Mark and Gila Travel the World! - markandgila

Hockey!
We stopped found a local hockey game to go to and get some local flavor.

Arch rivals
The game went into overtime, but Krakow lost in the end.

Church of St Mary
We wandered around the central square at night for the Christmas market and pictures

Hazy Moon
The weather wasn't too cold, and it wasn't raining luckily.

Churches at night
St Mary's and St Adelbert's churches

Christmas Crib Competition
The annual Christmas crib competition is held in Market Square at the beginning of December. A winner is chosen and the

Foil dragon
The cribs were covered in all sorts of detailed decorations

Cribs on statue
the stature was covered on all four sides by the cribs

Kids with cribs
Many of the cribs were made by kids

Crib parade
After choosing the winner everyone takes their crib to the museum

Crib parade
Gila loved the cribs a lot

more kids
An adult made crib won, though they should have a category for kids...

funky statue
it was even hollow so you can climb in

Us at the Market
We visited the Christmas market every day for a bit of food and mulled wine

Mulled wine dragon
The mulled wine booths were giant barrels

Market Square
Europe's largest central city square

Meat!
Mmmmmmm, meat.....

Market lunch
A big plate of grilled pork and a side of waffles and jam

behind St Mary's
We spent a day wandering around the old town looking at the various churches and older buildings

Inside St Mary's
Along with all the colors there was a lot of gilt too.

inside St Mary's
A beautiful and ornate church full of color

Wieliczka salt mines
The mines are over 900 years old, and were operational until the late 80's. The tour visits the oldest parts and goes 1

Chapel Carving
The first major carving on the tour, which describes how the mines were first started

Legendary tale
The salt was said to be the dowry for a marriage of St King when she married Duke Boleslaw

Old wheel tracks
These tracks were from the 1600's

Mine gnome
carved to bring luck to the miners

Another gnome
there were lots of them about the place

Main chapel room
A huge hollowed out chamber with ornate carvings on all the walls.

Salt chandeliers
Even the chandeliers were made of salt!

The Last Supper
It looks very 3D, yet is only an inch or two deep.

Us in the chapel chamber
The room was amazing to see firsthand, and was carved in the 1800's.

Salt everywhere!
They kept pointing out everything that was made from he salt

Lower view
view from the chamber floor

Wooden struts
Still holding the ground up after all these centuries...

Us in Market square
In front of the churches

Jewish Quarter
Before WWII it was one of the largest in all Europe

Inside the Remu'h Synagogue
The small synagogue next to the old Jewish cemetary

Inside the Tempel Synagogue
Menorah painting on the wall

Cemetary Wall
Built from the demolished gravestones after WWII

Funny dragon
No idea what it means, but it's funny!

Inside the Tempel Synagogue
By far the most ornate and least destroyed of the Synagogues we saw

Tempel Synagogue
Krakow 40.JPG 2009-12-04

Tempel Synagogue
Krakow 42.JPG 2009-12-04

Wawel Castle
Looking up at the castle from the edge of the old city

Christmas Wreaths
A stand at the market

Town Hall at night
The old town hall building is next to the Christmas Market and the city's Christmas tree

Military Vodka
Had to get some for Jim...

Cookie Santa
A whole bunch of Santa's were singing and celebrating, and though we have no idea what they said it appears this santa w

Walk through Planty Gardens
The old city walls were demolished and replaced with a garden walk around the old city

Wawel Castle
Looking up from the gardens to the castle

Castle Courtyard
Inside Wawel castle. We visited the State Rooms, the Armoury and Treasury, and the Archeology Museum

Gila on the stairs
The Palace area was lovely

Krakow Cathedral
No photos inside, but it was spectacular. Filled with all the old tombs of the Polish Kings

Cathedral at Dusk
view from the center of Wawel Hill

Angel
Decorations were all over the place

Mulled Wine!
We drank lots of it since it was cheap and good. And we had lots of mead too, which was delicious

Candy
Krakow 57.JPG 2009-12-05

Broken glass art
The candle holders were beautiful

More wreaths
Lots of Christmas stuff to buy in the market

Pierogies!
We had some almost every day.

Christmas Decos
The entire Old Town was done up for the holidays

Me cooking
Cooking the ingredients for stuffing the night before

Mel shreds awesomely
Mel shredded the onions, lots of them...

Blenheim Palace
Jane, Rob, and I went to Blenheim Palace for the afternoon. Birthplace of Winston Churchill

Palace Grounds
The Palace was surrounded by estate farmland and pretty grounds

Garden Guardians
Creepy statues in the garden.

Palace Gardens
They won the award for best in Britain a year earlier.

Christmas Decorations
The Palace was decorated inside and out

Oxford Scholars
I didn't get many shots of Oxford proper, but here are the famous old scholars

Tokyo Metropolitan Govt Building
Where we went to get a view of the city

Endless city
the lights stretched on straight out to all horizons

City lights
the view was spectacular, and even a little unsettling for Mark (the wilderness so far away...)

More of the view
Looking in all directions there is nothing but more city

Lights everywhere!
Big chunks of the city are like this, all bright and busy

Sushi Breakfast
At the Tsukiji fish market

Squid snacks
Dried fish of all kinds, all over the market

Crabs in a bag
yum

more food
lots of stalls with new and different food items

Knives!
Mark bought a nice sushi and meat knife here

Hello Kitty Sushi
Everything is funnier with Hello Kitty

Chunks o fish and octopus
more sushi goodness

Butchering a tuna
So sad to watch, so tasty to think about....

Ball o cat
They really like amorphous blobs

Kabuki!
The big Kabuki theatre in Tokyo, though in the end we didn't go...

For fire trucks
not sure how they fit down there...

Sailing ship kite
At the Japanese Kite museum. And yes, it actually does fly

More kites
There were lots of neat kite there, both old and new, artsy and tacky

And more kites
The museum was started by the man who owned the restaurant downstairs, and now the new owner runs it

Gila and a rainbow
At the fountains near the Imperial Park and Palace

Imperial Palace
We didn't get to go in, so we wandered the outside looking at the scenery

Famous bridge and more palace
This is one of the main bridges into the palace

Venice as a mall
An entire shopping mall themed off of Venice and Italy. Really ridiculous, and yet quite entertaining.

Lego heart
at the toy store

A car vending machine
That's right, just drop in a few coins and it spits out a car of your choosing!

Driverless cars!
The silly looking car on the left has no driver, is not on a track, and along with a bunch of other cars like it drives

Sad bears
Gila felt sorry for them, and so gave them a hug

Looking back at the city
The view from our dinner table in Odaiba

The "real" Statue of Liberty
Who knew it was so small...

Fuji TV Building
This building has a funky globe shaped room

Streets around Shibuya
Wandering the streets of Tokyo

Shibuya Crossing
The most foot trodden intersection in the world. Really fun to watch (several thousand people cross every 2-3 minutes)

Lazy Dogs
Lots of people put their dogs in strollers for some reason...

Toju Park
Big city park filled with people lazing about, doing their hobbies (like painting, crazy dancing, martial arts, you name

The "Rage" crowd
Outside the park is a gathering place for people who like to dress up in funky outfits every Sunday. Lots of anime char

More "Ragers"
Not sure why they're called "Rage", seems far too pink to be angry.

Lanterns outside Meiji Shrine
Lovely paper lanterns

Traditional garb
We saw more people in traditional dress than we expected

Meiji Shrine
The biggest shrine in Tokyo

Shinjuku!!!
A hectic and ADD part of town with lots of lights and noise

Gila in Shibuya
The billboards and light displays were fascinating

Tree needed help
A Temple and graveyard in Yanaka

Gravestones
We wandered through a number of old shrines and temples in the Yanaka neighborhood

Tokyo of old
The main shopping street in Yanaka. Apparently not much different than it was 100 years ago

Gravestone
Big monument which seems to tell a story or something...

Gargoyles
protecting the entrance to a family plot

Carvings on shrine
We met a nice old man here who ave us the history of the double shrine and the carvings

Paper strore
A famous store for traditional Japanese paper

Us in Ueno Park
The trees were all decorated

Gila and sweet potatoe ice cream
yummy

Shrine in Ueno Park
Outside the biggest shrine in the park are these old lanterns, donated hundreds of years ago by samarai chiefs

Flame of peace
Originally lit from flames leftover from the A-bombs

Prayer planks
These were all over a lot of the shrines

Red gates
Outside a shrine dedicated to Japanese dog/racoons that travel around on giant testicles (REALLY!!)

Here's the shrine!
Dogs flying on giant testicles!

Dragon spout
for cleansing before entering the shrine

What doesn't belong?
Hmmmmm, those playing cards don't look age appropriate....

Creepy dolls
The toy store was awesome!

More amorpheous blobs
In all shapes, sizes, and colors!

Japanese Jesus
He's a superhero!

Freaky toys
so many pictures of creepy toys it was hard to choose only a few!

Naked toys everywhere
No such thing as worrying about "harming the children"

These are toys
They look absolutely real, and actually shoot pellets too, and are a great way to get your child killed....

Amorphous teddy bears
Like I said, they love amorphous blobs

Shrines of Asakusa
On our way out of town to Nikko we stopped to visit the shrines in Asakusa

Pagoda!
And us in front of a pagoda

More of the pagoda
After only seeing pagoda's in European gardens it is nice to see they really look like that!

Big lantern
Now if only I knew what it said...

Giant Golden Poo
The highlight of the trip! A giant golden turd!!!

Swords, yeah!
Nice looking, but not made well.

Touristy junk
Gila's favorite!

Mmmmm, food on train
One of the only places you can eat in public apparently...

Hello Kitty!
Gila spent ages in the store...

Bonsai trees
They really are Japanese and not just for yuppies!

Tobu Nikko
The town we stayed in, amidst the lovely mountains

Traditional Japanese dinner
At our traditional Japanese Inn. It was delicious.

First day's hike
Off along a marshland below the mountains, and then down to the falls

View towards the mountains
It really was a gorgeous hike

Little river
The weather was nice, a little crisp, and the trees were turning at the perfect time for us

more hiking
not too many people out, but more than I expected

Into the wild
The path was actually quite easy to walk and follow

Gila's happy in the woods...
...as long as there aren't any mountains to climb.

along the river
great views

cool tree
couldn't decide which picture to pos, so we posted both....

...more cool tree
and here's the second

across the marsh, up the mountains
autumn everywhere!

in the woods
Japan 076.JPG 2009-10-14

Back down to the falls
and finally back around towards the falls

the view before the drop
with reds and yellows and greens everywhere

the upper falls
the first in a series of beautiful waterfalls

the middle falls
the next bit...

postcard shot of Ryuzu Falls
the view from the little coffee shop at the end of the path next to the falls

Autumn colors
we lucked out with a great time of year to be there

more changing leaves
lots of pictures like this...

The Kanmangafuchi Abyss
An area of fast water and carved out rock below the botanical gardens

Infinite Budhhas
According to legend the number of Budhhas on this path changes for everyone....

More Budhhas
there are a lot of them overlooking the abyss

Dinner surrounded by cats!
If they weren't fake Gila would be sneezing in this picture.

Tempura goodness
Great little restaurant with no tourists (besides us), no english menu, and good food.

Cat shrine
And these critters watched us eat

Kegon Waterfalls
After taking a cable car part way up we stopped to photograph the famous falls

Waterfalls and trees
get ready for lots of these pictures

loves the colors
Another day of good weather

View from the observing deck
taken at the top of the cable car landing

and up the hill we go
with only a photocopied map and our wits to keep us alive

Us in happy times
Gila's smile didn't last...

This is a path?
Turns out the map sucked, badly, and we ended up walking more than we needed to. Fortunately we weren't the only ones l

On the Akechidaira plateau
The long walk up flattened out to gorgeous forest

Lake Chuzenji
Finally back on track and on our way to civilization.

We made it!
Picture taken by the Swiss couple that followed us....

More trees!
In case you haven't seen enough yet

And more trees!
not done yet

And more!
almost there....

School group at Kegon falls
Gila thought they were funny

Falling water
Mark trying to get an artsy shot

Kegon Falls
A 97m drop

Baby falls
there were lots of little falls around too

and yet more trees!
hope you're not bored of them yet

Lake Chuzenji
The view before sundown was spectacular

Giant swans!
Errrrr, boats actually

Japanese Garden
A zen garden inside the main Temple complex at Nikko

Gila in the garden
We wandered through on our way up to the main shrines. It was definitely peaceful here compared to the melee that follo

Artsy shot
looking across the pond

T??sh??g?? Shrines
These were part of the main complex

more shrines
and I can't find the map with all the names either....

Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil
Monkeys!!!

Elephant carvings
There were lots of carvings of dragons and other creatures on the various buildings

Tranquil Mountain retreat
Overrun by tourists and school groups... A bit like the Alhambra that way in fact. We even got asked by two groups of

Dragons!
This gateway was covered in dragon carvings

Whisky!
Between the monkeys, dragons, and whisky, Mark was pretty excited.

Quiet shrine
Not one of the main ones, but much more pleasant

Gate guardian
All the shrines had guardians like these at their entrances

Right: horrible death, Left: eternal happiness
We saw lots of signs that were of no help to us non Japanese speaking Westerners...

Wanna fight?
Mark gets tough with an inanimate object

Walkway to Futarasan Shrine
Another impressive shrine

Guardian to Futarasan Shrine
This shrine was also quieter and more relaxing

Futarasan Shrine
The last of the shrines we visited

Leaves and lantern
Japan 127.JPG 2009-10-16

Serene setting
No doubt why the monks once came here...

Futarasan Shrine gateway
Up a bunch of stairs, which seemed to keep the school groups away

Shinkyu Bridge
In feudal times only the Emperor and his Samurai were allowed across it. Now you can pay to cross it!

