Thursday, October 11, 2012


Edinburgh, Scotland:

Greyfriars Church.  "Greyfriars" refers to Fransiscan monks, who wore brown.  At the time though anything dull or muddy was referred to as grey.  There are a lot of Greyfriar places in Scotland, including pubs.  Also there are a lot of Blackfriars places which refers to Domincan monks.  The church above is not a Catholic church but the grounds were originally Franciscan property so the name stuck.  It is a Church of Scotland church now but is controversial.  The interior has beautiful stained glass windows and decorations but many in the Church of Scotland frown on decorations.  Beautiful though.


The church is famous for a dog, Bobby.  His owner died ad Bobby everyday went and sat at his grave for 14 years until he died.  He couldn't be buried in the cemetery (consecrated ground) but was buried as closely as possible.  Lots of Bobby books and even a bronze statue.



Edinburgh, Scotland.

Edinburgh, Scotland:
We have a cat who has issues and likes to act out on them...We were expecting to get home to  a mess but not so.  Our neighbor did an excellent job taking care of the two cats.  Wanted to buy this book but the store was closed.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Now that I am back home, I will be adding some photos for the next few days.

Sunday, October 7, 2012


On the way to Stonehaven, Scotland:

It seems like the only thing they grow in Scotland is straw. 



 Tesco Store, Scotland:

So much Brown Sauce.  I found one with ingredients and so I tried it.  Tastes like Worcestershire Sauce...by the way, Worcestershire is a place in England.  Why do we not have Brown Sauce in the US?


Stonehaven, Scotland:

Who would have known that the birthplace of the deep fried Mars Bar was in a small town in Scotland.  Very resourceful people...

Saturday, October 6, 2012


 Edinburgh, Scotland:

Beautiful day in a beautiful city.  Photos cannot do it justice.  People are so nice and the scenery is amazing.




Edinburgh, Scotland:

The small print reads:

The person at the side of you.  The crowd at the bar.  They've seen you have a few drinks.  So if you are thinking of driving, don't bother.  Anybody can report you by calling Crimestoppers...

They take drinking and driving in the UK very seriously, so it's good they have reminders, However...When they put the sign above the urinal it is a bit disconcerting...



Glamis Castle, Scotland

Stonehaven Scotland

Hamster outfits (no joke).  They are guaranteed to fit your hamster.  They were in the clearance bin if you can believe it....

We've been traveling for the last couple of days so no posts...exciting things to come though...In Edinburgh now...

Wednesday, October 3, 2012


Aberdeen, Scotland:

Smart Car...three cars in two parking spaces...great for parking but...how do you get out?

One other note on my missive on driving on the "different" side of the road in Ireland...The Irish don't alternate addresses between sides of the street.  In the US, odd numbers are on one side of the street and even numbers are on the other.  In Dublin, they go sequentially on each side of the street.  So and you can have businesses with a number of, say, 62...but across the street the the business can have a number of 8...or 250...very confusing.  They think it makes more sense this way.  Like driving on the unnatural side of the road...
Near Aberdeen, Scotland:                                  We went to Aberdeen today so I could say that I've been to three Aberdeen (Scotland, Maryland and Washington).  On the way we visited two castles, Crathes and Drum...Both were donated to the Scottish government because the landowners couldn't afford to keep them up.  Anyway, they were both closed but were awesome from the outside.  As Carolyn calls them all by the generic ADC (another damn castle). 




Tuesday, October 2, 2012


Braemar, Scotland:
Went to see this Castle but it was closed.  Wanted to see Balmoral Castle but the queen is in residence.  Lots more castles though...one has to be open.  Graveyard below dates from early 1700s.



Braemar, Scotland:
Really?

Ferns Castle, Ireland:

So I guess I shouldn't just put snarky comment on the blog.  This is a photo of Ferns Castle, ow what's left of it.  Really cool.  I'll put more scenic photos on the blog.  It is so beautiful here and so different from Italy and France...
So, every time we try to bring up the Colbert Report or the Daily Show on the internet we get a notice that the content is not available...How can I get the real news?
Braemar, Scotland:

You can't do anything, anywhere, at any time...period....

Ballater, Scotland:

There have been a few incidents of panic by the blogger.  I lost my journal in Dublin only to find out that I had it in my backpack (too may zippers) after freaking out for an hour.  On the way to the airport I freaked out because I couldn't find my passport.  On the way out today, I thought that I had lost my hat and, yes, freaked out.  I found it finally...In a shop today I found the following quote by the Queen.  My new motto...


Craigenrroch Resort, Ballater, Scotland:

The lodge where we are staying is really nice: beautiful views, full kitchen, 3 bedroom, 3 baths, etc.  Morgan made the arrangements. They also have a small library in the lodge.  Among the offerings is the book above.  After a week in Ireland and Scotland,..I'm thinking she may have asked the concierge to put it in the lodge....I'm sleeping with my eyes open...


Braemar, Scotland:

Update on Brown Sauce...The picture on the  back of the package has apples (Granny Smith?) and scallions.  Also there is a gluten warning for wheat and rye...Still no ingredients listed so I continue to be wary...

Dublin, Ireland...
When we first got to Ireland I was disappointed to find no red heads.  I finally saw one who was working at the TESCO.  I was asking him a question (where the cream was) when I noticed that he had an accent...He was Polish.  We went to the pub that night and I saw another red head guy.  I asked to get a photo of him with Morgan...He also had an accent...He was Belgian.  Anyway, we did finally find a lot of red heads (mostly in the smaller towns) but we ran into more and more non-Irish workers.  We started to keep track of nationalities:
Receptionist at the hotel - Transylvania
Waters in restaurants - Mongolian, Czech Republic, Poland, Brazil, Latvia
Phone Store - China
etc. 
We obviously didn't ask everyone but I was shocked by the number of non-EU nationalities working in Dublin, especially with the unemployment rate like 15%.  I talked to a girl at a pub who had a college degree but was unemployed and she said that she wanted to get a job, even a job that she was over qualified for but there were none.  We also talked to the girl at the car rental agency.  She had a degree in biochemistry but she could only find a job as the reservation clerk.  She is moving to Australia to look for work.  The cab driver said that during the Celtic Tiger period when the economy was going up, up, up, everyone had a job and so they had an influx of foreign nationals to do jobs like waitstaff.  Now with the down economy, people can't get jobs.  Sad...
Braemar, Scotland:
I checked with the airlines, they don't allow Haggis on board.  To everyone I promised some to, sorry...




Braemar Scotland:  Lovely little town that the Queen visted last week (her summer castle, Balmoral Castle, is a few miles away.  Shot this sign then zoomed out for the photo of the castle.  Looks like the "order" is a little late.
 
 

Monday, October 1, 2012


Craigendarroch, Scotland:

The view from our deck at the resort.  The cabin  where we are staying is bigger than our home in Kent...Simply beautiful with a sauna, jacuzzi tub, three bedrooms, three baths, fitness room, pool...We could live here if we didn't have to work.


Dublin Airport:

What can I say?

 Bray, Ireland:

Movie set for a mini-series on ITV..."Ice Cream Girls" on TV in February...


Bray, Ireland:

I hope that people don't cut it too close with the height of their vehicles...