a few more pictures from scotland

our very last day in scotland we saw another rainbow!

















Also, lots of lobster fishing off the coast of st. andrews! And lets not forget the Scottish specialty, the deep fried Mars bar. Yum!

How should I spell my name?

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We're home!

So, we havent posted in a week. We were having too much fun! We made it back home yesterday, to sunny and dare I say "warm" Michigan!

Last Sunday we trekked up to St. Andrews. We wanted to visit the oldest university in Scotland, St Andrews University, dating back to 1410. We had read that the town was a beautiful coastal town, and home to St. Andrew's golf course, which I will admit I only know through x-box! Besides St. Andrew is Scott's patron saint!

St. Andrews really was amazing. Its located on the east coast of scotland in the "kingdom of Fife". Bee loved staying in the dorms (one of the dorms is turned into a "hotel" during the summer. Hotel is a stretch i would say, but the cost was right). We also had breakfast in the cafeteria each day, which Bee and Frankie thought was the most exciting thing. Between the university and st. andrew's golf course we did not lack access to good restaurants. We had excellent Thai and Indian. The only let down was the sticky toffy pudding, which is a scotland favorite (more on that one later!).

We put our feet in the North Sea, visited St. Andrew's cathedral and walked by the old castle.

And thank you to the St Andrews University x-country team. We found an excellent 10k run of which 5k meander through the old and new courses of the St Andrew golf course. I snuck off the pathway to run across the 8th green just because it seemed like fun. I snuck into a sand in one of the back holes and drew a hear in the sand - I thought maybe if someone's ball got trapped there it might make them happy.

There's more to say about st andrews and our vacation but I will just post a few pictures for now!

Should I or Shouldnt I?

Scott contemplating swimming across the Firth for Forth to Dundee.

Hiking the volcano at North Berwick Law

Scott posted the panorama he created of our hike to the top of North Berwick Law, an extinct volcano in North Berwick. Who ever would have thought we would have climbed so many volcanoes this week? Here are a few more pictures of the hike. Bee and Frankie had a ton of fun on the hike, and it was pretty tough for them in some spots! We had a little picnic at the top of oat cakes and fruit roll ups. Besides the amazing panoramic view, the summit contained an old lookout from the Napeolonic Wars in the early 1800s and also a concrete lookout from WWI and II. The original whale jawbone that scott mentioned was placed up on the mountain in 1709.
























They say you can see the Edinburgh castle from the top of the Law but I couldnt see it, although i didnt really know quite where to look. The weather was perfect for hiking and viewing - about 62F and brilliantly sunny. After hiking the law we learned that it was formed as a result of the mouth of the volcano being choked with its own molten lava, forming a plug. Later, when glaciers came down during the ice-age, it peeled away the softer rock layers leaving the hard black volcanic rock. Bee and Frankie were very excited to be touching volcanic rock!

Earlier in the day we walked along the coast and stuck our hands on the North Sea. The girls found a few sea shells and climbed over the rocks.

We then trekked through town to get over to the Law. As you can see the way was well posted!












Here is also a picture of the steeple for the Star of the Sea catholic church.

Panoramas

Here are some panaoramas we've taken in the past few days.  Click on the image to download a high resolution version.

The first was taken from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle.  It was a cloudy day but the view was spectacular.

The second was taken from North Berwick Law.  We hiked up it instead of going to the seabird center (the attractions of which consisted of a cafe, movies, and remote bird viewing, in that order, all indoors.)  This was a great choice because the girls got to hike up their first mountain and the views at the top were outstanding.

In case you're wondering, the white arch in the photo is a "replica" of a whale jawbone, a tradition at the site for 300 years.

a few more pictures

Here are a few more pictures from the Prince Street Gardens. The girls loved running down the hills and the playground. We liked the views and its escape from the hustle above in the city. The bagpiper played twinkle twinkle for the girls when we took the picture.

Visiting the Edinburgh Castle

On the second day we were here we trekked around old town and new town, visiting the Edinburgh Castle, the Prince Street Gardens (and playground), the Cathedral (which provided some nice refuge during a brief shower), and a really great vegetarian restaurant, Henris.

To get up to the castle we walked along the Royal Mile, which is "one scottish mile" that stretches between holyrood abbey and the castle. The castle was built on top of the remains of yet another volcano. This country is loaded with extinct volcanoes! The earlier part of the castle was built in the 11th century, but the oldest remaining structure is the chapel which was built in the mid 12th century. You can view a history timeline of the castle here. The castle offers an amazing panoramic view of the city. Scott took a set of pictures and put them together to show the panoramic view. Im having technical difficulties uploading it so check back for it later!