More food shots
Gila insisted on taking pictures at every meal....

And yet more food shots
In fact, it got annoying after awhile... This is back at the Tsukiji fish market for our last day. Had to get souvenir

Evil Bunny Candy
Their red eyes give away their true nature.

Hello Kitty Bus
If you can't tell, Gila likes Hello Kitty

Snake Origami
At the Origami museum which had some neat works, though it was quite small.

More origami
Interestingly a lot of the best pieces were made by a Frenchman.

Bug origami
ewwwwwww

Warning sign
This cracked us up.

evil panda
Not sure what he's saying, but I'm sure it's evil.

Shibuya at Night
UNder the big city lights

Giant Noodle Bowl
For when you're really hungry

Japanese Toilet Technology
Far superior to our meager Western commodes...

Mock Eifel Tower
One of the biggest tourist attractions in Sapporo

Mmm, baby sauce
No meal is complete without it!

Mongolian BBQ
The conference dinner was at the Sapporo Brewery, which serves Mongolian BBQ. I'm not sure it's authentic (far too many

Sapporo Brewery
Definitely the highlight of the conference

First view of the castle
this is the view from the main pathway

Impressive mortar
A few old artillery pieces dotted the lawns

Us with castle
CIMG1799.JPG 2009-09-12

Culzean Castle
More of a palace really, some of the old tower house is built into the building

View from the gardens
The gardens and grounds were magnificent. Lots of flowers

Butterflies everywhere
Gila spent a long time chasing them with the camera

Thistle
Very Scottish

More butterflies
there were lots

front gardens
these were the gardens directly in front of the castle

Castle again
IMG_3229.JPG 2008-09-12

Cool tree
there were some nice woods around the castle

View from the beach
We hiked down to the beach and found a view looking back at the castle

glittering sea
perfect weather and sunshine all day

Anenomes!
There were lots of little red ones

Out on the rocks
Wandering the rocks by the beach

Mark on the rocks
CIMG1809.JPG 2009-09-12

Cool lichens
these were growing on the rocks above the waterline

more lichens
IMG_3261.JPG 2008-09-12

purple honeycomb flowers
not sure what they're called, but they were pretty

leaving the gardens
these were more gardens on the castle grounds

Archway and tree
the tree was really cool

us in the garden
CIMG1815.JPG 2009-09-12

Thirlestane emblem
This is the emblem of the family, it was all over the castle

Castle Entrance
No pictures allowed inside. The castle was once a big tower house, which was then expanded several times into a palace

Gila in the garden
After the tour we wandered the garden in the rain

Getting soaked!
It poured down all day...

Fountain and palace
Looking at the castle from behind

Joy and Gila at Norham Castle
Norham castle is in England, just over the border. It was big, but mostly in ruins. It survived numerous sieges and wa

Shelter from the rain
Doing our best not to get wet

Looking back at the keep
The grounds were large, and a big keep in the middle. The Tweed river ran right next to the castle too

Inside the main keep
the keep was large, but mostly collapsed

Us getting rained on
CIMG1771.JPG 2009-08-23

Berwick upon Tweed
Lovely town with impressive bridges and artillery fortifications

pretty street
The old town was lovely.

Old gravestones
In the cemetary outside the old barracks

impressive clouds
At the end of the day the sun started poking through, very pretty

more clouds
IMG_3175.JPG 2008-08-23

Fields of purple
Couldn't decide which of the next three was best. Endless fields of purple heather

More purple
IMG_3179.JPG 2008-08-23

Yet more purple
IMG_3181.JPG 2008-08-23

Lovely day
The weather was nice and sunny for the parade

Not Scots!
Everyone in the parade was from outside Scotland, but had Scottish ancestry. Most were American, Canadian, Australian,

Endless pipe bands
There was no shortage of bagpipes

Kilts too
And no shortage of kilts either

Sheep pipes!
IMG_2948.JPG 2008-07-25

16lb stone throw
thrown like a shotput

stone throw
This guy was the American champion, and is a high school principle in PA!

Clan Hay Pipe Band
Strangely, they came from Holland....

Marching Scots
There was no shortage of Kilts and Gingers

Spears
There were parade like karches going on all day

24lb stone toss
Action sequence with the next three shots

Swinging....
IMG_3036.JPG 2008-07-26

And thrown!
IMG_3037.JPG 2008-07-26

Hamish McHaggis
I never knew that this is what haggi looked like

Hammer toss
Spin round and round and round and then let go...

There is goes!
Everyone managed to get it to go in the right direction. It looked a bit dangerous actually...

Salsbury Crags
There was a tent for each clan

56lb vertical stone toss
They had to swing the stones over their head and over the bar. Highest toss wins

Tossing the caber!
Definitely the highlight of the day!

Flying telephone pole
The objective is to flip the pole and get it to fall forward, exactly away from the way you ran.

Definitely tough
Only three guys got it to flip and fall forward. It was fun to watch

DSCN2455.JPG
Visit to Great-Uncle Lou

Most of the crew
A little park/alcove off the main streets of Philly

Looking up
Warm and muggy, but luckily no rain

Skyscapers
The Philly skyline from below

Wandering the streets
First a trip to the Mutter Museum, then off wandering around downtown

Carrina carries her man
Andy is too lazy to stand up sometimes

The gals
Down in old town

mmmm...wings
First wings in a long time...

Beers at the brew pub
Can't remember the name of the place, but the beer and food was good

Breakfast!
Nothing like a 1lb rueben and some eggs benedict to start the day

Carrina loves it
mmmmmmm

Breakfast of champions
Gila loves the banana and chocolate pancakes

Vern likes smores
We had a late night campfire in Hershey

The smell of campfire
Something I really miss in Scotland

Look happy!
014.JPG 2009-06-25

Tough guys, or not
015.JPG 2009-06-25

Got to meet Vern's girlfriend
And baby's momma!

Andy lookin' cool
016.JPG 2009-06-25

Sushi stopover in Pittsburgh
We stopped in Pittsburgh for one night on or way out to St Louis

Lovely Sushi
So good.....

Meeting up at Silkies
And a quick pint at Silkies to meet Kristy's new boyfriend

The Grandkids!
And on to St Louis for the family reunion

Jenn and Jim
In the stylish matching tshirts...

The entire family
Just plain good to see the entire family all in the same place

Kelly, Pam, and Brian
024.JPG 2009-06-27

Gila, Jenn, and Kenzie
025.JPG 2008-06-28

Kristen, Ryan, and Gila
Drinkin' and chattin' round the pool table

Hanging out in the basement
We all spent a lot of time relaxing in Mari and Rob's basement

The oldest cousins
Gettin' grown

the youngest family members
"little" Kenzie, and little Riley

The new grandparents
029.JPG 2007-04-02

Gila likes babies
031.JPG 2008-06-28

Zack and Karen
032.JPG 2009-06-27

Phil looking cute
033.JPG 2009-06-27

Kelly explores her maternal side
034.JPG 2009-06-27

Eating breakfast
A feast of a meal for the final breakfast

4 generations
036.JPG 2007-04-03

Kirk and Brenda's Clan
037.JPG 2007-04-03

Tyler and Kristen
038.JPG 2007-04-03

DSCN2436.JPG
Made it to Kansas City!

DSCN2439.JPG
Kansas City with Baba and Mom

DSCN2442.JPG
Showing her our pictures

DSCN2445.JPG
and telling our stories

DSCN2451.JPG
Mmm... Kansas City BBQ

DSCN2452.JPG
DSCN2452.JPG 2009-09-08

DSCN2457.JPG
Mom, Uncle Lou and Gila

The burgh!
043.JPG 2008-07-03

Fresh from the duck ride
041.JPG 2008-07-03

Breakfast in Pittsburgh
Back to Pittsburgh

PPG Place
042.JPG 2008-07-03

On the Mon
044.JPG 2008-07-03

riding the duck to the point
045.JPG 2008-07-03

View from the water
046.JPG 2008-07-03

Show offs!
047.JPG 2008-07-04

Our pimpin' ride for the day
It's definitely got style

Us with John and the family
Glad we got to see John and the family while back in Pittsburgh

mmmm...bbq
BBQ at Jenn and Ryan's new house

Izzie enjoying the 4th
049.JPG 2009-07-04

Looking good!
050.JPG 2009-07-04

Jenn's new friend
051.JPG 2009-07-05

Gila likes babies
Bluest. Eyes. Ever.

Don't drop him!
053.JPG 2009-07-05

A happy couple
054.JPG 2009-07-05

Don't spit up on me!
055.JPG 2009-07-05

The baby bounces around
Everyone gets a turn to hold Nick while the parents relax

The future?
057.JPG 2009-07-05

The Siblings and Significants
058.JPG 2008-07-05

059.JPG
059.JPG 2008-07-05

4th of July fireworks
We watched from the bank of the Mon, and it wasn't the best view, but it did make for neat photos

More fireworks
063.JPG 2008-07-05

John and the kids
061.JPG 2009-07-05

Run Owen!
064.JPG 2009-07-05

Kids love this
065.JPG 2009-07-05

Smile!
066.JPG 2009-07-06

Building the castle
And trying my best to keep Owen from smashing it down...

Owen like smash
068.JPG 2009-07-06

The proud parents
069.JPG 2009-07-06

Build it bigger!
070.JPG 2009-07-06

Playing football
Quite an awkward shot actually...

chasing the ball
072.JPG 2009-07-06

owen in training
073.JPG 2009-07-06

nice castle....
074.JPG 2009-07-06

smash it!!!
075.JPG 2009-07-06

Dinner at the Topek-Walkers
076.JPG 2009-07-07

Toothless Evan
077.JPG 2009-07-07

The Long Island Crew
After a lovely dinner at Leah and Dan's

Owen looking cheeky
He's full of mischief I tell you...

Real NY Pizza
Buffalo Chicken Pizza.....so good

Times Square
We wandering around Manhattan with Yakov. Went to the metropolitan library, Times Square, a lovely day.

Shifty lookin'
082.JPG 2009-07-07

Artsy Times Square
083.JPG 2009-07-07

Jaffa Cafe
Gila's favorite haunt in the Village

Florence 01.JPG
Our first day in Florence in front of the Duomo with Julia and Alina, it was stunning!

Florence 02.JPG
In front of the doors to the Duomo - Julia's favourite.

Florence 03.JPG
The roofs of the Duomo

Florence 04.JPG
'Sunny' Italy

Florence 05.JPG
Our first pizzas in Italy

Florence 06.JPG
With the rough soldiers - they all put their guns down to have some gelato, it was adorable!

Florence 07.JPG
From the roof of the Uffizi

Florence 08.JPG
Someone hates Alina - we all got small gelatos, look at hers compared to mine!

Florence 09.JPG
Mmm... gelato

Florence 10.JPG
A cool church - they just added a facade to the old stone church

Florence 11.JPG
From Julia's window

Florence 12.JPG
Wine and prosciutto...

Florence 13.JPG
Pasta is yummy

Florence 14.JPG
We couldn't decide if we wanted lemoncello or gelato... so we had both!

Florence 15.JPG
Fun night out!

Florence 16.JPG
Up the street from Julia

Florence 17.JPG
Julia's favourite square right by her flat

Florence 18.JPG
Beautiful balcony

Florence 19.JPG
We spent hours at this local outdoor market - I got a couple scarves here

Florence 20.JPG
Belts

Florence 21.JPG
Bags! We all got a bag, fun times.

Florence 22.JPG
Keychains

Florence 23.JPG
Alina and I went to the food market too to get a yummy dinner

Florence 24.JPG
Pasta

Florence 25.JPG
Caprese salad

Florence 26.JPG
Sick angels

Florence 27.JPG
Coming down the street to the Duomo

Florence 28.JPG
I love this picture - Alina's dress with the patterns on the walls

Florence 29.JPG
Duomo (many, many pictures)

Florence 30.JPG
Duomo again...

Florence 31.JPG
Close up

Florence 32.JPG
Statue

Florence 33.JPG
Another statue

Florence 34.JPG
Inside the Duomo

Florence 35.JPG
Side of the Duomo

Florence 36.JPG
Facade

Florence 37.JPG
Um... more statues

Florence 38.JPG
Duomo... I took about 100 pics of this and narrowed it down to 15, not bad, right?

Florence 39.JPG
Last one I promise!

Florence 40.JPG
Streets of Florence

Florence 41.JPG
Piazza della Signoria, the main square in Firenze!

Florence 42.JPG
Neptune Fountain

Florence 43.JPG
Cosimo I by Giambologna

Florence 44.JPG
The Rape of the Sabine by Giambologna

Florence 45.JPG
Another cool church

Florence 46.JPG
The dinner we put together from the market

Florence 47.JPG
We took a bus up to a really awesome viewpoint of Florence.

Florence 48.JPG
The Duomo is gigantic compared to the rest of the city!

Florence 49.JPG
Ponte Vecchio

Florence 50.JPG
The city

Florence 51.JPG
Pisa! We took an early train back to Pisa airport, dropped our bags at the station, and went on a quick trip into the ci

Florence 52.JPG
Tower... it is definitely leaning

Florence 53.JPG
I tried to push it over...

Florence 54.JPG
but Alina saved the day!

Florence 55.JPG
And then we called a truce

Florence 56.JPG
Close up - weird, right?

Florence 57.JPG
The Pisa Duomo - I loved all the different columns

Florence 58.JPG
The end

Ross & Tereza
Posing for pictures by the pool before the wedding.

Rita and the Boys
Waiting for the ceremony to start

Mark and Gila
Copying Ross and Tereza

Simon and Rita
Copying us!

Gila, Eric, Rita
The wedding was at a super fancy hotel by the ocean in Paphos

The ceremony site
Waiting for the guests.

Eric with Tereza's sister
Everyone wanted a picture with Eric in his kilt!

Ross
The Cypriot tradition is that the groom walks down the aisle with his parents and a bouquet.

Waiting for the Bride
The sun was just starting to set.

Tereza and her parents
I love, love, love the hat on her

Ross Sees Tereza
I love this picture, he just looks so happy!

The Vows
Ross said his vows in English and Tereza in Greek

Ross and Tereza
Signing the marriage certificate

The kiss!
It was such a gorgeous setting

Watching the ceremony
Rita, Eric, Simon, Mark

Back down the aisle
Now it's time for the party!

Ross and Tereza with her grandparents
Ross & Tereza 18.JPG 2009-05-29

The New Family
Parents and siblings of Ross and Tereza

Enjoying the Champagne
Simon, Eric, Rita and Mark

Eric and Ross
Ross was just grinning all night

Gila and Ross
Ross & Tereza 21.JPG 2009-05-30

Ross and Tereza
I think they were relieved to have the hard part over!

Dancing!
There was Cypriot dancing (which is apparently just like Israeli dancing just a bit slower)

More Dancing
Ross & Tereza 28.JPG 2009-05-29

Ross and Friend
We were sitting with this lovely family with two kids

Rita and Simon
There were all these little tables around the perimeter of the room.

First Dance
It was so, so romantic - what a beautiful place

First Dance Again
Ross & Tereza 26.JPG 2009-05-30

Mark, Gila, Rita, Simon
Notice anything about Rita and my dresses?

Ross and Mark
The difference between how a Brit tans and how an American does!

The Room
Ross & Tereza 32.JPG 2009-05-30

Chandelier
I was quite taken by the setting

Chandelier again!
Ross & Tereza 33.JPG 2009-05-30

Our apartment
the lovely pool and apartment where we stayed

Under a purple tree
First day of walking around Pahpos and enjoying some sunshine

Random ruins
We wandered across these ruins in the tourist part of town, not sure if they're Greek or Roman...

Us in the sun
looking a little sweaty...

Old Fort by the bay
There is an old Castle/Fort that protects the bay in Paphos

Eric gets his feet wet
We walked along the water until we found a beach

Gila on the pebbles
A small beach right by the main tourist part of town

knee deep
Cyprus 004.JPG 2009-05-27

Beer, sun, and palm trees
ahhhhhhhhh

Collecting vitamin D
Gila loved the sunshine

Ross's Bday party
Ross had his Bday party in a traditional style restaurant with a live band and Cypriot meze

Fun party
Good food followed by fun dancing

Kareoke!
And we went to a Kareoke bar after the dinner...

G-Dog raps
Gila did kareoke for the first time in her life. She still regrets it.

Mosaic at Kourion
We went to the Roman ruins at Kourion overlooking the ocean for a day.

Photo time
The mosiacs were well preserved

Mosaic and view
The views from Kourion were lovely

Beach below
Kourion is on a cliff overlooking the ocean and a local beach

Ruins
Lots of them...

Artsy column
columns everywhere

Rebuilding Kourion by hand
it was hard work

us
Cyprus 016.JPG 2009-05-28

more artsy column
another column shot

Simon in the ruins
Cyprus 018.JPG 2009-05-28

The market area
The Agora area of Kourion

Another artsy column
we took lots of these photos

Walking on the dry salt lake bed
We then drove down to a salt lake by the sea, where we hoped to see pelicans, but instead it was almost completely dried

Us!
we walked out onto the lake bed to take pictures

Salty ripples
The lake bed seemed to stretch out a long ways

Salt formations
Lot's of different ones the farther on we walked

Rita on the lakebed
Cyprus 028.JPG 2009-05-28

Into the wastelands
under a baking sun

Into the wastelands
the lakebed was eerily dead

more walking on salt flats
Cyprus 031.JPG 2009-05-28

Aphrodite's birthplace
Cyprus 037.JPG 2009-05-28

Mark on top of the rock
Like always, Mark had to climb around

Walking the beach
We drove back in time to catch sunset at Aphrodite's birthplace

Aphrodite's Birthplace
These are the rocks where it is said she emerged...

Beach at sunset 1
one good shot

Beach at sunset 2
and another

It's Aphrodite herself!!!
She's pretty dry for having just emerged from the water

The crew
Eric, Simon, Rita, and Gila

Sunken sun
the sun disappeared behind the ridgeline

Beer o' Clock
"The Deck", a nice bar/restaurant along the waterfront in Paphos

Sleeping and Smiling
goofy shot...

Us in paradise
Palm trees, blue water, blue skies...

Rita and Simon
Cyprus 049.JPG 2008-05-30

Lazing on the beach
Us lazying the day away before the wedding on Coral Bay beach

lunch
Cyprus 045.JPG 2009-05-29

Simon in the tombs
Cyprus 057.JPG 2009-05-30

escaping the sun
the tombs were quite pleasant, out of the sun

Nick, Cassia, and Simon
Cyprus 051.JPG 2009-05-30

Funky erosion
some of the sandstone rocks had cool erosion patterns

Tombs of the Kings
Not actually tombs for kings, but named such as they were so extensive and ornate

From out of the shade
It was a ridiculously hot day, and we of course were out at the peak of the sun

Ship wreck
A ship wreck that's been there for awhile, beached on the rocks

Eric surveying the scene
Cyprus 056.JPG 2008-05-30

Big tomb
There were several big tombs with columns and carvings

Gila needing support
Gila got tired of the heat...

Playing in the pool
Cyprus 060.JPG 2009-05-30

Dinner poolside
We hit the grocery store to load up on Cypriot produce and goodies for a nice dinner

Aphrodite's bath
This was an oasis on the Akamas penninsula where Aphrodite was said to bathe.

The Akamas Coastline
Cyprus 063.JPG 2009-05-31

Break in the shade
Cyprus 064.JPG 2009-05-31

Lizard!
I saw lots of these on the hike Eric and I took up one of the bigger hills on the Akamas penninsula

Looking back
the path we followed inland

Lizard in the tree
they were everywhere

View from the top
Gorgeous!

Eric enjoys the view
Cyprus 069.JPG 2008-05-31

At the edge
Every hill we climb has a picture like this...

Cliff edge
looking back down

Butterfly
one of the best shots of the trip

mmmm, fish meze
We had a full on lunch of fish meze after we all got back from our respective hikes. 5 courses of different sea creatur

so good...
Cyprus 074.JPG 2009-05-31

Into the gorge
Eric, Simon, and I took a lovely walk into a gorge as evening approached

Gorge walls
Cool and damp, and quite closed in

Look out!
Don't get crushed...

Goat
heard him jongling before we saw him

Walking up to Caledonia Falls
And the next day we drove inland to the mountains to see Caledonia falls and Nicosia

Crossing the stream
The hike up was lovely, under the trees, along the water

Hiking up the falls
Cyprus 079.JPG 2009-06-01

Bridge before the falls
The shade was wonderful

Caledonia Falls
the falls were beautiful

Eric threatens the cameraman
We took awhile phtographing each other at the base of the falls

Gila enjoys the spray
the water was actually really cold

A good shampoo advert
Cyprus 087.JPG 2009-06-01

refreshing mist
Cyprus 088.JPG 2009-06-01

Gila invents a dance
Cold water, slippery rocks, she almost went in...

us at the falls
Cyprus 090.JPG 2009-06-01

rita
Cyprus 080.JPG 2009-06-01

rita and gila
Cyprus 081.JPG 2009-06-01

the entire falls
Cyprus 082.JPG 2009-06-01

water shot 1
couldn't choose between this one and the next one...

water shot 2
took awhile to get the right camera setting

Church tower in Nicosia
We drove into nicosia, where it was roasting, to see the world's last divided capital

Sites in the city
the city was an interesting mix of lovely and derelict

The Green Line
notice the sign saying not to take pictures...

looking over to the Turkish side
We didn't have time to cross unfortunately

Sunset in Paphos
We hurried back to watch the sunset over the beach

Sinking sun
beautiful sunset, but no green flash

sunset in Paphos
Cyprus 099.JPG 2009-06-01

Beautiful Sky
I love the fade of light purple to deep orange

Paphos Mosaics
Eric, Simon, and I went to see the archeology park in Paphos

Big mosaic
There were mosaics both outdoors and indoors, and more than I'd seen anywhere else including Rome and Athens!

Hunting scene
There was an entire building that had almost the entire floor intact, with mosaics from both Roman and Byzantine times

Snails on stalk
on the grass outside

Paphos harbour
Looking through the ruins of a Frankish castle onto the harbour

Our Boat
A lovely, and fast, boat we took from Mallaig to Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula.

Looking back
The view off the pier back towards Mallaig

Inverie
The sprawling metropolis of Inverie

The Old Byre
The bunkhouse where we stayed. Comfortable, but the showers were somewhat disappointing...

First hike
Crossing the river on our first hike, up a Corbet

Eric on the rocks
IMG_2033.JPG 2008-05-16

Hiking down
IMG_2034.JPG 2008-05-16

Squirrel? Skunk? Loch?
The loch actually serves as the water source for the town's hydroelectricity

Blaven
The mountain I went up on Skye 3 years back. Normally I don't like filters, but this looked great in sepia.

Crofting Ruin & Ladar Bheinn
Our second hike took us up Ladar Bheinn and along a long ridge back home.

Clouds and Mountains
The weather was gorgeous, fluffy clouds and sunshine all day long

Snowball fight!
The requisite throwing of snowballs at the top of a munro...

View from the top
IMG_2073.JPG 2008-05-17

Geeks at the summit
We stopped for lunch at the top and savored the views for a bit...

Eric looking "proud"
IMG_2078.JPG 2008-05-17

At the edge
Looking back inland as we walked along the ridge down from the summit

Don't jump!
Eric's best attempt at a Coke promo

Mountains and Valleys
The views all along the ridge were spectacular

Ladar Bheinn
Looking back at the mountain

Almost done
Absolutely tired....can barely go on....last peak on the ridge conquered!

Big deer on little road
We stumbled across some wild deer on the way down the hill

Looks like ice
Sunset...

Eric in blue bells
Blue bells were in bloom everywhere we went

The crew at the pub
Delicious seafood and real ale at Britain's most remote mainland pub

The Old Forge
The pub

Mossy trees
Kona and I took a short hike up to tarn (small lake), through a mossy tree'd forest.

Kona and Eagle Crag
IMG_1974.JPG 2008-04-26

AstroGrid Engineers
Most of the AstroGrid team at the pub

Borrowdale Valley
Looking down at the valley from Castle Crag

Orange and Green
The colors were gorgeous...

More of the valley
IMG_1990.JPG 2008-04-27

Funky rocks
On top of Castle Crag is an old slate quarry, and someone propped up a bunch of stones making it loo eerie.

Where's Norman?
IMG_1992.JPG 2008-04-27

Cute and tasty!
IMG_2001.JPG 2008-04-27

Carcassone Castle Drawbridge
This is the entrance to the castle inside the city walls.

Our anniversary!
Our B&B for the last night was on this street.

Carcassonne Basilica
Beautiful old Basilica with old stained glass. We escaped the rain on our first day in here...

Flowers
69.JPG 2008-04-07

More flowers
70.JPG 2008-04-07

The Catholic "Cult"
Funny sign outside the Basilica

Stained glass in the basilica
01.JPG 2009-04-02

Basilica ceiling
03.JPG 2009-04-02

View from our window
This is the view of the city walls from out the window of our apartment. Perfect location!

City walls at night
Another picture from the apartment window

Castle walls
A view down the outside moat

Walking up to La Cite
The sun came out for our second day of visiting La Cite

Witch hat towers
11.JPG 2009-04-03

Us in front of the castle in the city
12.JPG 2009-04-03

La Cite from the bridge
View from the bridge across the river

Us outside La Cite
09.JPG 2009-04-03

View over the city
10.JPG 2009-04-03

Along the ramparts
13.JPG 2009-04-03

Chocolate!!!
A great store with lots of treats

Chocolate Olives
Actually chocolate covered nuts...

Torture anyone?
16.JPG 2009-04-03

Pretty street
Gila took this picture like 5 times...

In front of the gate
19.JPG 2009-04-03

Mmmmmm, dinner.....
Best duck breast ever, and yummy cassoule

Gate at night
This was the gate nearest to our apartment

MEAT!!!
We went to the farmers market in town to buy food for dinner and breakfast. Meat, cheese, fresh veggies, it was delicio

Veggies
It was a reminder just how much we miss fresh tomatoes, peppers, and all those goodies that don't grow in Scotland.

Olives
25.JPG 2009-04-04

More veggies
26.JPG 2009-04-04

Flowers
27.JPG 2009-04-04

Giant Garlic
The garlic heads were the size of my fist!

Radishes
29.JPG 2009-04-04

Our haul
Food for days...

On the canal boat
31.JPG 2009-04-04

Canal du Midi
After the market we took a boat ride down the canal which was pretty at parts, but a little underwhelming...

La Cite at dusk
34.JPG 2009-04-04

Ch??teau d'Puilaurens
The first castle we visited on our day trip through the south. It sits on a cliff looking over the valley, and wineries

Hiking up to Puilaurens
The walk up was through the forest

Inside Puilaurens
38.JPG 2009-04-05

The Keep at Puilaurens
39.JPG 2009-04-05

Gila enjoying the view
Sitting outside the wall and enjoying the view...

