Our own Amazing Race…30 Days…3 countries…2 very tired people

by | Jul 1, 2024 | Uncategorized

This is the last post of a 30-day trip. It is going to be written over a very long day or two. I am starting this while sitting in the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn at London Heathrow. It is 6:08 a.m. here in London. We flew in here from Copenhagen on SAS yesterday, and we will fly home at 12:45 p.m., arriving at SeaTac in Seattle at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon. So it is going to be a long day.

The worst part of any vacation for us is flying…and airports—just the total hassle of them. As we have gotten older, it becomes more and more of a hassle every time. I do my best to make it better, and some stupid thing (like yesterday’s screwup on Passport Control in Copenhagen) screws up the entire plan. I will let you know how the whole day went before I finish this post.

Air travel is also strange. It messes with my head. For instance, I sit here now in London at 6:00 am, knowing that before I go to bed tonight, in my own bed, in Redmond, I will have boarded a plane, flown nine hours, gotten off the plane, cleared Passport Control again, been driven home, unpacked, gone shopping for groceries, grabbed takeout Mexican food from Ooba, eaten it and watched a few TV shows we have to catch up on. By the time my head hits the pillow in Redmond, it will be 5:00 a.m. here in London. When is Scotty going to invent the Star Trek Transporter so they can just beam me up and beam me down? That’s what I want.

I should also add that we have those miserable Virgin Atlantic Upper-Class seats to contend with on the way home. No recline unless you flip them into a bed. And while I can usually sleep on the way out from the USA to Europe, going back is much worse as it never gets dark. When we arrive, it will only be a couple of hours before my usual bedtime, but at the same time, the middle of the afternoon and there will be lots of stuff I need to do…one of them is getting back on schedule for PDST.

So, let’s get this review of our Viking Venus cruise on the way. To sum it up in one sentence, although there were tiny things that irked us just a little bit, this may have been the best overall cruise experience we have had (other than Celebrity Flora in the Galapagos—but that’s a yacht, not a cruise ship) so far. And this is our 39th cruise. That says a lot.

What we loved
  1. Our Stateroom. I detailed that with photos on this page you will find by clicking here. Stateroom 5030, our home for the last two weeks, is ideal. Big enough that I am not stubbing my toes to get around the bed, it has plenty of storage, a great verandah and, as far as I am concerned, the perfect spot on the ship. Deck five on a Viking ship means only two flights up (I never take elevators on a cruise except to bring luggage on or off the ship) to the buffet and Explorer’s Lounge (my favorite place on a Viking Ship) and only three flights down to the specialty restaurants, the Living Room and to get off and on the ship in most ports.
  2. The ship. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And to my eye, Viking Ocean ships are just about perfect when it comes to appearance. Nothing ever jars my eye. The color palette for the entire ship just works for me. Some folks say it’s just Viking and IKEA getting together to design a ship. Well, if that is the case, that’s fine with me. But it is a really high-end IKEA. Just think of Scandinavian design. Clean, muted, nothing jarring. No flashy colors. No Las Vegas at all! See photos of what I mean in a previous post by clicking here.
  3. The quiet. Even though there is music in some venues sometimes (I wished the pianist in the Living Room had played a little softer the night we had drinks there), it is a very quiet ship. There is always someplace I can go and sit in silence to write, process photos, read or have a conversation. But the one place that breaks this for me is The Restaurant (a Viking ship’s main dining room), which I find to be VERY loud. Other than that, I love the quiet.
  4. The crew. I mentioned in a previous post. They are the best overall crew we have ever sailed with.
  5. Itinerary. This was a good one. Some of my closest friends would have disliked the temperatures. They prefer warmer weather. We like the cold. That’s why we live in Washington State. It’s cold but not too cold, wet but not too wet (Seattle averages 37 inches of rain a year/Bergen 88 inches of rain a year), and perfect for us. I always prefer cold over hot. You can always put on another sweater or jacket if you get too cold, but once you are naked, you can’t get any cooler without AC ?. I would have picked Norway as the most beautiful place on earth if we hadn’t been to Scotland before the cruise. We loved every port we stopped in (I will forgive Bergen for one teen’s actions), and we have already told others they must do this cruise. Kathleen said to remind you that the weather changes by the minute. We didn’t get snow, but our full day in Bergen is a great example. We went up the funicular in beautiful sunshine, barely a cloud in the sky. An hour after coming down, the rain was also coming down…horizontally. A deluge we had to take shelter from for an hour (with lunch), and then it was back to sunshine.
  6. Embarkation and disembarkation. Smoothest ever! Less than 20 minutes from car to ship on the front end and 10 minutes from ship to car on the back end. It doesn’t get much better than that unless it’s during a pandemic and no one else is getting on or off. OK, river cruises are easier but I am talking ocean here.
  7. Cruise Director Andre Gaffney and his activity staff. He does outstanding port talks—lots of info. And for us, the best part was that his port talks were televised live every afternoon (before a port day), so we could have a cocktail from our included mini-bar while we watched the port talk from our stateroom before dinner. It became our routine. His announcements during the cruise were also excellent. His assistant (I am so sorry that I can’t remember her name) runs the best trivia game at sea. She is excited, in control and asks questions that are just hard enough to challenge you but not too hard so that she stumps everyone. I just wish the trivia had been at a different time. They were either at noon or 8:00 p.m. At noon, I have lunch, and at 8:00 p.m. I am in bed.
  8. Entertainment was perfect for us ?. I put the emoji on there because, for us, on a Viking ship (river or ocean), the entertainment means watching Downton Abbey on our stateroom television. We just don’t do shows anymore. I guess we are old or just jaded—they all seem the same. So after dinner, it was back to the stateroom where I would process photos, Kathleen would read, and we would watch an episode of Downton. Of course, we have already seen the entire series (and both movies) when they first came out, but it’s nice to catch up with old characters we love again. And we only watch it on Viking ships. So, on our 3-week Med cruise in the fall of 2022, we watched seasons one, two and a little of season three. On our December 2023 Christmas Market River cruise, we watched the rest of season three and a little of season four. We finished four, five and the first three episodes of season six on this cruise. Guess what we will watch on our October 2025 Douro River cruise ??
  9. Shore excursions. Every single Viking-included excursion (even the one on Orkney) was better than any of the included excursions on our 2022 Viking Sky Mediterranean cruise. My favorites were our guides in Greenwich, Tromsø and Geiranger. We did feel a little short-changed in Lerwick when our excursion was cut from 2.5 to 1 hour. Not cool. But the rest of them were great. And all the “luxury motor coaches” were pretty nice.

Let’s talk about the food

We ate in the following spaces (in order of the number of times we ate there), and this is what we thought of them:

(Before we start, a word about the Steve Test. My brother Steve created this test about six cruises ago. It works like this: If you eat in a restaurant while traveling, and that restaurant is near you once you get home, would you go there again?) 

