Gondolas, Castles and Bonfires

Last weekend my friend and I took a day trip up into the West Highlands to visit Fort William, the highland’s second largest town at 9,900 people right after Inverness, which I visited earlier this year. This trip interested me because I am a mountain gondola enthusiast, and a few miles away from the town is Britain’s only gondola, that climbs up the side of Aonoch Mor in the Nevis Range (Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles) – naturally I had to see the British claim to gondola fame, and I was able to do it just in time; the gondola actually closed for the season later that weekend!
 

In the highlands

Our trip up to the West Highlands took us past some amazing scenery, including bald, rolling hills and even some male deer out on the flat plains. After around 5 hours we found ourselves in the little highlands town of Fort William. We had some time before the bus to the Nevis Range centre so we stopped in for food (I had some tasty mac and cheese) and explored the shopping street and the walkway by Loch Eil. We caught the bus over to the foot of Aonoch Mor, a mountain with a ski area a couple of miles away fro Ben Nevis, and of course the wonderful gondola! As an enthusiast, I have been on several gondola lifts in the Northwest region of North America, including Silver Mountain (the longest single-stage lift in the world that carries people) and the Wallowa Lake Tramway (the steepest four-person gondola in North America). The Nevis Range gondola was lovely and the weather was spectacular the whole trip – crisp, windy, and good visibility of the mountain range across from a viewpoint called Sgurr finnisg-aig, which is hard to say as it was to type. I had a lovely time taking pictures and enjoying the view from the top! Unfortunately we had a bit of trouble locating which mountain was Ben Nevis, and am still not sure even when reflecting on the pictures I took. After a little walk around the ski area (completely devoid of snow, even in November in the Highlands!) we stopped into the gift shop and I mailed home some postcards to be stamped with a special seal from the Nevis Range. Everything worked out perfectly with the bus and train, and we made it back from Fort William to Stirling in plenty of time (and a few rounds of cards).

Very pretty! I miss eastern Washington and Montana!

The viewpoint we walked up to

Another couple of events I haven’t had time to mention before are Bonfire Day and a trip to Doune Castle, famous for its appearance in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in several scenes, including the outside wall during a discussion of swallows and coconuts. The castle itself was very close to Stirling, and we enjoyed the audio tour narrated by Terry Jones of the Monty Python crew as we explored the fun stone rooms, tight spiral staircases and beautiful views of the countryside from the battlements. 

The view from the top of Doune Castle

In addition I got to experience the celebration put on by the nearby town of Bridge of Allan for Bonfire Night (also called Guy Fawkes Day or the 5^th of November), in which quite a few people turned up to huddle around the massive bonfire in a field and enjoy a fireworks show. It was a nice night and a new experience to watch fireworks in the fall instead of July!

With friends on Bonfire Night!

Castles and Capitals 1: My adventures before the break

With the rush of mid-semester schoolwork it has been difficult for me to find time to write about my most recent adventures and experiences abroad, and for that I apologize! I hope all I am about to write, and all the pictures I will post, will make up for it.

The first thing I wanted to revisit was my excellent day trip with my friend Annamarie through Timberbush Tours out of Edinburgh. We visited a few castles and saw the beautiful northeast coast of England in what was once called Northumbria, when the region was its own medieval kingdom. This was my first time properly into England, and I thought it was interesting that the only mark of passing the border was a small turn out along the road with two flags, one for St. George’s Cross and the other for St. Andew’s, adopted by England and Scotland respectively. Our first stop was a little island off the coast called Lindisfarne, or the “Holy Island” for its monastery and production of the Lindisfarne Gospels, which had a beautiful ruined abbey and castle. The area had been hit by a wind storm the evening before and so the power was out in all the cafés and shops, and the wind kept coming – I have only ever felt this powerful a gale since the Pali lookout on Oahu! Driving in and out of the little coastal community involved a knowledge of the tides, which would cover the road at various times of the day. 

