Scotland

Day 1.
We got off the coach in Glasgow at 6am and took the train to Balloch, then a local bus to Balmaha. And thus began our hike on the West Highlands Way.

The first day we walked from Balmaha to Inversnaid, a beautiful walk along Loch Lomond.


Exhausted after 14 miles walking, we wild camped in the woods near Inversnaid.

Day 2.
Beautiful setting, but woke up swamped by midges and in torrential rain. Love the outdoors :). Packed up the tend in the rain and off to the second day of walking.

First part, getting from Inversnaid to Invernan on a narrow and tiring footpath. Highlight of this path: seeing a polecat and a mountain goat in the woods! Otherwise, we got fairly wet in the torrential rain and struggled on the narrow path, as demonstrated below.


Walked and walked and walked through the rain till we finally stopped in the evening at a farm, near the ruins of a very old Christian priory and cemetery. Camped there and had a hot shower. Bliss.


Day 3.
On our way again, this time on a sunny pleasant day, enjoying the beautiful views. Finally arrived at Bridge of Orchy where we caught the train to Fort William.



Day 4.
Hiking up Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain. The weather was decent and the views were gorgeous! The route they say takes 8-9 hours but we managed to do it in under 7. Got down in plenty of time then to stop at the pub, have local ales and try the haggis (not bad!).



Day 5.
Another one of torrential, oppressive rain. Decided to stay around the campsite and see a bit of Fort William. Not too impressed, although two items in the local museum caught our attention. One is a Ford from 1901 they drove up Ben Nevis as a publicity stunt. Another, a dress decorated with green beetle wings.



Day 6.
Took the train from Fort William to Mallaig, they say it's one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. From Mallaig, took the ferry to the Island of Skye. Landed at Armadale, a lovely little village.


Visited the Clan Donald estate and the museum. Really good museum, go if you have the chance.



Day 7.
Off on the 7am train to Edinburgh and the Fringe - largest arts festival in the world! Spent the day walking around the city, stopping to see the street theatre, finding great live music in various pubs, finishing the evening with a blues concert. The atmosphere is fantastic, definitely going back next year for longer!!


Day 8.
And sadly the last holiday day, made the most of it by visiting more of Edinburgh. Saw the beautiful hilltop castle, the Scottish Parliament building, enjoyed the wonderful individual cafes and generally moaned about having to go back home that evening...



Definitely going back to Scotland!! Not by night coach ever again though.

Romania

OK, this is not actually recent, but well worth including in the travels section. These are some of the places from our Romanian trip last year.

We started out in Bucharest, although Dan doesn't remember much of it except the unbearable August heat :)

Retezat National Park
We then headed for the Retezat Mountains with some dear friends. Camped for four days, two of which by Lake Bucura, the largest glacier lake in Romania.



The lake is at 2000m, with easy access to the highest peak in these mountains, Peleaga, at 2507m.


What is so beautiful about this place is that it is a nature reserve, so no cars are allowed, there are no mountain lodges, it's only the hikers with their tents, and some other mountain creatures. Here's a photo of two marmots on some rocks :)


Sarmisegetuza
Next destination: the village of Samisegetuza - the former capital of the Roman province of Dacia. We actually hiked from Retezat National Park to Sarmisegetuza, getting lost and trying to find our way in the scorching heat. There are quite a few things to see, the ruins of the amphitheatre, various temples, Roman baths. The open-air museum was under refurbishment but it was actually a cool opportunity to see a working archaeological site. No photos from here, but if you are overwhelmed with curiosity you can start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulpia_Traiana_Sarmizegetusa .

Hunedoara
Next day went to see a pretty cool castle, a very well preserved medieval castle and very successful at recreating a medieval atmosphere with the old furniture (the large throne hall was really good), decorations, and music. My photos really don't do it justice, but here's one of the interior.


Suceava
From one of the most important medieval castles in Transylvania, we headed off on the sleeper train for one of the other historical regions: Moldova. The citadel of the former regional capital is quite nice to visit


One of the regional attractions are the painted monasteries, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We saw a couple on our way south to the Ceahlau Mountains.



Ceahlau
Two days in Ceahlau Mountains, where we took a hike to Duruitoarea Falls. Stayed at the nicest B&B, where most produce is from their own farm. The whole region is pleasingly pastoral, here's a view from the B&B toward the national park mountains.


Bran & Peles
Heading on back to Bucharest through the Hungarian Settler region (not missing the opportunity to have some tasty goulash soup!), we stopped for another night on Prahova Valley. Although really good to visit, this region is flooded with tourists, not as quiet and pleasant as the rest of the tour. Two very cool places to see on the way are Bran Castle (left below), built in the 13th century by Teutonic knights, and Peles Castle, the residence of the first king of Romania.


Pretty cool tour overall! :)