Scotland

Good flight followed by easy drive to Bridge of Allan where we caught up with the Sinclairs for dinner at Bologna. Lovely evening. And the next day...on our way to Aberdeen:

Our first stop was St Andrews. Visited the city this time and enjoyed walking the round, cobbled streets and a neat University museum. Graduation week so it was supposed to be busy but not so. 

Had a wee apartment in the centre of Aberdeen do easy wandering around. Quite close to the post and Enjoyed the Maratime Museum. A lovely treat. So well curated. 

Then on to see if the Queen was home at Balmoral before Inverness... stayed in a small village with a great pub at the railway. The Royal Scotsman - train- stopped to change tracks. 

The next morning we were off to Skye via Loch Ness. No Nessie...you will have noticed the weather. I think she prefers stormy days!

Simply divine days and magnificent views. 

A Northern Ireland weekend

Saturday morning and C & C, who arrived last night, took us touring. 
Vantage point first to look over the mouth of the Foyle which runs through Derry and is one of the borders between the 2 Irelands.

Then on to the Giant's causeway - amazing rock formations and views. Beautiful day.

A quick dip for a lad at a wee port which has become famous as a set for Game of Thrones. Hence it was packed but Campbell is a very resourceful parker!!

Back home and on the bbq. We enjoyed outside until well after 10:30. 

Martin and Lawrence...

Martin on one of the shed toys this morning. Think an electric bike might be a good vineyard purchase!!

Around Ireland

Kilkenny was our first night’s stay as we headed south. Lovely town centre and lots to look at etc. Canals or tamed rivers in all these cities were early transport methods as in Dublin where the chimneys on the steam barges could be lowered in order to go under the bridges.
Blarney Castle and gardens on a damp and windy afternoon. Lots of people but great to visit. 

Road tunnels as we travelled forther southwest and around the coast. 

Kenmore and the Killarney areas were gorgeous as we ventured around the south coast. National park areas and loads of things to do and super walks. Dinner and entertainment at Kate Kearney’s at Gap of Dunloe near our farm stay was delightful. 

Muckrose house the next morning. Beautiful gardens and Farm education area for kids - lots of them with their back packs and wellies on. 👌🏻

And on to the Wild Atlantic Way. The Cliffs of Moher and associated geology was fascinating - and very windy!!

Statue in memorial of the wives waiting on the shore and men lost at sea.

A surf spot near Derry. The sand was clean and a light colour. Beautiful day. beginning of the fine weather we hope.

Peace bridge in the background and the Guild Hall in Dublin. Spent the afternoon walking the walls and enjoying the craft shops within the walled town with Anne on Friday while Lawrence was at work and Martin on an expedition to return the rental car to Sligo. 

Dublin

We had a great time in Dublin. As follows a few pics from the last 3 days...

On our Friday travels Martin found this little number.. a gorgeous stop. Avoca is a group of shops offering gourmet type merchandise and the food, setting and "stuff" is divine. We spent a lovely morning sampling, eating and just looking!!
On further south along the coast as much as possible and at New Ross we visited an exhibit related to the Kennedy's and the famine ships - terrific display.

Waterford was our last stop for the day before we dashed back up the motorway. Unfortunately the phone was flat so have stolen this photo from the net. The shop was fantastic - so many designs and the prices.... didn't buy anything but looking is good.

Next day and our gorgeous Catherine was with us for 2 whole days! First stop on the Hop on/off bus was the Guinness factory. Marvelous and I can even drink Guinness - not toooo bad!

Then on through town and another famous spot. The Temple Bar. We thought it would be crowded but not so. Had a drink and enjoyed great live music.

Castle tour at Malahide and a lovely hot house with butterflies and moths. some interesting cater[pillars too.

And then there were windmills...

And a cute wee ice cream shop on the end of a pier. We carried on down and spent the late afternoon in Howth - yummy seafood chowder. The weekend passed too quickly. Dropped Catherine at the airport and headed for Kilkenny. Let the next set of adventures begin. See ya. xx

Wine country - Laguardia

Back up a couple of days and this is where we experienced some interesting wines and wonderful vineyard and winery buildings. The above is one of 3 more recent architecturally designed ones we saw. The above was a morning ramble objective for M and self.

This one was 7 levels built into the hillside - a vertical winery with the grapes received at the top and delivered out at the bottom in the form of bottles.


We stayed in our hotel with caves below and met the owner as he was being filmed for a local television programme. He seemed interested that there were New Zealanders amongst the group but kept on wanting to engage a German man in conversation - who had no idea what was going on - fun times.

Martin with a statue of the owner. First love man we've met with a statue which looked just like him.



Our dinner restaurant for the final night - 6 course degustation - both a famous restaurant and building. 

Bilbao

Our last day on the back roads tour saw us head on to the coast (Getaria) to learn from the best about preserving anchovies... and more fish tales. 

Several generations of our hosts family have fished these waters. We sampled white fin tuna and anchovies in vinegar or oil today. Washed down of course with a local semi sparkling wine. A perfect lunchtime snack. 

And on to Bilbao and the Guggenheim museum. The flowery dog statue in front is covered with freshly growing plants!!

The most interesting instillation from our point of view - from onsite and above. A lot of rusty steel!!

Outside and looking back over the river. Will do some more exploring before we fly to Dublin tomorrow. Xxx

Navasa

A quick flick around Cardona and the markets were marvelous. Stunning vegetables and all the locals out loading up. Yum!!

This reservoir filled the valleys and we think it created some hydro but mainly was a major fresh water source for Spain. There seem to be a series of these on the north. 

Rugged mountains and very old - over 50 million years according to our sources.

Can’t explain just how cute Navasa was. Our small overnight village high up in the hills was charming right down to it’s light switches- above; and toast cooking at Cassa Martin the next morning. 👌🏻

On through the countryside to a real life LEGO looking castle. Up and up we climbed and the views over the valley and local town were delicious. The castle was empty, however Martin found a nearby hotel with suits of amour etc from the same era.

Pompalona was next and one of our guides, Luis, demonstrated the progress of the running of the bulls.

A symbol  on the road of the Camino de Santigo trail - a major Christian pilgrimage for many across the north of Spain - we met some of the walkers - what a dedicated crew.

How's this for a garlic plait - something to aspire to huh?