The Hunt for Nessie

After a couple nights in the Cairngorms National Park, we hopped in the car and headed for our next destination, Loch Ness! We had aimed to take a little diversion down into Speyside to visit a distillery or two but ended up getting diverted and instead found ourselves heading north towards Nairn which turned out to be a good thing as the Speyside itinerary would have added quite a few hours to our trip and would likely have seen us arrive quite late at Loch Ness. As Scotland is thick with distilleries, we were not too put out and vowed to make it up later. On the drive, we saw several deer (including two very young ones) as well as a pair of pheasants (male and female) that were only feet away from the car. The male pheasant really is a beautiful creature although clearly not the brightest of beasts (how it managed to let us get so close is beyond me).

On the way, we stopped off at an 17th century bell tower, visited an old church and passed by Culloden battlefield (we decided to postpone the visit as it was late in the day) before arriving at the charming Loch Ness lodge. The Loch Ness Lodge is a beautiful, luxury B&B so dinner was, by necessity, offsite. We dined at the Loch Ness Inn where Christos' prawns were excellent and Lisa's fish was top notch. A shuttle bus back to the Lodge was passed on at 10pm, resulting in more Guinness being quaffed and we ended up being the last customers at the Inn! We finally got back to the Lodge shortly after 11pm and fell asleep watching a little TV.

The next day, Lisa was not feeling very well so she skipped breakfast which was a pity as it was excellent. Christos had the traditional Scottish breakfast of eggs, bacon, roasted cherry tomatoes and sausage accompanied by freshly squeezed OJ and a wonderful, large cappuccino.

After breakfast we headed off to visit the Culloden battlefield site where in April 1746 hopes of a restoration of the Stuart family to the throne of England were finally dashed after 57 years of hopes and dreams. The site and visitor centre are very well done with enlightening exhibits, helpful guides in period costumes and a GPS based listening tool that tells you about different spots on the battlefield. Perhaps the most moving part is the row of clan grave markers which still have raised mounds of earth behind them covering the bodies of the fallen.

After Culloden, it was off to the Black Isle (which is actually a peninsula) for lunch and scenic views from the spit near Fortrose which also hosts an interesting ruined cathedral.

Then we drove back towards Loch Ness, bypassing Inverness, with a stop at the Glen Ord distillery for a wee tipple and some whisky buying. As the previous night's meal had been grand, we opted to not try a new establishment and returned to the Loch Ness Inn for dinner where Christos ordered the mussels but settled for the seafood gnocchi (mussels being all gone) while Lisa indulged in one of her favourite meals, the hamburger. Finally we took an early shuttle back to the Lodge and got good night's sleep before getting ready for our lo drive the next day to Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

The Magic of Cairngorms Park

We arrived at the lovely Docharn Lodge (a B&B), located near Boat Of Garten, after a lovely drive from Edinburgh through the hills and dales of the Scottish Highlands. After a warm welcome from our hosts, we relaxed for a couple of hours before heading off to a local hotel and pub at nearby Carrbridge around 8pm. Carrbridge is a quaint little town, most famous for its lovely stone bridge over the river at one end of town that is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands, having been built in 1717. While the bridge was damaged in the 19th century and is unusable for traffic today, it is quite lovely and worth a look if one is near Aviemore (the largest town nearby). Dinner of fish and chips for Christos and Ale Pie for Lisa was good and washed down by Guinness. On the drive back, we saw several deer in the local woods, a big thrill for city slickers like us! When we got back to Docharn Lodge, we snuggled in to our bed and watched the first episode of Game Of Thrones as well as the first episode of Outlander. While we love GOT, Outlander was in some ways more intriguing as it is set in the Highlands, near Inverness, and thus resonated with us. We finally drifted off to sleep around midnight with the blinds tightly drawn as even at night it is not completely dark at this time of year in the Highlands.

The next day we woke a little late due to jet lag, ate a lovely breakfast that appealed to our Canadian sensibilities (unlike most of Europe, the Scots know how to do breakfast; bacon, eggs, beans, sausage, black pudding and more!) and then off we went for our first full day of touring the highlands.

First we visited the Osprey Sanctuary nearby where we joined the RSPB (The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and saw Ospreys, Woodpeckers, other gorgeously coloured songbirds and rare Red Squirrels! Quite fun and they have done a great job with the centre as it allows visitors to see the Ospreys from a distance (via telescope/binoculars), thus not disturbing the wonderful birds of prey, while the closer by bird and squirrel feeders are overrun with other creatures and do not require the use of optical aides to view the animals.

After the Osprey Sanctaury, we headed to the nearby town of Aviemore for a quick bite before heading to Loch An Eilein for a wonderful hour and a bit stroll around the Loch complete with a view of the lovely ruined castle on an island in the Loch. Loch An Eilein was a bit more popular than we had thought and we encountered quite a few other walkers on the trail.

We got back to Docharn Lodge around 5pm and relaxed for a bit before heading to the "Winking Owl" for dinner around 8pm where Christos had the Cullen Skink and a meatie while Lisa enjoyed a burger, one of her preferred meals. Dinner was interrupted when a rush of people headed out to the entrance and we soon discovered why; a beautiful and strong rainbow was to be seen!

We drove back to our B&B after dinner but spent some extra time hunting deer and other forest beasties (with our eyes, not with guns) and we did in fact see a rabbit and several deer!

Scotland! The arrival.

While we usually travel to warm and sunny Mediterranean climes for holidays, this year we decided on something different, a trip to Lisa's ancestral homeland of Scotland! Sure it's a bit chillier than Canada but with the summer heat already hitting Toronto, cooler lands are not such a bad thing.

We arrived in Edinburgh after a sleepless flight from Toronto. The flight was not an easy one for either of us; Lisa was feeling sick from bad airport food (avoid Susur Lee's place at Pearson) and neither of us got much sleep on the way over. So we crashed for a few hours at the hotel before getting up in the late afternoon to explore Edinburgh. It was a bit rainy so our stroll was limited to the area around the "Royal Mile" of the city with the obligatory stop in a pub for pints of Guinness. Edinburgh (what we saw of it), is a lovely city with gorgeous buildings, windy roads and cool monuments (such as the one for Bobby the Dog). After a few hours out, we grabbed a quick bite and had planned to enjoy Friday night live music but we were so bagged it was back to the hotel for a night's rest. Being further north than Toronto, the light in Scotland during the summer lasts for quite some time; sunset at 10pm and darkness (well dark twilight anyway) at 11pm!

On Saturday we picked up our rental car and were on the road just after noon, heading north to our first country destination, Cairngorms national park!!! We arrived at the the lovely Docharn Lodge in the late afternoon after a three or so hour drive north ... With of course the obligatory stop at a whisky distillery on the way, in this case Dalwhinnie, where Christos enjoyed a wee dram and bought a bottle to take home.

Some Work and Some Play

Thursday was a day of work for Lisa but fun for Christos. It was also a day of rain so after a hearty English Breakfast, he did not wander too far from the hotel, just taking a walk along Piccadilly to shop at Fortnum & Mason's and other places. He picked up a new tweed jacket (but not at Purdey's which is outrageously expensive!) and a book on the Wars Of the Roses and some biscuits from F&M's before enjoying a lunch of moules marinieres at "The Only Running Footman".

The rain picked up as the day went on and thus Thursday evening was low key with dinner in room from the local Italian place and an early night as Lisa had been working all day.

We awoke Friday to sun and warmth! So after a bit of a late start and breakfast for two at the hotel, it was off for an hour walk through Regent's Park to Camden Market where Lisa bought some lights and Christos picked up a 45" of Cars by Gary Numan. Camden is always such a joy with its bustling courtyards festooned with stalls selling exotic foods wedged next to converted stables now serving as funky shops all peopled by a melting pot of fashion, culture and languages!

That evening we met up with Brian and two of his buddies at the Audley for pints at 6PM and after chit chat for a couple hours, including much talk of a prospective gold mine!, Brian vetoed his buddy's suggestion of a steak place across town and decided we needed to go to Morton's, a private club on nearby Berkeley Square, for dinner.

It turns out Brian had previously worked there and after a couple of calls he secured us a reservation. Fortunately we were both dressed decently, Christos sporting his new tweed!

We strolled the short distance over to Morton's where the Hostess couldn't find us in the reservation book but fortunately the Maitre'D informed her we had just been secured a spot by Brian.

Dinner was amazing with an excellent Italian Red Wine, Tuna Carpaccio served on a bed of Avocado, Green and White Asparagus Risotto and Rib and Roast of Galloway Beef.

After dinner we decided to check out the small bar/club below and stayed for a couple of drinks listening to the DJ in the back play good house music while nobody, except for Lisa and Christos, albeit tamely, danced ... just as we were ready to leave (it being around midnight), a five piece band showed up having just finished their gig and played a set of five songs (including Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe") which got the crowd moving and induced us to stay for another drink before making it back to the hotel forty minutes later.

We both agreed it was an amazing evening, although a bit excessive on the wallet. Six (high end) Vodka and Sodas was (including gratuity) ... one hundred pounds!

