Actually they were not raindrops but more like gazillions of jugs of water that have fallen out of the sky in Edinburgh these last couple of days, accompanied by nature's wild symphony of crashing tymphanies and rumbling drums. It was like a flash flood running across the ancient cobbles cleaning away litter and endless cigaratte stumps. Friday I escaped into the book shop and left puddles on the floor.
Yesterday after a wonderful sunny morning appreciating the elegance of Edinburgh, the castle and Princes street gardens huming with a cacphony of languages, the heavens burst open as Clive, Des his brother and wife Jane and I set out to walk along the hidden valley of Rosslyn Glen. The sheets of rain soon added dramatic atmospherics to this magnifcent valley of mixed forest, beeches trees, Scots pine, sycamore, and oak draped with fragrant honeysuckle. We clambered along the muddy path happy in the knowledge that we humans are the top of the food chain in Britain. The size of the trees and the density of the foliage, the steep sandstone cliffs, combine to make this another of nature's wonderous masterpieces.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
I belong among the wildflowers
Just back from three weeks trundling around mountains in Austria and France with our Scottish university friends Fred and Allison.
We hiked for 9 days in the Zillertal Alps.
Highlights were scrambling over 3 steep snowy passes. The Austrian Huttes were impressive in particular the chateaux like Beliner Hutte complete with two little pigs running around eating the plants. (What would the Canadian National Parks say to that?) We walked amongst red azaleas, electric blue genetians, magenta saxifrage, yellow buttercups to the whistle of marmots as they dissappeared into their burrows, and the thunderous sounds of rushing waterfalls.
Lowlights - day three it began to rain at lunchtime, poured as we sweated over the pass. We were dripping by the time we reached the warm hut. One hour later we looked out of the window to SNOW - just felt like Canmore! Still we managed to continue the next day inspite of 6 inches of snow and swirling cloud. Sometimes following the path was like connecting the red dots painted on the rock but that day it was like braille.
Down from the mountains we boarded a train to Innsbruck and then onto Geneva were we picked up a car on the French side of the airport as it is cheaper. What a complex road system! You need swiss francs in switzerland and Euros in France - so we avoided Switzerland. We drove to Allison's brothers ski chalet in La Rossiere like an eagle eryie with fantastic views over waves of mountain ranges. Here summer arrived and we had a week enjoying many hikes with amazing views of Mont Blanc consciously soaking in the hot rays before returning to Scotland.
The final couple of days we delighted in the ancient town of Annecy, with its vibrant markets and patesseries. People walk and bike everywhere with shopping baskets spilling over with lettuce, spring onions, cherries, apricots and of course baguettes.
The next stop was C.E.R.N. - here 27 kilometres of underground tunnels are used to explore the collisions of streams of protons in hope of finding out what happened in the first three minutes after the big bang. 3000 of the planets brightest scientist from many different countries seek solutions to this problem.
Final evening we spent enjoying a leisurely French meal on a splendid patio, surrounded by sweet smelling roses, enjoying the ambiance, food and speculating about the lives of those around us.
We hiked for 9 days in the Zillertal Alps.
Highlights were scrambling over 3 steep snowy passes. The Austrian Huttes were impressive in particular the chateaux like Beliner Hutte complete with two little pigs running around eating the plants. (What would the Canadian National Parks say to that?) We walked amongst red azaleas, electric blue genetians, magenta saxifrage, yellow buttercups to the whistle of marmots as they dissappeared into their burrows, and the thunderous sounds of rushing waterfalls.
Lowlights - day three it began to rain at lunchtime, poured as we sweated over the pass. We were dripping by the time we reached the warm hut. One hour later we looked out of the window to SNOW - just felt like Canmore! Still we managed to continue the next day inspite of 6 inches of snow and swirling cloud. Sometimes following the path was like connecting the red dots painted on the rock but that day it was like braille.
Down from the mountains we boarded a train to Innsbruck and then onto Geneva were we picked up a car on the French side of the airport as it is cheaper. What a complex road system! You need swiss francs in switzerland and Euros in France - so we avoided Switzerland. We drove to Allison's brothers ski chalet in La Rossiere like an eagle eryie with fantastic views over waves of mountain ranges. Here summer arrived and we had a week enjoying many hikes with amazing views of Mont Blanc consciously soaking in the hot rays before returning to Scotland.
The final couple of days we delighted in the ancient town of Annecy, with its vibrant markets and patesseries. People walk and bike everywhere with shopping baskets spilling over with lettuce, spring onions, cherries, apricots and of course baguettes.
The next stop was C.E.R.N. - here 27 kilometres of underground tunnels are used to explore the collisions of streams of protons in hope of finding out what happened in the first three minutes after the big bang. 3000 of the planets brightest scientist from many different countries seek solutions to this problem.
Final evening we spent enjoying a leisurely French meal on a splendid patio, surrounded by sweet smelling roses, enjoying the ambiance, food and speculating about the lives of those around us.
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