Maria's Swedish Saturday Night

It was time for Maria to relax, she picked up Premium Cider Kopparberg, Strawberry & Lime as well as Mixed Fruit. Made in Sweden with a kick! So good, she had to email her friend in Sweden! Maria's critique? "Fizzy, fruity with a hint of Ikea."

Dracula, Captain Cook & enjoying Whale N Chips!

The day started with an hours drive from Darlington to Whitby, North Yorkshire, UK, population 14,000, it`s kinda like North Rustico, PEI. This seaside town on the North Sea is home to the port where Captain Cook sailed from and local legend has it that Dracula is buried here as evident by all the Gothic people roaming around.

A quick stop in to a side cafe down an alley called the Singing Kettle Cafe so Colin could enjoy a bacon bun with brown sauce and Maria had a cheese & onion pasty.

Then it was off to the wharf to catch a view of the stormy North Sea and watch the fishers cast off for sea bass and mackerel. Colin asked one of the guys fishing if he caught anything, it's been 5 hours only 1.

A short walk back into town to walk 199 grueling steps up to Whitby Abbey.

Almost there..

Are we there yet?

Finally!

Also at the top is St. Mary's Parish Church, they must get some strange requests.

This is the grave yard where Dracula is supposedly buried.

Do you see Dracula?



Here are ruins of St. Hilda's Abbey, high on Whitby's East Cliff over looking the North Sea.

And since it costs a lot of money to go in to actually view the ruins, Colin, Maria & their host Mel just stayed outside the wall and took more photo's.

Then it was back down the 199 steps (which was a lot easier then going up) to The Magpie Cafe for the best fish & chips in town, except it should be renamed WHALE & chips, where they filter and bottle their own water & buy their fish directly from the boats in the harbour! Colin also enjoyed Slipway Ale, brewed at the Captain Cook Brewery. A hoppy, light ale that went down waaaay too easy.

Maria and her small whale N chips.

Colin's whale N chips.

There was one more size.. The Killer Whale N Chips combo, enough to feed a small Newfoundland fishing village. After the travelers were done, the pants had to be taken out a notch.

After lunch, they ended their day by taking a dip in the North Sea..

Stock up on more beer for tonight because tomorrow is a new adventure!

Mad Mel Was Going to Kill Me

Next stop on Eurotrip '11 is Darlington, England, population 98,000. Arriving at the train station on the day of the grand Prince William and Catherine wedding, Maria's friend Mel met them at the station. Mel is giving up her apartment to them! Walking inside, posted on the fridge was a newspaper cut out, "I feared mad Mel was going to kill me" read the headline...

Nice girl..

Colin thought he left the weird showers and no dryers behind in Scotland, but apparently this is a UK thing..

After leaving Maria the keys, Mel left, so our travelers wandered the streets of Maria's former home. Darlington is where Maria's spent her grade 11 years on an exchange program. A walk through the city center, which was populated by intoxicated English celebrating the wedding, our weary two found a nice pub, the Tap & Spile. It played rock & punk, sweet! Bob Marley's Jammin' even came on! It used old sewing machines as tables, and little stools as chairs. People were dressed as punk rockers with spikey hair, black eye liner, chains, but it also had a good mix of "regular" folk. Just a heads up if you are going to enjoy some brews in the UK, most of the pubs they have visited so far had troughs for urinals in the gents rooms.

Colin had a pint of Kronenbourg 1664, light and refreshing, a bit amber coloured, while Maria enjoyed a pint of Strongbow, a cidery, fizzy, sweet drink. Then Colin had a Black Sheep Best Bitter.. It wasn't that good. Warm, grainy, very bitter beer.

As the happy two were leaving the pub to go home, they were treated to one Englishman who celebrated too much, he barfed all over the sidewalk across the street, you could hear him all they way down the road blowing his guts on the cobblestone while his girlfriend laughed..

Tomorrow's itinerary includes a stop at Dracula's supposed grave...

A champagne send off!

After the great Scottish breakfast, Colin & Maria's hosts sent the two off with a glass (or two) of champagne.

Next it was off to the train station where they could bring their own beer and enjoy them during their 2 hour trip to Darlington, England. Maria had the Seven Giraffes Extraordinary Ale, which was a SIBA GOLD regional winner for 2010! Colin enjoyed the Harvest Sun, a hoppy golden ale. Both are brewed by Williams Brothers Brewing in Scotland www.williamsbrosbrew.com

BTW when taking the train (it is highly recommended when traveling through the UK) don't buy a paper to read, there's too much to look at.

Where in Edinburgh are we?

Colin & Maria woke up in Currie, about a 20 minute bus ride from Edinburgh city center. Edinburgh population 478,000.

If you want to see any city in the UK, take the double decker buses, you'll see everything! After walking what seemed like forever, they found a post office & stationary store so Maria could send Scottish Tea back to Canada. Then they stumbled upon a neat little cafe aptly named "Cafe Maria"

Then it was back on the bus to tour Edinburgh Castle, the biggest in Scotland & it houses the Scottish Crown Jewels as well as the "Stone of Destiny". The castle dates back to about the 11th century.

While touring, Colin noticed a lady wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders jacket, come to find out she's only in Edinburgh for a few days after attending a wedding in England, no not the royal wedding.

After the tour it was down to "The Royal Mile" to have a pint at "The Royal Mile Tavern".

The Royal Mile is similar to George Street in Newfoundland, but much older, with more cobblestones and it’s a lot longer.

This day, the Royal Mile Tavern had a few young travelers who seemed to like to make out a lot. Colin ordered a Belhaven Best, creamy, smooth, light & refreshing & Maria had a Caledonia, light, creamy & drinkable... Infact so drinkable, she had it twice!

Then it was off to find the Edinburgh Curling Club aboard another double decker. Getting around in the city of Edinburgh was easy! The bus system is really good and easy to understand, just know where you're going.

They arrived to Edinburgh Curling Club surprised to see the club was open, it was located next to the ice rink. Unfortunately there was no ice in the curing club, but Ian (1) gave them a tour, then took them to the banquet room where they met Ian(2) and many others, including a lady whose daughter married a guy from Moncton, and they currently live in Dieppe!

Colin & Maria were also treated to a dram of fine whisky and a cup of coffee. International curling relations have just improved!

Maria holds 1893 curling trophy, Colin nearly drops the 1894 trophy. Apparently the club management have booked Colin & Maria in for ice time this coming October!

Ian (1) had told a story of the curling tower in Duddingston that was forgotten about for many years but is now being restored. Maria knew about it but didn’t know where to find it.. Ian (1) gave them specific instructions on how to find it. After a few farewells and a quick picnic in the park, the travelers were back on the bus headed to the other side of Edinburgh on another adventure to find the fabled curling tower. (They had met 3 Ian's at the club)

This tower was not easy to find.... It was waaay off the beaten path, in a subdivision, down a path to a ministers house, through a gate that had to be kept locked to keep the rabbits out, on the edge of Duddingston Loch and down a few paths in a garden. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you would completely miss it!

View from other side of rock wall looking toward the tower, you can barely see it!

The curling tower is another historic curling monument from 1825, it was where the first rules of curling were developed and it is where the rocks were stored to keep them at temperature. They were stored in the basement, while the top floor of the tower was used by the “Father of Scottish Scene Painting” Rev. John Thomson.

A few pictures later it was a rush walk back to the bus stop, with a quick stop at the service station for a bathroom break, where Colin broke the toilet.. An international incident almost occurred!

There's no picture as Colin didn't want to stick around to explain things to staff

The Great Curling Detour, AC/DC & even the Scots don't like Nickleback

Originally Colin & Maria were suppose to take the train directly from Inverness to Endinburgh, but Colin really wanted to see the birthplace of curling. Maria was thinking it was going to be a logistical nightmare, but he sulked a little and convinced her that it would be fun!

She made it happen, after she threatened him within an inch of his life :)

BTW if you ever take a trip to Scotland, especially the highlands, take the train! You'll see many things on your travels, mountains, old castles, ruins and lots of sheep, at the right time of year, you'll see plenty of lambs!

Their first stop was in Stirling population 34,000.. With no map or directions they headed straight for the Stirling Castle, they had 3 hours to get back onto the train....

The great thing about finding a castle, is just walk up the hill.. You're bound to get there!

You might have heard about this castle.. As William Wallace once defended it. William Wallace? Remember the movie Braveheart? Mary Queen of Scots also lived here.

Here's Maria sitting in her throne.

Once the Castle Tour was over, Colin & Maria started walking back to the train so they could get to a village called Croy, population 399, which was the closest station near Kilsyth, population 10,100, home of the Curling Pond. On the way there a car raced by blaring AC/DC, how fitting the song that was pumping out the windows was "Rock N Roll Ain't Noise Pollution", you know, the one with the bag pipes! How fitting! (BTW AC/DC is actually from Scotland)

They made it to the train station with exactly 2 minutes to spare!

Once in Croy with no idea where to go, they found Fred the taxi guy, A Celtic fan!

Nice guy! Great stories and very accommodating! It was off to the pond, the birth place of curling, but they only had an hour.

