by Jim Bellomo | Oct 3, 2026 | Food Experiences, Photography
We had a full day planned for Thursday in Milwaukee. We were doing a food tour from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm with Milwaukee Food Tours, and we were scheduled to take an afternoon historical boat cruise on the Milwaukee River with Edelweiss Cruises. I say scheduled because they called that morning and canceled. I asked for the reason for the cancellation, and they said we were the only ones signed up for that day’s tour. Sorry, but if you have people signed up, you go. That’s a contract with those people. Sadly, the only other river tour company operated only on weekends, and we would be on our ship by then. If you plan a trip with Edelweiss, don't go on a weekday.
But that’s the way it goes. We woke up to another day of rain in the forecast, but we didn't let it deter us. We Lyfted over to the Milwaukee Public Market (above) to meet our guide, Paul. First, let me say that Paul is an awesome guide. He's not only good at talking about Milwaukee, but you can tell he loves his hometown. It really shows. He is also a photographer and teaches photography, so he and I had a lot in common.
We had booked the Streetcar Food Tour, which we learned means you try an appie (cheese curds—a Wisconsin delicacy) at one place, move to Apertivo restaurant for your lunch entrée, and then go somewhere else for dessert. Along the way, you board Milwaukee’s free streetcar, known as The Hop, and Paul gives you a tour of Milwaukee along the entire route. Great idea, right? It does work great right up until you get on the streetcar (which runs on rails), when someone parks their car over those rails, so you sit in one spot for about half an hour while they try to get a tow truck to tow the truck.
They finally gave up and let us off. We were supposed to have toured the entire city in that time and come back to a spot about a block away. So we walked that block and had dessert at a Belgian restaurant. Something decadent and chocolate. By the time we were done, two things had happened. We had reached the end of our time with Paul, and the streetcar had started running again. We decided to take it and see what we could of the town, but Paul insisted that he was going to come along and spend another 45 minutes telling us all about his town. Talk about going above and beyond—a truly great guy and guide.
After we got back from the tour, we were kind of happy the boat tour had been canceled because we were supposed to have had a good two hours between the two, but after the delay, we would have had to transition to the boat almost immediately. As it was, we went back to the hotel; Cathy, Mike, Kathleen, and I went out to a Mediterranean place for dinner and then hit the hay.
Here are some pics I took that day. Mostly food and such. Don't forget: if you click the first shot, you can scroll through using your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE... don't look at my photography on a phone. Please...
"Laughter is brightest in the place where food is good." — Irish Proverb
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 1, 2026 | Food Experiences, Photography
The headline kind of says it all. I did my usual early-morning walkabout to take sunrise photos. I also used this walk to visit all the places we would go later in the day, like the Architectural Tour we would take at 9:00 am. Photos from this walk are directly below.
On my way back to the Airbnb, I stopped at Starbucks and grabbed breakfast for everyone. I can say with total conviction that the Starbucks at the corner of Lake Street and Michigan Avenue is the best Starbucks I have ever been in. Forget the food…that’s the same everywhere, but the employees were AMAZING. Pablo (at the register) greeted me by name on my second visit. He taught me how to stack a ton of food in a big bag to get it back home, and every time a regular came in, it was like Norm coming into Cheers. If you are anywhere near that Starbucks, it is worth a visit.
After breakfast, we were off to our boat ride Architectural Tour with Chicago Architecture Center aboard Chicago’s First Lady. This outfit is a nonprofit organization, and the person giving the tour is a volunteer docent who keeps an incredible number of facts in her head. I wish I could remember any of them, but three days later I can only come up with a few. But here are the pics and why I took them in the captions, which you can see by clicking on any photo.
After our architectural tour, we had a nice lunch right next door to our building at the Elephant and Castle British Tavern. The food was OK, but the waiter was great. He suggested that since we had already sampled two of Chicago’s iconic food and drink items, we should try a third…a shot of Malört. Malört is a bitter, wormwood-based herbal liqueur. Drinking a shot of Malört is widely considered a rite of passage for visitors and a badge of honor among Chicago locals. We tried it, and we passed. It wasn’t terrible. Kind of a cross between turpentine and shellac ?.
After lunch, we headed to one of the highlights of our trip: a visit to the newly opened Obama Presidential Center in South Chicago. It is an amazing place. If you go, get tickets well in advance. They are currently sold out through the end of the year. It is well worth the trip. The photos below will show you why, but suffice it to say, it proved what I have always believed. He may not have been our greatest president, but he was the greatest man ever to be president. No scandals, no affairs. He was never president just to benefit anyone but the people of the United States of America. Touring the center also made us sad to see how far the government of this country has sunk in less than 20 years. It is disgusting. If you can, visit here.
