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Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion
Sounion, Greece. This is the Temple of Poseidon. I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled here a few times. My first introduction to Sounion was with my friend Yioryis who reminded me of the story in Greek Mythology of King Aegeus and his son Theseus.
A treaty had been agreed with King Minos of Greece after his son was killed in a contest with Aegeus. The treaty required that at regular intervals seven men and seven women would travel to Crete to be sacrificed to the Minotaur.
Theseus, son of Aegeus volunteered to travel to Crete as one of the fourteen tributes. His plan though, was to slay the Minotaur and put and end to the sacrifices. Before he set sail for Crete he agreed with his father that upon his return that if he had been successful in his quest he would lower the black sail and raise the white sails as a sign of victory. If the sails remained black then that would mean he had failed his quest.
But after his success in slaying the Minotaur he forgot to raise the white sails upon his return. Aegeus, seeing the black sails was so grief stricken believing his only son had perished then threw himself from the precipice at Cape Sounion to his death in the sea below. Since this time the sea has been known as the Aegean.
There’s also an inscription on the inside of the Temple from Lord Byron who in the 1800’s had traveled to Athens and Sounion that I have seen on my first trip just a few years ago. I have a blog post about it at http://www.travelswithjim.com/cape-sounion/
On another trip here I arrived by sailboat.And on this trip I was remembering how we got to the taverna for our meal. . . Standing at the temple nowI can actually retrace our steps in the brilliant sunshine this afternoon.
Come along with me as I circumnavigate the world. There are so many places to see and experience. It may seem odd to travel to a place more than once. But for me each experience brings a new perspective and appreciation.
I had planned to go see Craigievar Castle as my last stop on the Castle Trail but as I was looking at my plans I discovered that it was closed on Thursdays. So I decided to extend my trail by a day and that I would do some back tracking and visit some other sites I had skipped.
But that also meant that I would need another place to stay before then getting to Craigievar the next day. . . after 11:00am when they evidently opened for the day.
AirBnB provides a plethora of options for one night stays. I like them because I can often get a place that has a kitchen where I can create something tasty to eat and not necessarily have to go out for dinner.
While perusing the options i came across this one called Daviot House that appears to be a Castle itself. It certainly looks like a castle, what with the crenelated tower, turrets and oriel windows.
Daviot Castle
OMG I certainly chose the right place. It was really easy to find. The rooms are enormous and there are interesting details everywhere. In the updated kitchen the ceiling is 15 feet high. The views from every window are of rolling Scottish countryside. And at night there is a wee twinkling of lights from Inverurie just along the horizon.
The Wee Kitchen
Evidently the complex where Daviot House is located was once a part of Aberdeen Royal Mental Hospital. On the grounds there was a hospital for men and another for women. There was a stables building and a boiler house that provided heat for all the buildings on the campus.
In 1994 the institution was closed and the campus sat unoccupied for about 10 years. Within the last several years updates and renovations have taken place and the buildings are now entirely residential.
No. 2 House of Daviot is the central-most part of the former manse which is now divided into 5 properties. For the past six years Matt, the host, has been passionate about renovating this amazing castle-like space.
This way to your suite
On the ground level there is now a sweeping staircase with wood paneled wainscoting in what is a reception room. Just through the door is a lovely library with the fifteen foot ceilings and original plaster castings on the ceiling.
One door takes you into the massive space that is the kitchen. Another door takes you into what Matt calls the Ballroom. In the ballroom there are more original plaster casting designs on the ceiling as well as a doorway out to the conservatory that extends the full length of the ballroom.
Sweeping Views to Inverurie
On one landing Matt has designed and installed a nice office space for himself.
On the next level are three bedrooms including mine and a massive bathroom with a rain shower head that was simply awesome to stand under and an old styled clawfoot bathtub.
Guest Suite
Up yet another level and there is another bed room/workshop area. And on the top level the space mirrors that of the ground floor with several really large rooms as well as three more bedroom spaces that are as of yet a work in progress.
Matt has done amazing work. We enjoyed some nice conversation and a wee dram of Scottish Whisky the night I arrived. In the morning a simple breakfast was provided and then a jaunt around the property to capture a few pictures before heading out to my next Castle; Craigievar.