Fred drove into a park called Colzium Estates and there it was! The mecca for curlers and a drinking spot for teens (as told to them by a local couple who wondered what the hell 2 Canadians were doing traveling 5,000 km's to this swan infested swamp)! Here is where the very first curling game was ever played in the 16th century.

A dip in the water.. Watch the swan poop!

A kiss for good luck!

It was back to Croy thanks to Fred, to catch the train to Edinburgh! After arriving in Edinburgh, they stopped for a beer. Colin & Maria had about an hour and a half to kill to wait for Sara, the host for this leg of the trip.

The Black Bull it is!

As soon as they walked in there was hard rock/heavy metal on the stereo! Fantastic!
It must have been a satellite fed music service because Nickleback started to play but was quickly stopped by the bar staff who must have put an iPod on full of old skool punk, guess the Scots don't like Nickleback either...

After ordering a pint of Tennants (tasted like Coors Light) & a Stella for Maria, Colin enjoyed a Guinness Extra Cold.

Then they spotted a brew called Blue Moon, "brewed in North America" & it was served with an orange, Colin then found out from the bar staff that it's Rickards White with a different label.

When the two finally met up with their hosts in Edinburgh, Sara & Jaime, they had chilli ready for supper and a superb line up of Scottish beer..

Don't ask what it was like because the drinking lasted well into the night!

Tomorrow, it's off to improve international curling relations over a dram of whisky & an adventure in the middle of Edinburgh!

Last one in the highlands, "beer brewed in paradise"

This is Black Isle Heather Honey Beer..

This tastes so much like honey, you'd think a bee will sting you in your nose at your next sip!

Haggis & the Loch Ness Monster

Haggis was on the menu and served in fine style! Home cooked and served in Inverness, the Highlands Capital!

It was everything it was imagined it could be! Meaty, spiced, goodness! You really should try it, but make sure it's cooked properly, it might be a bad experience. The haggis was served with neeps & taties (carrots and turnip with potatoes) with a whisky cream sauce. Delicious!

On the itinerary was a short drive to Loch Ness. What adventure wouldn't be complete without a trip to spot the legendary Nessy. Colin & Maria stood on the shores of Loch Ness for hours looking for the ol' girl..

Alas, the only thing they spotted was an old tire washed up on shore. They were treated to the non-tourist side of Loch Ness, which they recommend. So if you're going to Inverness, drive through Dores to view the beautiful highlands. It reminded Colin of growing up on the Kennebecasis River in New Brunswick.

Tomorrow it's a trip to the curling pond (first pond curling was ever played on) & the castle that was featured in the movie Braveheart.

Underwear on trees, dolphins at play & whisky drinking at 11am

Lets start with last evening..

Colin & Maria were treated to some local beers by their Inverness hosts Kathrin & Ryan. Inverness, population 57,000

Black Isle Brewery, "Beer with the great outdoors brewed in". Many different flavours come from the brewery.

Brewed in the Scottish Highlands!

It's organic and has 4.2% alcohol.

Red Kite Ale, creamy, smooth and tastes great (obviously)! Blonde, a light tasting brew that doesn't have an after taste. Infact it was so delicious they picked up six more that included Heather Honey Beer. www.blackislebrewery.com

Also in the fridge was Northern Light, 5000 years in the making, "hand crafted in small batches", it's the Orkney Brewery, Quoyloo. Delicious!

They were also treated to a few drams of whisky. Glen Fiddich (meaning Valley of the Stags) and Glen Morangie.

Glen Fiddich was superb! The malt whisky liqueur hasd a light coloured, honey flavour. While the Glen Morangie (highlands single malt whisky) La Santa was amber coloured without the harshness (try it with a drop of water.. Literally a drop!)

Today Colin & Maria were taken on a tour of the Glen Morangie Distillery, owned by Louis Vuitton, the famous luggage guy.

Where they were shown the warehouse full of old whisky, distilled on the spot from the peat and water of Scotland. As soon as you walk in, you can smell the alcohol, and Maria had noticed a sign that read "No mobile phones" and "No smoking".. It would cause a terrible explosion..

Then came the sampling at 11 am! Sweet! Slen juva!

The second stop on our tour that day included a picnic near Dornoch, where in the distance the flag of Newfoundland was spotted, just below was the flag of PEI, NS & NB! Colin went to investigate and met the Sinclair's!

3rd stop was to the Clootie Well, think wishing well except with clothes..

If you were driving by, you would think that people were hanging clothes from the tree.. You find everything there, including underwear nailed to one tree..

4th stop for the day was Chanory Point where the dolphins play just 50 feet from the shore!

Tonight it's HAGGIS!