  1. The Restaurant/Main Dining Room. We ate there once. For lunch. On a sea day. When the sea was at its worst, rocking and rolling. We figured we should go there then because no one else would be there and because it was close to the water and much less rocking than the buffet on deck seven. We were right about the rocking and the emptiness. We were four of about 30 people there. Still, it was a little louder than the buffet, and the food was basically meh. I had a dry Rueben sandwich that was not on rye bread, had little Russian dressing and came with almost cold fries. The service could have been more consistent as well. See why we don’t eat there? That’s a fail on the Steve test.
  2. The Chef’s Table. This is one of the ship’s specialty restaurants. It features a fixed menu. They rotate three menus throughout the cruise. You can see the menu on the Viking app or on your television and know what menus are coming up. The only problem is that you can’t see them three months before the cruise when making reservations. We had reservations for two nights. When we got on board and looked at the three menus that would rotate through our cruise, we canceled our first reservation. Three people in our party of six could not (allergies) or would not (preference) eat anything in the first three courses. We did keep our second reservation, and when we got there, the menu did not match what was on the app or our TV. Thankfully, the menu had turned to a Mexican meal, and everyone could and would eat all of it except the first course. It was very good and restored my faith in The Chef’s Table. The food was excellent. The molé sauce was a LOT better on Oceania Vista but the rest was great. That’s a pass on the Steve test, but only for this menu.
  3. Manfredis. This is Viking’s Italian specialty restaurant. We ate here twice on our previous 21-night Viking Ocean cruise, and once Kathleen got food poisoning, and the other time was just meh. This time, there was no food poisoning, but it was still meh—just not great Italian food. Maybe I say that because I am half Italian, love to cook Italian food and love a great Italian restaurant. We went to one in Glasgow (Banca di Roma), and on a scale of 1-10, the one in Glasgow was a nine, and Manfredis is barely a three. This does NOT pass the Steve test—FAIL! Come on, Viking, you can do better.
  4. Mamsens. This is a small deli-type place just inside the door of The Explorer’s Lounge. They serve amazing Norwegian waffles with fruit, sour cream and brown cheese for breakfast, which I love. You can also get substantial pastries there. Actual Norwegian bakery goods. YUM! At lunch, they have great open-face sandwiches that I also like a lot. When we were on Viking Sky, there were usually three choices: two meats and one seafood. On Venus, there were just two choices (one less meat), so we ate there less as Kathleen couldn’t eat the seafood choice. But they still pass the Steve test with flying colors. I could eat breakfast there every day.
  5. The Pool Grille. I love this place. It’s out by the pool with delicious hamburgers, hotdogs, a few salads, fries and onion rings. It’s in the open air when the weather is good (it has a roof that opens and closes). I ate a few lunches there and loved the food. It’s a big fat PASS on the Steve test. I would eat here once a week if it were near our house.
  6. The World Cafe/Buffet. As you know, if you have followed along, we ate here for most dinners, about half of our lunches and breakfasts. We thought the food was of high quality and well cooked, and the hot was usually hot, and the cold was usually cold.One of the nicest surprises was the new Asian counter, where you could get some excellent Asian food prepared in front of your eyes. And the two guys that worked that counter were great! What we didn’t like (compared to our Viking Sky cruise in 2022) was that there seemed to be less selection. Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying there weren’t plenty of choices every day. It was always a completely full buffet. But the same food was often repeated over and over again. For instance, on the first night, Steve and I were thrilled to find a massive seafood display with ceviches, seafood salads, salmon, marinated octopus, and so much more. There was also an outstanding selection of sushi on the opposite side from the fish…but it was exactly the same EVERY NIGHT! I mean, in 14 days, how often can you eat the same fish dishes or the same sushi? At lunch, that seafood spot was the salad bar. But at night, that went away. That means if you just wanted a salad for dinner, you better like seafood because that’s all there was.There was too much red meat. I mean a lot of red meat. Beef, venison, veal, lamb…all stuff we love, but too much of it. Kathleen said, “It was like your choices were red meat or seafood. If you want to eat vegetarian for a night, good luck.” There were always steamed veggies but very few vegetarian entrées. We loved the red meat dishes but we are going to have to go full vegan for a few weeks to get over this cruise.Lastly, pizza on Venus was the WORST I HAVE EVER HAD on land or sea. I am a pizza lover. I make the best pizza I know of. Of course, I am a little bit prejudiced. During the entire cruise, they only had three kinds: Margherita, cheese, and one night, they even threw some mushrooms on one. It was just awful.

Overall, the food was as good as any cruise we have ever been on, except last year’s cruise on Oceania Vista. It just needs a little bit of improvement. We ate too much. Here are some food pictures to make you hungry.

