Speeding through Flagstaff

We got our kicks on Route 66, driving to Flagstaff from the Hoover Dam. We stayed in a roadside motel in Flagstaff - for an authentic Route 66 road trip experience. Flagstaff had a few nice wild west style saloon bars and restaurants so it made a good stopping point. However, I wouldn't recommend making friends with the local police force. I felt like a serial killer after being stopped for doing 80 in a 65 zone by the Arizona Highway Patrol. I was just relieved not to get shot the way he acted! I now have to appear at Flagstaff Sherrif Court on the 29th June - so I may not be back at work as soon as I thought!


After a stern talking to, we were free to continue on up to the Grand Canyon.

Viva Las Vegas

Yip, everyone was right - we did hate Vegas! At least at first, although it grew on us. The sheer madness of the place kept us entertained for a couple of days after we had got accustomed to just how tacky, bizarre, weird, and hot it was. (We nearly got killed trying to cross the 4 lane highway to get this photo!)

We spent most of our time wandering around the casinos (not that there is anything else) and found ourselves exploring Venice, Paris, New York, Rome and even ancient Egypt. We stayed at the Excalibur hotel, which has a mock medieval castle theme - so I'm counting that as another castle visit for Laura!

Plymouth and Cape Cod

A long drive back south from Bar Harbor led us to Plymouth - one of the most historical parts of America, given its status as the initial colony established by the founding fathers in the early seventeenth century. One of the most revered sights was a bit of a joke. The Plymouth rock is apparently the first part of land that the pilgrims stepped upon (yeah right!). It was guarded by two policemen, presumably to stop terrorists from blowing it up (but really just to make it look important!). What we found much more interesting was the working recreation of the initial colony at "Plimoth Plantation". Here you step back into 1627 as role playing actors bring the colony to life, which worked a lot better than it sounds (it could only work in America though!).

After leaving Plymouth we drove further south round Cape Cod, right to the tip of the cape at Provincetown, where they also claimed to be the landing point of the pilgrim fathers (very confusing!). Provincetown had beautiful coastal views and had quite a bohemian, laid back vibe about it. Unfortunately we didn't have too much time to spend there as we had to race back to Boston to stay in an airport hotel prior to our early morning flight to Vegas...

13 Years On - Salisbury Beach

Thirteen years ago I spent the summer between my third and fourth years at university working in Pirates Fun Park in Salisbury Beach in Massachussets. It was a great, memorable time, and a fantastic experience, and I was curious to revisit the scene of so many memories.

Returning for the first time since I left in September 1993, I was confronted with many familiar sights, but much of what I had remembered was now gone. It was always a bit of a run-down place before, but now it is a ghost town - reminiscent of an abandoned wild west town. Even the desperados have left. Pirates Park, once the focus of the community, is sadly no more - all that remains is the gate and sign!

It was so desolate that we only spent 30 minutes or so gazing at the remains of a place I remembered so well...

Boston in the floods

Much to Laura's surprise we managed to survive the long distance flight to the USA, and arrived safely in Boston last Monday night. However, to continue our luck with the weather, we found ourselves in the middle of the worst floods in New England for several decades. And where was our hotel? Only on the banks of a river! We were relieved when they put us on the second floor!

The weather relented enough for us to get out and about in Boston. We walked the several miles of the Freedom Trail, which took us past many of the sights of the American Revolution, where American patriotism was in full display. In fact it is everywhere, with star spangled banners flying from almost every building.

After Laura's trouble finding a decent cup of tea in Europe, we'd heard that there was a tea party in Boston - but alas, the replica Boston Tea Party ship was no more - apparently struck by lightning and badly damaged a few years ago. Laura was gutted that she couldn't get to throw tea in the harbour! However, it was only a replica - like much of the 'history' on display in Boston.

After 4 days in Boston, we went to collect our economy hire car, only to find it had been upgraded for us to a gas guzzling SUV - it's a monster!

We won the cup!

It wasn't pretty, and it certainly wasn't fun, but we got there in the end - Heart of Midlothian, Scottish Cup Winners 2006. A nailbiting afternoon of high drama ended with us scraping through on penalties against "plucky-little-Gretna".

On a personal level, Saturday brought justification of a hunch I had back in January. Our travels have all been planned around potential football dates, right up to Saturday's cup final. After returning from Hampden, last night was spent in raucous celebration at the Caley Sample Room, today was spent at the parade in Edinburgh, and tomorrow we are off again on our travels.

Some Pictures from Sunday's victory parade through Edinburgh...



The rest of the pics can be seen here...
Hearts' victory parade

Namur no more - bonjour Bruxelles

Another day, another change of plan. However, this time it was almost accidental. We left Germany early in the morning and had lunch in Luxembourg just to tick another country off the list. We arrived in Namur, where the tourist office directed us to the only place that still had a room, but after driving miles out of town without finding it, we realised we were half way to Brussels - and didn't bother turning back! We hadn't even intended on going to Brussels on this trip, but felt it only right that we should visit the home of the European Parliament given that we have spent a couple of months travelling around Euroland!


On our travels so far we had managed to stick to our 'Golden Rule' of no McDonalds, no Starbucks, and no Irish pubs. However it went out of the window in Brussels as soon as I discovered an Irish pub showing live coverage of the Hearts - Celtic match. And what a game! Even Laura was happy as she got a decent cup of tea whilst I celebrated Hearts' great win on my own - in the presence of a handful of morose Glaswegians!

Auf Wiedersehen Germany - last stop Trier

Our final destination in Germany was Trier, supposedly the oldest town in Germany. We were intending on going to Strasbourg after leaving Freiburg, but the weather was so awful as we entered France, that we drove straight on, back into Germany and onwards to Trier, a day earlier than planned.

My Mum and Dad were spending a week on holiday in the Rhineland area, so they came down to meet us in Trier for two nights, and it was good to have some company again. Back in the days when Laura could hold down a job(!), she worked for a week in the Trier tourist office, whilst learning German, so we all had a knowledgeable guide to take us round the city's extensive Roman ruins - the best preserved North of the Alps apparently.


Trier itself was quite different from most other places in Germany, with much more of a French type influence. No more beer halls - it was back to cafe culture. It is in the major German wine producing area though, so wine stubes tended to dominate - although much to our suprise the Mosel Valley white wines were lovely.