Over the sea to Skye

A glimpse of morning sunshine helped Skye to put on her pretty face for us today and so we were encouraged to travel further than we had on 'everything's closed' Sunday.
Beyond Broadford, Skye is a postcard of rugged mountains, sheer cliffs, sweeping valleys and sea views. There are stone walls and bridges everywhere. All the houses are white washed with grey slate or occasionally, thatched roofs and further down the island you can see the remains of the crofter's cottages that were destroyed by the English hundreds of years ago. Seriously, it is impossible to describe how pretty it is. It's no wonder Bonnie Prince Charlie chose it as his refuge after Culloden.

We drove the length of the island, from Kyleaken to Portree, to Uig and back. It was 240 km all up but these are Highland miles where 1mile = about 20 Australian km, so it took us 4 hrs.

Our first stop was Portree, a bustling little seaport with some fascinating shops and a harbourside full of history. We bought some hand knitted beanies from the local craft market being held in the hall. I loved the sign that said it was open from 9am till 5 or 'thereabouts'.

Portree Harbour

Craft market

We were glad of the beanies when we got to the Old Man of Storr. Most people come to this area to go walking. This was not our reason for choosing the area but after seeing all the guide books it seemed important that we do at least one. The walks are graded A+ through to C in terms of difficulty. This one was a B so it seemed reasonable that we could manage it in our runners and street clothes and all the steps in Paris and Switzerland had emboldened me to believe I could manage the 'areas of steep ascent'. We probably should have picked up some clues from the other walkers in the car park who were donning their waterproofs, hiking boots, back packs and nordic walking poles but of course, we are hardy Aussies, not into that sissy stuff!

Our car is way down there near the sea!

The first part of the track was manageable enough, albeit a wee bit chilly. My lungs started to seize up at the 4th stile but it wasn't until it started snowing just as we got to the REALLY steep and slippery stone steps that I began to question our wisdom (well, mine anyway. Geoff could scramble up any mountain in his shorts and t shirt!). With great trepidation and visions of lengthy travel insurance claims as a result of my fool hardiness, I soldiered on and felt some satisfaction when we got to the base of the rocky protrusion. It snowed again on the way down as I inched my way along the skinny little path, willing myself not to look down or have a panic attack. I ruined my silver Nikes and my hip flexors are screaming but at least you know you're alive when you go rock climbing in Skye!

The phallic looking stone is where we're heading

Made it to the top. That's snow on my glasses!

It didn't look that far to Uig at the far end of the island so we set off to explore. When you get to the 'back end' of Skye, the road turns into an asphalted goat track. It's hardly wide enough for one car, has no lines and edges that drop off drastically enough to lose a tyre. And while you're watching for oncoming vehicles you also have to be aware of the wandering sheep who have complete freedom to sit in the middle of the road or worse still, roam onto it just as you come around a bend. And then there's the distraction of the magnificent, 360 degree views. Needless to say it took us a long time to get to Uig and we were very hungry from our climbing. We stopped at a cafe called Ella's on the Uig waterfront, another quaint establishment that had racks of second hand clothes for sale and really dreadful 50s music blasting. I tried another Scottish sounding menu item, the crawdie. It was a cheese, pesto and tomato sandwich! Geoff had veggie soup and Taine had chocolate cake. My trained Thermomix eye recognised both their dishes!

Crofter's cottage

From Uig we went to Dunvegan. I had really wanted to see the castle there but guess what? Closed till Easter. From Dunvegan the road returns to a more modern form and it didn't take long to get back to the Skye Bridge and our welcoming little cottage.

Inverness

My love affair with Diana Gabaldon's 'Outlander' series and Geoff's desire to spot the Loch Ness monster were the impetus for a day trip north to Inverness.

