the pre-holiday holiday was excellent preparation for whatever may still lie ahead :)

East European Extravaganza: Part 9 (the last bit)

Day 9: 16 May

We had a bit of a long lie, which was really very nice after a week of early rising :) A number of the folk on my tour were heading out on the Croatian Sailing tour through the same company. So, we headed down to the harbour to bit them farewell. I had thought about doing this one as well and was mighty jellous of them as they settled in on their very snazzy boats :) I reckon my dad would have enjoyed a long meander through the harbour, never mind a day trip on the boats to one of the nearby islands :)


We then took to exploring Split. Split is situated on the stunning Adriatic Sea and was built back in the day by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. The happening part of town is Diocletian's Palace, which is where people live, shop, eat and drink. It was very cool to wander through these very ancient streets :)


We went up one of the tours for a view of the city. The roof tops were excellent, being teracotta :)



Here's me kicking it on the tower


And the city


And Lauren very proud that she survived the wicked steps of the tower

Then we continued to explore the palace district. The again involved ice cream, which slavic countries seem to do so very well :) Here's some of our local finds. I could see anyone with an eye for photography having a hay day in this place. My ones are certainly lacking, but you can get a bit of an idea of what it looked like :)



It is evidently good luck to touch the massive toe of this vehement individual. So we did. I have nothing against generic good luck :)

We then meandered to the other side and had a wander up that hill you can see in the earlier photo of the city scape. Up here we found this tiny church, very picturesque :)


Best of all, we found this outdoor cafe on the hill top and partook in some delightful Croatian coffee. Feeling thoroughly lazy at this point, we lingered and moved from coffee to beer before eventually heading back down the hill. Prime :)




Now, it was closing in on when I had to head off to the airport. We headed back to Lauren's hostel, grabbing a pizza dinner on the way. I had a quick shower and clean up before ambling to the local bus that would eventually take me to the airport.
The bus I took, I was told, would take me about an hour. I left myself just over an hour and a half. Lucky that I did. I just squeezed in on time! The bus took every last minute it had and gave me a near heart attack when it stopped and cleared out at a bus station no where near the airport!!! These are character building experiences... you know the ones that remind you that yes you do have a heart that beats in your chest and it is very bad when it stops :) None the less, I made it to the airport. Once through security I had a very quick bit of chocolate with a coffee to blow the last of my Croatian Kunas before bording the plane to Gatwick.

I then had a lovely sleep on a bench in Gatwick airport, which seems very well planned for travelers to sleep in the airport :) Then caught my flight back to Inverness to arrive at about 5pm on 17 May. I slept very well that night! :)

So, I loved my trip. I loved everywhere we went and would love to go back for some further exploration. Anyways, it was wonderful. Now I'm back on the final stretch of work and looking forward to a pre-holiday holiday in the highland with Tony this
weekend!!! It's a good life :)

East European Extravaganza: Part 8

Day 8: 15 May

We started out morning with what we jokingly called a sub-continental breakfast as it was organized by our dear guide and driver. Then we speedily headed off to Plitvice National Park. Evidently this place can be very popular with the tourists, so we were through the gate by 830 in order to get pictures with out 10 german tourists in each photo. The timing was grand. We were able to explore the whole huge and massive park relatively tourist free. By the time we left 4 hours later, the place was really starting to heave.

Freedom vessel :)


The walkways. Didn't feel like you were cruising around on the beaten trail, while still protecting this amazing terrain


Amy really dug the park :)


Another route to freedom


Kickin' place, I tell you. The pics just don't seem to do it justice! :)


Right, so with the incoming GTs, we fled the scene and headed off to Split, the beautiful Roman-built coastal town. Now, Croatia was by far the most expensive country we had yet been in and with the strongest currency, but it is not apart of the EU. So, I wondered what about this place gives it such a strong economy. Evidently, tourism. I have a really hard time believing that the strength of the Croatian economy is solely based on tourism, especially as they seem to have felt only very faint effects of the recession... Anyways, if you have any ideas, do tell :)
One way or the other, this was also the easiest country to travel through as a tourist (as much as I hate to call myself a tourist... Traveler feels better) :)

