Filling in some gaps in Spain, a Greenland cruise and I'm getting a tattoo!

[bPeteb]

The NZ Sav Blanc wasn't.

Alcoholic passionfruit juice hasn't ever been my thing

 

[RooFlyer]

Evening walk to the venue. Gotta love a city that respects its rocks.



One day, I might stay at the Balmoral, not the Ibis.





Past St Cuthbert's church and pay respect to more ancestors.





The queue starts in an adjacent terrace, so like a good Brit , I joined the queue 30 mins before admission opened - 90 mins before showtime.





Big mistake. The queue flowed freely once the gate opened and then there was nothing much to do for 90 mins. Merch and bars under the stand, and lots or booze carts on the esplanade grounds.



My seat circled. Premium seats in red - they get a padded seat, fast track admission and a free program.



Being the discerning visitor (and bored after 30 mins - not drinking at all) - I looked at some of the history under the stands



A tight fit.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm sure most if not everyone here has seen the tattoo on TV. But can't resist a few mementos

T-20 mins



T-10, the booze carts leave in scrappy formation



Showtime



Was expecting massed bands at first, but got a King's Guard



And a Bentley (I think), carrying the Duke of Edinburgh. Full Royal Salute.



Then the proper stuff



The Ukranians were on early and got the most sustained applause of any act for the night.





Scots dancers

 

[RooFlyer]

The Grand Pooh-bah with his stand



The 'storyteller' who didn't add much.



Crowd favourite - Swiss 'Top Secret drum corps'. Amazinf what some feathers and white spats will do.



The Poles were a bit dreary.



American precision guard with their very sharp bayonets (see video, later). Excellent.



American drum and fife corps. Not much except costumes and drums.

 

[RooFlyer]

Found some more







Of course the drones got into the act. I thought un-necessarily.

 

[VPS]

So did you enjoy it and are you glad you went? I went in 1982 and loved it.

 

[RooFlyer]

 

[RooFlyer]

So did you enjoy it and are you glad you went? I went in 1982 and loved it.

Yes and yes For a price of half the cost of a room at the Ibis, it was excellent value!

Crowd surged out of the area down the Royal Mile



Before heading to the Highlands, I had some unfinished business in Northumbria. It was teeming when I last tried to visit Holy Island and Lindisfarne, so I headed SE after picking up a car at the EDCI car rental depot. What a zoo.



It was only about 90 mins down to Holy Island which od course has particular crossing times, due to the tide and the low causeway. Those are walkers to the Island. Its some sort of thing.



When I was here last time, I had the same pic as this, but it was teeming, and still they walked!!



On the island there is a paid car park - min 3 hrs, for 7 quid. I reckoned I'd be 90 mins.



Lindisfarne town is quaint, and busy




The masses head to the castle



And here oit is

 

[RooFlyer]

My interest in Holy Island and Lindisfarne is two fold. The history but also because I guy am researching lived on the mainland in a grand spread with views to the island. He got a grant on the eastern shore of Hobart and called it 'Lindisfarne'.

So I went to drive up to the house, but its on private land of course. I poked around the bottom of a long curved drive and decided against driving up.


I drove away but a few seconds later spotted someone coming down the drive. Very quick u turn and its the guy who lives right next door and sure, he'll show me the house. Not what I was expecting







Apparently it was taken over in WW2 and a camp to house German officers established. After the war, it was just left to ruin.

 

[drron]

We saw the US Drum and Fife Corps perform at Big Tex (Texas state Fair) and the presentation was excellent. We were identified as Aussies so they posted a junior officer at our side to explain everything including the Corps history. And just don't call them a band. We thoroughly enjoyed their show.

 

[jastel]

Glad you found the Scottish house...recently found an ancestor's grave over there myself with a bit of luck and help from a local.

 

[RooFlyer]

From Holy Island to Melrose, to the west in the Scottish Borders. It was both a convenient place to stop before heading north, and an opportunity to visit and photograph a locale (and others) of friends of mine, who had ancestors from the area.

Melrose is quite pretty, the main feature being Melrose Abby

It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks. A lead container believed to hold the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce was found in 1921 below the Chapter House site; it was found again in a 1998 excavation and documented in records of his death. The rest of his body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

Being on one of the main routes towards Edinburgh from the south, it was vulnerable and has had a rough but fascinating history

One of the earliest accounts of the Magna Carta agreement reached at Runnymede in 1215 is found in the Chronicle of Melrose Abbey. Melrose was located on one of the main roads running from Edinburgh to the south making it particularly vulnerable to attack. In 1322, the town was attacked by the army of Edward II of England, and much of the abbey was destroyed. It was rebuilt by order of King Robert the Bruce, with Sir James Douglas being the principal auditor of finance for the project. In 1385, the abbey was burned by the army of Richard II of England, "partly because of support for the Avignon Pope Clement VII" he forced the army of Robert II of Scotland back to Edinburgh. It was rebuilt over a period of about 100 years – construction was still unfinished when James IV visited in 1504.

From 1541, the abbacy was held by a series of commendators. In 1544, as English armies raged across Scotland in an effort to force the Scots to marry the infant Mary, Queen of Scots to the son of Henry VIII, the abbey was again badly damaged and was never fully repaired. On 29 September 1549 an English soldier discovered the pyx that had been suspended over the high altar and gave it to the Earl of Rutland. War damage led to its decline as a working monastery. The last abbot was James Stuart (an illegitimate son of James V), who died in 1557. In 1590, Melrose's last monk died.

The abbey withstood one final assault, and some of its walls still show the marks of cannon fire after having been bombarded by Oliver Cromwell's troops during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In 1618, a portion of the abbey's church was converted into a parish church for the surrounding town. A plain vault was inserted into the crossing, removing the original ribbed vaulting in the central section. It was used until 1810 when a new church was erected in the town. In 1812, a stone coffin was exhumed from the aisle in the abbey's south chancel. Some speculated the remains were those of Michael Scot, the philosopher and "wizard."

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Sir Walter Scott was appointed Sheriff-Depute of Roxburghshire. In 1822, with the financial assistance of the Duke of Buccleuch, Sir Walter supervised the extensive repair work that was to preserve the ruins. In 1918, the duke gave the ruins to the state, by which time the abbey had undergone further restoration and repair.[6] It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

The town itself is pretty but unexceptional

 

[RooFlyer]

Accommodation that night at Mill Cottage Garden Studio. No pics, but a nice modern studio in a quiet location.

Next day, off to Inverness, about 4 hours drive. But first a stop at Heriot, about 30 mins up the road from Melrose. You'd never visit it unless you were doing family history, as I was again.





It was a fine and warm day and the drive was oddly unspectacular for me. I had a B&B just outside Inverness and as it was still early I walked around Inverness which was a lovely town. Like everywhere else, it was heaving with tourists.









Then to the accommodation, which was very difficult to find. I remember when booking, I couldn't find any place in Inverness or surrounds that was reasonably priced and looked OK. I eventually settled on this Air B&B place, which bizarrely insists on calling itself 'Cabin in Highland Council' . It looked weird when I booked it, and it was. The doors - inside and out, are about 5' or less, high.



cough all around outside and nick-nacks everywhere inside. Again, that door to bathroom abt 5' high - yes, I beaned myself several times.



And about the front door inside is this exit sign - fully illuminated.

 

[RooFlyer]

The next morning opened foggy. I drove up to Culloden battlefield but you could see nothing - but the car park was still full! So I drove south-west, destination Glenfinnan. Quite excited, as I'd be driving down the Great Glen Fault, a massive fault that slices through Scotland and continues in nth America, although it is offset by the mid Atlantic ridge and ocean. From Wikipedia



The day fined up quickly as I drove south. I hoped for a view at Urquhart Castle, but my policy for this trip of not super planning every day backfired. as I didn't realise you needed tickets and again, the car park was full (as in guy at the entrance turning people away).

The outlook over the fault valley is quite pretty, as there is a lake in the valley, but there were very annoyingly few spots to pull over and take pictures and where there was, trees were in the way and/or cars were already there. Scotland in summer, eh?





The lake I believe is well known - Loch Ness.

 

[RooFlyer]

Destination was Glenfinnan, well known for the viaduct, crossed by the Jacobite steam train twice daily (made famous by the Harry Potter films).

I originally wanted to ride the Jacobite from Fort William to Mallaig on the coast and back, but left it way too late to book. Tickets are released on this private journey much, much earlier than public rail in Europe. So I decided to look from the ground - which is probably a better option if you aren't a train or steam train buff, and just wish to see the spectacle.

That brought me to book the Stage House B&B at Glenfinnan itself. A 17th century (est 1658) coaching inn, formerly the Prince's House Hotel, it is close to where the doomed 1745 Jacobite began.



As the name implies, formerly a hotel, now a B&B run by two sisters, it has 9 rooms on the upper floor and tons of lounging-room on the lower floor. with an honesty bar. It describes itself as luxury, but isn't really, but its a nice, comfortable well appointed B&B and I'd recommend it (closed from October to Easter). One of its great virtues is that it has a car park - parking is manic in the area, where people come to watch the steam train passing. The main car park is full at least an hour before, and you'd want to be there 2 hrs before to be sure of getting a park. Lots of parking along the side of the road of a mile each way, too (where not roped off).

Some of the downstairs areas - there is more.





They allowed me to park at 2pm, before check-in at 3, so I could go off and watch the train, expected at 3:15pm. Unfortunately, when I asked the best way to go (I had an idea, having studied it before), they sent me up along an upper track. This gets you to the best viewing - where the Jacobite's own site (above) has its pic taken from, but its pretty arduous for someone like me (older, and overweight) plus it was hot again - 30 degrees and the scramble completely knacked me. Hardly any shade.



There were some nice views from one spot





I thought it was odd that there was hardly anyone else on the track, for getting to the best spot. I realised later why - there was a much easier way to get there - from a track that goes under the viaduct, then a climb up to the viewpoint the other way. The track I took climbs a lot higher, before it descends to the viewpoint.

Anyway ... they would have been roasting.



For all that effort, it was disappointing. With the hot weather, they put a diesel on, so no steam streaming behind!! Just dirty diesel smoke.



Needless to say I was a pit pi55ed off, especially as I had pretty well wrecked myself.

This is the climb down, the way I should have gone up.



Also with the heat and no wind at all, the B&B of course couldn't cope, so it was a pretty warm and sleepless night.

 

[RooFlyer]

Next morning was the drive back to Edinburgh and the weather turned cloudy but still warm. I was going to stay until 10:30am and watch the train again but the B&B hosts said it was unlikely to be the steam engine. Plus I was still feeling a bit wrecked after yesterday.

I have a continuing interest in the Glencoe massacre having read the book for English Lit at school

Glencoe by John Prebble

So I set the GPS to the Glencoe Visitors centre and was a bit surprised when, having passed through the village of Glencoe (where I thought the battle/massacre was) I drive into something that didn't look like a historical site. Gift shop, nature walks, sod hut recreations. A bit of googling showed that this was more about the 'glen' of Glencoe, not the historical event.

So I drove back into the village and it was very odd - I saw no signs at all referring to the massacre site or any memorial. I did see a Macdonald Monument on Google, so headed for that. Down a small, 1 lane lane, still un signposted. Yes, this is the memorial to the even.







Wikipedia

The Massacre of Glencoe took place in Glen Coe in the Argyll region of the Scottish Highlands on 13 February 1692. An estimated 30 members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed by Scottish government forces [a rival clan, the Campbells], allegedly for failing to pledge allegiance to the new monarchs, William II/III and his wife Mary II. [The MacDonalds had hosted the Campbells for the 2 prior weeks]

Although the Jacobite rising of 1689 had largely been suppressed by May 1690, a continuing need to police the Highlands diverted military resources from the Nine Years' War in Flanders. In late 1690, clan leaders loyal to the exiled House of Stuart agreed to swear allegiance to William and Mary, in return for a cash payment of £12,000. However, disagreements over how to divide this meant by December 1691 none of the clans had taken the oath.

In response, Lord Stair, Scottish Secretary of State, decided to show the consequences of further delay. While others, including the Keppoch MacDonalds, also missed the deadline, the Glencoe MacDonalds appear to have been selected due to a combination of clan politics, and a reputation for lawlessness.

While similar events were not unknown in earlier Scottish history, this was no longer the case by 1692, and the brutality of the massacre shocked contemporaries. It became a significant element in the persistence of Jacobitism in the Highlands during the first half of the 18th century, and remains a powerful symbol to this day.

Beats me why there are no signposts. Perhaps its too a reverential site for them to promote as a tourist destination?

The drive then was through nice highland scenery, but with the roads busy and the viewpoints parking occupied, I mostly just tootled south.







before transitioning back to the lowlands



Having now experienced the highlands - albeit in non optimal conditions - I've decided that I'm a low lands guy, home of my Scots ancestors. And I don't drink whiskey, which I guess seals it.

 

[MARTINE]

Thank-you for your detailed report and photos @RooFlyer . It is fabulous to be along for the ride in a part of the world I love and get the historical narrative too. Cannot wait for the next installment.

 

[Pushka]

Being an Outlander tragic, Inverness and the Highlands was my most looked forward to place. Sadly it was in June 2022 and MrP got the most vile case of Covid as it was rampant in Scotland at the time. So I missed out on all my planned trips. But we had a great Airbnb right next to the water stream picture you showed up thread and we discovered husbands ancestral roots there. It was also numbingly cold so can't see him returning there. I would. Unfinished business.

 

[VPS]

Great memories for me and an area I want to explore more

 

[equus]

Then the proper stuff

Maybe, maybe not. I have an Uncle who is a Pipe Major having played the bagpipes for a long time (Australian) who has performed at the Tattoo a few times. All those different bands from the various regiments etc. aren't really. Those that are playing doing multiple uniform / costume changes though the whole performance and play for various different groups. There are some specialists, and no doubt some from each unit, but lots of them are the same people repeating in different uniforrms.