Inverness, Scotland

After our two nights in Glasgow, we headed to Inverness to start our tour with the Rick Steves tour group! We had originally booked a train from Glasgow to Inverness, but after some record-breaking rain, the trains were cancelled. Luckily Charles did his research and booked bus tickets as a backup before they sold out. 

We arrived in Inverness and quickly walked from the bus station to our hotel to meet up with the group for an orientation. We were supposed to arrive an hour earlier, but arrived right at the start of the orientation so we had to go in soaking wet from the rain. We met everyone, including our guide, and received a nice introduction to the tour. We checked into Glen Mohr for our two nights and relaxed for a bit before our group Inverness Orientation Walk and dinner at The Mustard Seed.

Our hotel was situated right by the river. Due to the heavy rainfall, the river was dangerously close to the banks. 

The next day was filled with lots of activities! After our breakfast at the hotel, we were off to Loch Ness for a boat ride to Urquhart Castle. Unfortunately, no one spotted Nessie. 

This little bird was happy to hang out while tourists (like ourselves) snapped his picture. 

Another stop of the day was to Clava Cairns. Have you heard of Stonehenge? This place is similar. No one knows the purpose of these stone mounds and structures. Our guide encouraged us to come up with our own theories while walking around the area. I am amazed that this place is completely free to visit. 

Another stop was to Culloden Battlefield. Honestly, my expectations for pretty low for this stop. Why would I care about a battlefield? However, after spending an hour with our battlefield guide, this became one of my favorite stops of the trip. She provided us so much interesting history about the Jacobites and the history of the battle. It was also interesting to think about how history could have been completely different if the outcome of the battle was different. Would America be what it is? Would the French Revolution happened? 

At the battlefield, stones were added to represent several clans that were part of the battle. These were added much later on and not necessarily historically accurate. I looked for clan markers for my ancestors, but did not spot them. Mixed clans it is!

Throughout the tour, our guide gave us snacks and treats to try. This was our first taste of whiskey and Scottish tablet. Tablet is the Scottish version of fudge.

Glasgow, Scotland

To celebrate fifteen years of marriage, we booked a trip to Scotland! When I was a little kid, my family visited Scotland and I fell in love with the green landscape and bagpipers on the street corner. Ever since I have been dreaming of my return. 

Most of our trip was spent with our Rick Steves tour group (more on that later), but the first day was spent in Glasgow on our own. We flew into Glasgow airport, took the airport shuttle bus downtown and explored the city. I wish we could have spent more time in Glasgow, but that just means we will have to return in the future to see more. 

Our first excursion was meant to be a spooky tour of Glasgow the first night we arrived. However, with 100% chance of rain (and a lot of rain at that), we opted to skip out. It sounded like it was going to be a really interesting tour, so I am a little bummed that the weather was so poor. Next time... 

On our first full day, we headed to the Tenement House. It's a small museum for a slice of life in Glasgow's recent past. We visited something similar in Bulgaria so I was curious to see this place. It did not take very long to go through it all, but it was fun to look at all the old everyday items that were showcased throughout the museum. They also had a fantastic gift shop! 

Glasgow is known for its plethora of street art. Next time I visit, I hope to take a street art walking tour to see more of it. However, just walking around we saw quite a few pieces. This one is said to depict their patron saint, Saint Mungo. 

When in the UK, you almost have to do two things: ride on a double decker bus and drink tea. Well, we crossed off both of those in one go with an afternoon tea experience ON a vintage double decker bus! It was a rainy day, so this was a convenient way to see the city while sipping on delicious tea and enjoying little sandwiches and desserts.

After our ride around Glasgow, we walked over to the Glasgow Cathedral to see it. We have visited many churches and cathedrals around Europe. This one had the most number of people working (or volunteering?) inside. 

One really great thing about visiting Scotland is that it's an English speaking country. I love visiting other places in Europe, but there was something so convenient about not having to translate restaurant menus. For our final dinner in Glasgow, we opted to visit Stack & Still for pancakes. They offer both sweet and savory options. We ordered one savory and one sweet and shared. 

Oberammergau, Germany

Charles had a work trip to Oberammergau. For years, whenever he has had a work trip planned he asks if I want to go. In the past, I had work or some other commitments that prevented me from tagging along. But this time nothing held me back! 

He had been to Oberammergau once before, but in the winter, and raved about it. I was excited to visit this time of year. Germany is beautiful in September and October. 

We stayed at Hotel Garni Fux and had a spacious suite. This was our view! Oberammergau is a small town and everything is walkable, so I don't think you can go wrong choosing any hotel in town for the walkable convenience. Hotel Fux was no different, but the place was great! Our stay included breakfast which was the perfect way to start my day. 

Hotel Fux was dog-friendly which suited Suzie perfectly. She spend a lot of time snoozing the day away in comfort.

Everywhere you look in Oberammergau there are beautiful flowers! 

I explored the church and churchyard while in town. 

Oberammergau has a long history of woodworking. The Oberammergau Museum had great displays showcasing the talent. We purchased the combined ticket and visited the Passion Play Theater afterward. Save 1 Euro on the ticket if you're staying in Oberammergau, BTW. 

The Passion Play has been performed every ten years (with some exceptions throughout the long history) in Oberammergau since 1634. It started off as a promise to God during the plague. The most recent play was performed in 2022 (postponed due to COVID) and will be back on schedule again in 2030. 

