Edinburgh

We visited the Royal Yacht Britannia which is the most modern royal residence and is also the one with the greatest access.

Pinkies up in the Queen's tea room!

Liverpool (part 2)

In Liverpool city centre, Americans gone wild... 18th century style.

We visited the Beatles Story and it is a must-see.

We saw this en route to Liverpool and saw the Memphis Belle.

Which was appropriate, since Graceland has the Elvis and Us exhibition at the Beatles Story through 2013. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside but they had some amazing artifacts including Elvis' crayons from school.

Liverpool

Penny Lane:

Strawberry Field:

Church Hall, where Paul met John for the first time:

Eleanor Rigby's grave:

The Cavern Club, where The Beatles played for the first time (and many, many other huge acts such as Elton John, Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry and many others have played):

Bradford

City Hall:

The Television Floor at the National Media Museum (also home to one of the earliest 30 line televisions):

Islay (part 3)

Caol Ila is the largest production facility on Islay and resembles the larger American distilleries like Heaven Hill or Jack Daniels.

The approach into Port Askaig. While the accommodations throughout Islay are far from 5 star and resemble typical European hotels of yesteryear, the people make up for it with friendliness. I highly recommend the Port Askaig Hotel.

Islay (part 2)

We also had lunch at Ardbeg. I highly recommend it as it is a low price and good flavor. The restaurant is called the Old Kiln and is, in fact, in the old kiln. Bowmore is the only true town on the island and the distillery is within walking distance of the shops.

Islay

We visited Islay to tour several distilleries. Lagavulin was the best, by far. The website promises that a Lagavulin Legend will host the Warehouse Demonstration. Iain MacArthur has worked at the distillery for 42 years and performed every job.

St. Louis

Went to St. Louis this week. The airport still has significant damage from the tornado earlier this year.

Saw the Anheuser-Busch brewery, including the horses.

Went up in the arch.

Belize

Leaving Mexico...

The bridge across the border heading south.

Belize is English speaking so signs in the border area are bilingual.

Instead of a duty free shop, Santa Elena is a duty free city. These little vehicles are basically motorcycles with a shell/bench. You can take them anywhere in the city.


North America, this way!

As far as I can tell, these are Mexican Navy ships patrolling the border.

Bridge across the border heading north.

Driving through Quintana Roo

Lots of different things in the Mexican countryside. No beheadings, kidnappings or drug cartel activity. As far as I can tell, that is overblown by the media. In a 4 hour drive, the shadiest thing I witnessed was that vendors will sell things near the ever-present speedbumps. Compared to your typical American panhandler washing your windshield at a red light, it is really nothing.

Bus stops. These are everywhere.

Interesting local architecture.

Horses wandering everywhere (look by the base of the left tower).

The font on the road signs appears to be Charcoal so I think the Mexican Department of Transportation may still be using Mac OS 8.



This town is ready for Christmas! I wonder if this town has ever had snow. I guess that doesn't mean that they can't have a snowman.



By the way, Buster Rent-a-Car was very cool and very convenient. I rented the car in Playa del Carmen and it was cheap but got me where I was going (and back). They had great reviews on the internet and there were no hassles about trying to scam me on the condition of the car or anything like that.