Thursday, 3 September 2009
More Castle Pictures!
The very cool Dunnotter castle
So pretty!
Visiting my ancestral home :-) Maybe I should make it my new summer home? Anyone want to finance it for me?
Slain's castle - yup, still raining
Slain's castle from across the burn. I had to walk about 1/2 mile inland to get around the ravine and then back again on the other side until I was even somewhat close to the castle - but still, look at that view!
The Castle Trail
Hi again!
I am so far behind I almost forgot that I didn't tell you all about one of my weekends away in the northeast corner of Scotland! Wow!!! That was a really fun weekend that I am very excited to share about! So here it goes!
One of my favorite places in all of Scotland is Cruden Bay, where Slain's castle is located. Slain's castle is the previous seat of the Hay Clan (my ancestors, well, some of them - I'm a Duncan too!) Slain's castle is perched right on the cliffs over the sea and it is an AMAZING view. This is not like the other ruined castles where it is taken care of and made safe for the general public - no, this is a RUIN in all senses of the word. No caretakers - nothing, just the way I like it. I took a coastal path (of course it was raining, as usual) and got soaked in the process of the 2 mile journey through some boggy marshland and also a wheat field - ssshhh, don't tell :-) I got a bit turned around, but eventually the castle was spotted! The castle had been added on to many, many times in the past so it truly was like a maze. I really wish I could have seen the castle in all its glory and saw how it all flowed. Over the course of the years of occupation it was blown up twice by the owners of the castle (they were a bunch of nutters it would seem :-) Yea, for my ancestors!) Most recently, and this was in the late 1800's, Bram Stoker, who used to vacation in Cruden Bay, used Slains Castle as his inspiration for Dracula's Castle. Pretty neat, eh?
I also got to visit another one of my favorite castles in Stonehaven, Dunnotter castle. Dunnotter, is also built right on the cliffs, but is a little more dramatic in its presentation because it is built on a little rock island of sorts that is only attached to the mainland by a small strip of rock. Again, one of the most beautiful castles in all of Scotland. It was here that the Scotland Honors (the crown jewels) were hidden from Oliver Cromwell when he attacked Scotland in the 1600's. Legend has it that they were secreted out of the castle by being sewn into the clothes of the washer women that were allowed to enter the castle during Cromwell's siege of Dunnotter. Cromwell's men even helped the washer women carry their laundry baskets from the castle to their cart :-) Those sneaky Scotsmen were pretty smart :-)
My next adventure took me on an 8 mile hike along the coast by a little town called Portsoy. It started out a bit mundane, but the closer I got to the coast the more outstanding the view was. Eventually my path led me to Findlater Castle - another TRUE ruin in all senses of the word. I had to climb down a step embankment and then cross a small strip of land to get to the castle that was truly built right into the cliff wall. Many parts of it had fallen down and there were huge gaping holes in between the different levels of the castle, but it was so amazing to be there. I can only imagine how cold it would get in those rooms when the wind was blowing on a cold and blustery night in the middle of winter. Perhaps I took more risks than I should have when exploring this castle, but.... it was worth it!
Onto another castle, I warned you, this was a castle trail! Huntley Castle is like most other castles you need to pay to get into, except they had some terrific stonework with such detailing that I can't compare it to any other place. The section of the house where the front door is, has a 3 story tall, ornate stone carving, that I have no idea how they managed to create. The fireplaces and mantles were also works of art in the stone cutting world. (on a side note, I got to stay in a true castle that was now a hotel in the town of Huntley and it was pretty neat. One of the most interesting parts of my stay was chatting with the castles owner and him recounting how he had only known his wife for 8 days before they got married - it was love at first sight, and still is over 40 years later! All together now, Aaaawwwhhh!)
My last stop was Glamis Castle, this castle is still used as a residence, so it is completely filled with old furniture and everything else you need to really get a feel for what life is like living in a castle! This is where the Queen Mother (the current Queen's mom, who died in 2002 at the ripe old age of 101) was born and grew up. They have many ghost legends and haunting tales to tell of murder and mayhem. The castle dates back to the 1400's and lots of history has been made here. What castle would be complete without their very own herd of highland cattle! Yup, out back there were many highland coo's. Some were mama's with their babies and others were some nasty looking males, waiting to trample you if you climbed over the fence :-)
Whelp, I know it was another long post, and its my own fault for falling so far behind, but hopefully I have kept you all entertained for most of it! More fun to come in the next storytelling time! See you later!
