Lorne Sausage: Not Exactly an Egg McMuffin

“Ah’d like fried bacon wi the tattie scones also fried but wi ma black puddin grilled along wi a tomato, jist cut in half mind. An I’m no wantin link sausages, I’ll hae lorne, twa slices, an cut it thick. Hae the tea an toast ready at the same time hen, an be sure to butter them richt up tae the edges. Love ye.”

 

Translated:

 

Lorne Sausage: square sausage, sliced sausage. Made from minced beef, pork, breadcrumbs and spices shaped into a rectangular block and chilled until suitable for slicing. Then grill or fry the slices, fits bread perfectly.

 

“I’d like fried bacon and potato scones also fried, but with my slices of black pudding grilled along with a tomato, just cut in half, as you know. And I do not want link sausages, I’ll have lorne sausage instead and please cut them thick. Have the tea and toast ready at the same time darling, and be sure to butter them up to the edges. Love you.”

A Scottish breakfast consists of tea and brown wholemeal toast with marmalade along with a plate of fried eggs, back bacon, potato scones, fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and Lorne sausage. You will also get either a fried black pudding or slices of fried clootie dumpling or fried fruit loaf or bread. It can also be served with porridge or kippers for a starter. In a posh hotel you might even get a small glass of fresh orange juice as well.
Baked beans are a modern option.
My favourite personal Scottish breakfast is a soft poached egg, crisp grilled bacon and grilled tomato in a soft morning roll. Adding a slice of black pudding is a stretch but gives extra flavour and texture.
Doesn’t half make a tasty mess when you bite into it.

Thanks so much to Stooryduster and his great Scottish language site.

OK!  I am going back to the Continent were I belong.  Ciao.

Dee

Dov'è Aldo?

So what happened to our party planner, Aldo?  

Well , we did receive an email from him, but it seems we wouldn't be profitable enough.  He really would rather plan the whole trip, and he doesn't do hostels OR ferries.  We actually didn't ask him to do that part of it, we just wanted help with the trains and airfares, but I can understand that he would need to do a certain amount of work to make it worthwhile.  He has a minimal amount he needs up front to do the planning (non-refundable) and although he may save us some money, it isn't money we want to spend if we can't have the trip we want.  He did set out a tentative route, but it isn't really what we were looking for, so we are doing it on our own, for better or worse. 

So I am on my way to bed with the confusion of London to Amersham (can we fit in the ancestral home of the Finals in between landing in London and taking off for Scotland the evening of the same day?), figuring out how to best get from Amsterdam to Vienna (there doesn't seem to be a direct route), and then getting us from Vienna into my real part of the trip, Italy.

Getting the Perugia lodging planned is a relief.  They have been great to deal with, so far, and the deposit went off on Paypal (50€=$68) without an international blip, and we now have a place to stay near Perugia in the midst of the EuroChocolate Festival.  I think we will be fine being outside of the action in town, and actually may find we only spend a short time a the festival, and the rest exploring the farm.  We also think we may end up back there later in the trip for another day....OR

We have invited the daughter of a friend of Becky's who is studying Italian at University to come visit us during our trip when we are in Cinque Terre.  At the same time, we are also hoping our cousin, Libby who is in Saint Gaudens, France for a year (and who may still be there in October) will be able to visit at the same time.  Libby and Kim (Becky's friend) have so much in common...they are both talented musicians and love travel and languages...and we know they will be great international friends.  The area we will be in at that time will be on the Italian Riviera and there are several interesting, beautiful places to see while we are there.  It could be fun for all of us, and Becky and I may be REALLY tired of each other's company by then and ready for some (English) distractions.

On to bed, hopefully before midnight for the first time in weeks.  So much floating around in my head.  Time to go listen to Nomadi and rest my brain for another fun European assault tomorrow.

The Big Jump

Well, we did it!  We laid out the first of our cold hard cash today.  Dee secured a reservation for the Perugia Farmhouse which will be our 'home' for the 2-3 days we are in Perugia for the International Chocolate Festival.  It is a really neat place.  Then this morning we got together by phone and hashed out the information necessary to submit our flight reservations.  We are talkin' big money here and our leap of faith. The trip is officially on now.  But, we found what we believe is a really good price for our flights.  $822 each to leave from LA, fly to London (via Toronto, Canada) and fly home from Milan. Italy a month later (via Zurich, Switzerland.  By the time we finish this trip we should have set foot in the following:  California (no big deal there), Canada, England, Scotland, Holland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and Italy.  How cool is that??

