Three Nights in NYC!

A business buddy of Christos' has a place in NYC and offered us a bedroom for a few nights should we want it so we decided to book a mid-week trip down to NYC as it had been years since we had been to the Big Apple together.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon, met John (Christos' buddy) and the doorman of the building on the Upper East Side (so he would let us in!) before heading off for a walk down from 96th to 60th and then back to 96th, weaving along 3rd, Lex and Park. Lisa was bagged by the time we got back and went in for a nap which turned out to be down for the count so she passed on dinner with John. Christos and John went off to a local Irish Pub for a few pints of Guinness and local pub fare.

The next day was rainy and Lisa was really unwell so after a short walk and lunch, we decided to stay in for the rest of the afternoon watching TV and reading. The rain really picked up and it was coming down Cats and Dogs when Christos rushed off to the local deli to get Lisa some soup (she was still quite unwell) and a bite for himself. Fortunately, the downpour ended some time during the night.

Our last day (Friday) was wonderful! Lisa was 99% better, the sky was a cloudless blue and the temperature in the low teens Celsius, just the right weather for walking! 

So off we went on a six hour walk! We started with a stroll from 96th down to 60th to take the Roosevelt Island Tram over to Roosevelt Island just for the views! When we got back to Manhattan, we strolled down to Grand Central and then hopped on the subway down (Lisa's first time on the NYC subway!) to Canal street.

We emerged into Chinatown, wandered through it to Little Italy then to SoHo and finally found ourselves at the 9/11 Memorial.

After buying a self published book from a local author, we jumped on the train around 4:30PM and took the Express back uptown, arriving back at John's before 5PM! 

We had a good Italian dinner out with John and his lovely wife Lynn before heading back to the apartment for an early night and flight back to Toronto the next afternoon.

A mid-week country escape!

While we love lounging on our deck in the summer heat, the city is still the city with all its inherent noise and distractions. As such, the opportunity to get out of the city for a bit is always relished and we were very fortunate that a neighbour of ours offered us their country house for a mid-week sojourn (as they spend the weeks in Toronto).

So on the Tuesday morning after the Labour Day Weekend, off we drove to a property near the small town of Hastings, about 45 minutes north-east of Cobourg, arriving in the mid-afternoon.

We soon realized that the house much more than we expected with two floors and multiple bedrooms, a lovely main room, a great kitchen (and BBQ outside) as well as the urban amenities of big screen TV etc.

The view from the deck looked down over two ponds as well as numerous trees and the sunsets we experienced were amazing. On our first night, a heron perched in a nearby pine for several minutes before heading on its way!

We did a quick drive into the local town of Warksworth, which is quite interesting as it has an artist community associated with it, and then cooked up a dinner of BBQ chicken.

After dinner, we lounged outside in the thirty degree heat (Ontario had been undergoing a heat wave; we later found out the Tuesday was the hottest day of the summer in Toronto!) watching a little "Mr. Robot" on an Ipad and then just relaxing until just before midnight.


The next day, we drove back to Warksworth to shop at the local bakery, "Cara Mia", which had been closed the previous day. The wait was well worth it as the bread and buttertarts they produced were excellent! We also stopped at a local farm and bought some eggs which were wonderful with yolks of fiery orange as opposed to pale yellow.

We brought our cat, Isis, with us and as she had never been out of the city before, the trip was a bit of a "Bucket List" objective for us with her.

Although we were originally nervous bringing her (a two hour car ride for a cat that doesn't travel, a new house where dogs had been etc) she adapted quickly and on the first day she was eager to get outside and explore.

We ended up going on several walks with her around the property, during which she usually stayed close by us, and we also took her on walks with us down to sit by one of the ponds in her basket.

We played a little disc golf on the property one afternoon, making our own "pins" out of a shrub and a pole to shoot at, and we went on an hour long trek into the woods (without Isis) where we ended up having to double back on our path as the ATV trail we had been following disappeared.

All told we spent three great nights and two full days at the house and hope to be able to visit again.

Family Time in Naramata!

