Campbeltown & Glasgow Sept 15, 16, 17,18

Arriving in Campbeltown you soon realize you are in a different era.  The town of 6000 people is at the end of the Argyll peninsula.  The biggest employer is the tax department for Argyll. Campbeltown should soon have Heritage recognition status.  The problem then is to get the merchants to redo the frontages back to the 1800s.  Although they are not far from that now.  A number of the business still close on Wednesdays and you can't get a meal after 8:00 pm.  Campbeltown was once a very active sea and fishing port. There one claim to fame is that Paul McCarty has a home close to town.  The residents are very protective of him and his privacy.  He is very generous to the town.  The town has erected a statue of his wife Linda in a garden that includes palm trees.  Who would think Scotland and palm trees? We also visited the town of Southend and the golf course of Machrihanish.  The word is that Machrihanish would qualify to hold the British Open but there is limited accommodation.  It cost $100 cdn to play a round of golf.

Our next stop was a tour of the old jail in Inveraray. Then on to Falkirk and the famous Falkirk Wheel.  We took the boat tour and experienced being swept smoothly through the air.  The wheel connects the Forth & Clyde and Union canals.  What an amazing design.

Glasgow was a pleasant surprise.  We did the Hop On and Off tour that gave us a good over view of the city.  Glasgow has a number of contemporary buildings giving the city a different flavour.  We visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.  Gary thoroughly enjoyed the newest exhibition, the life of rock band AC/DC which is celebrating a 37 year career.

Our journey has been a wonderful adventure.  We will  taking a few days break in Toronto before returning to Calgary on September 24th.

Elgin Sept 12, Oban, Sept 13, Tarbert Sept 14

Fortunately the tail end of the hurricane was south of Elgin and as we travelled along Loch Ness you could see evidence of wind and rain.

Our last visit in the north was a tour the Glenfiddich Distillery.  The distillery was founded in 1886 and is still in the family. Today they use the same water sources as when they started. They have purchased 1000 acres around the distillery to preserve the water source.  Our tour guide was a young lady from France who is going to be working at the Sun Peaks ski hill this winter.

The drive from Elgin to Oban is probably the one of most scenic in Scotland.  You travel along side Loch Ness.  No we didn't see any monsters.  We did stop at the information center for the Loch Ness Monster and did the tour. It was disappointing and not worth the stop.   Along the way you pass loads of campgrounds and they were very busy. We met lots of cars pulling holiday trailers and touring buses.
Arriving in Oban you see that Gaelic is used on road signs and on some of the businesses.  They also have one TV channel that is in Gaelic.  The say Oban is Scotland's Seafood capital.  We meet a fisherman who was bringing in some lobsters.  We asked if they were just caught and he informed us that they buy the lobsters from the fishing shipsand they  keep them in cages in the water until the restaurant needs them.

Loch Ness

Off to the Island of Seil and a ferry to the Island of Easdale, they are also know as the Slate Islands.  On the way from Oban you pass over the Atlantic bridge, because it passes over the Atlantic Ocean to get to the island. The bridge is extremely steep, so steep it drops like a roller coaster ride. There are lots of walking trails on the Islands.

Atlantic Bridge

Islands

Next stop is Tarbert and a visit to Skipness. We travelled to one of the most desolate places we have every been to.  It was the kind of road we probably won't take our own vehicle on even though it was mostly paved.  The road was so narrow, there were areas to get by another vehicle every one hundred yards.  They were called Pass Places. We visited the castle at Skipness and the church.  This area is where my father's maternal side of the family originated from.

On the way to Skipness

Skipness

Skipness Castle

Kildrummy, Scotland - Sept 8, 7, 9, Elgin Sept 10

What a pleasant drive from Edinburgh to Kildrummy. On the way we stopped at St. Andrews and spent a few hours and played 9 holes.  That is 9 holes on a putting course which is beside the first hole of the old course.  From there we passed thru Dundee and Aberdeen.  Starting in Aberdeen you can see that fall is arriving as some of the maple trees are turning a lovely red.

We had a brilliant time.  We stayed at the Kildrummy Inn, that is just down the road from Kildrummy Castle. A marvelous place, with excellent meals, they come from all over for dinner on a Saturday night.   We visited many farms, cemeteries and met a number of native Scots.  A Doric dictionary might have been handy at times.  We attend a meeting of the Genealogy Society in Alford, know where all the area libraries are located. Visited the castle of Drum and one of our most unusual places we stumbled across was at lunch in Invernuie.  Lunch was in a working church.  The church had upstairs pews so what they did was install a second level floor that left the pews intacted. That is now where they hold there services.  The main level is a cafe and the servers are all volunteers. The only staff paid are in the kitchen.  The meal was great.  We also meet a fellow that took us to a church that he and 10 other people have bought.  The old church was going to be torn down, now it is used for weddings, funerals, baptisms and three services a year.  The light is still the original gas lights.  He told us that they are actually making money.

Countryside around Rhynie

Kildrummy Inn

On the journey to Elgin we stopped at a few more farms and then on to the Gordon Castle in Fochabers.  We had met a couple outside our home in Calgary who live at the Castle and invited us to visit.  What a great opportunity as the Castle is not open to the public.  The grounds around the castle are beautiful. 
On our travels in this area there is alot more trees and especially the number of spruce trees  than expected.  Also there is a great deal of logging that is taking place.  Yes the roads have been narrow and crooked.  We have had a hectic four days and will take a day off to absorb all and hunker down as the tail end of hurricane Katia might be heading this way.