If you happen to be in the area make sure to stop for a bit. You won’t regret your stay here at Daviot House
Just a few days ago we went out to Stockbridge for the evening. And the first place we went to is called Goya 23. It’s a Sherry tasting experience and wine bar.
Now when I think of Sherry I usually think of the sherry my mother might occasionally have cooked with and the itty bitty bottles of liquor that my Grandmother Ellen and her sister kept (hidden) in their purses.
So i have experienced a little re-education here in Stockbridge at Goya 23 Wine and Sherry Bar.
Sherry is a fortified wine made from grapes grown in a triangular area in the southern region of Spain. Here temperatures are optimal for the cultivation of grapevines. Temperatures here can exceed 40C/100F which are then augmented by the cooler breezes that comes in off the Atlantic Ocean.
The Sherry Triangle
Our Sherry tasting consisted of just four varieties of sherry.
Manzanilla: Is a Fino styled sherry made in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. This sherry tends to bepale dry white wine.
Amontillado is an aged Fino with and amber color and a nutty flavor with hints of oak flavor from the barrels in which it was kept.
Palo Cortado: is a rare sherry variety primarily because only 1-2% of the grapes develop the correct profile. This variety is cultivated in the easterly region of the triangle.
Oloroso: tends to be a more complex brown shade. It is the darkest of the sherries due to oxidative aging. It is also often used as a basis for the sweeter sherries such as Bristol Cream.
Last night we had guests for dinner. Because I have been to Greece many times I was asked to create something Greek-ish. And there is this one dish that I have made many times about the world that has been quite popular. It doesn’t really have a name. Essentially it is Artichokes and Chicken with oodles of garlic and onions and other things including a nice slab of feta.
The original recipe calls for pasta. But because the dish (made my way) tends to come out rather large and because Tonya was doing a nice roasted leg of lamb with lemon potatoes and a nice Greek styled salad and of course the munchies including another Greek-ish appetizer I like to make called Artichoke Squares I chose not to do the pasta.
In the end we had more food that we could eat.
You can find the recipe for Artichokes & Chicken HERE.
And if you’d like to make Artichoke Squares. . . HERE
Later we had a tasty drink that is called a Maple Leaf.
A Maple Leaf is simply 1 1/2 ounces of bourbon, 1/2 ounce lemon juice and 1tsp of maple syrup. These were the perfect ending to a fabulous meal. In fact we drank them on the deck sitting around the fire pit.
Some time ago as I waslooking through travel related articles I discovered this bit of software that has been used by many travelers to find more affordable flight prices to popular destinations.
Matrix is evidently able to generate some of the freshest results for all of your flight searches.
Especially nice is that this software has all the flight search features that you are used to. It’s not just limited to the economy prices. If you are wanting to fly business or first class those results are right at your fingertips.
Some features included:
Compare your results at a glance,
Results are real-time,
The calendar displays the best prices for any given day of the week.
The idea was to visit the castles that are within reasonable distance to Edinburgh. And Tantallon Castle is just one of those castles.
The people at the visitor center made it sound easy to get there and certainly well worth the trip out. Take the train from Waverley station in Edinburgh and go to North Berwick. It’s the end of the line you can’t miss it really.
Train’s In
It was just thirty-six minutes on the train. Actually I love the trains in the UK. I can get almost anywhere. The trains are comfortable and more often than not the people are friendly, which is always nice. . . especially when you might be lost.
So I got to North Berwick. But there’s nothing really there. It’s a nice spot replete with planters full of blooming flowers and a welcome sign planted in an area of deep green grass. There’s no station.
North Berwick
It was fortunate then that this elderly woman saw me out there looking lost and helped point me in the right direction. I remember she told me that it was much too far to walk to Tantallon. But I evidently needed to take a short walk into the main part of the town to catch the bus that would then take me the 5 kilometers out to the castle entrance.
After a time the bus came and we were away on our journey. I got the impression that I was not the only Castle seeker. We werelooking for the castle and finally saw it. . .way off in the distance but still quite large on the horizon in the mist.
Tantallon off in the Misty Distance
And then it vanished. . .behind some hills, and some trees and well we just couldn’t see it anymore. It was there, really!
Five kilometers in a bus just doesn’t take that long. At some point at a stop along the way a group of us approached the driver. “where’s the castle?”
