GPS can sure take you off the beaten track sometimes!! We started off today's adventure heading to a small mountain village (it is not the Alps, thankfully) called Monchique. Well, the GPS took us the most DIRECT route and not knowing the local roads, we crossed over a small bridge and the road became a cross between a garbage dump and a minefield of gigantic axle-breaking potholes and uncovered manholes! We eventually found a place to turn around and made it back to the real road unscathed..... So, on to the real adventure.....we arrived in Monchique which was a lovely village. There was an old Cathedral and cobblestone roads throughout. The roads were single lane with 24 inch sidewalks so the cars came pretty close! We sampled the pastries nada (a traditional Portuguese pastry - kinda ... read more

We leave tomorrow for the big trip. Stay tuned for exciting blog posts, video and photos.... read more

Today was the day of Nigel's big race!!! I got in an early run before we left and then we drove to Kelso, about 1 hour and 15 minutes away. The day was bright and sunny, cool and dry!!!! Perfect weather for a run. The race was fairly flat and fast. Nigel was very pleased with his race and felt great afterwards. He got a medal as a keepsake and of course there were some Scottish oatcakes in his racer package. His run included running around the Floors Castle which was gorgeous. Beautiful setting for a race again. The castle is actually still inhabited by a duke and duchess so is perfectly maintained. Afterwards, we made our way east and actually drove into England!! We arrived in Berwick-Upon-Tweed which is just across the Scotland-England border. This ... read more

Started off with another dry (what?! can this be?) run and then headed across the Forth Bridge to The Kingdom of Fife. Another lovely day although not the sunshine we had yesterday. Oh well, no rain so we won't complain. First stop today was Dunfermline Abbey and Palace. This is actually where Robert the Bruce was buried (except for his heart which is buried at Melrose Abbey). He spent a great deal of time at this abbey and after it was largely destroyed in the war, he funded a major portion of the rebuild. His name is built right into one of the towers in carved stone. After the abbey and palace, we walked the High Street and did a little shopping. Next stop was a little village called Aberdour. Very quaint (although Nigel had thought ... read more

After a run in the rain, we decided to get away from the morning rain shower, so we went and saw Ice Age 4. It was probably a lot like seeing it in Canada but we felt a need to get away from the rain for a bit. When it ended, the rain had stopped too! Lucky! So, after having a quick lunch back at home, we headed north and east towards North Berwick. The drive was lovely and our first stop was Seton Collegiate Church. This was an historic church that also had the remains of where 6 priests had lived beside the church. There was also the Castle next door which used to be owned by Lord Seton (a series of Lord Setons through the generations actually) but has been bought fairly recently by ... read more