That's a big turkey!

Happy Christmas to you all from the Candlishes.

 Here's wishing you a good new year too!

It really is colder up north

Back to Aberdeen for the weekend - time away for a catch up with friends, and to hear the splendid AUWE and AUCB (wind and concert band.)

The sax section were boosted by No 2 child.  We were in St Macher's cathedral, which was nice.
So we had a wee road trip on Sunday - taking the road through "Royal" Deeside, and down through Glen Shee.

It was a freezing day, but warm in the car!

 Ice floating down the river. I said it was cold.

 

 After that, the fog descended, and the last hour was a whole different drive to end the day.

Another cathedral city

This time we went to see Strasbourg - home of one of our current parliaments.  We found one of the Park and Ride points, where one day-ticket allows you to park, and up to 7 people then can travel in to the city on the trams.  Woohoo indeed!

Lunch was in a restaurant recommended by Patrick, and booked through LaFourchette.com 

Cathedral day 1

So off to Metz we go on a day out.

Not before stopping for lunch in the country. My eyes were out on stalks when I read parts of the wine list.  (the prices - not the descriptions.)

 Then finally on to Metz. Love it!

Visiting the student

With another student in the family, we had a day out visiting the chilly north after 3 weeks apart.  We took the scenic route up via Braemar, because we had a visiting German assistant staying for a few weeks.  So up by Braemar, and home by the short route.  A lovely day out. And it was nice to see the student again.

This was the view from the coffee shop.  

And here is the Uni. With plenty of distractions from studying.

Who hasn't seen the Kelpies?

The mythical Kelpies live by the M9 in Scotland.

 It is difficult to take a bad photo if the weather is good.
 

August weekend away ii

So, day 2 of the weekend, and we are off  to the funicular - with the emphasis seriously on "fun". We stopped for a look at the view, then took the train to the upper station, where there was nothing to see.

Cairngorm means "blue mountain" which was the colour of my nose when we went outside.

Then we heard that our Duke Of Embra child had nearly finished her 4 day walk, so we headed off to Bair Atholl to see how she was feeling after 72 kms of walking.

She was fine, and so we celebrated later on that evening.  Very proud parents.

August weekend away

So we managed to have a short break while waiting for one child to finish her hike. We had a little trip to the highland park, and were quite impressed with all the historical stuff.

Then we got caught up with horse dragging, tree felling and turkey gobbling. A good day out!

 

The sound of music - We must be in Salzburg

We found the Summerhouse - pity we are not sixteen going on seventeen now. Rolf and Lisl might not have recognised it now - it has been moved to the gardens at Schloss Helbrunn.  

It looks lovely - but you would walk past it without recognising it.

The von-Candlish family tour has reached Austria, and we have a long weekend at a site on the edge of the city. Good if you like cold showers and european spacing between units.  Still, we were in the city, and that is why we were there.

Mozart has a few statues here, and we ate breakfast in a cafe where his family "might" have eaten.  So here are some photos of Salzburg from our weekend.

 Mr Mozart was born here.

 Mr Mozart might have eaten here.

 A nice wee castle up on the hill.

Never go back

A long long time ago, in a galaxy far away, Miss G became Mrs C, and the next day, we flew off to spend 10 days in St Wolfgang, in the Austrian lakes.

So here we were in the neighbourhood, and with a litle time to spare, so we took a little trip up over the hills, back to our honeymoon location.

 So what has happened in the last 27 years?  The tacky fairy seems to have visited, and spoilt the place.

Never go back!

Reflective Regensberg

So we are a few days in to the holiday, and are camping just outside Regenburg. When we arrived, No 1 child and I went to book in, and first we had to wake up the little old lady on reception!  She recovered, and was able to take our money and offer us a riverside pitch. 

After a quick setup we headed off into Regensburg to see the sights.  Then back home for a sleep before heading off to Austria.

 I like the reflection of the moon.

 

Mrs C and I went to Culross

We dont seem to get many days out - but we had a few hours in Culross, which was quite cool - especially the graveyard with the tomb of the big guy.

This was after the rain swept in.

This old boy had a few kids who were left to guard the tomb.

 I dont remember my latin lessons at school, but I think I know what fecit means.  The sculpter was tired of carving...

Best leaver gifts - ever

Thanks Collette for making me smile even on your last day.

Caravan of the year - first time in 2016

 

Stonehaven - home of the gulls.

 

The start of 2016 - Nothing happened

Nothing happened in January or February. March was fairly quiet too.  

These are the hills with snow on.