Ribeauville part one

After our two recovery nights in Troyes we felt refreshed enough to head for our next destination, Ribeauville, in the Alsace region, which was taken by what is now Germany in 1871 then returned to the French in 1918 only to be taken forcibly by Germany in 1940 and then returned by force to France in 1945. Plenty of recent history here, then.

The route east was characterised initially by mainly flat land covered as far as the eye could see in all directions by agriculture. Then the forest-covered Vosges mountains appeared in the last hour or so. We’d deliberately chosen the route over the mountains rather than dodge around the southern edge as this seemed a great way to enter our target village which is perched on the eastern fringe of the mountains and the western fringe of the plains which stretch east to the Rhine river, and Germany’s Black Forest region.

Having previously extensively reconnoitred digitally our new accommodation and its village we had no difficulty arriving on time outside our ex-Post Office (19th century German) apartment building, whose architecture is singularly different from its neighbour buildings.

That’s Mary at the front window of our apartment which uses the entire side of the building at that level

Parking space in the street outside seemed tight at first glance but with a little more of a look around we squeezed in just as the locals do. I think they are very casual about parking here.

Access to the apartment was easy, with the use of a key safe and a code which had been passed by Airbnb message. It took me only two trips to transfer all of our gear from the car into the apartment where we unpacked everything into the various built-in storage facilities as we were already tired of living out of suitcases (not that we had any suits in there). Next, off to the supermarket two minutes walk away. A few essentials like beer and wine, oh, and breakfast stuff and a frozen pizza for dinner in the apartment and we were set. It was a warm and sunny afternoon and the sun doesn’t set until 2130 so we took ourselves the two minutes’ walk down to the local Grand Rue where we found a table at a clearly popular establishment and sat down for what we considered a well-deserved rest.

Draft beer (pression) is widely available in Alsace and drunk with enthusiasm

Day one. Saturday. This place is surrounded by countryside and during the small hours is quiet as (I imagine) the depths of space. We slept soundly, arose late-ish, and enjoyed the soft-light views of varying terrain from our windows looking north, south and west. Some light traffic noises and the rare (thankfully) ear-splitting moped roar from the favourite transport of the local youth competed with the melodious calls of the blackbirds in the vineyard abutting our back yard. Breakfast was pleasant and the microwave (our coffee machine, recipe available on request) was easily mastered so all was well. We opted to do bugger-all today, except wander, individually, on foot with the plan that we’d eat in the Grand Rue in the evening, perhaps after a glass of red at home. The washing machine now caught our eye and Mary mastered its various buttons and dials with the help of the manual, written in English for once.

The washing machine got us an invite to a get-together, that evening, of the various tenants of the ex-Post Office in the back yard. How come, you ask? Well, we couldn’t open the washing machine door at the end of its cycle. I messaged the owner, who lives in nearby Colmar with his wife and infant son, and he mentioned that he was attending the get-together, that we could attend also and that he’d get the washing machine door open during his visit. All of which happened, although the washing machine door was far more difficult for the owner than he expected.

The soirée was a great success but, with only one other English-speaker among the less than a dozen attendees, we struggled with the conversation, but the more wines we had the easier it got. Then before the party got too wild, we oldies sauntered off to the Grand Rue where numerous bistro/restaurant choices awaited. After a delicious meal at surf club prices we headed back to bed to find that the soirée was getting rowdier by the minute. We were tempted to stay but fortunate, I think, that we didn’t, although it would have been a great chance to pick up some new words of French.

Sunday. Day of rest. Yeah, sure! Early start, on with the boots and backpack and we were off to conquer the steep castle-topped ridge to our west overlooking the village.

Looking west along Grand Rue, with one of the castles visible on the ridge in the distance

Movie of the hike up the mountain: Click “View on Facebook” if not displaying



Apart from another great evening meal in the Grand Rue, Sunday was used up.

Monday 28May18

Time to use the car, which had stood, lonely and unused, in our street, Rue Klee.

Ribeauville is at top left. We roughly followed the blue annotated line in a clockwise direction. The Rhine and the border show clearly, running S-N.

Germany’s not far away, to the east, from Ribeauville, which, if you’ve been paying attention, was itself once part of Germany. We picked the detailed route as we went along, with no fixed visit locations planned and carried our own lunch (baguette, ham, cheese, fruit) knowing we’d happen on a sweet place to pull up at a picnic table or grassy bank, away from traffic and munch at our leisure.

Probably all reading this have heard of the Maginot Line. If not, you can find lots of info about it on Wikipedia. Anyway, all of a sudden we started to see signs mentioning a memorial to this strategic linear fortress. Sure enough it was on our route and certainly worth a visit even though I’d had no inkling beforehand that such a memorial existed.

One side of the massive bunker

Preserved adjacent to the bunker was this sizable bomb crater; according to the notice a Luftwaffe Stuka dive bomber delivered its bomb there, missing the bunker by 15m.

Unceremoniously we crossed the Rhine into Germany where a huge hydro electricity plant was operating, in French territory, using water from the north-flowing Rhine whose centreline serves as the border between the two in these parts. On the other side, after some diversion onto gravel roads looking for a lunch spot, we happened on a very pleasant facility right on the right bank. Here we ate our lunch before moving to the adjacent riverside restaurant for a single cold beer each and no more, although there was a bit of mission creep on Mary’s side.

Mission creep in action

Having crossed back into France we headed west, as on the map above, to intercept the Alsace Wine Route and follow it north back to Ribeauville. This Wine Route, while scenic, was not easy to navigate, being poorly signed in villages where it’s common for three or more streets to intersect.

So here’s the docket for dinner last night, at Chez Martine.

Each euro uses 1.5 Aussie dollars. Delicious meal, al fresco, with wine and local beer. Surf club prices, but better quality, we think.

That’s the first three days of Ribeauville, and we leave here on Friday 01Jun to a single night in a little riverside inn near Besancon.

Thanks for reading and providing feedback.

Kev and Mary

Paris to Troyes

Several hours’ sleep for both of us on the long, long, night flight from Singapore to Paris were surprising and welcome. Perhaps our preflight tourist activities in Singapore pushed us over the edge. It’s pleasant to wake up and find that we had already covered half the distance and that we had only six or so hours to go.

Paris was misty, the immigration process was attentuated and tedious and the bag pick-up chaotic but all three of our bags arrived on the conveyor belt. We spent a few minutes trying to find the exit from the bag pick-up, found and used an ATM to fill our wallets with euros (€) then successfully contacted the car supplier by phone. (Note: there are no longer any public phones in Terminal 1 Arrivals, CDG, even though our explicit printed instructions asked us to use the public phone.) Having landed at 0720, we eventually escaped at about 0900 from the concrete cauldron and scrambled with our bags into the white transit van which took us to our Renault Clio, patiently waiting for us with its Peugeot and Citroen cousins at the handover base nearby.

Our Renault Clio, our transport for the next few weeks.

Cars provided under the system we’re using are brand new, fully insured, prepaid, but have only 50 km of fuel in the tank (no electric cars offered, yet). Knowing this before I left home, I’d found a fuel filling station only 15 minutes’ drive from the start point and on the route to Troyes, our first planned overnight stop, two hours’ drive SE of Paris. So this was our first halt after start-up. We drove to and found it easily, filled up (pre-pay system, as I discovered after a couple of minutes of confusion as to why the fuel wasn’t coming through the nozzle) then parked in the nearby Carrefours shopping centre. This centre contained another vital service needed on day one of trips abroad: a telecommunications provider who, for a paltry sum, links my iPad to the French cellular system, thus giving us an internet connection within the car, or on foot, wherever there’s a signal (so most places in France, also free roaming within the EU).

So, we had cash, car, connection and coffee. The road to Troyes beckoned and we set off at about 1150 in our shiny black Clio to meet our host at the agreed RV time of 1400.

The sweeping crop-covered plains of this part of France reminded us immediately of previous trips and we eventually swept into Troyes right on time, successfully navigating the narrow cobbled one-way streets of the city centre. (Thank you, Siri, whose robotic pronunciation is not always perfect but whose intricate navigation information usually is.)

We secured a car park right outside the apartment entrance and a few minutes later were met by our host, an engaging young guy called Aurelien who, summoned by our Airbnb message of successful arival, arrived in a few minutes by bike, introduced us to our apartment, and left us to our own devices.

By now we were quite weary, but not too weary to first do some grocery shopping, mainly for breakfast items, then afterward sit in the dappled shade in the main square, just around the corner from our apartment, with a suitable drink or two watching the trovians (inhabitants of Troyes) going about their normal activities.

Thursday, our first full day in France for this trip, was filled with a self-guided walking tour of the historic city centre (with a lunchtime nap half way round) and outdoor dinner at one of the many restaurants within a 200m stroll.

Some Troyes pics:

Streets and buildings emerging onto the main square

Typical cross alleys in Troyes centre. That’s Mary beneath the turret.

Ruelle des chats, between buildings which lean against each other above for support.

Snapper in the market at Troyes (same price as in Noosa, but slightly different source).

