My travel experience with Bill has given me a shared connection, something to remember and treasure for the rest of my life. In this Man's opinion, you can't put a price on something that valuable.
"I put my genius into the way I live my life and what is left over into my work" Oscar Wilde
Edinburgh is a great walking city
Most of it's major sites are in a concentrated area
Edinburgh where the pubs open at 10 am and the stores close at 5 pm
People in Scotland are warm and friendly and willing to help
I find the showering systems whenever I travel a challenge
I dislike this rainfall shower system that came from the ceiling, with no nozzle to turn away so water is not too hot
You need to turn on a switch in order to get the outlets to provide power
I LOVED the heated towel racks and will look to put them in my bathroom at home.
Nothing like starting the day with a good shower and shave
Driving on the left and getting in on the right takes A "little" getting use to
I LOVE MY IPAD for traveling. I am by no means an Apple fanatic but I think i am becoming one
I need make sure I am on the side of the bed with the closest outlets for all the gadgets
I miss Sarah and my Pearl
It is great to travel with music
My gadget coat is FANTASTIC. Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, simply, the best coat on the planet
I did not need to pack an extra pair of shoes better to have lighter bag
My non-wheeled bag is LIGHT and GREAT. It will be my main bag for traveling
You can maneuver the bag easier, squeeze it into tight overhead compartments or under the seat
Itunes is wonderful as when Bill is asleep early or I am not asleep ever I can watch movies and TV shows
I like taking care of people, seeing him/her happy
I love when another allows me to design and create a masterpiece of a travel experience
I am VERY good at it
I love to drive but it is stressful under the best of foreign travel
Bill does not hear well and if something is important you need to make sure he's got it
The Haggis I had was a great eating experience
I like the fact that I will try strange things and am willing to step out of my comfort zone
The egg yolks do not seem to have the same amount of running yolk as thie states
I wish I could sleep for a long length of time, just once without being sick, for like 10-12 hours
The more motivated my travel partner is to see and do everything the more I am able to push myself to do more
I LOVE to travel
I have appreciate more than people know their comments about the blog. It has kept me going and challenged my creativity
Bill can go long stretches without eating
I wish I was that way
Bill is very healthy
I hope I am able to live as long and have his energy
Bill tried kippers today and liked it
I need to get Bill to be more Italian and care about his hair
When did I get so much grey in my hair
Bill is a hell of a travel partner
I need to unpack everything when I get to a room
Bill lives out of his suitcase never unpacking
Bill is a neat, organizer and good packer
I love to take photos
I still hate the way I look in them
The Stone Circles experience was better than I expected
Traveling is learning about yourself as much as it is learning about where you are going
I love maps and could care less for GPS and this is from a gadget guy
I am very good at finding my way
I never feel lost just not where I want to be
I really enjoyed the blogging and thank all for the support to continue
I need to learn to use Skype better
Calling when traveling is not always easy and sometimes downright annoying
I love to travel in first class
I wish that I were more of a budget traveler
I think budget but travel well, maybe there is some strange balance at work
I love finding just the right place to stay
It is great to have an appreciative travel partner
Scotland is a fantastic country where in this month it rained a lot but never hard or long
I have the need for more coffee here with being tired and all, especially double expressos when driving
I still don't like malt Whiskey
I love a glass of wine at the end of the night, especially when I am blogging
It is nice to see Bill has so many people who care about him
I miss my mom, my aunt, dad and Fran, my Harley/Daytop buddy and best friend Mikey I thought about you all with Bill
I am looking forward to a life of more traveling
I would enjoy taking another trip with Bill, but except for Avebury outside of London, I am out of the Stone Circles business.
I love walking around ruined castles better than visiting the inside of great castles
It never/rarely gets old for me visiting Cathedrals and castles
I like my camera, you can turn the screen around and take self portraits and it is RED which stands out when packing
Gas is really expensive here
I wish I could sleep like Bill
It is both fulfilling and challenging to have someone to take care of
After a while, even I get tired of castles and ruins and need civilization like London where stores stay open late, cafe sitting is an art form and there is Theatre
It is getting to the point where it is annoying when a hotel does not have Wi-Fi in the room
I find that the biggest cost in my traveling is where I stay, eating anywhere is fine by me. Transportation cost are what they are and can not be budgeted less. The same with sightseeing.