Down the valley
40.JPG 2008-04-05

The hike down
It was a short hike up through the forest and some stairs to get to the caslte

Ch??teau d'Queribus
The second castle of the day. Perched on an arid rocky outcrop, it was a lonely and small fortress that would have been

Climbing to Qu??ribus
Lots of stairs to get to the top

Up the stairs
Gila loved the stairs up to the castle! (Queribus)

made it!
44.JPG 2009-04-05

Over the valley
45.JPG 2009-04-05

Beautiful views
The view from this castle was amazing in all directions

Climbing the stairs
There were several hundred stairs to climb up the mountain side in order to get to the castle

Ch??teau d'Peyrepertuse
The third castle of the day. This one was the largest and most impressive of the four. Perched along a long cliff abov

View across the castle
Looking back along the side of Peyrepertuse

Us at Peyrepertuse
48.JPG 2009-04-05

View from the top
Looking down from the tower over the entire castle

Ch??teau d'Aguilar
The fourth and final castle! Not as big as the others, but completely surrounded by wineries!

Main keep at Aguilar
54.JPG 2009-04-05

Ch??teau d'Lastours
After seeing four castles in one day...we saw four more the next! Though they were all on the same hill this time.

Ch??teau d'Lastours
The four castles were small, and contructed along a long ridge overlooking the convergence of two valleys.

Flowers and Castles
Two of Gila's favorite things

Taking a rest
55.JPG 2009-04-06

Two of the castles
Two of the castles at Lastours

Looking along the ridge
57.JPG 2009-04-06

View back over the castles
58.JPG 2009-04-06

Cabrespine Cave
After the castles of Lastours we went to the Cabrespine cave, which was a huge cavern, over 300m high and 200m in diamet

Gila actually liked it!
Despite complaining about having to go to "a hole in the ground" Gila thought it was beautiful.

Cave formations
65.JPG 2008-04-06

Coffee in Lastours
We stopped for a snack at a cafe in the little village

Basillica of Toulouse
After our flight was canceled we took the bus to the city of Toulouse for a change of scenery. The Basillica was huge,

Main square in Toulouse
We wandered the city for the afternoon trying to relax after the stressful morning.

Little park in the city
68.JPG 2009-04-07

Hockey Game
We welcomed Dad to Edinburgh (after a really long flight!) by immediately dragging him down to Murrayfield to see a hock

Eric and Helen
We went with a group of friends to cheer on the Edinburgh Capitals! They were only the 6th worst team in the UK this yea

The Team
Since it was the last game of the series, they had an incomprehensible awards ceremony after the game.

The Crags
On Sunday, I was exhausted so while I slept in Mark and Dad went on a walk through Holyrood Park on their way to play sk

Skittles!
I was sorry to miss this - we'll have to go again! Mark and Dad met up with a few of our friends for an afternoon skittl

The Skittles Balls
Apparently it's just like bowling but smaller and you have to reset the pins yourself.

Waiting
After each person goes, there's someone to set them all up properly again.

Looking down the alley
Just another adorable British game to learn!

Dinner at Julias
Sunday night, our friend Julia (in the middle) hosted a birthday dinner for Eric (in the yellow). It was the last in a l

Friends
Peder, Michele, Joy, Wing-Fi, Eric and Julia waiting for the Mexican feast!

George
Enjoying a burrito. Julia was nice enough to make plenty of veggie options for Dad.

More Friends
Eoin, Brian, Eric and Dad talking American sports I think.

Enjoying the Food
George, Michele, Julia and Mark

Father and Daughter
It was really nice to introduce Dad to some of our friends!

Another Birthday Cake
Eric's first party was a surprise so Julia had organised this one to throw him off. Joy made the cake. That's Eric, Kwan

Dinner at our place
Mark cooked us a lovely meal Tuesday night.

Crammond
I took Wednesday off work and Dad and I went out to Crammond to see something new. It was really windy!

The 'bridge'
You can only get out to the island at certain times of day depending on the tide. People have apparently gotten stranded

Dad's Hat
CIMG0105.JPG 2009-03-26

Friday Night
We met up at the pub downstairs for a traditional pint and then the guys got fish and chips.

St Nicholas's Cathedral in Newcastle
On Saturday, the three of us took a day trip down south to Newcastle. It's just a 1.5 hr train ride away - unfortunately

Pulpit
It was originally a parish church, built in 1091, but this was destroyed in a fire in 1216. It was rebuilt in 1359 and b

Looking Back to the Cathedral
On the right is half of the castle that gave Newcastle it's name. Amusingly, the railway was built to go right through t

Newcastle Castle Keep
A bridge and a castle in one shot - perfect for my dad and me!

Inside the Castle
The castle was originally built in the late 11th century as a defense against the Scots! It was rebuilt in the late 12th

View from the top
We climbed to the top of the castle and got some really good views over the rivers and bridges of Newcastle.

Tyne Bridge
Apparently this is "a good example of a compression arch suspended-deck bridge famous the world over." The main reason w

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge
A a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge across the River Tyne. When boats pass through, the whole bridge tilts. It does i

Us with the Bridge
It's won many awards for its design.

Newcastle
The big silver building on the right is the Opera House.

Mark and Dad
We walked across the bridge and you could actually feel it swaying a bit. It was a bit disconcerting!

Flowers
While wandering around we came across an adorable store with purple flowers in purple pots on one side...

More!
and pink flowers in pink pots on the other!

Tynemouth Castle and Priory
In the afternoon we took the metro out to Tynemouth on the coast to see the castle and priory. The priory was founded in

Dad and Priory
The moated castle-towers, gatehouse and keep are combined with the ruins of the Benedictine priory where early kings of

Doorway
King Oswin in 651 and King Osred in 792 were buried here.

Smiles
The sun finally came out but it was unbelievably windy. Fortunately you could sort of hide in different parts of the cas

The Church
The church remained in use as a parish church until 1668 when a new church was built nearby.

The View
Although the promontory was originally completely enclosed by a curtain wall and towers, the north and east walls fell i

The Lighthouse
The sea was going crazy! In 1775 a lighthouse was erected on the headland (using stone taken from the priory), within th

The first of a few...
We watched the waves for a while (until the wind threatened to blow us away!) The lighthouse remained in operation until

More waves
I couldn't decide which picture was best so you have three to choose from!

And the last...
I think maybe the second one is best?

Dad and Mark
Enjoying the sun and wind

Guns!
The castle played a role during World War II when it was used as a coastal defence installation covering the mouth of th

Mark's Favourite
No castle trip is complete without a cannon shot I suppose

Gateshead Millennium Bridge
At night they light it up in all different colours. It was really, really cold so I was less than amused but Mark and Da

Colours
For dinner, we went to an amazing little vegetarian (!) pub Mark found online - it was perfect!

Tilting
After watching it tilt around we had just enough time to get back to the station and watch some of the drama - Newcastle

Glas Allt Shiel Bothy
This is the bothy (camping hut) where we stayed. Nestled in pine forest alongside a creek right on Loch Muich.

Bubbling brook
The water was frigid, mostly melted snow...

More creek...
IMG_1507.JPG 2008-02-27

Beginning the climb
The distance from bothy to summit is only 4km, but involves two steep climbs

Waterfalls!
Easily the biggest waterfalls I've seen in Scotland

Waterfall up close
So tempting to jump in, but so cold....

View down to the Loch
Looking back down the path to the forest and loch behind us.

looking up to the summit
The summit was in clouds most of the day.

Snow caped mountains
We reached the base of the summit and looked out over the snowy Cairngorm mountains.

Lochnagar cliff face
The other side of the summit....for mountain climbers only

Loch Nagar, not Lochnagar
Loch Nagar is at the base of the mountain, and was beautifully covered in ice.

View from the summit
The sun broke out just as we started the final ascent, and we had gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside.

more from the summit
Looking down at the loch, across the cliff face

Me!
Made it to the top, nagging cold and sore throat bedamned!

Summit lunch
Nick and Sarah, along with the rest of us, stopped for a bite to eat and a quick nip of the hip flask to celebrate the sunny views.

View back over the Cairngorms
More snowy peaks...

Famous Grouse
Not the whiskey, just the bird

End of the hike
Coming down off the moutnain and through a bit of pine forest

Looking out to Loch Muich
Odd looking trees that seemed out of place

Creeks are purty
Sunshine on the morning of our last day

Loch Muich
A view from the far end of the loch, back towards civilization

Bothy in the woods
Looking across the loch at the bothy and forest

Bothy close up
It really was a beautiful place, no wonder Queen Victoria loved it so much.

Back down the loch
another view down the loch

01.JPG
01.JPG 2008-11-29

02.JPG
02.JPG 2008-11-29

03.JPG
03.JPG 2008-12-04

04.JPG
04.JPG 2008-12-05

05.JPG
05.JPG 2008-12-05

06.JPG
06.JPG 2008-12-05

07.JPG
07.JPG 2008-12-05

08.JPG
08.JPG 2008-12-07

09.JPG
09.JPG 2008-12-07

10.JPG
10.JPG 2008-12-07

11.JPG
11.JPG 2008-12-13

12.JPG
12.JPG 2008-12-12

13.JPG
13.JPG 2008-12-12

14.JPG
14.JPG 2008-12-13

15.JPG
15.JPG 2008-12-13

16.JPG
16.JPG 2008-12-17

17.JPG
17.JPG 2008-12-17

18.JPG
18.JPG 2008-12-17

19.JPG
19.JPG 2008-12-17

20.JPG
20.JPG 2008-12-17

21.JPG
21.JPG 2008-12-17

22.JPG
22.JPG 2007-12-20

23.JPG
23.JPG 2007-12-20

Dinner First Night
We got into Stockholm late and went to a local pub Mark had found online - 6 kinds of fish! This was an appetizer sized platter!

Stockholm
We got up the next morning and took a long walk through the city up to the river. It was a beautiful (cold) day.

Boats
We loved all the boats everywhere.

Enjoying the Day
It was really, really cold. I had thrown in my ski jacket last minute and ended up wearing it constantly after this day.

Amusing Sign
We got a bit turned around and came to this sign - it solved all our problems of course!

Vasa
This museum was a huge highlight of the trip. This ship sank on it's maiden voyage in the 1600's and was salvaged in 1961.

Mark with the Ship
We took a 1-hour tour which was fabulous and then spent another couple of hours wandering around. It was such a great museum

The Front of the Ship
The ship is 99% original and was restored with years and years of work - it was incredible.

The mast
This is a third the size of the original mast. When the ship sank, you could still see the mast above the water which annoyed the king since it was his fault it sank. He demanded it be cut off and the original mast was lost.

Colours
The ship would have originally been totally painted in colours like in the left of this photo.

View of Stockholm
The second day we started by going to the Skansen Museum - an outdoor museum with Scandinavian animals and old buildings.

Older Buildings
They brought buildings from all over Stockholm and it was set up like a mini country - the northern buildings in the north part and so forth. It was huge!

Funny Squirrel
It was absolutely bitter cold this day and we ran through it really quickly.

Gigantic bunny on the left!
We think it might have eaten the other ones.

Bears
There was a whole bear family!

Moose
Nothing is more Swedish than moose, right?

Royal Palace
We then wandered down to the Royal Palace (taking advantage of the fabulous public transport system) and got there right in time for the changing of the guard - a total coincidence

Sun!
Although it was really, really cold it was still lovely to see some sunshine!

And Sunset...
We spent the whole day wandering around with some necessary breaks for hot chocolate and glogg!

Bandy!!
We decided to go to a bandy match that evening since we had never heard of it before researching this trip.

??
It was kind of like field hockey on ice - great fun to watch particularly since all the commentary was in Swedish, we were clearly the only tourists there!

More Bandy
It started snowing while we were there and we made sure to drink plenty of glogg to keep warm.

Snow
It really started coming down! Mark was having a blast - sports and snow and a fabulous beverage!

After the snowstorm
We woke up to a winter wonderland - Stockholm was absolutely beautiful with the snow.

Boat Trip
We took a three hour boat trip into the archipelego. It was really fascinating to see all the tiny little islands.

Vasa Museum
It was built to illustrate how tall the original ship would have been.

Stockholm from the Water
I loved the rooftops.

Heading out of the city
We picked the perfect day to do the trip - it was gorgeous.

For Dad
This is for you dad! Real tough kayakers kayak in all weather!

Sweden!
Most of the islands are only inhabited during the summer but we saw plenty of tough-looking people around.

Sunset
We started heading back around 2pm so the sun was setting. We were the only people to survive outside! Everyone else went indoors to drink tea and watch out the windows.

Beautiful scenes
We took tons of pictures of the islands and the snow - it was magical

Pretty Tree
33.JPG 2007-11-21

Even Mark was Cold!
I was impressed to finally see him bundling up!

Almost Home
We were so cold after this we couldn't even think straight. We headed to the national museum and practically ran there to get in the warmth!

Museums
The Vasa Museum and the natnional museum are right next to each other.

Ice Bar
I had always wanted to go to an ice bar since my dad went to one so we took advantage of the one in Stockholm.

Mark
I love this picture

Comfy seat
Amusingly, they keep the ice bar at -6 and it was -5 (celcius) outside - so it was slightly warmer! They still made us wear the silly parkas though.

Closeup
Mark took a few closeups of the ice blocks

Chandelier
It was really pretty - I'm so glad we waited on the line!

Drottingholm Palace
On our last day there we went out of the city to Drottingholm Palace. Stockholm has such a great transport system it only took us 30 minutes!

The Palace
It was so quick we got there before it opened so we had some time to explore

Cannon
No trip is complete without a picture of Mark with a cannon!

Gardens
The sun came out briefly and we got to admire the sparkly snow

Stockholm at Night
We got back into town and took a walk along the water.

The City
Stockholm is such a pretty city - and so clean!

Old Town
We had an afternoon flight so we dropped our bags at the train station lockers and took a walk through the medieval city.

More Snow!
It really started snowing then so our walk was shorter than we might have liked - we're not used to the snow anymore!

