Belfast- Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013

After the tattoo last night, we arrived at our hotel in Glasgow shortly after 2:00.  We set the clock on the iPad to wake us up at 6:00, so it was a REALLY short night.  We knew that was going to happen, but there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it.  We had book the plane flight from Glasgow to Belfast early in the planning, and that was cemented in place. When we found out that the Tattoo was going to be on when we were in Scotland, we wanted to go but there was really only one time for us to go.   We knew this morning was going to be rough, but that's not enough to slow us down.

We said goodbye to the Audi that had taken us across Britain, and the GPS system (which we named "Sarah Cynthia."  She was not only very helpful, but also polite.)  Luckily our hotel was right next to the car drop off and that was walking distance from the airport terminal.  We got checked in without too much trouble, though our shampoo and sunblock was confiscated for being too large and Scott and Emma both got patted down by security.  The flight to Belfast was so quick.  Anna was the only one of  the four of us that was awake to see it, but she said you could look out of the window and see Scotland behind us and Ireland before us.

Once we arrived in Belfast, we realized a mistake that was made in the bookings.  We didn't realize that there were two Belfast airports-  Belfast International and Belfast City.  Our car reservation was at Belfast City, but we had landed at Belfast International.   We had chosen this car company because it seemed to be the only one that would rent us a car that we could drive from Belfast to Dublin.  The real problem was that Julie needs an automatic and all they had were standards--- except for the Mercedes.  It would cost us a little more than what we had planned, but given the circumstances, we decided to go with that car.  Julie is still getting used to the new controls, but there is no GPS system on this car.  We pulled our old GPS, "Lizzie" out for her first big overseas test.  She's not as polite and detailed as Sarah Cynthia was, but she's gotten us where we need to be, so far.

Our first touring stop of the day was at Titanic Belfast, an almost brand new museum that was built to commemorate the fact that the Titanic was built on that spot, in Belfast.  We got our tickets, ate a quick lunch, and went through.  We've been to other Titanic exhibitions-- in Halifax and Norfolk, but this was by far the most elaborate of all.  The tour begins with a look at Belfast and its industries, and the exhibition certainly emphasizes the construction of the ship.  The big surprise of the exhibition was the ride inside of it.  It is only one part of the story, but it takes you along the recreated construction of the ship, raising and lowering and turning to give you a look at it's engineering and the nuts and bolts of its construction.  In some ways, this part was a bit abstract, but it did best when it showed the work of the welding crews.  There's an old joke among people of Belfast that there was nothing wrong with the Titanic when she left here.  Of course, the rest of the Titanic's story is told as well.  Julie and Anna seemed to like the last room, which started in an enormous theater showing a movie of explorers looking at the wreckage of the Titanic on the bottom of the Atlantic.  After watching this, you go below the screen and seats, where you stand on a glass bottom floor and it appears that you are passing over the Titanic and its debris field.  Then, you can go to one of the many computer screens and examine areas of the site to find details on individual objects.

The next part of our big day revolved around a man that Matt, the guitar player for Rush the Growler, met when he and Cathy were on a tour of Northern Ireland a while ago.  The man's name is Seán Mac Eachaidh (or Seán McAughey) and in addition to being a tour guide, he has also authored a book called, "A Guide to The Silence of the Irish Other World."  He had challenged Matt to write a song about a place near Belfast called the Giant's Ring, which is an earthen circle that is several thousand years old.  Matt used the idea that this place was one of the "Thin Places", where our world touches the spiritual one, and where legendary figures from Ireland's past come to meet in the present.  (The song is scheduled to be on Rush the Growler's upcoming CD, and Scott played a version of the recording on his MP3 Player when we visited the place today.)  Seán has also been a big supporter of Rush the Growler via Facebook, and it seemed unthinkable to be in the area without meeting him.  He certainly gave us some perspective on the city of Belfast and the troubled past found here.  It was genuinely interesting to hear of the issues from his Republican perspective.  He is also a very gracious man, and it was a pleasure to meet him finally.  He volunteered to summarize the tour he gave us in an e-mail, and we're going to quote it here, mainly because there is no way that we could get all the names and Irish Gaelic correct.

