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Day #13... Last Night And On Our Way To Scotland August 21st Last night by the time I got back from from our walk I felt sweaty and tired....the way home was mostly up hill . I took a long shower and slipped into my dress from Thailand and snuck down to hear the speaker teach us about dry stone walls. His grandfather and great grandfather and great great grandfather were all wall builders, but the heavy, hard work broke him so now he teaches it to "bad boys" who can't make it in regular schools. He is proud of his work ....guarantees his wall to last at least 500 years. Some of his great great grandfather's walls are still standing after all those years, and some date back to Viking time. Dry walls are built without mortar and separate every pasture, along all roads and around every person's land. He is upset that they are being laid all helter skelter and will not last. He was very entertaining, informative and fun.
The Teacher of Dry Stone
Walls Teaches Us About His Trade
Since we were last to come on for dinner there were no places together at the table so we set by ourselves at the window. We had a delicious Greek salad and for dinner a lamb shank that was tasty with mash and the dessert, sticky toffee pudding, was the best we have had!
Out The Front Door Of Our 17th Century Hotel
Grasmere is a very beautiful town. It is no wonder Wordsworth called this place " the loveliest spot that man hath ever known". His grave is by his boyhood church and there the rest of his family is buried. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, another poet from here, is also buried there.
Stream Down The Center of Town Seen On Our Discovery Walk. The Wordsworth Church
Graves of Wordsworth (above) and His Parents (below)
Wordsworth has eight yew trees to shade the graves and there is a lovely stream and picturesque stone bridge nearby.....I'll send a photo. His tomb is inscribed
"There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The earth and and every common sight, To me did seem apparel end in celestial light The glory and the freshness of a dream.
Now that I've been in this idyllic place I appreciate his poetry much more. Somehow sitting in college room for English 2A trying to dissect what he said took away the romanticism. We are now on the road to Scotland and will have to try to understand another accent. I was just getting used to the English! Laura was asking us about the words that were so foreign to us... knickers for ladies panties, scrots for men's underwear, give way for yield, loo for restroom, and more. We just talked about Brexit. Almost all the cities chose to stay in the EU but the rural areas wanted change......sound familiar? Lots of fake news told the rural areas lots of thIngs...that the 350 million paid to the EU every week would all go to healthcare . They would build a hospital every week. ( Well now not a cent is planned to go for healthcare.) Control of immigration would be up to EU and they would be overrun with "undesirables". Sound familiar? On the opposing side people think working together in the world is best. People who are diabetic are very worried as the trade deals with other countries won't be the same and there are no insulin producing places in the UK. Now people who have family in Europe will find it more difficult and expensive to travel and of course being part of the EU will make them fiscally stronger. On the 29th of March next year they will be out of the EU and we will see how things work for them. Our next adventure is at Hadrian's Wall. Hadrians wall started in 122 AD and was built for six years and marks the north border of The Romans' Control. It was built to protect themselves from the Calendons, and Picks at the north..It is made of stone and is 16 to 20 feet high. There were gates and guard houses every few miles. It has a rubble interior and used mortar. It was built by locals that were forced into building it. There was a huge ditch and the land was cleared next to the wall. Another wall was built on the other side a ways, it is not as famous as it was abandoned in just a few years. Both are inscribed in the a World's Heritage List.
In 1970 folks uncovered a fort of the Romans. They found birch and oak tablets from the Roman time that survived as they were stuck all the mud. It is called Roman Vindolanda and is just west of a town called Twice Brewed! We stopped at the wall and had some photos on the wall...so cool. We are getting so many great shots for the Christmas letter on this trip and we already have neat shots in Japan and Washington DC and have the trip in September to Italy. Our next stop for loo and coffee will be at Lanicost Priory. 1169. Edward I stayed here many times from 1306-7. He had hoped to conquer the Scots but no way Jose. This place is where Laura gets her favorite marmalade. She was so worried they would be out so she rushed to the church and bought two large jars. While Michael was in the gift shop he saw only one jar left and it was small. He bought it for her thinking there would be no more. Still she was very happy with his thoughtful gift. He is a good boy! And now we say goodbye to England and hello to Scotland. It has been a great time seeing places where Dad's relatives lived; now I find where Mom's Scottish ancestors hailed (Gibsons, Simpsons, and Stiles). We passed Gretna Green by the border where so many couples take off to Scotland to elope. Boys could marry at 14 and girls at 12 and their parents could not annul the marriages. Even blacksmiths could perform the marriage. Now you must be 16 but parental consent is not needed. The sign said "Welcome to Scotland ....in English as well as Scottish Gaelic". Malcolm says it just says England when you pass to England ...no welcome. The Gaelic language is way different than other languages, so this will be the second language I haven't had a clue. Laura gave us some information about our home for the next week. When Victoria died with no heir James VI became king of England as King James I. He was the son of Queen of Scots. You can vote at 16 years of age whereas 18 in England. The name of Scotland comes from the Latin saying the people are speaking Gaelic. The main language now is English, Gaelic, Scots, British Sign Language , but in 2011 found 150 languages other than English is used. the Scots language is important part of their culture and heritage. Everything is still green and beautiful here but the trees are larger and the fences are wooden ones. So far I'm seeing cows instead of sheep but I know there are many tartan woolens here so the sheep are around here somewhere. Scots have free car for the elderly and no cost for tuition for the University for students who are from here. They do have the right to levy a tax here separate from England and Wales. We stopped in the small village of Moffat and had our lunch. It started with free single malt whisky and an explanation of how it is made. I of course gave mine to Michael as I find it quite disgusting..our dinner was sliced roast beef, potatoes, carrot mash. Cooked cabbage, deep fried parsnips' bread and butter. Before lunch I visited a thrift store..a charity store they call it....behind the hotel and skipped my dessert (Yorkshire pudding) to shop at the Scottish Woolen place across the street. Although Scotland is rolling and hilly, there are forests of trees and heather fields as well. We are back with many dry stone walls and I've seen my first Scottish sheep. Almost to Edinburgh so will wind this up! Another long missive on the bus..... Grove
Edinburgh This city is CRAZY!!!! It is not only celebrating The Military Tattoo, but it is the month of what they call " The Fringe"! That means over 250 venues in the city where there are comedy acts, talks, music, plays, shows, besides all the regular street entertainers. There is even a show going on in our hotel on the first floor. There are huge crowds of people EVERYWHERE!
