US Guests

Good friends from the US, Anne and Bob, arrived to stay with us. We'll spend a week together in our flat showing them around Edinburgh, then we'll spend a week together in a cottage in the Highlands section of the country.

We all went for a walk around where we live. They saw the Glenogle Fitness Center where Beth has a membership and exercises (spoke with a couple of the people she knows there), strolled through a section of the Royal Botanic Garden, stopped for lunch, strolled through our Stockbridge neighborhood (went in a number of the charity shops), and walked along Circus Lane (near our flat - it is the most Instagrammable street in Edinburgh). Topped it all off with dinner at a local gastropub restaurant.
 

Fringe Festival

Royal Mile

See photo for a glimpse of what 500,000 Edinburgh visitors during the month of August looks like during the Fringe Festival. The photo was taken from the public bus we were riding as it crossed the Royal Mile. That is the most famous/visited street in Edinburgh. It runs approximately one mile from Holyrood Palace at one end to the Edinburgh Castle at the other end. It is a popular must see location at any time of year. But now...

We were on the bus returning from an outstanding magic show. Since our seats were up front we could carefully watch the magician and his hands. To no avail, we could not see how he did any of the tricks; it was magic. Afterward, it was off to a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Two totally different shows in the same day; both just a glimpse of the expansive variety of arts and music at the Fringe Festival.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

Paula Hawkins

For Beth, the month of August in Edinburgh is the best time of the year. Not only does the city host the world's largest performing arts festival (Fringe), it also hosts the world-leading festival of words, literature, and ideas.

The Book Festival is featuring 650 writers from 35 countries, across 6 continents. Since books are very important to Beth, she has been going to hear many authors speak about their work and she has collected a number of those works signed by those authors. See picture of Paula Hawkins being interviewed about her global best seller, Girl on a Train. The novel was adapted into a film starring Emily Blunt in 2016. It doesn't get any better than this.

 

Lost Six Hill Walkers

Five Made It

Mike just returned from leading his third hill walk for our Club. Recall that it rained on the first hill walk he led. The second hill walk he led was, according to long time Club members, the rainiest and wettest in memory (it poured). Well, the third hill walk he lead has now distinguished itself in another way. The word "ignominious" comes to mind.

He lost six hill walkers; he started the hill walk with eleven and finished with only five (see photo). The number one rule when leading hill walks is to return with the same number that you started with. Apparently, returning with six fewer hill walker set a new record for the Club.

The hill walk he led was one of the more difficult routes with considerable elevation gain and difficult trails; shade was no where to be found. And, it just so happened to occur on the hottest day of the year here. Consequently, people struggled. Fortunately, Mike had planned "bail out points" where hill walkers could leave the route and catch a bus back. So, at one point two people left; Mike insisted that no one leave alone; had to be in pairs. Then, a bit later, the second pair left. Then the third pair. After all, it was a difficult walk. All who left were required to let Mike know when they made it out safely. All who remained were rewarded with a nice pub stop (was their any doubt).

London Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven's Fifth

What a welcome back to Edinburgh. The Fringe Festival is in full swing for the entire month of August; it is the largest arts and music festival in the world. Seriously. There are many hundreds of events. It is also the largest book festival in the world; many authors giving talks and signing books. Half-a-million visitors come to Edinburgh in August for the festival.

We have reservations at several events, including for the London Symphony Orchestra. They are one of the top ten orchestras in the world. Lucky us, the evening we attended at Usher Hall (see photo) they played perhaps the most recognizable music in the world, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony:  dit-dit-dit-daaah. Absolutely wonderful.
 

Low Budget

Nickel-And-Dime

Our trip to Hungary and Germany involved flying on three low budget airlines:  Ryanair, Easy Jet, and Wizz (see photo). Our experiences on all three were similar. They all offered direct flights, which were hard or impossible to find with the major carriers. They all got us to where we needed to go on time. And they all nickel-and-dimes us; Ryanair was especially skilled in this regard.

