More from Scotland...2nd post.

We left you last time at the end of September in Glasgow at the Barras Market – still one of the most fun places we've been (speaking for myself, says Susan). Since we are so close to Loch Lomond, we have been exploring it and finding out-of-the-way places (with great ice cream). Lomond is the largest “lake” in Scotland and the roads don't go all the way around, so it can be a challenge to see just how much of it we can see without being in a boat.

A Food & Drink Festival on the shore of Loch Lomond

We did get out on a boat once -

It was quite a lovely ride

And in the last post we mentioned hearing a talk by the creator of the Kelpies near Falkirk. Well, we finally got to see them in person, and they are breathtaking. They are massive and full of energy – you almost expect them to snort any minute. And we had a short tour of the inside of one to get a look at the structure – very neat!

The Kelpies are only known as "Head Up" and "Head Down"

People do seem very small next to them

Inside of Head Down

We took a sojourn down toward Ayr (on the West coast a bit South of Glasgow) to visit Dundonald Castle (the inside stone work is just amazing) http://www.dundonaldcastle.org.uk/

A model of an ancient fort in the Dundonald visitor center

The amazing vaulted ceiling and brick work in the great hall

And, had a good visit with the guide –  everywhere in this country that we have visited, the guides are very friendly, open to all sorts of questions, and seem to have all the time in the world to chat...gotta love it!  Dundonald Castle was built on the site of much earlier fortifications (Dun means hill fort) by Walter FitzAllen who was steward to King David I and ancestor to the Stewarts.

Just a few miles away is the 13^th century Crossraguel Abbey

http://www.maybole.org/places/crossraguel/abbey.htm . . .

Crossraguel Abbey tower remains

Crossraguel Abbey ruins

another beautiful ruin where, after talking with the guide for some time, he shared with us that religious divides run deep even here in Scotland – he is working in a “catholic” ruin for Historic Scotland, but is a practicing protestant and some of his fellow protestants stopped talking with him when he took the job...amazing, huh?

























We also stopped to see Souter Johnnie's house which has a very beautiful thatched roof (he's a Robert Burns character) in nearby Kirkoswald - how many people can you get into a bed? http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Souter-Johnnies-Cottage/

Kirkoswald thatched roof building

And had a wonderful – fresh lobster - late lunch The coastal areas of Scotland are known for the fantastic seafood and the preparation is more often than not, quite wonderful. Fish and chips at a Chippery, especially close to the shore, are always fresh and yummy, some even available with gluten free batter. And yet, so many Scots are thin! Go figure.

David has been mowing the small lawn in the back of the house. The sun and warm weather has been wonderful and very unexpected – folks accuse us of bringing the great weather as they have had a really miserable cold, wet summer. It's getting colder now and the trees are turning, there is much more rain expected, but it just makes being in the house – or in the car – more delightful.

We are always on the look out for funerals and weddings when we travel, and within the space of a couple of weeks we managed to see both. We joined up with friends, Kendra & Jim Golden to tour the Isle of Skye, a beautiful trip in a beautiful place. Whilst driving up a one-track road, up a mountain, to see some geologically interesting formations, we came upon not one, but two cemeteries and remarked about how really out-of-the-way they were. On our way back down this one-track road we managed to pass a hearse on it's way up with a coffin in the back, then a whole string of cars filled with mourners followed. Fortunately there were fairly frequent “pull-outs” so we all made it to where we were going. We spent the night in a B&B, had a super meal in a local pub and listened to some really good “Trad” music played by some folks who were playing just for the fun of it.

Approaching Skye

Crofting Museum on Skye - it had just closed for the season

We met up with the Goldens again to tour the Borders area – several ruined abbeys, the Robert Burns center, Broughton House in Kirkcudbright (say Kirk-coo-brie) home of E.A. Hornel one of the Glasgow Boys artists and one of Susan's favorites. On the way, we stopped at Gretna Green to check out the blacksmith's shop where many weddings are held (it's a great history, check it out at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_Green ) Kendra and Susan noticed a couple – about our age – arriving in wedding dress, took their pictures and got asked if we would be witnesses – we were really privileged to have this experience...David & Jim were in attendance too and we have lots of photos of a lovely ceremony.

The Happy Couple and their witnesses

I'll stop here and Dave will insert some photos...a popular motto in Glasgow these days is “People make Glasgow” and it's true. We've always love the Scots folks and are loving them even more now...polite (even the signs say “Please” and “Thank You”), calm, understanding, kind, helpful, and on and on. We are loving our time here. We are so very lucky!

Three Months This Time

This time we are house sitting in Cardross, Scotland...in a house between Dumbarton and Helensburgh about 45 minutes West (and a bit North) of Glasgow, on the River Clyde... and we get to stay here until the end of November (having arrived on 30 August). The folks who own the house are also retired and have taken their compact motorhome to Italy.

Bruce Court, Cardross

1 Bruce Court, Tiny Fiat 500

Rear Yard of 1 Bruce Court

Our trip began on August 22^nd, with legs from Asheville to Charlotte to Philadelphia to Glasgow. We were planning a week in Edinburgh at the Fringe Festival before going to our assignment. But since it will take four auto rentals to get us to the end of November (it has to do with the 30-day insurance limit VISA insists on), we had planned to start in Glasgow.

We did not make it to Glasgow from Philadelphia. The airline's story was that some passengers complained that crew members on our incoming aircraft were under the influence of something and under FAA rules the complaint had to be checked out. So no aircraft to fly us to Glasgow. Instead, US Air offered to send us to Edinburgh, through Dublin, and it would only take 7 or 8 hours longer instead of waiting until the next evening to leave Philly. Since we were bound for Edinburgh anyway it sounded OK, but it caused significant changes in car and hotel plans. And, our bags did not get to Edinburgh for 3 days (but, for the first time ever we had clean socks in a carry on :-)). So, after our first month here, on the 26^th of Sept, we drove back to Edinburgh (about two hours) to turn in the first car – a lovely mustard yellow Fiat 500 – then took a train and a bus to Glasgow airport to pick up our white Ford so we could get back on track with car reservations. Whew!

Though our start in Edinburgh was a bit uneven, we had a great time wandering the streets and finding interesting performances to see – 12 pieces in 4 days/nights – largely drama and dance, though there was one odd, fun piece of mostly flamenco music but featuring a man (apparently of Indian descent) who performed what we took to be classical Indian dances usually performed by women. And, the piece was named for a traditional Sufi repetitive meditation! It's what makes this “fringe” so great – over 3,000 performances in 3 weeks and you never too sure about what you are signing up to see next!

A couple of dance pieces finished with repetitive Capoeira (martial arts) type moves, accompanied by very loud music. Several others were pretty hard to make sense of, but we enjoyed others very much. David's favorite was a fairly serious play about relationships, involving a somewhat androgynous person who decided he is now a man, a woman who is suffering through a painful split from her spouse, and an artist who is supported by her brother and who has not left her flat in 2 years. It was wonderful, but Susan missed a lot because she had her hood up - really cold air was blowing right on her head.

The other really super piece was a one man show put on by Pat Kinervane. This one was called Underneath, and you can read about him and his works online. Suffice it to say that he is a strong, older Irish actor playing a dead woman is this case. The piece was memorable.

Edinburgh goes a bit crazy during the three weeks of the fringe – and there are other festivals going on at the same time. A great deal of the busiest part of the city is totally taken over, as you can see from this picture showing a park near the University that has been fitted out with temporary fake grass and four performance spaces. The last time we were here (a few years ago) we saw a play in several tiny bespoke buildings in the Botanic Garden – this time the strangest place was in a movable storage container.

George Square Edinburgh, next to the University

Fringe Festival Posters, George Square

One of many food carts outside George Square

Cardross is a tiny town – a golf course, a pub, an ancient church and a ruin – pretty typical. We are in a fairly new house in a neighborhood built about 10 years ago on farm land. The bus is at the corner and the train just down the hill. We are out and about a good deal as Susan's lists of things we “MUST” see and do is very, very long. For starters, Glasgow is a fairly short drive and we just love that city...it is filled with very different “hoods”. One of the oldest is where the “Barras” (barrows) market is now – one of the coolest is the West End, near the University, and the world-class Kelvingrove Museum. Another one of the oldest is around St. Mungo's Cathedral, Necropolis and Museum and the one that feels like Tribeca is called Merchant City. It would be easy to live here and the real estate is not too expensive either. There is a good deal of theater, many museums, music (it's known as “Music City”), and other special event venues that seem to be busy continuously....and it is second only to London for shopping – especially high end along the many “pedestrian-only” streets. One day, we saw a sign in a window announcing a lecture/slide presentation by Andy Scott, creator of the “Kelpies” being held in the only church that Charles Rennie Mackintosh actually saw built. It was a terrific evening for a local benefit and we would encourage you to check out these amazing sculptures at http://www.thekelpies.co.uk/ and the church at http://mackintoshchurch.com/

A view of Merchant City, Glasgow

A view of the Barras market in Glasgow - it made us nostalgic for our volunteer job at the CarePartners Estate Sale

Another scene from the Barras market

We just love abbeys, castles, cathedrals, and palaces...mostly those in ruin...and the older the better. We are doing day-trips so far but are planning a couple of over-nights to get to some further away places. One of our favorite areas is Kilmartin Glen and Museum – a very large area with over 300 ancient things to wonder at...cup and ring carvings, cairns with and without burials, stone circles, and on and on. Before we left Asheville we made a reservation for a tour and lunch in their lovely cafe – it was the last tour of the season so we got up early and made the long drive (because of all the lochs you have to drive up and around – there are few direct roads here in the West). Although we have visited this area several times, it was a stunning and informative day to say the least.

Nether Largie South, Kilmartin Glenn

Standing Stone, Kilmartin Glen

Stone Circle, Kilmarten Glen

So, enough for now...we'll try to get this posted with some pics and will write more sooner or later, promise.

Oh, one last thing.  Susan did a video when we first got to the Barras market.  Here it is:

Toward the end a man calls out, "cigarettes, tobacco, viagra", and we later learned that it is all contraband.  A few seconds later he notices Susan's camera and says" what's this all about?"  She stops and when he hears her accent he decides she's not an undercover agent, reporter or whatever.  Ends up calling her "Darlin" after quite the conversation!!