Ballantrae, no thank you.

There was a strong smell of rotting sheep carcase or possibly seal shit in the air all the way down the coast from Girvan yesterday and when i got to Ballantrae where i had booked accomodation to find that the only pub had stopped doing meals that was the decider so i booked a £30 room in the Adelphi in Liverpool, put Magda in overdrive and we were here by 7:30pm in time to see all the half dressed teenagers and others who should know better strutting their stuff whilst i was availing myself of Tim Martin's value San Miguel in the local Wetherspoons. Today i have revisited all the locations where i lived in Liverpool and the locations of all the girls i loved and lost. There has been a huge amount of building since i was last here before the first lockdown and most surprisingly at Balgownie, the home where i spent my formative years, i won't go on, there were two small houses on the site, now there are two large semis right at the front of the property and the two small houses behind?? with a furtherplot fenced off. There is so much change that i feel that Liverpool is no longer my city, though i do feel a huge affinity with the people. Last night's emergengy booking produced a pokey twin room with no view whatsoever but for the next two nights i am in a veritable suite with a southerly aspect and away from all the local bar music, result.

Between houses road trip.

Nothing much has happened since my road trip to Venice to meet the family my goddaughters Ruby and Jodi Sheldon in Venice in June 2019 and I haven't had much to report on the Costa Rica Saga holiday in January 2020 but now my house has sold and the property I hoping to move to in Prestatyn is still occupied I decided on a UK road trip until it is. I moved out on 29th July and after a celebration meal on that evening with the guys who helped me with transport issues over my hip replacement and house move I went down to Leighton Buzzard to see Anne who further aided my recovery by walking my legs off but we also visited NT Ascott and I was surprised with my first ever Hogarth paintings, one was from the Harlot's Progress but the other was a portrait which I suppose was his bread and butter work. Archie and I then moved down to Suffolk after a visit to NT Ickworth and spent a week with Keira, Kay, Charlie and Zane which wore me out especially the day at a theme park, possibly not the ideal rehab for the hip! We then visted the NT Blicking Estate before overnighting in Wiggenhall St. Germans on the river Ouse, a blissfully quiet spot with a lovely walk along the banks of the Ouse to give you an appetite for dinner. Visits to Lincoln Cathedral and Castle as well as a whistlestop call in at Durham Cathedral lead to an interesting stay in Coldstream in the borders, the hotel wasn't up to much but a great craich in the bar for the Lions warm up game against the Sharks and the accents were a weird mixture of Geordie and Scots. From there we drove over to Lindisfarne, I could live in that castle and the church was so cute. The next stop was for a couple of days in Edinburgh, a horrible city to drive in with far too much traffic and unsyncronised traffic lights which made my discovery of the tram stop outside the hotel which took me into the centre of town the next day for a miserly sum. Unfortunately my silver tongue failed to wheedle my way into the castle so i walked up Arthur's Seat which has fabulous views of Edinburgh when there is better than zero visibility! The National Gallery yielded another Hogarth, a portrait of the murderess Sarah Malcolm just before her execution but the highlight was a stunning full lenghth Gainsborough of the Honourable Mrs Graham. My journey thentook my up via Aberfeldy and Inverness to see John and Seonaid for a few days in Dornoch, lots of walks including The Strewie and Ben Bragie but also far too much good food and drink, but great to catch up after all the social isolation. We then paid a compulsory first time visit to John O' Groats staying overnight in Wick, if you ever get the chance, avoid both. The long trip down from Wick to Kilmartin was a joy with Beauly and Appin being the highlights but with views like that I am surprised that I did't run off the road. Kilmartin was a very relaxing couple of days visiting prehistoric sights and quiet peaceful countryside but the strange feeling I had when I left Wick manifested itself when we hit a traffic jam in the village of Kilmartin, 2 miles from that night's accomodation, there had been a serious smash, I doubt the driver survived after taking out two dry stone walls. I am now in the wonderful city of Glasgow, I think it is my second favourite after Amsterdam. It reminds me of Liverpool in many ways, the people are friendly and the girls are attactive but even though there is a lot of renovation with glass and steel, a lot of the original buildings remain and the pubs are a revalation. The city is small enough to walk around and I am fortunate in being in a hotel on the south bank of the Clyde in Rangers territory just south of the city centre and I can reccommend the Italian restaurant La Fiorentina, so traditional and authentic, run by second generation immigrants. I have a table booked in The Auctioneer pub for tomorrow's first Lions test after a visit to Kelvingrove Gallery and lunch at the Italian.

Driving.

I really will have to figure out the Italian toll road system if I ever plan on driving in Italy again, driving via the non-toll roads although scenic can be a real drag with the traffic, the circuitous route and the Russian Roulette of the speed cameras.