While the view was probably our favorite part, i think Frankie might have enjoyed the old stone canonballs the best, which were known to travel several kilometers toward the sea! Bee liked trying to pick them up. She also loved looking through the castle windows out over the city and the castle park.

tour of rainbows

We have seen rainbows in each of the three countries we visited! I would never have guessed that!

In Ohio, we were driving through the tail end of a storm and the sun was shining from the west. An 18 wheeler was driving in front us kicking up lots of spray, and from it formed a complete rainbow over the highway! We tried to get a picture, but we werent quick enough!

Then in Toronto, we went down to Niagra Falls and saw lots of rainbows forming on the falls.

Then Thursday night we were walking back from the grocery store on the east side of Holyrood. There had been on and off showers that evening. It was 9:45pm when we left the store and saw a rainbow over arthurs seat in the park. We must have really looked like the tourists we are as we stopped and stared at the rainbow at 10:00pm while every one else around just went about their business!

Country #3

We made it to scotland on Tuesday! There's lots to write about but just a couple of things to get us started. First of all the sun rises at at 3.30am and sets at 11pm. With the time zone changes and the late sunset the girls havent gone to sleep before 10.30! We've had really nice weather so far, although a bit chilly.

Our place is near Holyrood Park, which is a "royal park" as it is owned by the Queen but open to the public. The park was part of a 12th century royal "deer hunting estate." Running through the park, you can still see the ruins of Holyrood Abbey, built in 1128.





There is also the ruins of St. Anthony's chapel that you run by, built in the 14th century.

The park was also home to the 2008 World Cross Country Championships, so you can imagine there is excellent running there.

We mapped out an excellent 5 mile run that goes along the park perimeter and up to the summit of Arthur's seat, which is the highest point in Edinburgh. (This is also known as the "radical road option", according to the cross country people because of its steep ascent). Yesterday when I did this run, i just did the round the park loop, which I thought had a pretty big hill. Then when scott went out after me, he discovered the radical road option so I tested it out today and was not disappointed! It was amazing, the view is enough to keep you running up the hill! The summit is only 823 ft above sea level, but when running the path up to the top, you go up about 500 feet in about a half mile. We were surprised to learn that arthur's seat is an extinct volcano, erupting between 350 and 400 million years ago. Erosion  has uncovered some of the lava flows, which you can see running through the park. Also at the top you can see a panoramic view of the city.

After running through the top of arthur's seat, the route goes over towards the back of the park, which allows for a view of the southern side of edinburgh. You also pass by the Salisbury Crags, which are a series of 150 foot cliff faces. You then turn towards the north east and see the across the Firth of Forth to Fife, and if you look just below the park you can see the soccer stadium. We'll try to get some of our own pictures later, but neither of us carried the camera on our runs. We're thinking of taking Bee and Frankie there tomorrow for some hiking. 

Then as you come back to the north part of the park, where we enter and exit you run by one of the three lochs in the park. One thing we like about the park is that it is seems pretty natural and rugged - lots of trails and paths and a few park benches.

Michigan seems like a dream to me now

On our third full day in Edinburgh, it's finally time to post something. We've walked all around the city, spent time at the playground in Princes Street Gardens and in Edinburgh Castle, and went for a few runs in Holyrood Park. We've had our share of Fish n chips, vegetarian lasagna, and pizza (not as scary as it sounds!)

Today we're taking the train to the Scottish Seabird Centre. Look for bird pictures tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Frankie!

 

On Sunday we celebrated Frankie's 4th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANKIE!! We love you!!! Here is a picture she drew of the family with Cho-Cho included! We're coming Cho Cho! She also included a cat next to Cho-Cho, but that one will have to wait. More on the day's events later! In case you are wondering that is the dog and cat to the far right. Frankie is in the middle pretending to be a crying baby. She is so creative! Happy Birthday girl!

UPDATE: Here's another picture and a movie

Day off

Everybody needs a day off, even on vacation. We basically did nothing Saturday but find Frankie a cute birthday cake at great bakery and hang out at the rich kids playground on the way to dinner at Rebel House.

Closer to home

On Friday we road tripped to Niagara Falls. I remember going at least once when I was a kid, and then once in college, but I don't know who went with me! Both of those times we went to the American side, and this time we stayed on the Canadian side, so it was a lot different. In any case, Niagara is about 1.5 hours from Toronto, so it makes a nice day trip (thanks for the suggestion Phil!)

We started out at about 10 am and drove to St. Catharine's, where we had found a nice breakfast place called the Bleu Turtle. It was very small and very casual but had fantastic French Toast and omelets. I had a wild boar sausage with my meal, which was a first for me. Bee ordered the French Toast, but didn't eat much, so guess who helped her?