There are two ways to get to Inverness from Kyle of Lochalsh. We took the low road this morning. It was fine enough when we left the cottage but by the time we got to Loch Ness it was freezing cold and raining so a planned trip to Urquhart Castle was abandoned. Loch Ness is much longer and larger than I had imagined and probably the least attractive of all the magnificent waterways we've seen in the last 3 days. Its deepest point is 230 metres and it holds more water than all the other lochs and rivers in England and Scotland combined. Any romantic notions we had about 'Nessie' were squashed at the Loch Ness Centre. Here we saw all the scientific proof we needed to assure us that there was never anything unusual about the loch except perhaps for the world's gullibility in listening to the rumours. All power though to the early shysters who initiated this myth because the businesses around the loch are still thriving on the hoax to this very day! The Loch Ness Centre wasn't terribly expensive and just as well. I struggled to stay awake through the series of audio visual displays (complete with very unlifelike mannequins dressed in 70s fashion) showing all the ways the monster myth has been disproved. Luckily the extreme cold in display the rooms kept me from nodding off.

In Inverness we stopped briefly for a wander through the Victoria Market (a wee bit different to the one at home!) and a bite to eat. I had a bridie. I'm not at all sure what was in it but it tasted like a pie in a pastie shape. The people in Inverness looked a bit sombre and I wondered why Claire and Frank ( Outlander reference) ever went there in the first place!

Our next stop was the Culloden Battlefields. This attraction did live up to its reputation and was well worth the admission. A series of interactive displays detailed the background of conflict leading up to the battle of Culloden and then a big screen surround sound re enactment allows you to get an idea of how the battle played out. The guides were very helpful and knowledgeable and Taine and Geoff enjoyed playing with the weapons.

After you visit the centre its possible to walk on the actual battlefield. Wearing audio headphones describing the different parts of the moor, you get a real feel for the plight of the Jacobites. It's remarkable to think of all the lives lost in this short battle, many of them buried in mass clan graves on the site.

From Culloden we followed up another Outlander reference, visiting the Clava Cairns, a set of standing stones just outside Inverness. The sense of history in this place is undeniable. I don't know who built the cairns; who, what or how they worshipped but the atmosphere is overwhelmingly spiritual. It's hard to make sense of your place in the universe when you consider that the people who are buried here lived 2000 years BC. The precision of the stone placement ( let alone the technology needed to transport the stones) is bewildering but empowering at the same time. When we looked online tonight we noted that the Clava Cairns barely rate a mention on travel reviews of the area. For me, it was a highlight and should be at the top of everyone's Inverness bucket list.

After a quick trip to Tescos ( I think this is the UK equivalent of Walmart) we took the high road home and it was spectacular! So many incredible colours and images; wild bucks grazing, delicate waterfalls on the side of the road, heather covered moors and wispy smoke tendrils from the stone cottages that dot the landscape. After our visit to Culloden it was great to see this wild part of the Highlands where you can easily imagine the surviving Jacobites fleeing from the Redcoats. It's this part of the country that Bonnie Prince Charlie would have traversed on his escape to Skye. Given the failing light and one lane mountain roads, we probably should have driven his road in the morning but the blind turns and hidden dips in the twilight added a sense of adventure to the day!

Scotland the Brave

Travel distances are always hard to judge in a foreign country. Coming from rural Australia, long trips are nothing new to us and we are used to making a 6hr round trip to Melbourne for sporting or cultural events. On the other hand, our vast NZ experience of winding roads warns us that what looks close on the map can be a long time on the road. We weighed up both these understandings when we were planning this trip and decided 4hrs or 200 miles was probably a manageable day for us. With this in mind we booked a cottage way up in the north of Scotland at Reraig, near the Kyle of Lochalsh as the base for our tour of the Highlands.

After a night at the Travelodge at the airport (perfectly adequate for a night's stay), we picked up our rental car - why is this always such a stressful experience? We'd already chosen and paid for a car online but getting the keys was difficult.