Every one has a different riddle. During the Fringe thousands ads for venues get handed out and after people read them many get thrown down. There are too many for the riddle garbage cans. Someone cleans it all in the night and next morning it is clean and riddle bins are empty
The only bad part of it all is that they sent us tickets for the Tattoo that were really worth 90 £ and charged us 313£...PLUS they were not a real ticket company so even the tickets are no good. Michael called the credit card company and we will get our money back....the real ticket place is helping. Bummer! The worse part is that there are no tickets now available. Michael is going down to the ticket place in the morning tomorrow to try to buy two tickets. After getting through the ticket problem we went to dinner. Pizza Express is next door and since we liked it in York so much we went back. Vic and I had lasagna, Michael had cannelloni and Leona had pizza. All was super stove hot but so cheesy and good! Afterwards we went shopping and Michael listened to some street performers. I shopped and bought myself a cool (rather warm) sweatshirt. By then it was time for some shut eye. Goodnight, Grove
Day #13 3/4...The Story of Surpreme Loyalty This is a story about Greyfriars Bobby, a dog that was so fraught with his master's death that he followed the hearst to the cemetery and waited there for the rest of his life....14 years!!!
People would shoo him away but he would always go back to grieve and wait. They tried everything to get him leave to a new home but it would not work. Finally they realized he wouldn't leave and recognizing how loyal he was. Then they gave him food and water there every day until his death. There is part of a block dedicated to him and he is buried in the cemetery by his master. There is a statue of him very near the cemetery. People rub his nose for luck. When we went there we met two college guys who were standing in front of the statue. She asked if they would please move so we could take a picture of the dog. They said sure, they were only protecting the nose from unnecessary rubbing. We took pictures but did not rub the nose.
Day #14... Around Edinburgh This city is the capital but it hasn't always been. Wherever the King was, happened to be the capital. This country was a very poor country so the king would just stay at the castles of the rich and the people would always know where the king was and that he wasn't squandering their money. We are going on a morning tour of the city and end up at the castle. Our bus driver came In total Scottish dress. His name is Dennis and he hails from the Clark Clan. I got my picture taken with him. We traveled to the "new "town which was built on rubble out to the sea. Of course this is still really old. When they designed it they made a contest . The winner's plan was to have a grid system. King George III was king at the time and the designs had names of him and his family. Since the king had to choose the design James Craig got a good chance to win. The old town was dirty , old and crowded so everyone wanted to live In the new town. It was beautifully built.
This Dennis. He belongs to the Clark Clan
New town built on rubble where the wealthy moved to be by the sea and away from filth of the city.
James Simpson, an ancestor of mine, was a doctor, a scientist and teacher at the university. He invited all the influential people of the city to come to his party. He had told them he had developed a wonderful gas and he asked them to take a whiff and that it was absolutely safe. They did and all fell asleep. When the maid came to clean up after the party everyone there was still asleep. Because it worked so well, ether was to be used for childbirth and was used to do many surgeries. There you have it ....my ancestor invented chlororform! He was one of the fellows living in this swanky new town. Many of the buildings in new town were made to look like a castle, but were really houses. Because they were built in the late 1700's it is Georgian architecture. The doors were very wide to allow sedan chairs to come to take the rich women in their puffy silk clothes around the town. One of these places #5 is where the female Prime Minister lives. She is popular and really smart. Golden sandstone was used in all the buildings. The new town was so successful that all the rich and influential folks flock to it, that they had many other settlements added. The window tax was made so the windows were built like windows but didn't have panes of glass. We have seen this in other countries and they paint "trick the eye" pictures on them. Each house had a basement, a first, second, third and top floor. These were finally divided as you couldn't get maids anymore during the wars. There is a park in the inner circle which is private, every year they pay 200£ for a key to that park. Herriot Row is the road here across from the park. Robert Louis Stevenson lived in # 17. His inspiration for Treasure Island may have come from being here by the sea and seeing the little island off shore. He lived here until his twenties. All his ancestors were lighthouse engineers. They were upset that he wouldn't follow his parent's career. They believe it was his nanny who was a feisty lady and told him so many exciting stories that got him wanting to write. We stopped to tour the castle for almost three hours. It is huge and impressive. We saw the crown jewels of Mary Queen of Scots and the little room where James the Sixth was born who became James the First of England. I know it is all confusing so Michael bought me a wonderful book do I can sort it all out. The castle is built atop a high hill and is pretty amazing.