"I met you all at the green gate of the historic Harland and Wolff Drawing Room a place where the Titanic was drawn to scale and first saw the light of day.  We proceeded then to the Giant’s Ring where Emma was invaluable in assisting me up and down hills."

"The Giant’s Ring is its own place and speaks to each one of us in our own manner it is an experience that has to be experienced, felt and recalled in an unique and individual manner."

"From the Ring we viewed Cavehill Mountain Belfast and saw the silhouette of what is widely believed to be the inspiration behind Jonathan Swift’s Giant, Gulliver in “Gulliver’s Travels”. "

"On leaving the Giant’s Ring we travelled to Milltown Cemetery we learned about Na Leanai (The Children) then visited the IRA hunger strikers’ Grave in the Irish Republican plot before setting out for some light refreshments in An Culturlann (The Irish Culture Centre) on the Falls Road."

"After this visit we stopped at the mural on Sinn Fein’s Lower Falls Office beside the Carnegie Library, where Bobby Sands is commemorated on the Sinn Fein office gable wall.  It was here also that Scott asked about the Gaeilge writing above the mural where the word Saoirse is written it means Freedom."

"We left here for Bombay Street where the Phoenix of the Provisional IRA arose out of the ashes of the burned down homes that were rebuilt by the generous donations from mostly Irish America.  Then  we set of the see the electronic Gates that are closed by the security services to separate the Irish and British Unionist communities and it was here also that Julie and Scott walked the street Cupar Way approx 1/4 mile long that housing  major “Peaceline”. " 

"We made out way back to the Titanic museum and your car via Old Belfast and high street where the Farset River flows still underground and viewed the leaning Albert Clock."

"We ended our day together by a quick tour of the Titanic Quarter where we learned more about the Drawing Room, The paint shop that houses Universal Studios today  and photographing the Drawing Room where the Titanic came to light in true scale and where we all first met in Belfast as well."

After we parted from Seán, we made our way north to the coast, where we are staying in a hotel in Coleraine (which we now know is pronounced something like "Col-Rayne").  In our hotel is a "pub restaurant" called Table Table, which is a British chain something like an Applebees, but a bit more upscale.  The hit of the evening was when Julie got the Steak and Ale Pie that she ordered.  She was surprised at finding a ceramic bird sticking it's head out of it, and Anna and Emma had the giggles watching her reaction to it.  We found out later that it's called a "pie bird" and is meant as a vent to help release steam.   Julie told the girls that she was afraid it was there to steal her peas and said she was freaked out by it, probably because we were all so tired.

Culloden and Edinburgh- Saturday, Aug 3, 2013

We deliberately took longer to get up this morning because we knew today was going to be a long day.  We left the bed and breakfast after 9:00, and went to the other side of Inverness to the Culloden battlefield.

Perhaps no other battle stands out in Scottish lore the way that Culloden does.  It was here, in 1746, the Bonnie Prince Charlie led his Highlanders against the redcoats of the government in an attempt to retake the throne of Britain.  His defeat here led to a crushing out of the Highland culture.  The events here were long remembered by the Scots, and many songs were written then and later about Bonnie Charlie and his supporters.

The visitors center at Culloden seems quite new and is very innovative in its approach.  First, you wind your way down a hall which has exhibits about the background and causes of the battle, but the left side of the hall gives the story from the government's point of view, and the right side shows the story from the Jacobite point of view.  The hall's two stories come together for a movie about the battle, which is also told in quite an experimental way.   It's shown on four different walls, with the viewers standing in the center, able to turn any direction.  The scene we see before us is the battlefield.  Two of the walls show the Jacobite lines with their kilts, beards, and broadswords.  The other two show the redcoated troops fighting for King George.  A viewer finds himself in the middle of this re-enactment of the Highlander's failed charge, the climax of the battle and the high water mark for Charlie's failed attempt to return.  But through the fight, there is no narration, leaving a viewer alone to make sense of the chaos that breaks out around him.  Julie felt that it needed some narration, but Scott liked this approach.  He felt the visuals here were explained well in the next room and on the battlefield.  Emma was a bit overwhelmed by the fighting shown here though.  The next room explores the battle itself.  There are many artifacts that archeologists have excavated here.  There is an excellent map projected onto a large table.  The view on the map pans and zooms to focus your attention on particular parts of the battle, but all in one continuous shot that appears to show each individual soldier on a 1:1 ratio.  It is also in this room that the girls tried on clothes of the time.  Anna was a soldier of the king, while Emma wore the blue bonnet and kilt of a Highlander.