Do you want extra insurance for another squizillion pounds?
No, its covered by our travel insurance.
Och, no, not in my experience.
Self doubt starts to creep in. Maybe it's not. Pretty sure it is. Let's cross our fingers and hope for the best.
Do ye want road side assist for an extra few pounds a day?
An extra few how many pounds? Shouldn't you assist us if we need help?
No, if you have a flat tyre you'll have to pay for us to come and change it.
Pretty sure we can change a flat tyre ourselves.
Well no, because there's no spare tyre in the cars.
Whaaat? Who supplies a car without a spare? (Have since found a spare tyre in the boot!)
Would ye like to upgrade the car to one with diesel?
What's the extra charge on that?
Man says something unintelligible in a very strong Scot's brogue.
Do we want to take the company's offer of cheaper fuel by dropping it off half full?
OK, yes, just give us the keys before it gets dark and we'll give you complete freedom to charge our credit card with whatever you think is fair!

With an inadequate map and a sense of new adventure, and at least driving on the right (left) side of the road, we manoeuvred our way out of Edinburgh and onto the A9. Taine is a great William Wallace fan so we made a detour to Stirling to have a look at the Wallace monument. Struggling with the inadequate map and the loss of our Swiss hosts wifi we decided to buy a couple of UK sims for our phones so we could use google maps to help with the navigation. Ironically we have NO phone service in Northern Scotland but our little cottage has excellent wifi!

The A9 is a mostly dual lane highway and so it was easy driving for the first 100 miles and we were anticipating an early arrival in Reraig. Once you get up around the mountains in the Craignorms National Park though and particularly when you turn off on the A86 to Kyle of Lochalsh, the road becomes very windy. In fact, if it weren't for the ancient ruins and stone cottages along the route you would swear you were in the South Island of NZ around Queenstown and Wanaka. The views are spectacular with every bend revealing a new loch surrounded by pristine forest and snow capped mountains. Because it was such a beautiful sunny day the reflection off the lochs created a magical optical illusion making it impossible to discern the water from the land from the sky.

The only stop we made was at a little place called Dalwhinnie at a curious (Geoff says weird) little cafe near the bike tracks. My scone had seen better days (several of them I reckon) but the boys' pies were edible. This was our first exposure to Scottish food and not an encouraging one.

We arrived at our little cottage just on dusk. Right across the road from the banks of Loch Alsh, it is a perfect blend of old architecture with contemporary and comfortable amenities. The caretaker had turned the heating on for us so we were toasty warm.

The village of Reraig

Today we took the opportunity for our first 'rest hour', staying in bed till 9 and then having a leisurely breakfast before we headed just a few miles down the road to Eileen Donan Castle, an authentic castle first erected in the 800s, destroyed after the battle at Culloden and then extensively renovated right up until this century. Because of its long history the castle is an amalgamation of all its eras, with furniture, artefacts and photos spanning a thousand years. I found the contradiction of 17th century furniture topped with photos of the current owner's children a little confusing but nonetheless we enjoyed the experience.

Eilean Donan

From there we went 'over the sea' to Skye which is just a few miles in the other direction from our cottage and accessed by a bridge. By then I was starving and the plan was to find a cafe over looking the water for lunch. Unfortunately this part of Scotland pretty much shuts down until Easter and particularly so on Sundays. We drove as far as Broadford and then turned back because we couldn't find anything open. My initial impression of Skye was tainted by hunger and the freezing wind so we'll go back later in the week for a better look.

The bridge to Skye

We wound our way back home via Plockton. This fascinating little harbourside village proclaims itself as the 'Jewel of the North'. It wasn't glittering today but it did have a shop open so we bought some ice creams and wandered down the main street wondering at the resilience and hardiness of the people who inhabit this rocky and windswept part of the world. Just driving from one place to another is a mission, with the one car width roads providing an interesting game of russian roulette as you round the bends.

The harbour at Plockton

A bracing walk across the foreshore of the Loch at low tide finished off our day before we escaped to the warmth of our cottage and some home cooked (heated up) haddock and shepherd's pie.