Some time ago, it was decided that Lisa's parents (Bob and Kathy) should go to BC to see Neil and Liam (their son and grandson, respectively). So we helped arrange the trip all the while lamenting that we could not attend. What Kathy and Bob did not know is that we planned to be there to surprise them!

We flew to Penticton via Vancouver and arrived mid-afternoon at Naramata where we met Neil and headed to the beach to sneak up on Bob and Kathy. Bob spotted us first but was stoic in his usual way but when Kathy realized what was going on the waterworks opened up and soon even strangers nearby were crying sympathetic tears of joy at the family reunion.

Unfortunately, Christos was feeling a little worn out so while Lisa went out and SUP'd (SUP = Stand Up Paddleboard), he rested at the hotel and napped. We grabbed a bite at the local pub that night before getting to sleep with the stillness of the countryside to surround us.

The next day was spent lounging around the beach, exploring the thriving metropolis of Naramata and generally relaxing. We also visited a couple of local wineries and while the Okanagan valley excels at producing fruit, its wine industry still has some roots to grow.

That evening was a fun pot luck dinner at the beach. The locals all bring a bottle of wine, whose origins and name are hidden, and after tasting each wine votes are compiled to determine the "winners" before the reveal of each vintage. While the concept is brilliant and great fun, one can't but help feel that by the fifth or sixth "sip" the ability to pontificate and ruminate on the subtleties of the vintage are somewhat dissipated!

The next day (Saturday), we visited a lavender farm where we purchased lavender oil and raw lavender and enjoyed watching the alambic at work separating the essential oil from the base lavender mash.














In addition to lavender, sunflowers and fruits are also grown on the lovely little farm.

Later that afternoon Lisa relaxed at the beach while Christos went out for a wonderful ride along the old railway line (the KVR). While the trail is amazing, access from Naramata (which is at the water's edge) involves quite a vertical climb; it took Christos almost forty-five minutes to bike up to where the trail access is but only five minutes to bike down! The view from the trail is simply stellar.





That night we had a good dinner at a nearby Tapas style restaurant where the chef hailed from Jalisco, Mexico. We didn't really order anything, he just brought out various plates of food until we were stuffed! Liam, the chef's boy and one of Jen's two girls (Ali) played soccer as dusk settled until we eventually drove back to Naramata for a solid sleep.

The next evening we had a good dinner and an amazing sunset at another restaurant located a short drive from Naramata itself. As it was the last night, there was much talk of how lovely the time had been and how joyous it would be if such events could happen more often!

The Way Home

After three nights at Windlestraw, it was time to make our way to the final stop on our tour, Edinburgh. We left on Saturday morning and after half the drive (mostly along a country road with sheep obstacles) we took a forty-five minute stop to visit the ruined Crichton Castle.

Crichton castle was a good visit although a little odd. One drives to a parking lot near an old church in rural Scotland and then follows a rough footpath for five minutes before getting to a paved footpath to the castle where one must track down the minder in order to pay the ticket price!

In any case, the remoteness of it was the likely cause of us being the only people there for some time, another group showing up about fifteen minutes into our exploration of the castle itself.

The castle is quite old and fairly well preserved but its real claim to fame is the Italianesque courtyard facade and Scotland's first scale and platt staircase one Lord had installed while enlarging and transforming the First Castle to a larger, more comfortable Castle.









One of the Lords, , was involved in the "Black Dinner" which serves as inspiration for the "Red Wedding" in Game of Thrones.


After half an hour at Crichton Castle we hopped back in the car and at this point, a side visit to another distillery was under consideration but with our bags already well stocked with scotch, we decided another distillery visit was not a necessity!

We arrived in Edinburgh in the early afternoon, dropped off our luggage at the hotel and then dropped off the car. We strolled back through the Old City of Edinburgh and to our delight discovered that we had been upgraded to a lovely suite by the hotel!










So with newfound spirit we went out for another stroll and ended up filling our shopping bags to the brim at the afternoon market at Grassmarket as well as visiting the lovely Blackfriar's Pub, where we dined on pimiento de padron, before popping one street over to an amazing shortbread store, where we stocked up on shortbread.