Our tickets were for 2:45, and we didn’t leave until almost 4:30. By the time we got back to the Airbnb, we had just enough time for a quick nap before heading out to dinner at a restaurant I found on Eater. If you are not familiar with Eater, check them out. There is one for just about every city or region in the world, with great recommendations that fit my taste exactly. Go there and type in where you live, and see if their picks match places you have been. I usually do well when following their advice. We found the Frontera Grille on that same list, where we ate the night before.
That night, we were eating at Rose Mary. It is a Croatian-Italian restaurant that serves food family-style. We were seated right next to the HUGE demonstration kitchen, which I loved. I could watch the chefs work and maybe pick up some techniques. Our server, Illyna, was superb, and her station was right next to where we were sitting, so we could talk to her and ask for recommendations. We ordered cocktails, and everyone liked theirs. I am not drinking much on this trip after my cardiac episode in June, so I stuck to the mocktails. They have one there with Luxardo syrup and Ginger Beer that I will be making at home…I promise.
The meal itself was amazing. Since it was served family-style and Illyna advised us to order six dishes for four, we each ordered one, and then each couple ordered one. Cathy decided on their Grilled Summer Squash. It was made with parmesan fonduta, beef fat, pickled summer squash and basil. I thought, “Well, I won’t want much of that.” When it came, I tried one bite and about passed out. It was that amazing. I have never tasted anything like it. It was the best thing I ate all night, and that is saying a WHOLE lot.
They served each plate separately, giving us time to digest and enjoy it. Second up was the risotto. Maybe the best risotto I have ever eaten. It featured veal breast, Parmigiano, chicken thigh, and tomato. This was followed by a pasta dish called Mafaldine with lamb ragu d'abruzzo, cacio and cavallo. Delish, but only a 9 out of 10.
We had a hard time picking our fourth dish until the two very nice women next to us had one arrive at their table that looked beyond belief. We asked them what it was and were told it was branzino. This worked out because we hadn’t ordered any fish yet. They make their branzino with a soppressata vinaigrette, artichokes, and grilled lemon. This one got a solid 10 as well.
Mike had started ordering the Pork Ribs Campanella. The ribs have Calabrian chile agrodolce, walnuts, and cabbage & yogurt relish on top. Another solid 10. I forgot to mention that early on (with the squash), we decided we had to have bread to sop up any leftover sauces, and I can guarantee you that no plate we sent back needed to be washed too well.
While we were finishing the third or fourth dish, I mentioned that they had octopus on the menu and that, since it’s my favorite food and every dish had been superb, I probably should try it. Cathy agreed to split it with me, and we ordered it. I almost wish we hadn’t. It’s as good—a solid 8—but not at the level of everything else that night.
No matter that, it was an amazing dining experience from start to finish. It was so good that I have to come up with another test that’s above the Steve Test. For those of you who are new here, my brother Steve came up with a test for a restaurant… if you had that restaurant at home, would you go there? If the answer is yes, it passes the Steve Test. Well, now comes the Jim Test. If the restaurant is so good that you would plan a trip back to that city just to eat there again? For Rose Mary, my answer would be yes. Or maybe I should also say that it means if you visited that city again, you HAVE to go there.
I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make. —Barack Obama
by Jim Bellomo | Sep 29, 2026 | Food Experiences, Photography
Yes, it does seem like all we do is eat, doesn't it? Well, our first full day in the Windy City (we found out it isn't named that because it is windy here; it has to do with politicians making a lot of wind with their speeches) was an all-tour day. We had booked a Chicago Overview Tour with Johanna through Tours by Locals, a company I have highly recommended for quite a while now. Their guides never disappoint. Johanna was no exception. But more about that later. But first, my early morning walk.
The absolute best thing about our Airbnb is its location. For visitors, the city center is Millennium Park. It is the one with the big BEAN art installation in the middle, and it is next door to the Chicago Art Institute. The park has so much more to see, and right now I am looking out the window of our 23rd-story Airbnb and staring directly at the park. That meant there were lots of places to walk to when I wanted to take early-morning photos. So I was up and out at 5:30 to make sure I got my full golden hour and was there for the sunrise at 6:34 am. Here are the photos from that walk.
When Kathleen and I were here in 2013 to visit my brother John, we went to breakfast at Wildberry and loved it. Since then, they have added a really nice, rather large patio with lots of tables. And believe it or not, in late September we were really happy to be seated out there. It was beautiful and warm. Our breakfast was also pretty much AMAZING. Check out the pics and my captions, and try not to get hungry.
After breakfast, we were headed out for our tour with Johanna. She got held up on the other side of a motorcade for the leader of the free world (snort), who was in town to present an award at a golf tournament. I am not going to get political here, but seriously…
Johanna finally arrived, and we headed out. Our day was full of quick stops where we would jump out, take photos, jump back in, and head somewhere else. We saw bridges, churches, skyscrapers, neighborhoods, great views, and so much more. And all along the way, Johanna kept us fully informed about what we were seeing, as well as Chicago's history and geography. She is a true local, having grown up here, and she knew a lot of information. We went to a bunch of places, and these are the before-lunch shots.
Last night we had our first iconic Chicago dish—deep dish pizza. Today our lunch would be the second iconic Chicago food, a Chicago hot dog. Before we left, we knew we wanted to try one, but all we knew about them was that you NEVER asked for ketchup on them. EVER! And I will admit that when it comes to hot dogs, I am a ketchup guy. But once I tried the Chicago dog, I may never go back. If you are unfamiliar with a traditional Chicago hot dog, it has an all-beef dog with tomatoes, pickle relish, mustard, a pickle spear, and small piquant peppers, all on a poppy seed bun. DELICIOUS! See the pics. We loved them. One made a super lunch, since we had that big breakfast and were going out later that night.
After lunch, we were back in the car for the second half of our tour. See the afternoon photos below. Around 4:00 pm, Johanna dropped us off at our Airbnb, and we said a fond farewell. I would recommend her to anyone for a fact-filled, fun day. Photos from the afternoon are below.
We were back at the AirBnB for about 90 minutes, and then we had reservations at Frontera Grill, one of Ricky Bayless’ Mexican restaurants here in Chicago. We had been to his “higher-end” place (Topolobampo) when we were here in 2013, and although it has a Michelin star, we weren’t impressed. I don’t understand the whole “foam as food” thing. It was four people for more than $400 (in 2013!!!), and we all left hungry. Last night at Frontera was not like that. The Eater website (where I find a lot of restaurant recommendations) said it was “not the pretentious food you would find at Topolobampo.” Thank the gods, it wasn’t. It was a delicious meal.
And that was enough for our day. We were all wiped out, and we had an early meeting with an architectural tour the next morning.
“It’s the finest hot dog on the planet, the one they make in Chicago. I said it, and I meant it!” —Anthony Bourdain
by Jim Bellomo | Dec 27, 2024 | Food Experiences
Every year, right about now, I see all these Top Ten of 2024 lists popping up around the interwebs. A few years ago, I decided to get into the act. At first, I did my “Top Ten Things That Happened” that year as well as my “Top Five Things I Ate,” and of course, my “Top Ten Photos” I took. For the last two years, it’s been just the photos, and that’s what I am going to do for 2024 as well.
This does not mean that there were not ten great experiences or five great meals; it just means that I didn’t take photos of all of them, and I know you are all about the pictures. If I were to list The Top Ten places We Visited in 2024, they would include:
- Scotland (especially the Isle of Skye and shooting the puffins on Lunga).
- Norway (especially Geiranger Fjord and Tromsô).
- Portugal (especially the Douro, Cascais, Sintra and Lisbon).
- England (especially seeing Paul and Gail in Leeds and doing the Ted Lasso tour in Richmond).
- Spain (especially our days in Toledo and Segovia).
- Olympia, Washington (because our kids live there).
- Chilliwack, British Columbia (because our best buddies live there)
- Vancouver (because we celebrated our 25th anniversary there with dinner at CinCin, one of our favorite places to eat).
- Pacific Beach, Washington (because we spent four days with the kids there during our annual beach trip).
- Alameda, California (because we had to be in the Bay Area to settle Kathleen’s mother and brother’s estates, and there are two great restaurants and two great attorneys there.).
And if I had to name my Five Best Bites of 2024, it would have to go in this order:
- Venison stew at Ardnamurchan restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland.
- Grilled chicken and french fries in an unnamed restaurant in Cascais, Portugal.
- Pickled walnuts at The View restaurant in Portree, Scotland.
- The appetizer plate (especially the chicken) at Banca di Roma in Glasgow, Scotland.
- A toss-up between the lemon tortellini at Rancho Capistrano Winery in San Juan Capistrano, California or the tater tots at Bureau 510 in Alameda, California.
See, I am just going to do my Top Ten Photos. Wait! What have I done? I guess you will have to come back in the next few days (before we get to 2025) to see the photos. Keep an eye out.
And now it’s time for our nightly Top Ten… David Letterman
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 12, 2024 | Food Experiences
We woke up and found everyone here! Yeah! It was fantastic to walk into the breakfast room downstairs in our hotel and see the whole gang. We hadn’t seen Jamie and Steve since they left for the airport in Norway in June, and we hadn’t seen Mike and Cathy since we sailed from Montreal to Miami a year ago this month.
I want to say right up front that the Hotel Preciados serves a fabulous breakfast. It’s just amazing. I could just eat the bread and the incredible jambon ham. Put that together with the outstanding coffee, and I was in breakfast heaven.
After we all got caught up and fed up, we decided what to do yesterday. Mike and I (as your tour planners) had decided to go light on day one since we would all be a little jet-lagged. The only thing we had scheduled was lunch at Botin Restaurant—the world’s oldest, continuously operating restaurant. Really. They have operated under the same family’s ownership since 1725. The building has been there since 1590 (Isn’t Europe glorious). Their other claim to fame is that the wood-burning ovens they use to make their signature roast suckling pig have never gone out during that entire time. This might be an excellent time to show you our food pics from yesterday (with captions, of course). It is OK to look at these on your phone because I took them with mine ?. This is all of them, from the few at breakfast to the incredible lunch to the tapas Mike, Cathy, and I had to finish off the day.
The Breakfast Room at the Hotel Preciados
Our waiter (who looked like he came with the restaurant) at Botin
The third-floor dining room.
Jamie and Steve
Kathleen and I with their beautiful handpainted pitcher.
Mike’s amazing gazpacho.
Kathleen had the lamb.
I had the suckling pig
Mike and Cathy split a flan
We split a Catalunya broulé
The Menu
An incredible eggplant dish.
Olives and Patatas Bravas at the tapas place Mike, Cathy and I finished our day at.
Once we were done with breakfast, there wasn’t much to do anyway as the skies had opened up, and the torrential downpour Mike and Cathy had experienced the day before while transitioning planes in Lisbon finally got to Madrid. It just poured! So far, the only thing I have forgotten is a small waterproof bag I use to shield my camera when wet. So before lunch, I wandered off to find a Googled photo store to see if they had something to keep my camera dry. I never found an actual camera store, but I found just about everything else in a nine-story department store. I settled for some small draw-string trash bags that should do the job.
After that, it was almost time to head to lunch (which I have already described), so we did that. Most of the group walked the mile or so to Bodin, but with Kathleen’s bad knee, she and I decided to take an Uber. The only problem is that yesterday was a national holiday in Spain and there were parades, crowds and traffic jams everywhere. (MASSIVE PET PEEVE: The Uber app says the ride is five minutes away. The Uber driver who accepts rides that are actually 15 minutes away and not moving.) We waited for almost half an hour before we gave up, canceled the Uber and got a Bolt (European rideshare company) that was there to get us in two minutes. But we made it, and that is all that matters.
After lunch, we sent Kathleen back to the hotel in another Bolt (lots more of those, so I will be sticking with Bolt in Madrid), and the rest of us went off to walk around the city for a couple of hours. We started at Plaza Mayor, which looked like it would have been very cool if there hadn’t been a big stage for a concert that afternoon. Hopefully, it will be gone when we return to our Madrid walking tour on Monday. After that, we walked down to the Madrid cathedral and palace. And, of course, on this walk, I took a lot of photos, so here they are. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Bodin, the world’s oldest restaurant.
A nearby hostel Ilked the color of.
Steps leading down from Plaza Mayor.
Two upstairs doors just outside Plaza Mayor.
Beautiful buildings in the plaza.
The HUGE stage that blocked everything else.
Every square seemed to have an equestrian statue.
And Icarus was nearby.
On the way to the cathedral we passed smaller churches.
Some of them were very photogenic.
Some had beautiful gardens.
Others were just cool looking.
The street signs were marvelous and easy to read.
We finally reach the Cathedral.
I love this statue. It’s like he’s saying, “Eh! How you doing?”
The back of the cathedral facing the palace.
Two of the mounted palace guards.
A lilac apartment building.
A female palace guard—it’s about the damn time.
The blue crested sparrow is seldom seen with a red-topped chickadee.
The palace. They were having a big to-do for the holiday.
The front door of the cathedral.
Beautiful, aged copper.
Inside the cathedral had a MASSIVE organ.
And a beautiful altar.
With some great stained glass.
And the ceiling of the dome as well.
On the way back to the hotel I found a square with a line of statues.
And one big one in the center…with a fountain.
And this happy crowd getting their photo taken.
After our walk back, I reviewed photos until Mike and Cathy asked if we wanted to go out for tapas and a drink. Kathleen and Jamie decided they were done for the day, but the rest of us headed out and found a cool tapas place about a block away. Steve decided he was just too tired and not hungry enough, so he headed back. Mike, Cathy, and I had a marvelous time trying their food, and we drank a glass of Madrid’s favorite drink, vermouth. Photos of the food are above in the food gallery. After the tapas, Mike and Cathy went out to explore. On the other hand, I returned to the room to check in on Kathleen, changed into my walking stuff, and headed out to take photos. I wanted to get a sunset shot of the Temple of Debod. This is a complete Egyptian temple (built in the second century BC) that the Egyptian government gave as a gift to the city of Madrid to save it from being submerged when they built the Aswan dam in the 1960s. It was truly beautiful. On the way there and back, I got some photos I am very happy with. Here’s the place where you can check them out. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Returning from the tapas place I saw the sky was clearing.
On the way to the temple, I passed by this set of statues.
They depict Don Quixote, Sancho Panza in the front in copper and behind them the author who gave them life, Cervantes.
The Temple of Debod. My best shot on this trip…so far.
From the side.
Looking out across Madrid.
On a beautiful night.
And on the street walking back.
In a city that was just ALIVE!
Our hotel is straight ahead.
I want to make one last point about Madrid (and most other European cities we have visited). These cities are ALIVE! At night the populace is outdoors, walking around, eating, drinking, listening to music on the street…just living. In all our travels, I have found nowhere like this in the US except New York City and maybe Las Vegas. And the living goes on late. Last night was Saturday and we could hear crowds in the street below our hotel still going strong at 1:00 am. It’s phenomenal. Of course, they don’t eat dinner until 10:00 pm, so they have to stay up that late to digest their food ?.
Madrid is what I call home, but also the States. —Penelope Cruz
by Jim Bellomo | Jun 12, 2024 | Food Experiences, Photography
We have been to a lot of places. At last count, we have visited 52 countries. Norway next week will be our 53rd. Up until this trip, I was utterly convinced that the most beautiful place in the world is New Zealand. We were blown away by the incredible views of nature when we visited on our trip Down Under in 2009.
But after this trip, I have changed my mind. Scotland is the MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE on earth. Seriously—have you seen my photos? Of course, I don’t mean the cities as much as the country overall. I was becoming increasingly convinced as we traveled through the countryside, but when we went through Glencoe the other day, I realized this was it. The most beautiful place on earth…at least for me. I know that many of you would prefer a warmer climate, but for me, give me the constantly changing weather of Scotland.
I say this with the knowledge that we live in the Pacific Northwest, where the natural beauty is also amazing, but it’s what man has done that has tarnished Seattle and the Northwest for me. All of the places we have been I can never remember saying to myself, WOW and WOW and WOW, so often.
So, let’s sum up our trip so far and give you some honest recommendations about hotels and restaurants.
First, this has been an awesome trip so far, marred by only my catching a cold. And I am thrilled to say that other than an early-morning cough and a slightly runny nose, I am cured. We have had the best time. Where we stayed and what we ate had a lot to do with that so here’s a recap and recommendations.
Lodging
Nights 1-3: Leeds, England
- Hotel: Howard Bed and Breakfast—Leeds
- Bed: Excellent
- Room size: Great, but no closet space left for us to use ?.
- Hosts: The best of the trip. They not only took great care of us at the B&B, but they picked us up at the train station and then later toured us all over Yorkshire and took us back to the train station.
- Breakfasts: Excellent and plentiful.
- What they did best: They made us feel like we were part of the family.
- Things they could improve: Less stinky cheese.
- Problems you will have in staying there: You can’t book this place. You have to become friends with owners, and then you stay at their house, they stay at yours, you cruise all over the world with them, and then you get to stay there…again.
