mrsjabernathy-blog - Tumblr blog

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

A bit behind on my blog... sorry for the delay! Been having a smashing time though :) Edinburgh was quite touristy, but we found some fun things to do. Started the day with a trip to Greyfriars Kirk (Friday, if you're keeping track) which is home to the Bobby dog statue - sweet story, be sure to check out @thejabernathy for details. Also, and more in my line of interest, the Kirk is right around the corner from the coffee shop where JK Rowling wrote a good bit of the Harry Potter books and next door to the school some say inspired Hogwarts! It is thought she also took inspiration from the Kirk itself, both for Godrics Hollow (where Harry's parents are buried) as well as many of the names for her characters. We found the Thomas Riddell headstone, and a McGonagal; supposedly there is also a Severus and a Crookshanks, but we didn't see those... Had a delicious grilled falafel wrap for lunch and made our way to quite possibly the coolest museum I have ever been to, The National Museum of Scotland. It was amazing! There where huge taxidermist animals in one giant room, moving hot air balloons and model steam engines in another, as well as Dolly the sheep and a selection of period garments, among other things. I could have stayed there all day, easily, it was fascinating. They also had an entire section with several floors dedicated to the history of Scotland, and that was interesting too! But we couldn't stay there all day because... we had to go on a tour of The Underground City (I'll give you two guesses who was keen on doing that, and the first one doesn't count!). I'm sure John's blog goes in to a lot more detail, but the gist of the situation is that a beige was built joining High Street (The Royal Mile) with a high a section to the east, over a valley and the interior was divided into stalls with the intention of becoming like a mall of sorts. Well, long story short, it wasn't very pleasant inside and merchants' goods were getting spoiled so they abandoned it and the poor and homeless moved in and took it over. The life expectancy for a young, healthy man who moved in was just one year; women and children had it even worse. We heard a lot of terrible stories about the people whose lives and died there, how children were treated, what happens to babies... it wasn't good. Eventually it was closed down and no one even knew the stalls were there until some repairs were happening on one end of the bridge less than 50 years ago! Ate dinner at a little place on The Royal Mile and had a locally brewed beer. Dining is a totally different experience here; we were actually turned away from two restaurants because they were full! There isn't any waiting room and no one seems concerned about sending you on to the next place! I have really enjoyed a lot of my dinning experiences though and hope I can take some of the mentality back to the States with me. It seems like eating out is an event, or a social experience, more than a necessity, which is how I tend to eat out at home (I just can't cook tonight! There's nothing in the fridge!). I like the idea of really enjoying a meal, having an appetizer or dessert, drinks, etc., and making an outing out of it! I'm also looking forward to not eating out for a while after three weeks of it :)

