Barb in Scotland

Final post

2007-07-15T23:30:00.000-04:00

Well, since I am no longer in Scotland, and since I have finally finished the posts of my last adventures there, I am officially ending the "Barb in Scotland" blog. I will leave it online, but will no longer be adding to it.

I am starting a new blog, though, to document my life from this point forward. I hope you'll visit my new blog from time to time, though I don't promise my posts will be as frequent as they were in Scotland, and I can assure they won't be nearly as interesting. Oh well, hopefully I'll have something to share on occasion. You can find "Barb's Wire" at http://www.barbswireonline.blogspot.com. See you there!

Barb

Saying Goodbye

2007-07-15T23:14:00.000-04:00

My last few days in Aberdeen were quite trying, with having to say goodbye to all the wonderful friends I made while I was there. Amie and I continued to spend most of our time together. We visited Torry Battery one last time and finally caught a glimpse of a dolphin, though he only jumped once and that was before I had my camera out. Bummer!

We also spent a little time at Kings College, taking some photos to remember "my school" by.

On Tuesday, my last day in town, we went down to the beach and put our feet in the North Sea. This was something I had been wanting to do since I arrived, but I had been waiting for a day when it was warm enough that my toes wouldn't freeze. Well, I was out of time, so it was now or never. Let me tell you, that water was like ICE! But Amie was kind enough to join me so I wouldn't freeze alone.

After our toes warmed up, Amie, Kristianna and I went to pizza hut for my "last supper." It was a fun time of fellowship, though there was certainly a sense of sadness in the air too. We took a few pictures by the beach before heading home, and then came the moment I had been dreading - saying goodbye. It was very hard, but I know that I made some lifetime friends these last six months, and we have promised to keep in touch.

Highlands and Islands - Counting Sheep

2007-07-15T22:52:00.001-04:00

On our tour of the highlands and islands we saw sheep EVERYWHERE!! They would lie in the passing places on the narrow roads, or simply walk down the middle of the road like they owned the place!

There were fat sheep and skinny sheep, old sheep and baby lambs, white sheep and black sheep, sleeping sheep and playing sheep. There were speckled sheep and horny - I mean horned - sheep. Okay, that's a joke, I said "horny" instead of horned the first time I saw one with horns, and it just stuck. Oh well.

But my favorites were the “tame” sheep. While we were walking to the youth hostel on Iona, we saw a bunch of sheep in the middle of the road. I told Amie that I wanted to try to pet one, so she had her camera ready. The first few sheep ran away as we approached, but one stayed in the road without being fazed. So I reached out my hand and petted his head. He just looked at me. Then another sheep started heading over towards me like, “Hey, what about me? I want my head scratched too!” So I petted him too. When we started walking away, the first one followed us for a bit. It was like “Mary had a little lamb”! Too cool!

Highlands and Islands, Day 6 - Eilean Donan Castle

2007-07-15T22:31:00.000-04:00

Our last day! This was a really fun trip, but I think we were all ready to be finished driving. We started the day by driving across the Skye Bridge, a bridge linking the island with the mainland. This bridge was a really big deal when it was built, and I took several pictures hoping to have one to add to my collection of bridge photos.

Continuing down the road, we came to Eilean Donan Castle, the most photographed castle in Scotland and another must-see sight for me when we planned this trip. The weather was not cooperating too well with us, and the hills around the castle were shrouded in mist and clouds. As they say in Scotland, "the hills did not come out for us" on that day. But the castle itself was beautiful. We didn't go in the castle, because we were ready to head for home, but we stopped and walked around the grounds for a little while and had lunch in the car park (it was raining).

Our next stop was Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness. I visited this castle with my family when they were here in March, and Amie had also been there a couple of times, but it was a first for Laurie. Since this castle is a part of our Historic Scotland membership, Laurie and I went in to explore it for a little while. We climbed up to the tallest point of the castle for amazing views of Loch Ness and the whole castle ruins.

Our last stop on the road to home was the ruins of the Elgin Cathedral. For the second time, I arrived half an hour after the cathedral closed (this happened to my family back in March as well). But Amie had never seen the cathedral, so we walked around the ruins before heading to McDonalds for a treat and continuing our drive back to Aberdeen.

We finally made it home around 8:00 pm, tired but happy. We had a great vacation, with memories to last a lifetime, and fantastic photos as a bonus!

Highlands and Islands, Day 5 - Fairy Glen and Storr

2007-07-15T21:59:00.000-04:00

On day 5 we woke up to rather wet weather, which was quite disappointing. But we didn't let the clouds and mist stop us from exploring. We headed out to the fairy glen, a magical little glen with a river winding through the hills, amazing green grass, and a "fairy castle" complete with stone circles. We climbed all over the hills and up to the "castle," enjoying the mystery of the location before we finally decided we had had enough of the cold and wet for one morning.

Our drive on this day took us around the northernmost tip of Skye and back down the other side, past the grave of Flora MacDonald (an instrumental figure in the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie), Kilt Rock (so named because the rock formations look like the pleats in a kilt), and other amazing views of the cliffs and the sea.

A highlight for the day was a stop at the Old Man of Storr, an impressive rock pinnacle jutting up from the mountains. Laurie hiked up to it, and I do mean hike - it was a 30 minute walk uphill on a muddy track. Amie and I started the walk but gave up because I didn't want to stress my ankle any more than the lighthouse walk did yesterday. We did get to take several photos of the Old Man from the road, though, and Laurie got some great ones upclose.

We finally wound up in Portree for our last night, visited a couple of art galleries, and spent the rainy evening playing cards in the hostel dining room.

Highlands and Islands, Day 4 - Skye

2007-07-15T21:32:00.001-04:00

Happy Fourth of July! We spent the morning driving around Skye listening to patriotic music from our ipods. It was a rather odd experience being in Scotland and singing along to America the Beautiful, but that's okay. Amie and I even dressed in red, white, and blue to celebrate the day.Our first stop was the Neist Point Lighthouse, which provided a challenge because we had to hike up and down some major hills in order to reach it. I didn't think I was going to make it back up the last hill to the car park! My ankle was holding up pretty well, but this walk stressed it out quite a bit. It was worth it though - the view of the cliffs from the lighthouse was impressive. We had a picnic lunch on the cliffs and then headed back to the car.

After more driving, we arrived at Dunvegan Castle, which Amie and I toured while Laurie visited some art galleries (she had already seen the castle on a previous trip). Because the castle was not a ruin, Amie and I weren't all that impressed. But the gardens were beautiful. They have a cascading waterfall and some very unusual flowers. We spent a bit of time relaxing in the sun by the waterfall and photographing flowers before we had to leave.

Continuing on, we stopped in several more art galleries before making it to our hostel in Uig, up on the north part of Skye. This was our least favorite hostel, but they can't all be great, I suppose. At least we had phenomenal views! After fixing dinner in the kitchen, we decided to go to the hotel down the road for dessert. Well, Amie and Laurie had dessert (sticky toffee pudding and chocolate cheesecake). I had a craving for chips (fries), so that was my dessert! Boy, were they good!

Highlands and Islands, Day 3 - Glenfinnan

2007-07-15T20:52:00.000-04:00

This was the day Amie and I had been anticipating since we planned this trip - our visit to the Glenfinnan Viaduct, the train used in the 2nd and 3rd Harry Potter movies! We got up and headed for the ferry, thankful for sunshine and brilliant blue skies. The water was an amazing turquoise color this morning.After another ferry ride from Mull back to the mainland, and a couple of hours of driving, we made it to Glenfinnan, which is located on the lovely Loch Shiel. There is a monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie there at the edge of the loch, but we were far too interested in the train to visit the monument! We did take a few pictures of it though.We walked up the hill to the recommended viewpoint, staked out the best place to watch the train, and settled in to wait. We were soon joined by several other Harry Potter enthusiasts who wanted to watch the train as well. The viaduct, with its 21 arches and curved concrete railway, is impressive in its own right, but we were determined to see the Jacobite Steamtrain cross the viaduct.

Finally we saw puffs of steam off to the left and heard the whistle. Oh, it was so cool to watch that red and black train cross the viaduct. It was just like in the movies! The engineer even let out some steam for us part of the way across the bridge. It was DEFINITELY worth the wait and the detour to Glenfinnan!

The weather cleared for us as we made it to Mallaig, the starting point for our final ferry ride, to the Isle of Skye. Skye is the largest of Scotland's Hebrides islands, and where we spent most of our time on this trip. The ferry to Skye presented us with beautiful views of other islands, the mainland, and the ocean.

Once on Skye, we headed for our hostel in Carbost. The view from the hostel was lovely, and after dinner we had an amazing sunset, this time with more vibrant colors. Amie and I walked down to the loch to enjoy it (Laurie went to bed early).