Going on here in Edinburgh now is the Book Festival, the main festival, the Fringe, and the Tattoo. Lots going on here! There are people everywhere. When we went to the castle this morning it was so crowded, but by the time we were walking down most of the crowd had dispersed. We decided to find a lunch place, the main road as overfill at every place so we went a block over and found an awesome pub. The three of them had smoked salmon sandwich with capers, dill and crem fresh with fries and I had Cullen Skink, a delicious fish. We decided to detour down to New Town to shop for a soccer shirt that evidentially can only be found one place in this huge town and it was many, many, many blocks away. We got more weary with each block but we saw a lot. Michael wanted to see The Dirty Duck pub Jerold had told us about. When we Googled it only a pub called The Dirty Dick came up and we were pretty sure that wasn't the one. When we got a cab and talked to the cab driver and he didn't know it. Now Janet tells us it was at Stratford on Avon. That 's more like it as we didn't go to that place. Well maybe The Dirty Duck still lives! We rode the taxi home....the best five pounds we have ever spent as we were a long way from home! We four drug our beat bodies ( remember it was all stand and walk at the castle for two hours before the walk) to the room and all four of us fell asleep. It is a good thing too or we would have slept through the show tonight. After a two-hour rest we were dressed and at the lobby for our next adventure.....A Show called A Taste of Scotland. The food was fair....except for my starter of cream of onion soup which was delicious, but the show was very entertaining and long. It consisted of a bagpiper, an accordion champion, a guitar, drummer, an " orchestra background" ,a fiddle player, lady singer and many dancers of different ages, men ,women and children. The three main guys and one woman could sing beautifully and the show was all done in front of a video the size of the stage. It was extensive highlighting places and events in song and dance from all over Scotland. Many wore kilts and we did get the answer as to what is under the kilt. We are now back in bed, totally stuffed and trying to decide what to plan for tomorrow before we fall asleep. Early I know Michael will go to see if we can get four tickets to the Tattoo. Maybe I'll go to but I just slow him down as it is all up hill home. We are not going to tour The Britannia, the yacht the Queen used to have. Fishers are going to that but we will be looking for stuff around town. So that is a wrap! I'm almost asleep writing this and I'm sure it hardly makes sense. Sorry!
Day#15... Haggis And More Because I was tired, I left out a very important part of our Scotland experience. I have been hearing about Haggis for most of my life and it has always sounded like something too disgusting to really be eaten! Well yesterday at breakfast there it was at the buffet. It was sitting there next to the blood pudding which was not a good sign as I tried blood pudding earlier and it was so disgusting I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. Well, haggis was a surprise; it was like grains with flavor cooked in it. Not bad at all! Well last night at the Scottish experience everyone had haggis as part of the ceremony. There was a mold of it on top of mashed potatoes.....like an inverted shepherds pie and it was DELICIOUS! (Way better than the main course of beef). The haggis came with a whole ceremony to the haggis. The chef brought it out wrapped in plastic to mimic the stomach. The guys in kilts gave toast to it and the main guy recited a poem with great enthusiasm to it, they drank toasts to it with 9 £ a shot whisky and broke it open with a sword. Then and only then we were allowed to eat it. We all started quite gingerly, but when we found out it was good.....yum! It was quite a Scottish Exerience in spite of the haggis. There was lots of singing, dancing, fiddleing, and bagpipes and I even got in the swing with them. Huff! Huff!.
In town we found some very diverse Scots singing or playing. What do you think?
You can Google Haggis but what I think it is is the contents of the stomach of cow or sheep. They talk about vegetable or meat haggis. Now I know meat would not be good half-digested , and cows and sheep don't eat meat so I don't get it! One of the persons on the trip said when they cook it, they mixed it with organ meats. Well that is alarming, but I can't dispute how good it tasted....better than that at breakfast. Janet told me how to use the health app on my phone to see how far we walk. I hope it works. I know yesterday was huge but it didn't show anything. It seemed even worse as we stood so much too. I know if I hadn't taken a two-hour nap I would have fallen asleep face first in my haggis! This morning Michael will walk down the hill to see if he can buy four tickets for the Tattoo. It is raining now but our phone says not a cloud in the sky tonight! Vic and Leona are going this morning to tour the Brittania. That was the Queen and Prince Phillip's yacht. I was told that the Queen LOVED it and when they let it go, the usually stoic Queen was quite emotional. The tour will show both of their bedrooms, but I wonder if it will show the galley and the bathrooms. We decided we would rather have free time here in Edinburgh as we leave for the highlands tomorrow morning. It's a good thing too as we wouldn't have the chance to buy the Tattoo tickets. Michael is reading the news to me on his phone. That is one plus of being out of state. People here think Trump is just a joke but they don't have to put up with him as their president! There are cartoons of him all over the place and NONE are flattering. This is the first time the people an our trip have been against a republican..... Usually they are quite conservative. (Of course Trump is nOt your Reagan or even Bush republican....more of a Wallace-Giuliani-bat-shit-type.). If there are any pro Trump persons on the bush they are super silent. It is already 7:45 and we have to stop and get ready for breakfast....God forbid we miss a free meal! Of course I might go down the hill with Michael too. Nuff said for now. We will find what the rest of the day brings! Grove
Full English and Scottish Breakfast. I know you hear about these but they are hard to imagine so I will try to go around the buffet. Fruit and yogurt, meats and cheeses, tomatoes, cucumber and lettuces, pastries, bagels, rolls, hot chocolate, coffee, tea, juices (usually orange, Apple and some kind of fruit), hot cereal with nuts, dried fruit and the like, cold cereal, and assorted breads to toast ( with jams, honey, marmalades), bacon (actually like Canadian bacon), sausages, blood pudding, haggis (only in Scotland), potatoes, grilled tomatoes, scrambled eggs, fried eggs and in some cases, omelets to order. It is no wonder that I was still full from last night, tried a few but took only a few bites of them. I was thirsty though and had hot chocolate, orange juice, and water. Michael has gone down the hill to try to get the tickets and he has been gone over an hour. I started to worry but realized that it is only 9:30 and the place didn't open until 9. I'm sure he has been waiting there for a long time and no doubt was among the first in the cue. I'll let you know if we got tickets before I close this up to explore Edinburgh. I know we want to go to a museum and the Holyrood Palace and maybe catch something playing on the Fringe. "Trump-d" is playing..."a parody musical journey through the desolate wasteland of America" with Trump as our " Supreme Dictator". He is here! Instead o opening at 9 like they said they opened at 10 and he had to stand the entire time....at least he was first in line. They don't usually let them get more than two tickets, but two people behind him only wanted one so they let him get four together! They are half way up just on the curve and were just 80 £ each final! There were at least twent people in line and they say they usually get back fifty tickets each day.
