Aberdeen

2014-10-25 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

While it was time to take off and travel more of Scotland, I really was quite reluctant about it because it meant having to leave K&E!! I still miss hanging out with them for a beer (or 20 in the case of K & I, lol!! AND whiskey on occasion!!) or for a delicious home cooked meal! I had my first Cullen Skink there, and though I’m not at all a fish fan, the soup was VERY delicious and had no fishy taste to it at all!! I miss the lean event we did together on the garage, driving around town in style, being shown all the exclusive and local parts of the area, the awesome conversation and company, and Sunday night burritos!! Yea, I wasn’t looking forward to leaving, but it was time…

When looking up where to go next, I settled on Aberdeen then on to the Highlands, which are in central Scotland. I was first thinking to keep going north from Aberdeen along the coast, but it would have been trickier to get around since I didn’t have a car and only relied on buses and trains. Which brings me to a point… Scotland visitors would definitely benefit from renting a car!!! There are sooooooo many nooks and crannies to see in Scotland that aren’t possible to see because the buses don’t go there, or they only go there on Tuesdays, etc, etc.!! So if you really want to get into Scotland, rent a car!! Or a car AND a chauffeur, which is how it would have to be in my case because they drive on the “wrong” side of the road and I could totally see myself killing myself within the first few minutes of attempting to drive alone!!

Moving on… I happened to find a train ticket to Aberdeen in first class for only 3 pounds more than the 2nd class ticket. Having never traveled any mode of transportation in first class before, I thought heck, why not?! And man oh man was it ever worth it!!! Free food! Free booze!! Free WiFi!!! Comfy seats!!! I can’t say that I would have paid much more than 10 pounds more than the 2nd class seat to get a 1st class seat, but then again… Now that I know all the perks of 1st class, well it certainly made me want to always go that way!! But I’m too cheap to do that!! Or rather, the more I spend in one way means the less I can spend in traveling!! So being thrifty always wins out!!

Aberdeen is an interesting mix of a place. It is modern yet built in an old style. The whole city is quite grey due to the granite they use on many of the buildings, both old and modern. It is a very industrious town and has lots of oil business there and ship yards for various tasks such as fishing, oil, etc. Funnily enough I learned that Aberdeen is where my sister’s place of work is based out of! It’s definitely just a business place, with some character in the old buildings and the cemetery in the center of town, but that was about it.

Luckily I had only planned to simply get there, spend a few hours walking around (which I almost got lost at one point, lol!!) and then head out via the bus to Huntly. And that’s what I stuck to doing. I checked my luggage into the storage facility at the train station, walked around, then gathered my luggage and waited for my bus.

On to Huntly

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Scotland

The Real Mary King’s Close

2014-10-25 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

The second guided tour I took in Edinburgh was for the Real Mary King’s Close. The tour office was located on the street level just off the Royal Mile, not far from the Castle. But the tour itself went through homes, found not terribly long ago, beneath the current streets and homes….

Of course way back then the homes we walked through were at ground level. But as people started to build more, instead of scraping old places and starting new, they simply lopped off the roofs of the old homes, built a new “ground floor” and simply built new homes or buildings on top of the old ones. But this practice of building homes was forgotten about until some workers of the City came along and rediscovered all the homes (now underground) and turned them into a tourist attraction!

The tour was quite fun but for those who have any claustrophobic tendencies, they may want to skip it… The way down was a bit tight, but once in the rooms I didn’t think it was too bad. But then again, E said she really didn’t enjoy the tour because she felt claustrophobic. So be warned people!!

Anyway, our guide from start to finish played the part of a young man who lived way back when and sadly died at 23 from some horrid plague. He told great stories of how the people lived (Gardy Loo!!) and the various plagues that afflited that age. He was humerous and witty and played his role well! We went through spaces that looked like a single room but were told it was a whole house for several families!! Other areas were for animals and others still for the rich. Each room was recreated to reflect the kind of people that would have lived in each room… But perhaps the most interesting of all the rooms… That of a little girl ghost…

When the spaces along Mary King’s Close were rediscovered, several measures were taken to make sure the spaces would be safe for tourists to travel through. During projects of reinforcement, some workers would describe strange things or sightings of a little girl quite often in one area of the rooms… So one day, a psychic was invited to go through the rooms. She didn’t pick anything up of note… Had no strange feelings or pulls of any sort… She couldn’t find a single odd feeling anywhere… At this point she was in the room most known for sightings but still, nothing.

She was getting ready to leave when all of a sudden she turned around and saw a little girl in the corner of the room. Now, mind you, at this point of the story we are all in the room itself and the “corner” where the girl was spotted standing was RIGHT BESIDE ME!!! Yea, I got a little chill for sure when he pointed only a few inches from me!! Anyway- the little girl was crying so the psychic asked her what was wrong. The little girl said that she was sad because her parents had died and that she was also sad because she could not find her favorite toy to keep her company and comfort her! The psychic was so moved by this that she left the rooms, went shopping for a doll, returned to the room where the young girl was crying and left the doll in there. From then on, none of the workers ever reported any further sightings or disturbances.

Even now, people from all over having heard of and knowing of this story in advance bring the little girl gifts and toys to play with! In the room today there is a stack of hundreds and hundreds of little toys and trinkets! So many are brought in fact that the staff has to sometimes clear toys out to make room for others!! The original is still there though:)

Needless to say, I would recommend this tour for sure! Though it was a little on the pricey side for the one hour, it’s definitely worth the fun!! Oh and sorry for the lack of pictures here… I can’t recall if they weren’t allowed at all, or if I was just too engrossed in the tour to care to take picts…

On to Aberdeen

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Scotland

Stone of Destiny & Edinburgh Castle

2014-10-25 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

After the tour of the Royal Mile, our guide took us up to the castle and shared lots of fun facts with us about it… My personal favorite is about the Stone of Destiny…

Ironically enough, before going to Scotland I was visiting with my horse trainer, who is like a second family to me, and she was telling me about a movie she saw called the Stone of Destiny. It took place in Scotland and it is based on the true story about a group of Scottish student nationalists. The Stone, which was where Scottish Kings were traditionally crowned was stolen by King Edward I of England in 1296 and placed under the throne at Westminster Abbey. In the 1950’s the group of Scottish student nationalists succeeded in stealing the Stone back from Westminster Abbey and returning it to it’s righful place: Edinburgh castle!! Quite a fun story to say the least!! So while I had heard about the Stone of Destiny before I ever went to Scotland, I had of course forgotten exactly where the Stone was… So needless to say I was quite tickled when I heard that it was indeed in the Edinburgh Castle!! The Stone, to say the least is quite large and heavy looking and is currently encased in a glass display next to the Crown Jewels. No pictures were allowed to be taken of it sadly, but it was really cool to at least see it!!

In the pictures below you will see a few of the inside of parts of the castle, and one where there is a plaque in honor of Queen Elizabeth… You will also note the date however that it was in 1993… Why is it that there is a plaque in honor of Queen Elizabeth (seemingly the first Queen Elizabeth since there isn’t a II on the plaque) dated 1993?? It is in fact in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, however, since Scotland never recognized Queen Elizabeth I as their queen, to them, Queen Elizabeth is their first Queen, hence no “II” on the plaque…

The one o’clock gun… I already mentioned this bit in the section of Calton Hill, so I won’t drone on it again… However in this section you can see the pictures of the original cannon that was used to mark 1 o’clock, as well as the cannon used today (shoots blanks) to mark 1 o’clock:)

Ugh!! And I’m absolutely going to muck this up… But there was an interesting legend that revolved around St. Margaret… Basically it was a love story… As the tale goes (hoping I recall it right!) St. Margaret (originally from Hungary) was very much in love with her husband and had earned the respect and adoration as a kind Queen from many of the Scottish people. However, there was some fallout with some of the Scottish countrymen over religion… She was of one religion (Protestant???) and they another, and well, you know how those religious disputes tend to end in not so great a light… Anyway, St. Margaret was basically shunned over the religious disputes and it got so bad that she wasn’t able to leave the Castle.

While in the castle she got news that her husband died in battle and was to be buried. Loving her husband as much as she did, she requested that when she died that she be buried along side him. When she did pass away (not long after he died apparently) those still “on her side” wanted to grant her last wish of being buried by her husband, but those against her refused. Her body stayed in the chapel of the castle for three days until some people “for” St. Margaret in the middle of the night, snuck her body out of the chapel and to her husbands gravesite where they buried her. The townspeople “against” St. Margaret heard what had happened and got furious. They went to the gravesite to dig St. Margaret up, but to their astonishment were unable to actually lift her out of the gravesite! Her body had somehow become so heavy they were unable to get her back out! So they had to leave her, despite their best efforts. So as the legend goes, the townspeople were unable to move her body because her love for her husband was too strong, even in death, to allow them to take her away from him. Awww…!!!! 🙂

But seriously people, don’t quote me word-for-word on the above legend as I’m sure some bits aren’t quite correct!! And if any of you happen to hear the legend yourselves, do tell me how it’s supposed to be! Lol!!

On to The Real Mary King’s Close

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