Monday, April 20, 2009

Scotland

Over Easter weekend, we toured part of Scotland with Kirsten and Josh. Rather than fly, we took the unorthodox route of taking an overnight ferry from Amsterdam to Newcastle, England and driving up to Edinburgh. The trip started off ominously as our google map preparation and our TomTom GPS both (and of course, we) failed to take into account the insane rush hour traffic, so our 25 minute trip took over an hour and a half and our 'let's get there early' plan quickly melted into a panicked 'so, if we miss this ferry, what do we want to do this weekend' discussion. Luckily we cruised into the ferry landing just in time, trading in 4 minor heart attacks for the convenience of driving straight onto the boat and avoiding the lines. 

The ferry experience was mixed. The ride over to England was pretty good. The boat was huge (like a small cruiseliner) and had shops, bars, and restaurants. We slept in little bunks and it was nice to wake up, have breakfast, and get on the road. The trip back, however was not as simple. There were 40-50 young Brits heading in to Amsterdam for the rest of the long weekend and they took full advantage of the ship's bars. We have no problem with the kids having fun, but unfortunately a dozen of them had rooms across from us, so we had the luxury of listening to them until about four in the morning... Also funny was that we had smaller rooms on the way back, notable for the bathrooms which were so small that the shower was a triangle shaped wedge right next to the toilet. You could literally shower while on the toilet if you were so inclined (we weren't!). 

So, anyway. Scotland. Expecting the worst, we were delighted to have three days of sunshine. The Scottish countryside is absolutely beautiful: gorgeous green hills, marked off with stone walls and full of livestock, mostly sheep. 



And, since it's spring, almost every field of sheep was littered with lambs, who frolicked and played in the most ridiculously adorable way, filling our first hour on the road with a car full of 'awwwws' and 'oooohs' (and about a dozen near death experiences as Rob split his focus between driving on the left side of the road and trying to see what all the 'awwwwing' and 'oooohing' was about). If you think you'd eventually become numb to little lambs being absurdly cute, you're wrong. 


We survived the Scottish Lamb Deathtrap and made it to the town of Jedburg (pronounced Jed-bourough). Jedburg's home to the remains of Jedburg Abbey, a 12th century church and monastery destroyed centuries ago during a war with England.


In fact, in an interesting twist on the Giant European Churches that we seem to spend a part of every trip in, there are several church ruins in Scotland. Our favorite was probably Sweetheart Abbey, near the coastal town of Dumfries. Sweetheart Abbey is so called because it was founded as a monument to a Scottish Lady's dead husband (and where she was later buried along with her husband's heart. Rob asked Erika if she'll get buried with his heart. She wasn't so sure). The grounds inside Sweetheart Abbey are overgrown with lush green grass, so as you walk through the old church, it really feels like a beautiful and ancient sculpture. 


Eventually, we made into Edinburgh, where we had a lovely dinner in a small pub and walked around the city. We met this (possibly crazy and) exceptionally nice lady on the bus who heard us talking and proceeded to recommend her favorite 12 restaurants. Actually, every single Scot we chatted with was nice and friendly and helpful. We stayed at a small hotel just outside the city center, which was notable for its tiny beds. Rob's feet and ankles hung off the edge and Josh, who is 6' 11", had an even rougher time of it. 

The following day, we made our way into the city. Edinburgh Castle towers over the city and is definitely worth a tour. We do have one good tip to share. If you go to the castle you can view the Honours of Scotland, which are the old crown jewels of the Scottish Kingdom. The jewels are beautiful, but what we didn't know was that there were two ways to view them. The door we entered led to a 45 minute line that wrapped through a cheesy museum display giving the history of the jewels. The display was actually okay, but it was prerecorded and repeated itself 3 or 4 times as you waited for the line to move. When we finally made it to the viewing room we discovered there was another entry way that led directly to the jewels. One of the older women in that line was very curious about where we came from, but when Rob assured her that she hadn't missed anything she shrugged and said, "Got it. Just google it." 


After the viewing the castle, we had lunch and enjoyed a Scottish Whisky tasting. It would have been preferable to visit a distillery, but we didn't really have the time to go north into the Highlands. The tasting was great as you got an appreciation for how different the whisky from each region in Scotland is. We spent the rest of our time in Edinburgh wandering through the old city and doing a little shopping before heading out to the western coast.

