Outlander and the Scottish Highlands

We took a two day tour of the Scottish Highlands and the Outlander fangirl in me kept squealing  because we got to visit a lot of places that were mentioned in the book.

 Town of Inverness.. the gateway to the Highlands…

We passed by this pub and decided to eat here because there were a lot of people drinking on the patio..it must be popular!

Bangers and Mash / Fish and Chips / Beef and Mushroom Pie… we ordered the classic pub dishes and weren’t disappointed…

Glencoe..

We also visited Clava Cairns, the Bronze Age burial site that was the inspiration behind Diana Galbaldon’s best selling book series Outlander.

I hoped I could travel back in time by squeezing between the rocks like in the books… but it didn’t work…..  I wasn’t the only one going crazy at the rocks.. there were so many other fans doing the same thing!

We also got to visit Culloden Battlefield, the site of the last bloody battle of the failed Jacobite Rising.

I got quite emotional while visiting; even though Outlander is fictional, the battle did occur and so many lives were lost.

We also visited Loch Ness and look.. is that Nessie????

Our last stop in the short trip to the Highlands was to the town of Pitlochry, a small charming town that somehow reminds me of Harry Potter?????

I’ve never had such a large piece of fried fish!!!

FAIM? OUI OUI!!!

The Castle Tavern

1 View Pl, Inverness IV2 4SA, United Kingdom

+44 1463 718178

Three Broomsticks @ The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

From Diagon Alley, we took the Hogwarts Express (yes, we were on Platform 9 and 3/4) to Hogsmeade! With some theme park magic, we actually ran straight into the wall between platforms 9 and 10.

After a quick 5 minute ride, we were in Hogsmead!

We had lunch at the Three Broomsticks, which had another true to book/movie fantasy, interior and exterior decor.

frozen butterbeer! I ordered it in a souvenir mug.  Sad to say.. I don’t like butterbeer… it tasted like frozen cream soda with a layer of cream on top…..

We also ordered fish and chips.. but it was meh….

After lunch, we were off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!!!!

FAIM? un peu…

Three Broomsticks @ The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Universal’s Islands of Adventure

Leaky Cauldron @ The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

I am a big big big Harry Potter fan so the main reason for this year’s East Coast trip was to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

We paid to stay a night at a Universal Studios hotel just so we get early admission into Diagon Alley…. that’s an extra hour before other fans!  No words can describe how amazing it feels to enter the dream book world I have been fantasizing since I was a kid.

Daily Prophet..

Ollivanders.. sadly, I wasn’t picked for the wand show…

Gringotts Bank! I exchanged 50USD for 50 dollars of Wizarding bank notes. These could be used in any stores or restaurants in the Wizarding World.

We kept one $10 wizarding money to bring home ….. basically, we paid $10 for a piece of paper that has zero monetary value in the real world…

We ate lunch at Leaky Cauldron! In the books, Leaky Cauldron is a famous wizarding pub and inn.

There’s an actual cauldron that has a crack.. hence, leaky cauldron!

I tried the pumpkin juice… pretty good.. didn’t taste like pumpkin though…

mini pie combination (fisherman’s pie and cottage pie) with salad…. the pies were pretty delicious..very creamy with lots of stuffing…

FAIM? OUI OUI!!!

Leaky Cauldron

Diagon Alley @ The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Universal Studios Florida

McSorley’s Ale House – Hong Kong

Another 2-for-1 Soho Monday deal and this time, we tried McSorleys.

McSorley’s serves British pub food …so of course, we got the classics:

Beef & Guiness Pie…. flakey and buttery crust..

lots of thick cut beef.. but kind of tough..

fish and chips… the skin was kinda soggy…

brownie with vanilla ice-cream… weirdest tasting brownie ever.. it didn’t taste chocolately nor fudgy enough… and the vanilla ice-cream tasted like soy…

FAIM? un peu…

McSorley’s Ale House

55 Elgin Street, SOHO, Central

Tel: 2522 2646

Cervejaria Trindade – Lisbon, Portugal

After eating at Bonjardim, we walked around Avenida da Liberdade and Rossio Square and lined up for 15 minutes for the Santa Justa Elevator (before deciding that 20 euros was not worth it for a minute ride on the elevator). We ended up just walking up the hill shopped in Chiado.

While waiting for my brother’s Portuguese football jersey to be engraved with Ronaldo, we went to our next food stop: Café a Brasileira, one of the oldest and most famous café in Lisbon.  We got a table inside and waited for our server to come around, WHICH HE NEVER DID. He was off stacking plates, even when there was already couple stacks of clean plates.  A lot of customers were complaining at this point.  Then around 25 minutes after we got our table, he began to take orders from one end of the cafe to the other end.  When our table was next, he went back to the tables at the other end (where he already took the orders).  I was beyond pissed because he totally ignored us. We waited for 35 minutes and have not been served yet.  We got up, left and Café a Brasileira left a bitter impression, even if I haven’t even tried their coffees.  (This café doesn’t even deserve it’s own post for me to rant.)

After picking up the jersey, we headed for dinner at Cervejaria Trindade,  a combination of German beer hall and Portuguese tavern.

Cervejaria Trindade is the oldest tavern in Lisbon and has been in operation for 175 years! It’s a tourist hot-spot!

It was built on the foundations of the 13th-century convent, which was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and was rebuilt.  In 1834, this place became a beer factory  and restaurant.  The walls are covered with 18th century azulejos (traditional Portugues decorative tiles), depicting the seasons and also Portuguese scenes.

The restaurants is now owned by owned by the brewers of Sagres beer so of course we tried their dark and light beer.

sirlon steak Trindade-style with fried egg and beer sauce…

codfish loin a la office (grilled codfish loin on a thick slice of bread and accompanied by a potatoes and spinach)…

shellfish rice a la friar scoundrel (Malandro rice and prawns, lobsters, mussels, clams)… the rice was al dente but the risotto we had the previous night at 100 Maneiras was more flavourful.

The food was pretty good but it’s the environment and history that makes this restaurant special.

FAIM? OUI OUI!!

Cervejaria Trindade

Rua Nova da Trindade 20
Lisbon, Portugal
213 423 506