- Would we stay there again? Only if the hosts from there come to see us first. It’s their turn.
Nights 4-5 and 11-12: Glasgow, Scotland
- Hotel: Grasshoppers
- Bed: Subpar on the first part of our stay and better on the second. The first bed we had needed to be replaced. When you sat on the edge of it, it felt like you would slide right off. On their website, they call their beds, “kings.” Not by US standards. They are basic queens to us. We sleep in a king at home. This is NOT a king.
- Room size: First stay, a typical small European experience. Second, stay in a bigger room that we liked a lot better. Both bathrooms were the same, adequate size.
- Hosts: The people there were very helpful. We had to have our keys remade about six or eight times, and they never complained. Not sure why I had such problems with my keys but it might be my magnetic personality ?.
- Breakfasts: Excellent and plentiful. Complete choice of everything you could want for breakfast, from baked beans to granola. They did have the BEST whole grain bread for toast. I could eat that by the loaf. The only fall down here was cold plates. It would be best if you never had to put their excellent scrambled eggs on cold plates.
- What they did best: For me, it’s their location. Since they are above Glasgow’s Central Station, we got off the train, walked out of the station, around the corner, went up to the sixth floor, and we were there. When we left to come down to London, we walked out of our room at 10:00 am, and we were on the train at 10:15. Try that in an airport. They also had the absolute BEST water pressure on this trip and great bath towels—big and absorbent. I could still be in the shower if we hadn’t had to catch the train. Did I mention the free, always-available cakes and ice creams?
- Things they could improve: Use hot plates in the breakfast room. And get a new mattress in 603.
- Problems you will have in staying there: Book early. But realize they don’t open booking until six months prior. By that time, I had all the other hotels on this trip booked. Also, please note that the entrance at street level is difficult—a few steps to climb to get into the building before you get to the elevator. Tough with heavy luggage.
- Would we stay there again? If we were going back to Glasgow by train, we would. Doubt that will happen but you never know. We can recommend Grasshoppers very highly.
Nights 6-7: Oban, Scotland
- Hotel: The Manor House
- Bed: Just fine, but a “double bed,” not even a Queen. Keep that in mind. It was cozy.
- Room size: A typical small European experience in a historic inn. The bathrooms were adequate in size, but because of the dormers on the roof, the shower ceiling was very low.
- Hosts: The incredible David took such great care of us. When he learned we would be missing breakfast due to a tour, he made us a sack lunch we could take with us. Both nights, we were regaled with stories over a round of whisky.
- Breakfasts: Due to our early tour on the first morning, we only ate breakfast once. It was just fine, if a little fancy. When I am out on vacation and may miss lunch, I prefer a heartier breakfast. Theirs left much to be desired in terms of quantity. Worst bread of the trip. The toast was like eating warm Wonder Bread.
- What they did best: One word: David. He made our visit.
- Things they could improve: It shocked me at breakfast in the classiest hotel we stayed in to be given the flimsiest paper napkins I have ever seen. Kleenex tissues have more substance. For a place like this not to have linen napkins? No excuse. They could also get better bathroom linens. Of all the places we stayed, these were the worst.
- Problems you will have staying there: If you are tall like me, book a ground floor room. The dormers in the upstairs mean that the showers in the bathroom will have no headroom. Not only did I have to bend over in the shower (no jokes here please) but I kept banging my hands into the ceiling when I was trying to apply shampoo.
- Would we stay there again? Yes, but only if David is still there and we have a downstairs room.
Nights 8-10: Portree, Scotland
- Hotel: Balintoy Bed and Breakfast
- Bed: Excellent.
- Room size: The biggest room we stayed in on this trip. We loved all the extra room. It is well laid out and well furnished.
- Hosts: As good as David was at the Manor House, Gillian positively affected our entire trip. She is the best. We corresponded before the trip, and she gave us some great advice that paid off while we were there. She’s the one who told us to book restaurants at least three months early. I can’t stress enough that you need to do this. She was exactly right. She also would check in with us at breakfast every morning about what we were doing that day and the best way to get there. She became less of a host and more of a friend as the three days passed. She always asked about our touring and dining on the previous day so she could pass the knowledge on to future guests.
- Breakfasts: Excellent. Done as a light buffet. And the BEST COFFEE on the entire trip. Strong and hot. She brought an entire French Press to our table…just for us. We always emptied it.
- What they did best: One word: Gillian. We also loved the location. It was about a mile from downtown, so it was very quiet but still easy to get to.