The battlefield itself was quite stark in its simplicity.  Near the Visitor's Center was a row of four large red flags, marking the line held by the government troops.  Across the field stood four blue flags, marking the starting position of the Jacobites under Prince Charlie.  There was very little else besides some pathways and interpretive signs.  However, there was a large round cairn of stones in between the lines, put there to mark the location of where many of the highland troops were buried, and it is visible from nearly every part of the field.  

The sun was out this morning, but the temperature was cool and the wind was gusting fiercely.  The three girls walked out a short ways on the battlefield and decided the wind was to strong and it was too cold.  The three of them went back into the visitors center where they could rest and use the WiFi.  That meant Scott explored the field on his own, which was nice because it left him alone to contemplate what happened, but also left him juggling two cameras (the video and still cameras), the battlefield audio guide, and his own MP3 player, all in the gusting winds.  The audio guide was interesting because unlike others we've had that require you to put in the number of the spot where you are, this one worked with a GPS signal and automatically knew where you were.  In between its narration, Scott listened to several songs, both old and new, about the battle and the Bonnie Prince.  He was quite moved to be there. 

Online, Julie got directions and tips for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo tonight.  She read that when you go to the Tattoo, you should dress like you're going to a football game, which we hoped in this case meant soccer, not American football (We were wrong).  Either way, the weather has gotten chilly, a far cry from the heat wave we had when we first got to France and London.  The girls needed some long pants and maybe even mittens, hats, and jackets, so we went shopping at a Tetsco, which is kinda like our Walmart or Target.  We got some sandwiches for "take away" there too for a late lunch.  Then we headed south towards Edinburgh, which is over 150 miles from Inverness.  We tried to enforce a nap time on the drive and had the girls put away their iPads for a while.

With a little bit of work, we found our way into Edinburgh and found a place in a parking garage just below Edinburgh Castle where the Tattoo takes place.  We asked for help to find a place to eat, which ended up being an "American" pizza place in the area called Grassmarket.  Then we explored as much of Edinburgh as we could.  The buildings are beautiful, but the roads we found ourselves on seemed to be designed by Escher.  We don't know what Edinburgh is like normally, but we arrived during festival time, which means that it packed with people and is a crazy place.  There were all kinds of people out, including one group of men dressed like rabbits for some reason, and lots of people who would have looked at home in Comic Con.  The Fringe Festival meant that there were many street performers and let's just say, not all of them were great.  One thing we've noticed is that many "street performers" are trying to make an act out of making fun of people around them.  We weren't the targets of any of it this time, but it's not a trend that we like.  We did a little browsing in the Scottish stores.  Scott was very tempted to buy a kilt and even bagpipes, but ended up not getting anything.

As the planning for this trip was coming together, we realized that we had only left about three days to see Scotland and wondered if that would be enough.  When we realized that we could see the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, we figured that we had found a way to really fell like we've seen Scotland.

Our tickets were for the second show tonight, which started at 10:30 and lasted for 90 minutes.  We heard the fighter jets fly over to begin the first show, and around 8:30 we started lining up to go in.  The gates didn't open until 9:45.  Since the Tattoo takes place in the Esplanade, the area in front of Edinburgh Castle, there is only one way for the entire crowd to exit and enter the viewing area.  Once the first show had emptied out, we were among the first into the stands.  We were in row BB, which was the highest row in Section 12.  We got to pick the location of our seats when we bought the tickets on-line, and we picked seats at the top of a stairway.  We might have to move when people were coming in, but once the show began we figured we'd have lots of room and relatively unobstructed views.  The girls were very excited when they saw the seats and thought they were "The best seats in the house."  There was an added bonus that we didn't expect.  We were under the row of lights, and so the last row was the only row that had a covering over it just in case it started to rain (which it didn't).  It WAS really cold, and we were very glad for the stop we made to buy some extra clothes.

