July and August are wild times in Scotland. First, there is the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe Festival in July. Then, the Castle Esplanade is turned into an outdoor theatre for the Royal Military Tattoo, featuring brass bands, bagpipes, and drums. And the Highlands are a buzz with clan Games. David is just back from the festivities and will share his adventures.
Featuring the MacPherson Highlands Games and The City of Mount Dora (FLA) Pipes and Drums.
David and his team have been on the road leading tours this year for 120 days… so far! Tonight, David will report on the state of European travel. The good, the bad, the better, and the best!
David is just back from 8 weeks on the road in Europe. Travel is back and people are flying across the pond to experience many destinations. Singles, families, and groups were spotted in all the predictable locations, such as Rome, Paris, Dublin, and London. But the smaller locales still seem laid-back and in tourism recovery mode. Vax or No Vax did not seem to matter, and testing to enter a country were few and far between. Join David tonight as he reports on his travels, offers advice, and how the world has adapted in this (post) pandemic era.
There are a lot more of my Travel Talk Tuesday episodes in the archives. If you are looking for more information, videos, or advice about European travel, check here https://davidmcguffin.com/ttt
Recently, I’ve been reading two of Ken Follett’s novels, Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. He sets the fictional story in a realistic Middle Ages town in England, which he calls Kingsbridge. Mr. Follett’s description of Kingsbridge Priory, the Earl of Shiring’s Castle, and the town of Shiring came to life for me today upon visiting Carcassonne, a medieval fortress town in southern France.
Carcassonne is located in the south of France about one hour from its border with Spain. Since about 700 A.D., the huge stone walls have provided refuge and fortification for various lords, earls, and their serfs. It is surrounded by two massive outer walls with towers and barbicans, a moat, and a large drawbridge all designed to ward off attacks.
Inside the walls are the restored remains of a thriving medieval city. It is easy to imagine medieval life going on in Carcassonne. Merchant’s shops, pubs, craftsmen and noble houses are easily identified.
There is an inner close, a castle within a castle, where the lord of the town apparently lived. Enclosed within these secondary fortifications is a modest palace and church.
After touring the town, I decided to find a spot for dinner. After rewalking the town to assess dining possibilities, I referred to “TripAdvisor.com” and decided upon “Adelaide Restaurant.” The GPS feature on my iPhone led me directly to the restaurant, where I was lucky to get a table.
This being my first night in France, I was ready for their rich cuisine. I decided upon a Fois Gras starter with fig compote and greens.
My main course was their duck confit cassolette, which included a roasted duck leg and its juices, cooked in a pot with white beans and sausage.
Dessert featured chocolate mousse and raspberry ice cream. This was all washed down with a splash of the local red wine from Corbieres, just down the road from the restaurant.
Recently, I’ve been writing about my experiences planning and leading tours in Europe. This was brought on by a friend at church asking me how I liked my recent “vacation”. Don’t get me wrong, traveling in Europe is a blast and I would not do it if I did not really enjoy myself, but there is a lot of work to it too. In the previous episodes, I’ve collected the group from the airport, gotten them on a bus, traveled to Paris, and unloaded the bus in heavy traffic. Now we are piled into the hotel lobby waiting to get room keys.
As we walk through the lobby, the guests at the bar (invariably French businessmen or vacationing Europeans) look at the the sea of people and suitcases with amusement. I often wonder what they are thinking… Do they pity me? Do they wish they had visited a bar down the street? Or maybe it’s just that they want a pair of those bright white tennis shoes! At any rate, I make my way to the hotel reception desk, speak with a clerk, and with relative ease get our electronic key cards and hand them out. As I send my friends on their way to their rooms, I tell them, “We’ll meet here in the lobby at 5:00 p.m. and will be out the rest of the night”. Also, I remind them to “Be sure to bring a sweater, an umbrella, and wear your money belt”.
Thinking all is finished, I grab my bag and head to the stairs. Just then, I hear a comotion from around the corner and find my entire group crowded in the tiny elevator lobby waiting to get to their rooms. Remember the coffin-sized elevator at the airport? Well, this one is coffin-sized for a midget! It will take an hour to get all these people and their luggage upstairs. Consequently, I begin telling the younger ones to take the stairs. Meanwhile, a couple get on the elevator, the doors close, and off they go. We wait, and wait, and wait. Finally, the doors open and there stands the exact same people who left minutes ago! The lady is confused because she was told her room number 333 was on the third floor. They went three floors up, held the elevator door, looked around, and found only rooms with numbers in the two hundreds. “Can’t they count around here!” she exclaims. “Well uhmmm, I forgot to tell you that the first floor is really zero, and the second floor is really the first,” I say weakly. “So your room is really four floors up”. Off they go again, and so begins the elevator overuse. I walk away to the sound of the elevator overload alarm buzzing through the lobby.
Thirty minutes later I’ve dropped my bags in my room, checked all the floors where my group’s rooms are located, and it appears everyone is in! I grab my journal and head down to the lobby bar for a much needed drink. Just as I get my pen out and open my journal, one of the ladies appears from the midget-sized elevator, marches over to the reception desk, and speaks to the clerk. I can’t hear what’s going on, but I know she’s not happy with something. Reluctantly I get up and go over to offer my assistance, only to find that she has gotten her answer and doesn’t like it. It seems that the shower is too small, the air conditioning does not work, and the bed is too low to the floor. The clerk ducks her head and rolls her eyes as I tell my client that this hotel has no air conditioning, the showers are small all over Europe, and the beds are typically low to the ground so people can fall into them, not climb into them. She replies, “I know you said it would be different, but I didn’t expect this!” Then, I guided her towards the bar and ordered her a nice cool glass of Chablis. As we sipped I began talking about what I love about Paris, the Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, neighborhood markets, and the solitude of the Place des Voges. The wine and my descriptions seemed to change her tone. As she left for her “small’ room, she said she wouldn’t mind “falling into her bed” after a good French dinner!
(more to come)
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