- Things they could improve: Not much. But one little thing that would be an easy fix—some small shelf in the shower, please. Lining up our shampoo, conditioner and soap on the shower floor was a pain. Just a hanging rack from the shower head would work. See how minor that is? This place was great.
- Problems you will have in staying there: It took a bit of back and forth to make the reservation. I do wish that the Balintoy took credit cards, but they only accept cash or bank transfers. With much help from Gillian, we finally got the bank transfer thing to work. I still prefer having the safety of a creed card.
- Would we stay there again? You bet we would—in a minute.
Dining
Because of Gillian’s recommendations, I booked restaurant tables for dinner every night we were in Scotland other than the one night we did our 15-hour tour in Oban. I couldn’t get any restaurant to book after 8:00 p.m. and we couldn’t be sure we would be off the ferry by then. As it turned out we weren’t off until around 8:30 p.m. and there was nowhere that still had a kitchen open (It’s a small town).
Nights 1-3: Leeds, England
- Night one: Howard Bed and Breakfast—Leeds
- Delicious chicken dish. Lots of other great stuff to go with it.
- Night two: Murgatroyds—Leeds
- Really good Fish and Chips. Kind of a big family restaurant out by the airport. The fish was excellent. I am tired of chips. But I wasn’t when we had these, but could someone make crispy, thinner chips… please?
- Day three: Lunch at the Wensleydale Heifer in Wensleydale
- had eaten dinner at the Heifer when we last visited Paul and Gail, and it was just as good then as it was this time. A HUGE lunch. Absolutely would go again, and you should too if you are ever in the area.
- Day three: Howard Bed and Breakfast—Leeds
- Dinner was just cheese, crackers, olives. No one wanted anything more. But then they brought out the stinky cheese. If you eat there, skip that.
Nights 4-5 and 11-12: Glasgow, Scotland
- Night one: Banca di Roma
- One of the best meals on the trip. How much did we like it? We went back again on Day 11. It was a nice break from local food to have some high-end Italian. Best appetizer of the trip. A four-item dish with some of the best chicken I have ever had. I have to learn how to make it. For entrées, Kathleen had eggplant parm, I had a bolognese sauce made from octopus. Not as good as it sounded but still delicious.
- Night two: The Ivy Cafe-Glasgow
- Fun and quirky. Delicious shepherd’s pie. We would eat there again. We are eating at another Ivy with the same basic menu in London tomorrow night.
- Day ten: Ardnamurchan
- This place identifies itself as a “traditional Scottish restaurant.” That does not mean you have to eat haggis. I had a venison stew which is one of the two best meals I had on this trip. It tasted like candy…it was that good. My lovely wife had a lamb shank and I got to taste it. It was also amazing…but not as good as my stew.
- Day eleven: Banca di Roma
- See my note above. Still, the best appetizer we had. This time we had an entrée for two that was a delicious pasta dish but they gave us way too much.
Nights 6-7: Oban, Scotland
- Night six: Ee-Usk
- Even though it has a really different name, this place was outstanding. Kathleen had the halibut and I had a seafood salad that had more seafood than salad.
- Night seven: No place
- We couldn’t find anywhere to eat after we got off the ferry at 8:30 p.m. so we starved to death. The rest of this trip was finished by our doppelgängers.
Nights 8-10: Portree, Scotland
- Night eight: The Antlers Inn
- Just a good place for a quick meal. We had a big lunch in Mallaig so we just wanted to have a quick bite. This place was perfect. The best thing about dinner was the great service and the talk we had about the awesome music with the servers. It was a fun and memorable night. One of those you love to have when you are traveling.
- Night nine: The Rosedale Inn
- As good as the seafood salad at Ee-Usk was, the seafood linguine at the Rosedale was better. And Kathleen had a gnocchi that rocked. It has sweet potatoes in the sauce and it made it taste just perfect.
- Night ten: The View Restaurant
- This place was tied for the best restaurant with the Banca di Roma. It has a gorgeous view (of course it did) but the food was amazing. The bread service came with an unexpected surprise—pickled walnuts. They are awesome! I immediately thought I needed to make it myself but when I looked up the recipe it turns out it takes A MONTH TO MAKE IT because the walnuts have to ferment. I think I will just buy it by the jar on Amazon. Our entrées were also amazing. Kathleen had the chicken which she really liked and I had “shins of beef and spring garlic risotto.” WOW! To find this kind of food this far north in such a small town was phenomenal.
