Scotland-

Day 1- Highland Games-Luss, Scotland-on the western shore of Loch Lomand

We had expected this to be a completely touristy experience and were okay with that but it turned out to be a quaint cultural experience. This was the real deal! First we looked around the village of Luss which was filled with cottages with flowers and gardens that were the absolute stereotype of the small village in Scotland.  Then appeared the Chief of the Clan Colquhoun. The tradition dictates that the chief leads the people into the games so the parade proceeds with the chief and his family, then  comes a band of bagpipers and drummers, then all the people going to the games, so we all joined in the parade and followed the clan chief into the games. It was filled with Scottish families with many men in kilts picking up large rocks, throwing telephone poles, tossing sheaves of branches over poles (high jump style). It is was easy to imagine when (for generations) the clans got together to showcase their strength, doing it through the everyday tasks they had to do (removing rocks from the field, throwing bales of hay into the barn, etc) and proving who was the strongest and best among the clans. There were races of all sorts where both locals and guests could join in, which was great fun. The food was amazing. We had our first haggis of the trip (having had it when we were in Scotland 13 years ago) and it was just perfection. Rick had haggis with neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes) and I had a haggis burger which was haggis on a lovely bun with a piece of cheese and whiskey chutney. It was just delicious and Rick's was lovely as well. I followed that with some ice cream and Rick had a locally brewed Loch Lomand stout.  All in all it was a delightful experience even though Rick did not don a kilt and take part in the throwing of telephone poles!!

Quaint stone cottages with beautiful roses

On  the shores of Loch Lomand (you take the high road...)

The Chief of the Clan leading us to the games

Followed by bag pipers and drummers

Throwing sheafs over the pole

Hanging out having a pint!

Musician a la Braveheart

For my "Outlander" friends

Our first haggis of the trip-yummmmm!

Day 2- Edinburgh-a revisit

Even though we had been to Edinburgh 13 years ago we took the opportunity to go again and see it with more experienced eyes and with new people to share their experience. We were not disappointed. We were taken aback with the sheer number of people there that seemed exponentially more than when we were there before. There were just throngs of people to wade through. Nevertheless we felt like we were visiting an old friend and we were happy to see things again. We enjoyed the views from the castle as well as envisioning the history as we thought about it through the lens of Braveheart (even though that was not completely historically accurate Tina still clung to some of the illusions). We had a guide who was determined to shatter these illusions by referring to the historic Edinburgh that had roads not with quaint cobblestone streets but streets of mud and “mire” (human and animal excrement), rats, disease and general unpleasantness.  With the knowledge that this was the accurate historical perspective, it was much more fun to cling to the romanticized image of the historic fiction with the siege of the castle, manly men in kilts sweeping beautiful lassies off their feet and crushing the English at Bannockburn. So there!! We ate lunch at our favorite restaurant (more haggis-delicious), Deacon Brodie’s Tavern.  Deacon Brodie was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The story says that Deacon Brodie was a city council member by day and a thief and general scoundrel by night.  It appears that he actually designed the gallows on which he was hung-you gotta hate that!!!

Edinburgh Castle on the hill

Entrance to castle-Wm Wallace and Robert the Bruce

More castle

Deacon Brodie's tavern-interesting story

Haggis #2!!! Such a lovely color (with neeps and tatties!!)

At the tavern-retake of a pic from 2001!!!

For Richard and Corey-an old friend!

St. Giles Cathedral-one of our favorite places-Thistle Chapel

Somehow we always find a pastry shop in the rain!!

Hollyrood Palace-Queen E's Scotland residence

Day 3- Robert Burns-the national bard of Scotland

We decided to take a trip to the birthplace of Robert Burns as he is so important to the Scottish people but it was also because the trip would take us to the southeast area of Scotland where Rick’s ancestors hail from. We haven’t been able to find any evidence of the Hoggs or McClungs but we know they were there!  The Robert Burns site was a lovely area including the thatch roofed cottage where he was born. The area around the Robert Burns center included the Brig O'Doon bridge that was part of his famous poem Tam o’ Shanter. The story says that the witches can’t follow him over a body of water so he crossed the Brig O'Doon bridge to escape them.  I prefer to remember the musical with Gene Kelly and Bing Crosby with the magical village of Brig O'Doon that only appears every 100 years.  The monument to Robert Burns included a spectacular garden with the most luscious roses and the bridge was like something out of the movie!!  The drive along the coast was also beautiful. That coupled with a sandwich made with local smoked salmon made it a great day!

Birthplace of Robert Burns-Scotland's national poet

Burns Monument

Tina and Rick at the bridge to Brig O'Doon

The bridge

Where are Rick and Tina-Have they disappeared in Brig O'Doon?????

Day 4-Glasgow

Rick got a cold and decided it was best to stay on ship, get some work done and nurse his cold. This meant that I was tasked with going to Glasgow and taking pictures of the famous Buchanan Street, a pedestrian shopping street that he needed pictures of for his lecture on Glasgow. Hard work but someone has to do it. I think Rick would rather have had a cold than go shopping!!  I went with a friend from the ship and his family and we embarked on a day of seeing the sights of Glasgow.

