My Fab Fifties Life - travel experience Archives - Page 16 of 16

North America Travel

Nashville For First Timers

What a Fabulous City

May 23, 2018

Location: Nashville Tennessee USA

Breakfast at Bisquit Love

Nashville for first timers. Not what I was expecting. What a wild place – crazy, historic, loud, interesting and delicious. Nashville for first timers can be a bit of a surprise though. At least it was for me!

Famous Jacks BBQ on Broadway

My high school girl friends and I went a bit rogue this time in choosing our destination for our (almost) annual girls get away. Nashville made the cut and eight of us put on our mud kickers and headed out for a country music weekend.

We stayed at the Sheraton Grand Hotel. Unfortunately we didn’t realize how spread out this city is. So my first bit of advice is be prepared to need to Uber and cab it all over town. We spent a ton of money on that – big surprise there. So if you are a Nashville for first timers virgin be prepared!

Visiting Antique Archeology

The Old Town Hop On Hop Off Trolley was a good investment though when you are doing Nashville for first timers. We bought the first day ticket for $35 and added the second day for an additional $10. I really loved the drivers of these trolleys who gave us great history, interesting stories all served up with southern charm and humor.

One of my favorite things we did from the Hop On Hop Off was visit the famous and historic Ryman Theatre where The Grand Ole Opry performed from for many decades. The theatre is really amazing and the tour was was interesting.

Historic Ryman Theatre

Nelson Greenbrier Distillery

Also I loved our visit to the historic Marathon Motor Company building. Today it’s filled with funky shops including the Antique Archeology of American Pickers fame. Also on this same block is the Nelson Greenbrier Whiskey Distillery. The $11 tour was really fascinating and included a tasting of four different spirits they distill.

From the Hop on Hop Off we also found Music Row fascinating and surprising how these famous recording studios are mostly in tiny houses and not in huge skyscrapers.

Blake Shelton’s brand new Ole Red bar on Broadway

The Honky Tonk scene on Broadway in downtown Nashville is way crazier than I imagined. It was Las Vegas with the volumn turned up to eleven. Wild. Thousands and thousands of people, hundreds and hundreds of bars and restaurants and every single one has live music blasting all day long.

Apparently Nashville is the number one destination in the USA for bachelorette parties. Young scantily clad brides and bridesmaid groups are whooping it up on the sidewalks, in the back of rented flatbeds and open top busses and on the cycle beer trucks. Loud and ready to party. Wow.

With my friends at The Grand Ole Opry Hotel

We took an Uber 20 minutes out to the Gaylord
Grand Ole Opry Hotel. This is also the place where the Grand Ole Opry now has its home. But the 3000 room hotel is a destination in itself. Again I was reminded of Vegas – ornate and over the top with waterfalls, jungles, orchids and a riverboat cruise.

Country Music Hall Of Fame

Nashville knows it’s audience and country music fans are very loyal to this town. Fans can spend hours or days at the Country Music Hall Of Fame as well as many other museums including Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, George Jones and others. Tennessee was also home to three US Presidents (Jackson, Johnson, Polk)and the area around Nashville is full of history relevant to our country.

Corn Cakes at the historic Woolworth’s

I ate a ton – everything from corn cakes to steak, hot chicken, biscuits and macaroni and cheese. Southern comfort food as well as delicious alternatives are in abundance in this town of abundance.

You can spend a weekend or stay a week and still never see and do everything here. It’s a great town – alive! Nashville for first timers or do it again? So much fun!

Y’all should come now ya hear?

Climbing Down The Schilthorn in Switzerland

On top of the World

March 6, 2018

Laureen

Location: Switzerland

Climbing down the Schilthorn in Switzerland

At the top ready to go

As part of my Fab Fifty Life, I am committed to doing and seeing things only a few short years ago I would never have even considered. I am committed to being a person who is open and aware and living everyday as if it’s my last.Today, we did that – by climbing down the Schilthorn in Switzerland.

Carefully crossing the snowy patches

We left our warm and cozy bed at Olle and Maria’s Bed and Breakfast in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, in time to make the first cable car at 7:30am to the top of the peak of the Schilthorn. The weather was spectacular and our host Olle insisted we go as early as possible, as the peak often fogs in shortly after sunrise and he didn’t want us to miss the window to enjoy climbing down the Schilthorn in Switzerland.

We were at the top by 8am and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the revolving restaurant before making our way around the viewing areas. We could literally see for miles and miles and it was glorious.

But now the true test was about to begin. Did I have it in me to climb down the Schilthorn in Switzerland? To hike down from the 9700 foot peak to 4100 foot low point? Well, we were going to find out.

Bring It!

We began the hike at 8:45am. Temperature at the top was at freezing. I was wearing a stocking cap and gloves, two shirts and a coat. Within 15 minutes I took off the coat and gloves and within an hour the hat. The first 2 hours were treacherous. Hiking along a sheer cliff on loose shale was nerve-wracking. Climbing hand and foot over giant boulders was exasperating, crossing a slippery patch of snow with nothing to do but go down down if you fell was pee-my-pants frightening. Crossing under a waterfall and through a raging creek was tricky. We were learning quickly that climbing down the Schilthorn in Switzerland is not for the faint of heart.

Me and my BFF – the hubs

Every step you need to calculate. Concentrating constantly, I had to remind myself to stop and look around and enjoy the remarkable view. It truly is stunning, and the photos just don’t do it justice. We noticed the peak and the viewing area was now fogged in. We were so glad we took Olle’s advice and started so early!

Beer Break!

After about 2 and a half hours we reached Rotstockhutte, a midway hostel facility for hikers. Here we put our feet up and had a beer before heading on down through hundreds of grazing cows with giant cowbells and miles of meadows of wildflowers. Down, down we went, through forests and rivers until we reached Gimmelwald and our Bed and Breakfast at 3:45pm, 7 hours after we had begun climbing down the Schilthorn in Switzerland.

It’s difficult to describe an experience like this. At the top as we started I had a tightness in my chest. I couldn’t decide if it was the altitude making it hard for me to breathe or if I was having a slight panic attack as I looked at the “trail” (it’s a stretch to call it that) laying ahead of me.

Moo. Swiss Cows are so sweet

My husband, always with me and my companion in all things, kept my pace and encouraged me throughout. After awhile you start to get the hang of the steep parts, how best to place your poles, your foot, your body weight. We talked through certain areas when we had to negotiate the best path. It was a team effort.

I enjoyed today, and the past four days, visiting this remarkable area of Switzerland. But I know I will not be back. So, I look around now and am thankful we received this remarkable weather today so we could do this remarkable hike and experience this remarkable once in a lifetime moment; starting on top of the world and climbing down the Schilthorn in Switzerland.