To Scotland!!!

Spain's Trains' Entertainment

On the way INTO Barcelona two men were busking and seemed to be singing the Cake song, "Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps." In actual fact (not fake fact) they were singing a song written in 1947 by a Spanish artist. The words are a bit different than the Cake version.

On the train on the way to the airport when leaving Barcelona there was a young man rapping on the train. He put me in mind of two of my former students. A lovely soundtrack setting off the Barcelona departure.

We flew Ryanair from Barcelona to Edinburgh. Their website is a bit dodgy - bright blue and yellow and rife with adds and invitations to buy tons of travel 'enhancing goods.' The flight itself was A-okay.

We arrived in the middle of the night and took a bus to a hostel, Castle Rock Edinburgh, just down from the castle (go figure). We were put in the Romeo and Juliet double. Small, suitable, good view, strong smell of locker room. Very inexpensive and suitable breakfast!


SCOTLAND


Day 1 Edinburgh: 2/7

We decided to take a free walking tour -- tip at the end if you thought it was great. It was great. I'm going to look for similar tours in other cities. We ended up being led around by Kiel (Kyle) from Australia who told us where to spit on the street, which statues to rub for luck and where to rub them, places to get goodly servings of haggis (he mentioned whiskey cream sauce as a topping . . . something we need to try) and who inspired Jekyll and Hyde. We also saw the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling spent a fair amount of time writing the first few Harry Potter books, the school that seems to have inspired Hogwarts (we stared creepily through a gate while students were at recess. Pro: They're probably used to it. Con: We were acting quite creepy.), and a graveyard with body-snatching preventatives, a Tom Riddle, and a dog with a story.

After the tour we strolled around the art gallery and then sat in a pub with a couple of pints for a bit before heading to Lib's flat. Lib is my aunt's sister. She's lovely and vivacious. We had a home-cooked meal, a good night's sleep and a bit of a lie-in in the morning before heading back to the hostel for one more night.

Day 2 Edinburgh: 2/8

We spent some time tooling about Edinburgh castle listening to many historical stories on our tour headsets. Went into Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in Scotland (if I recall the facts correctly) and then took our leave. On Lib's recommendation we ate our mid afternoon meal at Clarinda's tea room near the bottom of the Royal Mile. It was tasty, good value for money and set up us for our hike to the top of Arthur's Seat.

The hike was taxing at times and in certain places looked like we were coming to the end of anything resembling a trail but no, then a switchback would make itself evident. As we were huffing and puffing our way up we were passed by a gent in his 60s/ 70s running up the hill. Running. Roger saw him again once we were at the top and said it looked like he was going around for another lap. Well done, sir. Well done.
The views of Edinburgh were lovely and the wind was strong. We saw a bird of prey riding the wind in one place looking for his tea and a robin singing lovely evening songs.

After a faster hike down on a trail with handrails we popped into the hostel to shed our winter jackets and then grabbed a bite and a pint before meeting up with a pub crawl. We fell in with some lovely chaps. A German, a New Zealander, an Argentinian, and an Australian.

Suffice it to say there were a number of pubs. I cannot tell you the names of all of them. I cannot tell you how many live bands we saw. I can tell you that I missed much of the picturesque coastline that the train passed the next morning as we traveled to Stonehaven.

2/9 Stonehaven.
As the train pulled into Stonehaven station we lugged our bags to the doors and reached them seconds after they had closed. And so we took a bit of a trip to Aberdeen.

Aberdeen.
A kind train conductor named Ruby wrote us a note on our ticket saying we should be allowed back on the next train without new tickets. We were like students with our hall pass. After 30 minutes on the platform we were on our way back to Stonehaven.

Stonehaven.
Stonehaven is where my aunt and uncle and three of my cousins live. They are awesome and I was very much looking forward to the time in Scotland with them. They live in the old schoolhouse right on the edge of the sea and just down the coast from a castle ruin.

Our first night there they took us to a delicious Italian dinner in Aberdeen and then to a play with great 1960s/ 70s sets and an excellent portrayal of the awkwardness and cringe-worthy nature of certain dinner party interactions. The actors drank so much onstage. They must have had to plan their entrances and exits for convenient pee breaks.



