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Holmes Travels
Holmes Travels

Holmes Travels

traveled in 10 countries Read more🇨🇦Whitehorse
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  • Holmes TravelsScotland 2018Holmes Travels
    Bob at start of WHW
    Dumgoyach FarmVal by oak treeGencoyne Distillery1Bacon in a bun for lunchView towards Loch LomondBob heading up a hillVal at the pub in DrymanAshbank B&B where we are stayingWhere we are having dinner

    Milngavie to Dryman

    May 30, 2018 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    This leg was 19 km. It started off nice and cool but by the afternoon it was really hot. The first half was mostly through woods alongside streams and fields. At the halfway mark we stopped at Dumgoyne for lunch and had a bacon “bap”, which is back bacon in a bun. We walked past the Glencoyne Distillery, because we really didn’t need to spend £22 for a tour and a dram of whiskey with the heat. The second half of the hike was in more open landscape and some of it along roads that were narrow but not busy. We got into Drymen (pronounced “Drimmon”) at 2 pm and sat down in a pub for drinks. We are staying at the Ashbank B&B. Tommy the owner greeted us. This hotel was once where Eric Liddell lived, who was the quiet Scotsman in Chariots of Fire. He won the 400 m run at the Paris Olympics in 1924. Tonight we are going to the Clachan Inn, which has the oldest licensed pub in Scotland.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsScotland 2018Holmes Travels
    1Bergenia at train station
    Lots of elderly people in MilngavieBob standing by start of WHW marker

    In Milngavie

    May 29, 2018 in Scotland ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We got here in the early afternoon. This is the starting point for the West Highland Way. It’s only a twenty minute train ride from Glasgow. Milngavie seems pretty quiet. It has a nice downtown mall with lots of bakeries and tea shops, and what seems like a lot of elderly people. Maybe they’ve retired out here to get away from the city. Bob had an Italian ice cream cone from a shop that’s been selling them since 1928. There is a monument in the downtown square with about 150 names from WW1. That is a lot of people lost from such a small town. We went for a nice dinner that was £30 with drinks. Bob had Highland chicken (likely not caught in the Highlands) stuffed with Haggis, with clapshot mash and Glengoyne whisky sauce. It doesn’t get much more Scottish than that. Tomorrow we start hiking.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsScotland 2018Holmes Travels
    Red sandstone buildings in Glasgow

    Heading to Milngavie

    May 29, 2018 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Well, we’re up and had a nice breakfast. We are pretty jet-lagged but I’m sure that will go away in a day or so. This morning we’re heading to Central Station to catch a train to Milngavie, the start of the West Highland Way. It’s pronounced “Mill guy”, which is like a lot of Scottish names that are way off if you say them as they are written. Like, for example, Drymen (a day’s hike away, which is pronounced Drimmen. I’m sure everyone will be snickering at us when we mention place names. It’s grey but not cold today.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsScotland 2018Holmes Travels
    1Piano at Frankfurt airport
    Val on Buchanan StreetGlasgow Coat of Arms2Bob having beer outsideOutdoor food tablesA Scottish taxi

    Arrived in Glasgow

    May 28, 2018 in Scotland ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    We had to wait in Frankfurt for 6 hours, but eventually got on a sweltering hot bus at the gate and drove to the far end of the airport where the Glasgow plane was waiting. The flight was on time. Our bags made it to Scotland which always seems like a miracle. We bused into Glasgow and walked to our hotel, the Citizen M. It’s very boutique-ish. It’s hot here- somewhere in the mid 20’s but about 80% humidity. We had a nice dinner sitting outside. We are now back at the room. We’re both pretty tired having been up about 30 hours.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsScotland 2018Holmes Travels
    Flight stats
    Val waiting in Frankfurt

    Landed in Frankfurt

    May 28, 2018 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We arrived at the Frankfurt airport at 8am local time Monday (11 pm Pacific time Sunday). Didn’t really sleep at all so kind of bagged. We have to wait 6 hours for our Glasgow Flight. It’s a sunny day here.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsScotland 2018Holmes Travels

