NO GO!

Sunset over Rend Lake

Well our plan did not work.  We arrived at the airport for our flight to Madrid by way of Dallas only to be told by American Airlines that we would not be allowed on the plane.  Our best efforts were made to plead force mejuer but no matter what we said they told us we could not fly to Spain.  Of course, they also will not refund the money that we spent for tickets not once but twice - but that is another story.  Ultimately, we were told that in order to be allowed on the plane we had to present a letter from the Spanish Government specifically giving us permission to enter the country.  So, we started to work on obtaining permission from the Spanish Consulate in Chicago.  We started with the Honorary Consulate for Spain in St. Louis, he then pleaded our case to the Consulate General for Spain in Chicago.  But... the answer was still NO.    

Babies

So... now we have a problem.  Folks from non-European countries are allowed to "temporarily import" their boat for personal use into the EU without paying the VAT (value added tax) tax that Europeans pay on their boats.  But there is a time limit of 18 months on the temporary import (TI).  In light of the pandemic, the EU commission has put forth that non-European boats would be allowed an extension of the TI but they must apply to the local customs office (where their boat is berthed) before their time is up.  Well here is the Catch-22:  you must apply for the "solicitude" or appeal for the extension online however in order to do that you must have a "digital certificate" AND you can only get a digital certificate if you are Spanish!!  So you must apply online but you cannot apply online!  Round Two.

Another spectacular Rend Lake Sunset

So here we go again with appeals for assistance to the Spanish Consulate.  To anyone finding themselves in a position where they have to deal with the Spanish Authorities my advice would be - don't bother.  Just give up or don't even start because you will get nowhere - they will not help you in any way.  Not just difficult - beyond difficult!  In the end all we came away with was much frustration and a dandy headache.  I think we are now up to Plan G!!

Rend Lake

We have no way to appeal to the local customs officials for an extension on the TI.  This is actually a very big deal as the tax is 20 to 30% of whatever they arbitrarily determine the value of your boat to be.  We are talking 30 to 40 thousand.  Not a small sum of money.  So we must move Talaria out of the EU however we are not allowed to go there and move her ourselves.  We have hired an Italian captain that our Canadian friends found on a facebook page called "Women who Sail".  We are not on facebook so I have never seen that page but many women sailors I know rely on it often.  After checking his references we decided to let him take her on a 1600 nm journey to Kas, Turkey.  It will be Andrea, his friend who is also a professional sailor and Andrea's 16 year old daughter who is trying to build up sea miles for her licensing.  We told him we are in no hurry - mind the weather and do a slow, safe passage.  I will have him turn our tracker on when he arrives so we can watch her progress.  We anticipate about a three week passage depending on the weather.  Upon arrival in Kas she will be lifted and put on the hard until we arrive in January.  I plan to go ahead and work the rest of the year.  In January, we will fly to Turkey and enjoy a nice warm winter.  Then hopefully when the sailing season starts we will be able to sail again.  If everything is okay pandemic wise, we will head to Greece in the Spring.  Again, I appeal to everyone to send good thoughts our way as the number of cases are not just going up in the US but in the EU as well.  Andrea says he is hearing rumors that they may shut the border between France (where Andrea is living) and Spain yet again.  He is unable to leave France before the 29th of July so we are hoping that he makes it to Spain before more restrictions are put in place.  Then he just needs to get out of there are quickly as possible.  Fingers crossed!

Pandemic Blues

New, Old Camper

I have been remiss with writing.  Like everyone we have been dealing with the sudden upending of our lives by the novel coronavirus.  Our return flight to Spain was intially March 31st. But the pandemic took hold and we had to change our flight.  We set it back a month naively thinking that would be enough time for countries to get control.  Boy, were we wrong!  Since, our return from Europe we had been in a hotel and I had returned to work for the winter.  By February, we were so tired of cooking on a hot plate and eating out that we decided to buy a little camper for when we are in the US.  We wanted our own little space complete with refrigerator, stove and oven.  After spending some time looking we found one that would work and bought it.  Michael spent some time putting new flooring in and then we moved out to the lake.  It was beautiful... nice spring weather, lots of deer, campfire...  and then the virus started wreaking havoc on the state.  All in all we had one week at the campground before the governor closed all the state parks.  Damn the luck.  As it turns out though it was very fortuitous that we bought the camper when we did as the same week the governor closed the parks he also closed all restaurants... except for carry out orders.  Worries about eating out and being in a hotel became non-worries! But there were other worries. My job is to administer anesthesia.  At our hospital we quickly developed an intubation team.  Our task was to intubate (put a tube in the trachea) all Covid-19 patients in the ICU and on our new Covid floor.  So now Michael and I had new worries... big worries.  We developed a system for cleaning everything brought into our space.  When returning from work I would strip off in the doorway and bag my clothes separate from the rest of the laundry.  I would then use bleach wipes on anything I touched before heading straight to the shower.  Suddenly, just everyday life became much more difficult. 

And then finally in June it was announced that the Spanish Prime Minister would allow folks from non-EU countries back into Spain starting July 1st.  Great!  We quickly got our return flight for Spain reserved.  We are supposed to fly out on Wednesday - July 1st.  But over the weekend it was announced that the EU commission has decided to ban US citizens from the EU due to the US infection rate for Covid-19.  Their criteria is that a country must have either a lower infection rate than the EU or only slightly higher.  Yesterday, the EU rate was 16 per 100,000 and the US rate was 122 per 100,000.  Those rates are not even close.  The US does not have a handle on this and we certainly understand their concern.  But... unless they cancel the flight we will be on it.  We have a letter from the marina verifying that our boat is berthed there. Our hope is that the letter will be our ticket.  We do not know what will happen when we arrive but we are going to take our chances.  Any good thoughts directed our way will be appreciated.  

Rend Lake - Southern Illinois - USA

 Even though we are willing to fly in order to return to our boat we are not throwing caution to the wind.  Yes, we must be near other people but we will wear N95 masks the entire flight.  We will wipe everything we touch with bleach wipes and keep our hands clean.  No eating and no drinking on the flight.  We are hoping that the international flight will not be as full as domestic flights and that we can spread out some.  But if not, our backup plan is to just sleep and wake up in Madrid!  We can rehydrate when we land.  Its pure craziness for sure...but these are extraordinary times.  

 We are anticipating a mandatory two week quarantine when we arrive but that is okay.  We have arranged private transport directly from airport to marina and will quarantine on the boat.  There is easily two weeks of work to do on boat so its no problem.  With any luck our next post will be from Spain!!  Fingers crossed.

Crathes and Doune Castles

Crathes Castle

16th century Crathes castle was a gift to the Burnett of Leys family by Robert the Bruce.  Are you noticing a pattern here?  Seems that Robert the Bruce made it a habit of gifting castles and hundreds of acres of surrounding land to folks.  Crathes castle sits on 530 beautiful acres with nearly 4 acres of walled gardens.  This castle stands out for its amazing topiary and gardens.

Egg and Egg Cup Topiary

In particular, the "Egg and Egg Cup" topiarys that date to the 18th century.  We found these interesting - mostly because an egg and cup would have never come to our minds when thinking of topiary.  Whoever designed that must have really been fond of eggs!

Croquet Court and Walled Gardens

Crathes castle also boasts a croquet court and plants that are centuries old.  Like many Scottish castles, Crathes castle, was donated to the National Trust of Scotland.  The Trust works hard to maintain the fine gardens here.
 

Crathes Castle and Garden

Inside Crathes Castle visitors will find Scottish renaissance ceilings.  Hand painted and usually themed these ceilings date back centuries.  Many were covered up only to be discovered by workmen years later.

Ceilings at Crathes

 Crathes castle is purportedly also haunted.  Legend has it that a "green lady" haunts the castle and that even Queen Victoria has seen her.  While she has been seen throughout the castle there is one room in particular that she haunts.  Certainly, our guide believes the haunting to be true as do others in Scotland.  Fortunately, we did not encounter the green lady but I don't think I would want to stay there at night.

Doune Castle

 And then there is Doune castle, the castle we all know from Monty Python.  In the lobby, you can purchase coconut shells so you can clomp like a horse throughout the castle, like in Monty Python!!  We had a ton of fun here as we are both huge Monty Python fans.  They gave us headsets and as we walked through the castle there was narration regarding the movie and TV shows that are filmed here as well.  Namely, Outlander and Game of Thrones.