It is nice that more places seem to make museums free
So if I want to budget more I need to stay in less expensive, more reasonable, cheaper places. You pick the adjective that makes you feel best
I brought my military time watch and Scotland uses time as we do in the States, on a 12 hour schedule. Who knew
I love talking to people when I travel. I guess I am more social than I thought.
I love to drive and have driven through Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands and now the United Kingdom. However, unless it is for a few days only, I do not wish to take long driving trips in a foreign country any longer. I prefer train travel from place to place, less stress on me and my aging body. The long stretches of driving make me exhausted.
Scotland still has the honor system where you pump your gas first than pay, that was nice to see
And when you check into a hotel, they are not so concerned about getting your credit card information beforehand
The weather is something I will remember, it could be raining hard for 5 minutes than 5 minutes later it is sunny
It is not always easy to get twin bed rooms. There are always plenty of doubles, even some singles, so a few times we had to over pay and get a family room. That makes traveling on the fly even more challenging
There are so many fewer gas stations on the road in Scotland
I do not think there is a straight road in all of Scotland
I tried Porridge and liked it but it seems similar to oatmeal
Glasgow is an unattractive city with a wonderful Tiki Bar
I was surprised that Scottish food was so good
And that the country had such a variety of lakes, mountains, costars road, good food, and scenic drives
Traveling with another guy is different for me that with a woman. With another guy, if the room or the hotel is not up to par, it is not as important and feel it doesn't matter, we will deal with it. When I travel with a female, I take on more of the concerns and responsibilities of her being happy, content and ok with hotel/travel choices. This could just be me and not the reality of the women with which I travel. I would love other women who read this to give me some of their thoughts.
It is said that in the Muslim world that if a stranger shows up on your door step, be kind to him for Allah has sent him.
The Ancient Rite of Hospitality was practiced throughout parts of the world where even if you were an enemy and you wandered into a town you could claim this rite and be given a bed, meal and safe passage.
Along those lines, I want to give a shout out to the people we have met on this journey. They will have no idea as they know nothing about the blog but their friendliness, good conversation and random acts of kindness are remembered and not in vain.
THANK YOU ALL!
Starting from Edinburgh:
Ross the owner, chef and fun loving guy at the B&B 23 Mayfield. I shall forever remember your wonderful Haggis.
Mary his mom so efficient and helpful
The couple who gave us a life to the train station to get our car ----Thank You
To the many bus drivers who tolerate our ignorance
Kildrummy:
Franz the owner and chef who prepared our wonderful box lunches. Thank you, you have a fabulous hotel
The couple from From South Florida, the husband originally from NYC and worked in Brooklyn, we met who was so helpful, gave us great advice, friendly conversation----thank you
To the teacher ( and schoolgirls) we ran into at one of the ruins. We enjoy watching what a
fun time you were having going from room to room, checking things off from your school page
To the four chaps we met at Slains Castle and we shared a laugh with on a beautiful day
To the coffee bars girls working and allowing me to pour my own amount of steam milk into my double expresso
Thurso:
The woman who worked at the front deal at the Park Hotel. Thank you for your directions and cheerful nature.
Orkney:
Peter the single gentlemen who we could not understand much of what he said except that he
love a good drink and he was an amazing walker. One day 18 miles. We were to find out later he had recovered from a stroke. I respect the fact you are still in the game and not allowed your
illness, being single stop you from traveling or fill you with self pity. We enjoy sharing meals with you at the bar.
The women who bartender and kept Bill's glass full and his spirits high
Holly, the young waitress who would bring me coffee in the closed bar as I sat and did my blog where I had an Internet connection
To the tall, French waiter (Holly's bow) who was patient and took good care of us with food and drink
The front desk guy and bartender who would open the bar for Bill and I and give a good pour
The two retired gentlemen, who we kept running into on the tourist trail. Real nice guys
The couple from Edinburgh who kept teaching me how to speak Scottish. I am a failed pupil but appreciated your effort.
Byron the night guy at the hotel, one of the few names I remember, in the early early morning as blogged away, The talks we had were fun and a nice diversion.
The retired couple from Colorado I met in the bar. You are real travelers going everywhere by bus and train without a car and who made very little advance plans and did it on the fly. You are an inspiration.
