Our 4th Germanniversary

Today marks the 4^th anniversary of our arrival in Munich.  This last year definitely held the most changes in our lives in Munich so far as we left behind our travel-orientated lives to prepare for our first child!  And as today is our Germanniversary, we continue our annual tradition of looking back on the prior year and reflecting on our favorite and least favorite moments of our 4^th year in Munich.

Highs:

Here are our favorite moments of this last year (in no particular order):

• Learning I am pregnant, and then finding out we are having a son! 
• All of the travels we fit in pre-pregnancy and early-pregnancy: Scotland, The Rhine region, Hallstatt, Portugal, Switzerland, Paris (Julie only) and Israel (Julie only).  Hey – Noah got to go to Brazil for the World Cup last year…
• All the friends and family who visited us!
• Going to Frühlingsfest and being able to fully enjoy it, beer and all
• Driving out into the countryside late at night to watch the Geminid meteor shower.  After so many tries over the last decade+, we finally were successful with a meteor shower and saw more shooting stars than we ever expected.  (the photo is not of the meteor shower since we didn’t take a camera with us)
• Our first trip back to the US in over a year and a half, and seeing family and friends (including meeting my nephew Tegan for the first time)
• Finally seeing two of our favorite Bavarian spots covered in snow and ice – the Partnachklamm gorge and Schloss Neuschwanstein
• Our 2+ weeks of Christmas vacation, where we focused on relaxing and spending time together.  We watched all 7 Star Wars movies, Noah cooked a lot of delicious food, and we played a lot of video and board games.  In about a month, it won’t be just the two of us anymore, and it will be a LONG time before we have the luxury of spending 2+ weeks doing nothing.
• Discovering Trustedhousesitters.com and having two wonderful couples stay in our apartment and take amazing care of our dogs for two of our vacations.  How I wish I had known about this website when we first moved to Munich!

Lows:

And now the lesser favorite moments (also in no particular order):

• A super hot summer + no air conditioning.  We had to simply shut the living room door and avoid that room as it reached the 90s with all the windows.  The rest of the apartment wasn’t much better – upper 80s.  And we aren’t exaggerating about it being hot – Germany reached its highest temperatures in history!
• Having nausea for all three trimesters (though if that is the worst that happens for my pregnancy – I will gladly take it!)
• Spending Noah’s birthday sick with a cold (on top of the morning sickness), then passing the cold on to him.  Happy 30^th Noah!
• Missing out on Oktoberfest this year – Thanks Max! J
• Noah’s embarrassment over calling a Kinderarzt (pediatrician) and saying he was looking for a Frauenarzt (gynecologist) for his baby.  He gave the receptionist a good laugh.
• Hard to fulfill pregnancy cravings!  You can’t go get a Wendy’s Frosty or good queso here.  And 2 days after I started craving non-raw sushi – our sushi place closed down for a month for their August holiday.  The plus side – I probably would have gained a LOT more weight if we were back in Texas the whole time. 

Thanks Munich for a wonderful 4^th year, and we can’t wait for what awaits us this next year!!

Paris in June… with a side of morning sickness

Next up on the ‘catch up’ list is the mother/daughter trip to Paris my mom and I took mid-June.  Only took a full month since the last post to get this one up!!

My mother and I had been planning the Paris trip for months – well before I got pregnant.  We had booked our flight to leave Munich on a Friday and spend a long weekend there, returning the next Tuesday.  So when my morning sickness and 1^st trimester exhaustion kicked in right on time at 6 weeks – it also happened to be just days before we were off to Paris. 

Of course I felt bad that I would be hindering our Parisian adventures, but I forgot that the news of a new grandchild far outweighed any ruined plans my mother had.  She instead was nothing but supportive – which meant that she didn’t quite see everything on her list (but to be fair, usually her unbelievably long sight-seeing lists can be impossible even for the healthy).

To kick off our fabulous weekend in Paris – we started with an early dinner at Chipotle!  Totally authentic France, right?  Now hear me out – I (as well as the majority of normal Americans) appreciate the deliciousness of a Chipotle (or Qdoba) burrito.  Now imagine going over a year since you have had one.  And you are pregnant.  And you are finally within a kilometer of one.  You would do it too.  And if you wouldn’t – well then you are a better person than me. 