Evidently he was somehow not thinking that he needed to stop at the Castle Entrance. And somehow non of us even saw it. Maybe we were too engrossed in actually seeing it out there on the horizon.
We had a choice. The driver said that it was just 20 minutes back the way we had just come. Or we could stay on the bus, pay an extra fee (nominal really) and do the whole loop that the bus would do which might take another 45 minutes before getting to the castle.
This Way to the Castle
I chose the 20 minute walk. Only it wasn’t a 20 minute walk. It was a lot longer than that. In fact all told I figure I walked about 16 kilometers that day/afternoon merely judging from how fast I usually walk.
I did eventually get to the castle. And while I was a bit exhausted I managed to explore every nick and cranny of Tantallon Castle that I could find and had a great time doing it too.
Up to the tower
Tantallon Interior
Tantallon was built by William Douglas, the first Earl of Douglas in the fourteenth century.
The castle itself is really only five kilometers from North Berwick on the Firth of Forth (the inlet from the North Sea in SE Scotland). It is fashioned in what is known as a “curtain wall castle.” The purpose of the ‘curtain wall,’ is to protect the inside of the castle. And in the case of this castle the other two sides of the castle were minimally fortified as they abutted steep cliffs.
The curtain wall was connected to the rest of the castle with large towers. Tantallon was the last curtain wall castle to be built in Scotland.
Tantallon Entrance
Despite multiple sieges and subsequent damages Tantallon remained in the hands of the Douglas family until it was purchased by the Lord of North Berwick, Hew Dalrymple in 1699.
Today Tantallon is in the care of Historic Scotland.
When i finally woke up this morning I was somewhat amused to see the two house cats camped out in my room patiently waiting for me to wake up.
Had they been my cats there would be no patiently. They would have been on the bed telling me that they were hungry and it was time for me to get up and feed them.
I was also greeted, not surprisingly, by all my little electronic devices telling me that it was going to rain. It’s Edinburgh. It rains. In fact, I’m told that this has been a particularly wet summer.
One of the things I haven’t done in Edinburgh is visit the museums. And what could be better than visiting the myriad museums here in Edinburgh.
I didn’t actually get started until after noon. And at that time while still cloudy it was warm-ish and pleasant. At some point I had to take my sweater off because while it had been coolish in the house it was nice outside on the Water of Leith walk way.
Over The Bridge and up the Stairs
And it’s just a short albeit really nice walk along the water of Leith to the wee bridge that crosses the river to the entrance for the Gallery of Modern Art.
This Way To The Gallery
It was a little strange when I got there that the guards at the entrance wanted me (and all backpack carriers) to carry it in front of me rather than on my back. The premise was that they had incurred fewer issues and less damage that way. So while a bit odd I did it anyway.
The museum is lovely and has a nice collection of modern art. Especially nice is the collection of works of school aged children who has participated in contests where they were asked to depict certain images.
The other art that really caught my attention was some of the three dimensional pieces. In one instance there is a room full of 256 cardboard buildings representing places that are currently occupied in Edinburgh. It’s very interesting.
Once done with the museum it was still a really nice day and no rain. So I returned to the Water of Leith walkway and made my way past Dean Village to Stockbridge (I made a mistake in my live video when I called it Sturbridge). Just before reaching Stockbridge which is another quaint older community much like Dean Village there is a monument with a Greek statue.
St. Bernard’s Well
I had forgotten that before this trip I had investigated some of the areas that I have not previously seen and that St Bernard’s Well is one of those sites. And here it was and I didn’t have a clue until I read the plaque.
Evidently in 1760 a natural spring was discovered at this site on the Water of Leith. And for a time it was believed that the waters from this natural spring were good for your health. Unfortunately this natural spring water also came with a repugnant odor such as the sulfur springs that are found in Colorado.
What remains is this monument complete with a representation of the Greek God of Health Hygeia under a protective dome.
It was a really pleasant way to spend the day. And on my way back I was able to help and re-direct a few lost tourists and a collection of local boys.
So it was Friday last night and the end of the week. I’ve covered a lot of ground here in Edinburgh. I’ve traveled to parts of the city that I’ve not seen before as well as lots of places that I remember from previous trips. It’s been a long week and I’ve walked a lot of kilometers.