That about covers the food and lodging. Just a few more kudos to award. Except for some photos of the dishes of renown. Enjoy and feel free to look at these on your phone. That’s what I used to take them.
My dinner at Ardnamurchan. Maybe the best thing I ate. Venison strew.
Kathleen’s at Ardnamurchan. Lamb shank and barley.
The Appetizers at Banca di Roma. The chicken in the upper right is the BEST!.
Bread bowl at Banca di Roma. They give you pieces of pizza crust.
Katheen’s Banca di Roma first visit entrée–eggplant parmesan.
Mine was an octopus sauce on pasta.
Our second dinner (to share) is the specialty of the house.
Kathleen’s halibut at Ee-usk in Oban.
My seafood salad at Ee-usk in Oban
Sharing a Fat Rascal at Bettys in Harrogate.
Tomato basil soup at The Ivy in Glasgow.
The Ivy is a very esoteric place.
The shepherd’s pie at The Ivy.
The four of us having lunch in Wensleydale.
Kathleen’s gnocchi at the Rosedale Inn
My seafood pasta at the Rosedale Inn.
Toasting me at The Antlers.
The incredible dessert at The Antlers.
Some really great croquettes at The Antlers in Portree.
Kathleen’s chicken at The View in Portree
My appetizer (a duck dish that reminded of crab cakes at The View.
The actual view at The View.
Best bread selection ever. That’s the pickled walnuts in the lower left.
Kathleen’s carrot soup at the View.
My shins of beef on risotto at The View. Tied for the best thing I ate on the trip.
Best Scotland surprises:
- How well I adjusted to driving on the “other” side of the road. The first couple of days Kathleen was freaking out because I was driving to close to the left curb. But after some much-needed direction from her I wised up and things improved. Until the last day when I actually bumped a curb with my rear left tire. I think it jumped out at me ?.
- How awesome the food was. Be honest, when you think of British and Scottish food, you don’t think of great cuisine, right? Well, that changed for me on this trip. All our food was amazing…except the chips.
- How incredibly beautiful Scotland is. I knew it was beautiful, but WOW! There, I said it again.
- How small Scotland is. Getting from one place to another took us no time at all. We were able to drive almost two-thirds of the country in six hours or so.. Try that in California and you will still be in California and have a ways to go.
- How many fewer tourists we saw compared to what we expected. Pretty much every day (except returning from Portree to Glasgow) the traffic was just fine. Sometimes the car parks could be a little full but the downtowns of Oban and Portree were not that crowded.
- There were no midges. The pest of Scotland did not show up. We brought midge spray, we planned to wear dark clothes so as not to attract them, we did our research but no midges. Kathleen thinks that’s because the wind was always blowing and the temps stayed low.
- The Scottish weather and how fast it changed. You could literally be in bright sun one minute and two minutes later be in pouring rain. And it kept going back and forth for the entire trip. On most days (as you can see in my photos) I had plenty of great weather to shoot in. In fact, I preferred the big fluffy clouds to a flat blue sky. We are so happy we are doing this trip and not the Med where the temps have soared into the 100s this week.
Biggest bad surprises:
- How many people in Scotland (especially Glasgow) still smoke. It was everywhere. Every doorway, every street corner, and every place we went (thankfully not indoors) there were people smoking. We know that people smoke more in Europe than in our Pacific Northwest but this was much worse than we had seen in Greece, Italy and Spain two years ago.
The one Scottish experience I never want to have again:
- Trying to use the facilities on a 30-foot boat moving 25 knots an hour on a water surface with six-foot swells. I still don’t believe I survived that with my body intact. A close second would be waiting for a city bus for two hours in downtown Tobermory.
The one Scottish experience I really would love to have again:
- This is a toss-up between my experience shooting the puffins on Lunga and just driving through Glencoe. After struggling through Fort William traffic I almost told Kathleen that we should just bag Glencoe and drive back to Glasgow by the shortest route. Thank heavens I didn’t.
For me, this sums up Scotland: beauty everywhere, great weather and wonderful people. I am happy to be married to a woman of Scottish ancestry so we have an excuse to come back someday…I hope. I would truly hate to think I won’t see the beautiful place again.
I am attached to the west coast of Scotland – it’s gorgeous to look at and challenging. You have to contend with the possibility of being blown away or rained on. And in the summer months, you can be eaten alive by midges. —Clive Anderson