Many buildings have unsettling leanings

And, to finish off, a video we made (note that you can use the Watch on Facebook option even if you’re not a Facebook user):




Off to Ribeauville (further east) Friday 25May18 for a full week.

Thanks for reading.

Mary & Kev

Farewell to London

Started writing on evening of 23Jun16, in our apartment in Pimlico

As I write this, steady rain is drenching this part of London. There was talk earlier that we'd be going out for dinner this evening, as we have done most nights but we may now be restricted to the Italian restaurant just outside our door instead of further afield.

Tomorrow we head for home. We're ready to go but have really enjoyed London again, and of course the rest of the trip which went better than we expected it might.

Today of course is the big referendum and the media is playing it for all it's worth. We should learn the results early tomorrow, perhaps at Heathrow or even before. You'll see a couple of images in this post touching on this event.

Yesterday, our second last day in this vibrant and ordered city, we decided that we should visit the south side, that is the part of London on the southern side of the Thames. At first tempted to get there by renting one each of Boris's Bikes from the rack near our apartment we concluded that this idea was probably impractible and fell back on old faithful, the Underground.

Nick Neal, of Sydney, well known food aficionado, suggested we visit Borough Market so that's where we went first.

This is a pleasant place to wander. Not too busy and filled with great smells and delights for the eye.

See what I mean. We bought something from this stall for afternoon tea, even though it was barely 11:00am.

And decided to have an early lunch of bratwurst, German style.

30 sec movie. Borough Market lunch.

Lunch at Borough Market, Southwark, London

A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on Jun 23, 2016 at 9:28am PDT

Lunch done, we pulled out the iPad and consulted the Maps App. The reconstructed Globe Theatre was nearby so we set off through the labyrinth which characterises this part of London.

Here's the reconstructed version of the Globe Theatre, right on the riverbank. We briefly toyed with the idea of attending the 3:00pm performance of Macbeth but a quick glance at the box office showed this to be impossible: "Sold Out!". Probably this is one tourist attraction which many US college groups visit, booking months ahead. Certainly there were many young people with North America accents scrambling around the edifice and its support offices.

OK, what else was possible from this start point? Another look at the iPad showed that we could walk downstream on the right bank of the river toward the Tower Bridge. The weather was still OK, so we headed off on what turned out to be a very enjoyable excursion.

Movie, one minute. See HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, the nearby striking modern architecture and Mary and me sitting in deck chairs drinking beer.

London Bridge City, Southwark, London. A stroll along the south side, right bank of the river, downstream toward Tower Bridge. #london #towerbridge #hmsbelfast #riverthames

A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on Jun 23, 2016 at 5:20am PDT

So, here's Tower Bridge. Note that it's not London Bridge, which is a basic but decent bridge nearby which replaced an older arched bridge which was sold to a US entrepreneur who dismantled it and shipped it to a US theme park in Arizona where it can be seen to this day. There's a story around that the entrepreneur thought he was buying Tower Bridge when he struck the deal.

Looking back from Tower Bridge at the place we'd strolled through. That sharp topped building is known as The Shard.

As you can see from the movie, we crossed Tower Bridge to more closely view the Tower of London which we'd thankfully visited long ago so no need to battle the crowds to visit again.

By now we were ready for an afternoon nap and afternoon tea as well, remembering that we were carrying a Borough Market calorie-loaded confection home for that very purpose. We were home in a jiffy on the Underground and the chocolate cake was delicious.

On Thursday, our final morning we headed for shop-filled Oxford Street where Mary was set loose on the shops while I meandered about, with an agreement to rendezvous at a ground-selected location in two hours.

Self explanatory, a picture only legitimately obtainable on this one day, 23Jun16.

On our way on foot to our apartment from Victoria Underground Station we routinely pass Her Majesty's Passport Office. This afternoon, for the first time that we've noticed, there was a long queue at the entrance. Referendum-linked? Possibly.

And so our UK trip is ending. Tomorrow our intention is to use Uber to get from here to Heathrow, Terminal 2. My research indicates that it will take about 30 minutes and cost up to £36, which is likely a much better way to do the journey than all of the alternatives, including Black Cab and the Underground. A little bit of uncertainty adds spice to the trip, don't you think?

See some of you in Noosa in a couple of days.

Thanks for viewing, and for providing us with feedback and news from home and family.

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).

Location:Churton Street,London,United Kingdom

London rocks, really

Started writing Wednesday 22Jun16 in Pimlico, London

So, we're in our apartment here in Pimlico. The location is great, with easy walk access to two Underground Stations, both on the Victoria Line, which gives us great access north, south, east and west. Nearby are the essential retailers: grocery, wine, food, cold beer.

We got an Uber cab to here from Kings Cross station on Saturday afternoon, where our Virgin East Coast line train terminated. Again, the Uber experience was great. Opened the App once we were standing at an appropriate car pick up spot, designated the destination, hit the GO button. A couple of minutes later we were in the car and on our way. The ride took about 25 minutes and cost £12.68, probably not much more expensive than the Tube, and certainly way more convenient.

Having done an extensive map recce of this part of London before leaving home, we were locally oriented very quickly and Mary hopped out to the local supermarket around a couple of corners for some essentials while I dealt with a couple of issues back home.

Sunday morning. Great weather. We had a plan (got to have a plan) and the weather was right for it, so straight after our simple home brekky and coffee we headed north, up the street, to Victoria Station. Forty pounds later we had two Oyster cards, each with £15 credit and a refundable £5 deposit. It took a little time to get back into the way of using the Underground but soon we were off, headed for Primrose Hill (change at Euston, get out at Chalk Farm).

Boris Johnson reckons Primrose Hill has the best view of London. It's a pleasant park in an upmarket part of London. And yes, it was a great view in what is a city almost entirely without hills. Not a primrose in sight, though (according to Mary, whom I had to ask, as I wouldn't know a primrose if it bit me on the bum), which is a pity.

Our main plan today was to visit the Camden Market, which is centred on a basin of the same name on the Regent's Canal. This is all north of the Thames. From Primrose Hill it was downhill, as you've probably guessed, to the tow path running along the canal. This tow path, if followed in the correct direction, leads to the Camden Market.

Regent's Canal is a place you can park your narrow boat for up to a week without paying, according to a nearby sign. We saw a narrow boat for sale for £12000, so maybe it's cheaper to go to work in a narrow boat than by car. No congestion charges, either. No rent. Hmmm…

In due course we arrived at the market. Packed, it was. Sunny Sunday. Why not? Shaka Zulu is a restaurant, one of many with a huge variety of ethnic origins.

While the market had numerous attractions of the retail kind, we tired of it within an hour or so, especially as we'd already walked three or four km to get there, including an ascent and descent of the aforementioned formidable Primrose Hill. And especially as we happened upon the Camden Eye, which has nothing whatsoever to do with its London namesake. This slightly less famous Eye is a pub, just near the Camden Town tube station. We settled down for an hour or so with a couple of cold beers and some nourishing bar snacks made mainly of potatoes. Here we planned our next foray into the London heartland.

Weather still good -- Check. Still some energy left -- Check. OK, let's get the tube to Westminster then play it by ear. Westminster tube station exit is right under the towering brow of the Clock Tower, the residence of the world's best known clock, Big Ben.

We emerged from the Underground into bright sunlight and crowds of Americans all of whom were vying with each other to get the perfect picture of the famous timepiece which is useful now only as a tourist drawcard. It bonged ONE just as we were reaching for our sunglasses.

We knew we could walk home easily from there so set off with that in mind, stumbling on some interesting markers of world history as we went, as you do in London. It's been here for 2000 years and seen some truly momentous events in that time, and many of them have been memorialised through plaques, statues, street names and structures. I think this is one of the best things about London, the surprises which appear frequently and unannounced as you stroll around.

Mary's shot of the clock. Note that we assume our camera time (on the date/time stamp) was out a little. Big Ben wouldn't be caught showing the wrong time, I expect.

We strolled across the western front of the Parliament buildings, heading south into the Victoria Tower Gardens, from where we could access the riverside path. The crowds depleted rapidly, thankfully and we were able to find an empty park bench in the gardens and just sit and look, again.

The Burghers of Calais, by Rodin. Yes, the actual statue. In the park.

Memorial to Emily Pankhurst. In the park.

Resuming our plod homeward, we crossed the Lambeth Bridge without, as far as we know, bumping into the archbishop, knowing that we could recross the river further upstream and nearer home using the Vauxhall bridge, which was not named after the not-so-prestigious motor car maker.

Looking downstream from the Lambeth Bridge.

Continuing our stroll upstream on the right bank we speculated that we probably wouldn't be allowed to sneak between the river and the building which is home to SIS (aka MI6). To our surprise and delight, for it shortened the route we had to take, the riverside path continued uninterrupted. We climbed up onto Vauxhall Bridge then Mary took this picture of the building which she says was blown up in a James Bond movie she saw.

Clearly they've done a good job of repairing it. The SIS building. If you look closely you'll see that the Union Flag is being flown at half mast. This was because of the killing a couple of days earlier of parliamentarian Jo Cox.

From there it was an easy stroll to our Pimlico apartment for a well earned rest.