    Fly to Vancouver

    May 26, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We flew to Vancouver from Whitehorse and took the Skytrain to Burnaby. We met up with Kim and Myles and headed to Metrotown mall, but didn’t buy much, and then had dinner at Dumpling Dynasty. It was a twelve course extravaganza Chinese meal. After, we drove up Burnaby Mountain and walked around to the Simon Fraser campus. There were lots of nice flowers. We are staying with Kim and Myles tonight.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    At Steamworks
    1At Bella Gelateria

    Vancouver

    June 18, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Landed here around 11 am and took the Canada Line downtown to meet Kim and Myles for lunch at the Steamworks. After that we wandered up to Pacific Centre Mall and then went for ice cream at Bella Gelateria. Now we are back at the airport waiting for our flight home. It's cool and drizzling here.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    Toronto baggage pile-up

    In Montreal

    June 18, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Missed our connection to Vancouver last night due to delay out of Marseilles and bag tagging issues. After two and a half hours at Trudeau airport, we finally got a room at the Marriott airport. On the 7:30 am flight this morning to Vancouver. It's currently delayed so we're having breakfast. The baggage conveyors were not working so bags are being stacked and hand carried. Hope we see our bags again. Oh the joy of flight!Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    Evisa from our hotel
    Val in the heatOta in the distanceThe Spelunca GorgeSpelunca GorgeGenoese bridge (pont a Zagla)Bob on bridgePont a la Pianella

    Evisa to Ota and back to Calvi

    June 16, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today was a scorcher of a day again. We checked out of our hotel in Evisa (the Aitone hotel) and walked to Ota, which took about 3 1/2 hours. We were in the shade for most of the walk and it was downhill for the first 3 hours, but still very hot. We saw amazing Genoa style arched bridges. We also saw the Spelunca Gorge and lots of different trees. In Ota we saw lemon trees, a walnut tree, grape vines, and a cherry tree and an apricot tree. We had a nice lunch at Chez Felix restaurant and all had salads and Orezza fizzy water. After lunch, we drove the van ( that Hilary got via a taxi trip back to Evisa) back to Calvi where we are at the Hotel Revellata, where we stayed for the first two nights. Tonight we are going for dinner in the Citadelle and then we are packing up to fly home tomorrow.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    Umbrella pine trees
    Packing up the vanCorsican pinesRest spot but not openBridge on GR 20 broken by treeVal and Corsican pinePines grow high on mountainsWild roses on GR 20

    The Col de Verghio

    June 15, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Today we drove into the main part of Evisa and bought a lunch at the local store. They have wonderful fresh fruit here in Corsica! Then we drove to the Col de Verghio, where we parked the van and started walking. It was another clear hot day, although because we started at 1400 m, it was cooler, but still 28 degrees. Our trail connected into the GR 20 (a trail which traverses the entire length of Corsica) and we walked along to a spot where the river formed pools in the granite and we could swim. We had our lunch there and swam in the water although it was pretty cold. Hilary and Bob went up after lunch to the Bocca Guagnarola at 1833 m, and then came back to the swimming area where the others waited. Then we all hiked back to the van. There were lots of colourful hikers on the portion of the GR20 that we did. We also saw the umbrella pines which are spectacular and the Corsican pine trees.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    Rockclimbers we watched
    Val and HilaryVia ferrataLac de Melo at our rest stopTowards Lac de CapitelloLac de MeloLac de CapitelloAcross Lac de CapitelloBob and Val at Lac de Capitello

