Panorama Amphitheatre

This took me AGES! It’s three photos of the Roman amphitheatre in the centre of Lucca ‘glued’ together. If you click on the above image you should get a larger view.

Andy

Lucca

Me and The Ponte Vecchio

We’re just back from a week in the historic heart of Lucca, an ancient walled town that dates back to Roman times, and wow what a place it is! A vast army of wooded, lush green hills encircles Lucca (the Apuan Alps my old boy informs me) which you could almost be forgiven for thinking belong in Scotland – that is of course until you look up and see the undisturbed bright blue sky!

Our rented apartment, a great combination of modern amenities and rustic charm, was ideally located just a short walk from the medieval walls and not too close to the centre of town to be disturbed by the noisy ‘passeggiata’. The apartment was four storeys up and came complete with a spacious balcony, so we had views to die for! We were certainly high enough to be blown away by the beauty of the terracotta hotch potch that is Lucca’s skyline.

Part of the view from our balcony

I want to leave any detailed holiday descriptions to Catherine, but thought I could briefly list the things I liked and disliked about the holiday:

Likes

• The narrow streets and high buildings made the town a great place to meander through
• The colour of the buildings – all different shades of oranges and yellows
• The weather – not too hot or humid, but in the thirties every day!
• The balcony – a great place to read and soak up the sun
• The town walls – lined by trees for the most part, so slightly cooler, the perfect place for a cycle run
• The bikes – a real, and surprising highlight. I loved cruising around and exploring on our ‘biciclette’

C’s bike

• The amphitheatre – the cafes here were cheap and what a backdrop to enjoy some good coffee
• Spending quality time with my family – it was great to get up and spend all day with my wife and my parents (here, I’m beginning to sound like Michelle! Only joking MT!!!)

My Mum and Dad Chilling Out On The Walls

• Puccini – Anyone who has been to our house here in Inverkeithing will know by the pictures in our living room and doubtless the records playing that I dig Puccini. Going to his home town and seeing Turandot and Madame Butterfly will live long in the memory

Puccini’s Home On The Shores Of Torre Del Lago

• Food and drink – cheap, really cheap, and tasty – especially the ravioli for 4 euros. Cannae grumble!
• The doors – the ornate, sturdy front doors to the houses were like works of art, really amazing.

A Typical Lucchese Doorway

• Ice Cream – no, not the taste of it, but just witnessing the joy that it brought into my wife’s life
• Fiesole – what a lovely wee town, and what views over Florence
• Our Camera – I had great fun taking (nearly 1000) photos

San Michele

• Neptune and David – the statues outside the Uffizi in Florence were so impressive

Dude with a Corking Beard

• Mark Driscoll – I didn’t do as much reading as I thought I might, but his ‘Radical Reformission’ got me thinking
• Baralla – C and I ate there one evening. Great food and welcoming atmosphere
• Fairport Convention – I came out of the bedroom one morning to find my Dad ironing and listening to (and singing!) my favourite Fairport song…’Banks of the Sweet Primroses‘. (This list could go on all night, one more will do it)

• Lucca’s botanical gardens – a real treat to walk around, a lovely lake with terrapins and carp being the highlight

Dislikes

• Ryanair – uncomfortable seats and too many pleas to buy their merchandise over the intercom.
• Florence – too busy and too hot, not a patch on Lucca. That said, the Ponte Vecchio was amazing.

C Looks Down Over Ponte Vecchio

• Mozzies – ow, still sore
• Graffiti – everywhere you looked

More graffiti

• Baralla – Okay, so it made the above list too, but we went back with my mum and dad and the food wasn’t as good as the previous time and it was too busy and way too loud. (I can’t think of anything else!)

Overall, what a holiday! I loved it and would truly recommend Lucca to anyone wanting a relaxing break. I want to go back!!

Andy

and the REST OF THE PHOTOS!!!!

Mum, St Andrews and Elie

Chloe and a confused looking Lucy!

My mum is down from Inverness for the weekend so we’ve been busy. Last night we went into Edinburgh for tea (Pizza Express) followed by a mercifully brief jaunt to IKEA. This morning we were all at the Café. Catherine had done some baking that was demolished before I got a chance to sample it, which just means she’ll have to make some more.

Some Cafe Dudes

After the Café we headed to St Andrews and then to Elie for a quick walk round by the harbour. The forecast was for sunshine, but this never materialized and instead we had to deal with pretty strong winds as you can see…

Elie windy

We’re back home now, me watching the footie on one TV and Catherine and my mum watching a chick flick they hired out on the other. The second half has started so I’m away – I’m sure Catherine will write in more detail soon.

C’mon Russia….

More PHOTOS!

Andy

Gairloch In The Sun

Mist Falls On Inverness On Our Way Back From The West

On Saturday we drove out west to Gairloch. The forecast had predicted that Inverness was going to be a bit cloudy, but that the west coast was going to see the best of the sun and this proved to be the case.

I spent a lot of time over on the west coast growing up, and I always love going back again. This time we spent most of the day just sitting out in the sun, either eating….

reading…..

or eating again……..

We did bump into a fierce looking local who was preparing for his church barbeque

Rev Jeremy Ross Protects His Food!

Andy

More Photos!

