Heading to the UK

For our vacation in August, we picked Scotland, UK. We planned a trip to fly to Paris, change planes, and land in Edinburgh. The first full day we took a bus tour into the highlands, up to Inverness and Loch Ness. No we did not see Nessie (darn). We also took a weekend to go up to Aberdeen and visit friends, then back to Edinburgh to tour the zoo, castle and down to Roslyn Chapel. Here are our highlights. The flight to Paris was long, but since I slept most of the way, I didn't notice much. I woke up a while before landing. BonJour! We flew on Air France, which btw, is one of the best airlines I've ever been on!!! They gave us hot towels, eye shades, ear plugs, and the seats were comfy, even in coach. Once we landed in Paris, we got on the bus system at CDG airport, rode around the outside of the airport to the next gate, where we waited maybe 10 minutes and was able to line up to get on the next bus to take us to our next plane to Edinburgh. Welcome to the UK! After heading off to our little hotel, Victoria Park House Hotel, a very minimalistic hotel. Our room was not ready, so we went down the road to find ourselves some lunch. We found a fabulous veggie food in a restaurant, Roseleaf Bar Cafe, that played the entire Cure Standing on the Beach CD, I was happy... I had the The Roseleafer, yummy!! We overtipped hugely because we were thinking American style, but the food was spectacular, so in the end, they deserved it. Back up to the hotel to our dinky room, far, far up the many stairs (many many stairs). Unfortunately the TV didn't work, we didn't have a hand towel and they never replaced our other used towels. Luckily it was only for a few days. But the beds were fine, sheets were clean and we only slept there and the price was low, bonus. We learned how to use the Lothian buses, even after taking one the wrong way accidentally once. The driver let us stay on and go back the other direction, Thank You!!! Our next day, our first full day in Scotland, we took the bus tour, via Scotline Tours They were wonderful to deal with online, and easy to find on the Royal Mile. Our guide was pleasant and the ride took us away from a day of downpours in Edinburgh into a chilly highlands. On our ride we stopped to see the

Harry Potter film site

sites where Harry Potter was filmed, a highland cow named Hamish, some "cheese and pickle" sandwiches with IRN-BRU drinks (both, acquired tastes) and the ride up to Urquhart Castle that sits on the top edge of Loch Ness. It was pretty awesome to walk around the ruins, see the trébuchet, and look out over the water. After our ruins tour, we got on the boat and took a water tour down the long lake. It was soooo cold! A hot cocoa was necessary to break the chill. I didn't take many photos because I was so busy trying to

Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness

keep warm. We finished up the tour, found a rest stop to get some food, much needed. And of course a tour through the gift shop. I found one of my eggie obsessions! If you read back on one of my holiday posts, you'd discover my Eggie addiction. I found an Eggie, refrigerator magnet with a measuring tape inside. I had to have it! I was so thrilled, and to top it off, I named it my "Scotch Egg" since it came from Scotland! (oh come on that was funny...). Once we were done there, we boarded the coach, snuggled up, and road the long road back to Edinburgh. It began to rain, we listened to soft highland music, the scenery got dark and a while later, in the misty rain, we arrived in a lamp-lit, stone street city. We thanked our guide and headed back to our room, far far above the streets. And the next days we we walked around Edinburgh getting a feel for the city, loving the transportation, choice of foods, the fact that the Fringe Festival was going on, and listing to all the excitement. Soon our weekend to Aberdeen was coming...

Summer of 2011

Looking back to last summer, once we got back from Maine, we had a few things we enjoyed. We participated in the Relay for Life in Elkton with our friends, which we've been doing for several years now.  We went to Baltimore for a day with Jeboleth's parents. We spent the day at the National Aquarium (which is totally awesome btw) and the Maryland Science Center which was a bit more kid-centric than we realized until we got there.

We had dinner at Obrycki's, which has unfortunately closed their Fells Point location, but BWI has one. It was a very hot day as I remember, I was trying to walk inside the buildings as much as possible, drink water and avoid the sun. A few weeks later we headed down to North Beach, MD, area to our friend's family home for his annual CrabFest. I end up eating about 2 crabs, and a few other things like salad and soy burgers.

A few movies, fun weekends and new rollerblades and then the summer was over. The Glasgow Park loop is an excellent place for rollerblading, walking or running (if you like that). It was a good summer and our next trip was about to be even more awesome, hopping the pond to the UK!