    Lac de Melo and onto Evisa

    June 14, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We drove the van up to the Gorges de la Restonica and parked it at the upper parking lot at the trail head around 1400 m elevation. We then spent a nice day hiking up to Lac de Melo and to a higher lake. The hike up to Lac de Melo at around 1720 m was very hot even though we started in early morning. A few of us went in the water but it was pretty cold. Val and I put our legs in to cool off. We then hiked to the upper lake which was at 1950 m or so. We had our lunch there and watched the cheoughs trying to snatch our food. There were a pair of rock climbers on a wall across from us as well. We could also see some hikers on the GR 20 at a pass high above us. They would have wished to be down at the lake. The mountains are quite spectacular with high vertical granite towers that are quite reminiscent of the Torres del Paine in Patagonia. Walking back to the van was very hot. When we got to the van we drove back to Corte. The road was busy and for some reason they were running the "Tour de Corte" with Porches that couldn't really go any speed with all the traffic and narrow roads. In Corte we got our suitcases from the hotel where we had left them. We also had drinks and ice cream. Then we drove the van to the little town of Evisa and we got in around 6 pm. We saw some semi wild pigs along the road.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    In Corte
    Val cooling off in town fountainstarting up the Tavignano valleyour trailCorte and citadellealong the trailIn an area with Gneiss rockTowards the Gorgea stray dog at our lunch stopGiant olive tree we had lunch under

    To Corte

    June 13, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After breakfast, we all boarded the van and drove to Corte. This town is in the interior of Corsica and at an altitude of 500 meters. We only had an hour to look around a bit. The centre square has a statue of Pascal Paoli, the Father of Corsican nationalism. We packed up our stuff and headed out on the trail up the Tavignano River. It turns into a steep sided "gorge" higher up and there are nice smooth granite boulders that you can use to swim in pools in the river. It was very hot today. Val's thermometer read 38 in the shade which seemed about right. We had our lunch sitting under a giant olive tree and a stray dog came along to join us and get some water and food. Anne brought some paté de quince and Corsican cheese for all of us as a treat, and Hilary brought strawberries. We dropped down to the river and had a nice cool swim. The stream comes off the high mountains to the west that still have snow. After that we headed back to town. Along the way we saw some large Corsican pines and lots of immortelle plants.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    Val's Nicoise salad
    sunset in Calvi

    Dinner in Calvi

    June 12, 2017 in France ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    We had a nice dinner with the group at the restaurant at the Cathedral Sainte Marie Majeure. The French sure know how to eat well. Then there was a beautiful setting sun when we walked back to our hotel. Today was +34 degrees, which is why we were so hot (and somewhat dehydrated)!Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    Capu Tondu
    Silvia looking over GaleriaHilary, Anne and ValGolfe de GaleriaBurnt tree probably from lightning1

    Galeria

    June 12, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We drove a van to the small town of Galeria south of Calvi. From there we spent most of the day hiking up Capu Tondu, which is a mountain 839 meters high. It was extremely hot and the temperature got above 30 today with no breeze. The way up was on a path with a lot of loose scree and in the trees for the first 400 meters and then it steepened to bare rock with clambering. Barb waited for us around 550 meters and the rest of us carried on. It was very nice at the summit. You could see over to Monte Cinto which is the highest mountain in Corsica and still has a little snow. We went slowly down to be careful with our footing. When we got to the bottom around 3 pm, we headed to the bar and had drinks. Then we went for a swim in the ocean at Galeria. We drove home and we are now back in our room sorting things out.Read more

  • Holmes TravelsCornwall and Corsica 2017Holmes Travels
    1
    Check out Val's new hat1Calvi with citadelle in distanceLa Revellata with lighthouse11Taking our lunch breakVal, Simone, Sylvie, Anne and Hilary1

    La Revellata Headland

    June 11, 2017 in France ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We had a pretty easy day today. We walked along roads and paths on La Revellata headland. We walked from our hotel so it wasn't that far. This was fine as it was a very hot day today, somewhere around 30 degrees. We stopped at a tea house and went for a swim in the Golfe de Revellata. We had a nice lunch spot overlooking the Punta Bianca and then walked up to Notre Dame de la Serra where there were some great views of Calvi. We walked back to town and had ice cream and fizzy water and bought a lunch for tomorrow. Our group consists of Val and I, Hilary, Simone (Hilary's neighbour), Anne (from Paris), Barb (from Toronto), and Silvia from Italy.Read more

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