Auf Weidersen

It’s almost 1am in the morning and we’ve just arrived at the Travelodge at Edinburgh Airport. Just a few hours ago we were still in Switzerland and yet that seems days ago now. Travel time is warped!

I didn’t think I had the energy to update our trip report tonight but Geoff says otherwise and is helping by supplying me with crisps and refilling my cup of duty free bourbon, so I’ll give it a go.

I thought we’d seen some fabulous sights in Switzerland but this morning’s excursion topped them all when we went to visit Pascale’s school. A senior high school (grades 10-12 ) it is situated in an old monastery that dates back to 1227. Yes, you read that right, 1227. From an historical point of view, the building and grounds are astounding. From an educational (and political) point of view the school is testament to what can be achieved when a government values public schooling. Having had Pascale in my English class last year, I know the high standards expected of and achieved by the students at Kantonsschule in Wettingen and today’s visit helped to explain how that happens. The differences between our systems are material for a blog post on a different day; suffice to say if a teacher exchange opportunity comes up, I’ll be onto it.

View from a classroom window

Stained glass windows in the abbey. The monks are buried under the floor.

We were extraordinarily lucky that the caretaker of the monastery is a friend of Pascale’s parents and so we got a ‘behind the scenes’, private tour of the grounds and building that include not only the school but some apartments, private businesses and, of all the things you might imagine on school grounds, a brewery! I have not the words to describe the beauty of the stained glass windows, the intricate carvings in the abbey, the pipe organs and the secret doors and bolt holes throughout the building. This was a unique experience and if I had to choose between today’s tour and the Louvre, the Swiss monastery would win hands down.

Watching the solar eclipse

In the afternoon we went to Baden, a neigbouring city renowned for its thermal baths situated at the base of yet another medieval castle,. We walked over an enclosed wooden bridge and along the banks of the Limmat River. Once again we were blown away by buildings that are older than we can even imagine.

View from the wooden bridge at Baden

There were tears when we left Zurich. In this short visit we have fallen in love with Switzerland. The history and natural beauty of the place has astounded us, and everywhere is so clean and cleverly designed. The people are friendly and helpful and very tolerant of English speaking visitors. We’ve done our best to pick up a few words in Swiss–German, a wonderful language with few formal ‘rules’ but there are just too many  ‘tsch’ noises and phonemes without vowels for us to get our tongues around. Luckily the Swiss-German sense of humour is very close to our own and needs no translation. Our hosts have been so incredibly generous with their hospitality and their time and we feel we have made new, life long friends. It was bittersweet to see Pascale again only to have to say goodbye so quickly but we will always be grateful that we went to Wettingen.

Sad faces at the airport

Our plane for Heathrow was delayed by 40 minutes because they couldn’t fit all the hand luggage on the plane. That left us running for our connection to Edinburgh which, thankfully, was also delayed because the air pump that starts the engines wouldn’t work and they had to ‘jump start’ the plane. Apart from these small issues, the crew on British Airways were lovely and I would certainly choose to fly with them again.

They let Taine in the cockpit!

Day tripping in Switzerland

At the risk of sounding repetitive, we have had another simply marvellous day in Switzerland. It's hard to believe but 7 days ago we were just finishing work to get on a plane and now here we are close to completing the second leg of what has so far been an amazing adventure. Holiday time is so warped!

We started today in the supermarket. This is always one of my favourite excursions when we're on holidays. It may be unusual to get so much joy from such an every day activity but I find it fascinating to see the food habits of other cultures. Today my focus was on chocolate- what else when you are in the home of Lindt! Because it's close to Easter there are more than the usual choices in the chocolate aisle. As we have seen in the shops in Paris as well, chocolate making is an art form in Europe and the detail in some of the egg sculptures is amazing. I stuck with blocks for my purchases though. I don't think I could bear to eat the sculptures! The bread department was also fascinating. So many varieties of rolls and pastries. The bread our host has been making for us is a perfect example of the dense, flavoursome dough available here. Ironically it is a perfect base for vegemite, a spread for which our Swiss friends have no liking.

Part of the cheese selection

After shopping we drove to the town of Schaffhuasen, a picture perfect Swiss town, home to the majestic Munot Castle that dominates the skyline from its position on top of the hill. Our journey took us over the border into Germany and back to Switzerland again. What a bizarre concept for us Antipodeans, to be able to pass from one country to the next without plane travel and a custom's check! After my stair training in Paris I was able to bound up the steep steps (actually I was gasping but not passing out) to the top of the fortress and then down the paved stairwell to the bottom. The building is so well preserved its hard to believe it was built back in the 16th century. The views from the battlements are breath taking. We stopped for some lunch in one of the picturesque side streets. Geoff had a traditional bratwurst meal and I had fish from the river. Delicious.

The steps to Munot Castle

From Schaffhausen we travelled to Rheinfall to look at the biggest waterfall in Europe. This cascade of water in the middle of the town makes Huka Falls look like a trickle! There are several viewing platforms including one right at the base where the sound of the rushing water is extraordinary. The light on the water produces a beautiful rainbow effect that was pretty to see but almost impossible to capture on camera.

As if we hadn't had enough sensory overload for the day, we stopped in Stein am Rhein on the way home. This medieval village on the banks of the Rhein has to be seen to be believed. Except for the cars driving over the cobblestoned streets you could believe you had stepped back in time. The buildings are all marked with their initial construction and later alteration dates. A couple of them date back to the 14th C. One of the reasons we wanted to come to Europe was to see this sort of history and we certainly got our fill of it today.

We took a rather roundabout track on the way home to avoid the end of day traffic jams in and out of Zurich but this was to our advantage as we got to drive through dozens of quaint little villages.
When we got home our beautiful host had prepared for us another delicious traditional meal, incorporating steak tartare, a dish of raw mince meat with seasoning and capers. I did my best to try some and I think it probably tasted great but I couldn't get my head around the lack of cooking. Taine and Geoff were much braver and wolfed down more than their fair share, declaring it delicious! Much more to my liking was the main course of pasta with cheese and potatoes, served with apple sauce and onions; kind of a Swiss mac'n cheese.

We have felt so at home here; it will be hard to pack our bags and say goodbye tomorrow.

Au Revoir and Guten Tag

With blue skies and a balmy 17C, we chose to spend our last morning in Paris in Saint Germain and the Jardins du Luxembourg.

Spread over 23 acres, the gardens are a special corner of calm and tranquility in the middle of a bustling city. There are no hawkers, scammers or beggars here, just hundreds of Parisians, ex pats and tourists, sun baking, reading or conversing quietly in the many green metal chairs scattered throughout the park.

At one end is a children's playground where Taine spent a happy hour joining in the games with the local kids. How intriguing to hear hide and seek being counted down; un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq!

On the way back to the Metro we browsed the many bookshops lining the streets near the Odeon theatre before catching our last 2 connections back to Gare de Lyon to get on the train the Zurich.

The TVG fast train travels at 300 km per hour and is way more comfortable than any plane I've ever been on. We whizzed through the French countryside and into Switzerland in just 4 hours!

Last year we were lucky enough to have three wonderful exchange students at our school. When we mentioned to them that we were traveling to Europe this year, Pascale, the Swiss student, quipped, 'Well, if you're traveling to Paris, why wouldn't you come and visit me in Zurich?' When she said that I'm not sure that any of us believed it to be a possibility and yet, less than 12 months later, there she was waiting for us on the platform when we arrived.

Visiting Switzerland was always going to be a highlight of this trip, but doing so while being hosted by an amazingly friendly and welcoming family like the Toblers has turned it into something very special.

Today we traveled to Engelberg, a stunning Swiss alpine village at the base of Mount Titlis in the Swiss Alps. Taine became the owner of his very first Swiss army knife, courtesy of his Swiss hosts and Geoff found himself a beautiful new carving knife. We made a quick visit to the old Benedictine Abbey, finding ourselves awestruck ( once again) at the magnificence of the paintings, the pipe organ and the sheer magnitude of the interior. The local cheese factory gave us the chance to see how the milk from the alpine cows is turned into the finest cheese in the world.