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Thursday was a travel day, but we still managed to squeeze in some adventure! First thing off the train we saw the Sir Walter Scott monument then hung out in a park for a bit where we ate lunch and waited to check in to our room (aka ditch our bags!). Lunch consisted of a hotdog and fries (chips, rather) which were yummy, but crossing the lawn with them was terrifying for me because there were seagulls everywhere; I just knew they were going to attack me and steal my food...! But I managed to make it back to John unscathed :) Hiked up to Arthur's Seat where there we a billion other people; I don't remember it being so crowded! There was this group of guys on their phones just hanging out by the marker (posting their pictures to Facebook? Instagram? Tumblr?) so John just had his picture made with them, since they were sort of oblivious to the situation. Later we were able to get one of the two of us! It was a short but steep hike and I earned two new FitBit badges for climbing 132 flights of stairs (or the equivalent). Almost doubled my previous high...! Shopped on the Royal Mile and had dinner, then called it a day. More Edinburgh Friday!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Wednesday was another gorgeous day, with spectacular views and beautiful weather. We went to the Tollbooth Museum first thing in the morning, then headed out to the Bullers of Buchan for the rest of the day. The Tollbooth was a 16th century jail and it detailed the lives of many of the prisoners held there. Apparently Aberdeen had some of the best kept records in Scotland, so the know a lot about the town and the people who lived there! The doors were original to the cells, although other aspects were changed over time. Women who gossiped were made to wear the horrible headpiece you see. It has a metal piece that actually goes in the mouth and sometimes reins were attached as well. Yikes! We took a bus to the Bullers of Buchan and carried a lunch with us. There are a number of archways and a collapsed cave along the coastline and the views were amazing. I saw a seal when we first arrived! First we walked north along the coast, then later south into Cruden Bay. We were hoping to see puffins, and met a gentleman who told us what to look for. He said they make their nests along the top, in rabbit holes, rather than down on the rocks with the other birds. We found a huge section of empty nest on our walk north - if there had been puffins in them they would literally have been in our path! But unfortunately they were empty (you can see a burrow and eggshell above). Walking south we started noticing the empty burrows which we hadn't seen before because we still didn't totally understand where or what to look for until we saw them ourselves. Then... suddenly we saw them!! They were very tiny, but definitely puffins! I circled them in the photos to help you find them too :) It was awesome! Our walk into Cruden Bay took us past Slains Castle, an abandoned ruin open to anyone. It was really strange, but neat! Be sure to check out @thejabernathy for more on the Castle - I think it was the highlight of John's day!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Also: John skipped a rock the size of his face!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Yesterday was SO amazing! To begin we visited Wool 4 Ewe again (this time it was actually open!) and check out their selection. I wish I had taken a picture because there were dozens of cubbies packed with all kinds of yarn from all kinds of places! Since I normally order yarn online it was a treat to walk and around and touch everything. I ended up purchasing some wool from The Accidental Shepherd, which comes from Aberdeenshire and is only available here; you can't get it anywhere else in the world! The woman who makes it has twelve sheep (Jemima and Chloe being two of them), and only produces one color because she creates such small batches. I can't wait to find the perfect pattern for it! I have also decided a need a sheep so I can make my own wool...! Took a bus to Stonehaven, a small picturesque coastal town, and walked up to Dunnottar Castle. SO PRETTY. It's hard to believe what we are seeing is real sometimes. To top it off, the sun came out AND a bagpipe player showed up! Ah! It was insanely gorgeous and unreal! We sat on the hillside looking at the ruined castle and listening to the music for a good bit; I could have sat there all day. Dunnottar Castle is the one William Wallace snuck in to and drove out the English garrison in the 13th century. It was also where the crown and scepter (The Scottish Honours) were hidden during the 17th century when Oliver Cromwell overthrew the monarchy. It has some dark history, as well, including keeping 167 anti-royalist in a cellar now known as Whig's Vault for not swearing an oath of allegiance to the king in 1685. We walked back along the shoreline, the sun shining away and the waves gently crashing. It was a perfect day!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Made it to Aberdeen today! We went straight away to The Maritime Museum, which is apparently the number one thing to do in Aberdeen and we couldn't check in to our room until 5pm. It was great because they have a bag check, so we didn't have to carry our packs around the museum, but it turns out neither John nor myself have much interest in ships...! There was a neat exhibit about two guys who crossed from Greenland to North Scotland in a kayak - it took them six weeks! They wanted to prove it was possible, and they documented the experience. I read about a great (supposedly) yarn shop, Wool 4 Ewe, so we walked up that way next, but after our hike (yes, with our packs) it was CLOSED on Mondays! So, we settled for gelato :) Made in-house daily, John had caramel shortcake and I had... I can't remember the name, it was something silly like curly whirly... and it was delicious! Did some knitting in a "kirk" while John explored - there were gravestones dating back to at least 1713. Ate dinner at a ridiculous restaurant, Slain's Castle (John couldn't resist) which looked like an old church or something that was converted in to a restaurant. The decor included a Dracula bust, high padded seats, stonework, columns, and inscribed stairs. It was bizarre! Their drink menu included selections like "the four horsemen of the apocalypse" and "the seven deadly sins" and several of their drinks were served in skull mugs (we didn't attempt any of these, although apparently if you drink all seven you get a t-shirt). James Abernethy plates in the sidewalk, so curious about that. Lots to do tomorrow - looking forward to being in the same place for a few days!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

undefined

Not for the faint of heart or those who get carsick! I couldn't post this the other day, but if you'd like a taste of our driving experience, check out this short clip!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Some pretty shots, just 'cause :)