Driving in, the tide crept onto the road a bit

The ruined abbey with Lindisfarne Castle in the back

The castle a little closer

The coast from the castle

We continued along to another castle called Bamburgh and stopped to take a quick picture before reaching the highlight, Alnwick Castle (pronounced like “Anick” but with the a like “apple”). This place appeared in the first Harry Potter movie as the location of Harry’s first flying lesson with his class and Madam Hooch! When re-watching the scene from the movie, it was really fun to be able to recognize the castle exterior. 

Myself at Alnwick Castle

A picture from the movie...

...and the place where it was shot!

 After exploring the grounds and the inside, we continued on the tour to a field known as Flodden where James IV of Scotland was defeated by the English in the early 1500s. Annamarie and I grabbed a nice pot of tea and some cake at a shop in a little town called Coldstream. After that we enjoyed a relaxing ride back up to Edinburgh!

Edinburgh

This Saturday I took a trip with some friends to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland (the eighth most populous city in the UK with only a little under 500,000 people)! I was surprised at the convenience of taking the hour-long train into the city and impressed with the price- £8.50 on the weekends for return fare seems like a great bargain. Once off the train I was mesmerized with the architecture of this historical 12^th century city, especially the dark rock and spires of Old Town, fading in and out of a nice morning Scottish mist. We walked up part of the Royal Mile, an artery clogged with tourist shops that runs from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (the queen’s official Scottish residence during her weeklong stay- luckily the Royal Family was out, so I was able to take the tour). 

I love these buildings!

I believe this is along the Royal Mile

“Entering” a castle is a bit of a misnomer, as there are often so many different buildings behind the fortifications that it is hard to determine what part is actually a “castle,” but suffice it to say I visited several places inside Edinburgh’s walls and will have to come back again to catch the rest! 

Edinburgh Castle

Among a few things we had time for, I took a brief walking tour, saw the chapel built for St. Margaret in about 1130 (I cannot believe I am able to see things roughly 300 years older than the written history of my country), looked out over a misty New Town, and briefly passed by the Crown Jewels of Scotland reposing in a dimly lit glass case. 

Part of the Scottish National War Memorial inside the Castle

Me in front of the War Memorial (built in 1927)

A ceiling in the Royal Palace

A view of the city from the Castle

A piper on the street

The magnificent St. Giles' Cathedral

Yes, Scotland has these too!

Lovely!

We walked to the end of the Royal Mile to take a tour of Holyrood Palace. While there were not many buildings towards the end of the mile, the palace sits at the feet of a beautiful group of hills, the tallest of which is called “Arthur’s Seat” and looks out over the city (I will have to walk this next time I visit). Unfortunately for beautiful Edinburgh, some architect erected a really weird art museum next the pal- wait, that’s the new Scottish Parliament building?! I couldn’t believe it. Stuck between wonderfully quaint brick-and-chimney houses and the Hogwarts-like Holyrood is the home of the Scottish Parliament, an expensive and homely creation circa 2004 (think M.C. Escher meets Pick-up Sticks).

Myself in front of the lovely Palace of Holyroodhouse

The courtyard inside

While inside the Palace I was not able to take pictures, but please take a look at the official website or Google to see some of the gorgeous rooms I was able to visit! The audio walking tour was informative and pleasant, and I felt humbled to see all the rooms as they have existed for royalty for many years. There was a small room devoted entirely to the collections of past monarchs, with small trinkets, hand-written notes and portraits that have been somehow preserved for hundreds of years. If the interior weren’t beautiful enough, at the very end we were able to visit the Palace Gardens and the incredible ruined nave of Holyrood Abbey, which may be my favorite thing thus far! There is something very powerful for me in old churches, and this abbey also had the glamour of being mostly destroyed, with a missing roof, mossy pillars and weathered rocks. I have a free pass to visit the Palace again so I may definitely come back to enjoy its presence! 

