A different sort of Mother's Day

We had a wonderful time with the Halls and Mallettes from California (we met in Scotland in 2017) touring our great city, the OSU campus, enjoying 2 great museums, the new National Veterans Memorial and Museum and the Columbus Museum of Art, the OSU main library, historic German Village and eating at Schmidt's Sausage House and Cap City Fine Diner. We get to rest today, but they are touring for 2 more weeks! Robin thinks up the ideas and Gene plans the itinerary. Today they are off to Falling Water, Gettysburg, Niagara Falls, the 9-11 memorial and other sites. We ended the day with a peaceful evening and dessert at our home, looking through Bob's paintings and sharing stories and memories.

Keeping up with travel friends on Facebook

When we were in Scotland 14 months ago, we met two lovely couples from California, the Halls, Robin and Karen and the Mallettes, Eugene and Barbara, who had been in Ireland and were continuing on to England.  And in following them on Facebook, their travels continue—Hawaii, various California notable spots, Europe to see various heritage sites, the south, and most recently Canada. Alberta and British Colombia.  So I commented to Robin, that they certainly travel a lot.  He responded:

“Just accelerating the bucket list as my years advance quickly. As the saying goes “so many places, too little time”, or something like that. Actually Eugene, Barbara, Karen and I are planning a Midwest trip next spring or so to get in to Gerald Ford Museum, the the Football HOF in Canton and of course Cooperstown. We will be asking you if we can meet you and “Robert The Bruce” one evening and take you both to dinner in Columbus, if you are in town. Just thinkin’ It would be fun to renew acquaintances. Are you up for that?”

So I’m dropping that promise in my blog, just so I can find it next spring when they are in the midwest.

 

Road trip in Scotland

Brief video of some scenes we saw in the Highlands of Scotland in early June.

https://thescene.com/watch/cntraveler/a-scotland-road-trip?save_video=true

Our trip to Scotland--making new friends, June 2017

Glengoyne Distillery tour

At the pub Clachan in Dornie near Eilean Donan Castle

Norma and Bob at Eilean Donan Castle

Dinner at Dundee Doubletree Hilton

Pat in Edinburgh

Stacey, Deanne, Veronique

Eric and Rowena at Edinburgh Castle

Roger getting ice cream

Emily, Kelly and Stacey at the Pub

Getting golf instructions at St. Andrews

St. Andrews walk with Stacey, me waving, Rowena, Pat, Kelly, Emily, and Deanne

Bonnie and Brian St. Andrews Cathedral ruins

Our trip to Scotland--Day 6, June 13

We had a guest guide for our trip through Edinburgh's  "old town"-- cobbled streets, narrow alleyways and hidden courtyards all preserved for modern tourists leading to Holyrood the official residence of the queen when she's in Scotland and Edinburgh Castle and "new town"-- a planned city of the 18th and 19th centuries of Georgian and neo-classical architecture. It was really an architectural feast. The guide talked almost without taking a breath until we parked at Holyrood to look through the fence and browse the gift shop. Then it was on to Edinburgh Castle on Castle Rock built on a volcano, first a fortress, then royal residence, then a military barracks.  We had a brief wait to go up the hill for a parade of taxis with balloons for a children's parade. After touring the castle we walked down, stopping at a large woolen tartan store and weaver, then on to a little tea room near the hotel for lunch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOeHKDo3wQw

Holyrood Palace, for the Queen when she visits

Edinburgh Castle built on a volcano

You can see the popularity--huge crowds even early in the morning

It was a steep walk down, with a stop at a woolen shop to look at kilts 

Scene from our hotel at night

Sir Walter Scott memorial across from our hotel, view from our window

After resting up, our group headed for the Royal Yacht Britannia (it was really a ship), the former residence of the Queen and her family for state visits and family holidays manned by 240 crew members who lived on board. We used self-guided audio sets which explained each area.

Then it was off to Café Tartine, a nice restaurant for a lovely dinner.  We sat at a table for 6 with Robin and Karen, and Eugene and Barbara, all from California who would continue their trip into England. It was the final touch to a fantastic trip with Globus. Bob put about 100 prints in his album, so these are just a few. The memories are good.

Our Trip to Scotland--Day 5, June 12

Early in the morning we left Dundee and headed for St. Andrews. I had never picked up a golf club to play, but what a way to begin--at St. Andrews, the most famous club, and home of The Open.

Our first event was stopping at the Practice Centre where each group of two got 24 balls to hit after a brief demonstration and explanation. You can see we had some sun shining through the clouds. Then we boarded the bus and went into the city.

"St Andrews has a population of around 20,000 people. The university, where Prince William attended, attracts students from all over the world, keeping the bars and restaurants busy during the winter, and during the summer golfers from all over the world descend on the town to play the hallowed Old Course. The town has got a mystical charm about it, and is packed with golfers, golfing memorabilia and a load of golf-friendly bars where you won’t be asked to remove your spikes at the door." 

I love to visit "retired" or gently used clothing stores, and saw a number of shops passing through town with elegant used golf attire which would have been fun to visit if we'd been there all day. But instead many in our group walked to visit the ruins of the bishop's castle and the cathedral. Bob and I also stopped inside a small chapel.   The castle sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining North Sea.

We walked through the area of St. Andrews university, then Bob went back to the golf area and bus and I continued with Pat to the Cathedral, but he had the camera.  If I can snag a photo from the group's site I'll add it here.  It was quite dramatic. It was built in 1158 and became the center of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland.

"The story of St Andrew's revolves around the story of the apostle Andrew. According to one version of the story, a monk named Regulus was inspired by an angel to steal the relics of St Andrew and set sail to the island of Thule. He landed instead on this promontory on the coast of Fife and there founded a settlement. The saint's relics became a focal point, not only of religious pilgrimage, but also a symbol of Scottish independence from England. Andrew's symbol, the saltire cross, became forever associated with an independent Scotland, and eventually was chosen for the Scottish flag.