That beautiful burrito

Next up – Sleep!  I am pretty sure we also wandered the city a bit and saw the Louvre (from the outside) and walked along the Seine that day too…. but that is the down side of writing blogs months later.  All I can remember for sure was the Chipotle.

Saturday I woke up ready to conquer the city beyond the nearest Chipotle.  On the agenda – check out the views from the roof of Sacré-Cœur.  Now in my head, I remember doing this a few years back with Noah and his mother.  And also in my head – an elevator to the top.  Sadly only one of those things was accurate.  After many pauses and letting a LOT of people pass us by, we made up the 270 steps.  What awaited us was a gorgeous clear view of the city. 

You can totally see the views behind us, right?

Next up was trying to find the specific café that I had visited with Noah and his mom that was in the Montmartre neighborhood because I remember the French onion soup was delicious.  After wandering a few blocks, we stumbled upon the exact corner café!  And the food was just as delicious as I remembered.  We enjoyed French onion soup (leaving the tomato… like mother like daughter) and a croque-monsieur sandwich and of course a baguette. 

Now I have a name in case I want to find this place again - Le Nouveau Carillon

The sandwich did look better when it arrived - we had already started eating it when we thought to photograph it

No raw tomatoes for us

Reenergized by the food, we continued wandering the Montmartre neighborhood in the direction of the Montmartre Cemetery.  By the time we made it to the cemetery, all I could do was find a bench and sit.  But Mom was able to wander the graveyard and enjoy the scenery / take some photos. 

Sufficiently worn out for the day, we returned to the hotel for an afternoon siesta.  Post nap-time we decided to wander the area around our hotel.  We ended the evening people/dog watching at the close by Tuileries Garden.

As it was our third day in Paris and we had yet to go to the Eiffel Tower, we figured it was time to remedy that.  We joined all the other tourists along with the vendors pushing selfie sticks at the base of the tower.  After the obligatory selfie (sans selfie stick – sorry vendors) and a photo of me and baby, we headed away from the tower to find some lunch.  

Post a simple ham-and-baguette lunch, we were off to the Champs-Élysées for shopping to see the Arc de Triomphe.  Again I was the party pooper and just sat on a nearby bench while Mom went to explore the Arc up close. 

We ended the night with a few repeats – dinner at Chipotle (don’t judge me) and people watching in the park. 

Paris is just gorgeous

Monday was our big adventure out to see Versailles.  After figuring out the trains and making our way to the palace with a handful of other tourists, we start trying to figure out the ticket situation.  Only after looking confusingly at the locked doors to all the ticket offices did it hit us that perhaps it was closed.  I checked Google and learned that while there were opening hours listed, I dug deeper and learned those were for the PARK only.  Monday the palace is closed.  GREAT JOB GOOGLE!   So sadly Momma didn’t get to see the inside of the palace, but we went ahead and wandered the gardens since we were there. 

The complete lack of people and the fact that this was roped off should have been a clue....

Last selfie of the trip

Back in the city after a nice siesta, we ended the evening at the park and then dinner at Chipotle a Chinese restaurant.

We woke up on our last day to rain, but that didn’t stop us from making our way to Notre Dame.  The incredibly long line was more than I could handle with my nausea and exhaustion, so we only enjoyed it from the outside.  Like everything else.  (Again – sorry Mom!!).  We instead wandered to a café and enjoyed another croque-monsieur, but this time we added crème brûlée to our menu. 

Before long it was time to head back to the hotel for our luggage and return home to Munich.  So while the pregnancy kept my mom from getting to see much of the inside of anything, this baby has her already booking 2 trips back to Munich for 2016.  One of which will include a trip to Paris with her friends – who hopefully allow her to actually see inside a few things. 

The Grandparents come for a visit

Back in early June, my parents came for a visit.  It was perfect timing because I was able to tell them in person that Noah and I are expecting.  At first I thought it might be too soon (I was only ~6 weeks and hadn’t seen a doctor yet), but as their arrival approached, I knew there was no way I could keep that kind of secret in. 