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Well I sent to you the news that we are indeed going to the Royal Military Tattoo after all and the cost of four tickets were the same as the two we bought and these are good tickets whereas the others were way on the side and at the top row. To get them though, Michael had to stand for an hour and forty five minutes! I was worried something bad had happened to him as he was taking so long! He got time to take a breath and rest his feet while I finished the email and sent it. While he sat, he got out the Frommer's and planned our next adventure on our own. First we went up the miracle mile to the St. Giles Cathedral, the mother church of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. John Knox. went first to hear Calvin and was so taken by it that he started the Protestant reformation in Scotland. He was the nemesis of Mary Queen of Scots who was Catholic through and through. We went to a house that was supposedly his home after another guy who lived there had been beheaded by that same Queen. The house was the oldest medieval house in Edinburgh, probably in the whole of Scotland. It now houses a little cafe, and a book shop, but mainly it is a museum to Knox. It was really interesting. Boy are those Caledonians short! Every doorway had a "mind your head sign". There was also a narrow spiral staircase to all three floors and the ceilings had wonderful old wooden beams. We walked all along that mile to the bottom as we had walked to the top where the castle was days before. The buildings all along the road are old and wonderful architecturally. We were wanting to see The Carole King Story, but couldn't find the venue to get tickets. We decided to go ahead and have lunch. We wanted to have lunch in "the oldest pub in Edinburgh" but couldn't find it so had lunch at the Holyrood Palace. We grabbed two BLT's ,potato chips and Diet Coke and sat outside the palace to eat.
St. Giles. The Mother church of Presbyterians
Walking down the street
toward the Holyrood Pslace
After a quick lunch we got our tickets and headsets and started the tour of the Palace. We were welcomed through the headset by Prince Charles himself....I think he and Camilla were married here. It is a working Palace, but the early living rooms and gallery were visited. I really liked it.....not so glitzy, but the walls have amazing old tapestries..priceless! The grounds and gardens are spacious and beautiful. We can actually see the Palace and Queen's grounds from our window. After an hour we turned in our headsets and grabbed a taxi. We had hoped the taxi could get us to the Fringe venue of The Carol King Show. Although he let us off at the wrong place we were able to hurry around find the place, get our tickets and only missed one song. It was so great. We had seen " Beautiful" the musical and of course the story was the same. The musician sat at the piano with a video above her head and after every part she played and sang. She really has a lovely voice...much like King herself. The seats were wonderful and very comfortable and not a bad one in the place. We got her CD after the performance and talked to her. She had done a wonderful tribute to Aretha before she sang " Natural Woman". We got home in time to rest a little and I gave Michael a foot rub for standing so long this morning and taking me on such a great adventure For dinner tonight we had a very special treat. A really funny young guy came who was in the Royal bagpipe regiment for many years. He played lots of songs, both Scottish, Irish , Classical and American. He explained all the pieces of his uniform which was really interesting too. He did this while we had our starter and then one of our travelers who had secretly practiced with Laura brought in the Haggis. They had a Scottish hat and a red wig on her and she played it up great. Our bagpiper said the Scots' ode to Haggis like the guy did the night before but even better and they cut it open with his sword and dumped it out. He said it is the grains from the stomach mixed with heart, and other organs that have been cooked and minced fine. The two are then are mixed with spices and baked in a bag to mimic the stomach. He said it has been the staple of poor people and farmers as nothing of the animal went to waste. They could sell off the premium pieces for a goodly amount and still have a protein dinner that was healthy. Over time it has become a favorite. I think they associate it with family and growing up....maybe like I do hamburger gravy or cream of creature. Anyway they served up the haggis and it was just like the haggis they serve for breakfast only a little more spicy. Last night's was a lot better. The salmon I had for the main meal was really good...great sauce. I didn't eat the dessert though because we were leaving early to walk up hill to the castle for the Tattoo. It turned out to be much, much, more than we could ever expect. We had great seats and although it didn't rain, there was a cold wind. We bundled up and sat together and were pretty comfortable...thank goodness for that as it was nearly three hours long. Michael got some great video and I took some still pictures for the blog. I will send them when I have wifi at the next hotel.
