Weissman Scotland Adventure

Farewell, Caledonia

2008-07-27T07:44:00.001-07:00

Today we said goodbye to NeSC and Thistle Cottage. Tomorrow, to Scotland. Had a wonderful week saying goodbye to our friends, Shelagh and Andrew and their kids, Clare, and Logan (who fell into our frog pond after dinner), Phillipa and James, and their kids, Rosie, Richaldis, Francis, and mathilda, at their beautiful new house at the Scottish Borders, and mahesh and Archana, my former student from Texas who is doing so well as a faculty at Edinburgh. We have so appreciated their friendship during our short stay here. my work colleagues at NeSC who have given me a fun and productive year and introduced me to another sweet Edinburgh pub, the Bailie last night.

We all have much to add, stay tuned ...

Highlands and the Isle of Skye

2008-07-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

Our last big trip was a tour of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye. We began the tour heading up to Inverness and Loch Ness. The Loch and the glen is very dramatic and beautiful. We stopped at the Urqahart Castle ruins. The drive to the Isle of Skye was through the Great Glen which was filled with Lochs and waterfalls and the castle Eileen Doonan. We stayed for a week on Skye on the Sleat peninsula--one of the few areas of the island with trees. The single track road to our cottage was harowing with blind curves and no barriers! We had a sweet local rocky beach where we harvested our own mussels for several scrumptious dinners. We also enjoyed the many little art galleries dotting the Island.

We spent the week hiking around the beaches (too cold to swim), Armadale Castle, collecting sea glass, and sitting by the fire. Making morning fires in July was something we never expected to do! Our fisherman neighbor caught us some lobsters and crabs, which made for a great dinner. We got to hear some tradition gaelic music during the Skye Festival. We made our way home via the ferry to Mallaig and a windy drive by Ben Nevis and the many glens of the Highlands.

London & Paris

2008-07-23T05:02:00.000-07:00

Our tour of the UK began in early July. We travelled by train to London. London is a big, bustling, busy city. We saw the London Tower, did the London Eye, changing of the guard, St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey (fabulous tour). We spent a fun night in Chinatown and enjoyed the Victoria and Albert Museum--a huge collection of pretty things! We also visited the Science and Natural History museums, all walking distance from our little hotel. We really enjoyed the lush green parks of London, particularly St. James, where we got a chance to unwind from city activities. The girls loved riding the tube which was always packed.

We spent a wonderful day in Paris. We traveled via the Eurostar and had a glorious summer day visiting the major sites (Arc de Triomphe, Grand Palais, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame) and toured the Musee d'Orsay. It is a BEAUTIFUL city and we were sorry we did not have more time.

Edinburgh in Bloom

2008-07-10T01:23:00.001-07:00

In June our friends the Blooms visited. It was a great visit with time to re-connect, show them Edinburgh, visit York (which felt very English), and hike the Pentlands.
We had a wonderful and memorable last day with a hike and sunshine, skittle bowling, pub grub, and an evening stroll in a secret garden by Duddingston Kirk. Other great highlights included an evening visit to the Scottish Real Ale festival and a visit to the John Leslie, an authentic pub in our neighborhood.

Sciennes Sports Day

2008-06-24T04:22:00.000-07:00

June 10th was Sports day at school. The students are divided into houses (grange, lauder, tantallon, and sienna) and compete for points during the year. They spent the day in the Meadows competing at obstacle courses, golf, jump rope, egg(or potato) and spoon races.
It was a great way to celebrate a summery day.

Claire turns 7!

2008-06-10T10:41:00.001-07:00

Claire turned 7 as we returned from France (we should all be so lucky!) We celebrated her birthday with a party at Imagination Workshop (www.theimaginationworkshop.co.uk). They created decoupage mirrors and had cupcakes. A good time was had by all.

April and May

2008-05-29T03:17:00.000-07:00

We had a busy April and May. Amy and Aunt Mary came to visit and we were blessed with good weather (at least by Scotland standards). Amy, Mary and I visited Dublin. Dublin is a vibrant, hip, young city and the short visit was wonderful. The Irish people seem to have a smile on their face, a song in their heart and a story to tell (just like my friend Eileen)! Below are the photos of Dublin, Mallahide Castle and Trinity University.

Hannah’s class at Sciennes created the environmental art for an Art Show. The work was of high quality and like so much as Sciennes, it was well produced.

Hannah and her friend Lottie raced in the Great Jr. Edinburgh run through the Meadows—it was another lovely day and they did a great job.