Seat assignment, boarding priority, printed boarding pass, airport check in, and checked bag each cost more. Even a cabin bag in the overhead bin cost more. Generously, the underseat personal item storage was included. Then, once onboard between the takeoff and landing periods, announcements were made every six minutes to sell something (we counted):  water, drinks, snacks, lunch, meal deal, fragrances, cosmetics, and travel essentials. Whew.

 

Beer Brewery

Beer Garden

As interesting as Freiburg might have been, and as interesting as our tour through a section of the Black Forest might have been, our visit to Germany would not have been complete without a stop at a brewery. Well, that's according to Mike. So we stopped at the Rothaus brewery, which is located an hour drive from the city in a beautiful mountain setting, and spent some time in their beer garden. This brewery goes back to 1791 when it was started, wait for it, by a Benedictine monastery. Got to give credit to those monks. Not but so many years later the local state government took over the brewery. And to this day, the brewery is owned and operated by the local government.

 

Freiburg

City Center

Freiburg is located in the southwest corner of Germany in the Black Forest. Interestingly, to get here from Budapest, we flew into Basel, Switzerland. Then we walked out the door of that airport that led directly into France and boarded a bus that took us into Germany. We were in three different countries within 30 minutes.

The weather here is more moderate and more sunny than most other places in Germany. It has a beautifully reconstructed medieval old town, crisscrossed by picturesque brooks, surrounded by hills. Surprising, to us at least, are all of the bicycles. They travel in dedicated bike lanes, they have priority in the streets, and they can park in dedicated zones. No wonder so many tourists make this city a destination hub for their vacations.  
 

Another Friend

Black Forest

We are in Freiburg, Germany visiting with a friend (photo taken in the Black Forest). Mike spent many years volunteering in his professional organization, the Project Management Institute. That organization has 800,000 members in 225 countries. He (and we) made a number of friends there from all over the world. This particular friendship was formed when Mike Chaired the organization's Ethics committee, a role he really enjoyed. When that role eventually ended he almost immediately joined the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke; one door closed and another one opened.

Somber

Cemetery

We made a somber visit to the local Hajdú cemetery. The husband of one of our flat neighbors when we lived here died; we went with his widow to bring flowers and pay our respects. Later in the same day, we did the same thing with another previous flat neighbor for the same reason.

We were struck by differences between this cemetery and those in the US. Virtually every gravesite was an above ground granite structure that accommodated a family; very few individual gravesites. And, flowers were everywhere; usually multiple flower arrangements on every gravesite. Conveniently, several flower shops were located at the cemetery entrance. We were also struck by the gravesite of an entire nine-person family that all died on the same date in 1944, adults and children included. They were slaughtered by the Germans. Somber.

 

More Food

Salmbuc

Dinner is again at the center of the day. This time it is Salmbuc. Our friends, with whom we have been staying in Hajdú made the effort to cook a traditional Hungarian food. Salmbuc is a hearty shepherd food made with thin sheets of pasta, potato, and bacon cooked for hours in a cauldron over an open fire. It stands out in Hungarian cuisine in that it does not use paprika powder as one of its key ingredients; the dish dates back to a time before paprika became available in the country. There is far more flavor than the simple ingredients suggest.

Three Dinners

Soviet Era Building

Big dose of nostalgia, and of food. We stopped by the apartment building where we lived while volunteering in 2008 (see photo). It is a classic low budget basic Soviet block building built in the 1950's for the working poor; substandard in every way. It was just repainted for the first time and looks significantly better now. We befriended a few neighbors at that time in spite of the fact that they spoke absolutely no English, nor did we speak any Hungarian. Seriously, not a word in common. Pantomime and hand signals were how we communicated. None-the-less, we developed strong friendships.

Arrangements were made for us to visit these former neighbors. The first neighbor had prepared a full dinner, complete with home made salads, meats, breads, deserts, and a shot of Unicum (national drink of Hungary, bitter herbal digestive liqueur). Think of the way grandma cooked back in the day. Then we visited the second neighbor, same thing. Again for the third neighbor. Three dinners in a row. And these "grandmas" associated eating with the show of affection, meaning you had to eat...and eat...and eat. Hard to describe this wonderful slice of genuine affection and culture.

