Day #21 – Back to St. Andrews because we love it so

Today we started off slow as Edinburgh had exhausted us the day before.  Chris, Steve and I decided we needed milk, and the small mart in Dairsie was not too far away, so we set off on a walk.  It was a lovely walk, but took a bit longer than I realized.  It was about a mile there and back.  We bought three pints of milk, and proceeded to carry them back the way we came.

The University Cathedral

Once home, Nicola and her kids were ready to go.  They took Chris and headed on into St. Andrews.  I proceeded to wake Andy up and get our gang going.  Once out the door, we headed into St. Andrews ourselves and found a parking spot right on the golf course.  We walked into town and stumbled upon the University.  The buildings are beautiful.

Walking the grounds

After a quick walk through (and a search for a toilet for Peter), we headed further towards the sea until we were at the Cathedral.  We contacted the Jagi who said they would like to see the Cathedral with us, so we found a quick spot for some sandwiches and met them back at the site.

The gravedigger left his shovel

The Cathedral was once a beautiful, huge catholic cathedral, but during the 1500’s, John Knox gave a fiery sermon in nearby Holy Trinity church, that the congreagation left the service and destroyed the catholic cathedral.   Within 40 years it looked much as it looks today, completely in ruins. 

The walk around the cathedral, with signs helping you to envision what it once looked like, is wonderful.  At the far end of the grounds, there once stood a small church, the predecessor to the cathedral.  The tower still stands, and so we took the 157 steps to the top.  It was a great view!  We could see all of St. Andrews and the beach.

After 157 steps back down, past a large group of kids trying to get up, we made it back to the ground.  We headed off to the beach once more so that Andy could body surf.  This day wasn’t as nice as Sunday, but it was still nice enough to get in the water.  The kids changed and soon were playing in the surf.

We didn’t stay too long as the wind was cold.  ½ hour in the water was enough for everyone.  We headed back into the city center, and split into two groups:  those that wanted to go to a pub and get a drink, and those that wanted to do a little shopping.

I was one of the shoppers, and had a good time looking at the cashmere, bags and jewelry for sale in the town.  St. Andrews has a lot of lovely boutiques, and we enjoyed many of them.

After we all met back at the pub, we headed home to freshen up, change and go out to dinner.  Again, we split into two groups: those who wanted to walk to dinner (it was in Dairsie on the same road as the mini mart) and those who wanted to drive there.  I felt it was smart to drive as it would be dark when we would be heading home, and I thought the little ones would want to ride.

We had a very good dinner at the Dairsie Inn pub called Rumbdethumps (which is also a local Scottish dish).  In fact, some of us ordered Rumbledethumps as an appetizer, and it was very much like a potato and cabbage pot pie without the top crust.  This was the night to splurge as we had steaks and salmon for dinner.  Dessert for me was a millionaire shortcake sundae.  Have I mentioned that I hae discovered millionaire shortcake and it is amazing??  I must find a recipe.  Anyway, headed home in two groups.  Everyone in the car except for Chris, Nicola and Anya.  We got home and I got Pete to bed as he was very tired.  Chris, Nicola and Anya showed up about 15 minutes later and she looked very tired as well.

Hopefully tomorrow won’t be really early because tonight was really late!

Day #20 – Edinburgh

Edinburgh is on a hill!

This morning had to start quickly as we needed to make a 10am train out of Cupar for Edinburgh.  We didn’t have tickets, so we needed time to figure it all out.  It was a mad dash, but we made it with minutes to spare!

The train ride into Edinburgh was a little over an hour, and the cost was quite expensive!  Thank goodness for our Family Rail Card (thank you Doric!)  We made it into Edinburgh around 11:15 and were on our way.  We headed over to the Royal Mile and decided to go uphill first, then make our way downhill.  In retrospect, we really didn’t handle the day very efficiently, but I guess you live and learn.

Look at that queue!  No thanks!!

First we walked up towards Edinburgh Castle.  It’s mostly ruins, but it’s on one of the highest points in Edinburgh.  The guide book said that while it was nice, it might not be worth the price of admission, and the line to get in was INSANELY long, so we looked, ooh’d and ahh’d, and headed back downhill.  There are stands set up all around the outside entrance of the castle for the Military Tattoo which happens during the Edinburgh Festival which is in about two weeks.  That’s when Edinburgh gets REALLY crowded (which is amazing as it was too crowded for me today!)

Look at that queue!  No thanks!!

As we turned back, we passed a camera obscura, which looked like a lot of fun, but everyone was hungry.  We also passed a tartan mill and couldn’t help but step inside to see how tartans are made, and I did end up purchasing some various Macmillan clan items (my grandmother was a Macmillan.)