As the timing was in between Mother’s and Father’s day, I told them that I had gifts for them to celebrate.  In fact, I had Oma and Opa themed presents, and they were shocked and extremely excited to know they had 2 grandbabies on the way (as my brother’s wife was also expecting – but now baby Tegan is 6 weeks old!!). 

Mom figured it out before Dad

The next morning we loaded up the car and headed to Austria for a long weekend getaway.  Our main destination was the little tourist town of Hallstatt, but we found a cheap apartment hotel in the nearby town of Rußbach.  Rußbach was incredibly charming and cute – a typical small village nestled in the alpine valley.  We leashed up the dogs and went on a small walking tour. 

The next morning, we left the dogs at the apartment and drove past Hallstatt to the Dachstein mountains.  Here you find some amazing ice caves – though not without a nice little hike up from the gondola.  As it was so hot outside, it was a wonderful relief to enter the chilly caves (though not a dog-friendly place).

The only way through is via a guided tour, and it turned out we were the only English speaking family in the group of about 40.  The tour guide was very accommodating and told us to stay up front with her, and she would translate her German speech to English for us at each station.  The only issue – some people really wanted to be in the front and would cut us off, only for the tour guide to tell them they had to stay behind us as we needed English translations.  We would then hear ripples of people talking about the ‘Brits’ at the front. 

And of course being at the front had some advantages – I was able to get some nice photographs without anyone in them! 

After our tour and lunch at the nearby restaurant, we took the gondola back down and drove past Hallstatt again back to our patient pups at the apartment.  They were more than ready to hop in the car to join us when we finally made it to Hallstatt.  It really was as picture perfect as you see on the internet – though there were plenty of tourists (including us of course).  

We ate dinner at a cute restaurant on the water, and Noah spotted a swan being ‘chased’ by his larger, paddleboat version. 

My parents had really wanted to take a boat ride on the lake, but we had already missed all the trips for the day.  So the next morning after checking out, we went back to Hallstatt so they could catch the first boat of the day.  As I am not a huge fan of boats, and we had the dogs with us, we stayed on dry land and took some of the same pictures as the day before – but this time with sunlight! 

After meeting back at the dock (where the girls made quite a few friends while we waited), it was time to head back to Munich.  While Hallstatt was adorable and definitely worth a visit, it was the perfect size for a short weekend getaway.  

Baby Weiss coming in 2016!

Noah and I have been awful at blogging lately – our last blog entry was at the end of May (about our 5^th anniversary weekend to be specific).  We do have a valid excuse for this though – which is that I am pregnant!!!  I’ve been preoccupied with nausea/exhaustion while Noah has been busy feeding me.  But I figure it is about time we get back into writing on our blog, and I thought this would be a good story get us back on track.

Ever since Noah and I moved to Germany, having a baby here was something on our radar.  The reasons why are clear: First is the paid time off: 14 weeks full-paid maternity leave for me, plus an optional 14 months of ‘Elternzeit’ (time off with a partial pay cut) for Noah and I to split as we choose.  Next there are no hospital bills (socialized insurance), and there is Kindergeld (the government pays you additional money monthly for each kid you have)!  The only issue – when we moved here at the age of 26, neither of us were actually ready for the baby part of the deal.

When we originally thought we would be here for only 2 years, we focused our free time on traveling, rather than thinking about children.  However I had decided I didn’t want to have a baby in my 20s.  So it seemed like it was settled – no German-born baby for us.

Then, when Noah signed a 3-year contract in December of 2013, all of a sudden the baby-card was back on the table.  But when 2014 rolled around, I still had the travel bug too badly.  I figured I would need to cure myself of the travel bug before I took on the baby bug no matter my age, so Noah and I continued vacationing around Europe. 

However as 2015 approached, I realized after our Scotland trip we will have made it to all the places on my travel wish list.  All of a sudden, I felt my travel bug’s symptoms waning.  So what did I do?  Made a spreadsheet, of course, with the various scenarios and timing options of having a baby.  Luckily Noah is used to this type of approach I take to life - our budgeting, our travel planning, and now our baby planning.  Based on my calculations – I was able to determine the ideal time to try for a baby and the only part left was to put our plan into action.