Lock Ness:
Alina the Romanian women who was front desk person, bartender, waitress, cleaner and all around helpful person who got our laundry done for us before we checked out. Her brother both from Translyavania, yes you read it right where Dracula makes his home who said he wanted to open disown hotel there and would email me and Bill to visit. We or at least I will come.
NYC KEY CHAINS:
I travel with lightweight key rings depicting NYC. I usually hand them out to those who have made my trip memorable or in some way provided a random act of kindness.
Ross from 23 Mayfield Edinburgh
Franz from Kildrummy
The South Florida guy who worked in Brooklyn from Kildrummy
Front desk woman at Turso
Holly From Orkney
Byron from Orkney
Madeleine the bartender at the Tiki Bar in Glasgow. Thank you & safe travels to Australia.
My favorite travel quotes:
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'WOW What a Ride!'"
--Unknown
Anyone can find the most expensive places to stay and eat when they travel, but to travel well moderately that is an art.
John Pisano
Traveling should leave you with a slight feeling of discontent for all the things you want to go back and see.
John Pisano
Remember when you pack, the idea of traveling is to leave home behind not take it with you. John Pisano
Traveling is learning about yourself, more than about where you are going.
John Pisano
Never travel like you are not going back
All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” – Paul
No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
“There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu
“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain
Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli
Travel is intensified living. Rick Steves
Happiness is an open road and no set plans. Ziggy
I am never lost when I travel just not where I want to be. John Pisano
“Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” – Mohammed
“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” – Susan Heller
“He who would travel happily must travel light.” – Antoine de Saint Exupéry
No one comes back from a trip and says I wish I packed more. Rick Steves
“Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Home, one feels once more happy. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood …. A journey, in fact, appeals to Imagination, to Memory, to Hope – the three sister graces of our moral being.”
– sir richard francis burton, 1856
"Experience, travel, these are as education in themselves”
EURIPEDES
" A wild longing for strong emotions and sensations seethes in me, a rage against this toneless, flat, normal and sterile life". Herman Heese
" The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live mad to talk, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles".
Jack Kerouac
Time is the most important commodity in the world, you cannot buy, save or horde it, the only thing you can do is spend it, and how you spend your time will determine the quality of your life.
---John Pisano
We stayed our next to last night at the Inch Hotel, after a cool drive bordering Loch Ness. I never realized how big it is. The Inch hotel is nothing much to talk about, however we did have a good meal. We noticed many of the chefs come from places like India or Bangladesh and spend the season working then go back home to families. Like I said the fish and rest of the food is fresh and well prepared.
The hotel's carpeted stairs are the colors and Tartans of both the Campbells and MacGregors. We were walking on the clans. It has a fantastic view of the lake and mountains as it is on a hill. However, the bathroom did not have a mirror. How can a guy or at least me shave without a mirror. It is old, long in the tooth in some places and our room over priced (as we were lucky to get it) but more than adequate for our purpose. I do not know if I mentioned this before but it is changeling to find hotels that had twin bed room available. The usual are doubles for couples traveling together or a family room and some singles. They do have twin rooms but not many. I had called all over. My only requirement besides 2 beds was Internet availability. I can tell you, it was not easy especially in the smaller towns around loch ness. Anyway, below are some photos.
The lounge
The lounge with working fireplace
The view
I capture a rainbow from the lounge of our hotel.
We have an 11 am Ferry, but we sit in the line waiting to board and it is 11:05 and nothing is going on...Don't they realize that we more miles to travel. We finally board at 11:30 and leave at 12. We get to the mainland at 1:30 and begin our drive. On the way, Bill mentions that they are stones along this road. I keep an eye out when I see a small sign and make a quick sharp left. We drive about half a mile down the road. The stones are on our left but they are just a bunch of stumps, Bill does not even want to get out to take photos. I believe it has sunk in that he has seen the best of the Stones.
Our drive down the coast is more beautiful than when we came up. We head to our next stop Fort Augustus but before that we see another ruin castle along the road and stop at Urquhart Castle. After which, we drive on to our hotel, the Inch Hotel. We check in to the only room with 2 beds a family room that is two bedrooms, with a fireplace, overlooking the lake. Bill whose job it has become to open the wine, opens a bottle we have, and we sit and chat, tired from the drive and knock off the bottle. So that is why no comments with the photos.
His Stone Tee Shirt I went crazy to find...
Then place where I blog early, early morning and nights when Bill is sleeping.
