Snow, glorious Snow!

We did a few hours in the Aberdeen Family Heritage Society yesterday morning. Stan is looking for more on William Craig, immigrated to PA, then NC from Sotland in early 1700's. Was hoping he'd find specifics about wife Margaret since she is thought to have been born in Aberdeen, but nothing specific came up, just a few interesting tidbits that aren't proof of anything.
As we walked to bus stop, a Scottish Episcopal priest was standing at the door of St Andrew's, inviting folks to come in to the Saturday noontime music concert; as we chatted, I was more intrigued, so we decided to stay and listen. Turns out Joseph Kennedy visited the church in 1938, and a cornerstone is in the chancel marking his visit. The North side ceiling has crests of the States of the US that were part of the Union in 1784, when the church honored their Scottish priest who emigrated to US to become the first Episcopal Bishop in America: Samuel Seaburg. The priest allowed us to take photos, and gave us further tour of enhanced chancel area, done in 1930's with help from US, though the Stockmarket Crash interfered with the fund raising.
The soprano was a worker in the oil industry (very important in Aberdeen) and a choir member. Her program was lively, Bach to 20th century. We thought we'd had the "icing" on our day.
Collected our luggage from hotel, quick taxi ride, had 12 minutes to buy ticket to Aviemore through Inverness and board. Since no lunch, we bought drinks from the train cart hostess.. I'm getting to like my tea with milk.
The countryside was less hilly, huge fields with sheep, often black faced. Much of the way to Inverness had the North Sea on our right, less than 100 yards. There were homes in that space, as well as golf courses with hooded folks, there were crop fields and small pasture fields. Very efficient use. Young man across from us confirmed that the yellow fields were rape; one of the papers this week had an article and recipes using rape seed oil, so that made sense.
We realized after sweets on the station, waiting the final ten minutes to board for second leg of the journey, that we'd left a package in the overhead; Stan got a train staff and she took him to the train, thankfully still in the station, where the package still lay. After that bit of adrenalin, the remainder of the trip was calm.
We got off at Aviemore, a small place with old bridge crossing the track..strong Stan toted our now 30 kg luggage up the stairs and over to the developed side of the tracks. Any concern I had for him dissipated as we saw the fresh snow on the hills nearby. WOW! The town is very small, as befits a vacation destination in a National Park. It reminds me of ski resorts, out of ski season. As soon as we dropped the luggage in the timeshare unit (more step) we walked back to the main street to find some food, see lots of rabbits and look at the snowy mountain.
Stan settled on chalet looking building with the dubious name of Papa Rock, and Biker logo on all the signs. But inside there were normal folk, even families with children acting sane, so we ordered dinner. Our table was in the midst of three large tables with balloons and yellow tape "Warning! Hen Party in Progress!". Hen party here means a girls' night out, often before the wedding. The bride-to-be wears a net veil, her mates usually have ribbons or boas or both draped over them...looking like a good time will be had. The third table was a family celebration of a very attractive 40year old. We essentially had front row seats to great entertainment! One bridal party really interacted with a table of guys nearby, taking pictures, getting souvenir undies, one of the guys delivering the dessert to their table shirtless, etc. Lots os laughter and cameras. The 40year old brought us some of her cake (a flaming baked Alaska) saying we'd had to put up with them. HA! Then the maid of honor at the "wild" hen party brought us pieces of their chocolate cake.. And talked a long time about her friend and how hard it had been to surprise her. There was a custom of getting any man to pose with the bride wearing this ugly shirt, so they asked Stan to do that, then they brought over one of the pink boas for me to wear so I'd be included in the festivities. There was a card each was to fill out, doing silly things like give their phone number to five guys, so both the bride and the maid of honor came to give Stan their number.. And the chatty friend also introduced herself....Claire Tosh. With all the noise I was sure I'd heard wrong. Turns out she says TOSH is common name here, derived from Macintosh..her dad is Aberdeen coach, her grandad is big in genealogy, we traded more info and I'll be the one going home with relatives in Scotland!
Who knew?!?

We missed it.

There was music at lovely Grey Friars pub Wednesday night...but we missed it. And we leave for Aberdeen at noon, so no more chances. That's the problem/joy of traveling: you might find delightful people and places but you don't have them very long. Perth will celebrate its Bronze Age heritage the whole month of June..but we won't be here. We will be in Scotland on June 2nd when Queen Elizabeth II will be feted for 60 years of royal service to the United Kingdom...and begin our travel home as Poland and Ukraine begin the Euro 2012 games of futball championship. When we watched championship games in France in 2010, they were twice as exciting than if we'd been in the US.

Several things in Perth have name of Grey Friars. They were the Franciscans. And the White Friars were the Dominicans. There was even a Carthusian abbey here for a while. I'm not sure how similar the Church of Scotland is to Anglican church that was created in 1500's by infamous Henry Tudor. There is also a significant Christodelphian community in the UK. But few of our American hundreds of Protestant churches. And Salvation Army. It was interesting to hear in the Ukraine about the splits in the Orthodox church that have happened there, mostly since and because of the political changes in 1991, as they were achieving independence from USSR. After all, the Orthodox have changed little in 1500 years. The Patriarch of Moscow Patriarchy had been in coma for several weeks after pneumonia episode; since his presence is required for major business, they were in a tiz the week we were in Kiev when he awoke a few days before we arrived, finally able to convene the Synod and do business. Our Dr Bruce Rigdon had been a friend during Cold War days, helping the ecumenical church to stay alive and as well as possible. The Patriarch made time for a visit with Bruce in his hospital room, even delaying a medical procedure just to have some time with him. Because of his illness, we didn't get to meet him, but it was very dear to us that he obviously treasured Bruce's efforts and friendship of difficult years past.

Disclosure

Well, since today is last day in Perth, I'll tell the truth. We chose this hotel for several reasons. Aberdeen, where Stan wants to search for wife of William Craig, married before 1732, was booked all but Friday night, so this is our halfway stop. Smaller, slower, more normal lifestyles than in the larger cities.

The hotel we booked is 100 yards across a two lane curve from the train station, so it was easy to find and roll our luggage across. We stuffed all of us in the tiny elevator (seriously, not even room to add Samson!) to get to our 5th floor room with view. But we also chose this hotel because it's Best Western. Stan registered us with them several years ago when we first realized they were easily found in Europe and have a points system that enables us to stay for free occasionally. And, there is a full gym (not essential) with pool, sauna, spa.. Ah, yes, there's the truth of it. No castles have been visited in Perth, but the pool, sauna and I are well-acquainted. (there's even a noodle for me to use, floating around the pool! YEAH!) The thick robe and slippers are even provided! And the daily bowl of fruit is much enjoyed, too.

So, I may have forfeited my chance to be a distinguished Rick Steves guide, but most of you probably knew we were sounding far too erudite to be us.

Rain, rain, go away....

A rainy day in Edinburgh. After a huge breakfast that didn't include the baked beans, we caught the local bus just acres the street from the hotel. Stan was determined to find the Vodophone shoanise get his phone fixed. The buildings in Edinburgh, like buildings in Istanbul and Kiev, are stone, but here they are rarely over three stories and stone is darker, from brown to actual black paint. Auburn tresses Fiona tried several ways but couldn't activate the phone with the new sim card. We continued to walk, going through a lovely park and eighteenth century cemetery to ending up at Holy Rood. We took time to see the collection of art in the gallery from the various palaces and residences of Queen Elizabeth II, about to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in a few weeks. Charles I was the first major English monarch to collect art; his substantial collection was scattered but much was reclaimed under Charles II. The 60-70 items included works of Rubens, Van Dyck, Holbein, da Vinci, as well as exquisite jewelry items, Sevres china and rare first copies of prayer book from the second print done in Mainz, Germany. Well, the above was day 1 in Edinburgh, somehow it was saved as draft. So, today, a week layer, I'm trying to remember that day. It was very cold and continued to rain. Stan was sure we had to travel the entire Royal Mile, even past the Edinburgh Castle to get to the correct bus stop. We did stop in for appropriate plaid souvenirs at little shops, but it was a long walk then a wet and cold wait for the right bus. The hot shower was greatly appreciated when we got back to our Braid Hills room. We knew to expect rain but with such warm weather in Ukraine, the colder than usual Scotland will take some adjusting

Snuggling, rated G

As I snuggle in the sheets while Stan is spending his first time of the day with Internet, I realize that all our sheets on this trip have been multi-layered, like duvets. The cotton "envelope" is filled with thick layers instead of our American way of one thin sheet with additional single layers sliding around on top. On the ship in the Ukraine (Dnieper Princess, remember?) the bottom sheet was also a filled envelope, just the width and length of the berth. The top sheet was twice the size, but folded to the size of the berth, then a decorative top in the same brocade as the upholstered seat (and window curtains) was over it. When they prepared our beds at night , this top cover was folded neatly and put on the shelf (I still used mine as extra cover). The hotel in Warsaw (first night), the hotel in Istanbul, in Edinburgh and now here all have similar configurations. A woolen blanket was the insert on the ship; here it is a prepared flannel filled with additional stuffing. All the sheets have been cotton; I've noticed very few synthetic fabrics.

The skies seem huge here. Since we're on top floor (fifth) and few buildings are any taller, that seems obvious, but delightful nonetheless.

This room is about the size of hotel rooms in US, but the entry with arched door is larger than our ship room. The linoleum floor of the bath (again, as large as our ship room) is heated, at least at the entryway.

Having missed breakfast here, we're headed out to forage for our breakfast. Stan's wearing the new shirt he got at department store Debenham's, Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh to replace the knit shirt that got torn somehow in earlier days of camera straps, backpack straps, etc.

Oh, the woes of shopping in new cities! (Throw me into that brier patch!)

Perth

A very nice couple at breakfast took the time to explain common funeral arrangements to me. They had been at the hotel several days, meeting with family who had gathered at the wake of their grandmother. After the church service and burial, the hotel was the site of several hours of reception. They seemed to feel that their churches just weren't big enough to hold a reception after the service. I suppose the oddness to me was the sign in the hotel lobby that simply announced the funeral group to be held that day. Yet for them it is common.

After one last view of Old Town Edinburgh from our window, we rode a taxi to Waverly Station to get the train to Perth. The taxi driver was very chatty; hes driving his son to nearby town this evening to interview for 1000 pound scholarship to help with his medical school. That means the driver won't get home until almost midnight tonight, but he's very proud of his son.

The countryside on the hour and half ride was beautiful. Alternating areas of fields with a few Holstein and large deep green fields, probably a barley or oats. After checking in at hotel just across from the Perth Station, we walked downtown, looking for a late lunch. Since most restaurants are only open 12-2pm, we had missed the time. We finally went in tiny Grey Friars, more a pub, serving a delicious hot beef pie with the freshest green peas I've ever eaten.

A cute group of eight older folk were having a beverage, laughing and enjoying the day. The owner sent us to the Grey Friars Vemetery just across the road on our way back to the hotel. Artful gravestones dating mostly from the nineteenth century. The wind was so strong, my hood blew off but it was only a mile to the hotel. Yards are in full bloom right now, iris and roses, even azaleas.

A lovely time the hotel spa/pool area was refreshing before a light supper.

View from Braid Hills

Having "mastered" the Lothinair bus system in just two days, we are now in charge of life in Edinburgh.
ha

It is easy to catch the double decker buses just 50 yards from the hotel and travel the three miles from our Best Western hotel to downtown Edinburgh.  We visited the Holy Rood Gallery Friday, our first day here.  The usual art there was removed so we could see art borrowed from the Royal residences.  Our timing is perfect to see and hear much of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in a few weeks.

We tried to tour the Holy Rood Palace yesterday, but royal family was in residence (they don't say who) so the tours were shut down.   We'll try again today or tomorrow; after these two days, there are very few until August because of the Royal Family's schedule, and as the desk clerk said this morning, the Queen's Summer Garden Parties.   Sounds posh, doesn't it?

When Stan was finding us a hotel here in Edinburgh, we looked at several on the map; this was the farthest one out.  It was easy to imagine the three miles of city buildings that we'd have to pass to get to the Old Town castles and museums.  But I never envisioned looking out the hotel window and seeing all the roof tops all the way to the Edinburgh Castle, high on its volcanic hill, glimpses of the Firth of Forth behind it, dark stone buildings (rarely more than three stories) with slate roofs, a few spires from churches, the huge chunk of rock to the south of the Castle that is called Seat of Arthur (no clear reason why).  It is a perfect postcard view.  Hotel manager Clare has been talking to her coworkers for months about "Memphis" people getting the room with the view...and we are appreciative.  It is worth every step of the three flights of stairs.

We've already found the basic touristy info about our respective Scottish clan heritage, bought a few tiny items with appropriate tartan plaids as we've walked the old town areas.  There really are people on the streets wearing plaids: slacks, coats...not just the employees at palaces, hotels, etc.  And the shoes just aren't as nice as in Eastern Europe, whether it's the weather being so rainy or different access to leathers, or just taste.   There are many discount types of stores in town; some are the organizational ones that I know through internet only: SERRV, OXFAM; some are locally run.  There appears to be more acceptance of recycling all things household and clothing, not just the "throw away" items we typically sent to charities.  Tea shops, coffee shops, tiny food shops are also everywhere.  

The darkness of the stone used in construction is high contrast to the colors we saw in Istanbul and Ukraine; the dirt in flower beds appears extremely dark, too.   The ornamentation is far less, too.

Having been on the road 19 days, we are both reading papers here...but then, our ability to read Cyrillic alphabet was limited, wasn't it?   The main paper, offered free at the hotel, with shops every few blocks, is The Scotsman.  The earliest publication was edited several years by a Craig; isnt' that funny?