Highlands and Islands, Day 2 - Mull and Iona

2007-07-15T20:20:00.000-04:00

Even though I'm back in the States, I thought I'd finish blogging about my time in Scotland, so this post is about the 2nd day of my trip to the West Coast and islands.

On day 2 of our travels, we got up bright and early to catch the 7 a.m. ferry to the Isle of Mull. This gave us some flexibility in our timing, allowing us to spend some extra time touring Mull before traveling over to the tiny island of Iona. On Mull, we saw beautiful scenery - rolling green hills, the ruins of Duart Castle, and the bright colors of the waterfront village of Tobermory.

We caught a ferry across the water to Iona, which is supposedly the birthplace of Christianity in Europe. In 563, St. Columba sailed to Iona from Ireland and established a monastery there. We visited the ancient abbey and nunnery on this site, and saw the numerous stone crosses on the island. It was quite impressive.

We spent the night in a hostel on Iona, so Amie and I decided to take a walk down to the beach that evening. We were treated with a lovely sunset. The colors weren't very vivid, but the sight of the sunbeams breaking through the clouds was amazing.

The Good Ole US of A

2007-07-12T10:39:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back in the States. I got back yesterday late afternoon after a LONG flight from London to Atlanta, and a shorter flight before that from Aberdeen to London. It was a very long day of travelling, but I was glad to be back in the sunny, warmer weather and to see my family again. I actually stayed awake last night till about 11:00 (4:00 am Aberdeen time), which was about 24 hours after I woke up to head to the airport, and for some reason I woke up at 7:30 this morning. Yuck!! I'm sure the jetlag will hit me soon. In the meantime, I'll be hanging out by the pool...

I will be posting some more pics from my recent trip to the Scotland west coast and my final days in Aberdeen, but I wanted to get this message out that I'm BACK!!!

Highlands and Islands, Day 1 - Travel to Oban

2007-07-08T14:33:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, my friends Amie, Laurie, and I began our tour of the highlands and islands by driving to Oban on the west coast of Scotland. The trip took longer than expected due to an accident which closed down the road and caused us to take a 2-hour detour around Loch Lomond. The plus side was we got to see some beautiful scenery, including silver waterfalls, gorgeous lochs, and amazing hills.

We finally got to Oban about 10 minutes after the last ferry left for the Isle of Mull, so we ended up spending the night in Oban rather than continuing on to the islands. This allowed us to spend a relaxing evening in Oban, to walk along the harbour and hike up to the top of the coliseum and enjoy the magnificent views of the islands in the twilight hours.

I'll post more pics of the other 5 days of travel later. Gotta go home now...

Update on My Ankle

2007-06-30T14:09:00.000-04:00

Three days later, the swelling in my ankle has gone down a good bit and the pain is not too bad, especially when I wear a support brace. The bruising is quite colorful (the pictures below don't really show it well), but I think it will be fine in a few days - I hope so, because I'm going on vacation to the west coast, and I don't want a sore ankle the whole time I'm there!

Clifftops and Raindrops

2007-06-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

Wednesday started out as another gorgeous day, and thankfully the wind had died down so it wasn't nearly as cold out. So Amie and I decided to take a bus up to the Bullers of Buchan and take the clifftop walk down to Slain's Castle and then on to Cruden Bay. I have been to all these places previously, but Amie never had, and I'd never done the cliffside walk, so we decided it would be fun. The Bullers of Buchan were as spectacular as ever, with the water crashing in the cave and the birds nesting on the cliffs. Check out this first picture - that little speck on top of the arch is me, standing on the opposite side of the sea bowl from the main part of the cliffs!

When we started walking the cliffs, the weather was so warm that I took off my fleece and had on just short sleeves! The grass and weeds was as tall as my head in certain places, and the cliffside path was usually only wide enough for one foot. It was a precarious walk at times, and we felt like we were in the jungle, but the seaside views were phenomenal and we saw a lot of wildlife and plants (including thistle and heather) as well.

As we walked towards the castle, we could see rain in the distance. It didn't take long for the rain to make its way to us, and with it the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped so much that I ended up putting on my fleece, jacket, and gloves! We continued to walk though - we had no choice, since we were on the cliffs in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't our only difficulty on this walk. In one of the really narrow sections of the path, I stepped right into a rabbit hole, and sprained my right ankle. It hurt really bad, but again, we had no choice but to continue on. Thankfully we were more than halfway to the castle at that point. Between my hurting ankle, the rain, and the cold, I was a bit miserable.

When we got to Slain's Castle, we finally were able to sit down, and I quickly took ibuprofin to try to ease the pain and swelling in my ankle. We relaxed for a little while, had a little snack, and then I felt up to venturing around the castle. Amie had never been there, so she was seeing it through fresh eyes, and kept saying "I want to live here." Well, it would be really cold, because there's no roof and grass and weeds growing out of the tops of some of the walls! But the castle IS really cool - that's for sure - and we had fun seeing all the many rooms and the cliffs on which it is built.

We finally left the castle to walk/limp our way the rest of the way to Cruden Bay to catch the bus. Well, frustration #3 - we got to the bus stop ontime, but the bus was early, and we saw it pass by as we were getting to the top of the hill. There was no way I could run to catch it, and I honestly don't think we could have caught it even if my ankle wasn't hurt. Since we had an hour to waste until the next bus, we wandered down to the harbour and beach in Cruden Bay, before heading back to the bus stop in plenty of time for the next bus, in case it too was early.

Overall it was an interesting day - frustrating at times, and painful certainly, but we had fun nonetheless.

Back to Winter

2007-06-28T13:11:00.001-04:00

Wow! Summer solstice was only one week ago, and already it feels like winter has returned to Aberdeen! It's crazy. On Tuesday, we finally had a sunny day (it had been cloudy and rainy for a week), so Amie and I decided to enjoy the sunshine and explore some of Aberdeen. We headed out to walk along the harbour at Torry Battery, since the last time we were there it rained on us. Well, this time it wasn't raining, but the winds were gusting to at least 30 mph. If it hadn't been blowing away from the water it probably would have blown us right into the sea! We ended up wearing hats, gloves, and scarves - on the 26th of June! Who would have thought? The water was incredibly choppy, and the waves were huge, crashing against the rocks and the pier with amazing power.

When we finally had enough of the cold and the wind, we headed back into town for some warmth at Starbucks before visiting a couple of parks. I had never been to the Union Terrace Gardens, and their landscaping was beautiful. This park is located below street level between the two main streets in Aberdeen, so it was somewhat sheltered from the wind. And with the sun shining, it was quite nice. We had a snack and just relaxed there.

After some more exploring and dinner at home, we decided to walk out on the beach to enjoy the late summer sunshine. We had wanted to go there on summer solstice, the longest day of the year, but since it was really cloudy that evening the effect would have been lost. We got out to the beach around 9:30 pm, and the sun was just starting to go down. We enjoyed a lovely sunset and watched the waves crashing on the beach. They weren't quite as big as earlier in the day, but they were certainly more powerful than any waves I've seen at the Aberdeen beach.

All together, it was a lovely day of exploring, and I got to see a couple of parts of this city that I'd never experienced before. We didn't get home till about 10:30 pm, but it was still quite light out - when I went to bed at midnight it still wasn't pitch black! This is one thing I enjoy about summer in Aberdeen - really long days!

Dubai, Part 10 - Ski Dubai

2007-06-24T13:30:00.000-04:00

On Monday, my last day in Dubai, Joanna and I took another brief (5-minute) trip to the beach, then she took me to show me her church.
After lunch we headed to the Mall of the Emirates, one of the world's largest shopping malls, where they actually have an indoor ski slope called Ski Dubai! This first picture shows Ski Dubai from the outside of the mall. The other one shows the chairlifts and slopes of this incredible place.

Jo and I didn't ski, but we spent over an hour playing in the snow, wearing our borrowed snow suits, sledding down the hills, riding the luge, and enjoying the huge contrast in temperature from outside. The sign said it was -4 degrees (celcius)! I never imagined I would be playing in the snow in the desert, but it was too cool! Ha ha, cool!

After Ski Dubai, we went for pedicures and then headed home until it was time to go to the airport. All in all, it was a fantastic trip to Dubai - awesome sights, lots of fun hanging out with my dear friend, sun, and snow. Who could ask for more?!

Dubai, Part 9 - Night Pictures

2007-06-24T12:48:00.000-04:00

After the boat tour, Joanna and I were DISGUSTING!!! But after cleaning up, we headed out to one of Dubai's MANY malls for dinner and some night-time photography. Well, the photography was just me, but still... We had a delicious dinner at at restaurant called The Dome - I had chicken schnitzel, not exactly what I expected to eat in Dubai, but it was great nonetheless.

After we ordered our dinner, I walked out onto the deck area of the restaurant because we had a FABULOUS view of the Burj al Arab.