That's me, in shirt sleeves, strolling up our street.

~~~~~~

Monday. Raining. Stayed in bed until about 9:00am. St Paul's Cathedral was on our list and good for a wet day, and a Monday, so that was it. Brollies erect, we hit the street, got wet on the way to the Tube then stayed dry on the underground to St Paul's Station, where we got wet again. Neither of us had previously been inside St Pauls. And there's no photos allowed inside. It was certainly worthwhile even though there were many subtle attempts via the hand-held touch screen audio/video guide to convert us to the Anglican persuasion of the Christian faith. Among the greats justifiably interred here are Lord Nelson and Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington). Winston Churchill is buried elsewhere.

No photos, but several boring movies of rain and scrambling through the Underground. Moving on.

The Museum of London is close to St Paul's so we headed there after emerging from Christopher Wren's masterpiece into the rain again. The entire history of London is revealed here, but our legs and patience gave out after another hour or so and we sought solace firstly in the Lord Raglan (probably you can guess what went on there) and later in the Underground, heading home for a break and a post prandial snooze. By now we were becoming Underground experts and delighted in successfully making the transitions between lines and confidently leaping through just-closing train doors and grabbing the hand rail just as the acceleration kicked in. Must check the alcohol content of those beers.

~~~~~~

Tuesday. Leicester Square, "Theatreland". Being keen on experiencing a West End production, we'd decided back home that on this particular day we'd buy tickets to something for that day. So we knew exactly where to go to buy the tickets, and got there easily in good time only to find a line already, even though we'd arrived just before the ticket office opened. Thirty minutes later we had two tickets to "The Mousetrap" for the 3:00pm performance, also we had somewhat depleted wallets.

So we had several hours to kill. Mary opted to do the National Portrait Gallery while I, being more of a moving picture sort of guy, decided to roam the streets, starting with Trafalgar Square, just around the corner from the NPG.

Movie, one minute. Trafalgar Square epitomises Great Britain, I think.

Trafalgar Square. Probably my favourite place in London. Nelson's disruptive victory at Cape Trafalgar in 1805, paid for with his death, allowed Britain some breathing space in the ongoing battle against France and Spain. #trafalgarsquare #lordnelson #london #britain

A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on Jun 21, 2016 at 2:40pm PDT

My wanderings took me also through Picadilly Circus where I improbably was gifted a ripe banana by a young lady in the shadow of the Statue of Eros, although I understand the statue is actually of his brother Anteros. Whatever, my GoPro recorded the event.

The bananas were from Panama. Very nice too.

I easily filled in nearly two hours wandering and chatting in the Picadilly-Trafalgar-Pall Mall area before meeting Mary to find a suitable pub for lunch. This wasn't too hard then off we went to the rather small and secluded St Martin's Theatre which was the main recipient of the money we'd been relieved of earlier, at the ticket office. And "The Mousetrap"? Sorry, sworn to secrecy.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).

Location:Willow Place,London,United Kingdom

Edinburgh, Uber first trip

Writing started at Edinburgh Waverley railway station, while awaiting train to London. Posted 24 hours after arriving in London.

We've just been dropped off here by our Uber driver, Neil. I want to tell you and the world about Uber but first a bit about Edinburgh, where we've just spent three nights in a centrally located Airbnb apartment.

I remembered little about Edinburgh from our previous visit, over 30 years ago and I think this is the first time we've overnighted here. Everyone here complains about the weather, justifiably, but science is insufficiently advanced to do anything about that at this stage. This is a compact city, with buildings and roads piled one on top of another as the needs of the city varied over the 20 centuries or more it has existed. As the Scotland capital, it is also bustling and vibrant and packed with tourists, all year round I suspect.

Having visited the Castle, day one, and the Scottish National Gallery, day two, we spent much of the remainder of our time just wandering around and absorbing the ambience. Oh, and I had a haircut, at a one man business run by a Swedish Iraqi who'd very much like to migrate to Australia mainly because of, you guessed it, the weather.

Movie, one minute

Edinburgh, Scotland, visit. We spent a couple of days in this compact and ancient city. #edinburgh #edinburghcastle #scottishnationalgallery #lawnmarket #scotland

A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on Jun 17, 2016 at 8:00am PDT

Now to Uber. I'd signed up for this revolutionary and controversial "taxi" service several months ago, after I'd seen Pete and Jo use it in Melbourne, and aware that it might be useful on this trip. The App is installed on my iPad which is able to connect to the Internet through the cellular system, which is important for full Uber functionality. I established my Uber account using PayPal as my payment method, another relatively new facility I find very useful.