Now I'm doing my part of the planning and trying to iron out our schedule for Scotland.  Right now it reads: (from London) to Ft. Williams, Glasgow, Bute, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh and then to Newcastle England where we will catch a ferry to Amsterdam.  That much will take around 8-10 days.

I have to say, this is SO much fun.

Becky
+2.6

It's All About Perugia

Since our trip is being scheduled around the EuroChocolate festival in Perugia, I thought a little about the town would be in order.  First, the boring stuff about the geographical and political divisions in Italy.

Division	Italy	Population	Size	Division	USA	Population	Size
Region	Umbria	903,679	3,264.9 sq mi	State	California	37,253,956	163,696 sq mi
Province	Perugia	660,040	2,445.6 sq mi	County	Shasta	163,256	3,847 sq mi
Capital	Perugia	166,253	173.7 sq mi	County Seat	Redding	104,504	59.6 sq mi

Perugia is the capitol of the Province of Perugia and the Region of Umbria.  (There are only two provinces in Umbria.  There used to be only one, but then Turnia was carved out of the southern part).  Umbria is one of the smallest regions in Italy, and the ONLY one that is completely landlocked .  It is surrounded by Tuscany, Marche, and Lazio. It is the only region that not only has no shoreline, but no border with another country.

Now on to the important stuff...The Festival. 

The chocolate festival in Perugia is only one of several in Europe, but it is one of the largest.  They have been having this cocoa flavored celebration since 1963, and has involved an igloo made from 7937 pounds of chocolate bricks; a 23 foot long x 7 foot high

Chocolate Scupture

chocolate bar made from 13,184 pounds of dark chocolate with hundreds of hazelnuts; and chocolate sculptures, samples and souvenires. According to Wiki (where I stole most of this) " It lasts for nine days and is located in the squares and areas of Piazza Italia, Piazza della Repubblica, Corso Vannucci, Via Mazzini, Via Fani, The Terrace of the Covered Market, and Piazza IV Novembre". More than a million Italian and foreign tourists attend over the 9 days of the festival each year.

So, where are we going to stay???

Considering the hoards of natives and visitors attending the Festival, lodging can be a major problem.  We are going to be staying outside of town at the Perugia Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast (http://www.perugia-farmhouse.it/).

It sits close to a bus stop a short distance from town, and they even have pick up from downtown at night.

We are planning on staying at least two nights, but may stay a little longer and use it as a base for a couple of short trips into Assisi, Guibbio (Roman ruins AND a castle), Deruta (ceramics), and also just exploring Perugia, if we can get past the "tourists" and the chocolate.  Probably not the best time to explore Perugia.  That might have to wait for "un viaggio senza cioccolata" (a chocolate free trip) another time.

In any case, it could turn out to be just a rest time, and it sounds

like a great place to do it.  There is even a stable nearby that partners with the B&B so we may be able to go ride around a bit.  I only hope we can be there for bruschetta night...can you imagine?  Could be really fun, and because it is rather like a hostel, there could be people there from all over. 

Becky's horse in the back, mine in the front

I have been in communication with the B&B and I am going to make our reservations this week.  I am very excited, but also very nervous, because this is solid...the first real money involved, and nearly at the "no turning back now" stage.

Dee

Slight Interruption

I have discovered that I am completely and truly a creature of not only habit, but of the "e" age.  I was without phone and interent (OH NO!) for a total of 5 days and it was horrible!  You know how with the power out and you keep flicking the light switch without thinking?? Well, that was me for five days.  I kept grabbing for my laptop to search, e-mail, watch a video or any of the dozen things I tend to do every day on-line, and I did it over, and over, and over.  Obviously I am not trainable any more.

But now I am reborn again and all is well.  The slight interruption I mention was of course that.. but also I have (what I promise is) a slight interruption to my Scotaly planning due to planning for a NYC trip. I prefer to call it a training run so Dee doesn't think I'm a trader.  My friends Barb & Sue (from Nevada) and I are going to NYC on Feb 11-16 to go to the Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Madison Square Garden. (woohoo!) I have gotten practice in finding and booking a reasonable hotel ($115/night for the 3 of us to share which is NOT bad at all for Manhatten), Sue found RT tickets from Sacramento to JFK for $300 each - also NOT bad at all.  Food of course will be outrageous.

We still have to buy tickets to the dog show and we need to go to a show on Broadway while there. My vote is for Billy Elliott. My physical therapist  was raised in Manhatten and gave me a GREAT tip regarding picking up show tickets.  There is a booth in Time Square where you go 'day of' and you can find show tickets for from 20% - 70% off.  Fantastic.  I've always believed it's not what you know but rather who you know that saves the day!