After dinner, I convinced Joanna and Bethany to walk join me in the heat for a few more pictures. I love the way the lights on the Burj change colors periodically. I think this blue was my favorite though.

We walked around to other parts of the mall, which was created to resemble Egypt. The area below the Dome reminded me a lot of what I expect Bethlehem to look like. On the upper level of the mall there are many non-functioning wind towers. Real wind towers funnel the wind in certain ways to create a natural air conditioning. Even though the wind towers at the mall were fake, they created a beautiful picture and atmosphere.

Dubai, Part 8 - Dubai Creek Tour

2007-06-24T12:30:00.000-04:00

We didn't get enough of the heat on the big bus tour (yeah right), so we decided to take an abra (water taxi) ride down the Dubai Creek to get a different view of the city.

Our hour-long tour took us down the creek past the Dubai Creek Country Club, which was created to look like the Sydney Opera House - it's a pretty cool looking building.

This building reflects the boats passing it on the creek. The boat reflected in it in this picture is our abra. Here it is up close, with our tour guide.

Dubai, Part 7 - City Big Bus Tour

2007-06-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

In the afternoon Joanna and I took a ride on Dubai's big bus tour, an open-top double-decker bus that took us all around the city. It was a lot of fun, but can you say HOT?!?! We rode on the top, where there was a tarp covering us, but no windows or air conditioning. It wasn't so bad when the bus was moving, but when we sat still for any length of time, it was almost unbearable!

The bus tour took us all over the city, showing us landmarks like Wafi City with its pyramid building, the Burj Dubai (which will be the tallest skyscraper in the world when it is finished), the Dubai Creek, and the souks (market-type shops selling all sorts of souvenirs). It was a great way to see the city, though I would certainly recommend waiting to do this tour until the cooler months.

The bus tour included admission to the Dubai Museum, and we definitely took advantage of their air conditioning. The museum gave a history of the city of Dubai, and it was actually quite interesting. But I will admit the best part was the cool air.

Dubai, Part 6 - Jumeirah Mosque

2007-06-23T06:53:00.000-04:00

After leaving the beach, Jo and I headed to the Jumeirah Mosque. This is the largest mosque in Dubai, and the only one which non-Muslims are allowed to enter. They are very strict about who is allowed into the building, and how you can enter - children under 5 are not allowed, everyone has to remove their shoes outside, and women must have their heads covered and be dressed very modestly. They will provide black abiyas for women who are not dressed modestly enough, as well as headscarves. Joanna and I brought headscarves with us, but they required her to wear an abiya because her shirt was not long enough. Mine was fine, so I could go in as I was dressed, but I still tried on the abiya for fun (and for the picture)!

The ornate exterior of the mosque was quite impressive, with its characteristic dome and two minarets from which the call to prayer is broadcast five times each day. Before we entered the mosque, our tour guide demonstrated how the Muslim worshippers perform the ritual cleansing that is required before prayer.

The mosque inside was beautiful, with rich red and gold colors contrasted with a soothing pale blue, sparkling chandeliers, and decorative Arabic writing surrounding the ceiling in the main portion of the room. Inside our guide taught us about the 5 pillars of Islam, and answered questions about the mosque and Islam in general. He also demonstrated how the Muslims pray, translating the Arabic for us so we could understand. It was a very interesting and informative tour.

Dubai, Part 5 - The Beach and the Burj

2007-06-22T16:22:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, Joanna and I headed out for a LONG day of sight-seeing. We started out at the beach, where I put my feet in the Arabian Sea, otherwise known as the Persian Gulf. The water was so warm, like a bathtub! Of course, it was insanely hot out in the sun.

The view from the beach was incredible, a perfect view of the Burj al Arab (the Tower of Arabia). This is the only 7-star hotel in the world, with a suspended helipad where you can play tennis or hit golfballs, where it costs $80 just to walk in and see the hotel, and where a night in the most expensive suite costs $15,000! We certainly didn't get to go in to the hotel, but the view was beautiful.

Dubai, Part 4 - Lebanese Barbeque

2007-06-22T15:53:00.000-04:00

After riding the camel, we headed into the camp. There was a large platform set up in the middle of the camp, with short tables set up all around it, and cushions set around each of the tables for us to recline on as we ate.

There were small booth-type areas set up around the perimeter of the camp. There was one where we could make sand designs in bottles (but we didn't), one where we got henna tattoos, one where we could dress up in the traditional Arabic dress (but it was WAY too hot to put on more clothes), one area where we could hold a falcon, one where we could smoke the Arabic tobacco (again, we didn't), and another that was set up as a bar serving cold drinks (this was the area we frequented most often, as it was insanely hot in the desert and they had ice-cold soft drinks and water). We also ate a Lebanese barbeque of lamb and chicken kabobs, rice, tomato and cucumber salad, pita bread, hummos, and other traditional Arabic foods.

While we were eating, a bellydancer performed on the raised platform in the middle of the camp. She was very impressive. She also pulled up several members of the audience to dance with her, which was quite funny.

The bellydancing was the final part of the safari. It was so much fun and the food was great, but it was also nice to get back to the city, take a nice cool shower, and rinse all that SAND away. According to Joanna, the shower was FULL of sand after we were finished!

Dubai, Part 3 - Camels

2007-06-22T15:20:00.000-04:00

While we were out on the sand dunes, we saw a couple of wild camels wandering in the desert. I didn't even know there were wild camels still.

After we finished dune-bashing, our caravan of SUV's headed toward the camp for a Lebanese barbeque. Along the way, we stopped at a camel farm, where probably 30 or 40 camels were surrounding the feeding troughs and eating. In the next pen over, veterinarians were vaccinating the baby camels, which were screaming at the top of their lungs as the men grabbed their tails and gave them their shots. All the other babies were also screaming in sympathy. I've never heard such a racket! We were allowed to walk in the main pen with the adult camels, most of which ignored both the babies and us humans in favor of finishing their dinner. It was so cool to see that many camels in one place, and up close. Check out the face on the middle camel in this first picture!

After leaving the camel farm, we made it to the camp where we had the chance to actually RIDE a camel! So cool! It wasn't a very long ride, only about 5 minutes, but it was still incredible! The only part that was uncomfortable was when the camel sat down to let us off. He kneeled his front legs first, so I was leaning forward toward the desert floor. But he quickly lowered his back legs, and all was right again. I will never forget this chance to ride a camel!

Scottish Universities Conference

2007-06-21T10:01:00.002-04:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to post my pictures and adventures from Dubai. I got back to Aberdeen on Tuesday, and for the last two days I have been madly trying to prepare for my presentation today at the Scottish Universities Conference. This conference involves students from the four main universities in Scotland - Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St. Andrews -presenting papers in all areas of theological education - Biblical studies, church history, systematic theology, and practical theology. I presented a modified form of the paper that I shared with the Aberdeen Biblical studies group at the Burn back in May - today's paper was about 7 minutes longer, so it had more information and a slightly different format, but was basically the same. I was the first presenter in the Biblical Studies room, at 10:30 this morning, and it went well. I was a lot less nervous today than when I presented at the Burn. I don't know if that's because I had already presented this paper or if I'm getting used to public speaking, or some combination, but I'll take it regardless!

So, this presentation basically wraps up my studies here at the University of Aberdeen. I'm now officially in PLAY MODE! I will be doing some reading over the next 3 weeks - I have to do some advance reading for my Fall seminars at SWBTS - but I plan to spend most of the remainder of my time here seeing the things around Aberdeenshire that I still haven't seen, spending time with my friends, and enjoying this country while I can.

Anyway, I will post my blogs about Dubai shortly. It may take several posts over several days, but I have some great stories and pictures to share, so I'm anxious to get them online and get your comments. Check back soon...

Dubai, Part 2 - Dune Bashing

2007-06-21T10:01:00.001-04:00

Part two in the chronicles of my holiday in Dubai...

On Friday, Joanna had a surprise birthday party planned for her friend, Bethany. I was the decoy - she told Bethany the party was to introduce me to her friends. She was just using me. =) So we spent the day preparing for the party - making beef barbeque (haven't had that since I left TX), potato salad, and other fixings, and watching American tv, shows that I haven't seen here in Scotland. It seems so odd to me that Dubai seemed to have more of the comforts of home than Scotland does. Hmm... Anyway, the party was a success and Joanna's friends were a lot of fun, though Bethany was not surprised.

On Saturday Jo, Bethany, and I headed out to do a little shopping. A lot of things are really cheap in Dubai (not food and housing though), and it was SO hot, so we spent a lot of time in malls while I was there. Late that afternoon we were picked up at Jo's flat by the tour guide for our desert safari. We headed out of the city in his Toyota Land Rover, and met up with about 7 or 8 other groups (there were 6 of us in our vehicle - 3 girls from Ireland and the 3 of us) before hitting the sand. They let some of the air out of the tires in the SUV's, and off we went, up and down the sand dunes in the middle of the desert, sometimes sliding sideways down the dunes, bouncing all over (thankfully we had seatbelts), and just having a blast. We "dune bashed" for about an hour all together, and it never got old. We saw wild camels walking around in the desert, and stopped a couple of times for some pictures. One of the SUV's got stuck on a dune, with the sand up to the chassis, and the front and back wheels barely touching the sand, so another vehicle attached a rope to it and yanked it free. That was cool to watch! Oh, and it was 50 degrees out in the desert while we were dune bashing - that's 50 celcius, 122 fahrenheit! - so we were glad to be in a nice airconditioned vehicle! This dune bashing was definitely one of the highlights of my trip - it was so much fun, almost like a rollercoaster at times, but one with no set track to follow. Our guide sometimes veered away from the others, taking us up, down, and over some of the most amazing scenery I've seen. Definitely an experience I'd like to repeat, if I ever make it back to Dubai.

Here are some pictures from our stops in the desert. Man, was it hot out there! But it was worth it, I tell you that!

Dubai, Part 1 - Surprise

2007-06-20T11:03:00.000-04:00

I just got back to Aberdeen from spending four days visiting my dear friend, Joanna, in Dubai. Jo has been a teacher at the Dubai American Academy for the last three years, and I've heard so much about this amazing city that I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go visit her. We finally made it to her flat at about 12:30 am on Friday, and Jo promptly said, "I have a present for you." Well, I told her that buying my ticket was present enough (isn't she great?!), but took that back when she opened her fridge and pulled out a jar of PICKLES!!!! What an awesome friend!! She knew that I've not been able to find real pickles here in Scotland, so she bought some for me (of course, I find it ironic that you can't find pickles in Scotland, but you can in the Middle East - something is wrong with this picture!). Well, even though it was after midnight, I promptly opened the jar and ate a couple - it was only 9:30 pm Aberdeen time, so it was okay. Oh, they were wonderful!

Off to Dubai

2007-06-14T01:01:00.000-04:00

Yep, you read right... I'm off for five days in the abundant beauty and sweltering heat of Dubai! I am so excited about getting to visit Joanna there - I haven't seen her in almost a year, and it will be great to have her show me this exotic place where she's been living the last few years. I will have tons of pictures to post soon, I'm sure. If I can't post them while I'm there, be sure to check back sometime on Tuesday (June 19). In the meantime, pray that I don't die of heat stroke! Yesterday the weather channel said it was 109 with a heat index of 117 - quite a big change from Scotland!

More highland cattle

2007-06-11T09:46:00.000-04:00

Here are some more pictures of the highland cattle, which I took this weekend out in Banchory. I just can't get over how cute they are, especially the babies. Unfortunately, the only times the babies were up close to the fence were when we couldn't stop, so I didn't get closeups of them. Oh well, there's always the next time!

Ladies Group

2007-06-11T09:36:00.000-04:00

Since I've been in Aberdeen I've been a part of this group of postgraduate in divinity ladies who get together weekly to share a meal, discuss our research, and talk about anything and everything. We eat lunch together most every Thursday, and once a month have a nice dinner at someone's home. This group has been a true blessing to me these last 5 months. The ladies have become dear friends - encouraging me when I'm down, providing an example for me in their research and lifestyle, joining in my Scotland explorations, and just being a support group for life in general.

Last Thursday evening was the last of our Thursday dinners that I'll be a part of. We had a Meditteranean feast at Lo's flat, complete with lamb stew, couscous, veggies, pita bread, and a lovely plum dessert. Before we parted ways they all prayed for me - the first of the group to be "sent out" from Aberdeen - and it was very touching. It will be quite difficult to leave these ladies and the friendships we've formed. I didn't really expect to have that problem when I came, though I prayed that I would make good friends, and God certainly did provide.

(Back row: Lois, me, Amie, and Carolyn; front row: Kristianna and Laurie)

Linn of Dee

2007-06-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

This weekend, after moving out of my flat on Saturday (yeah!), my friends Kristianna, Amie and I drove down to Banchory to hang out with Laurie. The four of us drove out to the Linn of Dee, a canyon of sorts carved out by the River Dee. The weather was phenomenal - warm (65-70 degrees) and actually sunny! So we had a great time walking around on the rocks of the canyon, watching the waterfalls and the "churning cauldrons of water" (Amie's phrase). Of course, I took tons of pictures, as always. Kristianna was very childlike - sitting on the edge of the rocks and peering in to the water. The southerner came out in Amie while we were there - I looked over and she was chewing on a piece of grass! I guess that's what you should expect from a girl from Tennessee!

The drive to the Linn of Dee and back was incredibly picturesque. We stopped at the Cambus O'May suspension bridge, a walkbridge across the Dee.

We also stopped at another old bridge, where three horses were walking around at the river's edge. It was quite idyllic.

I've come to realize there is nothing like the Scottish countryside for scenery, with its sheep, highland cattle, occasional castles, rolling hills, and rivers. There's nothing like this in Texas, that's for sure!

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

2007-06-08T15:29:00.001-04:00

Well, it's time to say goodbye to good old Hillhead Halls. Tomorrow I move out of my dorm and begin a month of the nomadic life, moving from one friend's flat to another until I return to the States. Thankfully I've made friends over here, so I have options of places to stay. I know Jason and Erin are thankful, too, so that they don't have to put up with me for the whole last month! I'll stay with them next week until I leave for Dubai to visit Joanna, then again for a couple of days when I return. I'm still working out the details of where I'll go after that, but I have options. At the beginning of July I'll go to the west coast with Amie, Laurie, and Kristianna for about 5 days, and then I'll only have about 5 days left before I head back to the USA! I can't believe how quickly my time is going - and I know it will go even faster with all this transition.

(My "lovely" flat at Keith House--and in case you weren't sure, that was sarcastic!)

King's College Chapel Choir

2007-06-05T05:20:00.000-04:00

I have been privileged to be a part of the King's College Chapel Choir during my time at the University of Aberdeen. I joined back in February, when I found out that one of my flatmates (Anna) sang with them and I got the information from her. It has been great fun to return to the classical style of singing that I learned in my undergrad - I haven't done this type of singing since my year in Southwestern Singers (1999-2000)! While I love the contemporary music that I get to sing in the Wedgwood choir, sometimes it is nice to return to your roots. This term in chapel we sang a couple of Mozart pieces, including Ave Verum Corpus, several Tudor anthems by Byrd and others, and several other pieces. I think my favorite was The Lord Is My Shepherd (the theme from The Vicar of Dibley), which I might try with my children's choir next year. We also had an evening concert in which we gave the first public performance in Scotland of a new edition of Vivaldi's Gloria, arranged by a music professor from Aberdeen. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in chapel choir - it has been nice to feel a part of a group here, and to get to know a wider range of people. I don't think I'll miss chapel itself, though - I can't wait to get back to Wedgwood, where I actually feel the Spirit and an atmosphere of worship, and know the songs we're singing (I rarely know the hymns here - if I know the tune, the words are wrong; if I know the words, the tune is different!). I must say, though, it has been nice wearing robes and using music again, even if only temporarily...

Here are a few pictures of chapel choir. These were taken by one of the campus photographers. I have tried twice to scan them, but it didn't work, so I just took a photo of the print, and here you are (that's why the quality is not great).

St. Andrews

2007-06-04T06:29:00.000-04:00

On Sunday after chapel, my flatmate Anna and I drove down to St. Andrews. Anna spent four years at the University of St. Andrews, so it was nice to be shown around the town and campus by someone who knows and loves it (Anna is constantly comparing Aberdeen to St. Andrews, and Aberdeen always loses!).

We first stopped by the famous St. Andrews Old Course (golf course) for a little shopping - I had to pick up a hat for Papa. Right behind the golf course is the Chariots of Fire beach.

We headed into town and ate Tesco sandwiches in the quadrangle in front of St. Sally's (Salvator's) chapel. I must say, our chapel with its crown is much prettier, at least on the outside. We didn't get to go inside St. Sally's, so I don't know whether it's nicer or not.Anna also took me to St. Salvator's hall, the residence hall where she and Prince William lived (at the same time, but not together), and the divinity building.

On our way back to Aberdeen, we took a short detour to Glamis Castle, one of the Queen Mother's residences. By this time the rain was falling again and the fog was insanely thick, so it was hard to see much and we didn't spend any more time there than it took for me to get out of the car and take a couple of pictures. But it was still good to add another castle to my list. And the grounds were so plush and green - beautiful!

Stonehaven Street Festival

2007-06-04T05:53:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, Amie and I ventured down to Stonehaven, a little harbour village south of Aberdeen. They were having a street festival, so we walked around the town square, listened to the pipe band, did a little shopping at the craft booths, and enjoyed a grilled hamburger.

The festival wasn't very big, so all of that didn't take very long. We decided to walk around town a bit, and go down by the harbour. The water was incredibly choppy because of the weather we've had lately, and the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks was incredible.

Then we got adventurous. Dunnottar Castle is about a 1.5 mile walk south of Stonehaven via the cliffs along the coast. So we climbed up, up, up this very steep hill from the harbour to get onto the cliffs. We were exhausted after that, but that was the hardest part. The walk along the cliffs was gorgeous, even though the sky was grey and cloudy. But everything was so green! And there were rabbits everywhere, scurrying to their warrens when they heard us coming. We passed the Stonehaven War Memorial to those residents of Stonehaven who lost their lives in the two World Wars, and finally made it to Dunnottar Castle. I am always impressed with the location of this castle. It is out on the edge of a cliff that is virtually cut off from the main land - you have to walk down a steep staircase to the narrow beach, and then back up the steps on the other side to get to the castle. It is ideally situated for protection, because there's no way anyone could sneak up on it - there's only one way to the castle, with the steep rocky cliffs on three sides. Amie and I were content to stay on the main cliffs rather than climbing all the way down and back up to the castle - we've both explored the inside before. But the cliff walk was certainly worth it. After walking the 1.5 miles back to town (much easier on the return trip, let me tell you!), we headed back to Aberdeen, worn out but pleased with our adventures of the day.

The Secret Garden

2007-06-01T06:09:00.000-04:00

While we were walking in Seaton Park last night, Amie showed me a secret garden. Because it is at the top end of the park, and higher in elevation than most of the park, the fog wasn't very thick in it. While people were milling around in most parts of the park (playing football, jogging, fishing, etc.), this walled garden was deserted. A lot of the flowers were in bloom, and in the middle of one of the three partitioned areas, this funny-looking tree stood all on its own.

And the Harr Came In

2007-06-01T05:53:00.000-04:00

Here in Aberdeen (as well as other places on the Scotland coast), we sometimes get fog so thick you can't see through it (as thick as pea soup, I think is the saying). It's strange to watch the fog roll in - it almost feels like the clouds are so low they are touching the ground. When this fog rolls in from the sea, it is called the "harr", and it happened yesterday. We finally had a break from the incessant rain that has plagued Aberdeen for two days, and then periodically yesterday I'd look out the window to see the fog. It happened on and off all day long. About dinner time the sky seemed kind of clear, finally, so Amie and I decided to take advantage of it and take a walk through Seaton Park. When we got down there, the harr was certainly in. It was kind of cool walking in it though - it felt like true Scottish weather. (I think the first picture is my favorite - if you look closely, you can see the twin spires of St. Machar's Cathedral peeking through the fog.)

The River Dee was also rushing along, really high, fast, and dirty because of all the rain we've had. We only saw one member of the Seaton swan family.Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I looked out my window, and the harr was amazingly thick. Check out this picture - the view is not great, but you can definitely see how foggy it was!

No more blue and orange

2007-05-30T05:21:00.000-04:00

Just a random note - I just figured out how to change the color of the "navigator bar" at the top of my blog. Now there's no more blue and orange (the most horrendous color combination possible) on my blog! How exciting!
(As you can see, this weather has affected my mood, and I am searching for SOMETHING to make life less gloomy!)

Rain Rain Go Away!

2007-05-30T05:16:00.001-04:00

I just have to say that these last two days have been some of the most miserable weather since I've been in Scotland. It has rained nonstop for two days - sometimes heavy downpours, other times a constant, steady mist. The sky matches the color of all the grey granite buildings in the "Granite City" (Aberdeen), and it is chilly too. If this keeps up, I'll be ready to go back to Texas REALLY quickly! I will admit that this is what I expected of Scotland's weather, but I think I've been spoiled by such a mild winter that I am surprised when the weather becomes typical for this area. So I am praying for the rain to GO AWAY!

Hiking in the Rain

2007-05-27T08:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Amie and I decided we wanted to get out and explore a little in Aberdeen, even though the weather was a little iffy. It was nice and warm when I got up, so I decided to wear capris. I sure regretted that later though, when the wind and rain took over.

We took a bus out to Torry Battery, an old fort built in 1860 on the coast, right by the Aberdeen harbor entrance. On a clear day, you are supposed to be able to see dolphins playing in the harbor. Well, it was clear when we started for the bus, but by the time we got to Torry Battery, it was certainly NOT clear. As we walked on the cliffs along the coast the rain started, and our umbrellas quickly came out. What's interesting in Aberdeen is you can actually see the bad weather (or clear skies) coming - the line in the sky is very distinct, and it's quite neat to watch the rain heading toward you.

We didn't let the weather win, though. Even though the weather didn't cooperate, we still had fun seeing the coast and the fort, and looking for the absent dolphins. We decided this would be a nice walk if the weather was pretty, and we may try it again sometime.

Monkey Ball

2007-05-27T08:40:00.000-04:00

In our free time, my friend Amie (a fellow PhD in divinity student) and I engage in the ultimate academic pursuit - MONKEY BALL! Actually there's nothing academic about it. It's a video game on Playstation, and our favorite Monkey Ball game is "Monkey Fight." Each player shows up on the screen as a little monkey enclosed in a ball (hence the name), and in Monkey Fight you roll around on a board trying to punch the other players off the board while not falling off yourself. It's really entertaining, especially the trash talk that goes on as we either fall or knock the other player off.

So, why am I sharing this? Because twice in the last week I had the ultimate victory - a clean sweep of three boards where none of the other monkeys (Amie or the two computer characters) won a single level! It was awesome! There's nothing like Monkey Ball to turn your mind from academics...

Back to Banchory

2007-05-22T09:03:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I went back out to Banchory to hang out with Laurie. I was very thankful that she invited me out, since other plans fell through. I got out there around noon on Saturday, and we promptly headed to Finzean (pronounced "fingen") to meet another friend, Carolyn, whose son was playing rugby in the area. We had lunch at the Finzean tearoom, a cute little place with good food and fun atmosphere, and then took a short walk to a huge burial cairn that supposedly dates to the time of Abram.

After leaving Carolyn and her family, Laurie and I took another walk out in Birse. The countryside was gorgeous, and the path was bordered on both sides by fields with cattle, sheep, and horses. Laurie convinced me that I should stay the night out in Banchory since I didn't have to worry about chapel choir the next day. I didn't have ANYTHING with me - no toothbrush, pajamas, clean clothes, NOTHING! But I stayed anyway. That night we watched Local Hero, a 1980s movie that was filmed in Pennan, a coastal fishing village that we visited while my family was here. We also walked into town for icecream, crossing the river and seeing the highland cattle up close and personal. Actually, I thought I was going to see one of them much closer than I wanted! I stepped up on a tree to get a closer picture of the babies, and the mama started charging over at me to protect her babies! Kind of startled me, but I still got the picture.

On Sunday after worship, we hiked up Scolty hill again (we did this the day after Easter also), taking in the scenery and pausing at the top for a picnic lunch.

It was a gorgeous weekend, beautiful sunshine, and even warm when the wind wasn't gusting. And it was great to get out to the country again, to hang out with Laurie and enjoy the setting. I think some of my favorite times in Scotland have been when I've gotten out of the dull grey of the "granite city" and explored the rich Scottish countryside. I'm going to miss those opportunities when I get back to the States - there's certainly nothing like the highlands in Texas!

The Burn Biblical Studies Colloquium

2007-05-17T15:57:00.000-04:00

I spent the last two days with about 30 other Biblical Studies postgraduate students and faculty at a country retreat centre called "The Burn." It is this huge 18th-century house that was established as an academic retreat by a family after their 21-year-old son was killed in World War 2. The Burn is located on 190 acres of land, and has such activities as putting, croquet, tennis, pingpong, and a labyrinth.
We arrived on Wednesday around 11:00 am, and promptly started presenting papers. Over the two days I must have heard around 15 papers on a wide variety of topics in New Testament and Biblical studies, in addition to presenting my own 20-minute paper. It was a lot to take in academically, but it was interesting to hear what other students are working on, to see how others present papers, etc. My own presentation went relatively well. It was my first real academic presentation (at least in this format), so I was quite nervous. The presentation itself was fine; I don't think I did as well as I could have in answering the questions after I read my paper, but excellence at that comes with time and practice. Overall I was pleased. Now I have to revise and lengthen my paper somewhat for my next presentation at the Scottish Universities Conference on June 21.

On Wednesday afternoon a large group of us took an hour-long walk along the River North Esk on the Burn property. It was a gorgeous river walk, and a great way to relieve some stress. Not surprisingly, Laurie was constantly looking for ways to stray from the main path. She, Brian and I took a detour which led us to a neat ruin in the middle of the woods. Pretty cool!

Alpine Adventure

2007-05-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

While in Munich this weekend, Debbie and I took a bus tour on Saturday down to the Bavarian Alps, where we saw two of King Ludwig II's famous castles and the quaint little town of Oberammergau. While we spent a great deal of time on the bus traveling from one sight to the next, I was constantly snapping pictures through the window, because the views of the mountains and countryside were just gorgeous! Our first stop was Schloss Linderhof, a small castle in a valley in the Alps. The tour of the inside of the castle was interesting, but the best part for me was the outside, with the fountain shooting up from the reflecting pool and the mountains all around. When we first got there it was cloudy and drizzling, and we thought the weather was not going to cooperate with us. When we came out of the castle, however, the sun was out, and it stayed that way the rest of the day. It was beautiful!

From there we headed to Oberammergau, a little village that is known for its passion play that it puts on every 10 years. Many of the buildings in this town are painted with murals on the outside. Two of the most famous ones have the stories of Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel & Gretl on them. We drove right past them, but I didn't have the opportunity to take pictures unfortunately. We only had about a half hour in Oberammergau, and we spent most of it shopping. They are also known for their woodcarving, so it's a great place to get authentic German gifts.Finally we went to Schloss Neuschwanstein, the fairy-tale castle that was the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was amazing! I've seen Mom and Dad's pictures from their visit to Neuschwanstein when we lived in Germany, but the real thing is so much better! We walked out to the Marienbrücke where the view of the castle is incredible, then took a tour of the inside (again, interesting but nowhere near as awesome as the outside).

On our walk down to the castle we could also see another castle, Schloss Hohenschwangau, a medieval castle that Ludwig lived in as a child. We didn't get to visit this castle up-close though.

I could have stayed there exploring the area and taking pictures of the castles and the mountains all day, but alas, the bus was ready to move on. So we headed back to Munich. But I tell you - if I ever get the chance to go back and spend more time exploring southern Bavaria and the Alps, I will certainly take it. It was by far the highlight of my trip to Germany.

Ein Wochenende im Bayern

2007-05-10T06:41:00.000-04:00

If you couldn't tell from the title, I spent this past weekend in Germany--Bavaria to be exact. My friend Debbie, a fellow wedgie currently serving overseas, and I decided to meet up in Germany for the weekend since we haven't seen each other in a year.

I flew into Munich on Friday after catching a flight from Aberdeen at the ungodly hour of 6:15 am. Yuck! After getting settled at the hotel, we set out for the Marienplatz, the main square in Munich, to see the glockenspiel on the Neues Rathaus (new town hall). Every day at 5:00 pm the chimes play and the glockenspiel comes to life - the dancers twirl, the knights fight, and the other figures come into view as the round turntable momentarily spins them into the daylight. Apparently the two levels are celebrating two different events in the history of Munich. Don't know so much about the history, but it wasn't necessary to enjoy the show. Unfortunately the entire main tower of the Rathaus was in scaffolding, with the exception of the glockenspiel, so we didn't get quite the full effect, but it was cool anyway.

For dinner Friday night we became the typical tourists and headed over to the Hofbräuhaus, a famous beer hall in the center of Munich. The atmosphere was so fun - we sat at long tressle-style tables, watched as the waitresses carried out the HUGE beer steins, listened to the oompah band playing, and enjoying delicious pork Wiener schnitzel and apple strudel. YUM! (By the way, a disclaimer before you see the last pictures in this set - that was a Coke I was finishing off, not a beer!)
On Saturday we took a bus tour into southern Bavaria to see a couple of incredible castles. I'll make that day a separate post because it was so cool!

On Sunday I headed out early to explore some of the sights, especially the churches, while Debbie slept in. I had a blast wandering the streets of Munich, going into the old Catholic churches and hearing the mass in German while gazing in awe at the ornate interiors of the buildings. Of course, since services were going on in three of the churches, I couldn't explore much inside, much less take photos, but it was cool to see them nonetheless. And even from the back, they were so elaborately decorated. I also spent some time in the Hofgarten across from probably my favorite of the churches, the Theaterinkirche. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - brilliant blue sky, warm (sometimes hot) sun, nice breeze - and with the bright greenery and flowers in the park, I got some great photos (if I do say so myself). After meeting Debbie for lunch, we headed to the Olympic area of Munich and went up in the Olympiaturn, this incredibly tall tower where we had amazing views of the city. Thankfully there was an elevator at the tower - it took us up nearly 300 meters in no time flat! In contrast, later that afternoon we climbed the 306 steps to the top of Alter Peter, the tower of St. Peterskirche in the center of Munich. The views from the top were just as incredible as on the Olympiaturn, but we sure worked hard for this one! We also went inside St. Peterskirche and enjoyed the elaborate interior.Finally, to cap the day off, we took a walk along the Isar River, and then I went back down to the Marienplatz that evening for some more photography. Then I hit the sack to get some sleep before another ungodly flight - this time leaving Munich at 6:45. I am not a fan of early morning travel! But overall it was a lot of fun. It was my first time back to Germany since we moved when I was four, so I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the bright colors everywhere (a major contrast with Aberdeen's incessant grey), getting to go to the Alps, hearing everyone speaking German and trying to understand as much as possible, filling up on Wienar schnitzel, and exploring. It was also great fun to see Debbie again and to catch up with her on life - so much has happened in the last year for both of us, and I've missed my friend since she went overseas last year.

Highland cattle

2007-05-10T06:37:00.000-04:00

I finally have some decent shots of highland cattle. These guys are really hairy! But aren't they cute?!

A few more pictures from last weekend

2007-05-10T06:16:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more pics from last weekend's road trip. These are the ones Amie took - she got some great shots!

(The way I spent most of the weekend.)

(Fields of oilseed rape in bloom)

(Climbing over the barrier - caught in the act!)

(The beauty of Loch Leven)

Loch Leven Castle and the Coastal Trail

2007-05-07T07:23:00.000-04:00

Saturday was my friend Amie's birthday, so to celebrate, Laurie, Amie and I took a road trip to Loch Leven Castle, about two hours south of Aberdeen. Amie and I met Laurie in Banchory, and off we went over Cairn o' Mount, where we had a lovely view of the valley below, even though the sky was quite overcast. The scenery was beautiful as we drove through the hills - the oilseed rape covered huge areas with its yellow blossoms, and we saw tons of little lambies playing in the fields.

Loch Leven Castle, a 14th-15th century tower, sits on an island in the middle of Loch Leven. This is where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned for nearly a year before escaping in 1568, supposedly because someone left a key for her. Visitors take a 10-minute boat ride to get to the island. We had a great time exploring the castle ruins and the small island, enjoying a birthday snack (including a dram of whiskey for the two non-Baptists in the group), and just relaxing in the warm sunshine and cool breeze.
(Yes, those are my feet on the other side of the "No visitors beyond this point" sign! We climbed over the rail and walked along the castle wall - it was quite fun and a little rebellious!)

After leaving the castle, we decided to take the coastal route back to Aberdeen. This allowed us to see several little fishing villages and harbours along the way, including Elie, St. Monans, Pittenweem, Anstruther, and Crail, before finally stopping in St. Andrews for dinner at a local pub.

It was a great day, and I was thrilled to get to visit another castle and explore a new area of Scotland.

Race to Win

2007-05-07T05:43:00.000-04:00

Since I posted a blog about missing Wild Worship, I thought I'd post these pictures of last night's musical, Race to Win. Thanks to Genny for emailing them to me so quickly. I almost started crying when I saw the first one of the 6th grade girls. They were the 3rd graders when I first started working with the 3rd-4th grade choir four years ago, so they're the ones I've had the longest, and it was sad to realize they won't be in choir next year. But apparently the musical went well last night. The costumes, set, and props look fantastic. I can't wait to see a video of it, and to get back and be Miss Barb to this incredible group of kids again. By the way, the girls in the last picture are the two 7th graders I'll be discipling next year - Carrie and Rebecca. I can't believe they'll be youth! Congrats, girls!

Missing Wild Worship

2007-05-06T17:16:00.000-04:00

Today is a big day for Wild Worship, my children's choir at Wedgwood in Ft. Worth. It is their spring musical, Race to Win, and I'm missing it! I have really been missing my choir this week - I wish I was there to be a part of the musical preparations, to hear how awesome they sound, and to experience the final result as the presentation comes together tonight. I'm sure it will be incredible - it always is! Hopefully someone will mail me a dvd of the musical so I can see it. I hope they all know how much I've been praying for them this week and how much I miss them. I can't wait to get back. Christmas in Reverse - here we come!(Photos are from last year's musical - King of the Jungle)

Torcher Parade

2007-04-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

Saturday night was the annual Aberdeen Torcher Parade. That's "torcher", not "torture!" It is the largest torch-led charity parade in the UK, and it's presented by the University of Aberdeen. Each of the University clubs creates a float on the back of a lolly (18-wheeler), and some club members walk along beside the floats carrying buckets and collecting pennies from the crowd for local charities. I met Amie, Carrie, and Carrie's two boys downtown for the parade on saturday evening. The parade itself wasn't all that exciting. The best part was the bagpipe band that led off the parade. The floats themselves were actually kind of lame, mostly decorated with cardboard and based on various movies, like Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Happy Feet. But the boys loved it, and it was fun just being out experiencing it with my friends. We actually watched the whole parade as it started at Marischal College, then walked over to Union Street to catch it coming by the second time. The first time it was too light for the torches to be lit, but the second time a group of marchers carrying torches walked in front. You can't go to a torcher parade and not see the torches!

Spring Senses

2007-04-30T05:38:00.000-04:00

This weekend I had a little bit of spring fever. Friday was absolutely gorgeous here in Aberdeen! I ate lunch outside on campus, and then went back in and attempted to concentrate on my work and NOT look out the window at the lovely day. It worked until about 3:00, and then I couldn't stand it any longer. I went home, grabbed a towel, rolled up my jeans, and sat outside on the lawn reading for about an hour till the wind made me too chilled. Ah, so nice!

My flatmate Anna and I had made plans to go to Fort George this weekend, a military base on the Moray Firth, but it didn't work out. I had invited my friend Amie to go with us, so we decided to go to a castle on our own, but at the last minute she changed her mind too. Seems everyone decided to be scholarly this weekend! Not me! Weekends are my time to explore, not to work, and saturday was too beautiful to stay inside! So I ventured off on my own. The castle Amie and I were going to visit was about 2 hours away by bus (and the bus ride was 24.50 - in pounds!) so I went to Crathes Castle, one I had already visited in the winter but that is closer to home.

The walk from where the bus let me off to the castle itself is about a mile, so I took the woodland trail, enjoying nature as I made the trek through the castle grounds. Crathes Castle is probably best known for its gardens, but when I was there before they weren't in bloom. Not this time! They were lovely! I wandered around for a couple of hours in the gardens and on the grounds, had a picnic lunch, took a short walk up to the lookout point for a view of the hills, and then headed back to the bus stop. Since I got there early, I walked down by the River Dee for a few minutes. Overall, it was a great day outdoors, and I enjoyed it even though I was on my own. Here are a few of my observations:

The smell of woodsy pine and the sweet fragrance of the many flowers...

The sound of birds singing, bees buzzing, and the river rolling by...The vibrant colors of the garden flowers were so pleasing to the eye, especially the largest tulips I've ever in my life seen...

The feel of the warm sun and cool breeze on my face...

The Reaping

2007-04-26T10:51:00.000-04:00

I know, I haven't had much interesting to blog about lately. But yesterday my friend Amie and I went to see the movie The Reaping. In it these Exodus-type plagues starting taking place in a small village in Louisiana, and a skeptic is called in to find out what is causing them. Well, since I'm in the midst of writing a paper about the Exodus-plague imagery in Revelation, I counted it as research time. Okay, not really, but still, it was quite timely. Anyway, this movie was extremely creapy. I had a death-grip on the arm rest the entire time, and kept saying "don't open the door," "don't go in there," etc. Of course, they never listened to me! (I don't like scary movies!) So I found it interesting how they portrayed the Exodus plagues. They certainly took some liberties. For instance, a lot of the plagues affected only certain characters, and the boils and locusts actually killed, which doesn't take place in Exodus. Also, they combined the plague of hail and fire with the plague of darkness, and switched the order. Of course, my mind is so steeped in the plague imagery right now that I was thinking, "That's not right! Darkness doesn't come yet!" Well, I don't think they were trying to be biblically accurate. And to their credit, they're not the first to take liberties with the plagues. John certainly does in Revelation, and the author of Wisdom of Solomon does too. Of course, these movie writers are not divinely inspired, either. Anyway, it was certainly a movie to make you think, and if you like scary movies, then I would recommend it. It was quite suspenseful, that's for sure. If , however, you're like me, I would suggest staying away from The Reaping, especially at night. It might cause a few nightmares!

By the way, I hope to go to a castle this weekend, so look for a more typical post with pictures sometime soon!

Weekend and misc

2007-04-22T15:37:00.000-04:00

I usually use my weekends to get out and explore a castle or natural attraction here in Scotland. This weekend, not so much. My friend Laurie (who I visited in Banchory for Easter) is out of town, and another friend Amie is "cottage-sitting" for her. So I went down to Banchory on Friday for a relaxing weekend in the country. We had planned to do another hike up Scolty Hill, or walk around the village, or something. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. It was quite cloudy, cool, and dark when I arrived on Friday afternoon, and overnight the rain settled in. It rained almost all day on Saturday. So what did we do? We talked, and talked, and talked some more! It was really good to just visit with a new friend and have no agenda, no place to go, nothing pressing on our time. We didn't even get out of our pajamas on Saturday until 4:00! So, not exactly the weekend I had planned, but a welcome one nonetheless.

When I arrived in Banchory on Friday, Amie met me at the bus stop and we walked back to the cottage. On the way there is a field where a "family" of highland cattle live. I stopped to take a couple of pictures. They're not as close-up as I wanted, but they're a start.

Oh, here's a picture of me with my flatmate Emma in our University of Aberdeen "jumpers". Not a high picture-taking weekend, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll have more opportunities for photography.

Day 13 - Last Day in London

2007-04-20T05:36:00.000-04:00

For those of you who have been following my family's trip to Scotland and England on my blog, you may wonder what happened to Day 12. Well, I was actually able to blog about that day DURING our trip (see earlier post entitled "London Adventures"). So, here's a summary of our last day...

We headed first to Kensington Palace, one of the official residences of the royal family and the place where Princess Diana lived. The best part about our tour of this palace, at least in my opinion, was the stunning photographs of Princess Di, and the collection of her dresses. We also saw a lot of antique furniture, painted ceilings, etc., that are usually a part of tours of castles and palaces. After we finished the tour (which took a lot longer than I expected), we ventured out into Hyde Park to see the Princess Diana memorial fountain. I must say, it was quite unimpressive, and I thought a memorial to such an incredible lady should have had much more to it. The fountain was really just this ring in which water flowed over various textured areas to give a ripple effect. It was really modern compared to other monuments or memorials in the city. We then headed back to the Westminster area to get our tickets for the Thames River Cruise. While we waited for our departure time we wandered down the River walkway, seeing the memorial to the Battle of Britain and the Jubilee Walkway, a footbridge that crosses the Thames . I wanted to continue down to Cleopatra's Needle and the sphinxes, but we ran out of time.

The river cruise was a lot of fun and gave us the opportunity to see up-close certain places that we had not been able to visit (Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Cleopatra's Needle), and to get a different view of other major landmarks (Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, etc.). The guide was quite humorous, and the weather was fabulous, so we really enjoyed being out on the river. Our cruise took us from just below Big Ben and Parliament all the way under Tower Bridge, where we turned around and received a lovely view of the bridge.

Finally, we headed to Piccadilly Circus for an early dinner at TGI Fridays, then back to the hotel to pack, since we all had early flights the next morning. Overall, we had a wonderful trip, saw SO many sights and really enjoyed it. I think Mom and Papa were ready to go home by the last couple of days - two weeks is a long time - but we made the most of every opportunity. It was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime chance to tour these two amazing countries, and I'm glad I was able to share it with my family.

Halfway!

2007-04-18T15:54:00.000-04:00

Well, today is the halfway point in my time in Aberdeen! Now I can start counting down the days till I get to return to the good old U S of A! 84 days... that sounds like a really long time, a lot longer that 2 1/2 months. Maybe I won't start counting the days themselves yet.

Anyway, in honor of reaching the halfway point, I've been reflecting on the things that I will miss when I leave here, as well as the things I won't miss and the things that I have missed terribly from the States and that I'm looking forward to upon my return. Here are my thoughts:

Things that I will miss about Aberdeen/Scotland when I leave:

Hearing that Scottish accent all the time
All of the incredible places I see all around me and have the opportunity to visit while I'm here. Everything here is so old, it's amazing. We have nothing like it in the States, because our country is so young comparatively. And travel is easier here - they go from country to country like we go from state to state.
Having a group of fellow female post-grad in divinity students to share research ideas, talk with about various issues related to divinity study, etc. That's one of the best things I've found about being here - the friends I've made.
Being able to research and study all day without having to work 40 hours a week!
Caramel shortcakes - this is one of my two main addictions since I've been here. Graham cracker crust, topped with a thick layer of caramel and a thin layer of chocolate. Divine! Even the lowfat version from Asda is so rich I can only eat one at a time.
Walker's lime and thai spice crisps (potato chips) - my other addiction - so good!