Doune Castle

 Hearing how they set up to film here was fun.  The grounds are not huge so its amazing that they are able to set up all their outside props in such a small space.  Particularly, for the TV shows.

Doune Kitchen

 Above is the enormous fireplace for cooking in the castle (the kitchen).  

Doune Great Hall

 I think they take bits and pieces of different castles for the shows - filming a little here and a little there.  They definitely use more than one.  Turns out many movies are filmed in Scotland and particularly in the Hebrides.  The landscape is featured in Disney films and Star Wars films among others.  It does have that remote, wild feel.  One last castle and then we are moving on. 

Castles Fraser and Fyvie

Castle Fraser

There have been over two thousand castles in Scotland!  And by far the most per hectare are in Aberdeenshire.  So that is where we positioned ourselves to do our castle touring - Aberdeen.  Our friend, Moray, a fellow sailor is from Aberdeen.  He tried to talk us out of visiting there but we were having none of it - that was our planned staging ground.  For several days we would leave Aberdeen in the morning and head one direction or another with our list of castles to see for the day.  Usually two a day - that is about all you can do or its just no fun.

Castle Fraser

 Castle Fraser apparently is a superb example of a Z-plan castle.  That doesn't mean much to me but it would to castle afficionados.  It is a very impressive castle nonetheless.  

Fyvie Castle

Fyvie Castle was hosting a wedding the day we visited.  Complete with a Scottish bagpiper and antique cars.  Fyvie Castle is said to be haunted and according to our guide all the stories are true!  I must confess we did not encounter any ghosts but do not dispute their 
existence.  Visitors beware!
 

Bagpiper awaiting the wedding party

Armor at Fyvie Castle

 Fyvie Castle is impressive both inside and out.  Inside the castle is an amazing collection of armor and outside an amazing collection of gardens.

 In addition, to the armor this castle is well known for its collection of Raeburn portraits.  A Scottish painter of fame.

 

 You could easily while away the entire day just meandering through the magnificent gardens.  Which we were doing when the rain came!  It rained every day that we were in Scotland.  

More castles to come... I hope you are enjoying.

Craigievar Castle and Tolquhon Castle

Craigievar Castle

Craigievar Castle and Tolquhon Castle were both once owned by the Forbes family.  Forbes was and maybe still is a big name in Scotland.  Craigievar Castle's claim to fame is that it was reportedly the inspiration for the Walt Disney motif.  It is a charming pink seven story castle set way up on a hill.  And although the Walt Disney story is the one most well known the one we remember is the one told to us by our castle guide.  According to the guide the clan that lived in Craigievar Castle and a neighboring clan were feuding.  Think Capulet and Montagues.  The Craigievar Castle clan had a daughter who apparently was smitten with the son of the "enemy" clan.  The two young people had gone around their folks and were having a clandestine "meeting" in the bed of the Craigievar Castle's laird.  Sadly, they were discovered and the young man was given an option.  Be run through with the lairds sword or "learn to fly".  He opted for the latter and jumped out the window (on the top floor).  Needless, to say the landing was not soft.  That window was then covered up and remains so today.  Gruesome story but one that sticks in your memory.

Craigievar Castl

Native stone of the region gives Craigievar its unique pink hue.  In the above photo you can see all the spikes in the castle wall which are actually drains.  They keep the water from draining right down the side of the castle.  We tend to think of castles as defensive structures but for the most part they were just homes with some defensive capability.  Most of the Scotland castles were never actually attacked.

View from the top of Craigievar Castle

 The castles are usually in beautiful, remote settings with the grounds being as stunning as the castles. 

Craigievar Castle

 Craigievar and Tolquhon were two of my favorite castles.  Tolquhon is in partial ruin but I love it as it allows your imagination to run wild.

Tolquhon Castle

 Craigievar is more of a "princess castle" and Tolquhon is more of a defensive castle.  Complete with slits for arrows and a surrounding wall.  It looks like a very defensive castle.  However, all that was apparently just for "decoration".  Tolquhon was never attacked.  But again... you can still use your imagination!