What we DID NOT love

Nothing. I can’t find a single thing I really disliked. It was just as we expected, except that the ports were so much better than we thought they would be. As you all know, I was unhappy about the speed of the internet, but that wasn’t Viking’s fault. The problem lies with Elon Musk, Starlink and a lack of satellites at the poles. Get with it, Musk.

x

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.  —Seneca

#1 in My Beautiful Book

by | 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.

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 

We are loving Leeds

by | Jun 1, 2024 | Food Experiences

This post will be a personal one as opposed to my usual travel stuff wherein I complain about something ?. We are spending the first four days of our current trip with our good friends Paul and Gail at their home in Leeds, England.

After our ride with Welcome Pickups we arrived at Kings Cross station to take the train north to Leeds. If you are unfamiliar with European trains, I can only say that I LOVE them. They are a wonderful form of transportation that I wish we had more of at home. Clean, safe, on time and more.

We had pre-purchased a three-day (non-consecutive) rail pass before we left home. It allowed us to travel on any train in Great Britain for three days in a 30-day period starting on the day of first use. It took me a few e-mails with the folks we purchased it to understand how it worked, but I finally got it. You have to activate the pass for a particular day in advance. You can also purchase assigned seats for a very small amount ($5.00 each), and I did that for two of our trips, but I couldn’t for this one to Leeds because we were not sure what time we would get to the station from the airport. We know what time we will be leaving on our remaining train rides, so we have reserved seats.

Before we left, I downloaded the schedule and knew there was a train to Leeds every half an hour for most of the day. It was almost noon when we were in the car about a mile from Kings Cross. There was a train to Leeds at 12:03, 12:33 and 1:03. Since it was noon, I figured that by the time we got there and got our luggage out of the car, into the station, found the train platform, we needed to be on, we could get the 1:03. Nope. We walked into the station at 12:20, got quick directions, walked to the platform, used our passes to get through the gates, and talked to a nice lady who directed us to our first-class coach. and we were aboard and sitting in our seats on the 12:33. Can you imagine doing that at an airport?

The ride north was just short of two and a half hours. We only made four stops, and they were quick ones. The midday train was about half empty, so we had no problem finding seats. Our “first class” ticket came with lunch, which turned out to be a drink, a sandwich and crisps (almost typed chips ?). It was not gourmet, but we were hungry after that horrible Virgin Air breakfast, so we were happy to get it.

Once we got to Leeds, we quickly got off the train, and Paul and Gail met us as we left the station platform. We got into their car and drove back to their house. We had visited them pre-pandemic before our cruise from Dublin to Iceland, but they had moved since then, so we got to see their beautiful new home. It is really very nice and just perfect for the two of them and the grandchildren who visit often.

Most of you who read my posts know that I am an early riser, but I have to tell you that yesterday, I don’t think I was up and moving until well after 8:00 a.m. I slept a full nine hours after being up for almost 30 hours, Thursday through Friday. We were both wiped out. Today, I seem to be back on schedule, getting up at my usual 5:30 a.m., which gives me a chance to write this. Win-win!

Our day yesterday was leisurely as Paul and Gail planned to let us recuperate from our flight. We went into nearby Harrogate midday and did a short walk through a beautiful park and around the city center before we stopped for lunch at the amazing Bettys Tea Room (no, there is no apostrophe). We had been to Bettys before as it is a Yorkshire institution. And the lunch was delicious. I had a rarebit that came with my choice of three chutneys (Onion, tomato and apple), but I asked for all three. Yum! But as good as lunch was, what you come to Bettys for is the Fat Rascal. The photo at the top is us holding the Fat Rascal that we split. After having lunch, there is no way to eat an entire Rascal on your own. Think of a Fat Rascal as a kind of giant scone (about that consistency) with raisins and maybe currants inside and almonds and cherries to make a face on the top. They are delicious and a must-eat treat if you come to Yorkshire (the general area where Leeds and Harrogate are located).