We actually traveled through a mountain in order to cross into the coastal region. It took me a minute to realize what was happening and that the tunnel we were traveleing through was mighty long :)


And the other side of the mountains :) Quite different, eh :) Still quite striking :)



Once we arrived in Split, we separated into separate accomodation. We quickly dropped our things before heading back to meet up for a short walking tour and head for our last night out together and it was a great night. We had a wonderful Croation seafood feast at an outdoor cafe in the palace area. Then we headed off to an outdoor pub and enjoyed some Croatian beer under the stars :) It was a wonderful night, but sad to say goodbye to some of the folk. I do believe my next big trip will have to be to Australia and New Zealand :)
However, Lauren and I still had a full day in Split to look forward to :)

East European Extravaganza: Part 7

Day 7: 14 May

And what are travels without hicups! This morning we realized one big hicup: the bus had been broken into during the night. Thankfully nothing had been left on the bus. The only thing that got taken was the camera and screne that Vladi used to back the bus up. I just don't see why this was worth the risk, but one way or the other, a formal police report had to be made. So, we left Budapest and hit up a small town on the border of Hungary so that Vladi and Robbie could report the robery. Luckily, Robbie, being Hungarian, spoke Hungarian. I can't imagine how difficult this would be if he didn't speak the local language! Anyways, so we got a short break in a lovely Hungarian village for a mid-morning coffee break :)


From here we continued to the Croatian border. Now, Croatia is not a part of the EU, so we all (yes, even me) had our passports handy. This border crossing took a good long while. They checked all our passports very thoroughly, the checked the whole bus, they even checked the baggage store. Robbie and Vladi figured the guards were just plain bored and trying to stir up some activity just for kicks. Ah, such is the life of a border guard :) Anyways, we made it through safely, We now left Central Europe behind and entered the Balkans! :)


So, it turns out that the neck tie was invented in Croatia. Sorry lads, you can address your beef with the country yourselves. :) The Croatian word for tie is kravat, which gives rise to the rumour that this is where Croatia gets its name from... I'm not so sure I believe it... :)

This was again going to be a day of a lot of driving, but no one seemed to feel it for how exhausted we were from Budapest. I enjoyed watching the landscape change until we pulled up to the Balkan War Memorial. This is an out door museum, which is situated in the heart of where the conflict was from 1991-1996. Though this war is called a civil war, it was really a war of independence as Yugoslavia broke into separate countries. It was again surreal to see some of the lingering damage in the area. Most houses are still riddled with bullet holes.


The war museum itself was in the worst state, being left and never rebuilt. Here's a house that had residents in it until 1994. Evidently the war still hangs heavily over Croatia and has even acted as a hinderance with Croatia's relationship with the EU.


From here we pressed on to where we would stop for the night. On the way we came across this interesting little village. Yes, your eyes aren't decieving you, the river is running through the bottoms of the houses. In fact, there are little turbine things in there, turning away with the flow of the water. It turns out that the houses with water gushing out the bottoms are little factories that can be used by anyone in the village. They are either for making yeast or for making felt rope from raw wool. Pretty cool, eh :)


Here's a cool waterfall just near the village.


And at last we came to our campsite. We stayed in these cool cottages, which was a mighty nice treat from the cities :)


For sitting on a bus all day, we were all exhausted. Our stellar guides put together a mighty fine BBQ and we had a great night with fire, a bbq dinner, and some wonderful Croatian beer, which was the best beer I'd had yet! :)


Here are the proud boys who managed to put the bbq together and proceeded to burn things at random... boys...honestly! :)


And so, that was our first taste of Croatia. So far, I loved Croatia. I loved the terrain. This felt like a country that loved the outdoors! Anyways, more on Croatia later :)

East European Extravaganza: Part 6

Day 6: 13 May

Some of you know my issues with decision making... Anyways, I had to decide whether to take a bike tour of Budapest or a caving tour. My initial leaning was for the spelunking under Budapest. However, after painful mulling it over, I chose the bike tour. Given more time in Budapest, I would most definitely have done the caving, but I wanted a full taste of this city before I left. The bike tour turned out to be fantastic! It was a bit more risky than the Krakow tour being a much bigger and busier city, so there are fewer pics on the fly. However, I was infinitely impressed with infrastructure for cyclists!!! Marguerite, you would love it! :)
Bike lights, yup that's right :)