Gordon Castle

Birkenhead, UK, & Edinburgh - Sept 5, 6 & 7

 

We departed the cruise in Dover.  Spent a little time wondering the streets until our rental car was ready.  Then on to pick it up.  Gary did a practice run around Dover before we headed to the A2 and up to Birkenhead.   It took us about 5 hours and as long as we were following another vehicle it was great.  A couple round abouts were a little challenging as they are not really round.  Thank goodness for a GPS as I am not sure how we would manage without it.  We had a lovely dinner with one of my CCCs (Crazy Caledonian Cousins).  It was our first meeting and hope to see each other again.

 

 

The next day was a pleasant drive to Edinburgh.  We passed thru the scenic Lakes District and enjoyed the changes in landscape on the way. Countryside is a lovely green and at times the hills were covered with purple heather.  Shortly after we arrived the skys opened up with rain and wind.  As the Scots say it was windy, blowy and gusty, and I don't know in which order.  There is so much to see and do in Edinburgh and we have crammed in as much as possible.  We had a great tour guide and enjoyed the magnificent Edinburgh Castle which dominates the city skyline.  It is a great city and we wished we had more time to explore.  We have had a few good laughs as at times we thought the guide was saying one thing when it was actually something completely different.  Like boot and it was a book, yes we were a little confused as we kept looking for a boot.  There was a wedding at the Castle so I had my picture taken with the Best Man.

 

 

 

Kiel Canal, Amsterdam, Bruges, Belgium - Sept 2,3 & 4

As they say the Kiel Canal is a feast for the senses: the beauty of the countryside, the
sight of cows grazing, countless birds, baby swans paddling to keep up with their parents
and the greetings of the German people as we sailed serenely along.  At times we had to stop
and let other ship pass as the canal is not wide enough for two large ships.  We entered
the Canal at 5:30 in the morning and were to exit at 2:00 but because of the ship traffic we
didn't reach the exit lock until 5:00 PM.  The Kiel Canal is 61 miles long with numerous ferry's
crossing the river, paths running along both sides of the canal. The day reminded us of
being on a river cruise.  It was a lovely relaxing day.

Amsterdam is Amsterdam full of contradictions.   It is a city with a marvelous history and
at the same an exciting youthful city.  We hopped on the local bus transportation for a 35
minute ride to Zaanse Schans.  It is an open air museum that was recreated to replicate the
Zaan community around 1700.  We saw a working windmill and learned how to make wooden shoes.
Then back to the city center and a canal tour.  What can I say, it was Saturday afternoon and
boats everywhere.  Our boat collided with a couple other boats and everyone we all just kept
merrily going on our way.  Back on Oceania we had a steady parade of boats, people where 
having a drinks, some snacks and waving to us.  It was like main street in a small town on a
Saturday except these were boat not cars going by.

Zeebrugge, Belgium
We spent the day in Bruges which was extremely worthwhile.  One highlite was the Canadian
Bridge which was built after the original bridge was destroyed by the Germans in WW 2 and in
honor of the Canadian Army Winnipeg Division who liberated the city.The old Bruges is the
perfectly pre-served medieval city.  The best sightseeing was from the canal boats.  You
pass by endless historical buildings.  It is a beautiful city. We wandered around the maze
of little streets and of course bought Belgium chocolates.  Then we had to have beer and
french fries for lunch. FYI Belgium is where the french fry originated.  And yes they have hundreds of
different kinds of beer. What a wonderful way to spend our last day on the cruise.
 We have met may interesting people and of course have lots of stories. 

Copenhagen, Denmark and Warnemunde, Germany - Aug 31 & Sept 1

Copenhagen is a mix of cobbled squares, narrow streets and old buildings.  It has a population of over a million and this is where Hans Christian Anderson wrote his books that children have enjoyed for generations.  We did the Hop On Hop Off tour, and we did a lot of hopping.  We were amazed that so much of the city is under construction, either buildings, roads or squares.  It took us a little extra time to navigate around the city with all the construction.  We saw the changing of the guard at the palace.  And of course the Little Mermaid, which is quit small, Tivoil Gardens and the longest pedestrian street in the world.  It was great to have extra time in Copenhagen.
Warnemunde was part of East Germany and there is still some evidence of this.  It is one of the most beautiful traditional German resorts on the Baltic coast.  It is considered part of Rostock.  There are miles and miles of white beaches. It is a little fishing village.

We had a super tour of Warnemunde.  Our tour guide was Dave of Friends of Dave.  He was informative with a great sense of humour.  He is originally from Florida and ten years ago arrived in Warnemunde and realized there was a great opportunity to offer tours to cruise ships as there was none.  On our tour we did past by his residence and it was great to have him share his personal experience and everyday knowledge of the area.

Riga, Latvia and Visby, Sweden - Aug 29 and 30

Riga is a funky city located at the mouth of the Daugava River on the shores of the Riga Gulf of the Baltic Sea.  Riga and Latvia enjoy one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.  Riga is a transportation Hub for the region.  Again a mix of old and new buildings. Old town has been rebuilt as it was mainly destroyed by the German's and Russian's.  They have restored the charm to the area.  The Dome Cathedral is the home to the famous 19th century Dome organ containing over 6 thousand pipes.  Our plan was no plan, just a leisurely walk around old town.  That quickly changed when we were approached in the square of old town by a young man who wanted to give us a guided tour.  We had a very interesting and informative time.  And as it turned out his father was a technician on the bobsled team that were in Calgary for the Olympics.  The guides recollection of his father returning from the Olympic was fresh bananas.  In the winter months they had very few fresh fruits and he was so excited to have bananas.  I am hoping tonight we will not have the motion of the ocean as we had last night.
Visby, Sweden didn't happen. The water was very rough and they weren't able to tender us to shore. We went straight on to Copenhagen.