Cute Streets
There are all these twisty windy streets with fun little shops - we got some cute souveniers.

On Our Way Home
We then walked back to the station and headed to the airport - it was a great trip!

El Oso y El Madroño
The symbol of Madrid - "The Bear and the Strawberry Tree"

Palacio Real de Madrid
We started our Spanish adventure by visiting Madrid and our first stop was the Palacio Real.

From the Gardens
This is the official residence of the King of Spain but he does not actually live here.

Gila and the Courtyard
Mark's favourite part was the Royal Armoury with weapons dating back to the 13th century (including some adorable children's armour)

Santa María la Real de La Almudena
The Madrid cathedral was very unique - Gila really loved the ceilings.

More ceiling...
The Neo-Gothic interior is uniquely modern, with chapels and statues of contemporary artists, in heretogeneous styles, from historical revivals to "pop-art" decor.

Street Signs
All the streets were signed like this - so cute!

Another Church
This is across the street from the Prado - the sunset light hitting it just looked gorgeous.

Creepy!!!
We were fascinated by this statue at a metro stop - ????

Palacio de Viana
After 2 nights in Madrid, we took the train to Cordoba. Our first stop was the Palacio de Viana in the outer part of the city.

The Gardens
The inside of the house was interesting (as was the fully Spanish tour that we mistakenly went on!) but the gardens were just stunning.

Another Patio
With its open area formed by the twelve patios and the garden, the palace is a virtual Museum of Patios

Beautiful Flowers
Each of the 12 patios was unique

Lemons!
It was really nice to be somewhere warm enough for lemons!

The Last Patio
We really enjoyed this palace although next time we won't pay extra for a guided tour!

Cordoba Mezquita
This was probably the most fascinating thing we saw in Spain.

The Courtyard
This was originally built as the 2nd largest mosque in the world - it's huge!

The Outer Walls
After the Spanish Reconquista, it was transformed into a church, and some of the Islamic columns and arches were replaced by a basilica in early Baroque style.

The Church Inside
It's hard to describe and I don't think our pictures do it justice - there are tons and tons of columns

Columns
that are from the mosque and then right in the centre there is a gigantic church built by Isabella of Spain.

Colums 2
We really liked the columns! It's so surreal - the columns are really dark and it's kept at a low light

Columns 3
And then right in the middle of all of this is a huge, bright white church.

Ceiling
It was huge - there were tons of little areas branching off from the middle.

More Columns - different ones this time!
building is most notable for its giant arches, with over 1,000 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite.

Maybe our favourite picture?
We really, really liked the columns - interestingly, they were stolen from the Roman architecture in the city and were all different!

Last one, promise!
It was a great start to our second day in Cordoba.

Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos
Right across the street from the Mezquita is the Alcazar of the Christian Kings.

The Castle
The Alcazar palace was built in the 13th century by King Alfonso XI, and until the late 15th century, the kings of Spain used the Alcazar as a royal residence.

The Gardens
Outside the main castle walls the gardens occupy 55.000 square metres! It was huge!

Flowers
There were tons of flower beds stretching across the lawns with beautiful flowers everywhere.

Peppers
They even had little peppers amongst the flowers (this is for you Jenn!)

Looking Back through the Gardens
There is a wide variety of plants, palm trees, cypresses, orange and lemon.

Overlooking it all
This was one of the prettiest places we've seen (so far!)

Sinagoga
Cordoba's synagogue was built in 1350. It is the only synagogue in Andalusia to survive the expulsion and inquisition of the Jews in 1492.

The Carvings
It was a tiny little room but the carvings were exquisite. This is one of only 3 synagogues that survive from pre-Inquisition.

Hebrew Inscriptions
Although this synagogue is no longer in use, there were tons of tourists taking a look.

Medina Azahara
We spent a morning taking a bus trip out to Medina Azahara in the suburbs of Cordoba.

The Ruins
It had been built by Abd ar-Rahman III the Caliph of Córdoba starting between 936 and 940 and was used for about 80 years.

Archways
Medina Azahara played a great role in formulating a distinct Andalusian Islamic architecture - this is the first time such architecture had been used.

The Royal Hall
They are working on restoring the various carvings and walls - it's incredible looking at the scope of the task at hand!

Carvings
They were just gorgeous - it's incredible to think how long this all took to do!

Archways
It started to rain here so everyone ran inside - except us, we're used to that now!

Overlooking the Grounds
It was huge!

Cordoba Courtyard
These next picture are just some we took while wandering around - we were in Cordoba for 3 days and spent quite a lot of time doing nothing!

Church
This was next door to our hostel and we spent a couple hours reading in the courtyard.

Courtyard
This was near the synagogue as we were exploring the shops.

Sangria!
Sangria and olives... our standard fare while in Spain.

Roman Columns
Right down the street from our hostel.

Church
Just wandering about the streets - it's a beautiful city.

More Church
This was right near Viana Palace

Palm Trees
Gila just loved being in warm weather again!

Sunset over the rooftops
The view from our hostel window

Alleyways
Gila's favourite picture of herself in Spain!

Catedral y Capilla Real
From Cordoba, we took a bus to Granada for a couple of nights. Our first stop was Granada Cathedral - can you see Gila?

Magnificent
It's a Renaissance Cathedral and was absolutely awe-inspiring. The huge white columns just towered above us.

Hallway
Next to the cathedral was the Capilla Real where Isabelle and Ferdinand are entombed. No pictures allowed there though!

Walking up through the Albaicin
The Albaicin is the old Arabic quarter located on the hill opposite the Alhambra. After the churches, we wandered up here with a goal of watching the sunset from the top.

Mirador de San Nicolás
Outside this church is famous for the view of the Alhambra on the opposite hill. There were tons of tourists and musicians enjoying the sites.

The Alhambra
It was so exciting to finally see a place we've both thought about for so long - even in the distance.

The View
It was a really hazy day unfortunately, but the view is still spectacular!

The View and Mark
We sat in the courtyard and watched the sun slowly set.

Enjoying a drink
And then decided to treat ourselves to the most expensive glass of wine we could find - but you can't beat the view!

After Sunset
They light up the Alhambra each night.

Getting back down
The streets are really confusing!

Granada Cathedral
We were in Granada for the 12th October which is a national holiday. There was a huge street fair set up around the cathedral.

Spanish Food
There were tons of vendors selling food and drinks and souvenirs and fun little nonsensical things.

Tea Vendor
At the end of the night there was a performance by some musicians and jugglers.

Walking up to the Alhambra
Not the greatest choice honestly - it turns out there's a bus that would have taken us straight to the gate but instead we walked the 2 mile, straight uphill, fabulous journey in the heat.

Let us in!
The Alhambra is completely overwhelming - it just goes on for ages and it's swarming with tourists. It was hard to know where to start!

Nasrid Palace
The Alhambra consists of 3 parts: The Royal Palace, the gardens of Generalife and the fortress of Alcazaba.

Archways
We took a couple hundred pictures, it was hard to know which were best! The architecture and the carvings were unbelievable.

Designs
The Nasrid Palace was incredibly ostentatious - just completely covered in carvings and tilework. This was Gila's favourite tilework of course!

The Palace
Construction on the Alhambra started in the 13th century but each succeeding ruler added his own details.

Gorgeous
As Granada eventually surrendered to Isabella and Ferdinand, it was never ransacked. The Christian rulers simply added their own designs.

Reflecting Pool
"The carrying idea behind several of the buildings of Alhambra is nothing less than an attempt to create a duplica of Paradise on earth."

The Alcazaba
Our next stop was the Alcazaba - the fortress on the top of the hill. It was obvious why the Muslims were able to withstand the siege for so long

Overlooking the City
We had amazing views of the city from every spot.

The Alcazaba Courtyard
All the little areas in the middle were originally rooms for the soldiers.

Enjoying the Sun
Spain would have been worth it for the weather alone!

The City
We spent an entire day at the Alhambra and still had more to see.

Generalife
A (rather long) walk from the Palace and Fortress is the Generalife gardens.

Fountains
It was actually really similar to the gardens in Cordoba with lots of long reflecting pools surrounded by flowers.

Flowers
Gila took lots and lots of pictures of the flowers - the colours were just amazing.

The Courtyard
Every corner we turned around there was another beautiful surprise.

Frigiliana
After spending a week in Madrid, Cordoba and Granada we needed a vacation from our vacation! We spent the second week of our holiday relaxing on the beach.

Frigiliana View
Literally the only thing that distracted us from our commitment to doing nothing was a day trip we took to the next village of Frigiliana

White Houses
It was a lovely little village - all white houses on the hillside.

Going into the Village
We took a bus into Frigiliana and spent a little while exploring the streets (and buying some lovely earrings!)

The Streets
It was really peaceful.

The Valley
Gila had the bright idea of walking the 8 miles back to Nerja. After a while in the sun it felt longer!

Cactus!
We walked along a dry river bed.

Rocks
There were all these cool rock formations.

Exploring
Spain 093.JPG 2007-10-16

Canyon
We had the walk to ourselves for most of it and it was such a different place than we're used to hiking in.

The View from our Balcony
We didn't take many pictures during our second week (there was sangria to drink and novels to read! We were busy!)

Our Beach
There were all these tiny little beaches in between the cliffs - this one was right below our apartment so we spent most of our time here.

Mark
Getting ready for our busy day

The only cloudy day!
In our two weeks in Spain, we had one cloudy day. We were the only people on the beach!

After the storm
One night there was a storm and the next day the waves were beautiful.

Us
Aren't we adorable?

The Beach
We explored a couple of the beaches up and down the coast.

Nerja
This is leading up to the Balcon which overlooks the entire coastline.

Nerja
The view from just up from our apartment. Nerja has really, really strict building rules so it's not overbuilt like most of coastal Spain.

The streets
It was a really cute village - plenty of tourists but lots of locals as well. There was a really cute little elementary school near us.

To the Beach!
The walk down to our little beach.

Sun!
We really spent most of our time this week doing absolutely nothing.

Goodbye Spain
This was our last day in Spain - we already miss the sunshine (and the sangria!)

Dunnotar Castle
A castle we wanted to see for a long time. Big, imposing, and perched atop a nearly impossible to approach lump of rock in the North Sea.

Cliff faces on all sides
Attacking the castle would be madness. The crown jewels were hidden here when Cromwell invaded. The castle held out for 8 months, and the jewels were slipped out and hidden before Cromwell could take them.

Path to the castle
There isn't any easy approach.

Rocky beaches
IMG_0478.JPG 2007-09-26

Funky rocks
The whole prominatory is made of a strange conglomerate rock.

The forecourt
Just beyond the front gate, a closed walkway with gun ports on all sides

Pedur, Joy, and Gila
IMG_0495.JPG 2007-09-26

Striking clouds
The clouds were gorgeous, and I like the way the lichen covered rocks contrast the sky

The main keep
Where the nobles lived

Path to beach
IMG_0509.JPG 2007-09-26

Front gate
Here is the front gate of the castle, and the path along too it

House of Dun
We then visited this Victorian Mansion that was filled with all sorts of unique period furniture. Th family who built it had many sad stories. The house itself was a hotel for a long period of time, but is now completely restored

Front gardens
The front of the house looked out over the water in the distance.

Back gardens
The back gardens had lots of flowers...

Gila likes flowers...
IMG_0537.JPG 2007-09-26

...especially purple ones...
IMG_0542.JPG 2007-09-26

...and more purple ones....
IMG_0583.JPG 2007-09-26

Pear trees
They were selling different apples and pears they grew onsite. There was quite a variety.

Pedur, Joy, and Mark
IMG_0552.JPG 2007-09-26

Apple and Pear trees
IMG_0558.JPG 2007-09-26

Nearby waterfall
We walked along a path through the grounds that meandered through a forest and to the old chapel and castle remains (only a single archway of the castle was left).

Fancy cross
IMG_0565.JPG 2007-09-26

Old chapel
IMG_0578.JPG 2007-09-26

More clouds...
IMG_0590.JPG 2007-09-26

Cardiff Castle
We got into the city at noon and went straight to the castle - what a beautiful day!

The Central Keep
The castle is a medieval castle and Victorian revival mansion, transformed from a Norman keep erected over a Roman fort.

The outer walls
It was a really interesting setup - like a history lesson all in one place. There were remains of the Roman walls...

Overlooking the City
As well as a Victorian mansion built into the walls with beautiful furniture and painted ceilings and a clock tower.

The Moat
The central part of the castle was a Norman keep with a moat surrounded by gigantic walls far outside.

Clock Tower
The clock tower was build in the late 1800s. Inside the building is a huge suite of rooms in the Gothic Revival style.

Cannon!
It's tradition to take at least one cannon picture per castle - how else would we know we were there? These are super modern though!

Dragons!
Now I know I'm in Wales!

Braaaaaaaains Beer
The local beer in Cardiff - so amusing to order.

City Centre
Cardiff was an interesting mix of Edinburgh and Glasgow - it had a huge city centre with tons of shops and lovely flowers.

Castell Coch
19th century Gothic Revival castle built on the remains of a genuine 13th century fortification.

Beautiful Window Seat
The three towers, the Keep, the Well Tower and the Kitchen Tower, incorporate a sumptuous series of apartments.

Lady Bute's Bedroom
Interestingly, this was the best room in the home - her husband had a tiny room the floor below!

Ceiling of Lady Bute's Bedroom
The monkeys were apparently considered to be quite risque!

The Courtyard
This has one of the most exhilarating suite of rooms in the High Victorian Gothic style to be found anywhere in Britain.

Courtyard
IMG_0364.JPG 2007-09-21

The Drawing Room
This was my favourite - all along the walls were painted flowers and plans then it goes up to butterflies and birds on the ceiling.