I am so far behind I almost forgot that I didn't tell you all about one of my weekends away in the northeast corner of Scotland! Wow!!! That was a really fun weekend that I am very excited to share about! So here it goes!
One of my favorite places in all of Scotland is Cruden Bay, where Slain's castle is located. Slain's castle is the previous seat of the Hay Clan (my ancestors, well, some of them - I'm a Duncan too!) Slain's castle is perched right on the cliffs over the sea and it is an AMAZING view. This is not like the other ruined castles where it is taken care of and made safe for the general public - no, this is a RUIN in all senses of the word. No caretakers - nothing, just the way I like it. I took a coastal path (of course it was raining, as usual) and got soaked in the process of the 2 mile journey through some boggy marshland and also a wheat field - ssshhh, don't tell :-) I got a bit turned around, but eventually the castle was spotted! The castle had been added on to many, many times in the past so it truly was like a maze. I really wish I could have seen the castle in all its glory and saw how it all flowed. Over the course of the years of occupation it was blown up twice by the owners of the castle (they were a bunch of nutters it would seem :-) Yea, for my ancestors!) Most recently, and this was in the late 1800's, Bram Stoker, who used to vacation in Cruden Bay, used Slains Castle as his inspiration for Dracula's Castle. Pretty neat, eh?
I also got to visit another one of my favorite castles in Stonehaven, Dunnotter castle. Dunnotter, is also built right on the cliffs, but is a little more dramatic in its presentation because it is built on a little rock island of sorts that is only attached to the mainland by a small strip of rock. Again, one of the most beautiful castles in all of Scotland. It was here that the Scotland Honors (the crown jewels) were hidden from Oliver Cromwell when he attacked Scotland in the 1600's. Legend has it that they were secreted out of the castle by being sewn into the clothes of the washer women that were allowed to enter the castle during Cromwell's siege of Dunnotter. Cromwell's men even helped the washer women carry their laundry baskets from the castle to their cart :-) Those sneaky Scotsmen were pretty smart :-)
My next adventure took me on an 8 mile hike along the coast by a little town called Portsoy. It started out a bit mundane, but the closer I got to the coast the more outstanding the view was. Eventually my path led me to Findlater Castle - another TRUE ruin in all senses of the word. I had to climb down a step embankment and then cross a small strip of land to get to the castle that was truly built right into the cliff wall. Many parts of it had fallen down and there were huge gaping holes in between the different levels of the castle, but it was so amazing to be there. I can only imagine how cold it would get in those rooms when the wind was blowing on a cold and blustery night in the middle of winter. Perhaps I took more risks than I should have when exploring this castle, but.... it was worth it!
Onto another castle, I warned you, this was a castle trail! Huntley Castle is like most other castles you need to pay to get into, except they had some terrific stonework with such detailing that I can't compare it to any other place. The section of the house where the front door is, has a 3 story tall, ornate stone carving, that I have no idea how they managed to create. The fireplaces and mantles were also works of art in the stone cutting world. (on a side note, I got to stay in a true castle that was now a hotel in the town of Huntley and it was pretty neat. One of the most interesting parts of my stay was chatting with the castles owner and him recounting how he had only known his wife for 8 days before they got married - it was love at first sight, and still is over 40 years later! All together now, Aaaawwwhhh!)
My last stop was Glamis Castle, this castle is still used as a residence, so it is completely filled with old furniture and everything else you need to really get a feel for what life is like living in a castle! This is where the Queen Mother (the current Queen's mom, who died in 2002 at the ripe old age of 101) was born and grew up. They have many ghost legends and haunting tales to tell of murder and mayhem. The castle dates back to the 1400's and lots of history has been made here. What castle would be complete without their very own herd of highland cattle! Yup, out back there were many highland coo's. Some were mama's with their babies and others were some nasty looking males, waiting to trample you if you climbed over the fence :-)
Whelp, I know it was another long post, and its my own fault for falling so far behind, but hopefully I have kept you all entertained for most of it! More fun to come in the next storytelling time! See you later!
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Rugby Pics and around town shots
Just in case you forgot what I looked like, here is a recent picture :-) Honestly, I think the clouds are really neat in this picture, just ignore me, I get in the way :-)
It was amazing, they just hefted these guys right up in the air so that they could grab the ball and run with it.
