Scotland

Our plane laid over in Germany, so how could we not have a beer and a pretzel?  It is never too early for a beer in Germany...

Our mid-day arrival necessitated a stop from the airport until our apartment was ready. We hit up the Edinburgh Zoo, and saw many cool animals, walking though many of the enclosures and seeing the penguin parade.  The pandas, lions, and tigers were a no-show.

Our first morning, full of jet lag, had us up before 5am.  An amazing run around the hill of King Arthur's Seat started us off.  Loving what we saw, we took the kids for a hike up and over the mountain.  They persevered, pushing up the crags and to the summit which took a couple of hours round trip.  We headed to Dynamic Earth, learning lots about the creation of the universe.  Our stroll down the Royal Mile took us to Edinburgh Castle where we grabbed spears and learned how to battle like Scottish warriors. Then we took a ride in whisky barrels to learn about scotch in the Scotch Whisky Experience.  The girls enjoyed their 2nd ice cream of the day and we ordered pizza in and watched a movie to cap off the day. 30,000 steps. Exhausted.

The rain started on our drive to Stirling Castle. This castle is more fun and interactive than the one in Edinburgh, and with far less people. With great views we got to see some key pieces of Scottish history. Across the way was the Wallace Monument, which I had skipped when I visited in college, so we went in. Built as a tribute to the man, we learned lots about this piece of history, which was a lot considering my previous reference point was Braveheart. The girls climb the tower and we enjoyed a hike on the trail in a rare break from the rain.

It was raining again as we drove the long road to Inverness the next morning. Sarah was eager to see Castle Inverness, a supposed locale in Macbeth, but when we arrived there was no parking or info. It turns out the building is now a judicial center. We opted for a picture while eating soup and having a beer and a pub across the street. Finally we arrived at our stop for the night, Mansfield Castle in Tain. We chose the Tower Suite and spent the night in our own castle! The girls had a great time pretending, and Sarah read a book with a blanket in one of the sitting rooms. It was quite a place.

Departing in spitting rain, we made our way south to Loch Ness. The weather cleared just as we reached the lake and not wanting to miss the opportunity, we pulled over at a dock for a boat ride. IT was a mystical tour of the loch, keeping an eye out for the fabled Nessie, and we cruised over to Urquhart Castle, a beautiful ruin on the lake shore. There were spectacular views. Back on shore, our trip continued as we meandered through the highlands, soaking in some sun and spectacular scenery. After a long way, we pulled alongside Elian Donan Castle, one of the most picturesque sights in all of the United Kingdom. Back out through the highlands again and we ended up in Inverness for the night in a lovely B&B.

Our last full day took us south again to resume our Macbeth pilgrimage. Our first stop was to the Birnam Wood. A walk along the river trail took us into the trees and brought us to a historic tree, reminiscent of the trees that once dominated the landscape. Moving on, we ended up at Dunsinane Hill, the alleged site of Macbeth’s demise. Our final stop was Glamis Castle, the beset castle on our trip. This was the seat of Earls going back many centuries. Mary Queen of Scots stayed here. It was the childhood home of the Queen Mother. If fact, in one of the rooms, Sarah was invited to play the Queen Mum’s piano! It really was the best place we visited, and we saw the room where Macbeth plotted Duncan’s demise (in Shakespeare’s mind, anyway). Our night ended at BrewDog for the obligatory beer.

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On another trip a few months later I was able to hit up Scotland again for a conference. This time I drove up to play golf at St. Andrews, the home of golf. It was cold and windy, but still, amazing to hit a round on the oldest golf course in the world.

St. Andrews Golf

Germany

Is there any place in the world more desirable to visit?  Sure, people talk about white sand beaches and bustling cites, but they haven't been to Bavaria!  We caught a direct flight overnight from Johannesburg to Munich.  Upon arrival, we had one primary objective - Beer Hall.

Our first stop, however, was the Dachau Memorial.  The exact opposite of a rancorous beer hall, this is the site of Nazi Germany's first concentration camp.  Some horrific deeds were completed here, and 32,000 souls lost their lives on these grounds.  Room after room of black and white pictures depict the evils of man in its darkest hours.  A large sign reads in multiple languages "Never Again," a hope we all share.

