2 C D

I know I am late with this post (actually most posts) but better late than never. Last weekend I met D in Amsterdam before he went back to the States… don’t worry we were good. It was fabulous to see him, visit about his adventures around Europe, and hear how much he missed his girl (sorry D).
I hadn’t realized beforehand, but Amsterdam is a canal city like Venice, which made it even more beautiful than imagined. We spent much of the time just walking around taking in the city, but to my delight we also had some great beer adventures.


Canals, canel bridges, and very crazy stairs to our hotel.


No trip is complete without trying the food. Yes, that is Mayonnaise on my fries.


As a part of what turned out to be our great beer adventure, D and I decided to visit the original Heineken brewery. It is no longer operational, but has been converted into a wonderful tourist trap that explains Heineken’s history and the brewing process. The picture that looks like the inside of a pub is actually inside an old beer fermenter. I must say it was surreal drinking beer inside a beer fermenter.


The pinnacle of our unexpected beer adventure occurred when we stumbled upon an amazing pub. There are a number of elusive beers that are considered the best in the world; many are made by Belgian monks. To my delight this pub had almost all of them. We were in beer heaven and sampled away. This turned out to be quite a feat considering most of the beers were 9%+. I encourage anyone to try every uncommon and/or uncommercial beer you come across especially any Belgians…just steer clear of the lambics (right D).

It was great spending time with my bro. The only sad part was saying good-bye and knowing how long it will be until the next time.

Love to Dance...Crap

I never thought I would enjoy going to a dance, but there is a time for everything. Janna’s school recently held a ceilidh (Kay-Lee). It is a traditional Scottish dance and the closest thing I can relate it to is a square dance. There is an announcer that teaches each dance and walks everyone through the motions. It was an absolute blast, especially since there were people from all over the world.


The only negative was that in a ceilidh you rarely dance with your partner as you switch up a lot and Janna was looking good that day.

Final Fam Days

The last few days of the family's visit were somewhat relaxed. We basically stayed around town and enjoyed the city. We spent more time in museums, hit a few pubs, and enjoyed some local food. I want to leave you with a final thought. Can you imagine the five of us in this car for many, many miles?

Hogmanay (New Years Eve)

During the day we went to a museum and some shops. Mom loved this little Indian shop where they sold very unique hand made items. I think Mom bought one of everything, Dad got a chess board. I showed them a few sights like the Elephant House. It is a restaurant where supposedly J.K. Rowlings wrote much of the first Harry potter book.
In the evening we did an underground tour. As I have mentioned before Edinburgh is a city built on top of an old city. Long ago they knocked off the tops of buildings on a hillside and built on top to make a more level city. The tour we took focused on Mary Kings Close. You actually go underground and walk down a street that is still largely as it was. You can even go in old houses and shops. Very spooky.


At midnight the city shoots off fireworks from seven hills around the city. The folks decided to stay away from the drunken fools and stay inside. The younger of us also decided to get away and watch the fireworks. We climbed the Salisbury Crags that overlook the city. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but on that day there were gale force winds. It was the most unbelievable experience. We walked up the back side of the hill, so the wind wasn't too bad (gusts would still knock you over). But as soon as we approached the peak, standing was nearly impossible. As we belly crawled to the edge the most amazing thing happened. About five feet way there was a pocket that was almost calm. You could still hear the roar of the wind, but we were able to lay down and enjoy hot chocolate (with Baileys) and watch the fireworks. I just wish the pictures could do the experience justice.

Hogmanay (30th evening)

The New Years celebration around here is called Hogmanay. After the long day of driving we were all dead tired, but D and I decided to buck up and go check out the festivities.


They had a few streets blocked off where they had street performers, bands, and staged shows. The street performers were hilarious. Three guys on stilts kind of acted like mimes and ran (it was amazing how they didn't fall) around stealing things from people (often women's cloths) or kissing bald guys' heads. Another wacky performance was these beauticians who would grab people from the crowd and do the damnedest things to their hair.


The night was ended with a unbelievable performance using these crazy mechanical "flying" machines. It was something to see. To bad the old folks were too tired. More brew for D and me.

Dec 30th

The 30th was another driving day. We put about 240 miles on the little Rover.


We first hit Arbroath Abby. It was yet another very old broken down building...yet cool.


We then headed north to Dunnottar Castle. This was by far the coolest castle yet. It was an amazingly fortified castle perched on a rocky outcrop. I could totally live there, but the upkeep would be a bitch.


Back to the fortification topic. The designers were geniuses. If you were able to scale the steep cliffs, get past the countless archer placements, and get though the door then you would encounter four cannons as you charged up the steps. The castle builders also added a nice little feature so the man of the castle didn't have to go outside in the middle of the night.

Dec 29th

The 29th was Castle day.

We spent much of the day light in the Edinburgh Castle. Not sure what to say about the topic. It is really old and really cool. You will just have to come and check it out yourself.


In the evening we participated in a torch light parade. We didn't really think they were literally giving a couple thousand people torches (maybe little candles), but we were wrong. With the wind gusts it was actually rather dangerous, but we had fun. Everyone kept looking over their shoulders to make sure the idiots behind them wasn't about to turn their hair into another torch. The parade ended up on a hill where some effigies were burnt. Yes...We made my folk participate in a semi pagan festival on their anniversary... but at least it was for charity:)


The day was capped off with some anniversary Twinkies and a few pints of ale. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad.

Dec 28th

On Dec 28th we headed out of town to visit some castles and get away from the city.


We visited a few castles Janna and I had gone to a while back. Janna and I actually enjoyed hiking the woods around the castle more than going into the castle, so we took the folks on a bit of a hike. We got some amazing pics and it was great to be outdoors.


On the drive back I decided to go check out the Falkirk Wheel. No one else really knew what it was, but I was driving so they had to come along. It is an amazing engineering feat that was built a few years ago. I had actually read about it long before we even dreamed of moving to Scotland. It is basically a different way of creating a boat lock. It raises and lowers a boat about 75ft in one motion where as it used to require11 locks. It was really cool for this mechanical geek.

Back to Scotland (Dec 27th)

We got back from Germany fairly late on the 26th and slept in on the 27th. When we (the old people were up at dawn) all finally got out and about St. Giles was our destination. It is a big beautiful church in the heart of the city.

Janna knows the story better, but St. Giles played a central roll during the Protestant uprising against the Catholicism being imposed by the English kings. Later in the week we went to a church service here. It is very humbling to attend a service in such an old and beautiful place.

After St. Giles we wandered over to the coolest tourist trap ever. It is a working wool mill where they still make Scottish tartan. It is amazing to watch the looms in action.


On our way back to the flat we ran into Mel Gibson. Actually he is a street performer that has made quite a name for himself. He poses for pictures to earn tips that he donates to charity.