I am retired, love to travel especially to Italy. Have adult children that bring me joy and a wonderful husband. I love photography and aspire to one day be good enough to publish my photos.
Here are a few of the photos I took at St. Andrews Castle and St. Andrews Cathedral Graveyard. Built in the 1100’s and used as a home for the bishops and archbishops of St. Andrews. It has a long and interesting history, part of which is the tunnel that was started by invaders attempting to dig until they passed the walls. The defenders started their own tunnel and they met in the middle and fought underground. If you tour the remnants of St. Andrews Castle, you can actually see this tunnel and walk part of it.
While driving around St. Andrews we were hungry and discovered this great little farm that has multiple purposes. It is called Balgove Larder, is a working farm, cafe, Steak Barn Restaurant, butchery (all of their meat is free range and local) farm shop and flower shed. The farm is dedicated to promoting all locally sourced items and showcasing all that Scotland has to offer in the way of culinary items. During the evenings they even have a “Night Market” where they have local vendor booths serving food and live music. The food was really good, the items in the store were original and very high quality and I couldn’t get over how beautiful the flowers were.
Balgove LarderThe Flower Shed at Balgove Larder
The Flower ShedThe Gift and Food Store at Balgove LarderThe “local” butcherA small corner in the store, something for everyoneThe Steak Barn at Balgove Larder
This is probably one of the most beautiful places I will ever go! No photos I share with you, no matter how hard I try, will ever do it justice. Hundreds of acres of magnificent mountains, streams, waterfalls and meadows. The wildlife takes your breath away.
We spent part of today touring around Balmoral Castle, it was magnificent! People are only allowed to see one of the rooms in the actual castle, but you are free to stroll all around the gardens, view the castle exterior from all angles up close.
One of the tour guides explained that during the months the queen retreats there no one is allowed to visit, but she has been known to go there, stay in one of the houses on the property and just show up where the visitors are!
We were told that there are now 55,000 acres belonging to the property. The gardens are truly beautiful. They grow all of their own vegetables for the Queens meals when she is in residence. I could just imagine her walking around the property and sitting on one of the many benches placed around the property.
We are heading to Scotland and London in a few days!
This will be my first trip to Scotland and I am so excited to see it, take photos and share them with you guys! And of course, many more adventures from London!
We headed up to Bend, Oregon for a short stay last week. We lived up there for about six years and loved it. We lived on an acre of land with a view of the Three Sisters Mountains from our living room window. For those of you that have never been there, if you get the chance, take it. It is high desert, beautiful mountains, streams and lakes and a very modern, beautifully set up downtown area. We eventually moved away because I was finding it hard to be that far away from our kids. But whenever we get the chance, we head up there for a visit.
There are three areas actually that are connected. Sunriver is a resort area that has two golf courses, miles and miles of bicycle trails, the river that you can canoe down and a small mall. There are two pools, one is a regular pool with grass surroundings and the other has been turned into a sports complex with slides, a gym and other amenities. This is more of a destination type resort that many go to for relaxation, golf and outdoor activities. The second one is Bend itself. This is the new, updated, very cosmopolitan downtown area. Specialty shops and restaurants and a good supply of breweries. The entire area is surrounded by lakes, rivers and mountains. The third area worth mention is Sisters. This is the town that we lived the closest to. It is just a very small, locals type town. It has one main street that runs through it and little shops, cafes and restaurants. Until about a year ago, it actually still had wooden sidewalks. Very sad that they upgraded them actually! Its one major claim to fame is that they have a quilt festival once a year. It is such an adorable, little reflection of how towns once were.
One of our favorite restaurants is Anthonys, it’s located downtown Bend, with seating on the side of the Deschutes river. It doesn’t get much better than sitting out on their deck on a summer evening, enjoying their great food and watching the river go by! Another one of our favorites is McKays Cottage. This is located downtown Bend, a little hard to find, but all of the locals know how to get there. It is a converted house, has a great garden with tables for dining outdoors, a bakery and a great selection of food items. We always go there for breakfast which is wonderful. Another standby that is known mostly just to the locals is The Breakfast Club. It has good solid, old fashioned breakfast. It is a tiny place with no pomp or flair but just good food. We always head to our favorite coffee shop, again downtown Bend, called Looney Beans. Fresh bakery goods, bagels and cream cheese, delicious iced organic drinks and coffee. The best part of this place is that they have a long, sloping grass garden that has the river running by. A cup of coffee, a book and one of their adirondak chairs and we are set!
