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Big Trip Report Number 7 - The U.K. - Tue, 20 Aug 2002
It is amazing how time has flown! This is our last update from Europe as we
are returning to NYC on August 21st. Anyway to bring you up to date on our adventures,
we arrived in Scotland safe and sound. It was good to be in a place where the
road signs are in English, although driving on the wrong side in our French
left hand drive car was a little disconcerting. For those of you who haven’t
realised, we have been driving the same Peugeot 307 “Madame La”
since Paris, clocking over 18,000km in total.
Edinburgh was wet and grey. It is a beautiful city if you can see it through
the fog. We couldn’t! However, we were well looked after by our good friend
Mags, which at least in part, made up for the crap weather. We then went north
to the Glenmorangie retreat where we were equally well taken care of by Helen
and Drew. The retreat is a country hotel owned by the Glenmorangie Distillery,
so needless to say, we partook of much fine whisky. We also went to see some
Highland Games which included everybody’s favourite event, caber tossing
(large men throwing telephone poles). Unfortunately, the weather didn’t
get much better here. At Loch Ness we wouldn’t have seen Nessie even if
she’d been waterskiing down the Loch.
Next stop was the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. There was a slight
break in the weather that allowed us some great hikes through the stark and
dramatic landscapes. We finally got to see Highland Cows. If you don’t
know what they look like, imagine giant red horned sheepdogs! Our final day
in Scotland was spent hiking (AKA bog hopping) through the soggy ground of Glen
Nevis.
As we headed south to Yorkshire, we were happy to have ticked off all four of
Jack’s ‘must do’ list:
·Drink lots of whisky
·See a Highland Cow
·Watch Highland Games
·Eat Haggis (actually tastes pretty good!).
Yorkshire involved more bog hopping, full English breakfasts and quaint country
pubs.
Then on to London where we were finally treated to that rare British phenomenon
known as sunshine. The last week the weather has been great and we have been
catching up with friends and family over here, including 2 new additions to
the family. Sue’s niece Sarah Jane has just had twins. Congratulations
Sarah and Imran!
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We have now reached the end of the European leg of the trip and so have come
up with a list of a few awards for some of the most memorable events of the
trip so far. They are purely subjective and, due to our atrocious memory and
the quantity of great experiences, the list is certainly not comprehensive.
And the winners are…
·Most beautiful scenery – Norway. Fjords baby! Honourable mention
to Switzerland.
·Most romantic – Collioure, France. Honourable mention to Varenna,
Italy. Both best out of season. Might be too crowded at peak times.
·Best public toilets – Switzerland. Eat your chocolate and cheese
off the floor!
·Worst public toilets – France. You’d think they’d
have nicer places to get rid of all of that great food and drink.
·Best libation – Domaine du Maillet Cote du Rhone, France.
·Worst libation – Absinthe. Prague. You’re asking for it.
·Silliest libation – Cannabis vodka. Prague.
·Best to drive in – German autobahn. Fast!!!
·Worst to drive in – Norway. Slow!!!
·Best food – Italy (Pizza!) and France (Cheese, crepes, baguettes.
Need we say more?)
·Best cities we’d never been to before – Berlin and Prague.
·Most disappointing cities – Siena, Italy and St. Emillion, France.
Sure they’re pretty, but 100% tourists.
·Best cows – Scotland. Love those shaggy Highlanders.
·Best local music – Spain. Flamenco and classical guitar.
·Best cathedral – Sagrada Familia, Barcelona. So what if it’s
not even finished? Incredible!
·Best beaches – Lofoten Islands, Norway. No way we’d swim
there, though (way too cold!).
·Best dinner – Les Remparts. Gensac, France. Culinary bliss!
·Most expensive country – Norway
·Cheapest country – Czech Republic
Also, just in case you can’t get enough, here are some best and worst moments
Best
·Drinking Peach Bellinis with fresh juice in Varenna, Italia
·Listening to jazz guitar buskers in Collioure, France
·Hiking in Switzerland with Zac and Moni.
·Boating along the Grand Canal in Venezia, Italia
·Sitting by the pool drinking wine in Vaison, France
·The eerie calm before a tremendous thunderstorm in Prague.
·Eating gelato in Rome, Italia
·Biking in Berlin.
·Seeing Nigardsbreen glacier (Norway) up close.
·Staying with all of our lovely friends everywhere!
Worst
·Getting lost just about anywhere.
·Traffic jam from Hell in Cannes.
·Visiting the Alhambra (Granada) in pouring rain.
·The weather in Scotland in August. (This is summer!?!)
·Being stuck behind caravans on narrow roads.
·Sue getting sick in Copenhagen.
·Trying to sleep in Salzburg despite the boiling temperature and hundreds
of screaming teens.
·No water at our hotel in Barcelona.