Thanks to an early start yesterday I had time to visit Hitler’s Eagles Nest in Berchtesgaden, it was interesting especially the way it was so matter of factly presented but the tourist hordes jammed the place solid, there were queues to get in, to get out, for the busses in fact for everything except to view the buildings.

I had my third schnitzel of the trip last night in a very local restaurant, I think I was the only non-German there and I must admit it stretched my brain to remember all those forgotten words and phrases needed to order. The schnitzel was served with zigeuner sauce something I have been looking forward to since the last time I had it forty years ago.

Three long drives now to get home by Friday evening but some of it is through country that is new to me and I will be stopping to pick up wine but not Camembert, last time I did that the car was a no-go zone for weeks after.

The tunnel to the lift up to the Eagle's Nest

The Eagle's Nest from the tunnel entrance.

So much happening.

Early start yesterday got me down to the Lipizzaner stud farm at lipica in southern Slovenia where they bred the first Lipizzaner horses and have been doing so since. I booked the horse whisperer deal which after watching a young ladies skills with four horses allowed those who wanted to venture into the ring with just the one horse where we were shown how to interact with this beautiful animal. Of course the little girls in the group mobbed the poor beast but it was a privilege to share some time with him.

 The scenic journey from Lipica to Venice turned into a bit of a saga but i arrived eventually in time to book in then head of to Mestre town square for a well deserved beer and a prolonged spell of people watching so muchso that I stayed at the same table for three beers and a pasta dinner.

One of the advantages of travelling

Today was a wonderful day, I had arranged to meet Barbara and my god-daughter Ruby in Venice where they would be spending the day ashore from their cruise ship after Ruby and Paul had been married at sea. I was far too precipitous in thinking that they would be ashore early so I bought a day ticket for the vaperetto and spent some time just cruising the canals and then visiting the Leonardo da Vinci museum (well worth a visit) before i met them of the boat. It was lovely to see them all especially as i hadn't seen Jodie for years and never met her children or the husbands, a totally joyous occasion and the rain that had threatened held off.

I was back at my table in Mestre this evening for more of the same except I had the pizza in place of the pasta but i was welcomed as a friend and the bill was noticeably less, strange how these things happen isn't it?

Innsbruck to Bled

The Hungerburgbahn, a funicular railway, takes you over the Inn river and then the Nordkette cable car whisks you up to nearly 7000 feet above sea level all in less than 30 minutes, it took a lot of tourists in shorts,T shirts and flip flops by surprise even though you could see from the city the snow lying on the tops of the mountains. 

The cross at the peak.

Yesterday i decided to take the scenic route from Innsbruck to Lake Bled via the Brenner pass and looping down through Italy, it was certainly scenic but the amount of roadworks and other hold ups added an unconscionable amount of time to the journey and i was charged tolls for the pass itself part of the autoroute and the tunnel into Slovenia as well as another Toll Vignette, an expensive decision.

The difference in the accommodation between the two places is astonishing especially as they are priced the same, I will not bore you with the details but I am polishing up my review skills for Trip Adviser and Booking.com. Bled is a beautiful place but very touristy and there seems to be a lot of work going on to make it more so, I circumnavigated the lake on foot today which seems to be a popular pastime especially by people on wheels. The different forms of wheeled transport I have seen on this trip are amazing, not only bicycles of all the usual forms but also recumbent and semi-recumbent cycles and weird bikes that have what looks like a gym style stepper as a means of propulsion. Electric bikes have taken off hugely and I am beginning to see how effective they can be especially for us fogies who may need a little assistance where inclines are involved. I have also seen a variety of scooters from children's to adult some with electric power and some with full bicycle sized wheels.

My landlord recommended a local restaurant for last night, the food was as usual far too plentiful but so good, I will be going back there again tonight. On to Venice tomorrow via Lipica which is home to the Lipizzaner stud if I can find it.

Bavaria to the Tyrol.