 

More Memories

Hajdú

We are back in Hajdúböszörmény (pronounced Hi-do-bis-r-main); Hajdú for short. When we volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in 2008, after we spent 1½ months in Budapest working in the national office, we moved to the farming town of Hajdú for 4½ months; it is quite near the Romanian boarder. At that time we were helped by and befriended a local government official and his wife who we have remained friends with and who we are now staying with for a few days.

Our job here was to help construct 8 houses for people in need. Some of that work was physical (hammering nails and such), some was managerial (managing volunteer teams who would come for a week or two), and some was promotional (helping residents of the town understand the concept of volunteering). We were some of the first Americans to ever stay here. Hungary, as a former Soviet state, by definition had no unemployment, by definition provided everything citizens needed, and by definition needed no volunteers. Slowly, we helped locals understand that volunteering involved doing work for others for free. By the end of our time here, some locals were coming out to the work site to volunteer.
 

Budapest Sightseeing

Fisherman's Bastion

We sure enjoyed sightseeing in Budapest. Especially so, since we were escorted by our Hungarian friends who provided the narration, much as we did for them when they visited us in Edinburgh a couple of months ago. Unlike when we lived/volunteered in Budapest 17 years ago during the winter months when we saw few tourists, the place is now packed with them.

Fisherman's Bastion provided limitless views looking across the Danube into the Pest side of the city (see photo); it is located on Castle Hill where virtually every tourist ventures. We went to markets, to museums, through the old Jewish Quarter, to high-class and casual restaurants, and to cafes and coffee shops. We also visited the neighborhood where we previously had a flat; that neighborhood has been gentrified. Gone is the graffiti and iron bars from the facade of the building we stayed in; the neighborhood now has shops and restaurants.

Lake Balaton

Looks Like Mediterranean

Stunning views. Name your favorite Caribbean island or your favorite Mediterranean beach. The views at Lake Balaton rival those (see photo). It is a 1-2 hour drive from Budapest. As the largest lake in Eastern Europe (five time the size of Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia) it draws tourists from all over Europe.

We joined our friends for the day here, went swimming, toured a monetary, walked along a beach promenade, had lunch on a terrace at a restaurant overlooking the lake, and had dinner on a terrace at a different restaurant overlooking their vineyard and overlooking the lake. Great time.
 

Chain Bridge

Crossing Danube River

In the photo, we are standing on Chain Bridge, which spans the Danube River connecting the Buda side of the city with the Pest side. In 2008, we had an apartment nearby and crossed the bridge by tram each day to go to the Habitat for Humanity office to volunteer. Beth planned for the arrival of volunteer teams that would build houses, William (who was 15 years old at that time) worked on their website, and Mike helped them with project management. Trivia:  the bridge construction was supervised by a Scottish engineer.
 

Back In Budapest

Dinner Together

The memories are flooding back. We are back in Budapest, our favorite city (until we discovered Edinburgh). We first traveled here only one year after Hungary left the Soviet Union; then we volunteered here in 2008 with Habitat for Humanity. That volunteer trip lasted six months, some in Budapest and some in a small farming community. We helped build houses for the underserved. That trip was a highlight of our lives.

Ever since, we have remained good friends with the then Director of HFH Hungary and his partner. He remains employed by HFH, now at the regional level. She works in the publishing business. She also is a terrific cook (photo taken after dinner in their flat). They have visited us in the US and in Edinburgh. After 17 years we finally returned to visit them in Budapest. 

Dramatic Cliffs

St Abbs

This is a case where the picture does not do justice to the reality. A recent hill walk was along a section of coast near the fishing village of St Abbs. The views were so dramatic and so stunning that the walk pace slowed to the slowest of any thus far; could not help making repeated stops just to take in the views (see photo). Mile after mile of dramatic views along the costal cliffs. And most of the cliffs were streaked white from the droppings of the tens-of-thousands of nesting birds (which we saw). The sheer cliffs and stacks provide ideal nesting locations for guillemots, kittiwakes, and razorbills.
 