Ya, try reading this sign. Honestly! :)


And a massive monument depicting Hungary's history


A monument to Anonymous, the writer :) It's evidently good to touch his pen for better writing and understanding. Worth a go, if you ask me :)


And here's our cycle crew chilling with old Anon. Please note the girls on the left that wanted to be in the pic. We have no idea who they are, but they also wanted a picture with Sue, the little Asian lady on our tour afterwards. Sue reckoned that they'd never seen an Asian before :)


And here is the bath house. It is a series of pools and saunas that you go between. Yes, you wear your bathing suit here, unlike the Russian bath houses :) Yes, we most definitely came back later. Yes, we spent a good few hours here. I even chatted with a couple of old fellows who were playing chess in the sauna. They were open air, so we stayed all through dusk until the stars came out. I was very pruney, but very clean :)


After the bike tour, Nicki and I had a wander about the Buda side, which is the historic side where the palace is. The Pest side of the Danube was where our hostel was and where most of the young people live. We checked out the big cathedral where St. Stephen's hand is housed. We totally leeched off an Asian tour group to see it, too. You are supposed to put a coin in and the casing lights up so you can see the hand.
The Cathedral


Inside


And the hand. Wierd,eh :)


Some styling Budapest architecture. This is just one part of a very large structure. It was built in a bunch of different architecural types to represent all the different eras through which Budapest was built


Nicki and I also took the cable car up to the Palace and got some good views of the city.





After our wander, we met up with some others from our crew and headed to the bath house. It was a great cap to a great day :)

So, that was Budapest. The time flew. I would like to go back and check out those caves, for sure! :) It wasn't a long time, but it was a mighty good time :)

East European Extravaganza: Part 5

Day 5: 12 May

We had a big day of driving a head of us, so it was another early start. However, after such busy days in Poland, I wasn't so opposed to the idea of driving all day. We were driving from Zakopane, which is on the Polish border, through Slovakia, and onward to Budapest, Hungary. It was raining, but I always thing rain suits long road trips. We were quickly met with road construction and took a detour. This led us through tiny mountain villages that most folk would never get to see. It was a beautiful morning.


Slovakia proved to be a stunning country. When they joined the EU, they were one of the few countries to take on the Euro, which wasn't the best idea. The country has suffered economically more than its neigbours for it, even before the recession. As the euro tends to make things expensive, most folk tended to take their money to their cheeper neighbours to spend. However, the terrain of this coutry constantly kept my eyes occupied.


Slovakia is also a mighty young country, being only 16 years old! It has a long history of various occupations, it seems. The Hungarians, then the Nazi's. They were liberated from the Nazis by the Czechs, so they joined up with the Czechs to make Czechoslovakia. This union dissolved in 1993, thus giving Slovakia full independent country status. It joined the EU in 2004.

Anyways, the mountains and villages were lovely in Slovakia. We lunched here before carrying on to Hungary.


Now, Hungary is an interesting place. I hadn't realized that it has nothing to do with Slavs. As our guide put it, "Hungary is an island in the Slavic Sea." Too right! This was the first time that I really couldn't make heads or tails of my surroundings!!! Naturally, this intrigued me :) Here's us figuring out where in blazes we were :)


The Hungarians are made up of the Huns as well as a tribe from the Ural Mountains in Russia. Like Russia, they were overrun by the Mongols, which tended to cease development in a country. Later, it was the Ottomans. The Austrians helped the Hungarians get rid of the Ottomans, which gave rise to the mighty Austo-Hungarian empire. This was divided afer WWI. The Hungarians allied with the Nazis in WWII, which meant they became a battle ground between the Russians and Germans. Budapest was totally leveled, and then occupied by the Soviets. Hungary became communist, but not a part of the USSR. Due to a revolution in the 1960s, Hungary adopted a softer form of communism that seemed to work better than Russia's War Communism. The Hungarian version was called Goulash Communism, yes, after the food :)
The political system changed in 1989 to a very harsh form of capitalism. Many of the young folk left the country at this point looking for a better/easier way of life. Now, it seems, things have settled down. Budapest was a hopping city full of young people and life, and a thriving arts community. The currency, they say, is very pretty, but worth nothing :) It's true it takes about 600 Forint to buy a beer. However, I would NOT recommend Hungarian beer. That tasted like monkey bottom. Stick to the wine, I say. That was the digs. :) Here's me enjoying the crazy currency :)