The gate and towers of Edinburgh Castle act as the backdrop for the Tattoo.  It's seems so much like a stage backdrop that it's almost easy to forget that this castle is the real thing.  There are many images and colors that are projected onto the castle itself during the performances.  We had to turn left to see those images.  It wasn't hard to turn, but we were so caught up in what was going on below that we often didn't notice the castle until one of us would say, "Hey, look at that!"  

The Tattoo itself is best described as a grand pageant featuring military bands from all over.  There are bagpipes, to be sure, but the acts feature many different styles of music from all over the world.  This year's theme was "The Year of Natural Scotland," but much like the Rose Bowl Parade the acts can pretty much do just about anything they want.   The Massed Pipes and Drums from Scotland's famous "Black Watch" and other Scottish regiments opened the show, along with pipe bands from Ireland, Mata, and Oman too.  Highland dancers performed, but there were performance groups from the government of South Korea  and an enormous mariachi band from Mexico.  The Mongolians made snow fall throughout the entire viewing area before their performance which made it feel even colder than it already was.    Emma's favorite part was probably the Imps Motorcycle Team, which was made up of young boys, some of whom were even younger than her.  They did trick riding stunts that had her gasping and clapping.  The New Zealand Army band was a real crowd pleaser.  The humor and enthusiasm that they brought made them look and sound more like a college pep band than an army band.  They even danced Gangnam Style.  As the show wound down, "The War Horse," made an appearance-- the large, life-like puppet of a horse used in the stage show.  "Wild Mountain Thyme" was among the last songs played, before the fireworks, the hymn "I Vow to Thee My Country", and the famous lone piper on the castle walls.  "God Save the Queen," and "Auld Lang Syne" were sung, and of course, "Scotland the Brave" was among the songs played as the entire cast marched out.

We had to wait to a long time to get out.  Since we were way at the top, the rest of the rows had to leave first.  It meant a long wait, but by the time we got back to the car, it wasn't hard to get out of the parking garage and the traffic wasn't too bad.  We had a long ways to go to get to our hotel in Glasgow.  The girls fell asleep quickly in the backseat, and Scott tried talking to Julie to help her stay awake as they both tried to find the next hotel.  

As we left the Esplanade, Anna said she really liked the seats we had, and would like to sit there again next time.  That made us smile.

The Highlands of Scotland- Friday, August 2, 2013

We had a problem last night trying to get WiFi because the only way you could sign in was to have the server text a code to your mobile phone.  We didn't bring any phones, and so we were stuck.  Because of that, we decided to skip the traditional Scottish breakfast at our hotel and go instead to McDonald's.  Unfortunately, this McDonald's was using the same WiFi company and we still needed a phone we didn't have.  The girls who worked at McDonald's were kind enough to let us borrow a laptop that was already logged in so we could check some things we needed to check.  

The Highlands start just north of Loch Lomond.  We drove along its west bank and very quickly found ourselves in some spectacular scenery with the uniquely shaped hills all around us.  They say the weather changes in Scotland every ten minutes, and it was almost literally true this morning.  We would go from misty rain to sunny spots to overcast and back again quite quickly.  It made the scenery even more interesting because you could watch the sunny spots highlight different parts of the mountains and see the shadows passing over.   There were several spots where waterfalls were flowing, since its been raining.  We were listening to our collection of Scottish songs as we were driving using our makeshift sound system.  We stopped at a few scenic overlooks (or a "layby" as they seem to be called here).  At one of these spots, Julie bought two bouquets of heather and thistle from a little round faced redheaded boy for two pounds.  That's something like buying a bouquet of dandelions in terms of their commonness here, but Julie said he was cute.  A bagpipe player was getting ready to play, but we left before he started.  

Our first real stop for the day was at Glencoe.  This spot is a beautiful little glen between several high mountains.  There is a nice visitors centre here, where we began.  They had a beautiful view of the glen at the back of the center, where several walking trails began.  We took one of them through the woods.  It wasn't the longest of the three trails, but it did take us through some pretty woods.  When we returned to the visitors center, we went to the exhibition that they had about the geology and history of the glen.  The centerpiece of the exhibit is a video about the famous massacre of the MacDonalds at Glencoe.   In 1692, 38 people of the Clan MacDonald were brutally murdered here because their chief had been too slow to swear allegiance to King William.  The story is quite famous and we listened to the song about it in the car too.  Also at the exhibit, Emma filled out a scavenger hunt, which is always a good things for kids at a museum.  We ate lunch at the cafe here before continuing on.