Ravioli

Small Kitchen

Mike likes to cook; it is one of his hobbies. Think slow food, not fast food. On this occasion he made a ravioli dinner from scratch. And since the kitchen in our flat is quite small (see photo), and equipped with just the basics, it took him the better part of a half-day. He made pasta dough, rolled it into thin squares (using a cylindrical water bottle since we don't have a rolling pin), finely diced and mixed a half-dozen vegetables for the filling (by hand since we don't have a food processor),  stuffed the ravioli, then boiled and pan fried the ravioli.

He also made the sauce from scratch by finely dicing and sautéing a dozen different vegetables, simmering them with fresh tomatoes and puree, adding a half-dozen spices, and reducing the sauce to thicken. Yummy stuff.
 

Falkirk

The Kelpies

We spent the day visiting the nearby town of Falkirk. Two famous items drew our attention. The Kelpies (see photo), rising 100 feet, are the largest horse statues in the world. The statues represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges that shaped the geographical layout of the area. "Kelpie" is the name of a mythical water horse.

The second item was the Falkirk Wheel, which is the only fully rotating boat lift in the world; think of it a tall Ferris wheel for boats. Instead of traditional canal locks, which can only lift about 10 feet at a time, the wheel connects two canals that are separated by 100 feet of elevation. Full sized canal boats float into either the top or the bottom of the wheel, watertight doors close behind the boats, the wheel turns carrying the boats (water and all), and 5 minutes later the watertight doors open that the boats go on their way. Way cool.

Friend's Garden

Flowers

The recent rain has done wonders for the gardens, especially given the fact that it had been unusually dry. We were pleased to accept the invitation to have a look at a friend's garden (see photo). It is spectacular. She lives in a typical tenement building where each set of eight flats share a common stairwell and a common garden space located behind the flats. Think of a large square where the perimeter of the square is ringed by four story tenement flats and the interior of the square is divided into sections, one garden section for each stairwell.

Our friend has lived there for close to 50 years and has turned what otherwise would be grass into a large flower garden. Since none of the other residents of the flats in her stairwell have taken any interest in the garden, our friend is single-handedly responsible for the hundreds of beautiful plants.

Stoat

Game Hunting

Fewer than 500 people own more than half of the privately-owned rural land in Scotland. This accounts for a number of the large estates; one person actually owns 350 square miles of land. And many of these large estates are managed for hunting, principally for game.

Since we hike through these large estates on many of our hill walks, thanks to the 2003 national right-to-roam act that allows us to walk anywhere (public land, private land), we have learned some about game management. That management includes ridding the estate of predators that feed on the game that hunters pay big bucks to shoot for sport (about $1,000 per day). See photo for a Stoat trap (small carnivores similar to weasels but with a longer tail).

Chocolate Factory

 

50 Chocolates

This was fun. We took a tour of a chocolate micro-factory; it lasted 1½ hours. We drank chocolate, smelled chocolate, tasted chocolate, and made chocolate. They had about 50 different chocolates to sample. Even, had some whiskey flavored chocolate. We also learned about chocolate. Learned allot. Different countries. Different manufacturing. Different labor practices. Different processes. No more Hershey's for us.

Four Hill Walks

More Sheep Than People

Mike is especially happy about completing four hill walks in a week. Two were with the Club we are in, one was with a friend, and one was with a second club he has joined. The photo shows a section of one of the walks where they were traveling through a sheep pasture. That's four times out hill walking in different sections of the stunning Scottish countryside; it is also four different pub stops. Told you he was happy.
 

Skooters

Well, this is curious. Mike, who sometimes lives in his own world, sometimes thinks of himself as some kind of great athletic hiker, backpacker, hill walker. And, to be fair, that is true. However, it is not true all of the time.

Recently, he joined a second hill walking club. Now, besides the hill walks we do together, he is out and about in the stunning countryside hill walking with a new set of friends. On a recent hill walk, which was on one of the many long distance paths in Scotland, the Fife Pilgrim Way, and after a stretch of challenging rain, he and the group he was hill walking with overtook a group in motorized scooters (see photo).

That's right, Mike's big accomplishment on that particular hill walk was to walk faster than a bunch of really old and infirmed people on motorized scooters on flat terrain. What a guy...