Three Countries, One Day

Once again, we woke up really early so we could get an early start. But this time, we really did leave close to on time. We needed to be in Egglescliffe England by mid morning, so that one of the "cousins" could take us to Teeside airport for our flight to Dublin.

We made it to Egglescliffe in one piece, and had a quick lunch before Margaret took us to the airport. When we got about half way there, Peter realized that he didn't have a few things that we might need in Dublin - our hotel reservation info being one of the items. Margaret graciously offered to drop us at the airport, then go back to the farm, get the items and return before we needed to board the plane. Since it was only a 15 minute drive (tops) to the airport, we agreed.

Well, we waited and waited, no sign of Margaret. I had gotten a little nervous because Ryan Air has a very stricy policy about checking in and boarding - and they do not do seat assignments (sort of the SouthWest airlines of the UK). We decided to go through security, and I prayed that Peter wouldn't have the same problems that he had in LA and London (he'll have to tell you about the small holding cell he was placed in at LAX). We got through and waited for our flight. Peter went to get some candy and while he was gone, a voice over the loudspeaker asked that Mr. Wong please go to the security area. I asked Peter if he thought they had maybe meant him. He didn't think so, but, what the heck, he would check it out. Apparently, my husband has been operating under and assumed name, because he was, in fact, the Mr. Wong they were looking for. : ) Margaret had brought what we needed and gotten the security guard to page us so we could collect it.

We got on the plane, and arrived in Dublin. After deciding which type of bus pass to purchase, we hopped onto the bus that would take us to the city. We found our hotel fairly easily, and were really pleased with its location near Temple Bar. (More about Temple Bar later).



We hopped onto a sight-seeing bus that we figured would bring us back to the area in about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, this was the last run for that particular bus. The driver made one of her last stops and said something along the lines of, if you are going to want to ride a bus back to other stops on the route, get off now and I will tell you where to catch the last bus. You will need to hurry. We got directions to where we needed to go, ran like bats out of H-E-Double Hockey Sticks, and still didn't make the bus.

We walked back towards the Temple Bar area and looked for a place to grab some dinner. In our guide, we found a restaurant called, "The Bad Ass Cafe." Just the name alone was interesting. Then, we read that at one point, Sinead O'Connor had been a waitress there. (Sinead O'Connor being the singer who ripped up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live, thus ending her career. She is not to be confused with Sandra Day O'Connor - former Supreme Court Justice.) We decided to eat there anyway.

The menu gave us a little bit of sticker shock. The burger and pizza that we wanted to order were going to cost us $18.00 and $21.00. Don't get me wrong, but a $21.00 individual pizza isn't much better than a $10.00 individual pizza. Still, the atmosphere was fun.

The Temple Bar area is filled with restaurants, pubs and clubs. There are often street musicians, and it draws the young adult crowd. Very hip place to be. We walked around for awhile, and I got a dessert crepe from one of the creperies. YUM!



All in all, a long day, but a good one. We couldn't wait to see what Dublin had to offer.

Feeling the Fringe

Monday morning, we woke up and had breakfast at our B & B in Pitlochry. Then, we headed to the home of Elizabeth Philp in Edinburgh.

Elizabeth is the cousin of the husband of Margaret, who is Peter's First Cousin Twice Removed. (I hadn't been able to figure out what she exactly was, until I went to a genealogy chart). Anyway, Simon (Peter's Second Cousin Once Removed) had asked Elizabeth if she would let us stay with here for one night. She generously agreed. Elizabeth is a very nice woman, very candid about her life, and very helpful in telling us how to get around.

We followed her instructions for the bus, and soon found ourselves on the Royal Mile. The Fringe festival was in high gear.