In Edinburgh I also did a little shopping and bought a beautiful Celtic knot necklace (Celtic jewelry was very popular with vendors here) for just 10 pounds. I tried a bit of haggis that my friend ordered at a restaurant, and while it looked infinitely more appetizing than I expected, it tasted like a creamy ground beef. I am aware that haggis is lamb, but to a person who rarely eats any meat but turkey and chicken, everything else tastes the same; so to my unsophisticated carnivore’s palate, haggis tasted like a hamburger!

That day we also stopped in at The Elephant House Café, proud to claim JK Rowling as an occupant in the days of first Harry Potter manuscripts. A friend I met recently who lives in Edinburgh actually has the author for a near neighbor and saw her at Starbucks writing something that could have been the last book! There were no famous authors milling about on Saturday but I had wonderful chocolate cake and a small pot of nettle tea. We walked through Greyfriars Kirkyard as the sun went down and the rain started, and saw the famous grave of the man whose loyal dog would not leave his master even in death. We ended at Grassmarket street and then turned for home. Even with a good 9 or so hours in the city there was so much left to see, and I am thankful we are close enough to visit again anytime!

In Greyfriars Kirkyard

Sunday I visited St. Mary’s Catholic Church for the first time and forgot to take pictures of the beautiful, towering rose-colored exterior and lovely windows, but I will remember next time! After church I attended a lunch with other members of the church in the priest’s house next door and was spoiled with an assortment of wonderful foods- soup, fresh bread, Scottish mince meat pies, “millionaire’s shortbread,” rhubarb-raspberry pie and thick squares of something called “flapjack” in Scotland that does not refer to a pancake but rather a soft and chewy sweet like a granola bar. I also had my first student radio show with my friend that day. This weekend was a lot of fun!

What's Happening?

In my second week of school I am still experiencing things for the first time – the joy of finally receiving my debit card in the mail and the wonder at the weather that seems to change every time I look out the window (the saying here goes “if you don’t like the weather in Scotland, wait 5 minutes”).

WSU’s Cougs Abroad Blog prompts me to select a picture which best exemplifies my experience and emotions thus far. 

 The picture here is of an oxbow in the River Forth as seen from a lookout on the Wallace Monument, with a field of green neatly separated from the block of houses on the other side. I’ve discovered the green, lush, “bonnie” Scotland of tourism is not as clearly divided from everyday life. With all the beautiful scenery and history I have had the opportunity to be surrounded by, I realized I must also take the realities of living: draining my bank account the first week I arrived to pay for books, groceries and items like dish towels and pots, lugging heavy groceries for the week through the rain onto public transportation, fending off bees and squirrels from my screen-less window, cooking everyday for myself, paying the equivalent of $6 to do laundry in a facility down the street, and other miscellaneous activities I had never considered when I pictured myself in Scotland. This is not meant to be a complaint, but rather a reflection on my own naïveté; my living conditions are excellent and I enjoy many of the same amenities as I do at home, and it is this clash between real life as a student and the Scotland of travel guides that surprised me so much when I first began to live here. But like how the houses opposite the river bank are beautiful too, I am learning to appreciate both my somewhat dated residence hall and the lush forest trails behind it!

On a tourist train of thought, however, I finally took a few hours with friends to explore the inside of Stirling Castle, an interesting mix of architecture from different Stewart kings – the gothic Royal Palace and the white-gold Great Hall are built right next to each other inside the defenses! 

The Great Hall built by James IV

The Royal Palace by James V

Interior of the Great Hall - no floating candles or Dumbledore, but still very neat!

The smell in the Great Hall was amazing, as the wood work on the ceiling is made of oak from Scotland and held together entirely by wooden pegs and not nails as it would have been constructed initially. The Palace was also beautiful and had many interesting ceilings!

The "Stirling Heads" are historical figures and were arranged in this room to show off the king's lineage and inspirations

A friend and I in the Great Hall

And to end again with food, here is a picture of crisps in a Scottish grocery store. Notice anything familiar?

Walkers is actually owned by Frito-Lay, although Mr. Walker began his hand-sliced potato crisp business much earlier in the 1880s. I bought a bag but haven’t tried them yet – it will be interesting to see if they taste any different.