There were bands and dancers from many places in the world in fact our Air Force Drill Team did an awesome production flipping their guns in unison and doing tricks. They were great. There was a great program from Mexico with beautiful dancers and with every performance they lit the castle with many colors, landscapes and patterns. Many places in Europe performed as well and Yemen had horses and an all girl band that was great....well ALL the acts were fabulous. We stood for the English National Anthem and then sang Auld Lang Zine together near the end at the very end the bagpipes played Amazing Grace and every one sang? It was remarkable! We were so thankful that Michael stood at the door of the ticket agency for an hour and forty minutes so we could see it. Well we are parked and ready for bags out at seven tomorrow. Highlands here we come! Goodnight! Grovey
Day # 16... To Inverness WARNING YOU MAY NEED A CUP OF COFFEE OR A GLASS OF WINE TO READ THIS ONE. WHILE I'M ON THE BUS MY CHARGER IS WORKING AND I HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO WRITE. This is a warning ;you can always skip the whole thing (but then you won't know what "Bagged a Monroe!" means!) Goodbye Edinburgh and hello Scottish Highlands. Our first stop was at Three Bridges. Three bridges actually cross within sight of each other.....like our bridges in the area. Like the Golden Gate the bridge painters are constantly painting...when they get to the end they go back and start again. It is difficult however as it is so cold here". Finally they tried encapsulating it and thousands of painters were able to paint it and then take the covering off. I can't imagine the fumes!
How He Envisioned Them Coming Out Of The Water
This sort of shows the size but from this angle it doesn't look as big. Thehy are actually the size of Brazil's Christ the Redeemer only so much more massive. We got out and it was fifty six degrees....I am in my Oxford sweatshirt again and am enjoying soaking up the cold. I will remember this if heaven forbid we go into the three digit weather again. We are on our way to Falkirk where we will meet up with one of Laura's friends from college in Edinburgh. These are the enormous Kelpies. The Scots believed that there were mythological water spirits who come out of the water in the form of very strong horses. They are like big Clydesdales and you might want to pet them, but if you do they dive into the water and drown you and then eat you! Therefore never pet a horse near the water unless it is your horse, or it might be a Kelpie and you'd be a goner! The Kelpies were designed by an artists who likes to work with horse sculptures and now lives in the US; his name is Andy Scott. The sculptures are as tall as Christ The Redeemer in Brazil and of course much more massive. It took eight years to plan it and 16 weeks to put it together in place....all stainless steel. Laura showed us the picture of the Queen when she came to " open" the venue of the Kelpies as well as pictures of the real horses Andy fashioned his sculpture of Kelpies and another of the people putting up the stainless sheets. This canal built was built near another Roman bridge built in the two hundreds, an iron foundry gave the UK the iron for all the red telephone boxes. The Queen was her last year when she had to inspect the guards at Stirling Castle. There is a little Shetland Pony that stays around the guards. Someone had given the Queen a big bouquet of flowers and the pony took a big munch out of them. Laura's friend Marie has a black Cocker poo, who despite its age of seven is still quite hyper as she was as a pup. We got to meet them both and Laura got a short but sweet meet up with her college friend. Laura had been a bridesmaid for when Marie was married. She said Marie was the first friend she had who get married SO VERY YOUNG, (24 years!). That is hardly very young by our standards. We just passed a group of swans with their babies. I know there is a special name for them and what a group of them is, but I have enough trouble keeping track of all I'm seeing, and can't stop to conjure up those two. Oh yea, cygnets. See if I can just let it simmer.........
We saw the Stirling Castle which is built high on a hill and is much like Edinburgh Castle. Michael took a picture but on the camera so I can't send it. Think of Edinburgh Castle on a green hill with nothing around for miles.....so lovely!! Andy Murray, a famous tennis player lives around here. It is also a place where there was a mass shooting. Now gun control is very rigorous. You can have sport rifles, but NO hand guns or machine gun types. The bobbies here are not armed and they have very little gun Violence 2%........of all deaths not due to natural causes. Like we saw in England and Wales everything is green and the rolling hills are speckled with cows and sheep. There are groupings of trees and a few dry stone walls but most fences are wood. We just passed a HUGE Single Malt Whisky place. The Scots are all about the whisky! Whisky and Tartan shops are the biggies in Scottish towns. And they'll make a whiskey toast to ANYTHING, We just passed Glen Eagles a big Golf course complex. They just hosted the European Golf Championships. It was the vision of the general manager of the railroad around WWI. The Kings Course was opened in 1941. The hotel which is huge is famous for golf and grouse shooting. The Queens Course was later put in and in the 90's the PGA. On the weekend one night for 400£ a night. Of course that is without a view but you do get breakfast so I guess if you eat the entire four hours that breakfast is open you would retrieve some of that. King James IV banned the playing of golf because it took away from archery, but a later King James reneged it. First record of golf was the mid 1400's . 1842 Queen Victoria came to the town of Pitiochrv and it became quite popular. It is a small town...about 5000 population. 1949 a film made here was called Whisky Galore about a whisky boat that went aground here.