When we arrived at the Falls, we walked to Table Rock, which is right next to the horseshoe-shaped falls on the Canadian side. We were surprised at how cold we were from all the mist drifting off the falls, so we went in to the Table Rock welcome center and bought Bee a very nice jacket. After that, the main thing we did at Niagara Falls was ride the the Maid of the Mist. The girls were excited about wearing their blue rain coats, and of course riding the boat, but I'm not sure they were ready for the falls (I know I wasn't!)

One of the unexpected themes of the day was rainbows. We saw one off the stern of the boat, and a beautiful one over the falls as we left. It was a nice way to end the day.

Dinner was as Real Thai, the fourth place we've been to on Bloor St. It is great having all those choices nearby. We snuck in some ricotta and the girls ate it with rice noodles.

falling behind

We're falling behind in our posts already! So its Saturday, but we'll talk about what we did on Thursday. First, lets say that the weather in Toronto has been wonderful. Highs in the upper 60s maybe 70, and sunny! It's supposed to shower tomorrow, but it will be Sunday and Frankie's birthday so we will probably have a fun and low key day. But back to Thursday. We started off the day with more good running - there are lots of off road trails and hills (near the castle) so you get a good workout! (Here's our route.) With morning temperatures around 10C, its nice and brisk running in shorts.

We started off around 10.30 am and walked from our place to the Casa Loma. Bee and Frankie walked the whole way there, which included a mile walk there plus a 250 ft incline to get to the castle. The castle is supposed to be canada's most famous. I thought it must have belonged to royalty, so I was surprised to learn that it was built by the man (Sir Henry Pellatt) who started the Toronto Electric Company, became a millionaire and in 1911 wanted to have a "dream castle" for his home. Poor Sir Henry lost his castle after only 10 years when his fortune when down with the war bonds. One side note is that Sir Henry was a great runner! I should say he had good running routes near his house.




Bee and Frankie loved sitting on the "princess' bench".

My favorite room was the conservatory. Scott loved the library!

Frankie and Bee's other favorite part of the castle was the twisty turny stair case to the very top of the tower of the castle. It was a clear day so we had a cool view of the city below. They also loved the secret tunnel beneath the castle that led to what we call the "horses' castle", which was a horses stable in the style of a castle. After the castle we treked on down to midtown for some pizza at Terroni's. Then we walked on down to the Canadian National (CN) Tower. The tower is 1,815.4 ft high and the second tallest free standing structure in the world (a tower in Dubai is taller as of 2007). We took the elevator to the main viewing area, and because it was so clear we could see the Kodak building in Rochester NY with the naked eye. We were supposed to also be able to see the mist from the Niagra Falls, but that was harder for us to detect. For you engineers out there, the society of civil engineers call the tower one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. It was kind of cool, but for now I am calling Terroni's pizza one of the 7 wonders. 

There is a glass floor in the viewing area that you can stand on and jump on, and where you can look down to street level, 1,122.0 ft below. Frankie couldn't get enough of this view.

Also, you could go outside on the observatory, and so we "ran a loop" around the tower, which was Bee's favorite part. It was quite windy and chilly!

We called it a day after that and headed back uptown for some Indian food and bedtime.

best pizza this side of NYC

We have to say that Toronto thus far has been the land of gastro delight. We decided to do a hunt for the best pizza in the city. Bulls eye! On the first try! Terroni's on Aidelade Street.

So you might ask, how do we know its the best if we haven't tried anywhere else? It was just that good. We found Terroni's reviewed on line and they claimed the best pizza this side of the Atlantic, but be warned that the wait staff was "snotty" and they wouldnt make any substitutions or changes from the menu. However, our waiter was very kind. When he found out we used to live in NYC he told us that he wished he could move to NYC, so he got the cook to make a special pizza for the girls. So much for the "cant order off menu" rule! Bee was excited because she saw Calabrese written in various places on the menu. We got the bufalo Margarita pizza and the  Quattro Stagioni, which was one fourth calamata olives (yum!), one fourth eggplant, one fourth zucchini and one fourth prociutto. The crust was really thin but chewy and the toppings very fresh. The pizza was the size of large plate so you could order your own or share. It was amazing. The best since Lombardi's. I could eat there every day. Then Bee had a gelato and scott and i split a tiramisu, and both were quite good. Frankie fell asleep after the pizza which says alot because she never falls asleep in restaurants!