The medieval cathedral whose ruins we see today was begun around 1160, and was complete by the late 14th century. The church was huge, measuring 355 feet from end to end, with a central tower and spire." http://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=1076 

From St. Andrews it was back on the bus to Perth and a visit to beautiful Scone Palace [pronounced skoon], the home of the Earl and Countess of Mansfield. While we were waiting to go in, we saw beautiful peacocks. We heard about the palace and the crowning of Scottish kings, including Robert the Bruce over coffee and shortbread. The peacock photo is from a tour group member. A guide told us about the Stone of Scone, upon which the Scottish kings were crowned.

"According to legend, the sandstone slab was used by the biblical figure Jacob as a pillow when he dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven and then brought to Scotland by way of Egypt, Spain and Ireland. The rock, also known as the Stone of Destiny, was used for centuries in the coronation ceremonies of Scottish monarchs. Following his victory at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296, England’s King Edward I seized the stone from Scotland’s Scone Abbey and had it fitted into the base of a specially crafted wooden Coronation Chair on which English—and later British—monarchs have been crowned inside London’s Westminster Abbey ever since. "

Although we couldn't take photos inside the palace, this little video shows you much of what we saw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCjGZ7FLevM

Chapel on the Moot Hill

Scottish long hair cattle

Back to the bus, across the Forth Road Bridge to Edinburgh to our final hotel, the Mercure Edinburgh on Princes Street with a fabulous view from our window. That night we attended a Scottish evening with Highland dancers (5 women) a bagpiper, fiddler, accordionist, a female soloist, and singing MC and the ceremony of the Haggis (mutton or lamb offal, minced and mixed with, oatmeal, suet, herbs, spices). Dining scene from our tour group FB page.

Oh, Canada? Laurie and daughters Kathy and Susann

Dancers

Barbara on left, Pat on right at the dinner

Our trip to Scotland--Day 4, June 11

After leaving the Isle of Skye after a big breakfast (almost every stop had a similar breakfast menu--eggs (2 styles), back (lean) bacon, sausage links, some form of potato cakes, grilled tomatoes, grilled mushrooms,  navy beans, toast, a variety of pastries, fresh fruit, yogurt, cold cereal, orange juice, coffee--but no decaf--and tea) we travelled along Loch Ness. It is the second largest lake in Scotland, 23 miles long and the biggest in volume in the British Isles southwest of Inverness in the Highlands.  We enjoyed hearing stories from our guide John about the monster. At a rest stop we had the opportunity to view all the Nessie gift and memorabilia related items. She/he is obviously an important part of the local economy, whether or not real.  Here I am looking for the Loch Ness monster.

Norma at Loch Ness

And then it was on to the Culloden Visitor Center at Inverness which memorializes April 16, 1746, the final battle of the 1745 Jacobite Rising, Bonnie Prince Charlie's failed attempt to bring back freedom and Stuart control to Scotland. Each year there is an April memorial, and this is the one from 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqm_tSvPlm8 If you read the comments under the video you see that there is still disagreement on what happened to whom by whom.

"The Jacobites were mainly Highlanders, led by Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie", the grandson of the exiled King James VII of Scotland and II of England. The objective being to restore the King to the British throne. Prince Charles Edward Stuart never mounted any further attempts to challenge Hanoverian power in Britain after the Battle of Culloden. The Jacobite army consisted largely of Highlanders, plus a number of Lowland Scots, a small detachment of Englishmen from the Manchester Regiment, French and Irish units loyal to France. . . The government force [commanded by Charles Edward Stuart's cousin, William Augustus Duke of Cumberland, a younger son of George II, loyal to the British throne and House of Hanover] was mostly English, plus a significant number of Scottish Lowlanders and Highlanders, a battalion of Ulster men from Ireland, and a small number of Hessians from Germany and Austrians." http://www.explore-inverness.com/what-to-do/attractions/culloden-battlefield

Headstone marking mass graves of Jacobites

Memorial cairn (Gaelic for pile of rocks) erected in 1881

Then it was on to what some thought was the highlight--we got to hold puppies and watch a champion shepherd, Neil Ross, at Leault Farm work with his 8-10 border collies. It was just amazing to see how the dogs responded to voice and whistle.

Rounding up the sheep

Shearing demonstation

Puppy love

Then we drove through Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands to the Victorian mountain resort of Pitlochry for a wee bit of shopping, photography and fellowship. It is a beautiful town, in the county of Perthshire, on the River Tummel. It is administered as part of Perth and Kinross with a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census. It seemed much larger, I suppose because of all the tourists.  Even though it was Sunday, most shops were open. Tourism seems to be the main industry, brought here by Queen Victoria in the 19th c. who loved the area, and it has an active arts community.  I bought a lovely deep teal cardigan as a souvenir, and also because it was chilly.

Lovely shops

Church of Scotland built 1884

We enjoyed some refreshment with Rose and Ann at a local eatery.

Then it was back on the bus for a lovely drive to our next hotel in Dundee, the Doubletree Hilton. The Globus tours has a seating rotation system, so if you begin the trip at the front, you'll end it in the back. We met our tour group before dinner for a complementary drink and moved on to the glass room dining area overlooking a lovely garden. Because of the season and our far north location, it stayed a light a long time--in fact, didn't seem to ever really get dark, sort of like summer in Finland or Russia where we visited in 2006. The hotel is attached to a large old mansion from the days when Dundee had many millionaire connected to the jute industry.  There was a small display in the lobby about that industry.

 

We are at the 3rd table back with Robin and Karen, and Eugene and Barbara, and Pat