Monday, July 20, 2009

Aberdeen and Area

The beach area in Aberdeen is gorgeous but water temperature only for "toes". Loved the walks !

The Waterside Mill is the home of Patrick and Hilda; more new friends. The property was an old grist mill.
Now look at it !! The rushing river is in front of the house.We loved our stay.
Back in Glasgow we got to visit the famous Pollack House and Gardens. These heritage sights are worth the stop.

The Scottish Thistle. We say Good-bye to Scotland.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Scotland

Lock Lomond - North of Glasgow a great place to spend an afternoon. Our weather is cloudy, sunny, & rain. Welcome to Scotland.

Visiting the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow, we were treated to an Organ recital.


Outside the museum, Lauren shows off her new violin which Grandma has just purchased. The lessons commence next month.
Across the road is the Transportation Museum with the oldest known bicycle. Most of the museums are "hands on" and so much fun for kids.

The Edward Munch Prints were in the Huntterian Art Gallery at the Glasgow University. The Scream,1895 is the most popular although Lauren didn't fancy it.

A trip to Aberdeen via St. Andrew's Golf Course was wonderful. Scotland's countryside is so lush and the heather was starting to bloom. A wee visit to Aunt Hilda's castle with Lauren ( Castle Fraser) was a great start to the day as we headed into Aberdeen to spend a gorgeous day at the seaside.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Our Granddaughter in Scotland

We arrive in Glasgow to spend time with Lauren, our Granddaughter ; her Mother Allison & Grandmother Joan
It is an exciting time as we explore Glasgow.
Greenbank gardens a National trust site is a great way to spend an evening wandering around.
A stop at our store "Ralph Lauren ".
A trip to Ayr to see Robby Burn's cottage.

Jan' s wish comes about as Allison's friend Ian drops by for a surprise visit. No Scotish mist or bridge but the piper is a hit!!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

These are a few of my favorite things!

Austian apple strudel too good to pass up.
Salzburger Nockerlin a tasty souffle made with cranberries.
Now you have to admit that this is pretty cute!!! I still don't think my boys would approve of me buying a smart car. Hello Kitty is popular is almost every country (24) that we visited.
Salzburg had so many "Musical"spots that we enjoyed.
A complete store was full of eggs decorated for every occasion! This was one of 6 store front windows.
YUMMY soft and warm pretzels were served with lots of salt.
A bee or a hummingbird? Now that is a question. Sitting having cappuccinos, we watched for a long time.
The hills are full of mountain wild flowers.
This is a close to an Edelweiss as we could find. It isn't one but it is a reminder.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Train Ride

On the return trip home from the Grossglockner National Park, we load the car onto the train at Mallinitz- Obervellach

The vehicles are driven onto the open train cars.
Ralph, our official driver, leaves the car behind to join the rest of the group.
Here we board a gorgeous passenger car and ride for 15 mins. a tunnel for 7 Km.

At Bockstein we drive off the train and away we head down the road to Sankt Johann.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse

We left early in the morning with our new friends from Wisconsin Don & Jan. We had a few stops along the way to take some pictures of the countryside and the homes with the flower window boxes.
The lakes and waterfalls were beautiful.
These Alps are the highest in Austria and amazing.
This lake is called Fuscher Lacke.
The glacier lake and the Glockner meadows



The peak at the left hand side is the highest in the Alps.......Grossglockner Peak..3798 m. The Kaiser - Franz - Josefs - Hohe glacier is the longest in the Eastern Alps.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Werfen Castle

This Austrian castle was first built in 1077 and used as a fortress.
It has been restored numerous times and now houses a museum, weapons display, and a bird of prey sanctuary & falconry show.

The falconry show has Falcons & Eagles trained to do performances.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Eisriesenwelt Caves

After 2 - 20 minute treks and a 10 minute cable car ride you arrive at the entrance.
The cable car ride is straight up the scariest I have ridden.
High up on the mountain top is the entrance to the ice caves.
As you enter the caves you are hit with a huge gust of cold wind!
42 Km explored ice caves, frozen waterfalls, ice sculptures, towers and formations make up the ice caves.
One must climb 700 stairs to the highest point of the caves, then descend 700 stairs to the entrance. Temp throughout the caves is at freezing point, but the climb certainly kept us warm.


Friday, July 3, 2009

Climb Every Mountain , Forge Every Stream

A group of fairly fit "walkers" started up the mountain behind our resort for an easy 1 1/2 hour hike. Needless to say that was only one way and at this point we are half way and it has already taken almost 1 hour.This is our first rest stop, drinking the clear stream water with the local cattle. We left at 10:30 AM and back around 3:30 PM...not that easy!
The views in this area are unbelievable as I think Austria is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. This is Sankt Johann from the mountain side.
In winter they actually sled down the mountainside. Can you imagine this little wooden sleigh holding one of us?
Liechtensteinklamm Gorge is full from all the rain and is spectacular to climb through. The whole trip takes about two hrs of hiking through the gorge.
Of course with all the rain the waterfalls are spectacular. This one is near Huttenberg National Park.

We feel that we have followed every rainbow and our dream as we soon come to the end of our year adventure.