Where J. K. Rowling wrote her books!

Anyway, after that brief shopping we headed back downhill and turned off part-way to have lunch at the Elephant House.  It’s a café where J.K. Rowling wrote a good portion of her books.  It’s really very nice and cozy inside with a view of the castle in the distance, which I think would be very inspiring for a writer.  Anyway, we weren’t very efficient in how we handled the ordering of our food, and they were really slow, so it ended up taking MUCH longer than anticipated for lunch.

We were finally out of the café and on our way back downhill in mid-afternoon.  As we wandered the streets we stumbled across a comic book store called Forbidden Planet.  Emily had hoped to see it!  So the Bumba’s went in and took a look around, and, of course, bought stuff.

We then headed the rest of the way down the hill to Holyrood Palace, which is still in use as a palace.  This was a place I really wanted to see!  We bought tickets, got the audio tours, and went inside.  The queen occasionally does stay at Holyrood, and in fact, her granddaughter Zari Phillips will be getting married in Edinburgh next weekend, and the reception is to take place at Holyrood!  It was fun to think that we were in a place where members of the royal family would be in just under a week.

The palace was beautiful, and the walk around the gardens was lovely.  The palace is next to the ruins of an abbey. The abbey was there first, the palace built later.  We were able to see Mary Queen of Scots bedroom, as this was one of her residences.

The Debating Floor

After our tour of the palace, we headed back outside.  Nicola really wanted to see the new Scottish Parliament building, so we all went in and took a tour around.  The architecture is really different and fun.

After a quick tour around, we headed back up the hill towards the top to see the Camera Obscura (built in the 1800s!).  The camera is on top of the building but the rest of the floors have fun items that trick your eyes.  We had a lot of fun on each level and the presentation at the top was really fun.  If you don’t know what a camera obscura is, look it up.  They are really cool.

After that, we headed partway back downhill towards the train.  It was a quiet train ride back as everyone was exhausted.  Once back at the castle, we had soup (Nicola made homemade soup from the leftovers of the feast the day before!)  and bread.  It was a nice, yummy end to a very busy day.  We’ve told the kids that tomorrow is a lay in day.  They were very excited to hear that!

Day #19 – St. Andrews

Shhh

This morning it was the American’s turn to cook a “proper breakfast.”  We took over the kitchen and made bacon (we found some that was more American style than English style), and French toast.  Unfortunately, you just can’t get maple syrup over here.  The syrup we had was just made from sugar, but it was okay.  Our friends weren’t quite sure about having something so sweet for breakfast, but they were nice enough to choke it down.

St. Andrews Golf Course!

After breakfast we were on our way to St. Andrews.  It was a Sunday morning, so the town was a bit slower than usual.  As we entered the town, a C.L.A.N. meeting was just ending, which was something related to a gathering of various religious churches.  It would have been fine except that we had to get past all the people heading to their cars!

We made it to the car park, and were on our way.  Our first stop was the beach.  Well, Steve and Chris headed over to the St. Andrews golf course so that Steve could at least see where golf all started.  He did stop into the pro shop, but he said everything was priced ridiculously high.  I told him I thought it was nice that he is visiting all the great golf courses of the world, taking photos and moving on (last year was Pebble Beach.)  The poor guy.  Perhaps some day he’ll get back to playing golf.

On the beach

Anyway, the rest of us headed over to the beach for some fun.  We hadn’t brought our suits, so Pete just stripped down to his undies and went in.  The other two got in as far as their knees, but couldn’t go any farther (it was quite cruel, actually.)  The time on the beach was beautiful and fun (except for a spell of fear looking for Anya who had disappeared.)

Soon we were done and heading into the main part of the city.  We passed a park where a brass band was giving a concert.  A lady told us they were some of the best teenaged brass players in Scotland.  We had some ice cream and enjoyed a bit of the concert.

Medieval Feast!

We then headed into the city center to do a bit of looking around.   We were looking for a grocery and a butcher so that we could get what we needed for our evening medieval feast.  We found a butcher, but it was closed,  so we headed over to the local Tesco.  After another whirlwind shopping trip, we were headed back to the castle.  We also had a Tesco order being delivered to the castle between 6 and 8 (stuff that Nicola and I had ordered back on Isle of Man so that we’d have the basics on the first day), so we wanted to be here by the time it was delivered.

The boys got started on the meal and the ladies sat outside enjoying the sun.  It was quite a pleasant way to spend an evening.  Once the meal was done, we all sat down to our feast!  It was all finger food, as it was a medieval feast, and very very good!  There was roast chicken, venison and even some haggis!! After stuffing our faces and laughing a lot, we cleared the table and sat around the fire visiting.  It was a very successful day.