We stopped here in Pitlochry...small and so quaint. I found something I've been looking for here to purchase, but mostly we had a great lunch. Michael and I had soup and sandwich...Apple parsnip soup and Michael had smoked salmon with Philly cheese and I had chicken salad. We ate with the Fishers and they ordered an English/ Scottish Afternoon Tea. Only a picture can spell overkill! Remember when you see the photo that they haven't brought the scones yet!!!! We learned that because of some deal made in 18 Dukes of Athal...only person allowed to raise a private army....1894....clan of Murray. Many die with no heir and had to pick cousins, but the cousins died with no heir. This kept happening until the tenth duke died with no heir. They had to get an even more DISTANT cousins..two ways.. in South Africa. He did not want to move here and trade sun for rain. He also had a simple life and had no will to change it for silly dukedom. "I have Scottish blood but no culture " he said which ticked off the the tenth heir, a six foot guy called "Wee Ian ". Duke Wee Ian decided to will the land and home to charity. The South African inherited the title and that was all however he thought he might enjoy an army. He traveled here once a year of inspect his army and say carry on. In 2012 he died and now his eldest son, Bruce, is the 12th Duke but we don't know if he hangs here or checks out his army. Here is a "bet you didn't know fact about Scotland"...........they'd call any hill over 3000 ft high a MONROE. If you climbed it? Well chap you just "Bagged a Monroe!" I want you to learn something from all my verbosity so there you go! Now it was time to talk about Haggis, a meal not immediately appealing but it has a nutty savory flavor and seems to grow on you. I remember now the Ode to the Haggis poet who wrote in Scot Celtic and was so funny. It was Robert Burns. Where he lived the people were very poor. His parents wanted him to have a better life so they subsisted on Haggis and sent him away to school. His poem is thanking the haggis for keeping his parents healthy and enabling him to get an education and of course the underlying thanks is to the parents! I wanted to find the butcher shop in Pitlochry as he sells it in the stomach but had no luck. I'd just had my lunch so maybe it wasn't all that unlucky ! Haggis is the inside of the sheep stomach with a mix of oatmeal, suet, onion, salt and spices (which are coriander ,nutmeg, pepper and mace) ..and PLUCK. "What is pluck?"you say? Well be ready for this....minced heart,minced liver and minced lungs! Haggis is served with tatties (potatoes) and neeps ( turnips). I know Joe is thinking " Hmm, a special for Wednesday night at the Sutter Buttes Brewery ! " I know by now everyone's mouth is watering but BAD NEWS,,,,,,,........It is illegal to import haggis to the USA! Back to burgers for you! As for the biggest land owners: 1....dept. of Forestry. 2....National Trust. 6... the Queen Most popular Surname ......Smith in England. ....Brown in Wales... Smith in Scotland. See more information you might not know! WELL THE RIDE IS OVER AND SO IS THIS, Grove
Day #17.. Off To Isle of Skye This another bus ride and you know how I get. Prepare to read this one over a few days. Last night Michael was a bit under the weather and chose to forego the dinner in Inverness for some needed sleep. When I got back from my dinner I got soup, bread and milk for him at the hotel. With the medicine Leona had for him, and the soup and milk to calm its effect on his stomach he is nearly as good as new today....but of course I think he's always quite good! My dinner was much more appealing than his...trout...pink fillet like the lake trout we see in bigger lakes like Almanor at home with delicious potato bake and snap peas. As I write this I somehow remember writing it once before. If so just chalk it up to a 75 year-old brain!!!
Today we look for Nessie. Remember that loc is the Scottish word for lake. Looking forward to the island today and it looks like we will have scattered showers and hopefully even some scattered sun. The Loc Ness has the largest in the volume of water ....230 meters deep. All the water in every lake in England and Wales and I think even Scotland could fit in the space of the Loc Ness, Some guy water skied the lake from end to end to break the record of 79 minutes...in other words it is pretty darn long! We got out for some pictures and I squinted very hard but didn't find Nessie anywhere. I guess she just comes up for air in the dead of night and not where all the motion cameras are!Wait.....is that her? I'll send my photo and you decide!
The clans all started in the Middle Ages who looked to their landlords for protection and overtime got very loyal. They came almost like lords. In the end the Campbell clan was the most notable. You got your allocation of land from your clan lord. Even though some may not be true family they were as family. When the landlords sent them off the land and moved them to the coast and forced them to immigrate, there were very hard feelings. When they went to the states many kept the clan system over there, as there was a camaraderie among them. When they were pushed to the coast they were given a small piece of land and since the people had given up their sons to fight for the lord and then were later evicted they felt betrayed and had very hard feelings to the lord here but still kept the Clan name. We stopped for another photo at the most photographed castle in Scotland. It is Eilean Donan and you will see it is quite picture-postcard-pretty. This is the castle from the movie "Highlander". It was built in 1214 as a defense against the Danes...aka Vikings. It was destroyed by clan fighting and after 200 years was restored by the Colonel MacRae.
As for the name of this island The Isle of Sky..perhaps came from the Norse word cloud. At the end of the island is mighty Dunvegan Castle, the castle of Clan McLeod. I will want to take pictures around Skye for my McLeod friend, Lynn Jackson who now can even pronounce it correctly. There is a bridge that crosses to Skye which meant people never needed to go by ferry. At first it was a toll bridge and to help pay for the bridge, because most people would just go for the day and not leave money to the Skye population they really overcharged. At first the tolls were so expensive by today's money a bus would be charged $75 one way. There was quite a revolt but prices went on for many years until the bridge was paid off to Bank of America for twenty seven million pounds and now no bridges in Scotland, England or Wales have toll bridges.
The castle behind us was for a Norwegian Princess who according to legend roped off the small thoroughfare into the rest of the waterway. If the Captain would pay the fare as a prize she would flash her naked breasts at them. For the soldiers who had been long at sea, I guess this was quite a hit. For that reason the restaurant/bar by the bridge is called Saucy Mary.