The month of August is filled with festivals in Edinburgh. There is a spirituality festival, a film festival, music, theatre, the arts, etc. The Fringe is the festival of performance art, stand up comedy, and everything that doesn't seem to fit into the other categories. Peter and I had tickets to see, "Potted Potter - The Unauthorised Harry Experience." (http://www.pottedpotter.com/) In this show, the two actors tell books 1 through 6 of the Harry Potter series, in just 60 minutes. They include a live, audience participation Quidditch game. Peter and I made our way to the theatre where Potted Potter would be taking place. One cool thing about this theatre, is that is was made up of a number of stages and theatres. The inside of the place was crazy. See for yourself...

Peter got each of us a pint, and we went into the Theatre. The show was so entertaining, I could have seen it again and again. But, the show was completely sold out. Peter and I were pretty hungry by now, so we had lunch in this pub...

Then, we made our way to John Knox house. This was the home of John Knox before he died. In one of the rooms, there was a cloak and hat to put on, so you could dress up like John Knox and pretend to write with a quill. Well, I couldn't resist the opportunity, and Pink Jesus even got in on the action. I kept waiting for him to tell me something to write on the scroll, but he thought I looked ridiculous in the hat and wouldn't give me a quote.

Peter decided to go get some cash from an ATM. But, WAMU was giving us a little trouble. He decided to wait for a pay phone in order to call them and settle this issue once and for all. But, as he standed there, some guys tried to pick a fight with him. I wasn't there, so I can't give too many more details. But, Peter said that he had wanted to give me the camera bag and then just let them have it. (Good thing I wasn't there to take it, because, although it would have made a GREAT story for the blog, I would want to have to bail Peter out of jail for street fighting.)

After that, we went to the Museum of Toys. Now, you would think a museum with a title like that would be a cool, interactive, colorful place to visit...

You would be wrong.

Dark, dreary, smelled like an old second hand store, and was BORING. Peter and I didn't last in there for very long. Then, we separated for a little while to do some shopping on our own. I wanted to get Peter and little anniversary present, as well as pick something up for a couple of friends. Peter also had some shopping for friends to do. We agreed to meet at the floral clock in about two hours.

I had some quick leg work to do, if I was going to make the shop at St. John's church by the time it closed. St. John's, I may have mentioned, has this incredible bookshop, and I was able to quickly make my selections before they closed. But, I could have spent an hour in there. I traveled to a couple of other shops before meeting Peter at the clock. When we met up, Peter showed me some of the pictures he had taken of the some of the performers on the Royal Mile. Here is one...

Peter's bags were really heavy, from buying some Whisky. We decided to be horrible tourists and eat dinner at TGIF's. To be honest, buffalo wings just sounded so good to me! After dinner, we poked in a couple more shops, then hopped on the bus back to Elizabeth's.

At her house, we sat up and talked with her for quite some time. Then, it was time to hit the hay, and get ready for a very long day tomorrow.

Princess Cruises continue to mess up our Day

After that disappointing experience at Cawdor, we decided go visit a place that was sure to deliver. There would be no disappointments seeing exactly what we wanted to see - a visit to Loch Ness to get our picture taken with the monster. (What do you mean there is no such thing?!?!?!)





We drove around the west side of the Loch, and arrived at Urquhart Castle. It was beautiful - an old, ruined castle, on the loch, lots of personality - our favorite castle of all. Here are a few photos the castle and the loch. A couple need color correction, but you get the idea.

The Morning in which Janelle and Peter prove they are totally deprave.

We got up Sunday morning and didn't go to church. I know that makes me a complete and utter sinner. In fact, I even hid Pink Jesus in the bottom of my bag so that I couldn't hear him chastise me for not finding some small church to attend.

Instead, we got up and played with the children while Edward and Lorna got ready to leave for the agricultural show. The children were really cute. India pulled out an empty water pistol, that she had received at a birthday party the day before, and proceeded to give Peter multiple imaginary gun shot wounds. Then, she decided that Peter needed to wear one of the bows that had been tied to their presents.

Honor, the middle child, was feeling sick to her stomach, but she eventually came around when I offered to read them "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" (a personal favorite). Guy, who is only about a year old, just sat around and looked at his two older sisters - I think he knows already that he is going to be screwed out of bathroom time.