Aunt Jane came for a second visit and we climbed to the top of the Scott Monument and strolled through Princes’s Street Gardens and the Meadows in full bloom.

Lyon, France

2008-05-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

We all returned to France as part of a work trip and had a magnificent time in Lyon. No one was injured this time! Lyon is the second largest city of France that is considered to be the culinary capital - the dinning was indeed exceptional. We were surprised at how much we enjoyed this city from its old historic core (vieux lyon) filled with cobbled streets, beautiful views along two parallel rivers (Saone and Rhone), and its history (it was the heart of the French resistance in WWII). Above the old city, we took a fenicula (incline trolley) up the nearby mountains to the beautiful Notre Dame cathedral and Roman amphitheater ruins. We visited the historic grand synogogue which has survived for over 150 years - several French women we met helped us find it (it was hidden behind a front stone facade (probably for security) and translated for us.
Here are some pictures from Lyon.

The other aspect of our trip was that we did not actually stay in Lyon, but 30 minutes north in the wine country of Beaujolais near the small village of St. Etienne Des Ourielles. We stayed in a cute cottage (or gite) with 4 acres of vineyards in our backyard. They had a heated pool which was perfect for the girls. The mountains were like a Cezanne painting. The owners and wine-makers (Briar and Michel) gave us 12 bottles of wine and made us a welcome dinner on arrival. They had two kids and a dog (Oscar). We visited some neat places like the medieval walled city of Perouges, the most amazing wine musuem (we spent 6 hours there), and a neat wild bird park (see Hannah by the Ostrich). All in all, it was a great mix of city and country activities. Some more pictures. The final one was this fantastic market in the local town of Villefranche.

Contrasts

2008-04-21T23:54:00.000-07:00

On a recent "Spring" day we received some snow on top of our Spring flowers. The other pictures are from the beautiful sea-side town of North Berwick, a short train ride from here. Very sweet beaches with tons of sea glass and shells. We visited the Scottish Seabird Center which had all of these remote control cameras that you could operate to view distant Islands to watch tons of seabirds including Puffins. They also had some very nice parks for the kids and a cute carousel.

World Book Day Sciennes

2008-04-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Can you guess the book that was featured? Joanne Rowling is a resident of our fair city.

Tuscany, Italy

2008-04-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

We spent a glorious 10 days in Tuscany, Italy over Spring Break. Our home base was the Northwest region in the charming medieval town of Lucca. Lucca was so fantastic - cobbled streets, amazing food, the Luchese strolling and riding on bicycles, smart shops, and full of historical churches and piazzas. It was tourist-free and unspoiled. The coolest thing was that it is fully surrounded by 20 foot walls that one can "get up on" and that are wide enough for cycling and strolling and in some parts open up wide and have playgrounds and greenspace. On Sunday, the Luchese stroll atop the walls and we were able to join them. We also cycled on top of the walls and ramparts (a 2.5mi loop) many times. Below are a few photos from Lucca. On the 4th day, Aunt Jane flew out to spend the last week with us, and we all celebrated Hannah's 11th birthday by having a local cook come in to the villa and prepare a 5 course meal.

Here are some photos of us on top of the walls. In the background, one can see the snowy Apuan alps. Up in those mountains are the marble quarries that supplied marble to Michelangelo.

We were fortunate to be staying at a lovely farmhouse villa surrounding by olive groves in the local mountains. We miss the villa terribly as it felt like a real home. We had an endless supply of olive oil made on the premises. Cooking was enjoyable in their rustic kitchen. Some photos of the villa and grounds can be seen at their website . There were horse stables in walking distance for the girls to ride and the tiny local town had an amazing bakery, deli, and pizza place. Down from the mountains we would stop by a local fruit vendor from Sicilia who sold us the best fruit I've ever had (there were a lot of "this is the best xyz I've ever tasted" on our trip). He would sniff the fruit, smile, and tell us (in Italian), exactly which day it would be ready to eat. Here are some photos of the girls riding horses and Lily in the olive groves.

We were blessed with terrific weather - sunny warm days. We visited many neat places. One day we went to the coast (the Italian/Tuscan riviera) to the beaches of Verragio. The town is filled with amazing turn of the century hotels and architecture and a fantastic promenade filled with cappucino and gelato places. Here is a picture of Hannah on the beach. This was one of the first of many greater encounter with people. We got hopelessly lost and an Italian driver went out of his way to lead us to the beach area (in my pitiful Italian - dove acqua?).

One of our favorite excursions was Cinque Terre (pronounced Chink-wah-terra). This is an area of 5 stunning villages literally hanging off the cliffs. There is a 5 mile hiking path between all the villages, a train that serves them, and a boat you can take. The villages themselves are beautiful multi-colored buildings falling over each other, filled with cafes and gelato places, and clothes hanging out of windows drying in the wind. This area is also the birthplace of pesto, and we had some on foccacio there.

Pisa was surprisingly lovely. The guide books always give it limited space relative to Florence. We really enjoyed the Piazza dei Miracoli which contains the Tower, Duomo, other beautiful buildings, and a gorgeous huge expanse of grass which was perfect for a picnic. Many college kids playing soccer/football and couples intertwined in the warm Spring sun. We climbed up the Tower which was fantastic - the lean make it tricky but to think we were on 1000 year-old marble steps was cool. Hannah counted over 300 steps. Below are some Pisa pictures (some taken from the top of the tower).

Firenze. We spent a day in Florence - the birthplace of the Italian renaissance. The art, piazzas were spectacular. Below are the duomo, ponte vecchio (bridge), and Michelangelo's David.

These final pictures were taken at the top of the medieval Guinigi Tower in Lucca. Hannah counted there were over 200 steps to reach the top. There are trees growing out of the top. It provides a beautiful view of the Lucca tile rooftops and the distant alps.

Glasgow

2008-04-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day taking the train to the city of Glasgow. Glasgow is in direct competition with Edinburgh for the top city in Scotland. It is a very different city -- much more modern but with many of its older buildings intact. This is a statue of James Dewar (of whiskey fame) on the main outdoor plaza. On that sunny day, it was filled with many musicians. We also checked out the nifty Glasgow Science Center - very, very, hands-on, and we all felt it was at least as good (and maybe better) as Minnesota's wonderful science museum in Saint Paul.

On that same weekend, we went hiking with our friends Mahesh and Archna. Below is a cute picture of Lily with Mahesh gazing at some local sheep. Later that night, Lily had enough activity and crashed by the fire ...

Benmore --by Hannah

2008-03-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Sciennes Primary School P6s spent the week of February 4-8^th at Benmore Outdoor Centre.

My first activity was absailing and climbing. We learned how to belay ourselves on an indoor wall. After about an hour of practice inside, group one headed for the big wall. It was a 50 foot wall that I climbed up! After a tricky climb up, I was at the top. Now to get down, you had to belay yourself down. It was very scary but on the bright side you got a great view while going down!

Orienteering was probably one of my favorite activities, the reason for this is I had never done anything like it before. Also I was pretty good at it. I came in 4^th place in the race. Also I learned I was good at map reading.

My dorm Lewis was the Outer Hebrides. The girls were Robyn (one of my best friend), Rowan, Justine, Stephanie, Louise, Martha, and Selana.

The forest walk was just average. We had to look for boxes (in the boxes contained objects that other groups had put there so you would take an object and leave an object).

I quite enjoyed Mountain Biking. My group had to go in water, go down steep hills and go on ramps. It was pretty fun.

I did a gorge walk. It was very hard but still very enjoyable. At the end of it you got to slide down a waterfall. I got SOAKED!

I loved High Ropes. One of the main reasons for that is I am VERY good at climbing. I even got to do a trapeze! It was a BLAST.

The disco was a great way to end a fabulous week. In the morning all of us trouped down to the coaches. After a last look the bus pulled away.

Viva la France

2008-02-21T00:54:00.000-08:00

We spent a week in the beautiful village of Les Houches/Chamonix in the savoie region in the French Alps, along the border with Italy.
This picture on the right looks harmless .... but the aftermath of this sledding run is on the left. The sled was a well engineered rocket that flew down the hill and struck a padded barrier head on. Lily broke both her legs and Hannah had a concussion. It was truly a freak accident. So, we headed to urgent care in Chamonix France. At that point, I did not think either of the kids were really hurt. Much to my surprise they confirmed two broken legs with a quick x-ray and that Hannah had a concussion after not remembering what had happened. All of this happening, while the attending physician berated me in French and English for the lack of helmets. The girls are true Minnesotans and have done a lot of Winter sports, so this was not expected. They casted Lily and recommended Hannah stay overnight in a regular hospital in the town of Sallanches, so they went in an ambulance with mom across the mountains to the next major town. They stayed on night and were out the next day. I even broke my rule of tasting hospital food - and it was French and good. Only in France, would a hospital serve freshly baked baguettes. Except for that one urgent doc, everyone was truly wonderful to us. Lily was known as 'La Petite Lily'. With some broken French and English, we were able to communicate to everyone and they received exceptional care. A friend of the Chalet manager drove to us the urgent care on his own time, a taxi driver let me slide without paying since I was out of euros, were just some of people that helped immensely. The bill including hospital stays, ambulance ride, several x-rays, etc, was so tiny compared to US healthcare. Luckily, we took out travel insurance for the trip. They ultimately provided a smooth transit back home and allowed us to fly into Edinburgh with extra seats for Lily (as opposed to Glasgow, where we were scheduled to fly back to).

So that was terrible and it occurred on the first day of the trip. Yet we managed to make the holiday work and truly adored France. So much so that we are planning a second trip to coincide with my conference in Lyon in May. Part of it was the weather. Every day crystal clear blue skies and around 50 degrees. There was tons of snow which dried overnight in the chilly evenings, so it was always perfect for the next day. The food was incredible - savoie is known for cheese - so we had some regional dishes, fondue (of course) and tartiflette. Now some more photos. Lily did not have appropriate clothes for her cast. So she obtained a designer French wardrobe in the lovely town of Chamonix.

We stayed at a gorgeous chalet that had fresh croissants and French bread delivered every morning from a local bakery. I can't even look at bread and pastries since leaving France. They invented the stuff and it shows. Every bakery was exceptional. We also had unbelievable views of Mount Blanc from our place. The chalet also had an amazingly beautiful indoor pool, turkish bath, sauna, to relax after a day in the snow. A nice sled hill (not the one with the accident) was right next to the chalet. The town of Les Houches also had outdoor ice skating.

One fun thing we did was take the Montenvers train in Chamonix. This old-style train from the turn of the century goes up into the mountains and follows along the Mer de Glace - the largest glacier in Europe. Some photos the ride and glacier views are shown. If you look carefully you can see skiers around the blue ice of the glacier.

Chamonix was right next door to us in Les Houches. It was a great town for walking around - lots of buildings, churches, and quaint little shops.

Annecy was another beautiful town. Lots of towers, castles, history. It had old cobbly streets that followed canals. It is dubbed the Venice of France. It was also bordered by Lake Annecy and this expansive beautiful park. One of the most stunning cities we've visited.

Here are some pictures of the girls cross-country (aka nordic) skiing on the outskirts of Chamonix.

Finally, some pictures of our little trooper Lily. Since we've been back in Edinburgh has casts were changed to pink. They will be off in a week!

Activities

2008-02-05T00:28:00.000-08:00

Hannah and Claire have found some cool activities here. Hannah is in a running club - they get up pretty air-lee to run in the Meadows near the school. She is also off for a week to Benmore in beautiful Argyll in Western Scotland with her classmates and teachers - gorge walking, hiking, etc. Claire is taking up yoga and guitar. We met a neat woman (Carolyn) in a pub playing guitar at a folk night and now she teaches Claire guitar.

More Scottish Culture

2008-01-25T05:09:00.000-08:00

Susan and I spent last night at a Burns Supper - honoring the great national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns. It was held at the cozy Tass pub on the Royal Mile. An evening of poetry, stories, and song, interwoven with Scottish courses. It was fantastic. Yes, the "prince of puddings" was served - The Haggis. I won't go into the ingredients, but it was not altogether unpleasant. Fortunately, it was served with nips and tatties, so we could limit the Haggis consumption to the bare minimum required to be able to say "of course we had Haggis". The evening concluded with all of us locking hands and singing auld lang zyne.

More football. I went to the Edinburgh soccer/football Derby this weekend (the term for an intra-city rivalry) between Hibs and Hearts of the premier league. Think of Mets vs. Yankees on steroids. I was sitting right along the goal with a great vantage point for corner kicks. Great fun. I knew the atmosphere would be charged when I saw pubs on route to the field with signs reading "home supporters only". Leaving the match, Hibs and Hearts fans were on opposite side of the main road, shouting and singing at each other, while horse-mounted police kept them separated. I was on a double-decker bus that was very slowly following the horses. It was great fun to watch from up there.

Claire and I walked to the Farmers market that faces the Edinburgh castle this morning - a great collection of local fish, wild game, and organic items. We feasted on hot porridge with fruit and honey, scones, and fresh potato chips, with a great view of the castle.

Winter in Scotland

2008-01-23T00:33:00.000-08:00

Some photos of our yard under frosty conditions. The air is so damp that any drop in temperature causes frost to form on everything, but it has stayed green all winter - a nice change from Minnesota. The other pictures are from our favorite local park called the Pentlands - it is filled with over 30 circuit hikes. The walks are much more varied than back home. On the same walk, you might walk alongside sheep or horses, go straight up a hill, see a waterfall, pass really old cottages, or through small villages. Sometimes it is very muddy and you have to be creative (see how the girls got arond a muddy stretch).

Hibs v. Rangers

2008-01-12T01:26:00.000-08:00

Over the break, I was able to experience a UK premier league football/soccer match - the Scottish premier league. It was everything I hoped it would be: crowds forming around pubs along the route to the pitch, tension mounting, police separating the local Edinburgh (Hibernian "hibs") fans from the Glasgow Rangers fans to prevent fighting. In the arena, local and away fans are also separated into different parts of the stadium. Once in the stadium, no alcohol is served for obvious reasons. The match was fantastic and full of atmosphere. From the moment the game started, everyone was standing on their seats, and the songs poured out. There was a song for everything and every player on both sides - a goal scoring song, a bad ref call song, etc. Some of the
songs were 'blue' and not for mixed company. Rangers, the far better team, won 2-1. Leaving the stadium, the police made sure the entire Rangers contingent had exited the stadium before we were allowed to exit. Pretty wild stuff. Following the match, we all went to the Scottish story telling center to hear some local folklore and songs. All in all, a great day.

Canary Islands and Christmas

2008-01-07T02:57:00.000-08:00

We spent 10 days in the Canary Islands (Lanzarote ), an Island in Spain. The island has a volcanic landscape of black rock was dotted with green fuzz. Many sites on the island were designed by Cesar Manrique. We toured the national park, Timanfaya, took a camel ride, and saw the most incredible rainbows. We hiked one volcano crater and left our names “written” in rock. The girls spent a lot of time playing on the beaches and collecting shells, sea glass, and peridot. Santa managed to find us (much to Claire’s great relief) and we all enjoyed a vacation of sand and sun.

Settling In

2007-12-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

Four months into our adventure and life seems more familiar and not so foreign. We have found the pleasure and charm in our surroundings. We remember to look right, then left when crossing the street, we cross an intersection on the diagonal, and have discovered that pubs are friendly places. Here is a list of words that are now popping up in our speech.

New words we have learned (or new uses):

Trousers----DON’T say pants unless you want a glare
Jotters------ notebooks
Traybakes-- bars and brownies
Rubbers---- erasers
Lift--------- elevator
Roundabout- rotary
Lorrie-------truck
Bonnet----- hood of car
Scheme---- plan or curriculum
Theme----- conference or meeting
Offers------ sales or specials
Jumper----- sweater
Coach------- tour bus
Contraflow-- lane switch on the highway (as if the driving on the left is not bad enough)
Top-up------ top off or fill up
Mobile------ cell phone
Trainers---- sneakers
Turn-ups--- cuffs
Aubergine-- eggplant
Queue------ line up (and they love to queue)
Tariff------- rate or cost
VAT-------- sales tax which is a brutal 17.5%
Bacon rolls-- bacon on a flour roll--these really need to be imported
Wee a fabulous all purpose word: the wee ones, have a wee look, take a wee walk, etc

Christmas Pageant

2007-12-13T05:51:00.000-08:00

Last night we attended the primary two “Christmas Carols Around the World” at Sciennes Primary School. Claire was an angel (clearly typecasting) and did a fabulous job! It was a lovely and festive evening and it was a clear example of differences in

Scotland

:

It was a Christmas pageant, not holiday or winter and it was all Christmas songs including “Away in a Manager”.

Prior to the performance, which was in the school assembly hall, wine and mince pies were served. This is a lovely way to experience school performances!

The front row of seats was reserved for the parent volunteers that helped with the event, what a great way to acknowledge the volunteers.

Thanksgiving

2007-12-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

Our first visitors have come and gone. Jane (Aunt Jane) and her friend Lynette (or as Lily says Ninlette) were here for 2 weeks. Bryana (our former babysitter) was here for 1 week. The enthusiastic greeting that Hannah gave Jane was something to witness. We were fortunate to have them here for Thanksgiving, which we celebrated in American style (Jane supplied the pumpkin). It was great to have familiar faces here, it made the house here seem more homey –or as they say here homely. It was sad when they left, but we are keeping busy with all the many holiday activities in Edinburgh, the girls have seen some Christmas pantomimes with their school and we took in ice-skating and the Edinburgh wheel (ferris wheel) and the Christmas markets on Princes St.

Och Aye, Scotland

2007-12-07T06:21:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been truly captivated by the city of Edinburgh - beginning to discover its nooks and crannies, secrets, ghosts, and hidden charms. It is just a cool place, despite its weather and 3:30pm sunsets ... We're beginning to explore its night life and the amazing array of sweet pubs and fabulous restaurants (we've finally tapped into the right set of places which are far better than anything we have at home). Recent fun things included seeing one of the hottest Scot bands, Twilight Sad, from the "fog-drenched streets of Glasgow" at a little club in town. We also checked out the Royal Oak pub that had room for about 20 people and all the folk musicians that could squeeze in. Pubs are an amazing social event and it took me a while to figure this out. Folks won't give you faux friendliness on the street or out in public, but will warmly greet you and engage in conversation in any pub.

I've also fallen quite hard for football (ehm, soccer). I've scored a ticket in an upcoming Scottish premier league (the Scot equivalent of the English premier league) match between powerhouse Rangers (from Glasgow) and local Hibernian (Hibs) from Edinburgh. There are tremendous sectarian rivalries in Scottish soccer - Rangers (non-Catholic) and Celtic (Catholic) both hail from Glasgow. These are the best teams by far in the SPL and rival the top teams in the English league. Most everyone in Scotland may follow a local team, but can placed either in the Rangers or Celtic camp ultimately. Suffices to say that when an English documentary film-maker wanted to capture the intensity of football rivalry and hooliganism, he headed north to Glasgow to watch Rangers v. Celtic. I've chosen a match that will hopefully have the right atmosphere but without any rough stuff.

Another visit to A-dam

2007-11-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

I met my buddy Ben Bloom for a day and night of adventure in Amsterdam a few weeks ago. Ben flew in from Paris and I from Edinburgh. Highlights included biking all through the city including as late as 3am, a canal boat tour, frisbee by the Van Gogh museum, Indonesian feast for dinner, numerous drinking establishments, and such like.

And if that wasn't enough fun, I've been invited back to A-dam to give a guest lecture. Click here.

Scotland v. Italy

2007-11-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

A heart-breaking loss for the lads on a rainy night at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Italy 2 , Scotland 1. Scotland will not be going to the World Cup. I tried hard to get a ticket but as they began to approach 1000 GBP, I opted out. Even the Archbishop of Glasgow could not get a ticket and said "I'm still waiting as no one has yet come forth with a ticket". Italy was the World Cup champs, immensely skilled and highly favored, and full of creativity. Scotland relied more on "set pieces", disciplined-play, and out-running the Italians to the ball. Hampden was roaring and the Scottish team was swarming most of the match and out-played Italy. The conditions favored Scotland - a misty steady rain and intense local fans, but it was not to be. I watched some of the match in a SRO pub near our house. The atmosphere was truly electric.

Arthur's Seat

2007-11-06T05:45:00.000-08:00

Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags November 3, 2007

We finally hiked Arthur’s Seat. It is the highest point in Edinburgh and a former volcano (12,000 years ago). We all made it to the top (even Lily hiked it).

Enchanted Forest

2007-10-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

Friday night we headed back up to Pitlochry in the Highlands and stayed again at the homey Dalshian ("dal-sheen") B&B. We went to see the Enchanted Forest - an evening of lights and music in the local Faskally woods and loch. It was pretty cool, check out their pictures.

Portugal

2007-10-23T05:38:00.000-07:00

Portugal 10/11-10/19

We spent 8 fabulous sun-filled days in the Algarve, Portugal. The Algarve is the Southern tip of Portugal and we stayed in the town of Carviero. The area is filled with wonderful picturesque beaches—most of which are coves accessed by long staircases down to the beach. It seemed that each cove beach was filled with wonderful rock formations, caves, turquoise water and golden sand. The area was very family friendly and the locals were very welcoming—especially to children. It was very easy to move around with our “large” (by UK standards) family. Besides the beach, we took a day long jeep tour of the area and up to Monchique, learned how cork was harvested (Portugal’s largest export), tasted the local moonshine and the local honey. We ventured out on our own to Silves to see the local farmer’s market, the roman bridge the castle (from the 10^th century), and the churches. We also took a boat tour of the area in a restored 1800’s wooden ship. From the large ship we took an excursion into the water caves, which was amazing. It was a perfect vacation and we all came back feeling rejuvenated.

NeSC

2007-10-02T04:08:00.000-07:00

I work at the National e-Science Center in "downtown" Edinburgh about a quarter mile from the Royal Mile. They were taking some photos of the staff a few weeks back. I normally photograph terribly but this one isn't half bad. It didn't look as good after rotating so I left it as is. The past two days we have seen only blue-sky with no clouds or wind. If you know Scotland, this is rather amazing.

Catching up

2007-09-30T01:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy two weeks - Hannah had her first party (a High School Musical II extravaganza)- the girls managed to catch a frog from our pond later that night (see below left). It was fun but I can't get the music out of my head. The top-most picture is Lily's first day of pre-school. We were invited to our neighbors Michael and Anna over for a formal Sunday lunch with a bunch of their family and grandkids. When I saw the formal table with individualized name place holders in different metallic animal shapes, linens, etc, and my kids, I was quite concerned about the mayhem that would ensure. Lily sat still for 40 seconds once last year when she had a 102 fever. It must have been the Yorkshire pudding (which thankfully has no internal animal parts) or the gracious company, but the girls were perfect. Other items to report - turns out that bubble bath and jacuzzi's don't mix (see Lily above). We also bought a car (a Vauxhall Vectra) - if you can't own an aston martin, I recommend this ;-). On the way back from Craigmillar castle (see top), Claire inaugurated the car with a mid-afternoon hurl. It made driving on the left-side even more hair-raising. Turns out that the problem actually isn't the side you are driving on, nor the much-dreaded roundabouts, but on the narrowness of the lanes. In a 2-lane road, I can practically smell the Bellhaven bitter on the breath of the driver whisking pass me.

Land of Song Writers

2007-09-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Many of my favorite songwriters over the years are from Scotland. Check them out 70s, 80s, 90s, NOW Please post more!

More Highlands

2007-09-19T12:59:00.001-07:00

Blog posts are limited in the image upload size, so here are some more photos that go with the previous post. As an extra treat, I have included an oldie but goodie, click here.

Highlands

2007-09-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

We spent a wonderful weekend in a town called Pitlochry in the southern reaches of the Highlands. This was Scotland as I had pictured it - steep green mountains, mist rolling off the hills, castles, and whiskey distilleries. We stayed at a sweet place called Dalshian where the owner family had two cute girls for our girls to play with. Highlights include the awesome Dunkeld Cathedral, Falls of Bruar, Blair Atholl Castle, and Edradour distillery - the smallest distillery in Scotland. After a wee dram, I was treated to a rainbow (see photo). It was also our first driving experience - yikes! - but it went so well on the drive home that we decided to get ourselves a car ...

catching up

2007-09-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

The upcoming posts span a few weeks of fun. We're hopelessly behind in the blog and have lots of photos and thoughts to share. We're out of the initial culture shock phase and are really loving it here. Next post will talk about our first real trip to the Highlands which was wonderful. Above are some photos of the girls in the local park named the Meadows near our house and the girl's school.

the castle

2007-09-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Edinburgh castle defines the city of Edinburgh in many ways. It's unique position on a hill and it's immense size set it apart of all castles in the UK. Being in a big city also makes it quite accessible. We managed to visit on a pretty clear day with excellent views of the city.

cycle tour

2007-09-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

We went a cool historic cycle tour of Edinburgh. The girls did great on all the hills and nooks/crannies of the city. Adrian was a really cool guide - very funny and informative. We saw the resting place of Adam Smith and Robert Burns, the pub where Dr. Jekyll frequented (or was it Mr. Hyde), the square where twice-hanged Maggie was publically hanged (she survived both attempts). The shots of are of us on Calton Hill overlooking the city and Hannah cruising down one of the city steets.

Fringe 2007

2007-08-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

We had a blast at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival which has now just ended. Here are the shows that we saw: Cinderella, Emperor's New Clothes, and a Bubble Extravaganza. Claire was a feature performer in the latter today as she beat the bubble master in bubble volleyball on stage. Very fun. It never seems old riding a double-decker to Princes Street in downtown Edinburgh. On Saturday, we rode the bus to nearby Pentland Hills for a hill walk (hike) that went straight up at what seemed to be a 90 degree angle. We witnessed some DRY hill skiing - very much a UK thing. The girls did great on the arduous walk and we were rewarded with a blue sky and view of the ocean (firth of forth) and Edinburgh not to mention gale force winds and a rainbow peeking through the distant mist. After, we had a pub lunch with a pint of Bell Haven (adults only).

Cool commute

2007-08-15T13:15:00.001-07:00

This is a view of some local mountains on my 1.5 mile commute to work. This park is huge and is called the Meadows and is currently filled with festival activities. It has a cool playground for the kids and often one can see cricket matches or soccer football being played.

Back to School--Scotland Style

2007-08-15T12:53:00.001-07:00

Wednesday August 15, 2007

Today was the first day of school for Hannah and Claire. They attend Sciennes Primary School. We have spent the last week frequenting the local stores to acquire the proper uniform. Sciennes (pronounced "Sheens") is liberal in their policy—it is just dark bottoms, navy sweatshirt or sweater and red/white or blue polo with their logo—and of course black “school shoes”. Also a gym uniform of a white shirt, blue shorts and plimsolles (think Keds). Claire tried on plimsolles and decreed that they were dumb looking. It took some convincing from the sales clerk that she would not be the only child wearing them. In fact Claire decreed the entire uniform as “boy clothes” (you can imagine how dull she finds boys clothes).
Today started with a blue sky and sun, which I took as a good omen for this school year. We all arrived at the school, the students play outside until the bell rings and then they line up. The scene with all the kids in uniform could be from 1950. Our girls were escorted to their classrooms, we all met their teachers, and then Jon and I were dismissed. The building is a Victorian building with a cupola, cloakrooms, and a swimming pool in the basement. While, the building is old, the rooms are high tech with interactive white boards (these are cool) and lots of computers. The teaching staff is very friendly and young. The head teacher (principal) and receptionist are very nice (Hannah says they are nice, but not as good as Mr. Litwin and Judy).
I picked them up this afternoon and they were both all smiles and have made friends, although Claire can’t recall her teacher’s name or what she did much of the day (Hannah of course gave me a moment by moment recitation).
So a major hurdle has been crossed, while not every day will be great, it is a relief that they had a good time and want to go back tomorrow.

We're Here!

2007-08-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

Amazingly we made it to Edinburgh! Five people (3 children), 15 bags, left St. Paul at 7pm August 2 and arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland 3:30 pm August 3, all just a wee bit tired. Many thanks to Susan's sister Jane and Paul Meekin for delivering us to the airport; customs for letting us sail through; the cheerful Edinburgh taxi who somehow managed to fit everything into his 2x8, and Nigel Masterton, our beloved relocation agent who met us at Thistle Cottage when we arrived to help us settle. Nigel was already changing lightbulbs, replacing fuses in plugs (don't ask) when we got there, and later did a little plumbing work on the girls tub. Nigel managed to get the TV working but we've just now got Internet in the house (that was an undertaking). We did manage to find the Daily Show on one of the channels - that was huge as we've been missing the states a bit.

The cottage is lovely and the garden (yard, that is) is spectacular, though we are getting use to a smaller home and how to establish new intra-home routines and such. We spend a lot of time in the four-season conservatory. The neighborhood is quiet and leafy - a collection of older stately detached stone homes. Neighbors are quiet and reserved - warm when you knock on their doors, but you have to make the first effort. Meeting new people will take time and patience. The streets are narrow, cobbly, and windy, and although Edinburgh is a small city geographically, getting from A to B can be very tricky, as street names can change abruptly and may be listed on buildings or not. A 1.5 mile journey to a store for the first time can be an adventure. The narrow sidewalks directly abut the street and so these tiny cars are zipping by inches from you. We're only a mile from Arthur's Seat with some excellent hikes and lochs.

Our first week in Edinburgh was very much like the Thistle - beautiful with some rough edges. Everywhere you look are old stone buildings and churches with cute shops tucked within them, with hills/mts and the ocean on the edges of the city. But at the same time it feels a bit strange and mysterious. The Jam's great song "Strange town" and the Doors "People are Strange" is spot on as they say. The Edinburgh festival is going on and the city is hopping - we've already seen one Fringe theatre performance and have two more coming up in the next week. We got the girls some used bikes as they may be able to bike to school which starts Weds! The weather has been mostly good - we've seen more blue sky than I expected, but some rain too. Yesterday was a bit rough. After failing to get a bike for myself, I stared at the computer weather screen to see RAIN, RAIN, RAIN for the next 3 days feeling rather blue; just then I noticed a whizzing sound on my right - Lily was emitting a stream of No. 1 right next to me into the carpet.

Despite the early bumps in the road, it will be a long exciting journey.

--Jon

Our Scotland home

2007-07-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Thistle Cottage - our new home in Scotland.

First Posting

2007-07-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Claire has just picked the pink template.