These Island was settled in 4000bc and left stone carvings. The Romans came here at one time and the Vikings were here. In 1350 it became under the reign of the Scottish Clan as I said The McLeod Cloud was big here. In Mid 1900 many many McLeod folk were pushed off the island and forced to relocate. Many came to America....there you go, Lynn! The golden eagle, deer, large heather mores and lots of fish, mainly salmon are found on the island, oh, and of course tourists! There are 550 air B and B's here but the staff is given poor accommodations at the hotels. There is no hotel that would accommodate Grand Circle however tourism continues to skyrocket here. We are heading toward Armadale and you can windsurf there. Laura did that in her wetsuit during her time in college but the water is so cold she wouldn't dare try it today. It is raining so I can't take pictures through the water drops on the Windows, but it is rolling hills with heather, and ponds of water.....no trees to speak of. I see lots of ferns and of course rocks. Vic is estatic. There is a story about a man who got an otter in Iran, brought it over and raised it with its babies. He lived in a lighthouse and there is an otter refuge here. Normally I would be in the " oh how cute " feeling but since the horrendous event at Lake Madrone when the otter attacked the swimmer with over thirty bites and would have drowned had her friend on a paddle board not bashed it away with a paddle. They just don't seem all cuddly and sweet anymore! Oops! Now we are riding along the water and it is foresty and the ferns are much larger and lush. I think Skye has many, many different habitats. If says now we are on peat bogs.....all diverse and wonderful! The sheep here are black face mountain sheep. I think Scotland, Wales and England have their share of many breeds. The sun is out....at Armadale...at least for the next few minutes. It is crowded with other busses so we will go to the next little village and by the time we get back those busses will be gone. We drive to the next little village, not far, and there is a little shop called Grumpy George and I found out why they call him Grumpy George. He was all sweet and ready to jaw with everyone on the bus...especially Vic, but when I said I had a friend from the clan McLeod he made an awful face, gagged himself and acted like he was spitting on the floor! I said "Do you have some thing here I could buy for her and he gave me a " NOH!!!" "Oh come on" I said with a smile, "surely here on Skye, there is something appropriate for a MacLeod and he murmured something about a cow. " Hence your name!" I said! (I guess I'm in Clan McDonald country.) We stopped at a wonderful lunch back at Armadale and I had some great tomato/ basil soup served with delicious bread...the best on the trip and a glass of Pino Grigio and a delicious shortbread shaped like a gingerbread boy, but no ginger. Michael had a venison sausage panini, soup and the local golden beer ..... hoping it was one of Jerold's recommendation.
I have to tell you about a neighbor of one of our travelers from Seattle. This neighbor lady of Mary Jo has pet chickens and she gives them free reign of the house. She makes diapers for them to wear!!!!Now she is making quite a business selling chicken diapers. I have told Papa if I get to changing chicken diapers, please knock me in the head! While we were at the "Spiritual House of the McDonald Clan". Michael hiked up to a Castle. Although it is not structurally safe to enter, the grounds are spectacular. I will include some of Michael's photos. On the way back around from the Isle of Sky I see it from another perspective ...the other side of the bus. There are only 23 in the bus made for more than 40 so we get our own window. It is not raining for the morning so my window is clear. Perhaps I'll get a few good shots. Just after the battle of Colardin, Bonnie Prince Charlie was hiding out and nobody told on him. There was a fellow who looked very much like Bonnie Prince Charlie and allowed the the authorities to follow him and eventually kill him on a chase. When he died with his last breath he said "You have killed our Prince." They believed him and so a lady named Flora McDonald let him dress up in ladies clothes and escape to Skye as her maid. Before boarding the boat she told him he would have to dispose of his guns for if they searched him they would know he was not her maid. He told her,". If they frisk me they'll have other reasons to know I'm not your ladies-maid! Another pistol on board!" Some say the two fell in love. After he died she returned to live and die in Skye. The very first cottages on Skye were very small and very plain, few or no windows and a thatched roof held down with hanging stones all around. Michael took a picture but on his camera rather than phone. Maybe when I get home I could send the image to Ken for the blog. All this area is where the Outlander movies were staged. I read the books but did not see the films.Laura played the wonderful music from that movie about Skye. It was lovely. then she played a song about Caledonia from Dougal McClain. It was the same song we had heard from the Scots dinner and Show. I loved it! I wish I could get it on line...I'll try. It would forever remind me of my time in The Highlands! I have been humming it the last thirty minutes or so. We heard another piece of music....no lyrics, from a film called, "LOCAL HERO" ?? about a rich land barren who came to Scotland from the US to buy up huge areas of lands, but was faced with much opposition from the locals. Sounds like a YANKEE GO HOME FILM to me. On our way home Laura promises that going the northern route will give us even more spectacular scenery! I can't imagine how. The mix of heather and ferns amid the rocks seem planted by a master gardener and the layers of hills in the background go from soft greens to lavender and gray. It all reminds me of some of the muted colors I've seen on tartans and Leona's new purse. You will have to excuse me from using so many exclamation points. Our trips always show the most magestics and this trip does that in spades. All is so exclamatory!! We stopped for a group picture and I was lucky to get one of Laura. She juggled cameras and iPhones to take a picture from each of us but then said we had no time to take hers.
It is a beautiful scenic view on the way to Inverness. As a surprise Laura is having us take our bathroom break at a hunting lodge. There are no other places aIong the way for loos and I'm quite sure there were some of starting to wonder how much longer. In 2002 the fox hunts as we know it were banned. Now they take the dogs, but no fox. Instead they lay a scent of the fox and let the dogs find it. I don't know how they call it hunting when the dogs do it all and there is no shooting. However, if by accident there is a real fox out there and the hounds get its scent and follows the it becomes a REAL FOXHUNT. They still have deer hunts at this time of year...stag hunts that is. No bow and arrows aloud. Craig, the owner of the hunting club will have tea and treats set out for us, but we can look around the place and there are items...not commercial that can be bought. We will see what exactly that means. Well this lodge was not your normal Butte/Yuba County hunting lodges. It was so swank! People come here with a £1000 fee to license your gun, but you pay extra for your kill. A stag costs you £600 and you don't get to keep the meat! It is taken away and prepared and the meat goes to the estate. You can send the head to be mounted but that will be another huge cost! After they establish how many stags can be killed you could kill all of them or as many as you want, but of course you would have to pay the £600 for each. Boy am I glad Michael is not hunting there! They also want you to cull some of the forked horns as a stag will not run them off knowing unless they could could lock horns they could be speared through by the spikes! I can't see hunters I know pay £600 for a forked horn. I guess they don't want forked horns doing any of the mating. We hadn't seen any deer, but within a mile from the lodge there were three.
