Signs of our times, Scotland

most frightening sign of all, and true to its word

Even round abouts on the highways

looks like a dump truck to me

a real restaurant in Oban, awaiting the ferry

departing Scotland from Edinburgh airport

"Value Added Tax" - drop all your paperwork and we'll send your money

not quite as subtle as "may be hazardous to your health"

Dunfermline and Stirling: Monday, April 20-- A.M.

  We had the Three Sisters' Scottish breakfast again, despite an unfortunate incident on Arthur's Seat the day before during our hike.  Maybe it was that mystery round on the plate which we could not discern whether it was brown bread or blood pudding. We checked out of STAY.CETRAL and walked to our car. By watching some strangers a couple times, we managed to get the machine to take our money and parking token. We round-about-ed to the highway over the Firth of Fourth Bridge to Dunfermline Abbey (final resting place for Robert the Bruce). Once again, I needed immediate bathroom privileges since it was about an hour since the Three Sisters' breakfast. We were going to park close but the parking police were out trying to catch late returners with a £60 ticket. We found enough coinage to get us to the Abbey for an hour.  Robert is interred right in the floor of the Abbey. No admission but they ask for a donation to keep up the Abbey. A nice volunteer docent is anxious to tell her national history to anyone. She convinced Judd to by the children's version of Robert the Bruce and William the Wallace.  (Maybe more pictures and less text.)

Bridge over the River Fourth

Robert the Bruce

   Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most historically important castles in Scotland. Famous back to the 1300s when King Robert the Bruce defeated the English at Bannockburn (in sight of the castle) to the 14-16th century (home to the Stewarts and Mary Queen of Scots ), it has sustained being a renaissance palace to a military fortress to a prison.  King James the V introduced changes making it the first renaissance palace in the British Isles. The King's Presence Chamber held the Stirling Heads, large carved oak round portraits which have been restored. Judd and I took our time exploring the rooms and gardens. In the back close was an exhibit showing how they  commissioned weavers to re-create some of the famous unicorn tapestries for the Queen's chambers.

 

 

http://www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/home/experience/highlights/tapestries.htm

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Sequel to the Tea Crawl: Edinburgh Pub Crawl

   By the time our tour bus and walk got us back from the Royal Brittanica to the Edinburgh Castle, the tours were over and the door was closed. We toured ourselves around the outside for the vistas and took ourselves to "Amber, The Whisky Experience."  It looked like a Disney theme park of whisky so we did NOT buy admission but consoled ourselves in their gift shop and tasting room. One of Judd's favorite gifts he bought himself is a tea towel with an identification grid to tell how smoky vs delicate or light vs rich your single malt is.  I tried the Bunnahaban (rich and delicate) my new personal best for taste  Judd tried the Glenfarclas, my new personal favorite for saying it out loud.

The Whisky Experience

  We zigzagged across the cobblestone and had our next drink at Brodie's Tavern. I recognized that it was the exact same menu as last night at the Mitre. The hostess pretty much dismissed us. When I asked if we could have a table for dinner she gruffly said, "Not right now,"  with no hint as to when we might.  We went directly downstairs to the pub. We were pacing our whisky tour so had a beer and a gin and general.  By accident we ate at Angles with Bagpipes which was somewhere actually recommended to us by one guide book as "a truly intimate dining experience across from St. Giles Cathedral."     I had an Earl Grey Fizz and pollack; Judd had Dumbarton Scotch and pork bellies.
  When we  departed, about 7pm, we couldn't believe it was still SUNDAY. We started our walk back, pretty savvy about where we were and where we were going.  Just 30 hours earlier we were lost on one-way streets trying to find parking and our hotel. Very near our hotel we passed Brew Dog. Well we DIDn't pass it, we went in. We wanted a Brew Dog Crew T-shirt but the waiter said they weren't for sale but we could try eBay. We asked how the password to their wifi got to be cocoapsycho and they said it's the name of one of their beers.  Judd tried a Long White Cloud and my notes say I tried a Tactical Nuclear Penguin. The chalk board wall, with a drawing of the minions, stated Paradox Islay- 13.8%, the highest octane draft there.
   I noted that shiny, shaved bald heads are very in vogue in Scotland this season, almost orc-like, right from our rental car man yesterday to two of the three amigos chortling at the Brew Dog bar.  We walked right next door through the Three Sisters to our STAY room. 

Neme me impune lacessit--no one provokes me with impunity.

Robert the Bruce, Judd the Thompson and William Wallace flank the door to Edinburgh Castle

Judd touching "Hume -- giant of the Enligh-toe-ment"

St Giles Cathedral outside Angels with Bagpipes

We did four pubs in five hours-- and we didn't need to stand in line like the "tourists."

April 19 - Tea crawl

   We came home to the STAY.CENTRAL last night about 10:30 pm and had to walk through Three Sisters (the outdoor pub and beer garden which is our lobby.)  It was elbow to elbow, just to walk through between the stag parties and hen parties. We  saw a cadre of guys with curly wigs and Vote for Stepho t-shirts. There was a separate bunch of dudes dressed all like Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow.  A female contingency was dressed all as bumble bees.  Our nice hostess went back out in the fray to get a beer and a bottle of wind.  It was pretty quiet on the 4th floor. We worked on posting a few pics on Facebook (and worked for a long while on Judd remembering his FB password.)

   We were up Sunday morning almost as if jet lag weren't a thing.  After a full Scottish breakfast  (poached egg, saute-ed mushrooms, grilled tomato, beans, haggis (or "vegetarian haggis", toast and tea) we were off to hike Arthur's Seat and Salisbury's Crag. (I initially though this was Salisbury's Crack and I thought the Scots had a thing for bottoms.  Turns out we were in the middle of a 10 mile run and had to cross rows of jogger traffic just to get to the hillside.  There was a  chill in the air and a light mist, fine for climbing up the slopes to the top but only made the climb down the stones a bit slippery. We're not sure what the yellow flower-y bushes were all along the hills, but they'll never be the same.

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We met Zach, a little black spaniel tearing around the heather or heath or wet grass, and his master who was walking the dog while his wife and daughter were running the race. His teen age boy was still in bed  (Heard THAT one before.)
    After the hike, we were about at the finish line wishing the participants well.  There was a quite unusual solution to the port-a-potty line situation.  The men were invited in to a cordoned off coral where there were single manly urinals to assure privacy.  In fact, I took a picture into the coral and didn't seen anything at all of interest.
    We had elevensies at Clarinda's tea room (Clarinda Agnes Maclehose 1759-1841, friend and mentor to Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns

and inspiration to his popular love song "Ae fond kiss." We shared our table with David, a well-traveled Brit up for a holiday. "I've been everywhere--ask me anything."

   We caught a Majestic double decker bus and had a tour of the city plus a trip to the Royal Britannia, the home to her Majesty, The Queen and royal family, sailing over 1,000,000 miles around the world. My father and Judd, both being mariners, it was a very interesting tour. You are given an audio tour device in your language of choice and when you get to a specific spot 1 or 2 or 19 etc, you push that number on your device to get the narration.  I can be done in a very timely manner, but Judd would tarry until I was three numbers ahead of him.  He remarked that the engineering systems were as many as the battleship Missouri that Judd worked on at Longreach Naval Shipyard. We had tea in their Royal Deck Tea room, my notes say Judd had the skink and I had carrot-coriander soup, but when I look up skink it comes up as a little green lizard. 
Google says: "Cullen skink is a thick Scottish soup made of smoked haddock, potatoes and onions. An authentic Cullen skink will use finnan haddie, but it may be prepared with any other smoked haddock."

Arthur's Seat overlooking Edinburgh

the finish line

slippery when wet

Tasteful, private urinals

 

the Royal bar

Post date February 22- March 29, 2015

Feb. 22, Sunday afternoon
      Judd spent most of yesterday shoveling and raking snow off the roof then snow-blowing again. Then , while he was at UMO hockey, it snowed 6 more inches. But we've had a warm snap and now the snow is racing off our tin roof and it's getting all wet heavy (or heavy and bothered.) Two of the four kitchen windows are occluded by snow.
     We have a Scotland itinerary !  The count-down calendar says it's 54 days til departure.

Friday the 13th ( of March, 2015)
    Getting ourselves excited for travel by reading travel books (they keep multiplying in my house.) The Outlander TV series ended for the season so we're on hold, watching other junk TV at night. We're trying to get all the Jon Stewart's Daily Shows in since he's announced his retirement. We talk about ways to scam free tickets to his last live show in  NY, but then we take no action .

      It's only 2 weeks until spring, but not many signs. I did see a robin out the window at work, but it was almost like Noah's ark, in that there was nothing but snow all around for him to alight upon. And  certainly no worms anywhere. We did have a warm day and much snow melted but going from 6 feet to 5 feet didn't put much of a dent in it. An ice dam has been dripping through the mudroom ceiling for a week. Judd actually climbed on the roof, rope around his waist, and hacked blocks of ice off right into the driveway in front of the door. Now the garage door is open until spring so we have an egress. 

    We had dinner a few weeks ago with Rick and Sandi Lawrence. They told us all their favorite places in Scotland. They go back to Islay ("eye-la") every year. They've bought their own cask of Scotch and it's aged 10 years so is about ready to bottle. They cooked amazing pork and veggies from their whisky cookbook.They've given us several travel tips:

www.calmac.co.uk    to reserve ferry tickets from Oban to Islay

visit Bruichladdich ("Brook-laddie") distillery  (where THEY have a cask)

eat lunch at The Old Kiln at the Ardberg distillery

eat dinner at The Bridge End Hotel   or Yuans.

eat seafood at Loch Indal at Port Charlotte  (and visit the Museum of Island Life

visit the Celtic Cross

March 29, Sunday
18 days + 20 hours

    Just got roll along suitcases and carry -ons and back packs picked out. We've been combing our maps and perusing travel guides. We've been practicing whisky tasking and responding "Aye!" anytime an affirmation is needed. Judd is almost done reading MossFlower (in the red Wall series.)  I'm almost a third done with book club book that, atypically, Omer read first then Judd then Carol who recommended it.  The Harry Quebert Affair.  
    We've still got a foot of snow covering the entire lawn and 8 feet in the shady crevices of the house. So we're reading by a roaring fire with Daisy, Juno and Velcro in attendance, waiting for outdoor recess. The road has suddenly thawed with those two 45 degree days and the mud makes  4-6 inch ruts with whichever car slides down or crawls up the hill. When it freezes again, and it does on those 9 degree nights, the ruts are hard tire traps. By the time we walk the dogs later it is soft again and we sink into mud season. Daisy comes back like a reverse penguin: white back and black belly and legs.

Judd shares his toy with me

Isn't spring grand?

Tea Time in the bistro

Edinburgh, arrival day

Saturday in Edinburgh was tough because of the sleep deprivation. But after the exhilarating car ride into the city and some tea and shortbread, we rallied.  The rental car had a built in GPS which worked well but we got to our hotel on a narrow street and there was absolutely no parking. Once you drive by your hotel and get turned around on one ways streets, it's hard to park and walk your way back through town without a map.  In the car, you can retype the address and it will recalculate. Judd went to find out how to pay a parking meter (and make some local change) and I walked back to the STAY.central, which was cleverly disguised behind the outdoor patio of the Three Sisters Pub. Turns out you need to park about 1/2 mile away and get a token and can't check in until 3:00 anyway. So, Judd and I went and found the parking and then cruised  down The Royal Mile, the one mile road that 

leads from Edinburgh castle to the Royal Palace. Judd is reading Mary Queen of Scots and was caught right up in the history and drama. The Palace of Holyrood House is where Mary gave birth to James V, the future kind of England. Shops and museums and churches crowd both sides of the street. The free Edinburgh museum had a movie of the city's history (on a projected map on the floor.) It helped orient us in time and space to the layout of the city.  When we came out there was a wedding across the street with full bagpipes in swing. 
   On our way back up the hill, we ducked into Fountain Close. The guidebook said to visit some closes (courtyards) which are labeled with street signs on the front, but in the back, this one felt like several people's personal front yards. As our hotel was halfway up the hill and it was after 3pm by now (8pm in Maine) we ducked in for an hour nap and a shower. The clerk had to come up to show us how to turn the lights on. Just as she arrived, Judd said, "what's this slot by the door?" and it was a slot for the door's key card. You put your card in and then the light switches work. When you take your key card to leave, all the lights go out.  Isn't that sensible?
  We ate at the Mitre Bar (famous for the ghost of a 17th century fugitive bishop.) The table had a small thistle (the national flower) in a cute rectangular vase.Judd asked the waiter how to chose between the three Scotches on the menu.  The waiter asked, "do you like smokey, peat or smooth?"  "Or you can pick by 8 £ a nip or £47 a nip."  Judd tried the Glenkinchie, a light crisp whisky. Judd was debating whether to order the haggis.  I remarked that it tasted like meatloaf made out of liver. Judd said, "yes."  I said, "what's the point?"

Sunny Scotland

Judd admiring Arthur's Seat (dormant volcano)

Palace of Holyrood House

Our STAY hotel behind the beer garden

Cowgate Street, runs parallel to the Royal Mile