Eastern Europe Trip

After a good night’s sleep, no doubt helped by the slightly lighter evening meal (and the wine, of course), we woke to a very sunny morning. The view from our bedroom window was nothing short of beautiful…






We joined our fellow guests on the patio for breakfast, and Carrie & Mark served up a corker… warm home-made banana and walnut muffin followed by a plate of fresh fruit then pancakes with maple syrup and bacon… all washed down with superb decaf coffee… Having once again failed in our attempt to ensure we weren’t too full at the start of the day, we decided to make an early start on our walk…

Leaving the car at the front of the B&B we walked directly to the start of the “Courtbouse Butte and Bell Rock Loop” walk that we’d chosen from the books that Carrie & Mark had lent us. To be fair, it was their advice that this was a good walk that swung it, and they weren’t wrong! Once at the start point for the walk (a car park no more than 5 minutes walk from the Cozy Cactus), we followed a clearly-marked sandy path into the scrub bush, heading towards the imposing red rock formation of Courthouse Butte.






With the sun shining hard it was warm, but the walking very easy on the level ground, and we ambled along chatting and stopping occasionally to listen to the silence and drink some water…





The walk took us round Courthouse Butte where we got a fantastic view of another of Sedona’s famous rock formations – and another of its claimed “vortex” sites – Cathedral Rock…






If you don’t know, Sedona is famous not only for its beautiful surroundings, but also because there are claimed to be a number of “vortex” sites here that are supposed to be energy sites where the earth’s energy can be felt. This has led to a burgeoning spiritual and new-age tourist industry in the area, and several books have been published on these vortexes – particularly those around Bell Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral Rock, Boynton Canyon, and Schnebly Hill. With Bell Rock being so close to the Cozy Cactus and our general sense of well-being here, perhaps there is something in it…

The walk then continued further round Courthouse Butte and on to Bell Rock, where we took a detour so we could climb a little way up the rock to the site of the Bell Rock vortex. The pamphlet we had with us told us that we would know when we were near the vortex as the juniper trees would have twisted branches instead of the more normal straight branches. This is believed to be caused by the swirling energy field as it leaves the earth. To be honest, though, we saw juniper trees with straight and twisted branches throughout the walk, but not to be too sceptical we headed to where on the map the vortex was marked. Here we sat down and just took in the view. It was very, very relaxing, despite the proximity of the road from Sedona to Oak Creek Village. But whether our relaxed state was caused by the vortex or simply the joy at being outside in such beautiful countryside on such a fantastic day, is hard to say…






From here the walk took us back to the village, and we stopped at the garage for an ice-cream before heading back to the B&B. By now it was only just 1pm, and we’d already done a 5 mile walk and worked off our breakfast, but as tonight is our last “proper” night on holiday we were going to save ourselves for dinner. We therefore sat in the sun, reading and catching up with the blog over a cold beer…

As we’ve been a bit disappointed with the food in the US so far, we asked Carrie & Mark to make a recommendation. They promptly brought out a box full of menus from all the best local restaurants! Faced with such a choice, we asked them for their personal favourites, and that narrowed the field down to just 3, of which one was in the village. And following a short discussion about the quality of the fillet steak, we made our decision. Carrie volunteered to make a booking for us and that was it settled – the Cucina Rustica it was.

After we’d finished relaxing, popped to the bank for yet more cash, and showered and changed, we set off to the restaurant. Our table was outside on the patio, under a clear sky and it was still plenty warm enough as we ordered a bottle of the local “Rhone style” wine (made just down the road). As we were hungry by now we made our selections from the excellent menu – Tracy ordering cold Giant Shrimp Cocktail followed by an Asian dressed Salad and then Beef Borginioun, whilst I went for , Mussels in white whine, the same Asian dressed Salad and the highly-recommended Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola sauce. And we were not disappointed, they were simply excellent, and for once, not too large that we couldn’t manage dessert! I plumped for warm chocolate cake with vanilla pod ice cream whilst Tracy went for the amoretto Crème Brulee. With the desserts matching the quality of the starters and main course, we were very pleased with Carrie’s recommendation… if you’re ever in this area, it’s certainly worth seeking this restaurant out…