A long involved week certainly calls for down time and tasty morsels and drinks. And in Scotland I have come to understand and accept that tasty drinks with friends is a way of life.
It was just two of us last night. Nevertheless we fired up the grill that’s out on the deck.This deck runs the entire length of the house where I am staying and right next to it is a meandering stream that actually runs through a lot of Edinburgh.
It’s called the water of Leith and there’s a nice path that runs along it’s other bank. I was able to access it easily just a couple of weeks ago.
But the deck is a great place for grilling and now there’s a nice fire pit out there too.It replaces the makeshift fire pit that was essentially on old kettle grill. The new one look like THIS
While we’ve had a few evenings where there seemed to be more smoke than fire per se. . .we have fire logs now and that makes all the difference. There’s nothing quite like sitting out on the deck next to a fire and listening to the rippling current of the river.
Last night’s drink of choice was a Hemingway Daiquiri. I’d actually never heard of it but my friend Tonya is a master mixologist. And of course she put’s her own little twist on it by coating the rims of the glasses with sugar.
In fact as she’s been teaching another friend how to make her signature Espresso Martini, she then took the time to teach me to make this Hemingway Daiquiri.
Trust me when I say I had lots of practice. The more I practiced it seemed like the better they got.
I’m not a bad cook and I can certainly pour a nice glass of wine but I had never really had much appreciation for the cocktail shaker thing that you might see in bars and certainly in films. But after last nights education I have to admit that the shaker makes all the difference.
Tonya has one that has some special meaning for her. It essentially looks like this one HERE
At some point I had to wrap a towel around it because the shaker becomes frosted. In fact Tonya said that that’s ideal and means that the drink is ready.
There’s a good reason for why they say “shaken and not stirred.”
Here is the recipe that we enjoyed last night.
Hemingway Daiquiri
4 ounces of light rum. . .Bacardi does nicely
1 ounce Maraschino Cherry Liquor
1 ounce Lime Juice
1 1/2 ounce fresh squeezed Grapefruit juice
1/2 note of simple syrup
Oh, and it you want a little extra decadence try adding a Maraschino Cherry or two. Tonya has these from Italy that are incredible.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was brilliant.
I love hearing the bagpipes anyway and so hearing them being played en masse with the pipers all decked out in their Scottish Military regalia met and exceeded my expectations.
First, I had great seats. . . looking straight on to the entrance of the castle from which a myriad of pipers and other musicians and performers would enter the castle esplanade. And next, while there was a bit of a breeze it didn’t rain. That in itself is a miracle for Edinburgh. It seems like it’s raining more often than not.
The theme for this years Tattoo was ‘A Splash of Tartan.’ The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo focus is all about bringing people of all nationalities together in a spirit of friendship and togetherness. Celebrating diversities of worldwide nations has been an underlying theme since the first Edinburgh Tattoo in 1950 that was entitled “Something About a Soldier.”
The Tattoo is actually a collection of military bands and dancers from all over the world. So we were treated to fabulous music and marching as well as dancers.
I happened to be reading articles from the BBC that I get in my email every morning and I came across this one article that I thought was really interesting and certainly relevant to my stay here in the UK.
It’s just that in the UK they are in the process of changing their one pound coins and their Five pound notes to a different design and appearance. Evidently both of these has been compromised by counterfeiters.
I had never heard of coins being counterfeited but I guess it’s a thing as is evidenced by this currency change in the UK. So as of October 15, 2017 the older version of the (the one on the right) will no longer be accepted for payments. I was talking about this to a friend here in Scotland and she said that if people still had the older ones that they would need to deposit them at a bank because while no longer accepted as payment for things that the banks would be taking them for eventual disposal.
The article I read said that the new coin has twelve sides with alternating textures which is hard to see in the picture but held in my hand it’s easier to see. Then it also has the two tone metal surface, a new thistle design on one side and some secret security measure built into it.
When I first arrived here I had seen some of the older coins but they seem to be getting scarce. Evidently they have collected over one billion coins already. So, if you happen to have the older coins get them to a British Bank so that you can exchange them, or keep them as a souvenir.
I rather like the new one. It’s shiny and new, I like the thistle design and it’s easier to see that it is indeed One Pound.
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