Greyfriar's Kirk Graveyard, the beginning of my Murder & Mystery Tour - doesn't look too scary...in the day time :-)
This is called a 'Scrum' in Rugby. Each team locks arms and sometimes legs, and tries to get the rugby ball, that is thrown in under their feet, to their side of the group. It's hard to explain, sorry, I guess you gotta be there :-)
The Meadows, where the truck mishap happened :-)
Summer (mis)Fun
Well, I have gotten quite a few e-mails about my references to my summer mishaps and I figured I better get another blog in the works before it got out of hand :-) We'll go right to the good stuff then - my run in with a truck!
Walking through the meadows (the park I have to walk through everyday to get into town) I had to walk around a truck that was backed up over the sidewalk and partially in the road. I couldn't go behind him on the grass because they were pouring concrete, so I had to go around him in the street. Well traffic was pretty heavy so I was standing directly up against the front of the truck waiting to go around him (mind you the truck's front window isn't that tall, so my head could be clearly seen by the driver) when the driver decided he wanted to pull out and I was in his way, so he just started going forwarded trying to move me out of the way using the TRUCK!! He didn't yell anything out the window or ask me politely to move, he just decided to push me out of the way. Crazy, I know.
The fiasco in my kitchen wasn't my fault at all. One afternoon I was walking into the kitchen when I heard an odd noise coming from within. Upon entering, my eyes are immediately drawn to the new waterfall of running water coming from the ceiling above the counter. It proceeded to keep going like this until the ceiling partially came down from the weight of the water! The running water only lasted about an hour, but in that time, my flatmates and I, were frantically dumping buckets of water and replacing them with empty ones. The washing machine in the flat above ours was leaking and I guess over time the water built up until it finally came crashing through the ceiling. Thankfully, we are not responsible, but it still hasn't been fixed... Good ole insurance companies, they are the same no matter what country you are in! :-)
This past week was the last week of the Fringe festival and I decided that I probably wouldn't have another opportunity like this to take advantage of all the "culture" so I had better see something to say I had participated (I've been avoiding it because of all the tourists, I hate crowds). Well, there was quite a lot going on this week that I really enjoyed. I went and saw the play, "Emma" (which I thought more resembled the quality of a high school play then a 9.50 pound fringe worthy event) I also went and saw and Irish Step Dancing Spectacular. The dancers were fantastic, the dances themselves were a bit more modern than I would have liked, but there was still a lot of the traditional step dancing to keep me entertained.
I also went on a Murder and Mystery Graveyard tour of old Edinburgh. It was a lot of fun (although VERY cold) and I learned quite a bit about the more nefarious history of Edinburgh. Like the true inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, what happened to Mary, Queen of Scots, murdered secretary, and Burke and Hare, Scotland's first pair of serial killers! After my graveyard adventures, I went to a late night classical music event at Old Saint Paul's Church. It was a great way to end my night. Picture sitting in an old stone church at 10 o'clock at night, with only candles lighting the inside, a warm mug of hot coco in your hands as the gentle caress of Mozart fills your ears, played by an accomplished viola, violin and cello player. Very tranquil.
This week I also got to go to my first Rugby game!! This is something I have been looking forward to ever since I started planning my trip, and thankfully the beginning of the season has just begun! My trusty rugby teacher, Stuart, explained all the weird rules and names they have for the game. I love the fact that the teams can pick up their own players so that they can catch the ball when it is thrown in, and then unceremoniously drop them on the ground in a pile. Rugby players are brutes! They are HUGE! and tough. These guys would just bash each other to get the ball. I love Rugby! You can keep American football, Rugby is a real man's sport!
In my next blog I'll start recounting some of my adventures when my two friends from Florida came to visit. Edinburgh, London, Roslyn Chapel, Linlithgow, Fireworks, lots of good stories to recount. See you all later!
Walking through the meadows (the park I have to walk through everyday to get into town) I had to walk around a truck that was backed up over the sidewalk and partially in the road. I couldn't go behind him on the grass because they were pouring concrete, so I had to go around him in the street. Well traffic was pretty heavy so I was standing directly up against the front of the truck waiting to go around him (mind you the truck's front window isn't that tall, so my head could be clearly seen by the driver) when the driver decided he wanted to pull out and I was in his way, so he just started going forwarded trying to move me out of the way using the TRUCK!! He didn't yell anything out the window or ask me politely to move, he just decided to push me out of the way. Crazy, I know.
