Linlithgow, Scotland

Once we had tired of the hot weather in southern Europe, we made our way to Scotland, mainly for the art festival, but also to see a bit of the countryside. The first stop upon arriving in Scotland was a town called Linlithgow, just outside of Edinburgh and famous for being the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast (and bar) that served classic Scottish fare, even the scrumptous sticky toffee pudding. The reason we chose this place was for the walk in the country, which started along the canal that was built before trains and used for transport. Although it was a little muddy, and we ran into some cows on the wrong side of the fence, it was absolutely beautiful. The walk ended up at the Linlithgow Palace.

Vence, France

After having gotten our fill of sun, sand and frosty beverages in Nice we hopped on a bus and headed for the hill town of Vence. We read about it in a book of Mediterranean walks; it was supposed to be a great jumping-off point for hikes through the hills with views of the riviera. We were not disappointed! The town sits below three huge rock outcroppings - we went on a hike which took us all the way across the town, up one of the hills, across a ridge to the other one (also the site of a very old monastery) and then back down through the other side of town. We've very rarely been so tired and sweaty while at the same time grinning hugely. An interesting side note is that the monks were the ones who erected the cross you see in the picture - not an easy feat given the difficulty we had hiking up there.

The town itself is one of the great old walled European towns. Outside the wall it is a fairly normal town, but when you get inside the old wall you realize not much has changed - it is all cobblestone streets, tiny houses (complete with arrow slits on the outside wall) and great restaurants.

Pictures of the town:


And our hike:

French Riviera

Next stop for us was the French Riviera. We only made it because the nice Portugese kids sitting next to us told us to get off the train we were on because it had changed its direction (announced only in French). In the end, we made it to Nice, our destination for 4 days. While we had been in Vernazza, a couple of Australians had recommended a beach just east of Nice because of its tranquil solitude and beautiful sand. We hiked the ~1 km from the train station and found it just as lovely as they had discribed.



(It was a topless beach.)


Our entire Nice trip was spent on the beach, drinking, and drinking, and enjoying the sun.

Cinque Terre, Italy

After scootering in Siena, Chris and I took a series of trains to get to this picturesque haven of 5 little cliff towns on the coast of Northern Italy. We stayed in a spare bedroom at Paula's house in Vernazza, who kindly met us at the train station and escorted us to our room over the tracks. Despite the frequent trains that went by, we had a beautiful view of the hill side:


Within a 5 minute walk of Paula's was the welcoming Mediterranean Sea, spotted with all of these cute little boats that they actually used for commercial and recreational purposes.


The second night that we were there we ate at the old castle and watched the sunset over the sea...amazing.



On our last full day in these parts, we made the 9 km trek from town to town, up and down the cliffs, resting frequently because it was well over 100 degrees. Some of the best shots of the towns: