The search for Jamie Fraser and reflections

I feel like Glasgow should change its name to GlasWOW, as that would be more fitting. What an amazingly beautiful city! And wonderfully friendly! Jo, Sean and I arrived early afternoon from Berlin (we got a drive with Chris' friend Detlef, who picked us up from the Berlin train station in his gorgeous Mercedes) to Glasgow where we were helped by lovely people at the airport. I thought Canadians were friendly. Glasgow takes it to the next level! We took a double decker bus driven by a very helpful bus to get to our hotel. In hindsight it wasn't the best decision in terms of price to speed, but it was a great way to see the city.

After checking in to the top floor room of our beautiful hotel (also a great workout to take the stairs!), we spent the afternoon and evening walking around the west end of the city. We walked through the gorgeous Kelvingrove Park near our hotel then through Glasgow University campus. The main building bears a striking resemblance to Hogwarts! We even walked to Ashton Lane, a cute little cobblestone street with nice restaurants for a quick drink and a snack. We finished our afternoon stroll at Oran Mór, a beautiful old church that has been converted to a funky pub. Jo and I took a little nap (one of the little gems with travelling!) before heading out for dinner. After a few attempts, we ended up at a fun spot for dinner. The Scottish accent with some people is wicked strong, and in a loud restaurant it can make for a challenge, but it's also super fun to listen to! Also, we noticed that there seemed to be more men than women... Maybe it was a bar in Glasgow thing!

For our last day on Saturday, we had our tour of Outlander filming locations. The weather was absolutely perfect for our last day in Scotland, with a gorgeous bright sun shining all day. We spent the day visiting Doune Castle, site of Castle Leoch (and Winterfell from Game of thrones), which was narrated for the historical part by Terry Jones, who starred in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There were a few parts that were narrated by Sam Heughan who plays Jamie Fraser. He talked about the scenes filmed at the castle and some of the behind the scenes stuff, which was super cool. We then made our way to Blackness Castle, the site of Fort William. It was pretty cool but also creepy to walk through the courtyard where Jamie was flogged in Season 1. The castle itself is a fortress built in the 15th century which looks like a ship. We had amazing views over the Firth of Forth Bay. From there we visited Medhope Castle, used did Lallybroch. We weren't able to go inside but it was easy to imagine the scenes that were filmed there. From there we visited Culross, an amazingly cute village that was the setting for Crainesmuir. We had lunch at a super cute pub then saw the house that was used for Geillis Duncan's house along with the Mercat Cross, where a boy's ear was pinned to the pillory. We finished our day in Falkland, which was the set for Inverness at the beginning of the series. The driver of the tour bus did an amazing job of mixing in Outlander info (while playing music from the series) and Scottish history for a full appreciation of the country.

We walked to our hotel from George Square for a quick dinner before going back to pack and get ready for our flights home. Finishing the trip in Scotland with Jo was an amazing way to end it. We had such a wonderful trip visiting different parts of the world and reconnecting with familiar faces! We are so grateful to our generous hosts in Spain and Germany, and for our friends and colleagues for making this trip possible!

Some photos of our last days:

In front of Lallybroch (Medhope Castle):

Fort William (Blackness Castle):

Cranesmuir (Culross):

Inverness (Falkland)-Jo recreating the scene where a man who looks like Jamie looks through the window at Claire):

We even saw Catriona Balfe in the cafe!! (Jo found a mask):

View from inside "Mrs. Baird's" guesthouse

Glasgow University (which definitely looks like Hogwarts!):

The view from one of the windows in Doune castle:

Outside Doune Castle:

(in case you're wondering, I rewatched Season 1 episode 2 on the plane back and it was awesome to watch the scenes that were shot at the locations that we visited yesterday!) 

Taking it easy around Celle

The last couple of days have been very relaxing with Jo and her family. On Tuesday on the way back from Berlin, we stopped at the Krämer mega store, the biggest a tack shop I have ever been in, so I could look at full seat breeches. I walked away with two beautiful pairs of silicone grip breeches that I'm excited to try when I get home!

Wednesday, Jo and I woke up early to do a quick buddy workout, which consisted of a short run around the cemetery near her house, some walking lunges (the house didn't seem that far away when I suggested it but it seemed to take forever to reach our destination!), some squats in her driveway and some core stuff in the Livingroom. We then made pancakes for the family for breakfast, I napped and then we relaxed in the beautiful newly installed sauna they have in their basement. We had dinner at a great Greek restaurant and went to bed early.

