Autumn is Here in Northern Ireland

Yes, Autumn is here. 

Enough flying just at the minute though. I'm tired, caught a cold since the weather turned and need some rest. I often think of September as a significant time, a renewal. It's likely a nod to the new school year, despite it being the beginning of autumn which is nature's preparation for hibernation. A time to get busy, organized and on track in terms of learning, finishing up outside projects and starting cozy ones indoors (Christmas knitting list?!), which is the complete opposite of my recent behaviour. I'm feeling a bit like a prisoner in my Templepatrick apartment and even a little lonely for home, which I blame on missing a Canadian summer. Once I can convince myself the days still to go are manageable (one month more exactly now) I am hoping for a wee personal transformation. 

Promising myself I'll get my quota vitamin D in Cancun. We'd better not get any hurricanes!

I did manage to pull some creativity and effort out of my proverbial hat, to make this masculin peanut butter chocolate cake, for one lucky Dad on his 68th birthday. The final touches were quite loving as I was feeling very near, in a reminiscing way, to my own Dad. I was asked for chocolate and peanut butter. So inside are three layers of my favourite, moist cocoa cake, filled with peanut butter frosting and classic peanut butter cookies. As you can see ganache is dribbling all over the top and down the sides, with cookies on top. I hope you can see the '68' and the gold dust. 

I've become a big fan of edible sparking dust. It's the cherry on top, without really being one - it might not be for everyone, but I did do an unforgettable glitz apprenticeship in Mississauga after-all. ;)

One disappointment regarding Fall here in Northern Ireland is the lack of pumpkin. They tin everything here. Yes, even hot dogs. But somehow there's not a single tin of pumpkin to be found. I'm sure some specialty place has it, but clearly it's not mainstream. When I asked for it in the grocery store, I noted I'd grown 29 extra heads. That was because of the look I got. 

So I settled happily enough with yam, knowing Calgary may not have the selection of fresh, beautiful and delicious fruits and vegetables I've become so fond of and accustomed to here, but I will find plenty of cans of orange coloured purée in just one month. They call it sweet potato, but anything this orange inside is no sweet potato...

I filled and covered my yam cake with whipped cream. Inside there are candied pecans for crunch. On top are gorgeous physalis. Very Autumn if I dare say.

Correct is right. No pumpkin, but fresh physalis any day of the week. Gourmet these people are, though could we not find a more appealing (less appalling - less disease sounding) name for this awesome and crazy fruit? 

*****

I think we actually missed summer entirely, except for maybe four or five good days, yet somehow I ate 20 or so ripe blackberries today... Plants do grow well here!

A final nod to Summer (Auf Wiedersehen Sommer...):

My neighbour was washing her new bike (the pink one with woven basket) and invited me to use her bucket of soapy water to wash mine as well. My bike has not been so clean since I painted her red! Last week we took a short journey of 24 kms passing through Parkgate, Doagh and Ballyclare. Another friend asked if I named my bike... I hadn't but now I've decided on Tilda. 

Waiting to depart runway 06 in Ibiza. Oh, how we wished we weren't departing, but staying the evening to enjoy the sunset and a pitcher of Sangria...

More love for the alps:

The Swiss alps (again) around Lucerne, Switzerland. 

And the Ghiacciaio dell'Adamello in the Italian Alps. 

Someone's contrails... I love the colours in the sky!

A frozen sundown... At 37,000' it was -54 degrees C.

I think I mentioned some time ago about my current aversion to shopping for clothes. Well maybe it takes just the right season, or just the right choices, or just simply having had quite enough of one's outdated wardrobe, or all of the above. I was kidnapped off to Lisburn two days ago to Mark's and Spencer's. That was where it happened... I did go shopping. 

Now all I'm missing is my lovely brown, large brimmed hat I've got at home. 

That and Jordan, naturally, since he's basically synonymous with 'home'.

The Holestone

This is what it looks like. Apparently there are more about, scattered all over the island of Ireland, but this is the nearest. It's not really within walking distance (it would take all day) but it's just a short drive from where I live.

