SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS - Part 2

5 nights was definitely not enough time to explore this area of Scotland - As the weather wasn't great there was no point in trying to walk so we did lots of driving. The ruins of Urquart Castle on the shores of  Loch Ness. 

We drove to a pretty place called Glen Affric - it looked like the whole area was maintained  by the Scottish Hydro system - there were lots of lovely walks.

The sun actually came out which was a pleasant surprise.

Detour on the way home along unknown roads - the countryside was exceptionally pretty.

We had - once again - another day of rain so we decided to take a train trip from Fort William to Mallaig. This was the train used in the Harry Potter movies. Unfortunately we didn't board on platform 9 3/4.  It was a 2 hour train trip,

Over the viaduct (also in Harry Potter)

It was sooo cold when we arrived (This is summer??) We had a couple of hours to kiil - we found a local pub for lunch & left just before our train was ready to depart.

Hopefully tomorrow the weather will start to improve.

THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

The village of Fort Augustus is a beautiful village on the southern tip of Loch Ness

it has a series of 5 locks for boats to enter or leave the Loch plus a couple of very nice pubs.

It was traditional Scottish weather -pretty bleak -  so we spent our first day visiting the Isle of Skye - what a panoramic drive - the countryside was breathtaking - the size of the mountains indescribable

We went via a back road to a little ferry to take us across to the Isle of Skye - that was fun. The operators actually pushed the top of the ferry around to line the cars up with the ramp. Our car was the first one off the ferry.

The drive was a bit scary (well for me it was) blind crests on hills & not knowing where the road was going. The landscape was barren, very cold & rainy

We drove up to Portree which was another very pretty village.

found a cosy cafe -  had local mussels & sea bass for lunch mmmmmm Cliff was happy with his meal (as was I) he felt very satisfied - the look on his face says it all.

a little bit of sight seeing & back in the car for the long drive home. 

We stopped along the way to view Eilean Donan Castle (which was owned by Connor McLeod in the movie "Highlander") and as we all know "There can be only one" but which one???

What a full day - back to our welcoming apartment for a blissful nights sleep - although the sun doesn't set until 10:30pm - by the time its dark it's 11:15 then we wake when it starts to get light at 5:30am - the nights are just not long enough.

SCOTLAND

EDINBURGH - our apartment was in the old part of the city - very close to the castle.

We spent a few hours touring the castle & then the Royal Mile (which is the road that leads directly to the castle)  Edinburgh doesn't worry about the state of the buidlings (unlike Paris) most of the buildings appeared very dirty & looked like they needed to be washed down.

We spent our first night in this little pub, the atmospere was incredible. 2 guys from a group called "The Gorm" were playing scottish music - some very traditional songs from the 1700's & then some they had changed the lyrics & all you could do was laugh. Of couse I had to buy their CD.

We picked up our hire car & boy, what a stressful time trying to get out of the city but eventually we made it & headed towards Loch Ness.

Our first stop was to visit Castle Campbell - it was very enlightening to find out my clan was not as bad as history portrayed them.

LOCH NESS - Our apartment in Fort Augustus was in " No. 3 The Old Convent" we were on the top level & I would thoroughly recommend it. The furnishings were extremely tasteful, a very large bedroom, full kitchen & cosy loungeroom - after a full day of driving it was a wonderful surprise, much more than we expected.

A good nights rest & then 4 days of sight seeing.

BRUGGE - BELGIUM

What a pretty city - dating back to medieval times, the architecture was very different to the other countries we toured so far. 

The sun was shining, it was a good day to see the city from the canals

This is Fidel - he's the dog that appeared in the movie "In Bruges" he apparently just sits at the window everyday & looks out over the water.

We saw Michelangelo's "Madonna & Child (1500's) " in the Church of Our Lady

the church was displaying beautiful artwork by Adriaen Isenbrant (1530) "Our lady of seven sorrows"

We finsihed off our 2 days in Brugge at a great pub/restauant - sorry for the blurry photo - I think the bar maid had too much to drink as well :-)

Friday 12th June - farewell to our European holiday, the time seems to have passed so quickly. Back to London on the Eurostar & off to Sheffield to catch up with Emily & John.

Rob & Doug dropped us off in Edinburgh on their way to explore the Orkney & Shetland Islands, meanwhile Cliff & I had 2 days to wander around Edinburgh - pick up our hire car - off to find Nessie.

PARIS - Part 2

Another city - another sporting event - seems to be something we keep running in to - cricket in the Caribbean  (Eng-v-West Indies), Italian car race, Giro d'Italia cycle race & now running in Paris

this is the third street wedding we've come across

As for sight seeing - we have seen so many amazing places, just when we think it can't get any better, the next place is just as amazing, if not more. Paris is extremely busy & the size of the buildings very hard to describe, absolutely massive.  I don't think we have ever seen old buildings as large as the ones in Paris.

So much to see - I think we walked 20 kms in one day & didn't even come close to seeing half of the sights.

Moulin Rouge - we went with high expectations 

A little disappointing as it was more a cross between rock esteiford & a cruise ship show  - only with very little clothing -  cheapest bottle of wine started at £70 ($140) !!!!!

3 full days of wandering the streets of Paris - it was exhausting, so on our final night Rob found a fantastic restaurant with great atmosphere where we could relax & chill.

We were ready to move on to our next destination of Brugge - fast train to Brussels & then catch a local train. 

Oops - wrong train to Brugge, but we got there after changing platforms - damn - no lifts - more stairs.

PARIS - part 1

Ahh - Paris - the city of love. 

We thought we would visit the Louvre with Rob & Doug - the queue was very long (in fact every museum had very long queues) so decided to part ways to discover Paris on our own.

Cliff & I wanted to walk along the Champs-Élysées. We were extremely lucky as for some unknown reason the road had been closed to traffic.

Paris is not only the city of love but even better than love - Food & Wine. 

There were wonderful markets selling Cliff's favourite beveridge - where in Sydney could you walk down the street drinking a beer?

Mmmmm - garlic snails (not for me thank you very much) but Cliff thought they were extremely yummy (note the live snails in the green basket next to Cliff)

Further along the Champs-Elysees we stopped at a cafe for our first toast to Paris 

I particularly liked the waiters uniforms - very smart & traditional

Not sure how many calories later, but finally we made it to the Arc de Triomphe (where you can walk to the top)

Oh no - more stairs - I was feeling a bit dizzy on the spiral staircase which seemed to go on forever.

But hey - we needed the exercise & it had great views from the top

We met a very enthusiastic Belgium soccer fan who was going to watch his team defeat France.  Lucky for him Belgium won 4-3. He was very happy to meet some Australians  & wanted to buy us a beer.

Well, what could we do - we had to accept the kind offer.