The Three Fates
The fireplace in the drawing room.

The outside
It was rebuilt to be 'somewhat' historically accurate including the moat.

Caerphilly Castle
It is the largest castle in Wales, the second-largest in Britain (second to Windsor castle) and is one of the largest fortresses in Europe.

Sunny for a moment!
Built mainly between 1268 and 1271, it is an early example of a concentric castle

The Entrance
To attack the castle, one would have to get through 2 moats and 5 gates!

Welsh Flat
It was overwhelmingly bit - we were there for a couple hours and could have stayed longer.

My new home
I fit perfectly!

The leaning tower of Caerphilly
They think this was caused during the civil war in the mid-1600's.

The Keep
What was interesting about this castle is that it has undergone one of the most intense reconstruction projects ever -

Moat 1
& it was done with private funds! The same family that owned Castell Coch & Cardiff Castle rebuilt this castle from ruins.

City Hall
More dragons of course! I spent a day wandering around while Mark was working.

City Hall Again
There was a beautiful stretch of buildings starting here, including the National Gallery.

Sad Dragon
IMG_0444.JPG 2007-09-22

Another sad dragon?
We went to Mermaid Quay on our last night for dinner - it's similar to the Waterfront in Pittsburgh.

Mermaid Quay
IMG_0456.JPG 2007-09-23

The Quay again
Another lovely trip!

Whisky Night
How many people can we cram in here??

Hurray for whisky!
The boys enjoying the drinks.

Oops...
I knew I shouldn't have left the room!

Stuart and Gila
100_7285.JPG 2008-09-07

A toast!
Matt was finishing up his thesis, hurray for Matt!

Mark and Kwan-Nga
100_7296.JPG 2008-09-07

Brian
100_7298.JPG 2008-09-07

Droplets on pine needles
The walk up was through a nice forest

Into the mist
On our way up to the first munro

Eric and the purple heather
The heather was in full bloom, all the hillsides were covered in purple and green

Sheep herding
We could hear the locals herding their sheep along the other side of the valley

Cliff face
Funky rock formation on the way to the top

Are we there yet?
Both mountain tops were covered in mist, the second one had a nice cold stinging rain too. No views, but still a fun hike.

Coming down the mountain
IMG_0312.JPG 2007-08-29

Old house
IMG_0319.JPG 2007-08-29

Creek by the loch
IMG_0320.JPG 2007-08-29

Karen and Jim at the Fringe
We spent a day wandering around the festival - including a stop at my favourite beer garden with the big dead purple cow.

Festival Cavalcade
For the first year, Mark and I were able to go to this yearly parade with representatives from the International Festival and the Fringe.

Dancers
IMG_0101.JPG 2007-08-02

Favourite Street Performer
This clown was absolutely hysterical - he pulled people from the audience and did a whole silent sketch using balloon's as props. So different and so funny!

Calton Hill
That evening we went to a performance of Midsummer Night's Dream in a tent on Calton Hill. It was an amazing performance.

Walking Up the Hill
On our way to see Midsummer Nights Dream

Requirement in Edinburgh
Every trip has to involve a picture with a cannon right?

Roslin Glen
We took Karen and Jim out to Roslin so they could see the chapel and took a walk around the glen.

Roslin Castle
It was sunny!

Craignathon castle- first stop of the day trip
Craignathon castle, a beautiful ruin of a castle that was only around for a short time before being catured and destroyed by Cronwell

Looking down from the hill
It was built to withstand artillery, though a hill looked right over it. Apparently there used to be an 18 ft. thick wall that protected the keep which was torn down by Cromwell.

the keep
100_7217.JPG 2008-08-04

inside the keep
DSCF0113.JPG 2008-08-04

Bothwell Church
We stopped for lunch in the town of Bothwell, but couldn't find a pub serving food! Had to treat Jim and Karen to 'sausage rolls', an artery clogging scotch delicacy

Bothwell Castle
The second castle we saw on the day trip was Bothwell. It is the largest 13th century castle in the British Isles, though much of it is in ruin now.

Us and a tower
100_7229.JPG 2008-08-04

View from the keep
DSCF0130.JPG 2008-08-04

more of the tower
IMG_0239.JPG 2007-08-03

Eating lunch
Beautiful weather lasted all day

Outside of the keep
IMG_0248.JPG 2007-08-03

Inside the courtyard
IMG_0250.JPG 2007-08-03

The keep
The large keep was used as a hunting lodge for a time after the castle was no longer regularly inhabited

Glengoyne Distillery
We had to stop at a distillery of course so we visited Glengoyne. We took the full tour and Mark and Jim sampled the drinks.

Distillery
IMG_0265.JPG 2007-08-03

Mark made me!
This totally cracked him up.

Loch Lomond
On our way back to Edinburgh, we drove to Loch Lomond for dinner - what a beautiful view

Jim and Karen
IMG_0274.JPG 2007-08-04

Wallace Monument
While I slaved away at work, Mark took his parents to Stirling.

Stirling Castle
More cannons, of course!

Mark's Really Hungry
As usual!

Stirling
IMG_0283.JPG 2007-08-04

Heading Over on the Ferry
Eric, Simon plus others on our way to Arran.

Enjoying the Sun
Julia and I enjoying the beautiful weather on the way over

Setting up Camp
There were 14 of us in 8 tents - we ended up setting up next to a couple who had just gotten engaged, super romantic for them!

The Campsite
DSC06360.JPG 2008-07-25

Home
Ours is the blue tent in the left corner - home sweet home!

Dinner Night 1
Before we understood the severity of the midge issue we thought we'd eat like this every meal - ha!

BBQ
In the UK, it's illegal to have a campfire so we made so with these portable BBQs

Mark Cooking
100_7141.JPG 2008-07-25

See the Deer???
Not a great picture but there was tons of wildlife!

Seal!
I think it's maybe the first seal I've seen?

The Beach
Our first full day there we wandered all around the island and then decided to take a giant walk up a huge mountain.

Waterfall
While many of us were taking a huge walk up the giant mountain, Julia and I wandered off and found a lovely walk with waterfalls.

Hiking
The hikers starting up Goat Fell Mountain (stupid mountain - if a goat is going to fall off of it, what business do we have there???)

Goat Fell
It was about a thousand degrees with a thousand percent humidity... and lots of midges. Camping is fabulous.

Taking a breather
Stuart is contemplating jumping in, I know it!

The top!
Typical Scottish hill climbing shot. Seriously, what's the point of this?

Hurray!
Caz, Miller, Sarah and Eric at the top

Resting
Sarah and Miller exploring - Sarah claims that right there, if you sat just right, there was a breeze that got rid of the midges.

Walking Down
Eric and Stuart are happy to be back - we all met up at a little pub in the village.

On the Way to Dinner
The second night we were smarter and got dinner in town at the lovely little pub. This is the walk from the campsite - beautiful (and filled with midges)

Sunset over Lochranza
We paused for a moment and then kept on swiftly walking to the pub - if you walk more than 4 miles and hour, the midges can't keep up!

Brodick Castle
On our way to the pub.

The Beautiful Beach
Our last day there was absolutely gorgeous. I had contemplated leaving early but was so glad to stay - it was sunny and beautiful.

The Beach
The beach was almost deserted - we waded in the sea and found some lovely shells.

Eric Exploring
Eric always finds a way to get into dangerous situations!

Lazing About
Emma, Anita, Sarah, me, Eric - we were so lazy that afternoon, this is pretty much where we were for a few hours.

Out to Sea
These kids were really cute - they spent about an hour setting up a full soccer field in the sand (measuring all the yards, etc.) and then never played soccer!

Mark Napping
Easily one of the nicest days we've seen in Scotland.

The Scene
This is the first picture of us the whole weekend - just a sign of how miserable everyone was!

Explorers
100_7195.JPG 2008-07-27

On the Ferry
Mark took these next two pictures from the ferry back to Edinburgh - I couldn't decide which I liked better!

The Bird
DSC06441-2.JPG 2008-07-27

Goodbye Arran!
DSC06442.JPG 2008-07-27

Starting our trip to Ireland!
We were so excited!

Mom in Ireland
Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Mom finally stepped foot in the Irish hills!

Starting the Sleahead Drive
Our first day in Ireland we spent doing the Sleahead drive around Dingle Peninsula - lots of misty hills and beautiful b

Beach
It was warm, but rainy (of course!)

Dunbeg Fort
An Iron-Age fort on the coast. These little sights were so interesting - each run by the family that owned the land and

The Coastline
Ireland 06.JPG 2008-07-05

Dunbeg
Mark really loved these sights.

More of Dunbeg Fort
The stones are just heaped on each other in a really organised fashion - it was practically wind proof inside.

The View
The weather was so perfect for Ireland, although the Scottish people on the trip could have done with some sun!

Beehive Huts
Across the road from the fort was this little collection of beehive huts. It is assumed these were homes and they are bu

Sheep!
No Ireland trip is complete without plenty of sheep shots!

Beehive Huts
Ireland 12.JPG 2008-07-05

Exploring
I think we probably weren't supposed to walk along the walls but we got some great views!

Cliff Edge
The colours were just spectacular.

Off the Beaten Track
We pulled off an overlook and found a little tiny path leading down the cliffs for Mark and I to explore.

Beach Walk
While Mom enjoyed a beautiful beach, Mark and I took a walk along the cliffs. The tip of that peninsula is the most West

Beach
A beautiful sandy beach appeared out of nowhere as we drove.

Best Pic
We spend a while at this beach.

Exploring
Ireland 20.JPG 2008-07-05

Exploring More!
There's something about the landscape that felt very much like we had been shipwrecked and washed up on shore and I thin

Beach
Really couldn't get enough of this beach.

Cliffs
Ireland 23.JPG 2008-07-05

Mom's Happy
We wandered along this beach for over an hour checking out the caves and soaking in the peaceful atmosphere.

Ireland
Ireland 25.JPG 2008-07-05

Favourite Pic of Us
I just love this picture (although Mark thinks it looks like we're in front of a blue screen!) I promise, we were there.

Gallarus Oratory
Over 1,200 years old, this building without any mortar is still standing perfectly.

Finishing up the Day
We spend the entire day exploring the peninsula and were ready for a cup of tea!

Dingle Harbour
Mark and I took a walk from our B&B towards Dingle Town and found some beautiful boats along the way.

Getaway Vehicle?
This amused me for a long time.

Fishing Boat
There were tons of huge fishing boats... we made sure to sample their wares later on!

The Harbour
Ireland 32.JPG 2008-07-05

The Sky and Sea
I love how the sky is reflected in the sea - it was trying to be sunny!

Ferry to Doolin
The next day we took the ferry over to Doolin.

Cliffs of INSANITY
Or Cliffs of Moher as some might call them. But those fans of the Princess Bride will recognise these immediately!

Walking Around
I hadn't realised this was a huge, huge tourist attraction - I just wanted to see the Cliffs of INSANITY (um... Moher) b

Walking Around
Ireland 37.JPG 2008-07-06

Weird Beach
We checked in to our (lovely) B&B and Mark and I took a drive around the town to explore. We found this bizarre beach.

The Moon?
It looked like a swamp and the moon had melded together - it was so strange.

Cliffs
Of course, there were plenty of cliffs to play with!

More Ocean
Ireland 41.JPG 2008-07-06

Climbing Around
Ireland 42.JPG 2008-07-06

Pub Night!
Doolin is best known for their Irish music and we went to the early set at one of the pubs for Irish Stew and music! It

The Group
Musicians came and went and we really enjoyed the atmosphere.

Sunset
Mark and I walked up the road to enjoy the sunset from a little ruined church we found.

The Church
The lighting of this shot is from the sunset - it looks so mysterious. It's been a ruin for a long time and is now basic

Castle!
We couldn't leave without finding one castle at least!

Antique Shop
Mark went home and Mom and I continued for two nights in Ennis. We spent most of our time checking out the many, many bo

Ennis
Wandering around the Town

Back to Edinburgh
We were exhausted after our adventures so spent plenty of time in Edinburgh relaxing. We did make it to the Royal Mile t

Dinner
We had a few friends round for dinner one night - Brian, Peder and Kwa-Nga.

Taking pictures on Blackford Hill
After Zack arrived we hiked up to Blackford Hill and enjoyed the scenery.

Edge of the Gorge
Looking out over braid Hermitage

Mmmm, tastes like chicken
Inside the main fireplace in Craigmillar Castle

Using the toilet
Ahhhh, to be in a medieval prsion...

Obligitory Mons Meg Picture
Mons Meg, a massive seige gun for fltteneing castle walls

Dave on the stairs to nowhere
100_6851.JPG 2008-06-14

The crew at Dunfermline Abbey
100_6853.JPG 2008-06-14

Eric loves smoked fish
100_6855.JPG 2008-06-14

Julia dresses for war
100_6857.JPG 2008-06-14

Old timey boxing
100_6859.JPG 2008-06-14

Zack gets suited up....
100_6860.JPG 2008-06-14

....and then picks a fight with the locals
100_6862.JPG 2008-06-14

Everyday Scotsmen
100_6863.JPG 2008-06-14

March to battle
100_6866.JPG 2008-06-14

Children, kill the English!
This was hilarious, the "kid's army" of Scottish children being encourged to beat down and destroy the English soldiers

Where's Zack?
Can you see him?

Finally got him to pose...
DSC06174.JPG 2008-06-14

Scottish drums
DSC06176.JPG 2008-06-14

Argh!!!!!!!!
DSC06180.JPG 2008-06-14

Looking down the cliff
We hiked up ans arond the Salisbury Crags for the impressive view of the city

More of the city
DSC06208.JPG 2008-06-15

Moments before disaster...
I think we all know how this ends. Fizzy explosion of sugar all over the place.

