Cambridge - USA - Canada

Hi there everyone.
After endless pestering from one of my annoying sisters (you know who you are), I shall update this sucka.
So we moved down to Cambridge. The main reason for this drastic move was this little chap:

His name is Ben (or Beanz) and is quite possibly the best looking, most advanced, most genious bebe in about 34 years. So far we've been able to see quite a lot of him which has pretty much made the whole escapade worthwhile.

The other thing that's been upcoming for a while (and has so far thwarted job efforts) is trip to the US of A. We're about halfway through it now and I'm writing this while sipping coffee at the in-laws' kitchen table. We have already visited East Palestine OH (McTrustrys) & Allentown PA (Butlers).

Unfortunately due to our limited schedule we were only able to stay overnight but we did get to see everyone and catch up. Chris (uncle Chris that is) gave us a bolleke and we (well, I) sampled some of the local brews. We caught up with all of the McTrustry family news as well as hanging out with Beth, Mark an the kids.

We then hopped up to Toronto for our train ride to Vancouver. Luckily we had about a day to look around - which included a walk out to a lovely little place: Wanda's Pie in the Sky which sells huge slices of pie and vegan cup cakes!

That night we jumped on the train and trundled off towards Vancouver. We were in the cheap seats (obviously) and met quite a few people on the way - including a couple of chatty octogenarians (or so) who kind reminded us of the muppet hecklers.

About halfway into our journey we stopped in Winipeg, Manitoba and we took a bus tour through the parks and districts - including the sculpture park and flower garden.

Finally - 3 and a half days after leaving Toronto, we finally chugged into Vancouver Station, boarded a Greyhound bus and headed back into the States.

Itchy Feet

So the time has come to start the blog back up.

After a couple of years in Aberdeen, it's time to hit the streets again and head off on a new adventure.

Cambridge is the starting point with further tour destinations to be announced as they are finalised...

Watch this space!

Travels!

We had a week of travels! Woo-hoo! During Chris's October break from teaching, we took off.

First up was a night in Edinburgh, including dinner at one of the gorgeous vegetarian Indian restaurants there. Scrumptious.

The next afternoon saw us in Macclesfield for an MTFC game, and the Macc won 3-2! Woo-hoo! Given that Oxford scored their 2 goals in the first half, and the Macc scored their 3 goals in the second half, it was nail-biting stuff for most of the game.

Then we got to London and made a beeline for Nick, Sarah and Wills. And Lib (or Lobster) as it turned out, as well as Dave and Shelagh the next day. We had a lovely few days there, hanging out with various Nodens, helping Nick and Sarah move house and continually being amazed by wee Wills's expanding vocabulary. He is awesome!!! We also took advantage of the Hummingbird Bakery's cupcakes. Ahhhhhhh.

Then we hopped onto the Eurostar and hied ourselves off to Lille. I'd been a bit anxious about the underwater part of the journey, but it was over much more quickly than I expected. Lille was lovely, especially since our expectations had been lowered somewhat by people asking us why were bothering to go there! It was perfect for our purposes. We just relaxed, checked out the architecture and cobbled streets, chilled in cafes, etc. We were only there for a couple days, but it was very nice indeed.

The only disappointment was at the very end of our time there, when some visiting football fans got extremely drunk and tried to trash the big central square there (while we and lots of locals watched from a distance, horrified and ready to run should the mob come our way). But that was outsiders behaving that way; it didn't reflect badly upon Lille. We were happy to find out later that the visiting footie team lost the game! Also, in true French fashion, we saw a protest march go through the city. It seemed to be by and for uni students there, presumably to protest proposed cuts to univerity funding or proposed additions to the fees the students have to pay. Either way, it was exciting to see it in action. We were half hoping that something would kick off between all the marching students and the many policemen lining the streets, but it was very peaceful. No cars on fire or suchlike.

We got the Eurostar back to London and then a sleeper to Edinburgh. We woke up in Edinburgh to find TORRENTIAL rain. I mean TORRENTIAL. We'd deliberately scheduled a couple hours' layover in Edinburgh so we could have a leisurely stroll and breakfast before catching another train to Aberdeen. Ha! We were soaked within 15 seconds of leaving the train station! But we dragged ourselves to the bagel shop and thankfully found it open. We filled up there, and luckily the rain slacked off a bit by the time we left. The weather was uncanny, though. We'd had practically no rain the entire time we'd been on holiday up until we returned to Edinburgh. It was like we were being punished for coming home!

