Aberdeen Winter and Birthdays

Date of these events: January/February-ish 

Winter in Aberdeen continued through January and February with several heavy snows.



Each snow left the city beautifully white!



I have been anxiously awaiting the day the snow clears that that I can use my new Scottish "hamper" (aka- picnic basket) that James got me for Christmas. I absolutely love the tartan lining!

January and February brought several birthdays to celebrate!

Celebrating Jill with Thai food and brownies!

Celebrating Debbie with champagne and hand massages!

Enjoying Jo Malone's amazing fragrances

 Celebrating Pam with an afternoon tea at The Marcliffe!

If you are looking for a nice afternoon tea in Aberdeen, The Marcliffe is a lovely place to go.

The scones were gorgeous! 

I hope you all had wonderful birthday celebrations, Jill, Debbie, and Pam!

I just had to take a photo of a sweet friend's incredible home. Thanks for opening your beautiful home up for our Bible study, Nancy!

Sgor Buidhe Circuit

Date of this event: February 16, 2013

If you would like to know how to pronounce the name of this circuit, click here: Sgor Buidhe, and then click the volume symbol beside the title. 

Sgor Buidhe is located in Ballater.

Starting out easy

Taking in the views before our ascent

Then we saw that our path was covered in a layer of ice with snow piled on top.

Proof that hiking in snow is a difficult task

Not so easy to walk through

Snow-covered trees

Yes, he's that awesome!

The incredible views at the summit were worth the difficulty of hiking in the snow!

Happy that we finally made it!

After reaching the summit, we decided to continue the circuit through even thicker snow. We wanted to finish our seven mile hike.

James discovered the bog on which we had been walking. His boots sank right into at least three feet of water! 

Thankfully, Herman's feet and my feet were spared.

Wringing out the water from his socks...

Continuing hiking in snow and ice with wet feet isn't the best idea, particularly because we had no idea what was ahead of us. We decided to turn around and go back the way we had just come. 

On our drive back to Aberdeen, we came across these cuties!

Love all of the animals!

If you plan on hiking in the snow and ice, I definitely recommend taking some walking poles or an "ice-axe" like the experts recommend!

For more information on this walk, check out this website: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/sgor-buidhe.shtml

Belem District in Portugal

Date of this adventure: January 27, 2013

Parque Edwardo VII is a great garden in the city centre with a spectacular view.

Cristo-Rei, Christ the King, was built to symbolize the gratitude the Portuguese were spared from the effects of World War II.

These wavy patterns decorate many of Lisbon's streets and sidewalks.

Praca do Comercio

Most of our last day in Portugal was spent exploring the Belem district in Lisbon.

I made sure that we visited Casa Pasteis De Belem, a famous Portuguese bakery. 

The bakery is famous for being the first pastry shop, in 1837, to sell these famous egg custard tarts.

Portugal is full of unique trees.

The Jeronimos Monastery 

The Belem Tower sits nicely on the water. The tower was part of the Portuguese defense system and acted as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.

Padrao dos Descobrimentos- This monument was created to celebrate the Portuguese Age of Discovery  during the 15th and 16th centuries. Some of the heroes represented are Vasco da Gama, Henry the Navigator, and Magellan.

With warm weather, beautiful beaches, interesting history, and charming cities, what's not to like about Portugal?