My last day in Munich was a bit of of a failure, I blame my lack of research but both the old and the new art galleries were closed for one reason or another and the planned visit to the BMW experience was delayed for nearly 2 hours due to the late start of one of the underground lines so I pampered Magda and took the rest of the day off, enjoying an Italian lunch in an Asian fast food joint and finishing the day off with souvlaki in a local restaurant.
Yesterday I planned a route to Innsbruck avoiding major roads and under advice from the google maps lady the journey took me through some beautiful countryside with stunning views, I will try to attach some photos of them later. I arrived in Innsbruck by lunchtime and went straight to tourist information for all the facts, the first one I learnt was parking is at a premium and you can pay through the nose for it, having said that I dumped the car on the outskirts of town and used my newly purchased Innsbruck card which gave me free transport on local buses plus the hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus along with free entry to most of the interesting sites. My first free tour was a walking tour of the old city with Barbara, poor girl I was the only attendee so she had to put up with my inane questions for an hour and a half, her tour was informative and she also gave me loads of advice about transport, parking, what to see and more importantly what not to see. After that I managed to drag myself to the court church which was planned as a tomb for one of the emperors but the highlight of the visit is the 28 larger than life bronze figures who line both sides of the tomb including KING ARTHUR???? What I don’t understand is that there is a local superstition that touching parts of these highly patinated bronze figures will bring you luck, fertility, or whatever but it is quite startling to see the figure representing Juliet in Munich with one golden breast where the rest of the figure is virtually black with age or one of the monarchs in the the tomb with a golden codpiece.
Today’s exploration was an example of how things can go with an organised transportation system, free parking if you use the train and buses to everywhere you could ever want to go, even with a late start I managed a prolonged visit to the Ambras Castle which from a military point of view, think of knight’s weapons and armour, was informative and 15th century children paintings were frankly disturbing. My next stop was a multi interest site but the highlight was the Bergisel ski jump (no pun intended), while I was there I watched some young German teenager jump, no snow and just some wet fake grass to land on, in my opinion  a loony. The view from there is amazing and it makes you proud to know the Eddie the Eagle managed a jump of over 75 metres but more importantly his photograph is there with all the other record holders.

The view from the sundeck in my hotel in Innsbruck

The view Eddie the Eagle had, the area immediately behind the green patch at the bottom is the cemetery.

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Reservoir on the rout to the Brenner pass

Where to start.

I have been travelling, no wifi or having fun for the past few days so i will have to drag my mind back to Thursday. I had an early start so even with refreshment breaks I was in Canterbury by 1pm to explore the cathedral then on to my quirky B&B in Dover right next to the ferry port, after a Guinness in Cullin's Yard a pub/restaurant overlooking the marina I hit a back street chippy 'The Castle Takeaway' with tables outside for a real treat, proper fish and chips at a reasonable price. The B&B had a double and single bed, two settees, a full kitchen including freezer and dishwasher but most of all a 7 foot mirror in an ornate gold frame opposite the bed, fortunately the lights were out on my mid-night trip to the loo otherwise I would have frightened myself to death.

The War Horse, to honour the millions of horses that died in France during the Great War.

Another early start on Friday saw me on the ferry an hour earlier which was a bonus as the continent is currently and hour in front of the UK so after a leisurely full fry I was on the road just after 10am. the route took me through Boring Belgium, less than interesting Luxembourg and parts of the French eastern border that does not have a lot to recommend it but the the Vosges changed the whole perspective then just across the border into Germany and it was all immaculate, welcoming and felt like coming home. After nearly 8 hours behind the wheel my B&B that night was perfect except for no wifi but a night without is no great hardship and it was more than made up for by the beautiful little pedestrianised town of Neuburgen am Mulhouse with a pavement restaurant the served me good local food and beer with a charming lack of laughter at my appalling German. Saturday's start was delayed by breakfast but a non-motorway route from Neuburgen to Munich took me through the scenic countryside and villages that really need more investigation, the last 100kms is by necessity on autobahn but most of it is limited to 80km/h so still relaxing until you hit city traffic then it is less fun but I was safe at my hotel by 3pm.
The local/underground train service in Munich is as expected efficient and you never wait more than 10 minutes, there are stations either side of my hotel both less than 5 minutes walk away and with a three day pass for around £15 who needs a car. I went down town exploring yesterday afternoon and as usual got lost but i got my bearings in the end and found myself being served large beers by well presented young ladies, I tried the local speciality Schweinebraten mit nudeln the two hunks of roast pork would have fed a family of four and the nudeln was a cricket ball sized lump of bread dumpling with very little taste I was thankful I had packed the Rennies. Today's highlight was a Sandeman's free walking tour around the city, obviously there is no charge and the guide works only for tips which means he is an informative performer and well worth the tips he was given, they offer tours in other cities in Europe, the US and in the UK, well worth a try. Stupidly I carried on with the walking and visited the English Garden, another place worth a visit either on foot or by bicycle but not as I did on a sunny Sunday, the food and drink places were mobbed.

The Eisbach River flows at speed through the English Garden

and people leap in to be swept down stream

Googling food where i am staying took me to a bar/restaurant attached to a local sports club which was celebrating their team's winter season achievements, great entertainment the longer the evening went on and the owner kept buying me beers because the food was so slow in arriving, I tipped him enough to cover what should have been the bill. 
Well I am now up to date, plans for tomorrow are still fluid so watch this space.