Oban

A much more traditionally Scottish winter's day (dark and gloomy) brought us to Oban on the west coast of Scotland, where many of the ferries for the islands leave. The thinking was that, if the expected downpour materialised, we could have some retail therapy instead. As it happened, the rain only started as we were leaving but we still had to spend a lot of time browsing tartan gloves and shortbreads.

Tyndrum, Argyllshire

This is the famous Green Welly Stop at Tyndrum, where both the road and rail split. One road and rail heads north to Fort William, the other west to Oban. Tyndrum is in fact the smallest place in the UK to have more than one railway station.
Incidentally, we have no idea if the village is pronounced Tin-drum or Tyne-drum.

Loch Lomond

O ye'll tak' the high road, 

and I'll tak' the low road, 

And I'll be in Scotland a'fore ye, 

But me and my true love 

will never meet again, 

On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

A short break in Argyll and I got the chance to take in the banks of Loch Lomond and admire their bonnie-bonnieness. And in the clear blue skies and brilliant if cold sunshine, they certainly did look beautiful.

The photos above were taken at the front in Tarbet and the one below from the art instillation at Inveruglas, a few miles to the north.

Berlin

A few days in the brilliant city of Berlin and boy, did we get about!
Above, hitching a ride to the Brandenburg Gate.

The statue on top of the Brandenburg Gate is the Quadriga. Napoleon robbed it but the Germans robbed it back.

Outside the Reichstag, the German parliament. Angela didn't ask me to address the house.

One of the murals on the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall that is left. Most of it has been pulled down but about a kilometer remains at the East Side Gallery.

Met up with some half-naked tart at the Neptune Fountain.

The Television Tower in Alexanderplatz, pride of the DDR.

Another half-naked hussy at the Palace Sanssoucci in Potsdam

 At Checkpoint Charlie

The glass dome of the Reichstag building. Angela still didn't invite me in. Feck her anyway.

Llandudno

Didn't we have a luvverly time the day we went to Llandudno!!
On holiday with Summer Fox in North Wales and we had a great time with the ice-creams and the rides on the funfairs. Yee-haw!!

Varenna, Lake Como

On the eastern shore of Lake Como, I tried to rob a bike. But I couldn't reach the pedals.

Just hanging around, waiting for a train

Cascate dell'Acquafraggia, Chiavenna

Shortly after leaving Switzerland, we made a surprise discovery of the Acquafraggia waterfalls, once admired by Leonardo da Vinci on his travels. They lie in the Chiavenna Valley between the Swiss border and the town of that name.

Soglio, Graubunden

Do you remember how I got cruelly photo-bombed at the Stelvio Pass in Italy?

Well, at the incredible mountain village of Soglio, just before the border with Italy, I got my revenge......

Muottas Muragls, Graubunden

Early one morning, myself and the male half of my travelling companions decided to climb up to Muottas Muragls, a restaurant on a peak looking southwards over to St. Moritz. We would have taken the funicular, only it wasn't running.

After a lot of puffing and panting on his behalf - but none on mine - we got to the top and took in the spectacular view. Lake Lej is bottom left. We had passed that a few days earlier, walking from Pontresina to St. Moritz. The lake and town of St. Moritz is partially obscured by my right ear. Behind that is the small Champferer Lake, then Silvaplana Lake and at the back Lake Sils, which we also visited previously.. By my right paw is the funicular station at the bottom of the hill.

M.U.M. is Meters Uber Meer or Meters above sea-level.

The Pass of Stelvio, Valtellina

After a long, curvy, hairpin-strewn journey up the Valtellina, we arrived at the Pass of Stelvio and were surprised to discover cafes, shops and stalls doing a roaring trade after seeing precious little habitation for the previous ten miles. And the snow was thick on the ground. The Giro d'Italia had passed by here a couple of days previously, God help the poor buggers.

Arrrgggghhhh!!!!! Photo-bombed!!!!! Revenge will be mine!!

St. Moritz, Graubunden

Ah, St. Moritz, playground of the rich and famous. Well, in wintertime, anyway. Not so much in May, when most of the Bundners take their annual holidays, when the winter season ends and before the summer season starts.

St. Moritz lies in the Engadin, the valley of the River Inn. The waters from its lake therefore empty out into the Black Sea, flowing from the Inn into the Danube. Naturally it is surrounded by mountains and still plenty of snow about in May.

Here I am on the famous red train which rides one of the most scenic train journeys in the world from St. Moritz down to Tirano in Italy.

Ah, the Palace Hotel. If only my travelling companions could afford it....

Vaduz

Another new country for me. Well, country may be stretching it a bit. This is the Royal Castle, built on a cliff, overlooking the town of Vaduz in the Principality of Liechtenstein, famous for its banking prowess and exorbitant prices. Neither the Prince nor the Princess came out to meet me but I quickly played down the snub on social meedya.

Doren - our holiday home

By far the most picturesque of our three holiday homes on this trip, Doren lies about 15 miles from Bregenz. Fields in front, fields behind, wonderful balcony views and walking distance of the restaurant / pub.

Appenzell

And so to Appenzell, the most traditionally Swiss of all Swiss towns with its decorated houses and biberfladder and cheese. When we were there, the sun shone and there was music in the square.

The mountain behind is the Santis, the highest mountain in north east Switzerland.