This started with lunch/tea at the Willow Tea Room that was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh whose architecture looks very similar to that of Frank Lloyd Wright.  The tea was one of those things straight out of Downton Abbey and was just amazing. Sandwiches on one level, scones (softball sized!) with clotted cream and jam on the next level and then the cake of your choice on the top. I chose a Victoria Sponge which was a lovely vanilla cake with a layer of whipped clotted cream and jam. There was a pot of honey almond tea to wash it all down and lots of pictures to document that we actually ate it all!  We then went to take a tour of the city chambers that was just a spectacular building but the tickets were not available. We had to be content with the pictures of the interior which were just amazing

On to Buchanan Street shopping area. Your basic upscale shopping street with lots of street performers, shop keepers giving out samples of tea, going into Lush for lotions and potions and lots of pictures for Rick. I nearly bought a pair of shoes until I saw the price-will be glad to be back on Euros in Ireland with an exchange rate that is better than the sterling pound!!  We saw lots of squares with lots of sculptures (some with traffic cone hats just to be quirky!) and evidence of the preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth games to be held in Glasgow. This is second only to the Olympics but just for the UK and their former colonies.

Back to the ship to sail to Ireland!

Dublin-Welcome to Ireland!!!

Unfortunately the first thing the ship did upon docking in Dublin was to turn off the internet service for the duration of the time in port-L We felt stymied in our attempts to communicate with family and research things to do in Dublin!

However-Rick could smell the Guiness and as part of our City Orientation tour we did indeed go to the Guiness Storehouse where we attended the “how to build a stout” pouring session and we now have official certificates that show that we know how to use a tap to pour a proper pint of stout. We then went took our perfectly poured pints to the Gravity Lounge at the top of the brewery that has 360 degree views of the city of Dublin which was pretty spectacular-and the views were good as well!  On to St. Patrick’s Cathedral that was beautiful and we learned  a lot about Robert Louis Stevenson who was actually a Deacon of the church for many years.

On to Trinity College where we learned about the history of the college and found where to go the next day to see the library and the Book of Kells-not to be missed!

A little shopping on Grafton Street-another pedestrian shopping street but one where they have many ‘buskers”-street performers-as well as live sculptures who are perfectly still until you do something and they respond to you!! What fun!

Then in typical Irish fashion the clouds rolled in and we got drenched because we had left our “brolleys” (umbrellas) and raincoats on the bus while we had a quick look around  on what had been a beautiful day!  Back to the ship to dry off, warm up and have a quiet evening on the ship.

Days 3&4-The Roots of Irish Music

We left early in the morning to drive from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher (the spectacular cliffs that adorn every tourist publication from Ireland) which, due to the predictably unpredictable weather in Ireland, we were standing just feet from and couldn’t see anything due to the fog that had rolled in with the rain and gale force winds!!  What are you going to do? There was an interpretive center that had lots of information with a gift shop where I bought a pen with a puffin on top of it as that was the closest that I would get to seeing the puffins that hang out at the cliffs! Rick said that instead of seeing the Cliffs of Moher we saw the Cliffs of Less!

We then drove to a small village called Ennis located in County Clare which is apparently one of the prime locations for traditional Irish music-it just seems to be in their souls.  Here we had a lovely lunch with fish chowder with brown bread and the beginning or our 2 days of music. We spent the afternoon with our own private session with 3 musicians. There was one man on a bouzouki (I know-how strange is it that a Greek instrument has found it’s way into the Irish music culture!), one woman with a fiddle and one woman with an concertina who could also play the fiddle. They played for us, educated us about traditional Irish music, the protocol for the “sessions” that are played in the pubs nightly and encouraged everyone on the trip to play with them, sing with the songs and even dance along with the music. It was pretty awesome. Then there was dinner at our hotel that was just delicious and then came the evening of roaming the pubs to hear the type of Irish music that is common to this area. In one pub there was a group of men on the fiddle, uilleann pipes, a cousin of the bag pipes that sound much better although they are a little strange looking. Rick describes them as looking like the radiator of a 57 Chevy! Very strange looking but they have a hauntingly beautiful sound.  Another man on the accordion and one on the bodhran (Irish drum) which Rick plays. On to another pub to hear the women that we had the session with earlier in the day and ending up in the pub of our hotel where the younger musicians played with a concertina, fiddle and guitar. Just as we were heading to bed a woman sat down with the group and they carried in her harp to play-a really harp- and it was great!!  Each pub was accompanied with a pint of beer so we were ready for bed!!! The next day we headed for Galway to see the “buskers” (street performers) which is a music tradition in Ireland. There are some lovely pedestrian streets with shops and cafes (I am seeing a pattern here!) with performers up and down the streets. Just lovely!!

On the way to Galway we passed through an area of Ireland called The Burren, a geological feature where the landscape changes from the green rolling hills to what looks like a moonscape. The pictures can show what this is like. This area was formed from glacial movement and is very striking. 

Back to the ship to sail to Norway!!