MacCallumWorldTrek

"Caledonia is the Latin name given by the Romans to the land in today's Scotland north of their province of Britannia, beyond the frontier of their empire. Modern use is as a romantic or poetic name for Scotland, as a whole." - Wikipedia When the weather forecast is given on BBC radio, one of the locations in the UK that is mentioned is The Butt of Lewis. Now you would think that the Butt would be at the bottom, wouldn't you? But no, it is the northernmost tip of the Outer Hebrides, on the Isle of Lewis. I suppose if you were from the southern hemisphere where they orient their globes with the south pole at the top (it's true... I couldn't make this stuff up) the Butt of Lewis would be at the bottom That ... read more

We are planning to go to Scotland in August! It's only a 15 day trip so we are not sure whether we'll do a travelblog - that depends if we have any interest from you! If you want one, we'd like to hear form you. Just hit the comment button.... Thanks.... read more

The Hector is the little ship that brought 189 Scots to Nova Scotia in 1773, forming the first Scottish settlement in "New Scotland". The Mayflower, most of you will know, was the slightly larger ship that brought 102 people to Massachusetts from England (actually 2 were from the Isle of Man - Myles Standish and his wife). Just as the replica of the Mayflower can be seen and boarded in Plymouth, the replica of the Hector can be seen and boarded in Pictou, Nova Scotia. For those of us who are Canadians of Scottish descent, our own pilgrimage to Pictou can be just as moving as the journey to see where the Pilgrims landed is for Americans. Many Americans are very proud that they can trace their family tree back to the Mayflower. The ironic twist ... read more

The family MacCallum have been Habitants too long! We will be taking the teepee down this weekend and returning to our Voyageur nature. Destination: Ocean. West side of the North Atlantic to be precise. Down the St. Lawrence Valley, around the Gaspe Peninsula, across New Brunswick and into Nova Scotia (Latin for New Scotland) for over a week . Then, after a day-trip to Prince Edward's beautiful isle, we will head south along the coast through New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Little Rhody and Connecticut before turning inland for the trip home. Looking forward to lobsters, scallops, quahogs, clams, mussels, ....... Trying to get Renee to eat any of it may be our biggest challenge! It's not quite 'round the world again but we are really looking forward to it........ read more

We have now felt a good cross-section of the summer weather the Swiss Alps can throw at you, from barely above freezing blustery rainy days, to clear skies with highs above 30 C. Uncle Thierry and Aunt Helen’s chalet is in Gryon, half way up an Alp in the Dents du Midi range in the south-west of the country near the Italian border and even closer to the French border. The majority of the Swiss in this area speak French, although the signs are usually multilingual. Most products you buy have trilingual labels - French, German and Italian. Some signs, especially at tourist areas, are also in English, and some products which are obviously sold beyond Switzerland, have even more languages on them. I counted 8 different languages on one box. Makes our bilingual Canadian cereal ... read more