We spent the next night in Dumfries, a small fishing town, where had the unnerving experience of walking around the city center while scarcely seeing another soul as we looked for a place to eat dinner. It was like something out of a bad horror movie where all the locals turn in after sundown. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view) we never came across any Scottish vampires or zombies and finally found the one non-Chinese restaurant that was open after 8. The next day we headed back to England to catch our ferry, but not before visiting a working 15th century mill and Caerlaverock Castle. 

The mill's water wheel still works and there's a miller who still grinds oats a few times a month. 

Caerlaverock Castle is mostly in ruins, but the two tall battle towers are still quite imposing and the castle is still surrounded by a moat. The castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times and there is a lifesize replica of a medieval trebuchet (catapult) on the grounds. 


The castle visit also gave us one last chance to enjoy some haggis, which is not as bad as you think it will be, and which Rob was delighted to find can be eaten on a baked potato. How can anything be bad if you can eat on a baked potato?

We had such a good time in Scotland that we think we need to go back. The people, the food, the whisky, the sights, and the country were so great, we left wanting more. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Now that their vacation is over, maybe they can rest

Well, that was quick. Kirsten and Josh have returned home, but we tried to cram in as much as possible while they were here. After the trip to the model village in The Hague, we toured the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and made a trip out to the Keukenhof Gardens to see the tulips.

In addition to the beautiful flowers, we also saw an actual Dutch gardener wearing actual wooden clogs:

Of course, one of the main reasons Rob likes returning to the Keukenhof is for the Belgian Waffles, which he happily introduced to Josh:

The day before they left had probably the nicest weather of the year here in Amsterdam and we celebrated by making a second trip along the canals on the boat. And no trip to Amsterdam is complete without a trip to our favorite Dutch jenever bar for a glass of the traditional Dutch drink in the traditional fashion:


And finally, we celebrated Easter weekend with a quick trip to lovely Scotland. We'll get another, Scotland-centric post up tomorrow, but until then, here are Erika and Kirsten checking out a couple of swans in a moat around a 13th century castle:

It was fantastic seeing Kirst and Josh and we hope they had as much fun as we did. See you guys again this summer!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

The Most Exciting Thing You'll See All Day

Back to the South Africa posts! The winery we stayed at also had a small cheetah sanctuary. Cheetahs are an endangered species and are still frequently targeted by farmers for killing livestock. The purpose of the sanctuary is to raise awareness about the plight of the cheetah and to promote alternate methods of protecting livestock, including the use of Turkish Anatolian Shepards, which are giant, fast, and extremely protective dogs that are famously good at protecting herds of livestock from bears and wolves (the center also breeds the dogs). 

The center houses about 15 cheetahs, including the cubs above. The center breeds the cheetahs and feeds and cares for them. Here are some interesting facts about cheetahs:
  • Cheetahs sleep 18 hours a day
  • There are wild cheetahs in Iran. Iran! And all this time we worried about nukes.
  • Cheetahs are indifferent to German goth girls:
And of course, cheetahs are famously fast. We had the amazing luck of catching one in action while we were at the center, but it was almost too quick to capture. So lean in and pay attention, or you'll miss it:


Monday, April 6, 2009

Sisters, Sisters!

Erika's back from South Africa for a few weeks- just in time for a visit from Kirsten and Josh. Amsterdam has been struggling to break into spring weather, and the day everyone arrived was the nicest day of the year. Unfortunately, the next day, when we took Kirst and Josh out on the boat, the weather changed again, and we sat under the clouds all day. Still, any day on the boat is a good day. 

On Sunday, we headed into The Hague and toured the Madurodam, which is, in a sense, the smallest town in the Netherlands. Curiously billed as a war memorial/amusement park/exhibition, the Madurodam is a model town filled with 1/25 scale models of many of the most famous buildings in the Netherlands. 


In addition to the buildings, the model has over 60,000 'villagers' and over 4500 vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, trains, and airplanes. 

Several of the vehicles move around on magnetized tracks, and there is a working lock system where two motorized ships move back and forth through the locks. 


The whole place really begs the question, "Why?," but it was still an interesting sight. All the trees in the village are real plants, and the canals are stocked with fish. We were hoping some of the 'giant' birds would attack the villagers, but they didn't cooperate.  

Afterwards, we walked through a little bit of The Hague and checked out a small museum which is famous for a 360ยบ panorama painting of the Dutch coastline. When we got home, the girls made an amazing dinner of Eggplant Timbale:


That beautiful thing is stuffed with pasta, meat, cheese and other goodness. It was delicious! 


The rest of this week will be spent exploring Amsterdam and a possible trip to the Keukenhof Gardens to see the tulips in bloom.