Knowing that we had to get ourselves and our bags from our apartment in old Edinburgh (a warren of narrow and winding cobbled streets) to the Waverley railway station I decided to do a test run with Uber on our first morning by ordering an Uber ride to get us through the streets to Edinburgh Castle. We could easily have walked this route but I figured that it was better to do a first ever run with Uber when timing was not critical, and the potential cost minimal.

This is how easy it was. We went downstairs, out into the street and stood on the prominent corner of West Bow and Grassmarket. I opened the Uber App on the iPad, seeing that it immediately identified our location and showed us that there was at least one Uber car within a couple of minutes away. Uber knows my name, of course, and of course knows the identity of all Uber drivers and the cars they use. I then chose our destination, from a drop down list as I started to type. Uber then offered to give me an estimate of the cost, which I didn't pursue, instead hitting the button to continue the process. Within a couple of seconds up came a picture of our driver, with details of the car she was driving, and an estimate of two minutes to pickup time. We could see the car's progress on screen and two minutes later the car pulled up, Anna (from Poland) greeted us and opened the car doors to let us board. We climbed in and were off in a jiffy.

Screen shot acquired during the trip. During the trip you can watch, on your phone or similar, the route the driver's taking and monitor progress.

On arrival we thanked Anna and simply disembarked, with payment being made automatically. The minimum charge for UberX in Edinburgh is £3.50 and that is what we were charged. Within seconds an invoice arrived by email as well as a trip summary via the App.

So this morning we used Uber again, with all our bags. Similar, excellent experience. No stress, no wondering if the car is going to turn up on time or at all, no cab-hailing. We're sold on Uber. And I noticed before leaving home that it's starting to show up in Noosa.

Much of the above was written while travelling at up to 180kph on the Virgin train to London. We're in first class as we thought we'd indulge ourselves a bit and we got a good deal anyway. I must say I'm surprised at how bouncy and downright rough the ride is at speed. But there's on-train WiFi and the seats are comfortable. The ride to London (Kings Cross) takes 4.5 hours and then we'll be Ubering again to our Airbnb apartment in Pimlico.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).

Location:Churton Street,London,United Kingdom

Arrived at Edinburgh

Written at Edinburgh, afternoon of 15Jun16

Well, as you can see, we've achieved the transition to a more pedestrian mode of travel in successfully arriving in Edinburgh. But first, let me tell you a little bit about our two-night stay in the town of Pitlochry.

Tourism is Pitlochry's breakfast lunch and dinner, and it shows. Want to buy some Scottish tourist souvenirs? This is the place. I confess I didn't much like it, probably because the warmth and friendliness we'd encountered in the more remote pubs of Scotland seemed to be missing here. And the Guinness and beers were much more expensive. However, it had one big redeeming feature from my POV. The River Tummel which passes through the small town is inhabited by Atlantic salmon which can be seen, by patient observers, free jumping in the rapids. It also has a fish ladder. It was on this ladder, about the 20th rung which uniquely has a glass wall, that I spent an inordinate amount of time but eventually I was rewarded. I have the video to prove it.

One minute movie, suitable for all fish and wildlife lovers:

Atlantic salmon, Pitlochry. Wild Atlantic salmon use the fish ladder here and pass through many ponds in the process. One of the ponds has a window allowing humans to view the salmon as they pass through. #pitlochry #rivertummel #fishladder #atlanticsalmon #salmon #scotland

A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on Jun 15, 2016 at 9:20am PDT

Maybe if this was the first Scottish village we'd visited we'd have more pictures but the Pitlochry photo archive is almost empty. And there was a fair bit of rain while we were there, which may explain that.

This photo shows the kitchen and lounge windows (arrowed) of our two bedroom Airbnb apartment in Pitlochry. First time we've been behind the wood shed, but it was comfortable, spacious and right in the centre of town, close to all amenities.

And so to today, which began with a leisurely departure from our Pitlochry apartment, which we left at 10:30am, 30 minutes earlier than our scheduled check-out time. It was raining as we turned left out through the carpark gate and headed south to join the A9. The first target today was to fill the car fuel tank at a service station reasonably close to the drop-off point. All three of us were navigating, Siri, Mary and I. A few weeks back I'd pinpointed the BP servo in central Edinburgh which we were heading for (thanks, Google Street View).