Silly cooks!

Day #18 – Hogwarts Express

The morning started quickly as we needed to get to Ft. William by 10, and it was at least a 1.5 hour drive away.  We scrambled to get ready, eat breakfast in the dining room (it was included in the price of the room), and head out.  Fortunately, we had only taken a small bag into the hotel with us so we wouldn’t have to repack the car!

The drive to Ft. William was beautiful.  The Scottish Highlands are dotted with lakes and mountains, so the scenery is incredible.  We arrived in Ft. William in plenty of time, parked the car and headed over to the steam train.

Perhaps Daniel Radcliffe once sat here!

We had two tables of seats, and two extra seats at a different table as there were 10 of us.  The four older kids sat at one table, the four adults sat at the other table and the two littlest kids wanted to sit at the third table which was shared with another group.  Fortunately, the other two seats were taken by a couple with a small baby, so it worked out well.

The grown up's table

Glenfinnan Viaduct

The steam train was smelly, but wonderful.  They had a dining car, a souvenir shop and a car that was probably where the interior shots of the Hogwarts Express were filmed!  We were able to lean out of the window of the train at points and get some great shots.  The Glenfinnan viaduct was where the scene was filmed where Harry and Ron are flying over the train in the car.  It’s beautiful, and we were able to get some great photos.

Ice cream in Mallaig

Once in Mallaig, we hopped off the train and walked over to the Cornerstone Restaurant, where I had reserved a table for 10.  They are known for their fish and chips, so that’s what I had. Nicola had the Monkfish which looked equally wonderful.  It was a lovely lunch, but it left us very little time to look around.  We did walk around a bit, and saw a man in a kilt playing bagpipes, but soon we were back on the train headed back to Ft. William.

Once back in Ft. William, we went to a grocery store located right next to the train called Morrison’s for some “immediate need” groceries for the castle as well as dinner for the car.  The place was packed and crazy busy, but we managed to navigate the place with all ten of us and get what we needed for a car dinner and breakfast the next morning.  It seems like we’re always buying food!

Our lovely dinner location

It took an hour, but soon we were on our way headed across Scotland towards Cupar.  I wanted to see Blair Castle just for a photo, so we stopped in front of it, right along the side of the road, took a photo, ate our dinner, and continued on.  It was quite the dinner “on the go.” 

We easily found the castle, and WHAT A CASTLE!!  It’s HUGE and amazing, with twists and turns, turrets, balconies, a dungeon, modern conveniences (I swear there is a toilet at every turn) and loads of bedrooms.  It took awhile to figure out where everyone was sleeping, but soon we had our stuff inside, beds allocated, children outside jumping on the trampoline, and kitchen stuff put away.

This is going to be an awesome place to stay for a week!

OUR CASTLE!!!

Day #17 – Boats and Cars

Thank you Chris!  (this is in Manx in case you were confused)

We started today very early as we had to be on the very by 8:30.  We were able to pack all our things and Jagi things in the Jagus van, but not all the bodies.  So, I went with Nicola, and Steve and the kids went with Chris.  He ended up parking his car at his office and they taxied over to the boat, while Nicola and family drove right onto the boat!

We all met on the boat except for Chris.  When he had checked in, they had asked him if he was a doctor, as a doctor was needed on the boat.   He disappeared from us for awhile, and when he returned, he told us that they were giving us free upgrades to cabins on the boat!  I didn’t even know they HAD cabins!  Apparently, a woman had looked very ill, but after a blood pressure check and a look over her medications, he assured everyone she was fine but should take it slow.

Our cabin!

So, we picked everything up and headed to our two cabins.  They had beds, a shower and toilet and a TV.  We set our stuff down and went to the dining area to have breakfast, then went back to the cabins to chill.  Em took a shower, as she hadn’t gotten to do that at home in the early morning, and Andy slept.  Steve read and dozed a bit and I watched some really bad TV.  All in all, it was a great ferry ride in class!

Once landed, Pete and I went with Ncola back down to the car, and Steve, Isaac, Chris and the kids walked off the boat to look for the Enterprise-Rent-A-Car guy.  We went to a nearby pub for lunch, the Enterprise guy dropped off the other kids, and Steve and Chris went to fill out paperwork.  It turns out that the “mini” mini-van was unavailable, and so they upgraded us to a regular mini-van!  There would be plenty of room for our junk.