Tolquhon Castle

Tolquhon Castle is often overlooked which is a shame as it fits my image of a castle better than some others we have seen.  Maybe its the courtyard and outer wall that do it for me.
I can imagine the enemy trying to scale the outer wall only to be shot with arrows as they were forced to cross the completely exposed grassy area to actually reach the castle. And then right by the door there were slits for arrows so the folks in the castle could shoot at you as you were trying to get through the door.  So disappointing to learn that what we took for strategic planning was actually all just for show.  Even folks in medieval times were trying to keep up with the "Jones" it seems. 

So glad the decision was made to preserve this partial ruin, although it is now a haven for birds, it still gives you a glimpse into medieval life.  In many ways we found it more intriguing not having a guide to give us the castle story which allowed us to make up our own.  Michael and I spent our time analyzing the various defensive structures we saw and ruminating over how clever it all was.  My advice would be to not write off the partial ruin castles as they are just as interesting to visit as the complete castles and in some ways even more interesting!  A few more castles to come...

Drum Castle

The tower on this castle dates back to medieval times.  Even the additions to the castle date to 1200-1300!  Drum castle was the property of the Clan Irvine for 650 year, having been generously granted to the family by Robert the Bruce.

 Its hard to believe that folks lived in these castles as they are so vast.  But they did until fairly recent times.  Finally, the Irvine Clan donated the castle to the National Trust of Scotland and now we lucky people get to visit.  Not only do we get to enjoy the castle but the castle grounds as well which are spectacular. 

 It is no small feat for the National Trust of Scotland to maintain all the castles in their care.  As you can imagine they require much care... which takes alot of money.  They count on our visits to fund their various maintenance projects.

 There are so many castles in Scotland you would need quite a bit of time to see them all.  Just trying to do that would take away from the experience in my view.  So we settled on the ones that captured our interest the most.  Just a handful.

 Each castle is of course unique.  I loved the gardens at this castle.  The grounds around the castle are a treasure complete with very nice walking trails.

Actually, what I will always remember about this castle are the grounds, the beautiful gardens, the blooming flowers - so, so pretty.

More of our favorite castles to come...

Dunnottar - Epitome of a Castle

My idea of a castle is a stone structure high up on a cliff overlooking the sea.  It would have one way in and that entry would be heavily guarded.  Impenetrable, formidable, majestic.  That castle is Dunnottar Castle in Scotland.  Built on a rocky headland and surrounded on three sides by the North Sea.  The steep cliffs drop an impressive 160 feet!  Scotland has many, many castles but none as impressive as Dunnottar Castle.

The castle looks as though it was just born out of the rock. This narrow stairway is the only way into the castle (you can see it at the bottom center of the photo, winding around the rock).  The castle is in partial ruin with the remaining structures dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.  

But the castle actually dates to medieval times.  Vikings laid siege to this castle!  In 1297, William Wallace (Braveheart) captured the castle from the English during the Scottish Wars of Independence.  He was only 18 years old at the time!!  Story has it that he came up through what is essentially the sewer grate.  Having spent considerable time at the castle as a child he was very familiar with its layout.  A nice advantage!

And then in 1651, Oliver Cromwell laid siege to the castle for eight months.  Devil was trying to steal the Crown Jewels of Scotland.  But the clever Scots had lowered the Crown Jewels down the steep cliff and into a fishing boat.  The fishing boat was being manned by the wife of the minister in a nearby town.  She took the Crown Jewels and hid them under the Altar of the Church.  They remained there for many years.  Now of course they are on display at the Edinburgh Castle.  

Lions Den

Down in this cave like area is where they kept the lion!!  We asked about the lion den and the workers at the castle assured us that indeed they did at one point in history keep a lion there.  

Michael on the top floor of the castle

You can see what a viewpoint you have from the windows.  You would be able to see ships coming from miles away.  And they were sailing ships, so not very speedy.  Plenty of time to prepare for a siege.  

Royal Emblems

Clock!

 

 

Castle Cistern

 The castle became the home of the Earl of Marischal whose job was to protect the King when he was in parliament.  And now the castle is privately owned along with all the land around the castle. 

Its easy to wander around the castle and get lost in imagining what life must have been like.  To wander up to the top floors and imagine looking out to sea and seeing Viking ships on the North Sea.  Our trip to Dunnottar Castle was one of the best sites of our entire trip.  If you were to see only one castle in Scotland this in my view is the one to see!  But we saw many more... more on that in the next post.