It's about a 1.5 hour drive and as we approached Edinburgh the rain eased off and we got a fine view of the three bridges over the Firth of Forth. The latest of these is not yet complete but it makes the oldest and most famous of these Forth bridges look a bit frail. In due course the BP Servo arrived just where Siri and Google said it would be. Phew! Next task was to double park (suggested by our Airbnb landlady) outside our building's entrance, right in the heart of old Edinburgh. Here we planned to find our way into the apartment via a keysafe, then written instructions for finding the actual front door (through black iron gate, through tunnel, into courtyard, up one flight of outdoor stone stairs, find red-painted locked door, through door, up to first floor, find another red-painted locked door, enter apartment). While I was accessing the apartment Mary was guarding our illegally parked car with instructions to talk fast and perhaps burst into tears if a Traffic Warden appeared.

By my third trip up into the apartment I'd transferred from the car all of our baggage that needed to be transferred. Mary by this time was keen to see what the apartment was like but that was not to be, just yet, as next we had to get rid of the hire car as it couldn't stay parked outside, unguarded indefinitely, without suffering the indignity of clamping or tow away. Thanks again to Google Street View and Siri we found our way through Edinburgh's tight and busy ancient streets to the rental car drop off in the multi-storey carpark adjacent to the central railway station. Mary could possibly have stayed behind in the apartment but I prefer to have her along as co-pilot in tight navigation situations such as this where two pairs of eyes and two brains are better than one.

The car handed over, all that remained was for us to wend our way back on foot through twisty tourist-filled streets and stairways to our accommodation. This simple journey/reconnaissance convinced us that a taxi will be essential to get back to the railway station in three days time with our bags; just too hard on foot, especially when it may be raining.

Some early pics from Edinburgh, which seems a fascinating destination already.

Google Street View image of the entrance (arrowed) to our apartment building. This image helped greatly in finding the place once we arrived in the vicinity.

Even though it was chilly, we couldn't resist an ice cream from this shop in The Grassmarket, which is adjacent to our apartment.

Mary's looking out of our kitchen window while I took the photo from down in the courtyard.

The tunnel to the courtyard behind the black cast iron gate visible in the Street View picture above.

Edinburgh Castle, as seen from The Grassmarket, only a couple of minutes from our apartment. Probably we'll visit the Castle tomorrow.

Off to bed after a busy day, and dinner and a couple of Guinnesses at The Last Drop pub around the corner.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).

Location:West Bow,Edinburgh,United Kingdom

Farewell to the Highlands

Written at Pitlochry, early morning 14Jan16

Seems I was busy at Inverness, as I've not updated this blog since our departure from Betty Hill on 09June.

But two enjoyable nights with the FBI (Farr Bay Inn) at Betty Hill flew past. Having visited John o’ Groats and the Castle of Mey two days previously, there was no need to follow the NC500 route strictly and we opted to cut the corner and travel on the lesser and narrower road which exits at Helmsdale. We then turned south, more or less directly to Inverness.

My photograph diary shows a dearth of images on that Friday, but I recall noticing the numerous floating oil derricks prominent in the estuary as we approached Inverness.

Our accommodation in Inverness was arranged through Airbnb, the first time we'd used that facility outside Australia. A characteristic of Airbnb properties is that they are rarely signposted or distinguished from surrounding properties, being often nestled away among numerous similar residences. This requires that the Airbnb user be able to navigate and also be able to communicate with the provider, preferably via Airbnb's excellent on-line messaging facility.

Jennifer, our young hostess in Inverness, was on the ball. She'd let us know by message where the key safe was located and of course, the combination. As for us, we had to get ourselves to the address, identify it positively, find the key safe and check ourselves in. All this was achieved easily. In good time we were settling in to Jennifer's spacious apartment, tucked in under the rear of her substantial three story terrace home in Ardconnel Street, a couple of minutes walk from the busy centre of Inverness. Car parking is a crucial part of this arrangement as seldom is it freely available so close to city centres. In this case, Jen had provided us with a voucher to be displayed on the dashboard and we'd found space in the road directly in front of her home. Easy.

That first evening we opted to just do a pizza or similar (readily available in frozen form at the nearby CO-OP) at home, accompanied by one of the bottles from our dwindling supply of Paarl reds which we'd been carrying with us, in the mobile cellar parked outside, since Skye.

The substantial bedroom was windowless, being sequestered under the main house. This was a great help in getting to sleep early that evening, and for sleeping-in the next day as sunset and sunrise are only a few hours apart up here so close to the North Pole. One of the key attractions of this Airbnb was the WASHING MACHINE, as many of you will understand. Mary had the first load in and whirring around while we dealt with brekky and the relative complexities of the other appliances.