Don't miss these gems when visiting Old Town Edinburgh!

We had dinner at a Steak and Mussels place in Grassmarket that was pretty good, although we both agree Canadian beef is better than Scottish beef, but had a bit of a rushed air to it.

Being a Saturday night, we opted to revisit Haymarket where the open air market was long gone but the pubs just getting started.

We enjoyed a couple of pints of Guinness each before deciding to get out.

It was likely the dance floor being empty for the today's Top 40 dance/pop tunes but packed by cougars and louts for seventies disco tunes that helped us make the decision not to have the always dangerous third pint.

Windlestraw Lodge, a hidden gem near Innerleithen

Our final stay in the countryside before heading back to Edinburgh was the charming Windlestraw lodge just outside of Walkerburn on the river Tweed. On the way Christos decided we should visit the ruins of Drochil castle near Peebles. We used google maps to find it which seemed like a great idea, until it did not work! We found a footpath that google maps implied would take us to the ruins but after a half hour hiking up a hill past cows and sheep, all we found was more hills and sheep! We did see a hare bolt away from us which was interesting as they are certainly much larger than rabbits. So it ended up being an hour hike up a hill and back to breathe the fresh air of Scotland while dodging the excessive amounts of sheep poop that was everywhere!

We stopped in Peebles for lunch on the way to Windlestraw lodge at an excellent restaurant named "Osso". We enjoyed our soup and sandwiches (an excellent rare roast beef) so much that we ended up coming back the next day for both lunch and dinner!

Speaking of dinner, the two dinners we had at Windlestraw lodge were amazing, and even more so when one considers they were the product of just one cook in he kitchen! We had lamb the first night, then dinner the next evening at Osso, and duck the last evening at Windlestraw. We simply must commend the cook, John, for the magic he wrought in the kitchen. Both evenings included canapés, a fish course, desert and a cheese plate!

Windlestraw lodge itself is a late 19th or early 20th century building constructed by a Scottish industrialist for his son as a wedding gift when he married a member of the Austrian Nobility. As such, it is a large house with rooms for servants (now converted to decent guest rooms) as well as sumptuously appointed public spaces (rich wood paneling, lovely glass etc).

Christos was quite enamoured with the animal carvings on one of the staircases; the attention to detail lacking so much in the modern age!

While at Windlestraw, we visited two local castles, Neidpath and Traquair on the same day.

Neidpath is privately owned castle so we had to arrange a tour which ended up being a great boon as it resulted in a private tour! The castle is in decent shape but needing some repair and is used for weddings etc. interestingly, the owner of Neidpath also owns Drochil and we discovered that Google maps had directed us to the wrong side of the river in our previous day's search for Drochil!















Traquair bills itself as Scotland's oldest inhabited house, having been inhabited since the 12th century. The original fortified tower has been expanded and added to several times to create the current structure; the "new" wing dates from the 18th century!


There were some interesting stories associated with Traquair, as the house of a Jacobite family, it house a catholic priest whose room had a secret passage out (the old spiral staircase of the 12th century tower) and a set of gates (the Bear gates) have remained closed since Bony Prince Charlie passed through them, a promise having been made to keep them closed until a Staurt regained the English throne! The old main approach to the house hasten converted into a lawn as a result of the closed Bear Gates. Mary Queen of Scots also stayed here and a crib used by her son, the future James I of England, is a family heirloom.

Traquair also houses a small brewery that produces good beer. The brewery dates for the middle ages and was shutdown more than a hundred years ago but rediscovered inthe1960s by the Laird when doing some serious spring cleaning while preparing Traquair for public viewing. Of course, Christos had to buy a three pack of the local brew which he polished off over the next two days.

Cormiston Farm

Cormiston farm is located near the town of Biggar in the Lowlands of Scotland and the main house is a gorgeous Georgian house that has undergone several updates over its life. Our room had a magnificent four poster, king size bed and wonderful floor to ceiling windows looking out over the front and beyond to a farmers field filled like with sheep. The house has been lovingly restored and the surrounding farm buildings are slowly being revamped; the large barn is in the process of being converted into a reception hall and the work to date is stellar with wonderful wooden floors and rafters.