Fast forward a few weeks into May, and I start having some weird symptoms.  Many of which can be attributed to pregnancy, but they can also just be from about any other illness in the Web MD database (I probably searched them all).  Neither Noah nor I wanted to get our hopes up too much that we had success right away, but if I had to bet money, I would have chosen ‘pregnant’. 

We were heading out on our 5-year wedding anniversary weekend to the Rhine on Saturday the 23rd, and my period was scheduled for Wednesday the 27th.  However, I had it in my head that it would be so cool to learn we were having a baby ON our anniversary (the Saturday).  So when we arrived to our hotel, I took a pregnancy test, only for it to say NOT PREGNANT, and make me sad.  Noah reminded me that 1) it is probably still too early, and he can also rub a coin on my face and flip it in the air and have the same level of scientific accuracy and 2) it is not that big of a deal if it doesn’t happen this time around.  Side note – this is exactly why blogs suggest NOT taking pregnancy tests early, because they probably won’t work (although the manufacturers claims might suggest otherwise).

So I relaxed and enjoyed our vacation and tried to take my mind off of the whole baby thing, though in the back of my mind, I still kept thinking of how I felt different.  We came back on Tuesday from our trip, and Noah and I took the dogs to the park.  I asked Noah when I should take another test.  He agreed that I should take one that day, but that it isn’t a big deal if it says no.

As we returned I was still thinking about taking another pregnancy test, but Noah had moved on to wanting to clean his car.  So he took off to the carwash, and I decided to take another test.  A few minutes later I checked it – and I saw the second blue line.  This test says I AM pregnant.  OMG WHERE IS NOAH???  I debated calling him, but decided that finding out at a carwash that your wife is expecting isn’t the most charming of all stories.  So I waited for him to return.

When the doorbell finally rang, I am excited but want to mess with him a bit too.  I mean, he did suggest taking this test and then left before I had a chance to do it, so he deserved it.  In the meantime, I had checked the mail and a DVD had arrived, so when he came up the stairs I had the DVD behind my back.  I said I had something to show him, and then presented him the movie.  I could see his face get excited and then drop a bit – clearly he thought I had a positive pregnancy test in my hands (later confirmed when he told me).  I then brought him to the kitchen to show him the real news – and then I declared I need more tests to make sure (I took 4 more after this with varying degrees of blueness to make sure).

Noah declared that we need to celebrate, so he went and got champagne (for him) and bitter lemon (a soda, for me), and pizza.  And we can’t forget a red candle, which clearly stands for love. 

So now I am 20 weeks / 4+ months pregnant, and our baby is due February 2^nd, 2016!  Now we need to get back to writing the blogs we have had planned, but haven’t gotten to. 

Scotland - Home of the Highland Cow

Ever since we moved to Munich, I had Scotland on my list of ‘must-see’ locations.  When my brother, Logan, and his wife, Ashley, decided to come for another visit in April, we all decided that Scotland would be the perfect place for three gingers (and Noah) to visit.  I can say that after spending 9 days in the north of Britain, I found I enjoyed it even more than I expected. 

We arrived in Edinburgh Saturday afternoon and picked up our rental car.  Noah mastered driving on the left (again) quickly, and even navigated the city with only a few wrong turns.  After locating our hotel and dropping off our bags, we decided to walk around the town a bit.  Logan’s destination was a Barclays bank to avoid ATM fees, and on the way there we passed some beautiful architecture and views. 

After the Barclays stop (which ended up being the location where someone swiped Logan’s ATM information and stole a few thousand pounds…. watch out Americans without a chip on your debit card), we stopped for a pre-dinner dinner of 5£ fish and chips.  It sure wasn’t the best fish and chips we had on the trip, but it was enough to hold us over through our next stop – sunset at Calton Hill.  

While we didn’t capture the dramatic sunset I was hoping for (lack of clouds), we still had a great time and were able to get a few group shots and some nice photos of the city. 

Once it was dark enough, we wandered back down Princes St and found a pub near our hotel.  Here is where I remembered that the UK has cider!!  Cider wouldn’t be ‘pure’ enough for the Bavarians, though I guess a Radler is as close as I will get.

