Some photos from Scotland: http://s1336.beta.photobucket.com/user/Horatius992/library/#/user/Horatius992/library/?&_suid=135152202780902620664649744454

Back in the saddle . . . wait I can't ride!!!

I’ll get back to blogging about Scotland and Wales later. Sometimes you just have to do something in order to restore your momentum. The blogosphere is littered with dead two post blogs. Mine will not be one of those.

Hurricane Sandy is still in its early stages around here. Perhaps later today I will finally get my photos posted online and link to them.  Something to do before the power goes out.

Day 2 Church and Touring Edinburgh: 9-16-2012

First, some impressions I formed of Edinburgh and the surrounding countryside:
      ·         Great buildings,
      ·         Great forms,
      ·         Beautiful Firth of Forth,
      ·         Rolling countryside A+,
      ·         Mountains and Valleys of the Borders reminded me of home,
      ·         Most of Edinburgh, while beautiful, is dirty,
      ·         Princess Street Gardens are worth the visit,
      ·         The pharmacies on the high street mostly sold cosmetics, very odd,
      ·         Kilt and cashmere shops abound here so one way or another you can get the quality of kilt you want.
      ·         Also, despise still being summer officially it was, by my standards, extremely cold in Scotland.

Back to the plot:

On Sunday I wanted to worship in church with other Presbyterians and so chose St. Cuthbert’s church at the base of the castle rock. Since services started late in the morning I decided to slip in some more sightseeing and finished the gardens and saw more of the town first.

The folk at the church were very friendly and didn’t mind that I was not formally dressed,  although I would have been more inconspicuous in a tweed jacket. The worship was pleasant although I didn’t know any of the songs.

Either I chose the wrong denomination or things have gone very wrong with Scottish Presbyterianism.

·         Issue 1:  The creed was a total mess and almost completely rewritten. Is it possible that the creed used in America in ALL the churches is now some kind of fossil?

·         Issue 2:  The Lord’s Prayer had the same problems. Neither a Protestant nor a Roman Catholic in the US would recognize most of it. The beautiful early modern English phrases have been hacked out to be replaced with unrecognizable trash.

·         Issue 3:  A woman was leading part of the service. This is a big no no, not because of any chauvinistic views you may assign me dear reader, but because there is no provision in scripture for women to lead a mixed congregation. For a church founded on Sola Scriptura this indicates a severe deviation from doctrine.

·         Issue 4:  The sermon, if it was in fact a sermon, was completely useless and lasted for only 15 minutes! The pastor (?) used no scripture illustrations in his sermon but did quote modern thinkers and exhorted us all to be nice Christians. I couldn’t leave the place fast enough.

At 1:00 I took the New Europe Tour of Edinburgh with a large group of people. Our tour guide was Ellie. The original plan was to visit the old City Hall across from Parliament Square and St. Giles Cathedral, but the Paralympics parade was coming to just that exact spot in Edinburgh at that exact time so we rerouted a bit.

Sights we saw: St. Giles Cathedral and a man dressed up like a statue of a king,

Poet’s Square, The Grass Market (I spent a lot of time near there the night before),  Cowgate which is not too surprisingly just across from the grassmarket, Greyfriars Kirk, The Scottish University for Orphans, The coffee shop JK Rowling wrote her first book at, and the Princess Street Gardens (again) before returning to the High City after a wonderful 3 hour walking tour.

There is so much detail and not nearly enough blog space to put it in. All I can do is wholeheartedly recommend this tour the next time you are in Edinburgh.

I got to Edinburgh Castle about 4:45 since I needed a few minutes to clean up and rest my feet. There I was again told and this time very rudely that I was too late. All tours apparently leave before 4:30 and I was too late even to go inside to look around for a minute. This was not made clear at 5:30 the night before. FYI, Scotland has several sights with overly rude tour guides and ticket sellers so be prepared and shower them with politeness if they are rude to you.