After lunch and another quick walk around the town, we were back to Paul and Gail’s, where Kathleen took a nap, and Gail and I went out on a 3+ mile walk around the area (which is beautiful). I did take a few photos while we were walking around Harrogate so those of you who follow me for those had something to look at. Nothing that will make my top ten, but certainly some things I liked. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

Then it was off to dinner at Murgatroyds, where they boast they have the “best fish and chips in England.” We have to agree, although I think the atmosphere was better at The Magpie, where Paul and Gail had taken us on our last visit. It is in the beautiful village of  Whitby, but that was a complete day out, so this was close enough to just run over there for dinner. After dinner, it was back to the house to catch the final half of the Champions League game on TV. It’s funny that when we were here in 2019, I had no idea about football (soccer for the Americans) at all. No clue as to what was going on. But thanks to the amazing Ted Lasso, I can now ALMOST figure out what offsides is. And I can definitely follow the game.

Back at the house, we even got a proper English Trifle that Gail had made for dessert. They have been feeding us very well, and we certainly will give them high marks on Trip Adviser after we leave.

Later today we are off to the Wensleydale Heifer for lunch. If you are a fan of the Wallace and Grommet animated films, they are set in Wensleydale, and they have a world-famous cheese store there. But we are only going as far as the Heifer. On our last visit, we went north through the Lakes District and spent the night at the Heifer (where every room has a theme) and had a wonderful dinner at their excellent restaurant. But this trip we aren’t going to be here in Yorkshire for that long so lunch will have to suffice ?. A full report on our drive north and lunch will follow tomorrow. See you then.

Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.  —H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Nazis, Heroes, Communists, Food and more…

by | Dec 21, 2023 | Food Experiences, Photography

Yes, we had all those things in our last full day in Budapest; we got up late (after our late-night, worthless tour), and while Kathleen showered and changed and before we had our hotel buffet breakfast (included in our Viking post-cruise extension) I went out for a short pre-dawn photo walk. I hadn’t gotten many of those in on this trip. Really not a single one since we had left Lisbon. It’s not like I hadn’t planned for them. I had maps of the things I wanted to take photos of in that wonderful early morning light. And I had brought clothing to wear along with my boots—I had even planned on the ice and snow we encountered in Prague. What I hadn’t expected was how late the sun would come up. Most of the time, we had someplace we had to be (usually a tour) at 8:30. And when the sun doesn’t come up until 7:30 or later, it’s hard to find time to be there when it does.

This day was different as our only tour didn’t start until 10:00 am, so I was able to go out and take photos of the last two major sites I hadn’t seen yet. First up were some close-ups of the incredible Parliament Building I had been taking so many long-distance photos of, and then, while walking back to the hotel, I could visit the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial. We had driven by the Shoes memorial a few times, and I had the chance in on two previous afternoons, but I wanted to be there alone, and usually, it was jammed with people.  If you have not heard of the Shoes on the Danube Bank before, it is a monument to thousands of Jews who were taken from the Jewish Ghetto in Budapest in 1944-45 and killed. The fascist Hungarian Arrow Cross party took them to the edge of the Danube, made them undress and take off their shoes (which could later be sold) and then shot them so they fell into the river and were swept away. The memorial is a beautiful tribute to those people. You can read about it by clicking here.

In the meantime, here are the photos I took early that morning. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

For the balance of the day, we had a private tour planned with Melinda from Tours by Locals. If you have been reading my posts, you know that this is a company I have grown to love. Between myself and Jamie and Steve on their London/Paris land trip we have used them on at least 15 tours. I chose Melinda’s tour because in the description of her tour she said, “This private tour is perfect for those who have already seen the highlights and want to explore the city further.” This meant that we could do the tours with Viking, and then I could let her know what we still wanted to see, and she would set us up to go there.

Even though this was a private tour in a van (not a “luxury motor coach”), Kathleen was worried that getting in and out of the van and doing what walking we would be doing might make her knee worse. And she was VERY worried (as was I) about the next day when we knew we would make a long tramp through Charles DeGaulle airport, not to mention wading through security and check-in here in Budapest. Plus, she was still wiped out after our worthless tour the night before when we didn’t get back until almost 11:00. So she decided to let the other four of us go (our new friend Carol was joining us as well).