We woke up Sunday and officially began our weeklong road trip.  First stop – St Andrews.  I clearly needed to brush up on my UK trivia as I had no idea that this was the place Will and Kate met, nor that there is a famous golf tournament held there.  I just knew that there were some pretty ruins I wanted to see – the St Andrews Cathedral.  It was built back in the 12^th century as a Catholic cathedral (the largest ever built in Scotland), but after Catholic mass was outlawed in the 16^th century, it fell into disuse. 

After exploring the ruins, we wandered through the little town and saw the St Andrews Castle ruins from afar (it cost £ to go in). We then had delicious ice cream at Jannettas Gelateria – only afterwards learning that this is THE place to get ice cream in the area.  Definitely worth the long line. 

Cute stone buildings

The Castle

Our drive continued through a nice rain/hail/snow storm, and we made it to Dunnottar Castle (more ruins!!).  Luckily the hail/snow and most of the rain wore off by the time we parked, so we pushed on to make it to the ruins before they stop selling tickets.  After the small hike out towards the cliff edge entrance, we purchased our tickets and made our way inside… just as the rain returned.  We ran around the grounds in our raincoats and umbrellas… oh wait, it was only me with both.  I ran around with my raincoat and umbrella while the others got a wee bit wet with just raincoats, and tried to see everything in the hour we had before closing.  Just as we left the gate and began walking the path back up the mainland, the rain stopped and gave us a few clear shots of the castle. 

On the drive

5 minutes after getting back on the road, the snow came.  Of course – it is late April, why wouldn’t it be snowing??  We arrive at our B&B for the night, and the owner let us know that this weather is NOT normal, so I decided to consider it lucky to experience this strange spring snow.  But the poor little babies that were recently born (the lambs and calves we saw everywhere) probably didn't agree. 

We ended the night at the Lairhillock Inn pub where us gals had the best fish and chips ever, and the guys had equally delicious Scottish roast beef.  YUM. 

Noah and I decided to wake up early Monday to try to catch sunrise back at Dunnottar Castle.  Again the clouds could have done more for us, but I never regret getting up after-the-fact (while the alarm is going off though… that is another story). 

Noah and I returned to the B&B to collect the Steffens’, and we decided to check out the town of Stonehaven before starting the day’s drive.   It was a cute town with a pretty beach, but not much in the way of shopping or food that we could see. 

Based on the recommendation of the B&B owner and the route Garmin naturally gave us, we decided to make our way to Loch Ness via the Cairngorms National Park.  Our timing was good because just the day before, the pass over the top of the mountains was closed from that hail/snow/rainstorm.  But while we were in Stonehaven that morning, they had plowed the roads just for us!  The drive was gorgeous – I had no idea how ‘high’ the highlands would go.  Plus I had my first close up sighting of a highland cow, my new obsession.  These guys are so adorable with their fluffy fur and rocker hairstyles. 

Eventually we made it to Loch Ness, and visited… you guessed it!... another set of castle ruins!!  This one is called Urquhart – and it dates from the 13^th century.  I am usually not a fan of informational movies at sites like these, but they do a really good job with it.  And they have a very nice gift shop – I found my red wool tartan blanket I had been searching for. 

For dinner we ventured into Fort Augustus based on a recommendation from the hotel.  Our destination was the Boathouse Restaurant – and not only was the food delicious, but the lighting in Fort Augustus was fabulous.    

Ashley and I waiting on the food

Tuesday morning we woke up to light drizzle, but that didn’t stop us from going back into Fort Augustus to sign up for a Loch Ness boat ride.  What did stop us was the fact that only 2 other people had the same idea, and 12 are needed for the boat to run.  Since Logan didn’t want to shell out the money to buy up the other 6 seats, we instead entertained ourselves by watching two boats make their way down the series of locks towards Loch Ness. 

Our next stop on the Scotland Road Trip 2015 – Eilean Donan Castle.  Nope, they are NOT ruins!  Well, they were left to ruins in the 18^th century, but Lt. Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap restored them in the beginning of the 20^th century.  So we finally had a castle to visit that had a roof! 

