August 31, 2016 - Tanya's Magical Anniversary Trip - Day 15 - Outer Hebrides, Scotland AND W2GW in September

Elisa's Daily Scoop

W2GW - NYC & Queens in September

Howdy!  How are you today?

It's mid-week and it's also W2GW (Where to Go Wednesday) today.

Before, I go on, let me first apologize for a few things here on the blog.

We have changed our posting and emailing time this week to accommodate Tanya, who is not only in a different time zone, but who is also having a helluva time getting wifi long enough to blog.

So, for the rest of her trip, until she is home-based (or at least traveling where there is good internet service), we will link the previous day's Daily Scoop for you!

August 30, 2016 - Tanya's Magical Anniversary Trip - Day 14 - Outer Hebrides and Travelin' Tuesday Safety Tips

I guess we just take for granted that we'll always have internet, but as a traveler, I can tell you, that is not always the case.

Yesterday, I spent another lovely day with my little puppy.  Actually, we made a slight modification to her name.  We decided she was much more of a "PuNkin" than a Pumpkin.  So, that's who she is now!

Dropped the girls off at the barn and headed to Tanger Outlets once again with my fur baby.  We hung out together - I caught up on some work and she just took it all in and rested a bit.

I'm a regular there so now, Punkin is becoming a little celebrity.

So, with September literally a day away, let's see what the month has in store for the New York City area:

U.S. Open Tennis Championship
September 1 - 11, 2016 (begins Aug. 29) 

Watch the world’s best players compete under the open sky at the at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows.

​
Kite Festival
September 10, 2016 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) ​

Bring a kite, or buy one at the Kite Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park and watch it soar.
​

NYC Honey Week
September 12 - 18, 2016

Check link for various NYC locations
Celebrate the honeybee with dinners, cocktails, tours, tastings, and workshops during NYC Honey Week.


Feast of San Gennaro
September 15 - 25, 2016

This is the feast's 90th year! Popular for its religious procession Sept. 19, colorful parades, live music, ethnic foods, and a famous cannoli-eating contest, it is happening in Little Italy at Mulberry & Grand streets. Free.

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34th Annual Queens County Fair
September 24 - 25, 2016 ​

(credit: queensfarm.org)

The fair has pie-eating and corn-husking contests, circus shows, pig racing, hayrides, carnival rides, a midway, a beer garden, craft and food vendors, and bands at Queens County Farm Museum.


Sounds like some fun things to look forward to!!

Here's to a happy Hump Day!!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN:
​OUTER HEBRIDES, SCOTLAND

Me, the Rain and a few Sheep

Heyyyy! Like OMG I actually have wifi!

It may not be the best, but I'm here. Woo to the Hoo for that!

Boy are we having a windy week over here - imagine pedaling with at head wind of 45-50mph gusts! CRAZY I tell ya!

Wind and Rain has been our forecast since Monday. Sunday was actually just so beautiful with lovely blue skies and pretty puffy white clouds.

Well let me kinda start off by saying GREETINGS from the town of Callanish on the Isle of Lewis located on the island of Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Complicated I know!

Anyhoo, before I go on any further with that, let me fill you in on yesterday...

Plans around here change like the wind and like I mentioned, it's been pretty darn windy.

So the initial plan was for us all to go and do the Reinigeadal Loop which was suppose to be superb, offering amazing mountain biking through wild and mountainous landscapes. But since it had rained all night long, our guide went to check it out and suggested that the trail was going to be even more wet and muddy, and definitely more boggy than it was the day before.

The other option was visiting Scalpay, one of the island’s most remote coastal villages and there was even a historic lighthouse built by none other than Stevenson back in the 18th Century. I was SOLD!

*Mac an Tàilleir suggests the name derives from "ship island" from the Norse. However, Haswell-Smith states that the Old Norse name was Skalprøy, meaning "scallop island" - which is the story that I heard and this was the location of the biggest settlement of Norwegian Vikings in all of Harris.

So, I let the gang go do their thing and I went to have a day on my own...
But little did I know just how on my own I was gonna be.

I had figured that I'd pedal on over to the Isle of Scalpay and do a bit of strolling around the village, chat it up with the locals, have spot of tea, and go see the light house.

Well...it didn't quite go like that. 

​The ride was longer than I had expected and once I got there, I didn't even realize that I was there...I pedaled right through - yup it was THAT small! 

I couldn't figure out where on earth the lighthouse was, there were no locals to ask for directions. I spent most of the time chatting with myself, being lonely, and fighting the CRAZY gust of 45 mph winds that I certainly didn't care for and that made my ride that much more difficult!

I did however manage to have that spot of tea.

Once back, I took a stroll around Tarbert

When Dave arrived, we went to go see the Harris Tweed shop - learning that Harris Tweed can only be made from the wool of the little black faced sheep and although they now have looms with engines, in order to be Harris Tweed the maker cannot use a loom with an engine and it is regulated!

*For centuries the islanders of Lewis and Harris, the Uists, Benbecula and Barra have woven cloth by hand calling it 'clò-mòr' in the original Gaelic or 'big cloth'.   Originally this handmade fabric was woven by crofters for familial use, ideal for protection against the colder climate of the North of Scotland. Surplus cloth was often traded or used as barter, eventually becoming a form of currency amongst the islanders.
For example, it was not unusual for rents to be paid in blankets or lengths of cloth. 
To the day Harris Tweed is a cloth handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.

All so interesting! Who knew?!

​Then of course ending the evening with a riding recap and dinner with the rest of the riding team.

NOTE: Although I seem to have decent connection - photos are still having much trouble to upload. 

Anyhoo - guess what it is time for me to go and do... Pedal Pedal Pedal.

I'll see ya back here tomorrow,
​-T

9/7/16 UPDATED: Photos added