Wrapping up Maine

And wrapping up our trip to Maine, we walked around Bar Harbor to see what else we could find. We found that you could get pizza while watching the latest movie at Reel Pizza, and as we cut across a parking lot we discovered a haven for olive oil and vinegar! The little store tucked away, Fiore, had a room full of delight! Tasting stations everywhere, and I couldn't resist trying them. I ended up buying a 12 year balsamic, dark chocolate balsamic and a garlic olive oil. For dinner we ate at the Chart Room, which was the first time I had my baked, stuffed lobster the entire time I was there. My sweetie, he had lots of roasted lobsters while there. Lobsters must beware when he arrives.... He will find them.

Small spider crab

Happy travelers, full of lobster....

Bar Harbor, Maine

Our mini-trip in Bar Harbor, Maine, began with our stay at one of the most awesome bed and breakfast locations I've ever stayed in. The Cleftstone Manor was our home for the weekend, and that is exactly what it felt like. We had the Cleftstone room, and to be honest, the images on the website are great but when you walk into the room the first words out of my mouth were, "omg, wow!" It was amazing. The bed was grand, the seating area perfect, the fireplace exactly what was needed for the chilly nights, the room was just simply perfect. I love the bed so much I have hunted it down for myself. The innkeeper was so nice, afternoon tea and breakfast was awesome and to say that I would book this again should I go back to Bar Harbor, of course, that is a given. Absolutely!!! It was a short walk into town if you didn't have a car (we didn't) but there is a sidewalk the entire way and it was helpful after lobster dinners to work it off by walking back. We also went out on a Trolly Tour around the island, it took us through town, up Cadillac Mountain, and down by the bay/ocean. We spent the day just touring around, testing the lobster foods that we could find like brunch at the West Street Cafe, the local brewery, Bar Harbor Brewing Company, dinner at Stewman's and even braved the tasting of lobster ice cream at Bill & Ben's... which I think is more of an acquired taste. Here are some photo highlights to enjoy:

Giant whale statue and me

Holding a live, fresh caught lobster

Lobster ice cream anyone?

The sandbar that was visible and walkable for a bit, an hour later it was completely submerged.

The rest of Geek Camp

The rest of Geek Camp was great, a ton of work, long hours, but great. I got to play with learn how to use high quality microscopes, all kinds of brands, learn new techniques, and spend time with some amazing people. The equipment was so cool, Nikon, Ziess, and Olympus microscopes, all kinds of software to do reconstruction, lectures on microscopy techniques, sample preparations, and explanations of why things work (or don't work) for this Of course the beautiful setting of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory campus is amazing. Taking a minute each day in hopes of seeing a sunset was always a bonus.

Most days were completely cloudy, but we did manage a few sunny, cold nights. Walking back we would always see our breath (this was in May folks....) but it was worth it to see the beautiful views off the bay, walking down by the water was always awesome, along the dock and along the beach was always a well deserved break, even on the cloudy days! By the end of the course, we had learned a ton, probably more than I'll remember, had a few great days of sun (very few), and ended it on a high note at an evening out at a local state park with a lobster bake. Pretty cool! Poor lobsters... I felt sorry for them for about a minute... And then it was time to eat them with veggies while resisting the cold.

The class was over, but I didn't leave Bar Harbor. It was Memorial Day weekend, why leave when your significant other is a lobster junkie and you are in the heart of Lobsterville, USA? Yes, He comes to you... So after learning lots of science, playing with learning how to use advanced microscopes, I packed up my little dorm room, put away my huge 3-ring binder of materials, packed away my laptop, and waited for my taxi to take me to the bed and breakfast down the road where I'd spend the next few days relaxing, eating more lobster and visiting more of Bar Harbor, Maine. Yay!

So many posts missed

Omg, I have missed so many posts since the last one. To be honest, things got busy and I lost track of things. I am seriously considering going back and filling in where I left off, and then posting in on other trips that have happened since. Try to get myself up to date and make this a viable blog again. Sounds like a plan. I think I'll begin with finishing the photos from the science course, followed with the weekend after it when my awesome man came up to spend time with the lobsters, I mean me, in Maine, then CrabFest in Maryland, then our trip to Scotland, maybe the Lab Retreat to Lewes, my trip to Ithaca, a few photos from Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, and most recently our trip out to Denver, Colorado. Once I have that all up to date, then I may consider adding in a few things about the places I've been, travels I've taken and sights I've seen. Get myself back on track with the travel blog! :) Must Get Back To Travels!