The bar is called the Still Room Bar
The front of the hotel
The bar, what else...
The morning comes, I go down the hall to shower. When I come back, Bill is up dressed attempting to pack his bag that with his tee shirts, small bottles of Booze, and souvenirs, he is getting a valuable lesson in what you pick up along the way, you have to pack and take home. The first thing Bill says to me as he sees me is "I want to thank you for going back to the Stones for one last view, i feel good I saw them again." I am happy for Bill and at one point did not know if I would have to put him in a Stone Rehab when we got back to the states but he has rebounded nicely and off we go to breakfast and catch the Ferry...
This is the first day of real Scottish weather. The hard, cold rain mixed with the wind off the water is brutal. I had to walk along the pier to secure our ferry reservation for tomorrow. I came back, Bill was up reading and we took off to breakfast. I could still feel he was not 100% himself. Knowing how the weather changes here, I mention to Bill let's wait a few hours before going out.
By 12 o'clock the weather got better, we take off into town. I wanted to get Bill his stones tee shirt and head to the Orkney museum where they have stones on display. I drove to Kirkwell and spent a delightful hour in the museum. We saw some wonderful stones from the Pict's era. The Maiden Stone I poster about earlier in the trip was done by the same group of people. I like the way they carve symbols into the stone telling a story. I hope the photos below show their work well. At the museum, we meet some people we talked to at the bar. I like meeting the same people in a different spot on the tourist trail, it has a comforting feel to it knowing someone you say hello to again.
We leave the museum walk down the main street of shops. I am determine to find Bill a tee shirt with stones. Bill is not optimistic. Bill really does not know me, a good friend of mine once described me as having the mind like a steel trap once it gets around something it does not let go. The first few stores we come up empty. I reach a store that has silly tee shirts in the window. Bill decided to wait outside. Lucky for me the young girl is enthusiastic and really looks and keeps searching for a Stones tee shirt. When lo and behold she pulls one out, yellow tee shirt with the Stones of Orkney in color with the sun setting on them. I pray it is a large and a large it is. She seems to get a laugh out of my animated response to finding this simple tee shirt. Bill is across the street looking at the people walk by, when I all call him over. The happy smile on his face and his words, "You really are the Handleizer."
I have one more thing in my bag of tricks for Bill. So I say how about we head back. He agrees. I ask Bill, after seeing the Stones in the museum and getting his tee shirt did he feel like he got his fix. He said, "a tepid one." I knew this was going to be a tough case to rehabilitate but I have cracked tougher cases than Bill in my business. I knew I had one more play. We drive toward home as Bill mentions he is looking forward to relaxing. I made a sharp right turn on our way home. Bill is wondering where we are going. I said, just trust, Bill. He begins to notice the Stones of Stenness coming up. I pull the car off the road into a section, open the windows and we sit there for fifteen minutes just enjoying the view. Due to the bad weather, few people are even out. Bill enjoys the view and mentions how great they look standing impervious to the world around them. We drive further down the road and do then same thing at The Rings of Bodgar. The wind coming in the car, the quiet surroundings, Bill absorbing the last remnants of a lifelong dream, I felt a growing satisfaction that Bill would now be ok.....
Stone at the museum.
Bill studying the stones.
Game board from the Pict's.
For the those who partake.
Combs, Bill was not interested..
A Happy Bill
A rare photo of Bill leaving the bar...
Bill was feeling better. Although, we could not find a tee shirt because it was Sunday we did get to see across from the Cathedral the ruins from the Earl's Palace and up the road a chapel built by Italian prisoners of war during WW 2. Italians once again following in the heritage of great artists, DaVinci, Michelangelo etc. You have to realize they were prisoners, no raw material yet they paint and sculpt out of wood, and what ever metal scrap they could find a beautiful enough place that Bill was impressed...
'nuff said
Italian Chapel: a nice story. Even if have no use for religion has such a simplistic and artistic beauty that makes you feel good that even out of a war some good things can come about.
The Italian Chapel is a highly ornate Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney, Scotland. It was built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II, who were housed on the previously uninhabited island.
The work of turning the Nissen huts into a chapel fell to the prisoners themselves, led once more by Domenico Chiocchetti. The interior of the east end was lined with plasterboard and Chiocchetti started work on what is now the sanctuary. The altar and its fittings were made from concrete and were flanked by two windows made from painted glass. The gold curtains either side of the altar were purchased from a company in Exeter using the prisoners' own funds.