After supper at Subway I decided to walk down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood House. I was certain that it was too late to get in, but I did get to see a lot of the city which I missed the last time around. Edinburgh is blessed with historic sites such as John Knox’s house, old market crosses, buildings dedicated in the 1560’s, lots of little paths between and under buildings called ‘closes’ which lead to hidden courtyards. I could spend months exploring it properly.  Anyway, I walked down a very long path through the royal parkland and below the extinct volcano ‘David’s Seat’ which IMHO would have made a better site for Edinburgh as it is more majestic and has a lot more room. The park was beautiful, but I knew my limits and headed back to the hostel and returned by 7:10. Next post, the tour starts.

Day 1 UK Arrival and Scotland: 9-15-2012

The day began as the previous one ended, crammed into a window seat with limited space for my legs. The flight was nearly turbulence free and aside from the cramped feet was very nice. British Airways has some issues, but the quality of their crews is not one of them. Very friendly, service oriented people who made both flights very enjoyable. Given my internal abilities the dairy free food was a welcome option and I was glad I selected it. Entertainment was provided in the fform of movies, TV shows and pre recorded radio programs. I took the opportunity to see The Avengers, Brave, and bits of some other movies, but my real discovery was the comedy selection from BBC 2; something to look up later.

We were delayed coming in to Heathrow and spent 15 minutes in a holding pattern. Since the my layover was extremely short I was faced with several maddening sprints across the terminal and a great deal of ultimately unnecessary panic. The nice lady who met me coming off the plane gave me an express pass to cross the airport and speed me through security lines as my flight was leaving within 1 hour of arrival . . . this didn’t really help but later on it was a good bookmark.  The subway between the 3 terminals was simple and easy to use, but I got flustered trying to go between terminals and thus wasted valuable time dithering when I should have been sprinting to immigration.

My experience in Heathrow was lamentable and got repeated two weeks later (more on that in another blog entry). Immigration was laughable, but so be it. We kept being passed from officer to officer line to line even though there were almost no people and 3 immigration officers on duty. Realizing that further delays might ensue if I didn’t do this part I borrowed a pen and finally filled in my immigration card as best I could. Once they had scanned my eyes; I should mention that the UK loves to scan your eyes when you visit, stay at or depart from airports; I made another sprint for the metal detectors two levels up. By the time I arrived at the detectors my flight was already due to be buttoning up and about to depart so I was a bit panicked and it showed. They told me not to remove my boots, but with metal hooks I didn’t want to take a chance with further delays. Another determined lope saw me find my gate for the connecting flight to Edinburgh where I discovered that our flight was at least 35 minutes late and everyone was standing in line with bored expressions on their faces. I began to drip sweat, but I had made my connecting flight!

So flying from London to Edinburgh is really fairly pain free once you get past the hurdles of Heathrow. The flight is nice, the scenery is idyllic and they bring snacks about 10 minutes into the flight. If you look out your window over Northumbria and the Scottish Borders you will see something to gladden your heart . . . the farmers and landowners are planting some fields in with trees. It was later explained to me by my Scottish tour guide that this was just for paper pulp, but a tree is a tree and they replant the cleared land with trees after harvest. Not a bad crop to grow and very scenic so I am onboard with this initiative. Heck, it beats raising sheep (this ties in to the Lowland and Highland clearances and the radical destruction of the naticve forrests of the UK).

From Edinburgh airport I caught the regular bus into the city. Riding through the 19^th and 20^th century suburbs to the 18^th century city and the medieval city on the hill is an interesting experience. Aside from extensive sections of tract housing this city is comparatively old. The architecture is unmistakably Scottish, chock full of crow stepped gables and very tall townhouses. Naturally exampled of Scottish Baronial architecture abound. The choice of stone is unfortunate since it tends to be dark, but that is partly a function of what was available and is not helped by the latitude of the city. But don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Edinburgh! The bus stopped in Central Edinburgh and dropped me off around 1:00 at the bus depot near the upper city. A short hike to the crest of the mountain/hill/old city brought me to Castle Hill backpackers on Johnson Terrace just across from the Castle Rock.

The rest of the day was spent checking in at the hostel, having a late lunch, touring the city on foot, seeing the Princess Street Gardens, taking lots of photos, seeing Greyfrians Kirk and Kirkyard, missing the final tour to the Castle, having dinner, reading for a bit, and getting an early night’s sleep.

More on Day 2 soon.

Introduction: Advice to Prospective and New Backpackers

As promised, this is the first installment of my travelogue for Scotland and Wales. Some general information on which tours I took. For the Scotland tour I patronized MacBackPackers; the outfit I toured with in March 2001. I took their 5 day highland tour package. In Wales I used the services of HAGGiS Backpackers; one of the good natured rivals of MacBackPackers and took the Wales Explorer tour.  My younger brother recommended the second group, and as they are about the only remaining group which offers tours of this type in Wales I went with them.

Here are some general Observations and Recommendations to the traveler who wants to take these kinds of tours:

·         The UK is based in a group of islands off the coast of Europe.  Due to geography and economics everything there tends to cost more than most of the places you are likely to be visiting from. Have fun, buy what you like, but always be aware of what the cost is in your own currency. Also think carefully about how you intend to get the item or items you purchase home. Right now the pound is about 1.5 or 1.6 times the value of the dollar.

·         If the tour guide is well organized you will have as much or as little fun as you allow yourself to have. If the guide is not well organized you can still have a good time, just explore and get advice from the locals. A lot of locations have explanatory plaques as well. Be back at the bus on time or your itinerary will lag.

·         Most tourist destinations cost between 3 and 5 pounds entrance fee. You can walk around outside them and get great photos, but the good stuff is inside. Upkeep of a 1,000 year old castle (ruined or not) is not cheap so the price is usually reasonable.

·         Churches are often, but not always free. And if you do not see a sign ordering tourists to pay a fee before taking photos do not let yourself be bullied, after all, they are selling tourist goods in the sanctuary of a consecrated church so they have no leg to stand on.

·         Scotland is blessed with hostels which do laundry for a fee, Wales is not. If you chose to visit both of these lands and will be in Scotland first DO YOUR LAUNDRY THERE!!!!! Also, the laundry fee is higher than what you pay at a Laundromat, but unavoidable in most locations I visited as they are often very remote from urban centers.

·         Bring enough film (film, what is film?) or SD cards for your camera. You will be tempted to photograph everything. I took over 2,000 and am still sorting out the fuzzy ones from the clear ones.

·         Always wear hiking boots or something similar which has a sturdy sole and comes over your ankle or the mud and rocks will eat your Keds for breakfast. You know who you are. Fashion or cowboy boots may look good on you in a city, but may not be practical for hiking up Storr on Skye or negotiating your way to the ruined miners’ huts in Snowdonia; if they are sturdy you can get away with it, but a gripping sole is best.

·         Love your feet. If your socks are wet when you get to your hostel then change them and dry out your boots (a change of footwear can be useful in this instance). Additionally, rinsing out and drying your socks can extend their usefulness and most places have radiators you can use for this purpose if they are turned on. Take care of blisters and cold wet feet early and you will enjoy your trip much more.

·         Dress for the weather. The UK doesn’t really do summer like North America does so at a minimum pack a jacket or sweater, and a raincoat or umbrella even in July and August. For later or earlier in the season assume it will be cold part of the day for most days; wear layers. Scarves are also a good choice.

·         If you get soaked or dirty you may want to bathe when you get to your hostel. A lot of places in the UK use an on demand hot water system rather that a water heater (prices for fuel are higher so this is often an economic necessity). If you have a shower with on demand hot water then turn it on a few minutes BEFORE you bathe, and be careful when using the water or you may scald yourself. This setup can provide very hot water, a luxury after a long cold day.

·         You can bring rolling luggage instead of a backpack on a backpacker tour, but be considerate. If some of the luggage doesn’t fit under the bus (in the boot) then those suitcases will have to ride along with you, the passenger. Make sure your suitcase and carry-on luggage is a sensible size (i.e. pack light) and has room for souveniers.

·         Have a large bottle of water or the drink of your choice with you on your bus at all times.

·         Use the 3 pound meal deal to your advantage. Most grocery stores in the UK allow you to buy a sandwich, chips (crisps), and a drink for just 3 pounds inclusive of tax.

·         Oh yes, in the UK all food prices listed on an item are the price inclusive of tax! So for those of us who use a mental hedge of adding 5% to a price just to be safe, this is not necessary when you are traveling there. Not sure about other goods.

·         If the hostel you stay at has real cooking facilities (ask your guide the morning before) you can cook your own meal instead of going out to eat. This can be cheaper and a lot of fun if you team up with people who know how to cook. I recommend a small group of 3 or 4 to avoid having too many cooks.

·         If the town you stay in has only one restaurant open BE WARNED! They have a captive market and will serve whatever quality of food they please. If only one is open consider cooking your own meal. Even a boring drugstore sandwich is preferable to poorly cooked fish and chips.

·         Be ready to clean your pots as you go because other folks will also be cooking and the pot you are using may be needed by others soon.

·         When you eat out don’t eat just anywhere or you may spend too much or have a sour stomach. Get recommendations from your guide or someone who has done it before.

·         For those of you on dietary restrictions, a lot of packaged foods like sandwiches will list food allergens in the ingredients or will state that the machinery used to package it came into contact with allergens. Read labels carefully. I can say with some assurance that if you have dairy allergies, celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or syndrome X that you can eat your way across Scotland and Wales without so much as a bottom burp.

·         Bring a towel or buy it there. Towel rental can be from 1 to 6 pounds (the high price included a refundable deposit) depending on where you go. Some places do not rent towels (see laundry note above) and if you do not have one you will either not bathe that night or you have to drip dry.

·         When not bathing bring deodorant or cologne/perfume. And for Heaven’s sakes BUY A TOWEL!

·         Most hostels have wi-fi, but it isn’t very good; consider that the going rate for hostel stays is between 14 and 17 pounds a night and often includes breakfast and you will see why. If more than 2 people are using laptops your cell phone may not be able to browse the web. Either use the web early or find an internet café in the evening and surf there.

·         Since hostels really do come cheap you may encounter situations where you do not sleep well due to aromas, snoring, teeth grinding, coughing, carnal activities in the bunk below you, etc; or you may end up feeling uncomfortably public while bathing since almost all shower facilities with multiple showers are co-ed. If this does not appeal to you, or if you are traveling with your spouse you may want to look for Bed & Breakfasts in the same towns your tour is going to. You WILL pay more, but the windows should be in good repair, the heat will probably be turned on if it is cold, and there is likely to be breakfast included in the price. And unless you bring the snorer with you at least THAT won’t keep you up. J

·         Please note that Wales closes down due to winter after the last week in September. You may be able to hike or backpack there later in the year, but set your itinerary and make your plans well in advance.

·        The heavy rain in the UK in 2012 has rendered the country very prone to flooding. This may interrupt your travel plans.

·         If your travel plans change be sure to change your airline itinerary accordingly or call then several hours before the flight being missed! If you miss a connecting flight because you are already at the second destination you MUST call to notify the airline well in advance or either they or your travel agent WILL cancel your booking even if they were paid in advance. Rebooking is very expensive and a lot of people do not know about this unfortunate practice.

My next post will begin with Scotland Day 1.

Commenting on posts

So instead of having a "comment" button this style of blogger page says "no comments." So, to make a comment click on the "no comments" link and you will get a comment page.

If you want to comment and someone has already commented . . . then I guess you click on a page saying "comments." Not quite sure about that though.

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So it's Sunday around 6 PM and I decided to post a comment to see how commenting works. Until a coment is posted the link to post a comment shows up as the text "no comment." After a comment is posted it appears below along with an open box in which to post more.

So, for those who asked me on Facebook how this works . . . I think this is how to do it.

The Virginia Highland Games - 2012

So I headed out west of Bull Run mountain to the Highland Games in The Plains Virginia this morning. The skies were threatening rain on a grand scale, but a few desultory sprinkles were all that happened. This trip is one I’ve been looking forward to for months as it is my first Highland Games and a chance to meet a cousin from a distant branch of the family. As a bonus I was able to convince my dad to come along

Downside to this trip, besides the stifling humidity (summer in VA), I was so busy looking at the sights and talking with people that I took almost no pictures. A capital crime, but so be it.

 

There were a number of rescue and shelter organizations for Scottish dog breeds near the entrance. Didn’t spend much time looking at those as I already have 2 cats, and I don’t have the time to care for a dog.

Next up was the border collie sheep herding demonstration.  Two ladies put 3 collies through their paces herding 3 sheep. The one leading the demonstration has been breeding and training them since at least the 1960’s. Kind of hard to hear her sometimes as the mike kept cutting out and she had a quiet speaking voice. Watching the dogs at work was fascinating; like seeing a wolf or cat stalking its prey, but never taking it down. The sheep in question were a meat sheep variety as opposed to wool bearing sheep and they took the workout with fairly good grace.

 

Eventually dad and I moved over to the vendor section. I should note that there were far more food and clothing vendors than clan tents. Pssst, clan associations, next year please come to the Virginia Highland Games in The Plains; you were sorely missed.

Lots of vendors selling different but similar things.

There was a man selling Welsh ‘biscuits’ which were like a thin southern biscuit, but sweet and filled with currants; I recommend currants, tasty!

Another vendor sold high quality hand made ceramics. To prove it he demonstrated the tone of his stoneware, nice ring.

Lots of stalls carries clothes, jewelry, etc., but didn’t really convince me to look carefully at the merchandise.

One seller had very nice looking sporrans and wooden boxes (the boxes had to have been made where cost of labor was low but still very nice and sturdy). I should have gotten his business card.

Another vendor has various dirks, swords and skeean dubhs (go easy on my spelling, Celtic to English has always been a hazardous transition) and I took his card to do some web browsing later on.

I avoided the food vendors because lately anything with milk, sugar or the unidentified ‘X’ has been causing me serious digestive troubles. The wafting burned grease fumes didn’t endear the food to me either.

The highlight of the visit, well to me at least, was stopping by booth of The Scottish Trading Company. It was a chance to talk with Cousin Matthew from Kentucky. They go around to a lot of these events selling items made in Scotland, Canada or the U.S. Scarves, shawls, clan badges, traditional headgear, kilt hose, even hoodies saying “Scotland.” It was fun browsing their tent waiting for a chance to say hello. It was like running into an old friend meeting my cousin for the first time. After a great visit, sharing stories and taking photos, to the amusement of the other customers I’m sure,  I took the plunge and got measured for a kilt; Elliot(t) ancient in 13 oz wool. Very excited, but I don’t expect to see the kilt before October.

 

 

The rest of our time was spent visiting the clan tents and talking with folks there. No Clan Elliot(t) to be seen, but we managed to visit Campbell and Murray – one of mom’s grandmothers was a Dinsmore. I would say at least half of them had posted a version of one of the two famous Scottish Clans maps. One has names superimposed on Scotland and the other divides the country up geographically and places the primary clan name in its traditional territory. All in all a great trip. Can’t wait to go again next year.

Yes, I completely missed the games part of the games.  I did see some of the hurling events in the background behind the merchant’s tents. There is no way I would want to get those guys angry.

My next big adventure: Visit to Scotland and Wales in the second half of September. I promise lots of pics. Now I suppose I need to set up a photobucket account. TTFN!

 

 

Long Hiatus - Worth the Wait

It is often the nature of blogs to wait for months or even a year or two between updates. Bloggers have lots of reasons for pausing and they usually don’t talk much about them, just move back in to their subject matter. Well my subject matter, for the present, is what I am thinking about at the time. I have a huge number of blog post ideas that I want to share with my 2.5 readers. Trust me folks, this will be good!

So what do I plan to talk about? Here are some sneak peeks:

 

·         Winter indoor gardening,

·         Holiday events,

·         Commuting in the Nation’s Capitol

·         Male unbifurcated garments (KILTS), 

·          Virginia State and National Parks, and

·         Visits to Alexandria, Arlington, and DC.

 

Coming up this Saturday 9-1-2012: The Virginia Scottish Games

This event will take place on Saturday and Sunday at Great Meadow in The Plains, VA. It runs from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM; tickets are priced on their website and the price is reasonable. I will post pictures once I take them. No, I will not be going kilted since I don’t own a kilt . . . yet.