View over Stirling
We went to Stirling Castle for an afternoon which Zack enjoyed.

Aye laddy!
DSC06213.JPG 2008-06-16

Weaponry demonstration
DSC06215.JPG 2008-06-16

Sitting on the throne
made just like the originals, there is actually a flip up seat on it for going to the bathroom so the King wouldn't have

What a smile...
DSC06220.JPG 2008-06-16

Old Bridge of Stirling
Not the famous bridge where William Wallace defeated the English, but dated to the 1600's and still standing.

Obligitory castle & fountain picture
100_6870.JPG 2008-06-15

Exploring Morningside
We had heard about "Old West Street" from a friend but didn't believe in its existence! Yet, here it is! A street in Mor

Bizarre
One of the more bizarre things we've seen in Edinburgh honestly.

Lilacs
Mark found this for me... :-)

On our Way to Loch Leven
Today's visitor approaches Lochleven Castle in the same way as William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and the many Scottish M

It was Cold!
We had an absolutely gorgeous day for our Day Trip around the countryside - a bit cool, but so sunny!

Gila and Dad at Loch Leven
Securely located on Castle Island in Loch Leven, Lochleven Castle had an important role in Scotland's history for over t

The Tower
It was so cool to see yet another piece of Mary Queen of Scot's history...

Inside the Courtyard
Mary Queen of Scots would have been imprisoned in the top floor of this building. You enter through up the stairs to the

Over the Loch
What a gorgeous day

From the Glassin Tower
A circular tower with ruined fireplaces and wall carvings.

Gila and Dad
DSC06072.JPG 2008-05-26

Checking out the Tower
The windows were very irregular and rather randomly placed.

The Loch
IMG_0018.jpg 2008-05-26

The Grounds
Apparently these didn't exist at the beginning - the island was smaller and the castle took up the majority of the space

Kinross House
Kinross House is in the background. In 1675 Loch Leven Castle was sold to Sir William Bruce, the designer of Holyrood Pa

The Loch
DSC06065.JPG 2008-05-26

Walking Back
On our way to catch the boat back.

Leaving Loch Leven
This is the view all those kings and queens had as they departed for land... we had the benefit of a motor boat!

Doune Castle
Most famous for its role in the Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie, this castle is surprisingly large.

View from the Top
Doune Castle was built at the end of the 1300s for Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany.

Gila and Dad
More sun! There's a little walkway on the roof (after you climb for MILES up these tiny little twisty staircases) - it w

Enjoying the Weather
IMG_0037.jpg 2008-05-26

From the Front
Doune Castle is an imposing Medieval castle in the Stirling district of central Scotland, sited on a wooded bend where a

Walking around
We took a walk around the castle up the river a bit to enjoy the sunshine.

Falkirk Wheel
Our last stop for the day was at Falkirk Wheel - we were fortunate enough to see it in action! Falkirk Wheel is a rotati

Dad's Happy
An engineering marvel, this made Dad happy!

Fish and Chips
We had to go to the chippy one night of course!

Dad at the Forth Bridge
Since Mark and I had to work during the week, Dad took a trip out to see the Forth Bridge.

IMG_0164.jpg
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge over the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. Described as "the one i

The Fog
Perfect Scottish weather!

Dinner with Friends
We had a few friends over for dinner one night so my Dad could get a taste of our life here.

Walking Around Edinburgh
I took a day off and my Dad and I went to the Modern Art museum in Scotland. There's a lovely little path there from dow

More sun!
Incredibly, we had ANOTHER sunny day!

The Dean Galleries
Outside the Dean Galleries - weird flowy landscaped thing in the background.

Shabbat Dinner
It's so nice that we can both fit in the kitchen at once!

Glasgow Cathedral
We took another day trip to Glasgow where Mark and I had never been before! We started out at Glasgow Cathedral

Cathedral Walls
Glasgow Cathedral, also called the High Kirk of Glasgow, is today a Church of Scotland cathedral in Glasgow. The 13th ce

Windows
The windows are all actually from the 1960s as the original ones were ruined.

Huge Entry
Technically, it is not any longer a cathedral, since it has not been the seat of a bishop since 1690. However, unlike ma

Dad at Cathedral
It's one of the few cathedrals that survived the uprising in the 1560s due mainly to the townspeople who took up arms to

Glasgow Necropolis
In 1831 the Merchants' House agreed that this land would be profitably used as Glasgow's version of the world-famous Pèr

Beautiful Monuments
The monuments that mark these tombs, especially in the upper parts of the Necropolis, are a tribute to the disposable we

With Friends
We met up with our friends Ross and Tereza who live in Glasgow for lunch and dinner.

Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA)
An exhibition by Jim Lambie from Glasgow - we loved the floor contrasting with the ceiling in this room.

More Jim Lambie
Some really cool stuff. Like with most museums in the UK, it was free so we just wandered around as we felt like it.

Looking Up
The had a cool exhibition of works by children as well.

Glasgow Streets
Glasgow had a totally different feel from Edinburgh - must faster and just tons of people everywhere!

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
We took a walk through this gigantic park in Glasgow's West End and ended up at Kelvingrove - one of my favourite museum

Kelvingrove
I love how it just peeks throug the trees.

Gila and Dad
After a long day in the sun (!) we were ready to head home.

The Fernicular
Just like the inclines back in ol' Pittsburgh. This is how we got up and down the mountain most days.

Quai des Fleurs in Montreux
Flowers along the lakeside, mountains beyond the shore, definitely one of the prettiest places we've ever been to.

Us with flowers


Tulips
The walk along the lakeside in Montreux goes on quite a ways.

Sunset over the lake


View from Glion
Looking down from the Glion train/fernicular station

Notre Dame de Valere in Sion
Lovely Chateau atop a hill in Sion with an ornate chapel

Sion
View of the city from the Chateau

Crenulations
Gila loves these

looking back at Chateau Valere
up one hill, back down, and up another to yet another castle

Climbing the hill


Chateau Valere


Gorgeous views in all directions


entering Chateau Tourbillon


looking back on Sion


Gila and the Rhone Valley
The Rhone river meanders through the valley between the mountains all the way to lake Geneva

Downtown Sion


Rooftops and Mountains


Bike Race!
There was a bike race going on all day, and we watched some with dirnks at the open air cafes

Kids playing with broken glass
That's right. Kids playing in a park of broken glass. Really. No joke. It is broken glass.

Isn't it artsy?
Statue of a naked woman, crystal blue lake, mountains....

More flowers...


Montreux from above
looking down from Glion

Chateau Chillon
We visited this famous castle on the lake, and it was one of the best we've ever been to.

View from inside


More views looking out
The castle sits on a little rock island, completely surrounded by water.

We like window shots


Inside the Chateau


Looking back at Montreux


More of the Chateau


Little beach
We took a break and got our feet wet in the cold clear lake.

Look at all the fish!!!
Tons of them all around, and my fishing gear thousands of miles away....

Chateau Chillon


Enjoying the view


Yes, we liked the castle


On the ferry
Leaving the castle, we took the ferry to Vevey for dinner

Lake Geneva


Gila likes boat rides


Big lake


working Carousel from 1900
This beautiful old carousel wa sin the center of the main plaza in Vevey.

Downtown Vevey
Nice little town along the lakefront, we liked it more than Montreux actually

We like lake views too


Navy of Swans
guess the tourists must feed them well...

Giant Fork in water
Right next to Charlie Chaplin park

Begin the Parade!
We went to a parade in Montreux with our B&B owners.

Crazy Swiss
And they had decked out farm gear in crazy ways...

high fallutin' parade folks


Traditional Swiss garb


And cows with head dresses!!!
It must be maddening to be a cow in Switzerland. First you have to wear a giant bell, then they do this to you...

Roches de Nayes
We took the train up to the mountain peak to get a view

lake geneva


Pondering the mountains


Loved the snow in May


just us


Swiss Alps


Snow and short sleeves


Yarrrr!!!!
rare Swiss mountain pirates

Hotel de Caux
For rich folk

Looking down on Vevey
We hiked down from Caux to Glion and enjoyed the fresh air and open views

Funky roof
loved the weird shaped slate roof

you know who


Army of Gnomes
match 'em with the swan navy and you have a complete armed forces

our B&B
tucked away a little outside of Glion, this is where we stayed

The dogs!
The B&B had 6 dogs, 3 cats, doves, and a goose.

Meet the goose


Sunset over the lake


Our B&B from across the valley
Looking across the valley from inside the train at our B&B

Cheese!!!!!!!!!
mmmmmmm, gruyere as far as you can see....

Chateau Gruyeres
We went to the famous mideval town of Gruyeres to see the castle and eat fondue.

Gruyeres
The town still looks very similar to how it did hundreds of years ago

Gila likes crenulations
Into the castle we went...

Portrait of heaven
Note all the naked women and happy snails....

The devil
The portrait of hell was equally strange and funky

Walk in fireplace
big enough to roast and entire cow

Surreal Art
The castle was filled with different surreal art displays

more art
creepy faces

Castle gardens and us


castle gardens


banquet room
the castle had some impressive rooms and original furniture

HR Giger Museum Bar
The HR Giger museum is outside the castle. He's a freaky artist, famous for inventing the aliens in the Alien movies

Us and Gruyeres


Main street in Gruyeres


More of main street


Fondue!!! Isn't she happy...
the meal was dairy overload. tub of melted cheese followed by a bowl full of cream and rasberries

Leaving town

Glenariff Forest Park
First stop of the trip. Walking down to some waterfalls...

First falls
Moss everywhere, old trees, and a purple leprechaun

Second falls


First falls with Mark


Boardwalk along the river


Big falls
These were stunning.

Tall and skinny


Over the falls


Mmmmmmm....
We stopped at an Inn along the coast and had some delicious Irish food

The beach
The town was situated in a nice sheltered cove with a long beach

Boats


Sheep everywhere
It's not just a stereotype...

Walking to the rope bridge
We drove along the coastline, alternating between beaches and stunning cliffs

Craahing waves


Down to the rope bridge
Carrick-a-rede rope bridge goes out to a little island used for salmon fishing

Crossing the chasm
Gila, Eric, Michele, Julia, and Andrea cross the bridge

The boys
Mark, Eric, Michele, and Andrea (Michele's friend from Italy)

Don't look down!!!


Back across


Giant's Causeway
Next stop, Giant's Causeway. A famous, one of a kind, geological wonder.

Stone pillars
Lava cooling rapidly led to the strange columns of the causeway

Name the shapes


Crashing waves
Mark got doused by one only moments later...

Gila enjoys the view


More waves crashing


Getting closer


Run!!!


Time to change clothes
How about a dram of whisky to warm up?

Bushmills Distillery
Oldest licensed distillery in the world.

Us with Dunluce Castle
A stunning castle overlooking the coast

Dunluce Castle
The castle was closed by the time we arrived, but we were able to walk around it

View of the North Sea


More castle


Beach walk
The next day we went on a hike out to the beach at a forest park

Rocky perch
Rock prominatories stretched out into the sea between sandy beaches

Sun, rain, and water
The weather was nice for Ireland...

Gently lapping


Michele and Julia


Beach Wreck
Part of a wrecked ship upon the shore

Eric ponders jumping in


Gila, Julia, Michele, and Andrea


Beautiful


Enchanted Forest


Time for a pint!
Plenty of Guiness, Irish folk music, and even a little traditional Irish dancing

Gila's new friends
Moooooooo

Wind swept dunes
We took another hike out to a secluded beach through sandy grassy dunes

Lost beach


Gila approaches
It was a long walk

The beach
Stunning beach, and Eric, Julia, and Andrea were crazy enough to swim too

Glassy Sands


Donegal
We stayed the night in Donegal, a town in Ireland proper.

St. Andrews resting place
Where Saint Andrews (patron saint of Ireland) is said to be buried

St. Andrews Cathedral


St. Andrews Cathedral


Us and the Irish Sea
Our last day of driving took us south of Belfast, along Strangford Lough

Audley's Castle
A small castle on a peninsula overlooking the entrance to the lough from the sea

Enjoying the view


Goarse, grass, and sea


More of Gila's friends


Crown Palace Pub
Famous pub in Belfast, has old style booths with stained glass doors inside

Ornate pub


Downtown Belfast
The city is big into renewal after years of conflict.

The team
Mark and the rest of the ROE soccer team for the conference tournament.

Friends.JPG
Michele, Kwan-Nga and Sue enjoying dinner.

Our For Eric's Birthday!.JPG
Eric, Wing-Fi and Brian enjoying our BYO wine

Mark and Iain.JPG
Mark and Iain.JPG 2008-03-23

Wing-Fi and Brian.JPG
Wing-Fi is excited for his tilapia (and Gila is a bit scared!)

Back at Eric's.JPG
As most nights do, it ended up at Eric's place for whisky and lots of ridiculousness

End of the Night.JPG
Half 4 and counting...

Road Trip!.JPG
We went with Peder and Joy out to Dumfries and Galloway - the Scottish Borders.

Beautiful Waterfall.JPG
We had a lovely drive out through the countryside.

Green Mountains.JPG
We just had to pull over here to admire the view.

Our Future Home... perhaps.JPG
What an amazing setting... but I bet the Chinese food sucks!

Random Fake Castle.JPG
Following a tour bus, we found this so-called castle - it was closed, but the grounds were pretty.

Trebuchet.JPG
Any castle with it's own weapons is bound to be good!

Caerlaverock Castle.JPG
Our first moated castle - it was super cool. Triangular-shaped with a really interesting interior.

Inner Courtyard.JPG
Built to control the South-West entrance to Scotland, building was completed in 1300.

Nithsdale Courtyard.JPG
The courtyard decor dates from the 1600s when the first Earl of Nithsdale was in residence.