Chioccetti then set to work on the painting of the interior of the sanctuary. The end result is a work of art that is magnificent even to jaded 21st Century eyes, and must have been utterly stunning to those imprisoned here in 1943. Another prisoner, Palumbo, who had been an iron worker in the USA before the war, spent four months constructing the wrought iron rood screen, which still complements the rest of the interior today.
The contrast between the east end of the double hut and the remainder was by now so stark that the decision was taken to improve whole interior of the structure. This in turn was lined with plasterboard, before being painted by Chiocchetti and others to resemble brickwork.
This showed up the plainness of the exterior of the chapel, so a number of the prisoners built the facade you can see today, again largely from concrete. The new facade had the effect of concealing the shape of the Nissen huts behind it, and came complete with a belfry, decorated windows, and a moulded head of Christ above the door. At the same time the metal exterior of the huts was thickly coated in concrete.
The end of the war meant that the chapel was only in use by the prisoners for a short period of time. It was still not fully finished when most of the Italians left the island early in 1945, and Chiocchetti stayed behind to complete the font. Before the Italians departed the Lord Lieutenant of Orkney, who also owned Lamb Holm, promised that the Orcadians would look after the chapel they had created.
During the years after the war the chapel increasingly became a visitor attraction, and in 1958 a preservation committee was set up. In 1960, the BBC funded a return visit to Orkney by Domenico Chiocchetti. His restoration of the paintwork was followed by a service of rededication attended by 200 Orcadians, and broadcast on Italian radio.
Domenico Chiocchetti returned to Orkney again in 1964 with his wife, and gifted to the chapel the 14 wooden stations of the cross on view today. In 1992, 50 years after the Italians were originally brought to Orkney, 8 of the former prisoners returned, though Chiocchetti was too ill to be with them. Domenico Chiocchetti died on 7 May 1999 in his home village of Moena, aged 89. He did so in the knowledge that his masterpiece will live on as a tribute to his artistry and to the spirit of all those involved in its construction and preservation.
The reluctant poser, studying his literature.
The brickwork on the wall painted and not real
We driving into town and figure I will take Bill to see an architectural marvel. A Cathedral that dates back to the crusades built by Vikings and then will help him find a tee shirt about the stones. This is what cured our Bill, now it may not have been his beloved stones but when I pointed out in the church a plaque crediting the architect, he was well-pleased. They usually never do that instead credit then money guy or the boss, or church leader.
St Magnus Cathedral - Britain’s most northerly Cathedral.
St Magnus Cathedral known as the ‘Light in the North’ was founded in 1137 by the Viking, Earl Rognvald, in order of his uncle St Magnus. The Cathedral belongs to the people of Orkney and its doors are open to all. The Cathedral, set in the heart of Kirkwall, the capital city of the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of Scotland, is a place of stillness, of serenity, of warmth, of the presence of God. We invite you explore this website which contains information about many aspects of the Cathedral’s life.
St. Magnus Cathedral - The Building
Towering above the Kirkwall landscape, St. Magnus Cathedral, with its distinctive sandstone hues, is one of Orkney's most significant landmarks. Parts of this impressive building have stood for more than 850 years and its attractive appearance owes much to the polychromatic effect of the alternating stonework, comprising red sandstone quarried from Head of Holland, north of Kirkwall, and yellow sandstone which is believed to have been quarried on Eday, one of Orkney's northern isles.
Sandstone is extremely soft and the weathering effects of Orcadian wind and rain over the course of time have helped create pleasing, almost sculptured effects that add to the Cathedral's charm.
Sir Henry Dryden considered the stonework to be the "finest example in Great Britain of the use of stones in two different colours" and few visitors today would disagree.
Much of the original external stonework was fashioned by medieval master masons who, it is generally believed, were trained at Durham Cathedral.
Although erosion has taken its toll, good examples of the original work can still be seen in the south transept doorway and around the three doorways in the west end.
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Transept doorway.
Notice the fantastic color of the stone and beautiful wooden door.
Then squat, thick columns that hold up the Cathedral is a fine example of Romanesque architecture. In later periods like Gothic the columns with be taller and leaner, this showed the advancement in building as they were able to basically do more with less. Less columns were needed, and they were higher because they learned how to build better.