Right on time, Melinda walked into the hotel lobby to collect us. We jumped into a Mercedes van with a driver, and we were off on our four-hour adventure. Our first stop was Heroes Square. On our first-day overview tour with Barbie, we had driven past it, but we wanted to walk around as well as see the castle and seasonal ice skating rink behind it. Heroes Square is packed with amazing statues and monuments to (I think) every person who ever had a hand in creating Hungary and keeping it alive during the years in between. I wish I could tell you who all the statues represented, and I did get a few of them. You can read about them below, in the captions of the photos I took in the square. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

Just across the street from Heroes Square were two other places we wanted to see: the seasonal ice skating rink and the Vajdahunyad Castle that sat right behind it. We had seen both while driving with Barbie, and I got an idea for some artsy photography I wanted to try at the rink. Here are the photos we took (without the artsy black-and-white stuff). Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

One other thing during our stop near Heroes Square was another Christmas Market. Not a huge one, but certainly as big as many we had seen. But they had some of the best looking food I had seen and since it was early in the day, there wasn’t a huge crowd waiting to buy it so I could get some great photos…that I hope will make your mouth water. Enjoy.

After our walk, we were off to our longest drive of the day to Memento Park. Our good friend Marjorie had visited the park when she was in Budapest and had told us about it. As I always do, I thought it sounded interesting but more importantly, a chance for some great photography. This was the only place I had told Melinda we wanted to go before we got to Budapest because I knew it was too far out in the countryside for Viking to take us there. Besides, it was one of those hidden gems you always hear about.

Memento Park is where old statues go to die. Seriously. In the early 1990s, when the Communist dictatorship ended, the people of Hungary were ticked! So they took down all the symbols of Communism from around the city of Budapest and moved samples of it to Mememto Park as a constant reminder to never let that happen again. So you can go and visit these statues and celebrate how incredibly naïve Soviet-era communism was. Check out the photos to get an idea of what I am talking about. Their symbolism is truly wrong, but they are interesting historical artifacts. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

After this quick look at the Soviet occupation, we were off to see two more things. One was a viewpoint where Melinda said we could get a wonderful and complete overall view of Budapest, and the other was the Opera House, where we could get photos of the lobby but would need to take a tour to see the inside, and we didn’t have time to do that with her. Here are the photos from those spots. You know the drill.

After that, we went back to the hotel so we could pack for our flight the next morning. Anita (our Viking Extension concierge) had wrangled us some reservations at a great restaurant because we all wanted one more night of Hungarian food. The place was called Rezkakas, and their goulash was about as close to a perfect meal as we had eaten on this trip. If you go to Budapest, eat there! I wish I had taken a photo of it but when it got to the table, it looked so good, I ate it without thinking about it. The whole evening was a great experience…especially since Carol joined us for a farewell dinner, and Steve and Jamie picked up the entire check as a birthday present (the next day) for me.

Dictators fall when they’re overconfident; they stay in power when they’re paranoid.  —Masha Gessen

Greetings from snow and icy Prague

by | Dec 6, 2023 | Food Experiences, Photography

As the headline says, we are in Prague. There is snow and ice everywhere, but we still had a great day yesterday. Well, half a great day. I really want to tell you about it, but we were out late with my brother Steve and sister-in-law Jamie at dinner until late in the evening, and that meant I had to process photos this morning, so I am not writing until right now. We have to meet them for breakfast in about 45 minutes, so I need to change and shower.

But I didn’t want you to think I had deserted you. I will have more about Prague tomorrow as well as the trip we are taking this afternoon as we spend three hours getting to Nuremberg, Germany, by “luxury motor coach.”

In the meantime, here’s our group eating dinner last night at an amazing restaurant that a friend from our Trilogy Travel Club recommended to us. It was a great meal and a great experience. See you tomorrow.