Then it was time to make our mountain ascent. This took place in 3 stages. From ground level (1000 metres) we took a small 6 seat gondola to the middle level. Then we transferred to another cable car, a large box type structure that held about 20 people standing up. Just when I thought we couldn't go any higher, we moved once again to another gondola, this time one that rotated and had a 360 degree view of the ski runs below and the Alps spreading out as far as the eye can see. And then we were on top of the world!

Titlis is 3020 metres high. That's 800 metres higher than the highest point in Australia! For an acrophobic like me just getting to the top was a pretty big challenge but the best was yet to come. A suspension bridge at the very top of the mountain allows you to walk across the chasm below. Yikes. Not only did I walk across, I made it back again. It was a day of surreal experiences, including a walk through a glacier cave.

On the way home we stopped in Lucerne. We walked over the Chapel Bridge and wandered through streets filled with buildings with painted walls that were first erected in the 1400s. Overwhelming history overload!

For dinner we ate a kind of Swiss BBQ meets fondue. It's cooked in an oven called a raclette and involves all sorts of yumminess on top of swiss cheese , melted and poured over potatoes. Oh, it was delicious.
I think we're in love with Switzerland.

Le Louvre

Paris may be the city of love but it is also the city of museums. As our bike guide explained yesterday, when the initial purpose of a building becomes redundant, the Parisians turn it into a museum.

Because this trip only allows us time to have a 'tea towel' look at Paris, we chose the mother of all museums, The Louvre, for our only museum visit this time. A delayed onset tummy bug ( courtesy of our gorgeous twin grandsons at home) meant that we didn't need to linger over our breakfast this morning. Instead we opted for some hydrolyte and an early arrival at the Louvre. We were rewarded for this effort by being at the head of the line when the doors opened at 9am. We also beat the crowds to the 'must sees', the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

I'm not an art buff AT ALL. In fact, I'll be totally honest and say I don't get the excitement about any of these works, except that they are very famous and I'm glad I've seen them in person. The Mona Lisa is much smaller than you imagine it will be and the statues are broken ;-) The Louvre itself though is AMAZING! It's like a city within a city and you could easily spend days there. It's like the Disneyland of the world's art treasures and just like Disney, you need plenty of hydration, a game plan for the bits you want to see and good walking shoes.

Because we only had one day, we each chose a favourite part of the museum and worked out a plan from there. Starting with the Mona Lisa gave us an opportunity to check out the Renaissance paintings, incredible in their size and detail. We spent ages looking at 'The Wedding Feast of Cana', discovering minute details in every corner and discussing the relationships between the different characters. Taine wanted to see the Greek Gods and this gallery led to a fascinating conversation about body shapes and image. I wanted to see Napoleon's Apartments and this part of the museum was definitely the highlight for me. How incredible to be able to see the grandeur of his dining room and the salon and the not so intimate bed chambers. The other highlight was the Medieval section of the Louvre, the remaining original structures of the moat and the dungeon from the time when the building was a fortress for Philip 11 back in the 12th century. The 12th C!! Australians of European heritage like us can only goggle in wonder at structures from that long ago. 

Until today, no shopping has occurred on this trip so we rectified that with a quick trip to the Galleries Lafayette, (for those who are playing at home, kind of a French version of Chadstone). It was worth the trip just to ogle the inside of the building, just another gorgeous Paris ceiling! We also checked out the food hall - a destination in itself. From Lafayette we popped back to the Champs Elysee's to pick up a 21st birthday present at the Paris Saint Germaine merchandise shop.

After a breather back at the hotel we did a bit more Metro hopping to visit the Eiffel after dark. This was well worth the trip. Watching the tower sparkling was a fitting end to another special day in this enchanting city.