When we headed out from Glencoe, we went north to Fort William and then headed east.  We passed several more lochs and many more hills.  At one pulloff, the girls went down to a loch and stuck their feet in.  This loch must be tidal because we could see the seaweed and things that would be underneath it at high tide.  

We made an unplanned stop when Julie saw some gondolas that go up to near the tops of one of the mountains.   It was at a place called the Nevis Range Mountain Experience.   Mountain bikers were making use of this ride up, and taking a trail laid out specifically for them down to the bottom again.  The gondola took us up to about 650 meters, where we got out to  look around and took pictures.  It was still overcast and misting a little when we were at the top.

After the gondola we continued northeast, along the lochs.  It was not too long before we got to the most famous of the lochs- Loch Ness.  Nessie didn't show herself to us today, but if she had, we probably would have been able to see her.  The sky had completely cleared up by this point. Although it was sunny, the wind was blowing pretty hard.  As a result, the waters of Loch Ness were very blue, but also very choppy with lots of waves. Anna didn't believe in the monster, but started looking for it anyway when we told her how much she could make if she was the first to get an undisputed picture of it.

Our stop on Loch Ness was at Urquhart Castle, which is pronounced something like "Er-kart" or maybe "Erk-hart."  A visit begins by watching a short film about the history of the castle.  The film ends with the decision of the castle's last laird to destroy it in 1692 to keep it from falling onto Jacobite hands.  As the flames destroy the castle in the film, the curtains pull back to reveal a wide bank of windows looking out onto the picturesque ruins of the actual castle.  It was quite a dramatic way to end the presentation and invite visitors out to the castle itself.   

The castle is probably best known today simply because it is this great old ruin right on the shores of Loch Ness.  Many Nessie sightings are supposed to happen in the vicinity of the castle, but we wonder if that's just because there are so many people with their eyes on the water here.   There were many sightseers on tours of the loch in boats as well.  We got some beautiful views of the loch from the towers of the ruins, and we'll bet the people on the boats had some great views of the castle.  Anna bought a t-shirt here before we left. 

From there, we left the shores of Loch Ness and headed towards our bed and breakfast for the night.  It was only then that we saw one of the shaggy Highland cattle standing in a herd with more conventional cows.  We were just commenting on how we hadn't seen one and were starting to wonder if they were a myth like Nessie, but then we saw it.  It was just the one, though.

Our stop for the night is in the cute little town of Beauly, west of Inverness.  The street we're on is quite pretty.  The room that we have is decorated in, shall we say, a mid-twentieth century eclectic style.  It's got old stuff, in other words.  There's no WiFi here, but there are "modems in the public areas."  The girls are sleeping in bunk beds again, with Emma on top this time.  We went looking on our street for a place to eat and decided on a slightly more expensive place in the hotel across the street.  When they were ordering desert, the waiter told the three girls that their accents were cool.  That seemed odd because of his own great Scottish brogue. Now we're locked in our own bed and breakfast for the night (which does make us feel a little claustrophobic and trapped).  We've got a long, but exciting day planned for tomorrow, so we've got to get some rest.

Hadrian's Wall and Loch Lomond- Thursday, August 1, 2013

When we checked last night, we asked if here was a laundrette nearby because it's that time again.  They told us that the nearest one is about a half hours drive away, but that they could do it for us.  We thanked them and tipped the guy five pounds.  We found out this morning that the laundry was still being dried, so we went to McDonald's for breakfast, and stopped at a computer store for a bigger SD card for Julie's still camera (We figure this new one will last us the rest of the trip and then some, in spite of he many shots we're taking.). When we returned, the housekeeper was folding our laundry for us too.  We decided to tip her 10 because she had gotten stuck doing it from the guy last night.  She actually refused our tip, and only took it when we insisted.  She told us later that she had donated it to a charity. This particular chain has not been a favorite of ours because they've charged us extra for WiFi and parking at some them.  The staff at this one has changed our minds.