While it is a B&B, the proprietor also offers dinner sourced locally and/or from his own garden. We had dinner both nights at Cormiston, with lamb the first night and trout the second. Both dinners were excellent and our host, Richard, is not only a great cook but also a lovely and good natured person in general. Staying at Cormiston farm was really lovely and the rural setting, with accompanying silence, was a lovely change after the bustle of the two previous evenings.

We visited nearby New Lanark while staying at Cormiston which is a UNESCO world heritage site. New Lanark was built in the late 18th century as a mill (ie cloth producing) "town" by Robert Owen, a forward thinking man for his time who insisted on schooling for the children of his workers, clean housing and a very progressive (for the time) work schedule of 10.5 hours per day, six days a week in the mill. While his contemporary 1 percenters thought he was crazy, the mill still made him a very rich man and was active well into the 20th century!

He tried to replicate the same concept in the USA at New Haven but his dream failed and much of his fortune was consumed with this endeavour. Later in life he still campaigned for greater worker's rights and many of his ideas were legislated some sixty or so years after he proposed them. For a cynic like Christos, the story of a progressive capitalist from 200 years ago was a bit of an inspiration .... While at New Lanark we did a little shopping. Christos bought a lovely scarf and Lisa a sweater, as well as some balls of wool, from New Lanark.

Our other great joy at Cormiston was the local Galliforme ... A pheasant that Christos named "Philibert The Pleasant Pheasant". According to Richard he had been roosting nearby for the last six weeks or so and we managed to see him twice while there. While pheasants are hunted (after August 12), Richard indicated that Phil was too large and thus would not be tasty. This coupled with the amicable feelings the family had towards him ensured that he was safe on the grounds of Cormiston farm!

After two lovely nights at Cormiston farm, it was time to move on to our next destination, Windlestraw Lodge near Peebles.

The Mel Gibson Memorial and Bannockburn!

After our night at the B&B near Falkirk, our next destination was about an hour's drive to the south in the region known as "The Borders" as it borders England. However, before we headed south we did a quick drive back north to visit the Wallace Monument and the site of the battle of Bannockburn. The Wallace Monument is situated near Stirling and is a very tall tower with amazing views of the site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge where the Scots, under William Wallace, won a resounding victory over the English in 1297. This event was brought to a wider audience in the 1995 movie "Braveheart" which although a good watch is incredibly inaccurate from a historical perspective; in the film, the Battle of Stirling Bridge has no bridge and the bridge was a key component of the Scottish victory as they let only a portion of the English army cross it before the Scots attacked and pushed the English back to the banks of the Stirling river.

The monument also houses the "Wallace Sword", a five foot long blade that was reputedly used by William Wallace himself, although parts of the sword are some 160 years post his time period. We had to laugh as in the gift shop one can buy statues labelled "William Wallace" that are in fact anachronistic (blue faced Picts having been 1000 years before the battle and tartans coming several hundred years later) depictions of the Scottish hero straight from Braveheart!

Then it was off to the site of the Battle of Bannockburn where in 1314 the Scots, under Robert the Bruce, dealt another blow to  the English when they defeated an army twice as large as theirs (and with better gear and training) by adroit leadership and the use of the schiltron spear square to overcome the English army's massive advantage in heavy cavalry.

We visited the monument, girded ourselves in replica armour and weapons and then played an interactive battle game with another dozen visitors that allows each visitor to command a contingent in either the English or Scottish army. Christos was on the side of the Scots and Lisa on the side of the English. While the maneuvering in our game was different than how the original battle played out, the Scots still emerged victorious! The game took about half an hour and was quite fun although it took a bit of time for some players to get into it.

Then it was time for the drive down south to our next B&B, the amazing Cormiston Farm near Biggar. We arrived around 5ish and relaxed for a few hours, walking about the farm and meeting the local beasties before having an amazing dinner of lamb. Then it was time for a after dinner Scotch before heading back to our room for some Game Of Thrones watching while we drifted off to sleep around midnight.