Manassas, Va. August 3, 2024
Larry and I caught a train in Manassas, Virginia to Elizabeth, New Jersey. We spent the night and ubered to Port Liberty the next day where we boarded the Celebrity Eclipse going directly to room 7186. It was one of the fastest boarding check ins we have ever had.
The shipped pulled out of its berth at 4:30pm and headed toward Manhattan to cruise by the Statue of Liberty before heading out to sea. A storm was moving in making for some awesome cloud formations.
Manhattan
A fire boat pulled up beside the ship and put on a fantastic water show for all us passengers. So cool!
Halifax, Nova Scotia August 6, 2024
St. Johns, Newfoundland August 8, 2024
Qaqortog, Greenland. August 11, 2024
Viking Museum
Icebergs were spotted in the bay. Cruising the Christian Sound near Greenland was canceled due to the number icebergs that were floating in the water.
This polar bear was displayed in the only hotel available in Qaqortog.
Land of puffins
Akureyn, Iceland August 14, 2024
What a sweet little Icelandic town on the water. We enjoyed riding the free public transportation around the edge of the city.
Larry enjoyed the motorcycle museum on the out skirts of town.
Isafjordur, Iceland August 15, 2024
passing colorful homes....
Reykjavik, Iceland August 16-21, 2024
Larry and I spent five days traveling the Golden Circle in Iceland. What an incredible time we had.
Iceland is definitely the land of waterfalls.
Gullfoss
Skogafoss
Seljalandsfoss
Thingvellir National Park
Geyser
We saw black sand beaches, multiple areas of smoking geysers and volcanic fields of past eruptions.
What an adventure!
Craigellachie, Scotland August 22, 2024
We flew Easy Jet from Reykjavik, Iceland to Edinburg, Scotland, rented a car from Hertz, and drove about five hours to visit our friends, Jane and Iain, arriving about 7:00 in the evening.
They were so kind to prepare a traditional Scottish meal of Haggis. What a treat!
Craigellachie Bridge was built between 1812 and 1815.
The old castle like bridge was the main highway until 1972 and was a nice hike.
Craigellachie was a quaint village
We took care of Jane's two cats while she and Iain took their two dogs to Hoopers, a dog competition for following the owners' commands.
Josh
Josh loves to snuggle
Dante
Dante wanted to be close by, but he needed his own space.
Larry and I went to Inverness one evening to see Keith Alesia's show. Keith was from Floyd, Virginia. His show, “Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But My Banjo Saved My Life”, was phenomenal. It told of his journey as an executive through retirement experiencing cancer and learning to play the banjo....very entertaining.
Stonehaven, August 26, 2024
Larry and I picked up our friend, Darlene, at the Aberdeen Airport. We drove south to Stonehaven, taking a walk along the village beach.
We spotted the castle in the distance.
Along the path was a memorial for those who had served their country from Stonehaven.
The scenic views were spectacular all along our hike.
The view out of the castle walls to the sea
We had lunch at The Ship Inn on the beach.
The next day we took a tour of Ballindalloch Castle.
We spotted wild grouse in the field.
It was cool to spot the coos
The next day we drove to Culloden, where a famous battle took place.
British history was changed at Culloden in 1746. This war divided families, setting clan against clan.
It was here that the Jacobite army took their last stand to reclaim the throne of Britain from the Hanoverians for the Stuart king
Fraser Clan, famous from the Outlanders series by Diana Gabaldon
In less than an hour, around 1300 men were slain....about 1250 of them were Jacobites.
The next day we went to Moray to the Johnstons
of Elgin's factory and store.
J of E is famous for their cashmere and fine wool clothing. King Charles buys his clothes here. A pair of Donegal Cashmere socks are only $220.00.
NOW THAT IS A LUXURY BRAND!
We decided to take a drive to the highlands on Darlene's last day in Scotland. Larry was rather accomplished driving on the left side of the road while changing gears with his left hand.... that's my man!
We stopped for lunch in the highlands in the town of Tomintoul.
The heather in the mountains was in full bloom
We enjoyed a stretch, getting out of the car at this old stone church
It was strange how the steps over the rock wall led to a gate on the top of the fence, while a gate to the left made for an easy entry.
The Old Bridge of Livet was another place that we stopped at the way.
That afternoon provided Darlene the opportunity to catch a double rainbow close to her Airbnb.
The next morning we rose early to take Darlene to the airport for her to return to the southern part of Great Britain to visit some family.
We had the most gorgeous sunrise on the way.
It just kept getting better.
Chad and Kathy flew over and joined us to celebrate Kay's special 70th birthday.