Now we are passing the Black Isle. It gets it name from the dark fertile ground and that in the winter when all other places around are white from snow. The nearby sea keeps the temperatures around here from freezing the rain and the earth is still dark rather than white with snow. The ground is very fertile and here they grow lots of barley used in the whisky and beer. Even the hotel sells Black Isle Beer. I wonder if THAT is what Jerold liked so much. Finally here we are at our hotel in Inverness. Another long day; another long missive. Are you still there? Grove
Day #18... Michael On An Optional... Me To Shop In Inverness
Michael will start this about his trip to learn about the Jacobites and his lunch in a castle.
In brief, here is your History lesson for the day. After the Protestant Reformation of the 1500's in England and Scotland, there was a constant effort to bring Catholicism back. These people were referred to as Jacobites after the Latin for King James VII and King James II of Scotland (same guy). who had been driven to France with his Queen Mary in 1689. Almost immediately there began plans for an uprising to take back the throne. I will not go into the four previous revolt attempts, but will concentrate only on "45" which was done by the grandson of James who was called "Bonnie Prince Charlie " a Stuart. With the supposed assistance of the French, hoping to cause disruption in their worldly battles with the English, it was agreed that they would support Charlie with men and weapons, and if successful, would also invade England. So Charlie snuck into the outer islands of Scotland and began to raise supporters amount the Clans. But what Charlie lacked in men and arms he made up for in charm and charisma. He was able to put together a Scottish force of 1500 and began his march toward London. He was successful right up to about five days from London his senior officers finally convinced him to wait and withdraw. They had not heard a thing from the French and the English Jacobites they had expected to help had not come forward. As result they withdrew here to Inverness tired, starved, and hoping for more help. Very shortly an English force of 9000 faced them across the fields and bogs of Drummossie Moor. It was fatal for Bonnie's forces as it was wet and flat and the advantage of what was called the "Highland Charge" could not be effectively employed. As a result Bonnie lost a thousand of his force of 5000 and they fell into a unorganized retreat with everyman for himself. The English pursued relentlessly and took no prisoners, often killing civilians as well as they spread out throughout the moors. For at least four years there could be no weapons, no clans, and the English could take all they wanted from the people. It was estimated that at least thirty thousand Scott's died from Starvation. Prince Bonnie fled through the Isle of Sky eventually reaching France. But never was there a threat from the Jacobites again. Catholicism in Scotland would be no more! If you want to know more, Google the Battle of Culloden, April 1746. Next was a visit to Brodie Castle. The guy that owned the castle was the 25th Brodie of this family. In the late seventies he couldn't afford to keep it up and actually sold it for £135k in 1978 to the National Trust of Scotland giving him lifetime tenancy there. He died in 2003 and the trust opened it up to the public in 1980 and often time would even conduct the tours. The family motto which is on everything in the castle is"UNITED"! Evidentially his son who didn't want to have anything to do with the castle married a socialite. After the sale of the castle, she and one of their three sons tried to sue saying they had been deprived of their rights to own the castle. The courts ruled for the grandfather. In an effort to mend fences, the son lived with the grandfather there. However one night the grandfather had to leave the castle for a time and did not want his grandson on the property while he was gone. The grandson refused to leave, there was a big argument, and the grandfather had him evicted from the property. The motto was no more! Lunch was served in the castle....tea sandwiches. Michael's favorite one was grated cheese mixed with chutney. I'll have to try that. Now for me! I had a lovely and leisurely time. I didn't leave the hotel until almost 10:00 while I got stuff pretty well packed up. Then I took the walk to town. Most said it wasn't hard but there are two up hills going and coming that were not much fun and it took me around 25 minutes each way. The downtown and mall area is very pretty and interesting although they have some vacant buildings. I sat and listened to a wonderful singer on the street, tipped him and bought his cd and videoed him for part of a song. I sat and listened to him sing "Old Man River" and then decided to move along. I went in nearly every store I liked and perused every little thing knowing I didn't have to hurry and that nobody was waiting for me. Around noon my back was starting to bother me so I stopped at the Italian restaurant overlooking the bridge, got a window and ate my wonderful lunch of crab cannelloni and people watched.
A pretty yard on my walk
Later I crossed the bridge and hit a few more shops took a lot of pictures of Inverness and shopped my way home. There was a long uphill climb, but I took it easy and didn't walk against any red lights. The 15 minute walk for me ended up as twenty five minutes because I could go slow if I wished. I set out my treasures to show Michael and rested until he got back from the tour....about 45 minutes later. After hearing about his tour I was glad I spent my money shopping instead. Tonight s bunch of us will meet and walk uphill in the other direction for dinner. I am sure glad it won't be uphill AFTER dinner! Tomorrow is an included dinner in Glasgow and then we start that marathon home the next day. At least we won't be going home to double digit weather!
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Arguing with Mary Queen Of Scots the Catholic Queen
The entry Check out the Coat of Arms