And within minutes of our place, we've also had really good indian at Nataraj and By the Way Cafe, a nice vegetarian cafe for salad. And then there is Gregg's ice cream. Frankie's been eating their coconut like it is going out of style, and Bee dared to try to the ginger. Scott loved the chocobanana, and I loved the coconut and chocoloate combo. We found a Cobs Bread, a great bread shop where we bought a load of whole wheat sesame bread that we have been eating for breakfast everyday, too! Those University of Toronto students are lucky!

Centre Island

We took the subway down to the harbor front and then took the ferry over to Centre Island.

We had a great view of the "CN Tower" which we keep calling "the needle." I hope they do not deport us!

The boat ride was a little chilly, but it was a nice day to hang outside all afternoon! Center Island offers a really cool view of downtown Toronto.

There is a small airport there so we were able to watch the planes come in for a landing right overhead. We found out that the airport was built on top of what used to be a huge amusement park and a baseball stadium where Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run.

On Centre Island is an old fashioned amusement park, where most rides are for kids under 4.5 feet tall (perfect for Bee and Frankie).

Bee and Frankie loved the roller coaster (which we rode 3 times), the log slide (which we rode 6 times), the toy cars (see below) and then of course there was the bumble bee ride, which Bee and Frankie rode 5 times (fortunately or unfortunately depending upon how you look at it, scott and i were too tall for the bumble bee ride).

The girls also loved riding the old fashioned cars, the train, and the carousel. I think Im still spinning. Thank goodness for Stacey, who rode the teacup with the girls because those little crystals in my ears were starting to revolt!

We also walked from Centre Island to the end of Wards island along the boardwalk and then took the wards island ferry back to the "mainland." We checked on mapmyrun and calculated that we walked over 4 miles, which for Bee was really great! Frankie got to ride the stroller part of the way, but she did great too!

Hello from Toronto!

Welcome to Canada!































Man, Canada is cold! Seriously, we had to wear jackets last night as we walked around. Problem was that we accidently left the girls' jackets in London, Ontario at the place we stopped for lunch. Its OK, at least they sat us at a table with enough hot sauce to satisfy me:



















However, this morning is beautiful and sunny. We found a really great running route that took us through several parks, by Casa Loma, and onto a dog park. Cho-Cho we're coming!

Our drive here was punctuated by a detour through Allenton (where Cho Cho lives). We didnt stop but just passed by Rick's house to get a glimpse. Then we got a "random" checks at customs and immigration where we had to vacate our car and have them search it for illegal items. Thank goodness they didn't find the friendly martians hiding in the trunk.

Our place is located right on the edge of the University of Toronto. We felt right at home near student apartments, and a few fraternities, and the Casa Italiano right down the street. We have 3 playgrounds in eye shot. What a great location!! There is even a little kid's rocking chair in our apartment, and the owner asked if we needed to borrow a stroller.

Today we are off to the harborfront and centre island. They have a little coaster there! This is going to be Bee's first roller coaster ride! I can't wait!!

Country #2

And we're off to Toronto! We found some great reviews of ice cream places and also of playgrounds so I think we will be all set! New "border crossing" rules went into effect yesterday, so we will let you know how it goes when we enter Canada. They weren't in effect last week, so we had no problem going into Ohio. Sorry Brutus.

We have tons of strawberries coming in this year! I wonder when they will ripen? Or if birds will get them before we get back? There is something that is eating in our garden. We've planted several sunflowers and once the plant gets about 5 inches tall with big leaves, something eats the leaves. We even planted new ones in a pot and placed the pot on the front steps to protect it from the "wild" that is east lansing. Of the two in the pot, one was eaten in the last couple of days. Im hoping the other one makes it, but suspect it may get eaten too. So far, nothing has eaten the basil, which is thriving like we've never seen before. We sure do miss the Markster, but that dog LOVED to eat basil. We've also got tomatoes and onions and corn growing. The corn is complements of Bee's kindergarten class. They were studying how plants grow and she brought home a cup with 4 plants sprouted so we stuck them in the ground. We also cleared out the area next to the Doll House (aka the shedd), and a new herb garden which includes: Mint (which is growing really well!), rosemary (which is hanging in there, though now sure how it will do in this climate), chives, oregano, and the aforementioned basil.

3 country tour!

We started our three country tour in Ohio this past weekend. (ha ha). Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We love you and thank you for sharing your wonderful marriage with us! We were at the playground yesterday (back in MI for a short recovery before heading off to Canada) and Frankie ran into her friend Liam at the playground. She told him all about "the 14th floor of the skyscraper". He kept saying, "wow frankie that is cool!" It was really funny! Here are a pic of Frankie at the Rose Garden in honor the rose petal festival!