2/10 Edinburgh/ Stonehaven

Giant delicious breakfast courtesy of my Uncle, Jim. He makes his eggs with chives and mayo. They are delicious.

My cousin Tom plays American football at university and he had a game on Sunday so we all piled into the car and drove down to Edinburgh. It's definitely winter here - wind, snow, cold, but with layers and a bit of tea everything is manageable. The game was great - entertaining, good plays happening for both sides but mostly for Tom's team. (they are the Tigers and at the end of their games they jump in a giant huddle and sing, 'The Wonderful thing about Tigers, is Tigers are wonderful things . . . ' some different lyrics, but there's a fair bit of Pooh included. A good time on the sidelines. Unfortunately, there weren't many fans so it was impossible to do the wave.

Back to Stonehaven and delicious chicken, tatties, green beans, and skirliy dinner made by Ann. Skirliy/skirlie - if you don't know - is sooo good. It's pinhead oatmeal, butter, salt, butter, and onions all fried up into a delectable side dish. I have thought about it fondly since my first visit here about a decade ago (though I had mis-remembered the name). Oh, lovely home-cooked food.

2/11 
A bit of planning, for a couple-day road trip that we'll be taking into the Highlands beginning tomorrow, and a hike from the castle ruin back to the house. We stopped at a little fish and chips shop, formerly called the Haven, where the fried Mars bar was created in the early 90s. We purchased and ate one. Sweet, crunchy, gooey, good to share. For those of you in Boston who've been to the Haven ---- this town we're in is where the owner is from.  The ocean was pushing rocks and spray over the wall of the parking lot as we walked.

Photo Blog: Part 2: Porto, Barcelona, Edinburgh

 PORTUGAL

Train station just outside of Lisboa

Roger looking stoked about posing in front of a tiled church in Porto

Ciao. (river cruise looking at bridges)

 

Street art, Porto

Street art, Porto

 

Sadder street art, Porto

Port wine cellar, Porto

Use this and Roger's photo... put them side by side... wink your eyes in an offset manner quickly until we're sitting next to each other in a GIANT port cask.

Boats they used to use to transport port from vineyards to cellars and stores.

Ruby, White, and older, more refined port.

Classical homies don't play. Well they do, actually.  Classical homies have a good street face.

That's right, fish, I see you. I'ma eat you. You'll be delicious.

How much do YOUR babies go for? Porto's got a sale on.

Lunch break. Time to catch an octopus.

 Atlantic Ocean from it's Eastern border. (Portugal)

Unidentified sea creature <?>

Sea urchin.

Sand bird for Mom.

Another bird for Mom. Also a photo-bombing pigeon.

Heron island.

Fishing nets.

Admit it, his beard is better than yours.

What?

 

 

Sleeper train, SWEET. You'll notice the fantastic amount of excess space.

 View from the fast train between Madrid and Barcelona.

 BARCELONA, SPAIN

What's up, balcony snack?

One of the gargoyles who is level with the balcony of the apartment we stayed in in Barcelona.

Which public park sign is your favorite? I vote the 4th from the top. I'm always so frustrated when I can't easily find the location in a park where I'm allowed to spin my tops. (There's a 'clean up your dog's poo' sign that's a close second but it's not on this entry.)

Busty vampire bat on Spain's Arc de Triumph (pardon misspellings)

Sweet fountain in a park that Gaudi helped build. Also some youths. There were lots of youths. Also us.

CHAMELEON, WHY ARE YOU EATING MY SHOE? THERE'S POO ON IT.

I was pumped to see this budgie (parakeet?) in the park, 'What I find!' I thought. No, no it wasn't. They are the classier, noisier version of pigeons.

Okay, so we found this in the store. Bimbo bread: over a foot long. Unhealthily white. Roll-able. How could we NOT buy it?

Roger asked that I make an expression conveying how I felt about cooking and eating Bimbo's (bread).

Resulting giant grilled cheese with a side of kick-ass store bought basil tomato soup.

Alright, Spain. Go on with your bad self and your funky tomatoes.

Preparing for delicious veggie dinner. We're kind of in love. It's kind of awesome.

I thought about Ratatouille while composing this.

Eyeball building.

Basketball net or chain-link fence sculpture.

Another gargoyle sunset.

Shrimp bake with zucchini and tomato soup with de-pooped shrimps. Labor of love. It was worth it.

