Category Archives: Uncategorized

Of Castles and Ruins

Posted on July 16, 2020 by juliamenn

Having stayed overnight in Falkland, I had been hoping to visit Falkland Palace and the gardens there before I left, but it’s closed in winter (as many places are). I wasn’t too fussed as my day was going to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Scotland, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged aberdour castle, blackness castle, bridge of forth, castles, filming locations, jamie and claire, lallybroch, linlithgow palace, midhope castle, movies, nessie, Outlander, Outlander TV Show, Ruins, tv | Leave a comment

Scotland: Day 2 – Culross, Stirling, William Wallace, Doune and Outlander

Posted on June 1, 2020 by juliamenn

Thursday, December 12th 2019 (my first full, proper day in Scotland) dawned drizzle free, and I was awake before my alarm! Bags swiftly packed, I shoveled them in the rental and had a yummy vegan breakfast – my first of … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Scotland, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Adventure, Castle Leoch, Claire Fraser, Covenanter Hotel, Culross, Doune Castle, Falkland, film site, Herb Garden, history, Jamie Fraser, Monty Python, Outlander, Outlander Starz, Outlander TV Show, Pineapple House, River Forth, Robert the Bruce, Ruins, Scotland, Stirling Castle, Terry Jones, The Wallace Monument, Travel, Unicorn, vegan, village, William Wallace | Leave a comment

Mizen Head and West Cork

Posted on May 14, 2020 by juliamenn

As is the roundabout and fickle unpredictable nature of my travels, I ended up staying for several weeks at a friend’s B+B in West Cork. It was February (re: slow season) 2018, and I was able to make myself useful … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Ireland, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged B+B, bed and breakfast, Castle, Cliffs, Cliffs of Moher, Derelict, Drombeg, forest, frogspwan, healing, history, Ireland, Lake House, Mizen Head, nature, Passover, religion, Seder, Standing Stones, Stone Circle, West Cork | Leave a comment

Lessons on the Water

Posted on April 7, 2020 by juliamenn

I think we can all agree these are pretty crazy times. Covid-19 has laid the WORLD low, and my mental and emotional state has, as I’m sure many people’s have also, been incredibly up and down for the past few … Continue reading →

Posted in Musings, Uncategorized | Tagged choices, Covid-19, exertion, kayak, Kayaking, lake, learning, lessons, metaphor, options, quarantine, reality, scared, Water | Leave a comment

Scotland: Land of Monsters and Kelpies

Posted on April 4, 2020 by juliamenn

And bagpipes, Tartan, clans, Hielan Coos, Scotch Whisky… the list goes on! When I started getting into Whisk(e)y, I knew I wanted to visit Scotland. But that wasn’t the only reason, not by far. Knowing my love of Ireland, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Scotland, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Edinburgh, equine, Falkirk, Kelpies, lochs, monsters, Morrisons, mythology, Scotland, Tartan, The Grange Manor | Leave a comment

A New Look on New Year’s

Posted on March 21, 2020 by juliamenn

Ever since moving to New York at 18, I’d fallen into the trap of trying to make every New Year’s Eve as raucous and debaucherous as possible. I had a good run of it, too; New York City in general, … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Ireland, Musings, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged 2020, brilliant, china, company, countdown, drinking, Dublin, Friends, healing, Ireland, kissing, love, new year's eve, nyc, nye, realization, Revelation, Scotland | 1 Comment

Uisga Beatha

Posted on February 24, 2020 by juliamenn

Uisga Beatha (pronounced Oosh-kah Bae [Scottish] or Ish–kah Baha [Irish]) is Gaelic for ‘The Water of Life’ and used to describe that liquid golden nectar: Whisky. Why is Uisga Beathe synonymous with Whisky? Well, take your pick; from claims that … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Uncategorized, Whisky | Tagged alcohol, american oak, angel's share, auchentoshan, barrel, cardhu, copper, dalwhinnie, Distillery, distilling, european oak, ferment, glenfiddich, glenturret, grain, loch, malted barley, mash tun, mature, new make spirit, scotch, Scotland, spirit, still, sweet wort, washback, Whiskey, Whisky, wood | 1 Comment

In Bruges

Posted on November 16, 2019 by juliamenn

The extent of my knowledge about Bruges was that a movie with Colin Farrell had come out some years ago with the same name. No idea what it was about*, but when I got to Belgium and Kim was like, … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged belgium, boat ride, bruges, canal, canal tour, charming, cobbled streets, colin farrell, day trip, Europe, european city, history, horse drawn carriage, hot chocolate, in bruges, magic, old school, quaint, swans | 2 Comments

The Pinnacles

Posted on November 8, 2019 by juliamenn

One of the last things I did before leaving Wellington was take a day trip with some friends to The Pinnacles – a natural land formation that is quite unique and impressive. Oh yeah, it was also a LotR film … Continue reading →

Posted in new zealand, Travel, Uncategorized, wine | Tagged Adventure, cape palliser, dimholt road, gin, hike, lord of the rings, lotr, lunch, martinborough, new zealand, palliser estate, putangirua pinnacles, return of the king, road trip, the pinnacles, vineyard, wellington, wine, wine tasting | 2 Comments

An Unpleasant Surprise at the Festival

Posted on August 5, 2019 by juliamenn

I went to the Colorado Renaissance Festival today. The weather was perfect, and I was flying stag – I could spend as much time meandering, browsing, and drinking as I wanted! It would be grand!

Posted in ENP, Musings, Uncategorized | Tagged 2019, america, animal abuse, animal rides, big cats, Bullhook, colorado, cub, elephant nature park, Elephants, festival, Kitten, lion, magick, ren fest, renaissance, renaissance faire, serval, show, tiger | Leave a comment