We ate really well while staying in Oberammergau. On our first night in town we enjoyed dinner at Dumpling and Sushi. The avocado bowl was so delicious! I kind of wish we had gone back and tried other items from their menu. It all sounded so good.

We found this place while walking around town on the first evening and returned later in the week. They specialize in burgers and they were worth the wait! I had the Hipster burger which had a habanero-blueberry sauce. It was very messy, but very tasty! The crispy sweet potato fries were an excellent compliment; one order was enough for the two of us to share.

On a previous trip to Garmisch, we had visited the Ettal Abbey but decided to visit again while in Oberammergau. The inside is very ornate which seems at odds with it being a home to monks. Make sure to pick up some beer or liquor while visiting. 

Lastly, on our way home we stopped to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. It is one of those places you kind of have to see at least once while visiting or living in Germany and this seemed like the best time to cross it off our list. Even though I did a bit of research in advance, I did not realize the uphill hike it would take to get to the bridge for this viewpoint. Well, now that's done!

 

Belgrade, Serbia

For Labor Day weekend, we jetted off to Serbia. Why? The flight on Wizz Air was affordable and it gave us another country to cross off our list. I do not know anyone who has visited before, so I went in with little knowledge about the city. 

We stayed at Hotel Nevski which was in a convenient location to the places we wanted to see while in town for the long weekend. The room was huge and the breakfast spread was plenty to fill us up for days of touring the city. 

After checking in, we headed to Republic Square and the National Museum of Serbia. They had a ton of great pieces of art on display including some very well known names like Picasso, Degas and more. 

A major attraction in Belgrade is the Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park. We booked a walking tour through Tripadvisor. Part of the tour included the underground tunnels/bunker which was a really cool (literally and figuratively) part to see. 

This statue was originally in the town center back in the day, but was moved up here because it was offensive to the lady folk. Delicate ladies should not have to gaze upon a naked man. ;)

The military bunker was an interesting place to visit. These tanks were used to hold drinking water for the soldiers living in the bunker.

All around Europe you can find some version of Mexican or Tex-Mex food and most of it is not worth the effort. We strolled by a restaurant after the fortress tour and thought why not! It was billed as "Santa Fe Tex-Mex" which made me chuckle. My chicken tacos had a Carolina BBQ sauce on top. A little weird, but tasted good enough. 

After our inauthentic taco lunch, we had a boat tour. It was a leisurely ride on the Danube and Sava rivers (the two meet here in Belgrade which has led to some turbulent times in the city's history). 

Another tour that we enjoyed during our visit to Belgrade was a street food tour. The first stop was to a "pie" shop where we tried a traditional Serbian dish that is often served at breakfast or dinner. It's filo dough with different fillings like meat, cheese, potato or spinach. 

We also tried "meat fingers" (don't ask me the Serbian name...), pizza topped with "salad" (think chicken salad), a Serbian pre-game wine shot and dessert balls of Austrian/German influence. 

And finally we went on a street art tour. Belgrade was covered in tags, graffiti and street art. Many pieces are inspired by the two soccer teams. The city has also hosted many out of town street artists to create beautiful murals. The bird mural was my favorite of the tour and was created by an Israeli couple. 

 

Nove, Italy

The annual spouses' club board trip to Nove, Italy was at the end of August! I visited with the club two years ago and was excited to visit again for some camaraderie and shopping. We left bright and early to caravan down.

We made one pit stop for lunch at a restaurant overlooking a beautiful lake. Once we arrived at Le Nove hotel and got settled, we immediately visited a couple local pottery shops. The first one was Edelweiss which has so many cute pieces. 

Another Nove favorite is the "chicken man" who offers a variety of chicken pitchers. I don't remember the story behind them, but there is a story. They come in several sizes with many different designs so everyone is sure to find one that suits them. Since my last visit, he had moved locations to the town center across from the tower. 

A new-to-me shop was the pewter store. I had LOW expectations for this shop thinking that it would be filled with a bunch of old people stuff. I was pleasantly surprised by the interesting variety of items. They must work with the local bases often because we found a ton of US military items like these decanters. 

I splurged for a single room on this trip and it was so worth it! This is the view from my room. Le Nove is a surprisingly modern hotel with air conditioning and a nice breakfast spread.

You cannot visit Italy without some wine tasting! Two of the ladies set up a visit to one of their favorite wine producers--Riva Granda. We planned to just stop and pick up some cases of wine, but they treated us to some snacks and a little tour of their vineyard. 

On our second evening in town we visited nearby Bassano del Grappa to walk around before heading to dinner at a nearby winery.

Our Trips & Tours chair set up a wine tasting at this local winery. I opted to be a DD for the night, so I did not have a chance to sample any of their wines, but the estate was lovely! It is owned by sisters; supporting a female owned company felt really good. 

Aside from pottery shopping, the big draw was a huge flohmarkt (flea market) in a nearby town. This market happens on the last Sunday of the month. When I say it's huge, I am not exaggerating. We spent hours walking around, haggling and enjoying gelato and did not even see all the booths. 

Two years ago when I visited Nove, a friend and I had hoped to visit the inside of the church that is located near the flohmarkt, but ran out of time. This year I made a point to check it out. 

I am not a big spender and came home with only a few treasurers from the weekend, but am really happy with all of them. I was extra excited to find the tiny greyhound figurine to gift to Charles.