We got ready to go, repacked the Vauxhall, and headed off to Cawdor Castle - not knowing the terror that lurked there, waiting for us.........

buses of people from a Princess Cruise were at the castle when we arrived. Most of them were in line for the loo. I guess they don't have toilets on the boats. I meant to ask Pink Jesus about this, but then I remembered that I had put him in the bottom of my bag, and I feared that if I asked his advice at that moment, he would probably really let me have it.

Once we actually got to the castle, most of the cruisers were gone. I have to say that the castle was a bit of a disappointment. It claims to be one of the most romantic castles in Scotland, but I found it to be a boring trip through the house of a self-indulgent woman who is trying to make a few quid. Very little mention was made of the reason I wanted to go there - the tie to MacBeth.

For you who have not read MacBeth for a long time (why not?) or those who have never read it (how could you?), here is a very little synopsis...

MacBeth, the Thane of Glamis, has just proved himself heroic in battle and is returning home. The King decides to reward MacBeth by also giving him the title "Thane of Cawdor." MacBeth, however, doesn't know this when he runs across three witches who like to pick their thumbs and speak in rhyme, mixed with iambic pentameter. The witches tell MacBeth that he is Thane of Cawdor, and that he will be King. They tell his friend, Banquo, that he will be lesser than MacBeth but greater, and that his children will be King.

MacBeth becomes Thane of Cawdor. His wife encourages him to kill the King so that MacBeth can become King. The whole thing falls apart, Lady MacBeth goes crazy and sees bloody spots everywhere. MacBeth becomes King, the King's son MacDuff kills him...etc. It's a classic, full of witches, creepy heads prophesying out of cauldrons, gruff men in kilts, daggers floating through air and moving trees. Great story, great drama, my favorite Shakespeare play - and CAWDOR CASTLE TOTALLY DROPPED THE BALL.

Arrrgggh. We should have gone to Glamis. I suppose that is what I get for not attending worship on Sunday morning. I don't want to say I heard Pink Jesus snickering, but he did have a knowing smile on his face when I finally removed him from the bag.

double fisted meringues, blether with the Burtons and a drive through the Scottish outback

Saturday, August 4 - we awoke in the very cool, very slick, very nice Lang's hotel.

The shower at this hotel really was incredible. It had the usual showerhead from on high, but it also had jets mounted on the wall. I thought that would be really neat - a warm shower. I turned on the overhead shower, and it worked well, just the right temperature, just the right amount of water pressure. Then, I turned on the wall jets. BIG MISTAKE. The hot water coming from on high gets quite a bit colder, and the water from the jets comes out even hotter than it did from the overhead nozzle. I thought I was going to have eight circles of three degree burns on my back and back side.

We decided to have our free full Scottish breakfast. This consists of eggs, bacon (but not streaky bacon like we get in the states, these were wide, thinner strips of bacon), sausage, tattie scones, toast, cooked tomatoes, cooked mushrooms, haggis and black pudding. Peter and I both tried the haggis, which was sort of grainy and oatmealy - a little dry. You never would have known, however, that it was oatmeal, sheep innards, and spices cooked in a sheep stomach. I couldn't bring myself to try the black pudding, as I knew that it was blood cooked with a filler until it was congealed enough to be put into sausage form. Peter tried it though, and said that it tasted like burnt spinach. I am sure that we were getting the mass market version of both haggis and black pudding (also called blood sausage) so our opinion of the stuff isn't really fair. I really thought the haggis was ok, but who knows what I would think about the real thing.

After breakfast, we walked over to the Willow's Tea Room for take two of seeing this beautiful tea shop designed by Charles Rennie MacIntosh. We got in, and had tea. I ordered a sweet, meringues with whipped cream. The meringues were HUGE - like the size of two fists. Here is a picture:

Peter had caramel shortbread, one of our new favorite sweeties. After tea, it was time to leave Glasgow. We drove back to Perth and had a really fun afternoon with Eilidh, Jill, Sara and Scott. We talked about the experiences we had on the exchanges - what we thought about each other's congregations - the state of the church in both places - and, in general, chewed the fat. It was a lot of fun. Pink Jesus even decided to poke his head out for a little public appearance. Here are some photos of us hanging out with Jesus. Scott and Jill look great, even though they got almost no sleep the night before when they had returned from the U.S.

After our visit, Peter and I headed up north to Inverurie - where his cousin Edward lives with his wife Lorna and their three children - India, Honor, and Guy. We got a little lost getting to the house, and the fact that they live on a farm didn't help. Once we figured out which street we should be on - it didn't get much easier. This is mostly because the street they live on isn't a street. It is a bumpy, dirt road that is only slightly wider than the most recent car to drive on it. The grass grows up taller than the top of the car, except for the places where it is cut back for "driveways" and field entrances. And, did I mention that at this point, it was dark out? It took us about 30 extra minutes, 5 phone calls and Edward standing in the middle of the road in front of his driveway, in order to find it.

Once we got there, Edward and Lorna were very nice, and we immediately felt welcome and at home, even though Peter had not seen Edward for over 20 years. Lorna's parents were there as well, because she and Edward had to work at an agricultural show on Sunday and Monday, and the grandparents were to babysit the wee ones.

We had an excellent dinner and got to peek in on the little ones as they slept. Then, it was off to bed.

Friday, August 3

Peter has already titled this day, "Janelle and Peter find out that when we plan 3 things, we really only have time for 1. Intro to Glasgow...," since he took my blog hostage in Dublin.

So, here is how the day went...

Our plan had been to leave the house at 6, arrive in Carmichael at 8:15, leave Carmichael at 9:30, and arrive in Glasgow about 11:00. Unfortunately, packing, cleaning, and laundry took a lot longer than we anticipated, and we didn't leave the manse until about 8 am.

We got to Carmichael, and went directly to the ruins of the old house. Below are two pictures of the ruins. We walked around and in the old house, went up stairs, well, as far as we could without risking bodily harm, and left about 90 minutes or so after we got there.

Then, it was off to Glasgow. When we arrived, we got a wee but lost, but quickly found where we needed to be. Then, we found parking right behind the hotel. As we got into the lift to take us down to the ground level the noxious smell of urine greeted our noses. At this point, my first take of Glasgow was that it was dirty and smelly.

We got to our hotel, Lang's. It was really a nice, modern hotel. Our room was beautiful, except for the paint peeling on the ceiling of the bathroom. We found out that the parking structure behind the hotel was actually NOT for the hotel, and we needed to move our car to the mall parking lot down the street for a better deal on the parking rate. (Why do hotels make you pay to park at them?)

After checking out our room, we decided to head over to St. Mungo's Museum of Religious Life. It was a really neat place that presented artwork and religious items from many different religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam, B'hai, Buddhism, Hindu, etc. In one section of the museum the displays were titled things like, "Death", "Birth", "Sex and Marriage" and then each displayed had quotes and pictures and objects that corresponded to what each religion believed on each subject. It was very interesting to see an object that looked strange, in my experience, and realize that the Christian objects would look just as strange to someone of a different faith.

After the museum, Peter and I tried to go to the Willows Tea Room. This is a tearoom that was designed by the architect Charles Rennie MacIntosh. His work is beautiful, not just architecture, but furniture, objects d'art, fabric, etc. We forgot, however, that everything in the UK seems to close at 5 pm on every night but Thursday. So, when we finally found the Willows Tea Room (which had been under our noses), it was closed.

Peter and I had also hoped to make it to the Glasgow School of Art, but it was closed as well. This is when we decided to recognize the three in one rule, or what I refer to as the Trinity of travel. Here it is......"for every three things you think you will accomplish on any given day of travel, you will only truly accomplish one."

We grabbed some dinner at a "fauxtalian" restaurant because I was tired of pub food. Although, only the pizza that we had ordered was any good. After dinner we noticed there was a huge multiplex across the street from the hotel. There were also some pubs that seemed to be really hopping. What to do, what to do.

Then, our feet started to fall off, so we walked back to the hotel go to sleep like the 90 year olds that we really are. I mean, who goes to sleep at 7:30 at night? Peter and I, apparently.

Slainte! - Checking in from Dublin

Haha -

This is Peter, I have taken over the blog in an internet cafe in the temple bar district - and after several pints of Guinness no less. (hic!) We're having a wonderful time and there isn't much time to check in (cafe closes in a bit), so I offered to check in and write a few bullet points for Janelle, to give you a taste of our topics/stories to come.

When last we left you, it was almost a week ago - Thurs, Aug 2. More later on these topics:

Fri, Aug 3 - Janelle and Peter find out that when we plan 3 things, we really only have time for 1. Intro to Glasgow...
Sat, Aug 4 - double fisted meringues, bleather with the Burtons and a drive through the Scottish outback
Sun, Aug 5 - Nessie scared off by Princess cruises, but a fabulous day in the rain, and our favorite castle.
Mon, Aug 6 - Feeling the Fringe, Edinburgh. Potted Potter and a few pints.
Tues, Aug 7 - 3 countries in 1 day! Woohoo!
Weds, Aug 8 - (today) - Janelle has morning sickness, Peter takes one for the team...

More to come. Miss you all very much!
Peter

British Women's Open Ruins the Day

This morning we had planned on leaving Perth around 11 am so that we could go to St. Andrew's for a couple of hours. St. Andrews is famous for a few reasons:
1. GOLF
2. The place where John Knox was arrested and forced into labor as a galley slave
3. The cathedral were it is believed some of St. Andrew's relics were kept
4. The famous men running on the beach scene from Chariots of Fire

We got a late start, because some of the things we needed to do in Perth took a little longer than we expected. After paying a quick visit to Nan (so I could give and get a farewell hug), we were off.

We arrived in St. Andrews at about 1 something. There were signs all over the place that said, "Women's British Open." And there were a lot of cars all over the place. There was almost no where to park. A kindly traffic officer directed us to where we would be able to find parking (about two miles out of town, near the beach). After walking up the beach, humming the theme to Chariots of fire and taking some pictures of Peter running on the beach, we finally reached the town. We visited the castle ruins. A really neat place, reminded me of the nunnery ruins on Iona. Then, we visited the Cathedral ruins as well.

For a place that gets a lot of money from golf, you would think they could rebuild the castle and cathedral. (just kidding)

The town was PACKED! Geez Louise, was it packed. Had it not been for all the extra people around, we certainly could have done what we wanted to do in the time we had allotted. But, we found ourselves still in St. Andrews at 5 pm, and we still needed to trek back to the car.

We stopped for some fish and chips, and a pint, at a pub. Walked back to the car and made it home at about 7ish.

I have begun vacuuming, dusting, and cleaning the bathrooms. Peter went to the grocery store to get some food for the Burtons (so they will have some food for lunch and dinner tomorrow, since they will be tired from their long journey). And now, it is time for me to go get back to it.

Tomorrow will be our return trip to Carmichael and our day (and night) in Glasgow. Not sure when I will be able to post again, but Peter and I are planning on hitting an internet cafe or two over the next two weeks. We are awaiting an important email from our best friends regarding the birth of their first child.

Tallies Not Working Correctly - Here is an update

Cups of Tea - 23
Glasses of Red Wine - 10
Pints of Ale - 8
Drams of Whisky - 1
Return trips driving the manual car - 7
Times Confident in the car - 3.168321
Times I have cursed stupid "Chip and Pin" - 5
Return trips in the new automatic car - 1
Times Confident in that car - 1 (Peter was driving)

Travel by Bus - 3
Travel by Coach - 4
Travel by Ferry - 4
Travel by Plane - 2
Travel by Train - 5
Walking trips to and from the church - 14

Rosslyn Chapel and Janelle Finds Her Long Lost Relatives (and Peter almost gets strangled by his beloved)

On Wednesday, Peter picked up our car. Ahhhhh, automatic transmission. Ahhhhhhh!

We were more than a little stressed on time, as we had hoped to get the car and leave. This was going to be our itinerary:

11 am- leave manse

12 noon- arrive Rosslyn Chapel

2 pm - leave Rosslyn and leave for Carmichael

3 pm- arrive Carmichael (Carmichael Clan Store closes at 5)

5 pm - leave Carmichael

Well, we didn't leave until noon, because getting the car, getting some groceries at Tesco and getting back to the manse took A LOT longer than we had thought.

We drove to Rosslyn Chapel, which has, in recent years, become famous because of a little novel called, "The Da Vinci Code." They haven't capitalized on this at all, no sirreee Bob! (Too bad sarcasm doesn't really translate in the written word, does it?)

The number of people crammed into that tiny building was amazing. Da Vinci may have had a code, but, apparently the folks at Rosslyn Chapel aren't concerned with occupancy codes. The chapel itself is filled with amazing carvings. The ceiling is filled with carvings of stars, roses, and flowers (alas, there were no yellow moons, green clovers, blue diamonds or purple horseshoes - can you tell I am hungry as I write this one). Anyway, Peter's new fangled, fancy camera ran out of juice, so he went back to the car to get the little camera. Here are a few shots:

Pink Jesus liked Rosslyn Chapel, (he's a big fan of Dan Brown's). In fact, he postively glowed there. (Or was that just the sign that something was going to go wrong with the camera).

We didn't get out of Rosslyn Chapel as soon as we had wanted to, due to the crowds. It was 3pm. Ok, it should only take one hour to get to Carmichael. A brief word about Carmichael - my grandmother's mother was a Carmichael, and a member of our family has traced us back to the Scottich Carmichaels. So, this was my chance to see some of the area where my ancestors might have lived. They have a small farm shop with Clan Merchandise, so I was really keen on going there and picking up "some Carmichael crap" as Christmas presents for my family.

We drove to the general area and got completely turned around. Carmichael is a VERY SMALL village. After asking two people for directions, we finally found the centre at 4:30. We browsed the shop, and Trish, the lady of Carmichael - wife of Richard, the 30th cheif of Carmichael came down to the shop to bring somethings that we wanted to purchase. I had emailed Richard and Trish some time ago, and she remembered me. We had a lovely conversation and she invited Peter and I to go check out the ruins of the old house and castle. After getting directions, and spending over £100, we were off. We passed the entrance to the ruins and had to turn around. I was getting really excited, I was going to see something really special. What was just as exciting to me, was that I was going to get some brilliant pictures that I could show my grandmother, who will probably never to get to see this with her own eyes.

We parked outside the gates and began the long walk down to the ruins, not knowing what to expect. This is me, standing outside the gates:

We didn't care that the fancy camera had no juice, because we had the small camera. What we were more concerned about was all the mud, and the kamikaze flies that kept buzzing into our ears. I had my hair in a ponytail, so I made like a heiland coo and kept swatting the flies away with my hair. Peter has short hair and just kept yelling at the flies as he swiped them out of his face.

Here is one shot of the walk down to the ruins:

Then, we were there. The ruins were stone walls that were at least three stories high. It was amazing, it was incredible. I was awestruck. I wanted Peter to catch a picture of everything.

Then, the little camera ran out of juice as well. In fact, it had so little battery power left, it wasn't even able to close up properly at first. In a last ditch attempt to save our marriage, Peter tried to change up the batteries to try and get some sort of power.

Nothing.

I wasn't really as mad as I am making it sound. After all, it wasn't Peter's fault. We both agreed that we really need to capture the area in photo. So, we made a pact to get up at "o-dark-30" on Friday and return to Carmichael on our way to Glasgow. It will mean that Thursday night will be a night of very little sleep, as we clean up the manse and pack, etc. But, who knows when we would be back to this little tiny speck on the map.

We got home about 8 pm and had some dinner, watched a little tv, and vowed to charge every single battery we have.