Thursday we went for a nice drive to Soltau to do some outlet shopping. Sean is looking all swanky now in his new shoes and jacket! I bought a chocolate bar. That was the extent of my shopping. Chocolate is cheaper here! The breeches were all I wanted! We spent our last evening together relaxing before getting up early this morning to go to Glasgow with Jo for the weekend. We should get in to Glasgow early ish afternoon so we can check out a few things and get settled in for our Outlander tour tomorrow.

It has only been a couple hours but I already terribly miss Chris, Carol, Colja and Audrey. Staying at their place with them was so wonderful. It was an amazing experience to be with such loving and kind people. I also really appreciated not having to worry about the language barrier. There is a lot I take for granted when travelling with locals in a country where I don't speak the language!

Some photos from the last couple of days:

Proud supporters of Rick Tabak Building Services!

My new breeches! I'm looking forward to trying them out!

Family love ❤️

Catching our connection from Hanover to Berlin after a 5:47 am train from Celle. Thankfully Chris bought us some delicious sandwiches on tasty German buns for the train ride! 

A cool train station on the way 

 Going 242 km/hr! 

Remembering the events in Berlin

Greetings from a chilly Berlin! (from a quick check on the Ottawa forecast, the weather seems to be a little bit warmer in Ottawa compared to what we've had in Berlin today. It was about 14 degrees but abreezy cold 14 degrees it seems to go through your jacket!

It was quite the contrast to our day yesterday in Postdam, which is a little under 3 hours from Celle near Berlin. Sean and I, Jo, her parents Chris and Carol, her siblings Audrey and Colja and her boyfriend Paul visited the Sanssouci castle, which is the summer pleasure of Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia. It was built in 1745. We went on an audiotour and visited the various rooms and learned about the history. We toured part of the gardens in the beautiful sunshine up to the Chinese tea house, which was designed between 1755 and 1764.  Afterwards, we drove to Glienicker Bridge, which was the subject for the movie Bridge of Spies. We then visited friends of Chris and Carol for a delicious dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. It was a little strange to hear German at an Italian restaurant, though I suppose it's no stranger than hearing English at an Italian restaurant!

Unfortunately Paul and Audrey had to work so they returned to Celle right after dinner. We arrived in Berlin later last night, and started the day off early this morning. We first took in a boat tour of the city, learning more about East and West Germany and the importance of different buildings and bridges. Fun fact about Germany: it has more bridges than Venice and is one of the largest European cities in terms of the amount of area it covers. We then walked around the city and saw what's left of the wall. We also visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which covers 200,000 square feet covered with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged on a grid pattern on a field that slopes as you continue to walk down, where the slabs get taller and taller (Sean said that he was tall so would be easy to find. It didn't take long for him to be out of sight!)

We went on a guided tour of the Reichstag, where the German Parliament is housed. It was built in 1894, but it was severely damaged in 1933. It was rebuilt in the 1960s but didn't start being used until the 1990s. The dome where we walked to the top was finished in 1999. While walking around we noticed a number of parts of the street were closed. It turns out its the celebration for Germany's national holiday on October 3rd. Right by the Reichstag and also near our hotel part of the park was closed off for the party leading up to the holiday. The park was separated into various parts of Germany, so it was like visiting different parts of Germany without leaving Berlin! I also discovered glühwein, which we call mulled wine. I am looking forward to making that this winter! I found a great slow cooker recipe too!

Here are some photos from the last two days!

The castle at Sanssouci

Our beautiful international family in the Sanssouci park:

Chinese tea house in the park

Just outside the Brandburg gate, which divided East and West Germany. It was here that on June 12, 1987, Ronald Regan issued his command to his cold war adversary: "Mr. Gorbachov – tear down this wall!". 

At the top of the Reichstag dome just before it started to rain

Right after our tour and on our way to the German holiday celebration

Jo and I catching a photo with the beautiful sunset:

Tomorrow we head back to Celle to relax for a couple days. It's been so amazing to spend time with Jo and her awesome, warm, welcoming family! We are having such a wonderful time on our trip! ❤️