Building was Completed.JPG
The carving up the inner wall were magnificent.

From the Outside.JPG
This was possibly our favourite castle - the walk along the outer moat was really interesting.

The Whole Thing.JPG
The walls were destroyed in 1640 - just 6 years after the inner stonework was completed.

The Grounds.JPG
The castle is set in hundreds of acres of marchlands providing excellent defence.

Peder and Joy.JPG
The end of our walk actually had the ruins of an earlier castle that was abandoned after it started sinking in the marsh

Sweetheart Abbey.JPG
Our second stop was Sweetheart Abbey - built in 1273 by Lady Devorgilla in memory of her husband.

Amazing Pillars.JPG
We loved how they had allowed the grass to return to the centre- it was beautiful.

First Tiny Room.JPG
I'm not sure we would have liked it here...

Next Tiny Room.JPG
Now I know we wouldn't have liked it here!!!

New Abbey Corn Mill.JPG
Our final bit of history was found here - a still working corn mill from the 1700s with incredible mechanics and a fabul

Lighthouse.JPG
In the driving rain (and perhaps hail!) we had to stop at the lighthouse of course

Looking Out to Sea.JPG
It was really, really cold.

Waiting to Start
We all had to wear these silly jumpsuits... seriously the scariest part of the whole thing!

Safety Lesson
They went over the lights over and over again... any guesses on who forgot the rules???

And we're off...


We Look Silly


The Awards Ceremony
Two Ross's and an Eric won the trophies

The Whole Group
Us with 23 of our friends here.

Mel and Mark at Edinburgh Castle.JPG
Mark took Mel to the castle to explore Scottish history (and lure her away from the English!)

So, what IS under there.JPG
So, what IS under there.JPG 2008-02-16

Gila's Favourite View.JPG
Gila's Favourite View.JPG 2008-02-16

American Store!!!.JPG
We stopped by the American foods store and Mel was happy

Saturday Night Out.JPG
Brian, Michelle, Mark, Eric, Mel, Elie and Paul

Pub 3.JPG
Mark, Mel, Brian, Michelle and Gila

Mel and Gila.jpg
Mel and Gila.jpg 2008-04-02

Gila and Eric.jpg
Gila and Eric.jpg 2008-04-02

Gila and Michelle.jpg
Gila and Michelle.jpg 2008-04-02

James, Eric and Kwan-Nga.jpg
James, Eric and Kwan-Nga.jpg 2008-04-02

Stewart, Brian and Michelle.jpg
Stewart, Brian and Michelle.jpg 2008-04-02

Climbing Arthur's Seat.JPG
Gila skipped the hike to recover from the night before! Getting old apparently.

Beautiful Day.JPG
We got really lucky with the weather - it was sunny both days!

First Beer in Austria
Our first night in Austria we wandered down the very dark mountain and found an adorable restaurant for dinner.

Bizarre Sign
Saw this in a shop window and had a blast discussing what we thought the caption said!

Snowball Fight
Morning 1 in Kitzbuhel - never too old for snowball fights!

Exploring with Stewart and Mark
It was sleeting down freezing rain all day on Sunday so the 3 of us found a pub filled with crazy Austrians.

Top of the Sled Run
They had an insane sled run - you take a ski lift up to the top of a mountain and barrel down crazy hairpin turns.

Enjoying the Thrills!
Mark swears this was more dangerous than skiing!

After a Spill
I had to bail out and watch my sled fly off the edge into the trees. Stupid snow.

Eric Takes a Turn
Fearless Eric took the turns really fast!

Ready for another Run!
Stuart and I at the top - getting ready for the craziness.

Mark Finishes the Slope


Dinner - Night 2
Our second night we wandered into a very local restaurant and had a delicious meal.

Day 2 - Skiing perhaps?
We headed out to the slopes so Stuart could learn to snowboard and well... you'll see what Gila did!

Mark's Excited!


Gila on SKIS!
Never thought we'd see the day... up on skis and ready to...

Hmm...
So skiing is hard?

On the top of the world...
After Gila's failed skiing attempt, Mark ran off to meet up with the boys to get some real skiing in.

Getting Started
Mark, Ross and Eric getting ready to go down the slope.

Dave


Getting Back Up...


Drinks
The guys found this little bar at the base of the slopes that we went to most nights - bizarre music and mulled wine!

Back at the Chalet
The place we found was small, but definitely fine for us. Spent hours drinking beer and playing cards here...

Walking Down
Mark, Ross and Gila walked down the mountain to the town on Day 3. Guess it gets cold up here!

Hahaha!
These signs were everywhere down the mountain - just cracked us up every time.

Mark
Beautiful views all the way down

Back on Top
Gila got to fulfill a lifetime dream and go paragliding from the top of a mountain!

View from the top
What Gila saw as she jumped off a mountain - gorgeous.

Mark Ready to Race
The instructor told Mark to get down the slope as fast as possible so he could see me land

Where's Gila?
Mark's way faster than the instructor expected and got to watch most of my landing!

Getting Closer....
It was such an incredible experience - just beautiful everywhere.

Kitzbuhel
After paragliding, Mark and Gila split up and Gila had a chance to explore the town (and the shops!).

The Churches
At the end of main street were three churches with an amazing cemetery (Austrians live forever!).

Inside
My favourite church ceiling in Kitzbuhel.

More wandering
There were all these interesting side streets to explore.

Heading Home
Gila went back towards the slopes afterward to meet up with the boys.

Meanwhile...
Besides the first day, the rest of our time in Kitzbuhel was just gorgeous and we all had an amazing time!

Dave Flying


Eric Wandering off the Trail
Um... I think it's not called a trail but you see the point!

Eric...
Everyone falls sometimes!

Mark is Triumphant!
Mark was amusing everyone with his sloppiness and crazy skiing risks!

Back Up Again


Oops...


The Mountains
It was surreal how beautiful everything was.

Igloo Village!
It's a hotel at the top of a mountain... perhaps our next destination? Or perhaps not :-)

Mark Can Fly too!
We love this picture.

End of the Day
Ross gets ready for the pub!

Walking Home
After the pub (complete with a snoop dogg imitating beatboxer!) we headed home for a lazy dinner and more cards.

Cards again!


More Views


Lunch at the Top
The guys would meet at the top of the mountain for lunch.

Beautiful Shot
Dave shooting down the hill.

Skiing...
We obviously had a hard time choosing photos!

Mark and Eric


Views


Heading Up Again


Mark, Eric and Dave


Eric


Dave


Taking off down the hill


Beautiful Snow Art
Eric got these two pictures - we are obsessed with them.

How Gorgeous is this?
It was just endlessly stunning.

Dave!


Mark is Triumphant Again!
It was really amusing how many of these pictures there were!

Stewart is triumpant!
After three days of lessons, Stewart got really good!

One more night...
Had to meet at our favourite bar for one last round...

Italian Food
We all needed a break from Austrian food so we found this adorable Italian restaurant.

And then back home
for more cards of course!

The View
Of course, on our last day there, it snowed overnight. We woke up to gorgeous views everywhere.

Front Yard
The apartment we stayed at was at the end of the road - the last house on the street.

Wilderness
It was just beautiful.

Snowy Tree


Branches
It was so pretty everywhere that Gila actually remembered a positive aspect to snow!

More...


The View over Kitzbuhel
It looks so far away!

Treetops


Waiting for the Train
Stewart and Dave were so starved for football news they even tried to read a newspaper in German!

Postcard to Mark's Work
A valiant group effort!

Marienplatz!
We then headed back for a couple nights in one of Gila's favourite cities - Munich!

Giant Beers are Good
First stop was Haufbrewhaus of course (um... spelling in German is hard)

Happy Mark and Eric!
German beer makes everyone happy!

The group
The guys all enjoying their beer

More...


Giant Plate o' Meat
We went to a very traditional beer hall for dinner and got giant plates of meat. Mark was happy!!

Another beer hall...


Cheers!





Marienplatz at Night
Marienplatz was decorated for some festival or something - I found the clown heads incredibly creepy at night!

Creepiest Display EVER
In an antique store window... is it a centerpiece?

Antiquarium at the Residenz
My all-time favourite palace - second time here for me and it was so exciting to re-visit all my favourite rooms!

Beautiful Door


Throne Room
We might decorate our place like this...

Cutest Logo Ever
Stopped for lunch at an adorable beer hall with a super cute lion logo.

Green Influences
Apparently the Germans love Greek architecture? There is a whole section of Munich like this!

Crazy, crazy pub
On a whim, we went to this insane tiny museum for this German commedian we'd never heard of - it was bizarre. At the top

Last night!
we found this little pub tucked away. It was a highlight of our trip. We were definiately the only tourists there!

dinner in Houston
Visiting for Thanksgiving

Xbox 360
mark got a new toy

mmmm, leftovers


The Dome at Christmas
the Dome pub (aptly named) all decked out for christmas

Gila and Michelle


the gang's all here!
First time in years all Mark's best friends are in one place

Sharp looking bunch


Gila and Maria


Karen at the party
We through an anniversary party for karen and Jim

Gila and Kenzie


friends everywhere
Maria and Chris, Meredith, Mel, and Chris S. all in the basement at the party

Body armor is cool
as long as you're not actually getting shot at...

Mark and Zack


All smiles


Chiluli exhibit at Phipps
Beautiful exhibit of glass art at the botanical gardens in Pittsburgh

red things


Fire!!!


Electric tumbleweeds


Alien egg pods


Sunburst


Sushi with family
Sam took us all out to yummy sushi

the breakfast club
And we all went to breakfast at Pamela's before leaving...

New years!!
We through a New Years party at our flat and had a great time!

more party


Auld lang singing


Getting rowdy


Auld lang singing


Nick and Cassy


A night's hard work


Caz, Niall, and Julia


Stuart the mighty


Happy new year!!!

Tower of London
Typical Eglish weather setting the scene...

our beefeater guide
He was hilarious!

Beefeaters in the tower


Dragon Cannon
mark likes dragons. mark likes cannons. mark really likes dragon cannons.

Tower Bridge
View from the Tower of London

Inside the Tower grounds


Endless guns
The royal armory was fully lined and decorated with old guns

The White Tower
The oldest building in the castle

Traitor's Gate
Often referenced in the books Gila loves on medeval history

Gila likes the bear
Beefeater bears were everywhere

Us with Tower Bridge


Hung drawn and quartered
Wonder what the pub grub is like inside...

Mark with St. Paul's Cathedral


St. Paul's Cathedral


Team buses!!!
We were lucky and the team buses for the NFL game showed up for a photo op!

View from the top


London in the haze


Cathedral front


the Old Bell!
A joke, since we got o the Old Bell in Edinburgh a lot...

Us with parliment


Gila with parliment


London icons


Gila liked parliment
many, many pictures like this... we only posted the best

inside Westminster Cathedral
No pictures allowed inside the cathedral itself, this is of the courtyard though

Westminster Cathedral outside


Poor Dragon
Not very happy is he?

Cathedral door


Us with cathedral


Old and the New
Only in London

Funny
Mark thought this was funny

Buckingham Palace
Mark insisted on walking here, and it was closed!!!

Statue in front of palace


Dali Elephant
We went to the Dali exhibit and saw all the weird art inside

View of the Thames


London at night


Mummies
The British museum would make a great horror film setting. Endless mummies!!!

more of the museum


100_5258.JPG
100_5258.JPG 2007-10-27

Dragon Art
There was a big Chinese art display, including terracotta warriors

Priceless aritfacts....


....from all over


us in Chinatown


On to the game!!!
Ross, Eric, and Gila get excited

NFL fans everywhere


At the game


All sorts of hype!


Here come the teams!


Ross and us


us
Gila's happy, the Giants are winning! (poor Dolphins)

Sold out
There actually are LOTS of NFL fans in the UK, who knew!?

defensive battle
not a lot of offense, but still fun to watch

Eric is excited


The rain, the mud
the rain came down, and the "pitch" turned into a mud fest

Post game pub
fans of every team, drinking in post game glory

Comparing pictures

Melrose Abbey
King David I founded an abbey on this spot in 1146.

On the Rooftop
As this is so close to the English border, it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times.

Beautiful Window
Most of what survives dates from the early 1500s and the last resident monk died here in 1590.

Ross and Tereza
Ross and Tereza were kind enough to drive us on our Borders tour

More Windows


Adorable Gargoyles
It is known for its many carved decorative details, including likenesses of saints, dragons, gargoyles and plants.

Robert the Bruce's Heart
Much of the rebuiding efforts in the 1300's was helped by Robert the Bruce and he had his embalmed heart buried here.

From the Cemetery
The last abbot was James Stuart (illegitimate son of James V), who died in 1559.

Interesting Gravestones


Enjoying the Day
We couldn't believe how warm and sunny it was!

The Whole Abbey
There are in the external view of the building 50 windows, 4 doors, 54 niches, and above 50 buttresses.

Jedburgh Abbey
Our next stop was Jedburgh Abbey. It was founded, initially as a priory, by King David I in 1138.

The Hallway
In 1285 Alexander III of Scotland married Yolande de Drew here - it must have been a beautiful wedding.

Beautiful
In 1305 an English army stripped the lead from the abbey roofs to help in the construction of siege engines.

Overlooking the town
This abbey was in use until the mid 1600s.

Scotland
As we were so close to the border, we couldn't resist stopping by this tourist attraction! Welcome to Scotland y'all!

Walking up to the Castle
As a friend said "it looks like you're entering a magical castle".

The View
The castle dates from the 1300s.

Grand Entrance
Throughout the 1400's the castle was much fought over by the English and Scots and additional fortifications were built

Exploring the Grounds
It was surrounded by beautiful countryside and a lovely little stream.