I admit, I was expecting more of Budapest considering all the fantastic things I had heard said about it. However, my first impression wasn't that wonderful. It was dirty, busy, run-down looking, a bit blase really. Our guide, Robbie, just happened to be a local of Budapest, so he gave us a fantastic tour of the place and really picked up my impression! We had a Welcome to Budapest night, as he called it. A quick orientation tour before heading off to a traditional dinner of soup, goulash, and the Hungarian crepe-pancake thing. Following this we took an evening boat cruise on the river Danube, before heading off to Robbie's local "party place." Night clubs are evidently very sketchy brothels, so he warned us never, ever to go to one.

Here one of Hungary's biggest synagoges.

The Nazis went through a big campaign againt Hungarian Jews during WWII. This synagoge was rebuilt after the war with a monument to the victims.


From the walking tour, we headed to a local restaurant for our dinner. It was amazing! Here's Nicki enjoying her goulash :)


Then onto the boat cruise, which I totally dug. My camera isn't super fantastic in the dark, but here are some decent enough pictures :)
The Palace:


The snazzy bridge


And the kicking Gothic Parlaiment building


From here we hit up Robbie's local hang out, which he called the "party place."


I really dug it, it was low key and chill. It took up a whole block and was tonnes of different rooms and floors. People were just hanging out, listening to some live music, and enjoying the wild decor :)



I had a wander about the place just to take pictures. It seems I wasn't alone with this. I saw some artsy Hungarians doing the same, though with more fancy cameras than my one. I think I still got some goodies :)



So, that was our first night in Hungary and I was looking forward to another full day in Budapest :)

East European Extravaganza: Part 4

Day 4: 11 May

So, we left Krakov mighty early after illegally parking on the street to load the bus... Ah, central Europe :) From here we headed to Zakopane, which is in the mountians and still in Poland. This was a wonderfully short drive, which gave us lots of time to explore Zakopane.
After settling into the new digs, we promptly started out walking tour and then parted for further exploration. Here's the new digs and our styling bus:


Here's a Zakopane type housy building


Now, my Polish friends at work were mighty keen on me visiting Zakopane. It has the flavour of a ski village, not dissimilar to Whistler, BC. Furthermore, these particular mountains were the stomping ground of some mountain people. Evidently, these mountain people talk a bit differently from the rest of the Polish in the area, which is a point of humour to my Polish friends at work. I loved hearing them tease the accent (reminiscent of Newfies, I suppose). :) However, these mountain people are quite good at a certain cheese, that happens to be smoked! I thought I would have to hunt a but to find said cheese, but no, there were racks and stacks of it everywhere. So, I tried a few :) I`d say the medium smoked was my favourite, smokey, but not too salty. It was also squeeky cheese, like that stuff in winnipeg :) mmm.



Anyways, not everyone was so into the cheese, so we branches and explored further. Lauren and I chose to hitch a ride on the cable car and wander the hill tops


The sights were amazing!!! I do love the mountains :)



We also had some rainy weather while on the mountain top. However, this proved a convenient opportunity for some ice cream while we waited for the rain to pass. We were both very pleased with the ice cream :) It was also mighty cool to watch the rain storm travel through the valley :)



That night the whole group came together again for a feast in a Polish restaurant. It was a mighty mighty feast that solely consisted of meat! Shocking, i know. I shared a lamb platter with Teressa, Nicki, and our guide Robbie. Robbie was a very happy boy with all this meat around. It was a great restaurant and the lamb was amazing. However, just about everyone had wierd dreams that night, which we took as meat hangover dreams :) It was worth it, though :)


There was also some local tunes going on, which I always appreciate :) it was a great night out


So, that was Zakopane. I dug it, to be sure :)