The 2009 Clan Gathering and aother Misadventures

July 2009 was the BIGGEST Clan gathering since 1822, with more clan chiefs in attendance since the Battle of Culloden in 1745! Over 30,000 from around the world descended upon Edinburgh to rediscover their roots and explore their ancestors lands. It was a 2 day affair with a clan village (over 85 clan families were represented, with the Hay's and Duncan of course :-), highland dancing, caber tossing, stone throwing, hill racing and much more. I have never seen so many kilt clad men in my life :-) Everyone was proudly displaying their family's tartan. Even Prince Charles showed up for the occasion. While I hate crowds, it was a neat experience to be around all these people who were so excited about their history

While, I enjoyed the clan gathering, I was even happier to escape the crowds and head over to Musselburgh to explore Newhailes house. The day got off to a rocky start though, as always I missed the train to Musselburgh by about 2 minutes and the next one was in 1 hour. So I had a decision, wait an hour to take a 4 minute train ride, or hop a bus and arrive 40 minutes later in Musselburgh (yup, you read that right, 4 minutes compared to 40! Insane!) Anyway, I opted to have lunch in town and then get the next train. This would have been fine, had the way to Newhailes been marked properly on the maps at the train station. But, having learned from experience, the best way is to ask people, so I stopped in a bakery and asked for directions. The kind women sent me down the street about a mile. There was NO Newhailes in a mile... I stopped at a gas station and was told - "Oh, you need to go BACK into town about a mile, then continue on about 2 1/2 miles in the OTHER direction to get to Newhailes." At this point, what could I really do? So an hour after arriving in Musselburgh, I arrived at Newhailes house in the rain. (yup, it got better when it started to rain :-) The house is an old country estate house that was built in the early 18th century. The Scottish National Trust just took it over and their motto is "Conservation not restoration" so everything is a bit threadbare and dingy, but you can get the idea of what it was supposed to look like. My favorite room was the library, where there were floor to ceiling bookcases. Unfortunately there is a no picture taking policy, so you only get to see the outside of the house (unless you take a look at this web-site: http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/47/) Thankfully I asked the caretaker for directions back to the train station, and he sent me on a little shortcut and it only took me 10 minutes to get there :-)

My next little adventure took me to Hopetoun House. This is the huge family estate of the Hope family that has been in their possession since 1709! It is a huge house with 150 acres of land out back. This time I knew I was in for a 2 mile walk to the house from the bus stop, but it was a pleasant walk along the coast, so I was happy. The house is absolutely amazing with vastness of the rooms and the beautiful land outback. I got to have afternoon tea in the tea shop (which used to be the stables) and it was great! My new favorite treat is a ginger oatcake slice - very yummy! They have a 10K the end of September that I think I might enter. That would be a fun way to end my stay in Scotland :-) If you have time checkout their web-site, there is absolutely no way I could do the house justice in trying to explain it to you - it is absolutely palatial! http://www.hopetounhouse.com/

Since beginning my stay in Scotland I have had to learn a lot about Scottish appliances. The stove, for instance needs to be started with a match (definitely not used to that). There is no dryer, so all my clothes have to be hung up all over my room to dry after being washed. The shower, needs to be switched by a little pulley next to the sink, and then you have to be careful not to soak the bathroom, because there are no walls around you! Since being here I have realized even more how thankful I am to have ALL the modern conveniences that we have in the states. Shower curtains are a wonderful thing :-)

See you all later!