After lunch, we were on our way.  Steve did pretty well driving on the left side of the road while seated on the right.  We made really good time until we got north of Glasgow.  Apparently there had been a bad road accident and the main road north was entirely shut down…and had been that way for 3 hours already!  After sitting in some nasty traffic, Chris and I found a sneaky way over the mountain, and past the horrible backed up traffic.  It still took us two hours to maneuver around everything.  We had been only 30 miles away from our destination for TWO HOURS!! 

Our hotel for a night

Anyway, dinner because a stop at the Tesco express (much like a BP Amoco café).  We ate in the car, while trying to get up past Loch Lomond before the sun set.  So glad we got to see the beautiful drive.  We didn’t make it to the hotel until well after 9, but the sun doesn’t set until around 10:30 up here, so we still had plenty of time.  I only wish dinner had been at the Crainlarich Hotel and not the Tesco express.  Oh well, you can’t control the traffic.

Tomorrow, the Hogwarts Express!!

Day #16 – Slow day plus a trip to the beach

At the tip of the island

We started very leisurely this morning as we had nowhere we had to be, and we needed to start preparing for our early morning leave tomorrow!  So, the morning was spent doing laundry, feeding children, and generally just hanging out.

At one point, Steve, Chris and I went for a quick trip to the local small market for a few items for lunch and dinner.  This place was a food mart, post office and general store all wrapped up on one.  I found some Dr. Who trading cards that I bought for Emily.  She was thrilled!

Chris took us on a small mountain road home.  It wasn’t a shortcut, but it was definitely fun!  Very bumpy, and we occasionally had to wait for chickens to get out of the road. This small road dumps out right across the street from their house.

After lunch, we decided to head out to the northern most point of the island.  It’s a beautiful, rocky point where currents converge and make whirlpools right off shore.  We walked a bit of the beach and threw rocks into the water, then headed into Ramsey. Chris had wanted to go for a walk up Snaefell mountain, but it was covered in clouds when we were finished with the beach.

In Ramsey, we walked through the town, stopping at a grocery store for sweets, and then over to a very nice public park, complete with a pond, exercise equipment and a playground. The kids had a lot of fun doing what kids do on playgrounds.

Whee!

We headed home to make dinner, finish up laundry, pack and get ready for an early bed, because tomorrow we’ve got a boat to catch!

Day #15 – Seeing the Sights plus Harry Potter!

Given the intensity of the past two days, today started nice and slow.  We all got to sleep in a bit, then a big breakfast was made for everyone before we headed out to sightsee. 

On top of the wheel!

Our first stop today was in Laxey to see the Laxey Wheel.  Laxey is home to both the biggest and second largest water wheels in the world.  The large wheel was used to pump water out of the mines when they were mining for lead and ore.  We were able to make our way up to the top of that large wheel and back down again.  The view was great!  We also headed into one of the mines.  It wasn’t a long trip in, but it was fun for the kids to wear the hard hat and get dripped on.

Our ride awaits!

After plenty of goofing around the Laxey wheel, we headed over to a pub for a quick drink before taking the Manx Electric Railway. Our family and Anya joined us on a trip from Laxey to Ballajora.  The trip was beautiful along the upper cliffs overlooking the sea.  As we rode, the Jagi passed our train a few times honking and stalking us.  At Ballajora, they were there waiting for us as we hopped off.

Emily chasing sheep

We walked into the small town and into a church graveyard where Emily finally got to see authentic Celtic crosses (dating between the 6^th and 13^th centuries) !  All the Celtic crosses we’ve seen before now were replicas.  She was thrilled.  We then walked through the graveyard, and the kids chased sheep next door, because why wouldn’t you? The church and surrounding gardens were beautiful, with amazing views (although I think the views were wasted on the cemetery dwellers.)

Dinner spot!

After Ballajora, we headed into Ramsey which is the largest, closest town to the Jagi.  We walked around the street, ordered fish and chips, and sat alongside the shipyard eating dinner.  This shipyard is where they built the Star of India, an Iron-hulled ship that is the oldest ship that regularly is put out to sea.  We visited it last year on our San Diego trip! (see http://jennifersvacations.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-9-day-off.html)  What a fun reference to last year’s vacation.

The biggest theater on the Isle of Man

After dinner, we headed back home, dropped the two little ones off with a babysitter, and headed into Douglas to finally see Harry Potter!  The cinema was quite nice.  They only have one showing a day, and Nicola was thrilled to get 8 seats last week when she tried.  For popular shows like that one, you need to really plan in advance!

Anyway, the show was wonderful, and our trip back home was through some impressive fog.  We spent the evening laughing and playing cards.  Tomorrow we are going to do laundry and some sightseeing.  Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be an early day because tonight ended pretty late!