Taking day trips up to any of the lakes is magical! Drake Park is well worth a mention as it is one of the most beautiful parks we have ever seen. Take a picnic blanket, a packed lunch and enjoy!
The Bend/Sunriver/Sisters area is truly magical. It is well worth a visit!
Drake ParkLooney BeansSunriverSunriverSunset in Bend
We lived on the Monterey Peninsula for over 30 years. One of our children was born in Carmel, another lived there from the age of 5 months so it will always be home to us all.
I must admit, when we retired (early) I had just about had enough of the fog that the area experiences so we moved away. However, it is always lovely to go back and experience the beauty of the area again.
We were only there for two days and one night and we ended up staying at the Monterey Plaza Hotel. I would highly recommend staying there if you do go to the area. It is located right on the famous Cannery Row, the place that once housed all of the sardine canning warehouses until the sardines just about disappeared from the seas around that area. The last cannery closed down in 1973. It now has a lot of good restaurants, hotels and the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is also famous for being the setting for two of John Steinbeck’s novels.
We ate at the hotel restaurant, Schooners, for breakfast which had good food with fantastic views, a little pricy but worth it. We saw sea otters and seals right outside the window, pretty special!
Not having much time to spend there, we went to Pacific Grove and drove through the Asilomar area which, if you haven’t seen it is something I would suggest you try to do. The coastline is one of the most beautiful in the world.
I have shared a few of the photos I took during this short trip and hope you enjoy them. Please excuse the shakiness of the video but the wind was pretty strong that day. The photos of the seals were taken at the Hopkins Marine Station the marine laboratory belonging to Stanford University located in Pacific Grove. The beach is owned by them, therefore private, and a perfect location for the seals to gather to deliver their pups. While we were there taking photos one gave birth!
Beautiful overcast day from the Monterey Plaza Hotel restaurantPeak of the ocean from our roomAlong Asilomar BeachSeals and their pups
Recently we were lucky enough to be invited by the owners of the Santa Barbara Inn to go and stay in the newly renovated hotel. John had worked many years for them including as General Manager at the SB Inn and they wanted us to be able to enjoy the grand opening.
We headed down there and met up with two dear friends of ours (the husband had also worked with the owners for many years) and we definitely all got the VIP treatment! Both couples were given suites with direct ocean views. Our suite had a large living room, two bathrooms and three balconies!!! And yes, I did try to get them to let me live there!
The renovation was almost a tear down and replace. It is truly a showcase of the highest quality. We were lucky enough to have a wonderful suite, but even the standard rooms are out of this world. From the furnishings, the amenities, to the continental breakfast that is part of the room charge it is first class all the way.
We spent three nights and four days there and I truly did not want to leave. Being in Santa Barbara is enough to make me eternally happy, but put me in one of these wonderful rooms at the Inn and they practically had to drag me away.
The Lobby of the new Santa Barbara InnAmazing renovationThe view from the balcony of a roomSunriseMy favorite way to get around in Santa BarbaraIconic statue at the wharfOutdoor restaurant seating and pool areaLiving room in the suiteAmazing bed!
I wanted to take this time to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Hoping everyone gets to travel to wherever their hearts desire and to live every moment to its fullest.
We traveled to Oregon over Thanksgiving and down to the Monterey Peninsula for New Years Eve and New Years Day. Had good times seeing everyone, shopping and revisiting some of our favorite places.
Here are just a few of the photos I took while down in Carmel. I must admit I actually forgot to take photos for most of the time! Can you imagine that!
We have a lot of ideas for travel this year but nothing planned out as yet. Will keep you up to date on what we plan and I will post those things that make up my world. Hopefully you will enjoy!
This is probably one of the most beautiful places I will ever go! No photos I share with you, no matter how hard I try, will ever do it justice. Hundreds of acres of magnificent mountains, streams, waterfalls and meadows. The wildlife takes your breath away.
1. Carmel Beach
Blogging My Dreams 