It was while dealing with the TV that we discovered that from nearby London there was live coverage of the Trooping of the Colour for the sovereign's birthday. That, and the washing, sorted out the morning. The amazing TV coverage (the Brits and the BBC do this so well) was over by early afternoon so, despite the threat of drizzling rain, we decided to take a stroll along the River Ness, and in the process check out possibilities for a pub dinner later. To my surprise, and delight, there were several fly-fishers wading the river just near our apartment. The salmon are running but it appears they are not so common as the fishers would like them to be, or as they allegedly were in the old days.

We'd crossed the Ness on one of the footbridges and then crossed back on another, bringing us back into the city centre, where we found ourselves faced with numerous pub options. But one, in particular, caught our eye, or rather, our ears, as there was music clearly audible whenever the door of this otherwise ordinary building opened. Peeking in, we were astonished to find a dance/singing party underway, with most of the participants of our age or even older. Irresistible, especially as the musicians were of a similar vintage and the songs mainly old Scottish.

Movie, one minute. Try to spot Mary in there.

Hootananny Pub, Inverness. Saturday afternoon music and dance session. #inverness #hootananny #dancing

A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on Jun 13, 2016 at 12:13pm PDT

We left after a Guinness or two and it was still going strong.

On Sunday, after getting the second load of washing sorted, we went down Memory Lane by car, to Drumnadrochit, which we'd previously visited in 1984, with our children. Nothing much had changed, and we still didn't spot Nessie.

Monster? What monster?

Last time we'd overnighted at a B&B in Drumnadrochit, before heading south. This time we did the circuit around Loch Ness, doubling back toward Inverness at Fort Augustus and coming back on the narrower road which edges the southern side of the loch.

We still had time to visit the Culloden Battlefield, just NE of Inverness, which we couldn't fit in on our previous visit. This was the site of the demise of the Jacobite rebellion, under the dubious leadership of Bonnie Prince Charlie, at the hands of the better trained and equipped Government forces led by the Duke of Cumberland. There's a fairly new visitor centre here and we also were lucky enough to be included on a free guided battlefield tour, of which there are only two a day.

Cottage on the battlefield, reconstructed in Victorian times, so quite authentic. By Mary.

Movie of the battle simulation experience. One minute.

Culloden Battlefield & Display Centre, near Inverness. The Display Centre includes an immersive visual and audio simulation of the battle. This is a short edited movie of that realistic simulation. #culloden #cullodenbattle #cullodenbattlefield #inverness #scotland

A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on Jun 13, 2016 at 1:03pm PDT

Sunday was done, and so were we. Again we opted to stay in. Mary did her culinary magic with some bagels and we were into bed early for Monday meant departure for even further south, Pitlochry, but not by the direct route.

We had no particular desire to experience the delights of Pitlochry but were happy to try it as a waypoint between Inverness and Edinburgh, with a diversion through the Cairngorms National Park. This diversion was mainly because Mary wanted to experience Balmoral Castle, the famous summer holiday residence. It was on the way, even though it's out of the way, so why not? I wasn't so keen, but was pleasantly surprised.

The castle is in a wonderful setting, on the banks of the River Dee, whose clear, rushing waters had me salivating at the impossible prospect of fishing for the salmon and trout which inhabit it.

Still haven't seen a red squirrel on this trip. But they must be here. Walking up to the castle entrance.

Flowers for the castle interior are grown in the garden. Mary's photo (see more in the movie).

Scotch thistle motif on gate with castle in the background. Mary's photo.

Balmoral visit movie, one minute

Balmoral Castle, Cairngorms National Park, Scotland. #balmoralcastle #balmoral #cairngorms #scotland

A video posted by Mary & Kev Long (@noosatravellers) on Jun 13, 2016 at 2:03pm PDT

We rolled into Pitlochry at 4:30pm, after driving across the Cairngorms through wonderful scenery and encountering very little other traffic. Here again, we're using Airbnb. I tried for traditional B&B but couldn't get a response from some local providers I tried by email. Airbnb is likely going to continue eating into their traditional market, but it may take a few years. Here our accommodation is the most spacious yet. We have two bedrooms, separate kitchen, bathroom and lounge right in the middle of Pitlochry. Even better, although nothing to do with the accommodation, we awoke to a cloudless sky and no wind.

We have no particular plans for our 36 hours or so here but it's a pleasant village in a mountain setting. Population is 2,700 which goes to over 8,000 in the holiday season (soon). There are prospects of watching salmon migrate upstream, and Mary has her eye on some new shops already.

Off to Edinburgh tomorrow, where we return the hire car at the railway station, spend three nights in another Airbnb before catching the train to London.

Thanks for viewing

Mary and I welcome your email feedback and comment. Click here to email us.
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.


Our Instagram posts

The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.

Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).

Location:Elm Court,Pitlochry,United Kingdom