The history of Holestones is unknown but the most plausible explaination is marriage it seems. The woman puts her hand through the hole and the couple join hands and exchange vows of love and forever-ness. 

Yes, those hands are mine and Jordan's... It could have been more romantic, but we didn't plan our words or become poets on the spot. Clearly, it's important to premeditate your feelings into speech for those special moments in life so the sentiments tumble out sweetly and affectionately just the way you'd want to remember them. 

There is a story of punishment for committing adultery, where in the groom, of the bride and groom who were married at this Holestone, was turned into a black horse who could never leave the field where the stone stands. 

We saw plenty of black cows, but not one horse! 

We certainly got lucky with the weather while Jordan was here. He's got no idea! 

North Coast, First Two Guests

Again all my company comes more at the end of the deployment. I long for them to come, they arrive and time passes in a blink, then they leave and I realize not only is autumn fast approaching, but so is the arrival of more company and it's almost time for me to go back home. It feels a little like I'm rushing toward the finish line... 

Then sometimes it feels like it's taking forever. For example, when beating butter for five full minutes using a handheld mixer (oh red kitchen aid mixer how I dream of you!), or when I want to download the photos on my camera (I just want to share them), or I think too much about the people at home...

That's just life and the law of relativity!

I love this panorama at the Giant's Causeway. It's Jordan in blue and me in orange. I'm afraid the resolution is terrible here, but if we could somehow retain the clarity of the original, I'd love to blow it up and put it on the wall. 

Jess did a very thoughtful thing. She took my phone, made Jordan and me go ahead and took some photos of us together. Above we are approaching Downhill Demesne and below we are sitting at what looks like the top of a flight of stairs in the ruins of the residence beyond the turreted walls. 

At the edge of the bluff is the Musenden Temple. One of my absolute favourite buildings on earth. I wish it were mine. I could get very serious in there with various projects, channeling my artistic verve, if only I had a hot fire blazing below... Or with my Ken Follett reading list or reading list in general. I just finished his "A Place Called Freedom". I could not put that down toward the end. I do enjoy reading about the UK, or anywhere while I'm there, even if the stories are fictitious and set hundreds of years ago...

Last time in Belfast I read "Home" by Bill Bryson. His words are the perfect way to read about history. 

In Gatwick I started the Ken Follett, Century Trilogy, "World Without End".

This year I've read the second installation, "Winter of the World" (and am looking forward to the final book), plus, "A Place Called Freedom". 

I recommend them all. And though I mention fiction, I must add the first is non-fiction and all of Mr. Follett's historical fiction novels are so well researched, the stories really could have happened.

We visited the Folk and Transportation museum - something like Heritage Park in Calgary. 

Does this not make you think of Van Morrison's, "Caravan"? I suppose it would more so if it were painted red and white... 

We also went out to pubs and listened (and danced, of course) to live music. Belfast is fun! But best with your good friends / good wee mates :)

Summer 2015 Trip: Final Leg to Vienna

After a delicious breakfast, it wasn't too long before we left the Wachau and the vineyards behind. The sun shone on us with all its might, which was exhausting, but we kept up a good pace. The going wasn't as direct as it had been on the other days. Many times we found we must go in-land in order to cross a channel entering the Danube.  

The top I'm wearing was a lovely gift, and a highly practical garment, but I like it even more now that I can actually see the back :) Our trip wasn't a fashion occasion but I'm glad I had the sense to wear something nice on at least one of the days. It was mentioned, or intimated or just plain said that I might want to update my wardrobe. Well, when you get a good piece of advice, it's best to take it (to heart) and so the sorting out begins... Sigh.

I wish I'd plunged into the river earlier a few times and we noticed riding was cooler than stopping. We were making our own breeze. It was almost unbearable to pause for the photo below, but we needed this shot. Klosterneuburg is basically the beginning of Vienna and where we needed to drop-off our bicycles. So I'd say this is our celebratory photo! 

We actually did arrive in Klosterneuberg by 3:30 as we had planned, then took the train into the center of Vienna for a tour with my cousin Imke. I find the number of tourists a bit overwhelming right in the center of the city, but Vienna is a beautiful and vibrant place. It's a venerable city of classical values still carrying on the musical and intellectual habits that have always formed its central core, inline or juxtaposed suitably, to the ebb and flow of modern cosmopolis. I'm biased as you know, but how could any Österreicherin not be? 

The Hotel Sacher is famous for its Sachertorte. It's a chocolate layer cake with apricot filling. So you see I come by this layer cake thing naturally. It's in my veins. Which reminds me... of a cookbook I received which helped to inspire the beginning of this blog, three years and one month ago. It's a redeveloped cookbook from the kitchen of a famous Viennese caterer. There's one tiny photo in that original and first blog entry, showing a bowl of her soup with meatballs and a tiny, grilled, triple-stacked sandwich. I must revisit that book when I get home...

We then spent a quick but ever so lovely time with my amazing family in the Murztal. :)

Thanks to Imke the whole visit was easy and organized. She is such a super person. I do adore her.

And what did Jordan think? You could ask him. 

At first he announced the food to be bland (should we blame this on beginning in Germany?) but as it turns out it seems he meant mild. Was he expecting hot peppers? I do not know. Chillis are not really an Austrian 'thing'. Based on the way he ate up for the rest of the trip (we've now been well fattened) it must have nonetheless been flavourful and delicious. ;) And the beer? Yes, he approved of that! 

He also mentioned Austrians speak their mind. I think he may have been trying to tell me something?... Well, the veins run deep. 

Summer 2015 Trip: Linz to the Wachau

For our second day of riding we were joined by my cousin. Yay!

You must leave Linz on the north shore, and there's no where to eat for a few hours, so again I would have planned ahead. Why do I always forget about Sundays? Oh! Was I hungry by the time we found our way to Mauthausen, where there is what was apparently the largest concentration camp in Austria during WWII. Sebastian said he'd visited on a school trip, but we had too much riding to do to pause for a closer look, so we only ate. We crossed by ferry to the town and visited a lovely bakery near where we docked. Jordan had his first, delightful Topfen tasting experience there, so now he knows what I've been on about. 

We lunched in Grein and somewhere after we had our one and only flat tyre. Luckily for us we had young Sebastian, who was on his first and fresh day of riding. He kindly rode to the next town and back with the wheel to get it fixed, 15km each way. Did I mention it was hot? Sigh. Poor Basti! 

While Sebastian was performing heroism we found a small patch of shade beside a garage, where we waited. Willi the owner, came home, saw us and kindly wanted to help. In the end we just chatted over a few cold beers and witnessed Willi flick and kill a wasp - mi-air - mid-scentence - singlehandedly. He didn't even pause in his story or spill a drop of beer. I think anyone with that kind of talent is a bit of a crazy maverick. I was rather impressed. Basti returned, had beer himself, and we were off once again on the super-twos. 

We continued to Klein-Pöchlarn for our supper, where we parted ways. The train for Sebastian, and the hotel in Artstetten for us. Who knew the final three kilometres of our day were nearly vertical? Not I. I wasn't looking at a topographical map when I booked this place, apparently. Not perhaps the ideal hotel for cyclists but I must say the hotel was surprisingly lovely for the low price we paid. 

Another 100 or so kilometres were covered on Day Two, even if the final three were terribly slow. 

We had a lot less distance to cover on Day Three, which was good because it was the hottest day so far and since we were entering the Wachau area, which is a land of vineyards and apricots, the heat was becoming increasingly impossible to escape. The only reprieve can be had by swimming in the river. Which we happily did. Although I must admit that I am becoming increasingly uncourageous. A bit of a gutless wonder. (I may require some guidance from Fran...)

Melk was our first stop. It was very touristy and we ended up spending more time there than needed, for our taste. We could have stood to take a dip in the Danube just past there, but we didn't. We enjoyed some cold drinks though and picked fruit before exploring the church of St. Michael, which we nominate the best tourist spot along the way. Do you think those skulls are real???

We stayed the night in the nicest and most expensive of our lodgings in a town called Weißenkichen in der Wachau. We ate a picnic on the beach and swam in the cold water, refreshing our sunstroked souls. The view from our room was lovely. As was the hotel and the town and the whole area...