Nevertheless, by the time our train arrived in Aberdeen and we made our way back home, it was nice to be back. I'm looking forward to more travels asap, though!

Up yours, Trump!

I'm a bit late in posting this, but on 9 October we took part in an anti-Trump march in Balmedie. I wish it weren't necessary, but it was very gratifying to take part.

It was called the March of Menie, organised by families in Menie who are threatened by Trump's efforts to have the Scottish government force them to give up their homes. So he can build a golf course there. On land which is designated as an area of scientific interest. These families face a land clearance which harkens back to English persecution of the Scots, and the development of a golf course there could have a disastrous impact on the local fauna and flora. We're talking about a completely ridiculous notion in the 21st century but one that is nevertheless being considered by the government which is supposed to be protecting its citizens and land. It's frankly unbelievable.

Yet it's a very real threat. Trump's bulldozers have already razed sand dunes and relocated the sand to places nature didn't see fit to have it already. They're literally wrecking the environment which should have been protected, and the only thing standing in the way of the complete transformation of this still mostly lovely area into a golf course is a collection of famlies who don't want to leave their homes in that area.

These people live there; it's their community. They're not being asked to move for the sake of improvements to the infrastructure or suchlike, nothing to benefit them or Scotland at large. Instead, they're being pressured to move -- some of them to quite an unbelievable extent (see http://www.trippinguptrump.com/ for information) -- because one rich man fancies a golf course in a location quite possibly unfit for golf given the local weather and within a country which already offers world-famous golf courses. It all reads like a work of fiction.

Yet, again, it's all too real. Pardon my soap box, but this just shouldn't happen. These families in Menie have said no, and that should be the end of the discussions. The whole thing makes my blood boil. Trump should definitely be sent homeward...tae think again.

Fringe benefits

Living in Scotland has certain drawbacks - the mediocre weather, the ever present threat posed by Bucky swilling neds and so on... - but luckily it does mean that we are close to one of Britain's most exciting events: the Edinburgh Festival. Technically that should really be the Edinburgh Festivals as there are several running concurrently, but for simplicity's sake we'll stick with the singular.

[Please note, these are not my videos, just embedded ones from www.youtube.com]



Anyway, this year we managed to earmark a couple of weekends to make the quick trip down to ol' Reekie to try to catch the odd show or seven (the odder the better usually), eat our bodyweight in curry and soak up a bit of the atmosphere.

Leaving immediately after work (Tracy's work that is - I'm still on holiday heh heh heh) we jumped on a train and got in to Edinburgh by about 7pm. We checked in to the hostel and immediately set out in search of Jason Byrne's venue. As we passed several venues we remarked upon the length of the queues before arriving at our desination - only to find we'd just walked past it, had remarked upon the length of the queue, and we now had to climb the hilll we'd just decended. Isn't it ironic. Don't you think? Anyway, despite the fact we were right up the back with a restricted view, we still enjoyed the show and had a good time nevertheless. That night we stopped by Ann Purna for dinner and had some lovely curry and beer (well, I had some lovely beer anyway :D).


[Kevin Eldon is the chap with the dark hair on the right]

Saturday we managed to see Kevin Eldon, David Strassman and Mark Watson (individually, not concurrently) with Kevin's solo show being a particular highlight. Saturday also saw more curry, coffee, bagel, guinness and (if memory serves) more beer.



Sunday we had free, so spent the day wandering about and soaking up the festival atmosphere. Sunday was sadly lacking in curry, but we hope to make up for that next time we visit the capital in a fortnight's time.

Aviemore

For our 12th wedding anniversary, we decided to spend the weekend in Aviemore. We'd booked this a few months in advance and only found out later that the Friday night we'd be there, there was an open evening at the Highland Wildlife Park. We were invited because we sponsor animals at Edinburgh Zoo, and we couldn't believe the timing!

So on the Friday we got to Aviemore as quickly as we could and hightailed it over to the HWP. It was a lovely evening with plenty of visitors there, and some of the animals were more visible than they usually are when we visit. We were especially thrilled to see one of the beavers swimming about and eating leaves in full view of us visitors; he must have been out for 20 minutes before a loud child frightened him into hiding in his lodge. I wanted to smack that child!

On a very sad note, we were gutted to hear that Yuri, the male adult tiger we’ve been visiting possibly as long as we’ve been married, is drinking far more water than he should. Based on this indication that he is unwell and the fact that he is actually older than tigers usually live in the wild, we were told that he could be euthanised within the next few months if he is deemed to be in a lot of pain.

Meanwhile as part of the open evening, there was a silent auction of various items, including a tiger experience in which the winners could get closer to the tigers. I was determined to give Chris, who is especially fond of Yuri, a chance to get closer to Yuri and the other tigers so I made sure we won the tiger experience. I also got us the “adopt any animal and meet the keeper” experience so we could learn more about the red pandas. As luck would have it, we were told we could have both of our experiences on Sunday, our anniversary! We couldn’t wait.

On Saturday, we spent some time at the RSPB’s osprey centre at Loch Garten. We were thrilled to find out that the three osprey chicks have all fledged but are still in Loch Garten. They’ll all fly to Africa in the next few weeks, but for now they’re still visible from the visitor centre. It’s a lovely centre staffed by people who really care about the ospreys and know everything about these particular birds. They’re amazing creatures, the birds and the staff!

From there, we visited the cake shop at the Inshraich Nursery. We consumed cake and tea while viewing the many birds and squirrels at the feeding stations in front of a long viewing window. It is so lovely there, and the wildlife viewing is truly hypnotic. It was only the sound of more and more customers arriving (and the knowledge that there aren’t enough seats at the window for everyone) that prompted us to surrender our places and depart!

We then spent a few hours walking around the very scenic Loch an Eilein. There were other visitors dotted around, but it was so peaceful and lovely. We especially enjoyed the various dogs who were there with other visitors but were willing to trot along with us for a while. Cute! We capped off the lovely day with delicious curry at our favourite Indian restaurant in Aviemore and a sighting of one of the Loch Garten ospreys flying over the B&B with a big fish in his/her talons!

The next day was all about our animal experiences at the HWP. First we met the keepers at the tiger enclosure. We got close to the tigers in their indoor enclosure, where they’d been locked in so that meat could be placed in various spots in their outdoor enclosure. It was thrilling but unnerving to be so close to them inside the enclosure. They are so huge and gorgeous. We wanted to reach right through the bars and pet them, but the keepers thankfully kept us right. We then helped distribute the huge hunks of meat around the large outdoor enclosure, not a pleasant task but certainly an interesting one! Then we were safely outside the enclosure when the tigers were allowed back outside, but we had a close vantage point for watching them. All of this lasted for about an hour and a half, but it felt much longer than that. And we were much relieved to learn that Yuri doesn’t seem to be in any pain for now. We sincerely hope that he’ll get better.

We then had our red panda experience. The keepers of the tigers and the red pandas were so nice to us, telling us so much about the animals and getting us as close to the animals as safely possible. For the red pandas, we got to help put apples slices throughout the enclosure, and then the main keeper tried so hard to get the pandas to come down from up in the trees so we could feed them. The pandas were looking down at us but didn’t feel like moving. The keeper was so patient; she tried for about half an hour before it was time for us to head back to the tigers. The red pandas are gorgeous, and just being that much closer to them was well worth the experience!

When we got back to the tigers, it was time to assist the keepers in examining the tigers for any obvious injuries/problems. We were each given a stick with a bit of meat on the end, and we took turns luring a tiger into standing up against the mesh wall of the enclosure. While each tiger stood up with his/her paws against the mesh, the keepers could check their paws and bellies. The tigers, even the cubs, are HUGE. It was surreal indeed to have a huge cat standing up right in front of me, with only a seemingly thin sheet of wire mesh separating us. The keepers were kind enough to take pictures of us with the tigers, and here we are with Yuri:



We were delighted with our tiger and red panda experiences. It was so special to get so close to such gorgeous creatures, very special indeed. It was certainly an anniversary to remember. Thank you, Highland Wildlife Park!

Denmark - July 2010

To start Iff's six-week summer holiday, we spent a couple weeks in Denmark. In keeping with our "no fixed address" plan, we got there without flying. Woo-hoo!

We got the train from Aberdeen to Newcastle and a bus out to the overnight ferry. We managed to sleep for 14 hours on the ferry, waking up when we docked at Amsterdam. We got a bus into Amsterdam and had a lovely day walking around. Highlights included all the footie decorations (the World Cup was going on), the lovely zoo (with a junior elephant!) and aquarium (with eels - boooooooo) and hanging out in a park where local talents sang such varied songs as the theme song from "Duck Tales"...surreal. Then we grabbed dinner stuff from a grocery store before getting on the late, overnight train to Copenhagen.

We were in Copenhagen for five days, and the first three days we ran ourselves ragged seeing all the touristy stuff. We had a lovely time despite all the mobs of tourists (locals too perhaps!) and high price tags on everything. We found some really gorgeous veggie cafes and lovely parks to relax in. One of our highlights was resting in the Kongens Have after a day of walking our feet off; we found a group of violinists practicing in a corner of the garden, so we laid down on the grass and enjoyed the music. It was beautiful. Tivoli was as charming as all the guidebooks led us to expect. The people we encountered in Copenhagen were so nice and helpful, which we really appreciated. In the last couple days there, we ventured out of the city to places like the Danmarks Akvarium, which was small but amazing. All in all, we had a great time and managed by the end to find a balance between seeing "everything" and just relaxing. Lovely.

Then it was time for Jutland. We hopped on a train to Aarhus, where we picked up an adorable wee convertible for exploring the island. We headed first to Mariager, a wee fjord town north of Aarhus. It was so lovely! Its cobbled streets, wonky houses and abundant roses charmed me to no end. I could have stayed there forever. Alas, we had other places on our itinerary, so we headed on to Skagen and Grenen way up in the north. There we hit the lovely beaches. It was so hot, and the water felt gorgeous! But the real highlight beach-wise came next, when we headed to Rubjerg Knude Fyr, a giant sand dune with an abandoned lighthouse in it. The sand was so soft and clean, and from on top of the dune it seemed like we could see the whole world. Glorious!!! All the water around the dune sparkled, and Chris had a ball hurling himself off the top of the dune, rolling down all the sand to the ground below. We LOVED it. Thank you to Mogens for the tip!

We then hightailed it to the hostel we’d booked in Nykobing Mors. We were running late, especially after the “bridge” short cut we thought we could take turned out to be a ferry which wasn’t running then. We couldn’t find a pay phone anywhere and were frantic to phone the hostel to arrange a later check-in. (At another Danish hostel we’d stayed in, we saw some people arrive after check-in; they had to sleep in their car!) We finally asked in a shop where the nearest pay phone was. The woman there laughed but luckily was kind enough to let us use her phone, and the woman at the hostel agreed to leave our keys out for us. Whew! We arrived at the hostel just in time to watch the final World Cup game and cheer on Spain.

The next morning we thought to go for a swim; our hostel was right on the beach. But we saw lots of jellyfish and even a surly-looking crab in the water so just took some pictures instead. We then headed to the nearby, medieval Spottrup Castle with its gorgeous medieval-style herb garden and rose trellis garden. The whole place smelled like herbs and roses, and there were loads of bright blue dragonflies hovering over the moat. It was utterly charming. But then it was time for the reason we’d come to Denmark: Kai!

Kai is our favourite rhino. He was born in Edinburgh Zoo, and we watched him grow up enough to challenge the authority of his parents and then get shipped off to Denmark’s Givskud Zoo. We visited him there a few years later and were delighted to see him in a really big, gorgeous savannah enclosure with other rhinos and antelope-type animals. That was several years ago, and in the years since then we’ve wondered how he’s doing and whether he might even be a dad. It was time to find out! We got to the zoo and went straight to the rhino enclosure. There were six gorgeous rhinos out there, but we didn’t know which one was Kai. There wasn’t a keeper around who we could ask, but we took a guess and were happy to see that all of the rhinos seemed to be in a great place. We were really happy with the state of things and decided not to seek out information in case we heard something that would burst the bubble!

The next day we went to Legoland. We were drawn to it because Legos are Danish and we’d heard that there are really cute Lego sculptures to be seen there. Are there ever! There’s a whole area full of Lego models of landmarks from all over the world, many of them with moving parts. There are Lego sculptures all throughout the park and really cute rides as well. We had a ball!

The next day we had nothing planned, so we decided to go see Kai again. This time we were there for a talk by a rhino keeper. The talk was in Danish, and there were lots of other visitors there. We waited until the talk ended and the other visitors had gone, then we asked the keeper which rhino was Kai. Luckily she spoke excellent English, but we were gutted when she explained that because Kai and another rhino don’t get along well, they are separated and take turns being outside each day; today was Kai’s turn to stay inside the rhino house while all the other rhinos were outside. We were especially gutted when we realised that two days ago when we visited the zoo, Kai wasn’t outside either; we’d missed him during both days we visited the zoo, and we were leaving tomorrow before the zoo would even open!

It turned out that Kai is this keeper’s favourite rhino, however, and she could tell how gutted we were. We explained that we’d come from Scotland and planned our whole holiday around seeing Kai. She was so moved by this, she snuck us into the rhino house to see Kai! We couldn’t believe it! Our baby rhino now weighs two tons! He was delighted to see the keeper; he knows her by sight and recognises her voice and was happy to put his head through the bars to be petted and to eat the apples she had for him. She even let us feed him some apples and scratch him behind the ears! She stressed that they do not cuddle the animals in the zoo, but she’s allowed to pet and feed him enough that he trusts her and lets her get close when he needs to be examined.

We couldn’t believe our luck in getting so close to him. Our little baby rhino has grown so much, but he’s still like a little boy. He threw a wee tantrum each time the keeper paid more attention to us than to him, stomping all around his enclosure. The rest of the time we were with him, though, he had his tail curled up, and the keeper explained that he does this when he’s happy, just like a pig does! And the rhino he’s being kept separate from is a young girl rhino (two thirds the size of him) who attacks him when he gets near her! He’s only being friendly! Hopefully she’ll chill out soon. He’s not a father yet, but hopefully that will change in the near future. When it was time for us to leave the rhino house, I couldn’t thank the keeper enough. It was such a special experience, and I’m thrilled to know he’s in such good hands.

The next day, still giddy from our Kai experience, we went back to Aarhus to return the car and spend our last night in Denmark. Aarhus is a lovely town, smaller and less crowded than Copenhagen. We relaxed there until the next morning, when we caught a train back to Copenhagen. We had the afternoon there, so we mostly relaxed in Kongens Have. We got the overnight train back to Amsterdam and whiled away a few pleasant hours there. We watched a boys’ football tournament in one of the main squares and browsed a big, colourful market, where we picked up dinner stuff for the ferry. Then it was a bus back to the ferry, the overnight ferry back to Newcastle and finally the train back to Aberdeen.

The two weeks went by quickly, but we had a great time. We’re already looking forward to a return trip!

Skip to the end...

Since then, we’ve had a couple weekends in Aviemore, where we checked out all the wildlife at the Highland Wildlife Park (especially the gorgeous tiger cubs and red pandas) and hung out in the cake shop (eating cake, drinking tea and watching loads of birds and red squirrels help themselves to birdfood; what’s not to like?).

Iff ran/walked a 10K in Aberdeen:


And I abseiled off the Forth rail bridge to raise some money for Edinburgh Zoo but also to get to abseil off the Forth rail bridge! It was genius:

UK again March 2010

Next up: March 2010. The weekend after Iff’s birthday, we went back down to England. On our way we had a night in Edinburgh, including lovely food at our favourite veggie restaurants. Then we got the train to London for a visit with Nick, Sarah and Wills. Wills is not so wee anymore! And he’s walking!!! We loved seeing all of them. We then spent a night in Cambridge, where we got to see Lib and James. We managed a wee trip to a local RSPB area, where we saw some birds (sorry, James, can’t remember which ones!) and deer. Then it was back to London, where we didn’t manage to meet up with Mary but did manage to catch a bus to Cardiff. Never again! It was a lot cheaper than the train to Cardiff, but the bus broke down when we were so close to Cardiff we could smell the daffs. A strip of metal was hanging off the bus, and the driver couldn’t do anything with it. We had to wait for about an hour on the side of the highway for a mechanic to come and saw the strip off. We were awfully relieved when we finally arrived in Cardiff.

Cardiff was lovely; we really enjoyed it. The hostel wasn’t the greatest experience, but we spent as little time in it as possible. We explored the whole city, taking in the castle and even a bus tour. (They have the second largest John Lewis in the UK, second only to London! And don’t you forget it!) We ate more than once at an amazing vegetarian restaurant with the most extensive menu I’ve ever seen. And we caught up on movies, taking advantage of the huge cinemas there. Loved it.

We took a day trip to Lydney Park, an estate not far away from Cardiff. It boasts some Roman ruins of a temple dedicated to the god Nodens. Chris (being a Noden) and I (having married a Noden) had been curious about this place for quite some time, and it was great to go there at last. It’s a large estate full of beautiful gardens and the ruins themselves. We went straight to the ruins and checked out the remains of the temple, bath house and guest house. The ruins aren’t built up at all, but there are signs to tell a bit about them. The thinking is that Nodens was revered as a god of healing in this place, and it’s believed that many visitors made pilgrimage to the temple for that reason.

We then wandered through the gardens, having been told that most of the flowers weren’t yet in bloom but we could see “the rhododendron”. (Only one?) We were pleasantly surprised to find more than just one rhododendron in bloom. There were various flowers in bloom and lots of bright colours to enjoy. We soaked it all up. We then explored the wee museum full of interesting bits and pieces from the ruins and elsewhere, and we had some tea and cake in the estate’s tearoom. We also had a nice walk to and from the estate and the train station in Lydney. All in all, it was an excellent day.

The next day we went from Cardiff to Bath, one of our favourite spots. We had lunch at Demuths, one of our favourite vegetarian restaurants, and wandered around absorbing the wonderful Bath atmosphere. Iff drank the nasty Bath water, as he always does. We then headed back to London. We only had the one night left there, but we managed to fit in a play, the very entertaining “The Little Dog Laughed”. As we left the theatre, someone famous was getting photographed as she got into a fancy car, but we still don’t know who it was!

The next day we got a train back to Aberdeen. We got back in time for Easter weekend, which we spent at the Hill. Lovely!

Orkney in December/January

In December 2009, we had a lovely Christmas at the Hill with the whole Noden clan. Then we spent a week in lovely, snow-topped Orkney. The ferry to Orkney was a hoot. I felt a bit queasy getting onto the thing but didn’t think much of it. When I got sick (very, very sick) repeatedly on the ferry, I figured it was travel sickness. The travel sickness pills wouldn’t stay down, which didn’t help. I’ve never been so happy to see solid ground than when we arrived in Kirkwall. We were only on that ferry for six hours, but they were hellish hours.

It turned out that I had some kind of stomach bug (not just travel sickness after all), and it lasted for most of our time on the island. We didn’t do all the hiking we’d anticipated, but we still managed to see the sights. Kirkwall itself was lovely with an amazing hostel. We walked all over the town and visited the gorgeous Italian chapel nearby. We then spent a few days in Stromness. On our way there, we stopped in at Maeshowe, a wonderfully ancient tomb which features Roman graffiti and from which various standing stones can be seen. After our visit, it turned out it would be quite a while before the next bus would pass by, and we were so grateful when the shop attendant offered us a lift the rest of the way to Stromness. Talk about island hospitality! He even gave us the local history and gossip along the way. I was utterly charmed.

We got out at Stromness, thanked our driver profusely and at length managed to find the cottage we’d rented. It was amazing, so luxurious and even featuring a real fireplace. I should mention it was absolutely baltic up there. In a way I was glad for the excuse not to hike! We were mostly lazy in Stromness, just enjoying the cosy cottage. It was in Stromness that we rang in the new year. It’s only a small town, but seemingly most of its inhabitants were out for Hogmanay. There was a band of pipers which marched up the main street and fireworks once the clock struck midnight. It was low-key, and we loved it. Chris even managed to share his whisky flask with another out-of-towner.

On New Year’s day, we ventured back to Kirkwall (spying some inquisitive seals on our way) for the ba’. It’s a crazy game of street rugby in which the local men and boys take part each Christmas and New Year’s day. Pretty much every shop and residence in the town has strong boards across the windows on the street for when the ba’ players (uppies and doonies) crash into them. We’re talking about massive teams vying against each other for the ba’, which they have to take all the way across town in order to win the game. It’s hotly contested each time, and they get into it seriously enough for people to get hurt (including bystanders who get in the way). There are two games, one each for the men and boys. The boys started in the morning and hadn’t even quite finished when the men began in the afternoon. There were dozens of men/boys on each team but hundreds of us spectators. There would be periods of inactivity when the teams (and the ba’) were at an impasse, during which times we spectators would amuse ourselves and then have to run out of the way when the ba’ suddenly was on the move yet again. We loved it all; it was such a fab thing to experience. The uppies and doonies really get into it (players and spectators), but we just cheered for everyone.

We then had a couple more days in Stromness before we got the ferry from there to Scrabster on mainland Scotland. From there we caught a local bus to Thurso, from where we’d booked a train back to Aberdeen. It turned out that the trains were cancelled, though, due to the heavy snow. And we just missed a van that the train company chartered to take some people (like us) who’d booked the train. It was so cold, and we (along with dozens of other people who eventually showed up too) just had to wait outside the train station for a few hours until more vans arrived. We elbowed our way onto one of them (how quickly the orderly queue disappeared once the vans arrived!) and made our slow way nearly to Aberdeen. We wound up getting out at a train station where we were able to get onto a train which was running. It took us to Inverness, where we had an hour or so to kill before we got another train to Aberdeen. We wound up getting out at Dyce and having a lovely visit at the Hill before heading home. What an amazing week!

USA in November 2009

In November 2009, we had a couple weeks in the US. We caved in and booked flights for it, although we only flew to and from London and got trains between here and there. There were two reasons we went at that time: my dad’s 70th birthday and our niece’s 2nd birthday (on the same day). We flew to Seattle, where we met up with the rest of the Thompson clan for a few days of hanging out. I was thrilled to meet wee Ian, our nephew, and attend his christening. He’s gorgeous! We celebrated my dad’s and Kirsten’s birthdays a bit early and headed to Houston the day before Thanksgiving.

We spent a few days in Houston, celebrating Thanksgiving with my aunt, visiting Nadine and family, celebrating my dad’s actual birthday and generally making pigs of ourselves (compulsory in the US). Then we hitched a ride to San Antonio with Ross and were completely lazy in his flat for a few days. It was awesome. We watched movies, played Tetris and were complete layabouts. Loved it! I didn’t want to leave, but eventually we got a bus back to Houston. We flew back to London from there and caught a train back home to Aberdeen. Vacations fly by far too quickly!

UK in July/August 2009

Right, catching up on the blog, starting with July 2009 (feels like yesterday!)…

For our 11th anniversary, we decided to visit some Nodens in England and also check out the recently released beavers in Scotland. We got the overnight train to London then headed over to Cambridge. We stayed there a couple nights and had a lovely time with the Leebster and Jim. Then it was back to London to hang with Nick, Sarah and wee Wills. Wills is absolutely gorgeous, and it was hard to leave again!

But we wanted to make a side trip to Canterbury, where Chris hadn’t been before. We just had one night there, but it was fab. We visited the cathedral (for free during a church service!) as well as the much smaller but very lovely church Sarah’s parents got married in, and we explored the remnants of the city walls and castle. It’s a great place to roam around and soak in the history. It also has some lovely veggie cafes, and the hostel there is ace. We were sorry to leave so soon, but we consoled ourselves by seeing the hilarious "39 Steps" in London.

It was then time for the Scottish part of our trip. We wound up in Glasgow, where we rented a car. We headed over to Kilmartin for a few days in beaver country. In nearby Knapdale Forest, some beavers have been reintroduced to Scotland as part of a trial. We were delighted to spot one swimming around and grabbing at some branches hanging over the water. We were also delighted with our B&B, which has some wild pine martens who visit for food. We got to roll grapes to them, but I did cringe when the gorgeous homemade cootie dumpling got offered to them as well! The food at this B&B rocked, as did the food at the local pub and in a posher place in the village. We also enjoyed walking around the area. There were even some standing stones in a field near the B&B. Very cool.

We headed back to Aberdeen all too soon and normal life resumed. Fast forward to October 2009, when we nipped back down for a long weekend in Cambridge and some quality time with the Leebster and Jim. We just can’t seem to stay away from that part of the UK.