I promise to use this trip as a practice run on packing lightly (although it will be friggin' freezing in NYC).

Becky
-1.2

A Letter to Aldo

I sent off a note to the travel agent who is going to help us with our trip.  His name is Aldo and he is a friend of Cathy's (our ex-sister-in-law), and he is not only a travel agent, but is also Italian.  He is married to a long-time friend of Cathy's and she has graciously agreed to share him with us.

Most of what I sent was a rough draft of my rambling thoughts, but there actually where some organized thought hidden within it. Here is what we have decided so far:

 

Aldo Della Ragione



Scotland: 7-10 days. Listed by priority

Island of Bute 3-5 days

Glasgow

Edinburg

Maybe Inverness

Vienna, 2 days 

Lipizzaners

Spanish Riding School

Italy, 7-10 days

Venice (2)

Florence (2)

(Bologna)

(Modena)

(Parma)

Cinque Terre

Lucca

Perugia sometime during the week of October 13-24

(ANYWHERE Nomadi is having a concert)

(Nearly anywhere Zucchero is having a concert)

We know we want to travel by train and ferry, (may have to travel by bus out of necessity sometimes).

Fly to London?

Train to Glasgow

Ferry to Bute

Ferry back to Glasgow

Train to Edinburgh

Train to Newcastle

Ferry to Amsterdam

Train to Vienna

Train to Venice

Train around Italy (and maybe a bus or two)

Oh, yes…and vaporetto around Venice (le gondole sono troppo caro)

Add a plane to London, an occasional cab, and all we are short is hot air balloon, helicopter, bicycle (maybe on Bute), scooter (may be able to do something about that), rollerskates, submarine and rickshaw?  Now that could be a fun "bucket list". 

Speaking of bucket lists, one I added awhile back is to try truffles (not the ones dipped in chocolate-although they may have those in Perugia.  The ones that grow underground).  Maybe Parma?



I am looking forward to seeing what Aldo has to say about our plans, about whether we are being too ambitious or if we have a workable outline. 

More about each of the places we want to go in later blogs, and why they were picked from so many possibilties.



In the meantime, I am having fun, and I have stopped hyperventilating everytime I think about paying for an airline ticket…at least for now.



http://www.traveldesigninternational.com/index.html



Dee

-1



Changes, Additions, or Just More Decisions?

I did a review of  Rick Steves "Most Scenic Train Rides" for Europe here.  I collated them and found the ones that were recommended the most for the areas we would be in.  These are not decisions we need to make, just options available to us if we wish to do them.

Scotland: 



Mallaig

West Highland line to:

Glasgow north to Ft Williams



Glasgow to Mallaig   

Edinburgh to Inverness 



Italy:

Nice to Genoa (multiple) 2.5-3 hrs (searched for a long time, but couldn't find any pictures from the train)

Nice to Limone (via Genoa)

Florence to Nice

Obviously, there must be something between Italy and Nice worth seeing.

There is also a night train that goes from London up the west coast of Scotland to Glasgow, but can also continue on to the Skye Islands and Mallaig.  There is a really good website here that tells you all about the trains, schedules, and stops.



Ok, Becky...I will keep working on transportation around Italy...but some of those Scotland ones sound promising?

Dee







What? Me Worry?

It is midnight.  I wanted to have some profound words to put on our blog about how now it is time to really commit to this trip and get down to making concrete plans.  I wanted to say how I was looking forward to it even more now that we have reached our "no turning back" point.  I wanted to say that nothing-not jobs, or mothers, or lack of money, or weather, or terrorists were going to stop us from our goal and dream of traveling to other countries and exploring other cultures, people and sights.

I wanted to say all of that, but all I actually decided to do was write a quote that I read today: 

Se al mio problema c'è una soluzione, perchè preoccuparmi?
Se al mio problema non c'è soluzione, perchè preoccuparmi?

(If there is a solution to my problem, why worry?
If there is no solution to my problem, why worry? )

I have decided that this will be the "quote for the year" that I will try to live by.   I have always believed that we should plan for tomorrow, but live in today, but it is a harder thing to do than to say.  Perhaps if I put a little more effort into it, I can make it become a true part of my being.

So saying that, for today, January 1, 2011, I am going to start looking for the solutions.  If they are there, no worry.  And if they aren't....well, no worry.

And since I will be saving a whole lot more time by not worrying, I can put that time into working on the plans for tomorrow and the trip we are  looking forward to so much.

Auguri di Buon Anno, tutti!

Dee