Scotland

First time in Scotland! We flew into England and rented a car, which we drove in one day from Canterbury all the way up to Edinburgh. Our English friends wondered at the long trip, but for someone who has driven in California it was just a short trip.

The Rental

Canterbury Cathedral

Energy cathedral

On the Road

Our Welcome to the Border

Edinburgh was our first overnight stop, and surprising the only place where we encountered a bit of rain. That, however, did not stop us from wandering around the city and seeing the sights.

Edinburgh Castle

High Court of Justicary

Heart of Midlothian
Who has been spitting on it?

Read about it Here.

Makes You Think of Harry Potter?

The second day we headed up into the Highlands, going to Loch Ness. Stirling Castle was a cool stop, and where we really noticed the animosity the Scots have for the English. Our tour guide (foreground in the picture below) practically dripped venom whenever he spoke of the English invaders.

 

Stirling Castle

 

Fuzzy Cow

 

Welcome to Fort Augustus at Loch Ness

 

The Locks at the Loch

 

Scottish is an Undecipherable Language

 

Love the Scottish Breakfasts

Can you Identify the Haggis and the Blood Pudding?

We spent a lot of time at the Loch looking for the monster.

 

Nessie

Wait! What is that in the water?

 

Urquart Castle at the Loch

Back to England

Here are some random photos taken as we head back from Scotland into England.

Old Ship Inn, Perth
Established 1665

We made a stop in Oxford, a cute town. Here we took a walking tour.

Bodleian Library

Christ Church College

The Eight Bells, Old Hatfield

Indoor Tennis

We spent a night with some friends near London. Since our invitations for the royal wedding never arrived, we had to make do with watching the ceremony on TV, along with a breakfast of salmon and eggs. It was great to spend the time with people who cried at the event, and had pointed comments to make on the wonderful hats and uniforms.

But wait... something looked very familiar about the whole thing.

 

Cappadocia -- Getting There

Cappadocia is located more or less in the center of Turkey, fairly far from all the larger cities, but is nevertheless a popular tourist destination. With a rough, eerie landscape it looks like a moonscape dotted with cute boutique hotels, tourist souvenir shops, and cool restaurants. OK, maybe that sounds not so attractive, but the area is so unique that if you are ever in Turkey or the region it is well worth the side trip to go there for a couple of days.

We drove from Georgia into Eastern Turkey, flew from Kars to Ankara, and took a bus to Cappadocia. While there we stayed in a Fairy Chimney, ate great meals, bought a carpet. The following series of photos should give you a good idea. Enjoy!

Our car at the Georgia/Turkey border... definitely the back door between the countries.

Duy Free was not open that day!

The scenery on the Turkish side of the border was beautiful.

Huge bus station in Ankara

With a lot of people just standing around.

Cappadocia -- The Landscape

Here's a feel for the area. These formations are all natural. Any of it remind you of Stars Wars? No, it was not filmed here, but it looks like that kind of place.

A very rugged landscape

Goreme village seen from the hill of Uchisar

Pigeon Houses. They used to harvest the guano.

Can I sell you a timeshare condo?

Fairy Chimneys

Cappadocia -- Ballooning

This is one of the best places to go up in a hot-air balloon. They take off every morning and fly into and out of the valleys. Sometimes there are as many as 50 or 60 balloons in the air at the same time.

Up before dawn, they give you coffee pastries and take you out to heat up the balloon.

Off we go!!!

Our pilot was so good he actually landed ON the trailer at the end of the flight.

Cappadocia -- Around Town

Some scenes from around Goreme and Uchisar.

Downtown Goreme

At the hotel we stayed in the Fairy Chimney on the left.

The ceiling of our hotel room

Harvesting the pumpkin seeds.

The view from the hotel.

The little town of Uchisar.

That's the castle in the background.

And close up

We met a nice old lady out walking her sheep.

The herbal market

A tricked out local wagon

Mustafa'a place

and some local refreshment

Here's where you go when you need that bus ticket to everywhere.