A Walk In Cawdor

Time for a rest

This morning we got up early and decided to make the most of the good weather, so we headed through to Cawdor for a walk.

a flooooor

This pleased all concerned; my mum got a walk (I make her sound like a dog – apologies mum), Catherine got a cake in a local coffee shop (I make her sound like a beefer – apologies Catherine) and I got to drive on the backroad to Nairn (I make me sound like a boy-racer – none of these are accurate!).

Apparently it was 23 degrees in Cawdor – it felt it too!

Andy

Some more PHOTOS

New Hair!!

Catherine booked both of us in to ‘Migele Experience’ in Kirkcaldy to get our locks cut. Catherine decided to take the bold step and get a fringe. I think she was quite nervous about it before hand, but she’s pleased with how it looks:

C’s new fringe

Yesterday (Wednesday) we headed up to Inverness for a few days. This was the first serious outing for our new car, and it performed really well on the open road. For any Police reading this, I drove at 70mph all the way north!

Today we went book shopping and had lunch at Leakey’s before going a drive out towards Fortrose.

Ruin at Munlochy

We stopped at the Clootie Well on the way back to see what it was all about. Apparently you leave an item of clothing hanging on the trees to bring about good luck. What crap.

Clootie Well

“The mingingness of it all” just ended up freaking out Catherine, so we had to leave pretty quickly. It is pretty disgusting and no place for a lady with such a sophisticated fringe.

C at the Clootie Well

Andy

Culross In The Sun

Cracking day + new car = time for a drive.

castle window

not a hag

We didn’t get that far actually, only as far as Culross. It’s a strange, but beautiful little town across the Forth from Grangemouth. A lot of it’s buildings have undergone refurbishment and the result is a step back in time, with colourful, ancient buildings lining the narrow streets. A great place to cut about.

a Culross street

some overgrown steps

Andy

A Pink Day

Today was a pink day!

Catherine’s shirt was pink……

The blossom was pink…….

Even the walls were pink……

The only thing without a hint of pink was this dude we stumbled upon at Kathellan……

Who you looking at?!

More Photos

Andy

Back Home

Catherine, Mum and some pink flowers In Fishertown

We’ve reached the end of our northern road trip and have arrived safely back in Inverkeithing. Our journey south flew by as we chilled out and zoned into our latest CD, ‘Lambarena’. The album is a homage to Albert Schweitzer who founded a hospital at Lambarena (Gabon) and who is a Bach-a-holic. The tunes link traditional Bach works with some Gabonese ethnic harmonies resulting in some crazy stuff! Some of it is good, some of it nonsense, but there are some amazing moments - such as the beginning of the St John’s Passion with various African percussion cross-rhythms. Genius!

Culloden Viaduct

Last night we went through to Nairn with my mum and had a walk along the beach. The weather was fantastic, not a breath of wind and really mild. It was the first time I was aware of the nights lengthening, it not getting dark until after 9pm. Growing up I used to spend most of my weekends through in Nairn visiting friends, and hadn’t been back for years, so it was a little weird. I did enjoy it though, especially the wander through Fishertown - a maze of individually designed cottages thrown together near the shore. I went a bit mad with the camera, taking loads of photos, some you can view HERE.

Mum chuffed with her latest camera phone photo!

Andy

Caithness - Day Two

We try and do different things every time we come to visit Caithness and having taken the road west to Bettyhill and Tongue last time we decided to head east to Wick today. At first I thought that the highlight of our day would be a visit to Tesco but I was wrong.

First stop was the Camster Cairns which I think are ancient buriel chambers. My primary 5 class once came here on a school trip but if I’m being honest the cairns seemed much more exciting back then! Maybe it’s because I’m too big to get inside now … whatever the reason, we didn’t stay long.

Too big to get inside the cairn at Camster

Next on the agenda were the elusive Whaligo Steps. Although they were mentioned on our map there was no sign and it took us a while to find them. I think we drove up and down a stretch of road about 4 times before we eventually got there! As it happened one of the men who maintains the upkeep of the steps was digging in his garden nearby, and so he gave us a brief history - and even showed us an old photograph of how the steps used to look.

Scary steps to Whaligo

There are about 365 flagstone steps which form a steep path down to a stone harbour. Back in the olden days (do you like my historical terms?!) people would carry baskets and barrels of herring down the steep steps to the harbour where they would be loaded on to ships for exporting. The man spent some time explaining various features of the harbour to us and it sounded like a fantastic place but when it came to it, the steps were a bit scary for our liking and so we didn’t make it all the way down! Still a place worthy of a visit though …

Erosion

After buying some lunch from Tesco and eating it by a small harbour near Ackergill Tower (a semi-famous place where Philip Schofield got married!) we spotted what looked like a ruined castle further back down the coast and so we decided to see if we could get to it. This meant a trip back in to Wick, a drive through Papigoe and Staxigoe and finally a half mile walk to Castle Sinclair Girnigoe. What a place! The ruins are precariously located on the edge of cliffs which have been severely eroded but the views are absolutely stunning. The castle itself seems to be built in to the cliff, and although we couldn’t get in to it there were a couple of workmen in there doing some sort of work. As far as I can make out from the website they are trying to make it safe for visitors again so put a visit here in to your diary for 2009! (And going by other similar Scottish landmarks you might want to start saving up for the entrance fee now too.)

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe … for how much longer?!

Well, I think that was about everything that we did today. As usual head over to Flickr for more photos!

Catherine