The fiasco in my kitchen wasn't my fault at all. One afternoon I was walking into the kitchen when I heard an odd noise coming from within. Upon entering, my eyes are immediately drawn to the new waterfall of running water coming from the ceiling above the counter. It proceeded to keep going like this until the ceiling partially came down from the weight of the water! The running water only lasted about an hour, but in that time, my flatmates and I, were frantically dumping buckets of water and replacing them with empty ones. The washing machine in the flat above ours was leaking and I guess over time the water built up until it finally came crashing through the ceiling. Thankfully, we are not responsible, but it still hasn't been fixed... Good ole insurance companies, they are the same no matter what country you are in! :-)
This past week was the last week of the Fringe festival and I decided that I probably wouldn't have another opportunity like this to take advantage of all the "culture" so I had better see something to say I had participated (I've been avoiding it because of all the tourists, I hate crowds). Well, there was quite a lot going on this week that I really enjoyed. I went and saw the play, "Emma" (which I thought more resembled the quality of a high school play then a 9.50 pound fringe worthy event) I also went and saw and Irish Step Dancing Spectacular. The dancers were fantastic, the dances themselves were a bit more modern than I would have liked, but there was still a lot of the traditional step dancing to keep me entertained.
I also went on a Murder and Mystery Graveyard tour of old Edinburgh. It was a lot of fun (although VERY cold) and I learned quite a bit about the more nefarious history of Edinburgh. Like the true inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, what happened to Mary, Queen of Scots, murdered secretary, and Burke and Hare, Scotland's first pair of serial killers! After my graveyard adventures, I went to a late night classical music event at Old Saint Paul's Church. It was a great way to end my night. Picture sitting in an old stone church at 10 o'clock at night, with only candles lighting the inside, a warm mug of hot coco in your hands as the gentle caress of Mozart fills your ears, played by an accomplished viola, violin and cello player. Very tranquil.
This week I also got to go to my first Rugby game!! This is something I have been looking forward to ever since I started planning my trip, and thankfully the beginning of the season has just begun! My trusty rugby teacher, Stuart, explained all the weird rules and names they have for the game. I love the fact that the teams can pick up their own players so that they can catch the ball when it is thrown in, and then unceremoniously drop them on the ground in a pile. Rugby players are brutes! They are HUGE! and tough. These guys would just bash each other to get the ball. I love Rugby! You can keep American football, Rugby is a real man's sport!
In my next blog I'll start recounting some of my adventures when my two friends from Florida came to visit. Edinburgh, London, Roslyn Chapel, Linlithgow, Fireworks, lots of good stories to recount. See you all later!
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Pictures from Golfing and the Military Tattoo
Yeah! Golfing for the first time :-)
My great golfing coach - Stuart. Patience is always necessary when teaching an Eelman to golf!
I always seemed to hit the ball to hard when putting, I have to work on that...
A view from the Argyle Steps of the Castle - so pretty! The picture really doesn't do it justice, you'll just have to come over and check it out for yourself!
The 2009 Military Tattoo - a really NEAT experience, again, you have to come over and watch it!
I'm so far behind, where do I begin?
Hello, Hello! I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since my last post! Sorry about that! I have had SO much going on in my little Edinburgh world that the time has just flown by. I had 2 great friends visit for 10 days and it was a whirlwind adventure with no sleep! After that I took some classes through Edinburgh University and also helped out my local church with some Fringe events that they were hosting. Maybe I'll start with some current events and then back track to my friends visits and our adventures down in London. Sound good? Good.
August in Edinburgh is an insane time! There are so many festivals and events that are going on its crazy. The population swells to immense proportions and you can't even walk down the Royal Mile with out wanting to kill people because you just can get through all the swarms of tourists! The 2 biggest events are the Military Tattoo and the Fringe. The Tattoo is put on nightly within the castle walls and it's a mix of talent from different country's military groups and also local pipe and drum bands. Here is the web-site that can do a much better job at explaining what the tattoo is all about. http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/tattoo-experience/castle.html. Check it out, there are some great pictures that look a lot better than mine!
The fringe is a HUGE festival that encompasses everything from comedy shows, plays, music, exhibits, dance, opera and children's shows. The fringe book, which lists all the shows and when they are happening, is over 200 pages long! My church sponsors Christian plays and music that people can attend during the festival. They have had a great turn out and I've gotten to see some great shows after helping out before the shows begin. This is the last week and I'm helping steward (usher) for 2 nights this week. We saw an expert of the play during church on Sunday night and it was hilarious. It should be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it
The past 2 weeks I took 2 classes, The History of Scottish Clans, and the History of Edinburgh Castle, through Edinburgh University. I got to go to the castle everyday and have my classes there. It was SO neat! The teacher was a local writer, I think he has penned over 10 books on Scottish history and stories. He was a bit scattered in his teaching, but was interesting non-the-less. He could rant and rave for an hour about how all history is biased and how we shouldn't believe anything that we read, quite ironic since he is a writer of history :-). He is hugely patriotic to Scotland and was a lot of fun to listen to. My favorite part of class, and this is going to sound funny, was leaving the castle. I would come down the Argyle Steps, from the top of the castle rock, and the view was simply amazing. I could see all of Edinburgh, over the Forth and into Fife. It just takes your breathe away.
I also had my first golfing experience this past weekend! The weather was perfect, albeit a bit windy, so take advantage of the good weather while you can and play golf! My favorite part was the initial teeing off. I love hitting that little golf ball and seeing how far I could get it to fly off into the distance. (more often than not, I missed the ball on the first swing and then after contact it would usually veer off to the right side of the course) All in all though, I think I had a decent showing and I managed to get under par on a few holes on the course. I would definitely play again if given the opportunity.
Well, I'm going to sign off but I am planning on blogging again this week since I have 3 weeks of adventures to catch up on. I'll tease you with a bit of what is to come: following the castle trail in the northeast corner of Scotland, sleeping in a castle, getting hit by a truck (I'm OK, don't worry, no injuries, promise! It's just more of a funny story than anything :-), the misadventures of trying to see the fireworks in Edinburgh, and the ceiling crashing down in the kitchen of my flat. Intrigued? Good, see you later!
August in Edinburgh is an insane time! There are so many festivals and events that are going on its crazy. The population swells to immense proportions and you can't even walk down the Royal Mile with out wanting to kill people because you just can get through all the swarms of tourists! The 2 biggest events are the Military Tattoo and the Fringe. The Tattoo is put on nightly within the castle walls and it's a mix of talent from different country's military groups and also local pipe and drum bands. Here is the web-site that can do a much better job at explaining what the tattoo is all about. http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/tattoo-experience/castle.html. Check it out, there are some great pictures that look a lot better than mine!
The fringe is a HUGE festival that encompasses everything from comedy shows, plays, music, exhibits, dance, opera and children's shows. The fringe book, which lists all the shows and when they are happening, is over 200 pages long! My church sponsors Christian plays and music that people can attend during the festival. They have had a great turn out and I've gotten to see some great shows after helping out before the shows begin. This is the last week and I'm helping steward (usher) for 2 nights this week. We saw an expert of the play during church on Sunday night and it was hilarious. It should be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it
The past 2 weeks I took 2 classes, The History of Scottish Clans, and the History of Edinburgh Castle, through Edinburgh University. I got to go to the castle everyday and have my classes there. It was SO neat! The teacher was a local writer, I think he has penned over 10 books on Scottish history and stories. He was a bit scattered in his teaching, but was interesting non-the-less. He could rant and rave for an hour about how all history is biased and how we shouldn't believe anything that we read, quite ironic since he is a writer of history :-). He is hugely patriotic to Scotland and was a lot of fun to listen to. My favorite part of class, and this is going to sound funny, was leaving the castle. I would come down the Argyle Steps, from the top of the castle rock, and the view was simply amazing. I could see all of Edinburgh, over the Forth and into Fife. It just takes your breathe away.
I also had my first golfing experience this past weekend! The weather was perfect, albeit a bit windy, so take advantage of the good weather while you can and play golf! My favorite part was the initial teeing off. I love hitting that little golf ball and seeing how far I could get it to fly off into the distance. (more often than not, I missed the ball on the first swing and then after contact it would usually veer off to the right side of the course) All in all though, I think I had a decent showing and I managed to get under par on a few holes on the course. I would definitely play again if given the opportunity.
Well, I'm going to sign off but I am planning on blogging again this week since I have 3 weeks of adventures to catch up on. I'll tease you with a bit of what is to come: following the castle trail in the northeast corner of Scotland, sleeping in a castle, getting hit by a truck (I'm OK, don't worry, no injuries, promise! It's just more of a funny story than anything :-), the misadventures of trying to see the fireworks in Edinburgh, and the ceiling crashing down in the kitchen of my flat. Intrigued? Good, see you later!
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