Roger's band photo on the Mediterranean.

Waterfall, though man-made.

Insert for the album.

You may not be able to see it, but Barcelona's beach sand makes your feet sparkle.

Dog digging because digging's awesome.

Hugs and . . .

kisses from Barcelona.

 

Barcelona street art.

Mushrooms, fruits, bread, cheese, wine.

For Amanda!

Gaudi cathedral.

 PARK GUELL

 There are several photos here that are recreations from a previous trip. Mom, sorry if I never actually gave/ showed you the originals and the copies don't make sense.... we'll do a comparison when I'm back in the States. Amanda, these should be quite familiar. <3

View from the top of the park.

Bird for Mom.

Park of balls.

For Mom, Amanda and Jeanette. Familiar plant?

What?!?

Roger miming a toilet flushing while blending in with the architecture around him.

Roger and the lizard both had a rough night.

BIRTHDAY HAT!

BIRTHDAY HAT!

Another for Mom, Amanda, and Jeanette.

 

Creepy video showcasing the furniture designed by Gaudi. Odd Dr. Seuss striped suits. Roger looks way better showcasing the effectiveness of this chair for supporting someone.

What's up, crazy huge dollhouse?

At first I wanted to buy them. All. Then I realized a photo capturing their rainbow-ness would do.

Another Gaudi house. (we visited two)

Gaudi-done house. Blue tiles with graduated color to account for light change depending upon how far down the shaft they were.

 

Roof details.

Rainbow Gaudi and creepy-eyed Roger.

Wall Twister? A cave puzzle like the one in Goonies? What are you doing, handsome Roger?

Barcelona airport: sometimes they confiscate the turtle you shouldn't have bought in the first place. Sometimes they take the leopard pelt. Roger's miming how some folks may have felt when losing their poor choices.

We didn't take this airline, that doesn't mean it wasn't hilarious. Need a wizz? Take wizzair for all of your wizzing, travel needs.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

View from our hostel room.

School that likely (did?) inspire Hogwart's. It does, in fact, have four houses of students within it. We forgot to look up the actual names of the schools. Wall of a cemetery where Rowling got some of her inspiration for names.

The coffin symbol with crossed shovel and pick in the bottom corner told body-snatchers not to steal these particular bodies because they contained the black plague. I think that was quite nice of the headstone makers.

Cage used to allow bodies to decompose to a point where body-snatchers wouldn't want to snatch said body at which point the body would be moved to his or her official plot.

Kiel, our tour guide on our free (tip if you like, at the end) tour of Edinburgh. It was awesome. He was Australian. He knew many facts about Scotland. We tipped him. In this photo we were at Robert L. Stevenson's grave. I had not previously realized that he wrote Jekyll and Hyde. (For an interesting story, look up the locksmith dude who he used as inspiration for J and H.)

Roger and Bum, the dog. Bum lived in San Diego and was loyal to his master even after his master had passed away. He has a 'brother' dog in Edinburgh, Bobby. Look him up if you like dog tales.

Edinburgh castle. Roger's getting ready for a siege.

Prisoner's rations in Edinburgh jail. Note the different in American and other prisoner's rations. Also, American prisoners couldn't get exchanged or bargained out. I guess because they were upstarts. Rebels.

Prisoner-made good --- mostly rolled paper.

Oh, fashion.

Oh, Scottish-fied fashion.

ARTHUR'S SEAT, EDINBURGH

That's right, we're going to climb that.

No, not Arthur's seat, but still awesome. Alright, geology, alright.

If you look closely you'll see folks scampering up a switchback trail. It was steep. Most of our photos made it look like a peaceful glen. What the what, photography?

Roger pinching a person down below. (we were not at the top yet)

Hiking, hiking, hiking.

Sitting at the top! I leaned. It's not as impressive of a photo so it's not included. I was concerned about overshooting and tumbling down the pile of rock. Here you have Roger with part of Edinburgh laid out below. He is impressive.

Bird!

Bird of prey (a kite perhaps?) treading air above Arthur's Seat. It was beautiful to watch.

St. Anthony's chapel.

Robin? Beautiful songbird, at any rate.

My cousin Tom's American football game in Edinburgh. They CRUSHED the other team. Tom played brilliantly and without mercy. (He's number 75.)