London, rainy but we love the place

We arrived in London late on Wednesday afternoon an uneventful flight and checked into the Connaught around 7pm. However, before we accessed our rooms, Lisa's boss offered us his reservation at a local restaurant as he and his wife were (we think) a little tired. We happily accepted and off we went to "La Petite Maison". Dinner was wonderful, one of the best we have had in ages! The restaurant is French food but served "family style" (ie shared plates). We had the escargot and carpaccio to start followed by homemade pappardelle with veal ragu and grilled prawns. The wine was a lovely red from Les Baux De Provence (a place we have visited!). It was all excellent. It seems Lisa will be making a reservation at La Petite Maison during future sojourns in London.



After dinner it was off to the Audley Pub for some Guinness where we bumped into Brian from our last London trip! After some pints and chit chat, we agreed to meet up the next day to discuss potential business in the afternoon and perhaps dine together in the evening. We made it back to the hotel around 11pm and settled into bed. Unfortunately, the night's sleep was interupted by noise from next door a couple of times and while Christos eventually had a good night's sleep, Lisa tossed and turned from 2am till dawn. The next morning saw typical London weather (ie rain) which was a disappointment as it was gorgeous when we landed. Lisa rushed off to work while Christos enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the Connaught's dining room ....

A few days in Barcelona

Once more Lisa's hard working ways have the added benefit of a quick break from Toronto and work for Christos! A mining conference she attends is held every other year in beautiful Barcelona; one almost thinks the venue drives the conference!

So off we went on Sunday night from Toronto, arriving in Barcelona mid afternoon on Monday. After a nap to combat jet lag, it was off for a walk of the city at 6PM. Lisa had rediscovered an old haunt the last time she was in Barcelona that we call "Champagne Charlie's" but is really called Can Paixano after the namesake pink bubbly they serve there. Christos had first been in 1990 (yup, he is old) with his parents when he first visited Barcelona. Lisa's first visit was in 2001 during our grand trip of Europe when we visited Christos' parents in Barcelona. The place is literally a hole in the wall; it is perhaps five meters wide and extends back around fifteen meters and is standing room only. They serve grilled sandwiches and small snack plates and man are they awesome! The sandwiches are of many varieties and include multi flavoured ones such as "Baco, queso, cebolla, pimiento" (bacon, cheese, friend onion and pepper) or  just "xorico" (sausage) and these are washed down with glasses of bubbly pink champagne! It is also very inexpensive. A 750ml bottle of the pink bubbly (10pct alcohol) is 5.6 euros (nine bucks) and the sandwiches are between 2 and 4 euros. All told, one can have lunch for 7 euros, with two glasses of bubbly at just over 1 euro each. We ate sandwiches, drank bubbly and made new friends.


After "Champage Charlie's" we continued to wander through old Barcelona, hitting the Ramblas as well as a faerie garden bar we have visited before and quaffing a couple pints of Guinness.  We bought some street art on the Ramblas and a dress for Lisa during our wanderings before we hopped on a pedicab for the 10 euro ride back to the hotel. The only bad news was Lisa had a spill departing the pedicab and managed to scrape her chin and hands as she faceplanted.

The next day started out a little rough as we both woke in the wee hours and Lisa was not well. We were a bit worried that she may have been suffering from the fall the night before (concussion?) but by late in the day she seemed much better. Lisa spent Tuesday working while Christos went for a walk to Barcelona, visiting the Maritime Museum as well as lunch at Champagne Charlie's and general wandering. The Maritime Museum's star attraction is a life sized replica of the 60m galley that served as he flagship of Don Juan of Austria during the battle of Lepanto (1571). The rest of the museum is a bit of a let down although the building (the old naval arsenal/factory) itself is wonderful. Lisa and Christos met up around 4ish and after a brief rest went for a walk along the quay before dinner at 9pm at the 2 star Michelin restaurant at the hotel. Unfortunately, we thought the place was overrated and while dinner was good, it was not what we expected from a 2 star Michelin establishment! Finally it was off to bed at 11:30 and a solid night's sleep before our final day in Barcelona.

Our finally day was in Barcelona was one of work for Lisa and relaxation for Christos who slept in late and lazed around the hotel/beach until lunch with Lisa. Lisa is finishing up her day of meetings while Christos is off for a stroll before we depart for London in a few hours ....

Scotland Tickets Booked!

While we normally head for the sunny shores of the Med on holiday, this year it is time for something different ... a trip to the land of Lisa's ancestors ... the land of the Scots! We just booked the tickets today and are very excited.