Now it was time to begin heading to the Isle of Skye – the main reason for the giant road trip.  I mean why can’t Edinburgh be a bit closer to this island??  We took our time enjoying the drive, stopping along the way at the Sligachan Stone Bridge, for me to stalk my next highland cow, and then for us to see Mealt Falls.  I won’t include the photos of Mealt Falls here because we went two more times and those are better photos. 

By the time we arrive at the gorgeous Flodigarry hotel, the lighting outside was incredible.  And as Logan and Ashley had asked me to take some maternity photos during this trip, I demanded that we spend the next hour outside while I photographed the expanding Steffens family. 

It isn't easy getting Logan to be serious

We had planned to do a hike out on the Isle of Skye, specifically hike the Quiraing.  But the bad weather we had faced on the mainland the days before had also hit the Isle of Skye, turning the paths into mud and puddles.  As the Quiraing hike was on the edge of mountains, we decided to change tactics and hike the Rubha Hunish.  Unfortunately for Ashley, the mud was too much for her tennis shoes, so us non-pregnant folks made the trek to the point instead.  It was a beautiful hike – with views of the coast all around and the Quiraing in the distance. 

Ok, they were only on the drive to the hike - but they were too cute to leave out of the blog

The Quiraing on the left covered in clouds... good choice to stick to the coast!

Lunch on Wednesday will go down in my books as the best meal I had in Scotland – savory and sweet pies at Skye Pie Café at the Glenview hotel.  Oh My Goodness, I would consider moving here just to eat at this place every day.  Noah and I shared two pies – a tomato sauce based seafood pie and a crab, cheese, and spinach pie.  Noah and Ashley who aren’t really into pies (I think they need to be tested for a psychological disorder) thought they were good, for pies… The sane siblings however knew how to enjoy this lunch/dessert combo (dessert was an apple crumble pie that I ate too quickly to get a photo). 

As we had no real plans for the rest of the day, we decided to drive around the north part of the island.  We of course went back to Mealt Falls/Kilt Rock (named because the rock formation looks like a kilt), and drove across the Quiraing to Uig, then along the coast back to the hotel.  Naturally we stumbled upon some ruins (Duntulm Castle) and saw lots and lots of sheep. 

The sun was shining Thursday, and we decided to begin the day with a dinosaur hunt… or more specifically for fossilized dinosaur footprints at Staffin Beach.  There was a plaque with an incredibly unhelpful map of where to locate the footprints, and we all set out searching for them in the mossy rocks.  After about 10 minutes I gave up and went to take photos of the water instead.  20 minutes later the other three are still searching, and I decided to move from my spot over to the sandy beach.  As I am making my way across the rocks further down from the amateur fossil hunters, I happened to look down and see the footprints – MUCH further down the beach than the map suggested.  All’s well that ends well though, and we got to check out the footprints and I got to play with the camera. 

It's like a Where's Waldo/Wally/Walter of dino-track searchers!  Noah is up at the map trying to guide them, but that map sucks too much.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying the beach

Ta-da!

As we were moving to a different part of the island today, we did the same drive across the Quiraing, only this time with blue skies and gorgeous views.  Oh – and of course a third and last trip to Mealt Falls/Kilt Rock to say goodbye. 

Now they have blue skies behind them!

Our next stop was yet another castle – Dunvegan Castle.  This is Scotland’s oldest continuously inhabited castle – home of the chiefs of the Macleod clan for over 800 years.  This castle had gorgeous gardens all around – I think I enjoyed the tulips more than the castle itself.  We also got to tour around inside, but no photos were allowed in the castle itself. 

I was in love with the tulips

We had yet another fabulous dinner at The Old School Restaurant in Dunvegan.  I have forgotten how much I love seafood as Bavaria isn’t really known for good seafood (apart from steckerlfisch).  Scotland continued to impress me with the delicious restaurants.  

We had to wrap up dinner early as I had another sunset location on my itinerary – this one out on Neist Point, about 30 minutes from our hotel in Dunvegan.  Well it would normally be about 30 minutes except we encountered a nice Scottish traffic jam… of a sheep herding.  No worries – it was more fun to sit and watch the dog do its thing and move the sheep down the road.  Except at the end, when it was time for the sheep to turn into the gate and they panicked and made a 180 towards our car.  Luckily the woman in charge managed to stop them from escaping, and they all successfully made it to their final destination. 