The wet morning dried up enough for us to go explore Hadrian's Wall.  This was the northernmost extent of the Roman Empire.  The Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered the wall built in 122 A.D. to protect his British frontier from the barbaric Celts in Scotland.  We were near the western end of the wall.  Following signs, the first portion that we came to overlooked a green valley of sheep, but we expect most of it does.  The ruins of the wall are only about waist high, and even lower in some places.  We later learned that the wall was originally about 15 feet high, but over the centuries, landowners and even churches used the wall's stone to build other buildings.  We saw the ruins of one of the turrets there that were originally built one per mile along the length of the wall.

From the first stop, we followed the wall in our car to Birdoswald Roman Fort, a larger area where a garrison of Roman soldiers would have been stationed.  The actual ruins are quite low to the ground here, but the outlines of several buildings can be distinctly seen.  One Victorian built a large castle-like house next to the ruins.  It is very wrong for the period, but does make for a dramatic backdrop for photos.  It's used a hostel now (Julie checked before we came, and the entire 32 beds have to be rented out, like a bus group might do).  We walked around the remaining perimeter walls of the fort, and right through a flock of sheep.  Emma really didn't like walking in that field because of all the sheep poop that she had to avoid.  A re-enactor dressed as a Roman soldier posed for a picture with us.  He complimented Scott's beard and said the Emperor Hadrian was the first to have a beard and popularized the beard throughout the Roman Empire.

The small town of Gilsland was nearby, and we stopped at its post office to send a package of things back.  Actually, the post office was just a few card tables set up in the town hall, but the woman there was helpful and we got some of our stuff sent on its way back.  We're really out in the country now.  

We left England and crossed into Scotland sometime after 1:00, and found a place for lunch with a true Scottish name- Mac Donald's.  From here, we called Grandpa Wright to wish him a happy birthday.  We continued up the road, through the city of Glasgow to Loch Lomond.   The clouds in the grey skies were quite low, sometimes covering the tops of the dark hills we were passing.   There seems to be more coniferous trees now.   The hills are still spotted with white sheep.

We arrived in Alexandria on the shores of Loch Lomond shortly after 4:00.  The information center had just closed, but we found that a nearby boat company, Sweeny's Cruises, had a one hour cruise of the loch that was leaving in 10 minutes.  We woke the girls up from their naps and hurried to catch the boat, the Astina.  It was a pleasant cruise out onto the water.  There were very few other people on the boat and we got seats right in the bow on the top deck.  From there we watched the "bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond" as we cruised out.  There were several large estates whose houses could be seen from the boat, though they all seemed to be being used as hotels or luxury apartments now.  The clouds were still hanging low, so we couldn't see the tops of the tallest hills on the shores of the loch.  The part of the loch we were in was about five miles across.  We went out to the largest island, Inchmurrin Island, where Lennox Castle once stood that Mary Queen of Scots once visited.  Then the boat made a u-turn to head back.  As it started making the turn, a light mist started to fall, and everyone headed down to the lower deck for the return trip.

When we got back to shore, we looked for our bed and breakfast.  We were a little surprised to find it on the other side of the river from where our cruise started.  We're in a very nice place this time, with a restaurant and tavern downstairs and several rooms upstairs.  We decided it was time to try Scottish food (even though "All of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare").  We started with garlic bread, but it came out looking like a pizza, according to Emma.  Julie ordered shepherd's pie, although what came was shank of lamb stew.  She said it was good, even though it wasn't quite what she was expecting.  Scott had three cheese and potato pie, which he also liked.  The girls each had half of a roasted chicken and chips (fries).   Anna said it was the best chicken she's ever had, and offered to help finish Emma's.  The whole plate slid off the table onto Anna's lap.

After dinner, we took a walk down the banks of the River Leven, which is directly by us, to the banks of Loch Lomond.  It was a pleasant stroll on a beautiful but overcast evening.  Twice, Julie and Scott danced to the music of "The bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond."  Anna and Emma waded into the loch.  Emma was carrying the umbrella that we bought in Liverpool when it was raining, even though its tip got bent when somebody slammed our trunk shut as we were leaving McDonald's today.  We walked out far enough to see what we think is Balloch Castle, and then strolled back.  It's been a really nice evening.    

In other news- We heard today that Snowden was granted asylum in Russia and Obama is mad about it.  It's probably a good thing that we didn't go to Russia this year.