Accomplishing our primary objective, we sidled up to Paulaner Brewery, our favorite international brewery.  Tasting your favorite beer out of its homegrown tap is second to none.  By the end of our first day, we had seen the worst and the best Germany has to offer.  Our stop was The Meininger Hotel, a good deal for a quad room at about 56 Euros/night.

We rose the next morning to visit the 1972 Olympic Stadium.  Being huge fans of Steve Prefontaine, it was significantly important for us to see where he ran as well as the site of the horrific terrorists attacks of Black September.  The track was being redone so we were unable to walk on the track but we sat in the stands while the children ran.  Also on the tour was the pool where Mark Spitz set his records.  Unfortunately, there was very little on the information side.  We left disappointed not seeing more historical items.

With the big cultural sites out of the way, we hit the largest beer hall in Munich, Hofbrauhaus.  With four levels, this beer hall rocks any night of the week.  We feasted on sausages and guzzled dark beer while a band played traditional music.  Our girls danced in the aisles.  Later that evening Kaelia was riled up from lack of sleep, climbed half way up a bunk bed ladder, and launched herself off. We spent the night in the emergency room and returned the next morning because Kaelia refused to walk and screamed bloody murder at being set down.  We carried her for the rest of the trip.

On the way out of town we rolled past the Theresienwiese, site of Oktoberfest. While nothing was going on, we vowed to return when there was.  It was a few hour drive down to our next stop, Garmisch, in the mountains on the boarder or Austria. It was our first experience on the autobahn, and we fared well.  The road had high speed limits and when "off" cars rolled along quickly.  But it never felt too fast and we were impressed by the order on the road. When we arrived, we rolled up the hill to the base of the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany.  We went up the cable car at the extravagant price of 50 Euros a person to the top.  From the 3000m summit we could see into four different countries.  The girls loved playing in the snow at the top because it was the first snow Kaelia could see (Taelyn wouldn't remember her snow encounters).  On the way down, we ended up in a beer house where every one of the 30 patrons was dressed in traditional Bavarian garb.

For the next few nights we crashed in Füssen, also in the southern part of the country.  In an effort to realize a romantic dream, we stayed in the most castle-looking place we could, Hotel Fantasia.The rooms were very nice, in the center of town, and looked up to a castle.  The girls loved the trampoline, Sarah the towers and archways, and Justin the large breakfasts.  From here we enjoyed several great runs along parks and rivers and into mountain lakes.  But the main purpose of visiting is to see the famous castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.  FYI - this was every bit as exciting there as anticipated.  Sometimes when you see so many postcards and pictures of something, it isn't as good in person, but this was. We loved hiking up the hills to the gorgeous castles and hearing all about this history.  We took a horse-drawn carriage down from one of them.  The girls ran up and down the stairs pretending they were in Cinderella.  After all, Neuschwanstein is the castle they modeled Cinderella's castle off at Disney World.  Justin and Taelyn danced in the ballroom.

Our next stop was Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  This medieval city has been around since before 1000 and some of it has original structures.  We visited the Medieval Crime and Torture Museum and saw many artifacts.  Our favorite was the barrel the drunks had to wear or perhaps the masks for women that were gossips. There were executioner swords, axes, thumb screws, an iron maiden, and much more.  Sarah and Justin went for runs around the walled city and save seeing some medal or the rare car, it felt as if it were in the 1500's. We ate Schneebälle (snowballs) of dough, sugar and chocolate, famous for the area. Sarah went on a night tour of the city led by a night watchman dressed in traditional garb.  We also visited the Christmas factory which had 4 levels of crazy holiday cheer. It was a bit overwhelming.

Barrel worn as punishment for public drunkenness

Our last stop was the small town of Hirschau where we visited a former UNC athlete. She hosted us in her house and we sampled small-town Germany life.  Overall we found Germany to be very clean, incredibly efficient, and beautiful.  All in all, one of our best trips ever!

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