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Well I don't know if you can tell from our latest blog posts, but we seem to be losing some steam! Last night was our first night in a hostel and it didn't get off to a great start - when we went up to bed, in spite of the fact several people were clearly trying to sleep (covers over head, etc.) two people were just having a conversation, not whispering or anything, chatting away, lights blaring. So we got ready for bed and John asks them if he can turn off the light which they agreed to, but wanted to take a picture together first... at any rate, I'm pretty sure John was a hero to everyone else in our room! This morning we got up and took a cruise out on Loch Ness. It was so cold! The wind was blowing and it drizzled on us early on, so the seats were wet. The views were beautiful and we had a good time; we splurged on hot chocolate and a Scottish chocolate bite. After lunch we shopped a bit and visited a store with handmade kilts made upstairs. No on was working because it is the weekend, but they let us look around and they had the inside of a kilt sort of dissected, which was really cool! I also saw the shop upstairs and the giant pressing tool they use to press all the basted pleats in place. Also: there was a short video demonstrating how the kilts were made and also why kilts were worn which was HILARIOUS and cheesy. I think it might have been the highlight of John day :) (well, since he didn't see Nessie...!). Planning on a early night tonight! We are hanging out in the common room making plans for our time in Aberdeen - next stop! Heard about an awesome yarns shop there and @auntdeethebee gave us several suggestions, so I'm sure we will have plenty to do!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Left our lovely bed and breakfast in Corpach and started our day in Glencoe (just for you @auntdeethebee !). We visited the Glencoe Folk Museum where we learned about the Glencoe Massacre and saw some interesting local history. Then we took a walk around a little loch and up a super steep incline where we met some very friendly “teenage” ducklings! I mean there was a whole slew of them, at least two dozen - they were everywhere! We decide to drive back down in to town an get a picnic lunch and bring it back up the path to enjoy. We also got some extra buns for the ducks to enjoy :)

We couldn’t take the car to Inverness, which was our original plan, and this turned out to be a good thing because I’m pretty sure John has had enough left-hand, narrow-road, sheep-infested, round-about-laden driving (did I mention the insane number of round-abouts here? Thank goodness we have one in our neighborhood so we had a lot of practice!) to last him a life time! We were able to get a cheap, fairly quick bus up from Fort William, so it turned out really well and I was able to do some knitting on the way, too!

In Inverness we are staying in a hostel - the only one on our whole trip! We have two bunk beds in a room with 8 other people, and a shared bathroom. Last time I only stayed in hostels, but this time I’m spoiled, especially because we just came from an adorable BnB with a sweet hostess and a delicious breakfast! Hopefully it will be worth it tomorrow when we see the Loch Ness monster, which John is convinced will happen :) At any rate, I’m looking forward to Aberdeen next!

Above are photos of our bed and breakfast, John at the Folk Center (all of the doors were very short!), the ducklings we hung out with, a few Inverness sightings, and a monument to the Glencoe massacre.