We wanted to sleep in, but the next day was not only going to be a scorcher too - we also wanted to arrive in Vienna in time for some sightseeing in the First District, so we started out early. 

Summer 2015 Trip: Passau to Linz

Day One of the bike tour got off to a late start. We arrived in Passau for 10am, rented our bicycles and brunch-ed with Martina. Oh well, it was a rainy, grey day so it wasn't a problem riding at high noon. In fact in the days ahead, we looked back fondly to the cool temperture. 

The only shame is that we didn't spend much time in Passau. I think it would have been nice to have spent at least half a day there, just meandering down the maze of cobbled streets in the central area. I'm not sure how much of the castle is open to the public, but it looked like a good place to explore. 

We crossed the bridge above and began our journey on the northern shore. We rode until we came upon the snake like bend so famous in photos where the path ends, just past Waldkirchen am Wesen.

At that point we took our first ferry. It was the smallest one I've really ever seen. Ferries on the Danube are powered but mostly use the current for propulsion. They are attached to a cable that spans the river so they don't float away.

Wilkommen in Österreich! The ferry took us to Austria and didn't even ask for our passports. Lol. 

It seems the bike path was approximately 93 kilometres from Passau to Linz, but then we had to ride through Linz to the hotel as well, so I'd estimate Day One was a total of 100km. 

Below was our second ferry for the day at the town of Ottensheim. It could take cars though only one joined us. You can see the cable nicely in this shot. 

We stopped periodically for beer and food and managed to arrive at the hotel around 9pm. We stayed at the Steigenberger Hotel Linz which was handy to the bike path and nice, but not near grocery stores or restaurants. It was a Sunday, and Sunday in Austria is a day for shops to be closed. Had we planned better we'd have packed some sandwiches and fruits to enjoy. 

Here's a wee map of Day One. A rather crude google map version. It looks a lot better when you go to google maps yourself... 

Summer 2015 Trip: Munchen, Bavaria!

Well, obviously there are numerous breweries worldwide that claim to be the oldest. It's an interesting claim to fame and a feat of time. Here we are, having our photo taken at the entrance of the Weihenstephan Brewery, which claims to be the oldest brewery in continuous operation in the world. This may or may not be true, but what I can tell you for certain is: it is old, people do love their beer, it was originally a church and monestary and they serve delicious traditional food. Goulash was how I enjoyed my beer... meanwhile Jordan, who has actually brewed it himself, drank it in large glasses. 

It is located in Freising in the university where my best friend works. The Technical University of Munich probably even offers courses on becoming a brew master. It's quite amazing they get anything done there, really, but apparently they do. They assure me they do! 

We were told of a rather hilarious race, completed in pairs (I believe) where a team must follow the course of approximately 7 kilometres with a case of beer. Please bear in mind a case of beer in Europe is 24 x 0.5L... not 355 mL, so that makes 12L versus 8.5L... All the beer must be consumed by the players prior to crossing the finish line and may be done so as quickly or as slowly, as close or as far, as one may wish, depending on tactics and how much weight you intend to carry in the crate. Picturing this makes me giggle. What would your stratagy be? 

We went to Munich the following day and spent half our time perusing the streets and the other half in the English Gardens enjoying traditional music being played in a beer garden. We enjoyed Weißwurst with it's very own special mustard (a sweet mustard) and large pretzels. 

We rather enjoyed our whole time in Bavaria, but I felt the town of Freising was perhaps the best part, apart from my best friend, of course. Because she's the best. But that's not a fair way to gauge a place as she may not necessarily be a part of your next visit to Bavaria. 

Anyway, I wish I loved beer! 

I also wish Belfast weren't so difficult to get to and from... 

We spent our five hour layover in Manchester having a picnic. Airplane spotting. On some grass within walking distance of the terminal. 

I sound like I'm complaining, but it will point out, it was sunnier than the day before when we had a birthday picnic in Belfast. I made the wee one (who turned 1) the cake! His name is Anderson but he goes by Andy. As it turns out, his parents got engaged in a hot air balloon. Total surprise to me. But fitting!