That dog sure knew what to do!

We stopped to thank the woman for the nice show, and she ended up thanking us for not being jerks on the road.  Apparently earlier, she was moving a different flock and a tour bus came up the road.  These roads are small backcountry roads not designed for a bunch of traffic, but the tour bus kept creeping forward and had its tires at the back feet of the little lambs.  What a jerk!  I mean clearly the tour bus was full of tourists – I feel like tourists should always have to politely defer to locals in these situations…. not try to run over these people’s sheep!  End rant.

We made it to Neist Point and its lighthouse with right as the sun began its final descent.  As is true with the other attempts at capturing an amazing sunset/rise, the clouds just didn’t want to cooperate.  Oh well – it was still a beautiful sunset and an enjoyable end to a great day. 

I woke up Friday morning and looked out the window to see that there were AMAZING reflections on Loch Dunvegan.  Naturally I threw some clothes on and ran out towards the lake to snap some pictures. 

Next up on the itinerary was the Fairy Pools at Glen Brittle – definitely the highlight of the trip for me.  I am sure the gorgeous weather didn’t hurt.  It was a short hike from the parking lot to the various pools along the tributary.  The water is perfectly clear, the blue sky reflecting on it made it look turquoise, and if it wasn’t so cold I think we all would have jumped in with our clothes on.  I do have to say that the photo you find online when you google the pools is this set of waterfalls – we did make it there, but these falls are only about 1-2 feet tall…. It is all about the angle of the camera! 

After we had our fill of the fairy pools, it was time to head to Talisker for a whisky distillery tour and an amazing fresh seafood lunch at the Oyster Shed.   We have no photos of the tour, but I do have a photo of Noah’s and my lunch of fresh lobster, mussels, shrimp, fish, and scallops. 

Now that we were done with our time on the Isle of Skye, we had a long road ahead of us to get back to Edinburgh.  To help break up the drive across Scotland, we stopped for the night in Loch Lomond.  I am sure the place deserved more time than we gave it, but the next morning we were back in the car towards Edinburgh. 

We arrived back in our starting city in the early afternoon, and made our way to Rose Street for lunch.  On the walk through the city, we saw a wild fox roaming the street.  I ended up googling this to see what was going on, and apparently Edinburgh has been having an issue the past few years with feral foxes entering the city.  Hope people have their small dogs and cats locked up safe! 

After lunch we made our way up to Edinburgh Castle – it sits atop a hill with beautiful views of the city.  The castle is a definite tourist hotspot – there were a lot of us there that Saturday, even though the weather was overcast and had spots of drizzle.  There are plenty of buildings that you can explore, including the old prison and a military museum. 

On the right - a member of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard

As luck would have it we timed our visit so that as we were ready to leave, the castle was closing.  We wandered down the Royal Mile and back to the hotel.  That night we enjoyed our last meal of fish and chips and then hit up a pub for dessert/drinks. 

We awoke to our first full day of rain on Sunday.  No worries – we had plans to hit up Camera Obscura, a cool attraction Noah had discovered.  The actual Camera Obscura is in the top floor of the building.  It is an old exhibition observatory built in the 1800s.  Basically it is like sitting inside a camera where the lens can be moved all around the top of the tower.  You sit in a dark room with a round table while the guide moves the camera around.  You can see all around Edinburgh, the people visiting the castle, the cars driving past the Royal Mile, etc. 

Then the rest of the floors are their ‘World of Illusions’ – filled with holograms, tricks of the eye, a mirror maze, and a rotating vortex tunnel.  We did rush through it a bit on the fast side since a huge group of (very loud) school kids were on our heels. 

Now I am officially out of pictures for the rest of the day – so the delicious Mexican food lunch with FRESH CHURROS as dessert will not have photo accompaniment.  Neither will the drive back to the airport and the journey to the apartment, but you can believe that there were two little pups that were very happy that our trip had come to an end.