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Photos from our trip to Dalwhinnie distillery. Read about our experience in yesterday's post!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Photos from our trip to Steall Falls - read about it in yesterday's post!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Well, if I thought yesterday's drive was harrowing, it was nothing compared with today's! Take the hairpin turns, possible animals in the road, and speedy drivers, and squish all of that down to one shared lane (yes, going both directions...) and you'll get an idea of what our trip was like today! But it was totally with it (according to the person in the passenger seat)! We visited the Dalwhinnie whiskey distillery where we took a tour and did a tasting. The tour was really interesting (they use Kentucky bourbon casks to age the whiskey) and it helped me better understand the things we tasted. In Scotland a drink is called a "dram" and we had "wee" drams of six different Dalwhinnie whiskeys, two of which you can only have at the distillery, you cannot get them anywhere else in the world! Each whiskey was paired with a handmade chocolate, and they were delicious! I wanted to bring some home but they have to be kept refrigerated, so that was a no-go (sorry everyone!). When we took our tasting trays back to the bar, the gentleman, Willie, was so kind and friendly; he gave us an extra taste of a whiskey from a different distillery, his favorite, Lagavulin 16 year (which we knew about because Ron Swanson from Parks and Recs drinks it). Now the six I tasted all tasted pretty much the same to me, but this one was totally different! It was really smoky in flavor and on our tour our guide Angela explained why some whiskeys were smoky, so that was neat! He also game us a dram of the hot chocolate ganache made in house by the same person who makes their chocolates and I promise you I licked the cup clean! In fact, it came with a little wooden spoon to scrape the goodness out of the bottom! Next on our list to conquer was Steall Falls, the third highest falls in Scotland, and an easy, picturesque walk. We saw sheep in the road as we arrived, and the views were really stunning! There was also a cable bridge nearby, so of course we both have that a shot. It was another excellent day and the weather was perfect! Be sure to check out @thejabernathy for John's perspective on our adventures (and driving experience!).

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Photos from today (Thursday, Glenfinnan).

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Everyone here keeps apologizing for the weather, but we think it's been fabulous so far! Today has been gray and drizzly most of the morning, but it hasn't held us back! We rented a car (yikes!) and John had a go a driving on the "other" side of the road, which he did very well :) We drove a little west from Corpach, where we are staying, to Glenfinnan, home to gorgeous views and the stone viaducts featured in Harry Potter movies on the journey from London to Hogwarts. Every time we turned the corner we had to take another photo because it just kept getting prettier! The views here are just stunning and we ended up spending most of the day hanging around waiting for the "Hogwarts Express" to pass by. Drove up to Mallaig, a port city on the west coast and ate pizza looking out at the harbor. I was tense the whole drive - it is very odd being in the driver's side but not being the driver! Hairpin turns, single lane bridges, and cars flying past us were just part of the adventure :) John did a great job and kept his cool, in spite of it all! It was a great day, but I'm wet and cold and looking forward to a hot shower and a cozy evening in!

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Photos from yesterday :)

[mrsjabernathy-blog]

Spent the day in Glasgow today and as there wasn't anything in particular I wanted to do, I tagged along on John's proposed outings, and I'm so glad! We started out the morning with a visit to the Necropolis, on the east side of the city. There were graves dating back to the early 1800's and it was quite massive and picturesque. On the walk there we passed Glasgow Cathedral, which was an impressive gothic structure. It seemed like every time we turned a corner there was something else to see! Took the subway west of the city to Glasgow University where the Huntarian Museum is housed. It was really neat! William Hunter was a doctor and scientist who did all kinds of research and collected all kinds of odd/interesting things. He is also the physician Princess Charlotte supported who performed autopsies on pregnant women who died in various stages of pregnancy in order to better understand what was happening and how to best aid laboring mothers. He even preserved a baby in uterus who died (along with the mother) because of the way the uterus was turned. Understanding why the mother and child died helped him prevent the same situation in others. Our train for Fort William departed at 18:21, and now we are happily chugging through the Scottish countryside in a perpetual state of bliss, oo-ing and ah-ing and trying to capture the beauty (which simply isn't possible!). We packed a picnic dinner and some snacks and it's had been pleasant so far :) Met three brothers on the train from South Hampton who are setting out on a THREE WEEK HIKE tomorrow. Yikes! John and I agree, sounds like something our brothers would do, but probably not for us - we are looking forward to hot showers and cozy beds! (Fritzy Internet, sorry I couldn't post more pictures!)