Chad became the resident driver handling a left-handed shifting car driving on the left side of the road.
Dante joined Chad on his first night in Scotland.
Chad and Kathy planned a scenic hike on their first day in Scotland.
We hiked out to a Troup Head to see the Gannets who were roosting on the cliffs.
Downy Bay Footpath
 |
Gannets covered the cliffs
The high cliffs of Troup Head provide a spectacular setting for Scotland's
largest mainland Gannets colony.
What a colorful butterfly!
We went to Pennan, Scotland looking for lunch. Nothing was open.
Bow Fiddle Rock
We left Craigellachie the next day heading to the Isle of Skye
Loch Ness is a large freshwater loch extending 23 miles.... best known for the claimed sightings of the
Loch Ness Monster.
Unfortunately we didn’t spot it.
It was raining when we arrived at Eileen Donan Castle.
Eileen Donan Castle is situated on an island at the point where three great sea lochs meet.
Sheep and Coos ( big horned cattle) were
everywhere....including walking on the one lane roads.
Kathy and Chad in front of the Cuillin Mountains
A Collie and MacKenzie bronze sculpture welcomes visitors to the Isle of Skye.
They are honored for creating many of the routes across the Cuillins Mountains on the Isle of Skye.
Sligachan Old Bridge
Our lovely turn of the century Scottish Cottage Airbnb on the Isle of Skye....so old and very authentic.
Fuchsias grew wild and gi-normous. In the US we only have little hanging baskets of them.
Our first hike on Skye was to the Point Lighthouse.
The views were incredible.
Scotland has a lot of rainbows.
They put a sign up just for us....
coming back from a walk to the local beach.
The next day a Scottish hike was calling Chad and Kathy to come forth.
Larry, Chad and Kathy hiked up to the Old Man of Storr.
A sign that animals are around
A highland coo....so coooool!
Chad and Kathy hiked to the Fairy Pools as the sun was setting.
It was a good time to go to this popular spot.
Can you tell what the temperature of the water is by the look on Chad's face?
After two nights on Skye, we drove to Fort Williams passing through…
many quaint villages. This one is Kinross, Scotland.
We stopped to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct...
a famous sight from the Harry Potter movies.
We were fortunate to see the old steam engine pass through while there.
A painting of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, was found in our Airbnb at Fort Williams.
Chad and Kathy rose early to go on a tremendous hike, the Ring of Steall. This is a well defined path of 10 miles that takes 9-12 hours traversing four Munroes with narrow, rocky aretes.
Youth has its advantages.
Larry and I decided we would explore Fort Williams while Chad and Kathy had a great adventure.
Glasgow, Scotland September 8, 2024
We drove to Glen Etive. What a spectacular drive!
We stopped at the end of Glen Etive, a long scenic road following a gorgeous winding river.
That night we went to an authentic Scottish Pub in Glasgow for dinner. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
The next day we took Chad and Kathy to Glasgow Botanical Gardens. They were going to do some birding before getting on their plane back to the states.
They walked the River Kelvin Walkway to the University of Glasgow.
Larry and I continued on to Edinburg to return the car and spend a few final days exploring the Capitol of Scotland,
Edinburgh.
Edinburgh, Scotland. September 9-13, 2024
Bertie is a real sweetheart
We saw a lot of sights in the city.
Edinburg Castle
The retired Royal Ship, Britannia
This was a fantastic tour.
The Royal Yacht
The Royal Mile, colorful and full of shopping
Birthplace of Harry Potter, although it burned down, it has been refurbished. J K Rowlings would begin writing the script for the famous magical land of Hogwarts while having coffee here.
Larry and I have been to all the corners of Great Britain.....Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales
Southampton is a very old town dating back to Roman times in 43 AD. Above is the Bargate.
Southampton has the remnants of an old walled city.
Atlantic Ocean September 15-22, 2024
We boarded the glamorous Queen Mary 2 for a fabulous 7 day crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.
We arrived in New York City on Sunday and caught the train out of the new Penn Station arriving in Manassas around 6:00. Chad and Kathy picked us up. We stopped for dinner at the Farm Brewery just outside of Manassas where we got a tasty meal and caught the tailend of a wonderful live show.
Isn't this old barn roof gorgeous?
I had always wanted to go into this barn. My grandfather, Jack Davis, bought the electric milkers from this farm's owner when I was a kid. He went from hand milking each of his cows to putting electric milkers on them. I remember the milk going swish, swish, swish through the pipes into the milk house. It sure made work a lot simpler for my grandparents.
Yes, those are kegs.
What a day! What a trip!
WHAT A MAN!
Thank you Larry for making my turning 70 so awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment