Photo Log
To start with, the plane ride
was a long one- 3 flights in a row for me- one from Las Vegas to San Francisco
to meet with my group, then one to London, then Edinburgh. Once I stepped
onto the flight from SF to London, I knew things were a little different:
everyone had British accents. Boy, did they have a nice plane, too- TV screens
on each seat so you could watch movies, play games, etc. They also gave you
a lot of free little goodies like toothbrushes, earplugs, pens, and other
useful items. It helped, since the plane flight was about 9 1/2 hours long.
We flew over Iceland and saw ice floating down in the ocean. Finally, we arrived,
and one of my first hints that things were different were the license plates
and “they’re driving on the wrong side of the road”!:) I did
make another discovery at the London Airport: I like what they call flapjacks
(not pancakes, but more like granola bars). Most of my life, I’ve made
similar-tasting “sweet treats”, as I call them- a mix of oats, butter,
honey, etc. So I had been making “flapjacks" all this time and not
known it. /\_/\
On the last flight, I discovered another thing- ask for a “lemonade”
and you get something sort of like a Sprite/7Up (but not as good- it has saccharine
in it, which is why). (For my non-US readers, in the US a lemonade is a mix
of lemons and sugar....)
Finally- Scotland! And it was...green! So green and...wet! Very unlike Arizona.
I also immediately noticed they aren’t as restrictive about smoking *choke
cough*!!!! ...as I held my breath several times in the airport.
We grabbed some taxis and arrived at the University of Edinburgh, our home
for the next 11 days. I had had a monster migraine my entire trip from Vegas
to Britain, but it began to clear up. For the remainder of my stay there,
I didn’t suffer any allergy/sinus problems- amazing for me. I’m
convinced my body was happy because it was in it’s native habitat- I’m
mostly Scotch-Irish. (For more on this, go to my Scottish
Heritage page).So that’s the
climate I’m adapted for. (And here I sit in the desert- go fig. /\_/\)
The next 11 days were spent absorbing Edinburgh and the Fringe Festival. So
many people, so many things going on, so many places to see...and never enough
time- but I did see a good chunk of it for the time I had.
There were thousands of plays at the Festival- it’s a collection of plays
from around the world. You sign up and pay the fees, and they let you in,
no matter how good or bad you are. There are venues everywhere- places which
hold several plays. The nice thing about being in a group was the feedback
we were able to share- we even had a Bulletin
Board up in the kitchen showing our picks for the Good, the so-so,
and Ugly.You walk around and purchase tickets, then see the play you want.
And we did a LOT of walking- I should be in great shape for all the exercise
I got. The city was pretty compact, so you could usually walk where you wanted
to go.
Some of my favorite plays were
a production of Fiddler on the Roof, and comedy about Samuel Beckett (don’t
really know much about him, but the play was funny...), and a music fest by
“Bag o’ Cats”. In the Fiddler on the Roof play, the audience
was part of the play- there was a circular stage which we stood on right there
with the actors, as they performed among us. They would move us as needed.
The Bag O’ Cats was magical...but I’ll get back to that.
Edinburgh oozes with history. The old and the new are all jumbled together
in a way new to me. Old stuff is REALLY old- the USA idea of “old”
is nothing compared to the Scotland idea of “old”. I was seeing
buildings from the 11th century. I saw even more from the 1600s, 1700s and
on- and the new buildings are built all among them. One thing that took time
for me to get used to was that the old stuff wasn’t “sacred”
in the way it is here- everything classified as old in the US has a “Do
not Touch” sign on it. There, we actually sat down and ate lunch on a
tombstone from the 1600s! (I did say a respectful toast to the person).
Some beautifully detailed carvings of humans, horse, and stags.
More incredibly detailed church carvings.
Boars head and Crown carvings next to Edinburgh castle
Grayfriar's Bobby- a statue devoted to the faithful dog who waited for his dead master 14 years.
Bizarre yet fascinating sheep's head owned by royalty and displayed at the castle museum.
I even saw the underground vaults
underneath the city- the built catacombs under a bridge, which you would never
guess are there, or that the bridge is even abridge...but there were several
stories of chambers hidden underneath. The stories of the filth and hardships
the people lived through down there made me very glad to be around today.
I
also got out of Edinburgh- one day I and my friend Rain went on the train
to North Berwick,
where we saw the Scottish Seabird Centre. It had advertised puffin and gannet
viewing. Well, no puffins- we missed them by a week and a half- they had just
left. We did see gannets, however. THOUSANDS of the big white seabirds. But
I digress- first off, the Centre was mostly an educational display. The “viewing”
consisted of some remote cameras stationed off some nearby islands- you could
control their position, and zoom in and out, and view the nesting seabirds,
which was actually kinda cool. But still- I wanted to see the real birds.
I asked around and found out a boat would be leaving shortly to tour around
the islands. Off we went- and it was pretty amazing. Bass
Rock, as the island was called, was covered in white- and it was
ALL BIRDS! Thousands of them! So I can definitely say I’ve seen gannets-
plus (finally) a guillemot and it’s chick, probably some skuas, (finally)
eider ducks, black-and-white oystercatchers, and several other birds. We also
found out about the island's long history (a man later made into a Saint lived
and died there in the 600s!) and we saw the Lighthouse.
Another bird I saw during my trip to North Berwick: a Collared Dove (also saw a lot of Woodpidgeons)
Yet another bird, seen on display at the Edinburgh castle- the Tawny Eagle.
Another time I went past Glasgow and took the train up towards the west Highlands.
I reached the foothills and stopped near Loch Lommond, trying to find the
Loch Lommand National Park. I ended up staying in a bed-and-breakfast called
the Cobbler Hotel in Arrocher near Loch Long.
The train stop was in a small town called Tarbet.
The "Arrocher Alps"- a taste of the Scottish Highlands.
This plant was all over the Scottish countryside. Heather? Fireweed?
I had been trying to experience
the Scottish forest and Highlands, and hopefully see some Scottish wildlife
like deer. but that day was raining and miserable and lonely. So it felt good
to kick up my feet at the Cobbler and enjoy a Scottish entertainer who just
happened to be playing there that night ...it was really neat listening to
the old Scottish songs. I went to my room and thought I’d try out the
TV- here was my chance to see British TV!!!! I turn it on to....Captain Picard
of Star Trek?!?! *oh well*....I did finally see a little British TV, took
a nice hot bath, and the next morning had a “ traditional Scottish Breakfast”-
including fried egg on fried toast! (Quite good! Yum! :))
I also encountered a neat little bird-it helped cheer me up when I was feeling
my most lonely. As I was walking around and trying to find the Cobbler Hotel
(it had turned out I was heading the wrong way, and had to go back partways...)
I wound up next to Loch Long's stone fence, with the road on one side, and
Loch Long on the other. It was raining and miserable, but I peered over the
edge- and flushed a beautiful little bird! It hightailed it out of there,
but I felt cheered by the bird's appearance. On my way out the next morning,
I peered over the wall again, not really expecting to see anything, but still
hoping- I wanted to get a better look at that pretty bird. What do you know-
it was there! I was able to watch it for awhile- despite it's bold black and
white markings, it's amazing how well it blended in to it's mottled environment.
It took me longer to notice the more subtle female. They cheered me up not
once, but twice, and now the pied wagtail (I believe that's what it was, according
to what I've looked up since) has a place in my heart. :)
Then a kind lady with her two little dogs pointed out a forest walk I could
take to get back to the train station- so I had a nice long walk in the Scottish
woods. During that time I flushed a lot of these beautiful
dark butterflies. Walking through the forest I could really feel
how the old fairy tales had come to being- there was a quiet, still aspect
to this wood, and some patches with evergreens were as dark as I had ever
seen-the light was completely snuffed out of those areas, with the occassional
exception of one patch of sunlight filtering down to hit an almost theatrical-looking
spot on the forest floor. But still, no deer. I kept hoping that I’d
see a red or roe deer. I got on the train, and shortly after it pulled out
of the station, I took a glimpse off to my right- and there’s the deer!!!!
I glimpsed a female red deer grooming herself in a woodland patch. Yay! :)
My Sketchbook drawings of the Pied Wagtail and the Red Deer.
More Scottish Forest, with one of the many old stone walls I saw, covered in moss and ferns.
The Captain Picard thing reminds me...I was surprised how much American stuff
I saw in Britain. There were McDonalds, Pizza Huts, Starbucks, and Coke everywhere,
it seemed. Lots of American movies and movie references/images. One thing
I’ll say, though- Pizza Hut is a whole ‘nother animal there- here
it’s pretty good fast food, but the one in Scotland was positively gourmet!!!
I wish the American Pizza Hut would take some notes from their UK counterparts...
I also wish we’d carry more of the teas, biscuits, and whatnots they
had over there. Early on, I was introduced to something called a “digestive”...sounded
unappetizing. But it turned out to be delicious! I also LOOOOVE Scottish oatcakes!!!
Nummmy! :) Oh, and I DID eat some Haggis....it was OK- kind of like Corned
Beef Hash, with a tart twist.
Midway
in the trip came the Military Tattoo- a musical military parade that takes
place right in front of Edinburgh castle! It was sold out by the time we arrived
in Scotland, so I’m glad we had tickets in advance! It was amazing- it
was one of several times in the trip where I felt as if I had traveled half-way
around the world, and the world and traveled the other half to meet me. There
were costumed troops from many different countries (with ties to Britain)
playing music down in the stadium below us. Each one was spectacular, and
there was a lot of humor involved, which made it fun. The castle kept changing
colors due to colored lights shining upon it, and when the American band came
in and the colors changed to red, white, and blue, I realized they were displaying
the colors of the different nations. It was great! There was only one minor
problem- for them. The BBC was filming the show that night, and the cameramen
kept looking like they were getting in the way, or at least almost about to.
/\_/\ But the show went on, regardless. Another magical experience.
Yet another was going to the Scottish National Gallery, with it’s amazing
collection of art. I felt as if I had stepped into my Art History class- and
I recognized a few paintings from it, too! The first painting I came face
to face with was the self portrait of Rembrandt (!!!) and it didn’t let
down from there. I’m still inspired.
*whew*! I just said a lot, and yet only feel like I’ve skimmed the surface.
I’ll wind this down, and add things later as I think of them.
I did say I'd get back to the Bag O' Cats, though. The most magical thing
that night was when we were sitting at a table, waiting for the show- and
several of the musicians were up at a nearby table, just jamming, A few other
musicians (not in their act) came by, and they all jammed together, impromptu.
This was with an eclectic assortment of instruments- a Scottish bagpipe, some
sort of musical instrument from India, a fiddle, and a guitar, among others-
and you know what? It worked PERFECTLY. I was about moved to tears- if such
a diverse assortment of instruments can come together from all over the world
and play in soul-warming harmony, why can't people do the same?
I was sad to leave by the end of the trip- yet also feeling a little homesick,
and ready to see my family. We had another Loooong ride home, during which
time I did a LOT better than the first time. I even felt well enough to watch
two movies on the 10 hour Virgin-Atlantic flight. I was rather emotional,
for several reasons, and the day became more and more of a blur. My last flight
back was awful, and my equilibrium was spinning by the time I touched down
in Vegas and met my ride.
The last noteworthy event was while driving home- just before we got to the
Hoover Dam I saw a coyote in the headlights, hovering by the side of the road.
I’ve only seen a coyote at night by the side of the road once before,
and it seemed to portend some major (mostly positive) changes for me....*crosses
fingers*