Things I won't miss about Aberdeen/Scotland:

Being constantly bombarded by cigarette smoke wherever I walk.
Living in the dorm. Okay, the girls I live with are great, but goodness, I can't wait to have my own bathroom, kitchen, bedroom that's bigger than a closet, and a couch!
The cold. This winter has been really mild here, but it's still colder than I'm used to. And the wind really makes it feel frigid sometimes.
Having to rely on public transportation or walk everywhere.
The food - or the lack of good food, I should say.
Pounds Sterling - everything here is twice as expensive as at home!

Things I'm looking forward to when I get home (not necessarily in any particular order):

Pickles! Pickles! and more pickles! I have gone through serious withdrawals! I bought a couple of different jars of what I thought might pass for pickles, but they were nasty! I go to Subway or McDonalds just to get pickles on my sandwich. And try as I might, I just can't seem to get anyone to mail me a jar of pickles. You'd think my friends and family would love me enough to do that! =)
Red Hot & Blue - my favorite. That will be one of my first stops when I get back to Ft. Worth, for sure!
Setting up my new apartment and getting settled back into a routine again. And having space and privacy!
Driving! I miss my Jeep and the independence it provides. We take having a vehicle for granted in America. Hope I can remember how to drive on the right side of the road!
Earning an income again - not the earning part, but the income! And the Dollar bill! It will be nice to not have to pay double for everything.
Shopping at Kohl's for new clothes. I've lost some weight since I've been here, and all my clothes are baggy on me. But the fashion here is rather dismal, and I haven't been able to find any new clothes that I would consider wearing. So I'm just going baggy for a couple more months.
Wedgwood Baptist Church - I miss my church! My children's choir, my friends, the adult choir, the church library, singing music I actually know, hearing good text-centred sermons that are meaty and help me grow in my faith.
Scrapbooking - man have I missed that! This blog is helping though, because it's kind of like digital scrapbooking, in a way. One thing's for sure, it's going to take me a LONG time to get caught up with my scrapbooks, considering the vast number of pictures I've taken over here.
My friends and family - probably the hardest thing about being here is not having access to my frinds and family whenever I want to talk to them. Phone calls are so expensive, so I don't get to talk as often as I want. And of course I can't see or hang out with anyone from home. Skype has been a wonderful thing - it has made life so much better - but it's not the same as chatting on the cell phone with my mom as I drive home from church or wherever. We have to coordinate times with the time-difference, and I have to go to the hotspot and get online in order to chat. It will be nice to not have those factors making communication difficult.

I'm certain there are more things I miss from home, and that there are other things I'll miss from here. But these are the ones that come to mind at the moment. So 84 days and counting... I have a lot planned in the meantime, so hopefully the time will pass quickly. I'm sure that all too soon I will be packing up and wondering where the time went. But right now, I'm in the hotspot, my laptop battery is about to die, and it's time to go up to my little box that I call a dorm room and get ready for another day. Ah, the life of a student...

Days 10 and 11 - London

2007-04-17T14:38:00.000-04:00

I am combining days 10 and 11 into one blog, since there's not a whole lot to say about day 10. That day we left York early and started our drive south to London. We really didn't do any stopping along the way, unfortunately. I had hoped for a detour to Oxford, but it was not to be. We were all ready to just get to London and settle in for the last leg of our trip. When we finally reached the outskirts of London, driving got very interesting. We missed several turns, did several u-turns, and probably wasted about an hour trying to find our hotel. Dad quickly decided that we were going to turn in the rental car as quickly as possible and just rely on the buses and the underground for transportation. That turned out to be a great decision, because the London drivers were crazy! So we unloaded the rental car at the rather unattractive hotel and headed for Heathrow Airport to get rid of the car. That consumed a large portion of our afternoon, but we did finally make it to downtown London and see a few sights before crashing for the evening. We had dinner in Piccadilly Circus at a place known for their ribs and American cuisine. It was good, but nowhere near as tasty as The Hole in the Wall in York. Then we decided to take the bus and see the major sights by night. We rode through Trafalgar Square to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, then changed buses to pass St. Paul's Cathedral and walk around briefly at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Everything was all lit up, and it was a lovely evening, not too cold. Unfortunately, that didn't last.
When we got up the next morning, we were anticipating nice warm weather like we'd had the last couple of days. So we all took our lightweight jackets as we headed out. That was a mistake, because between the light mist, the cold, and the strong winds, we FROZE! We didn't let that stop us from seeing the sights though. Our first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece. It is an amazing cathedral, which was unfortunately partially concealed by scaffolding. It seems that scaffolding followed us to a lot of the sights we visited on this trip. By the way, the statue outside St. Paul's Cathedral (see photo below) is where Julie Andrews sang "Feed the Birds" in Mary Poppins. At St. Paul's, Mom and Papa looked around on the main floor while Dad, Ben, and I took the 434 stairs up to the Whispering Gallery (which put us very close to the beautiful mosaics on the interior of the dome ceiling) and the Stone Gallery and Golden Gallery, both of which are on the outside of the dome and gave us the opportunity to see incredible panoramic views of the city. It took us about an hour to climb all the way up, see the sights outside, and come back down. It was worth it, though my legs were incredibly shaky for a while afterwards.
From there we headed to the Tower Bridge Exhibit, where we got to go into the two towers, learn about how Tower Bridge was created and how the drawbridge works, and walk across the pedestrian walkways at the top for more amazing views of the Thames and the city.
Even though it was bitter cold outside, we were not about to miss the opportunity to see the Tower Bridge drawbridge raise that afternoon. So we quickly loaded up on hot drinks and grabbed a spot by the railing to watch as the bridge raised to allow the HMS Northumberland to pass. This may not seem to be that big of deal, but the Tower Bridge drawbridge only raises about once a day, so we were excited to see it.

From there we headed into the Tower of London, where we saw one of the guards feeding the ravens. Legend says if the ravens leave the tower grounds, London will fall, so the ravens' wings are clipped to keep them in. We waited in line for the torture exhibit in the Bloody Tower, which was not all that great, and then went to view the Crown Jewels of England - they're incredible! After a brief walk through the artillery and arms exhibit in White Tower, we were all ready for dinner.

After dinner we decided to split up. Dad and Papa needed to do a "recon" to make sure they knew how to get to Gatwick Airport by tube/train on Friday, and Mom and I needed to make a trip to Harrod's. Okay, "need" may be too strong a word, but it was the perfect opportunity. Ben went with us, and we spent about half an hour exploring just a small portion of that amazing store. I must say, I like Harrod's better when it's all decorated for Christmas and it has Christmas ornaments available for purchase. But even in spring it is unlike any store I've ever been to in the States.Finally we headed back to the hotel for a snack of Krispy Kreme donuts (Dad and Papa found them in the tube station) and a good night's sleep.

Day 9 - York

2007-04-16T13:04:00.000-04:00

Back to the summary of my family's trip to the UK...

On day 9 we left Edinburgh, driving south toward England. We crossed over the border late morning, and began looking for signs to Hadrian's Wall, one attraction that Dad really wanted to see. Apparently Hadrian's Wall is an old Roman wall (built in the 2nd century AD) that was used defensively to separate the Romans from the Barbarians. The wall spans most of the way across England, so we certainly didn't drive all of it. Unfortunately, on the part of the drive that we went on, we couldn't tell whether we were seeing Hadrian's Wall or just stone walls separating various farms and fields. It was rather disappointing.

The drive south to York took a great deal longer than we anticipated, but we arrived in York in mid-afternoon, and promptly drove to the York Cathedral, or Minster. Wow! It was spectacular! The building is huge, and looks a lot like Westminster Abbey on the outside, with its twin spires. Inside, it is bright and airy for the most part, with phenomenal stained glass windows, an enormous organ, and more to see than we possibly could have noticed in one afternoon. There was an orchestra and soloists rehearsing for an evening performance of the Messiah while we were there (it was Palm Sunday), so it was nice to hear that glorious music as we walked through such a beautiful house of God.

After we left the Minster, Mom, Dad and I were ready to keep exploring. Ben and Papa had apparently not had enough of the car for one day, so they sat in the car while we walked around parts of the city, including up on top of the wall which surrounds it. York is really a quaint little city, with all sorts of nooks and crannies that we didn't have the opportunity to explore.

Finally we were ready to get something for dinner, since we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We decided to brave The Hole in the Wall, a pub that was recommended in one of the tourist books and which looked really neat. We waited about an hour for our food (they warned us ahead of time), but it was worth it. In my opinion, it was the best food we ate on the whole trip. I had a delicious chicken dish with barbeque chicken topped with bacon and pineapple, and Mom and Dad both tried Yorkshire pudding (roast meat in a pancake batter bowl - see below). I could tell Mom wasn't too sure about hers when it was first delivered, but I think in the end we all really enjoyed that meal.

More signs of spring

2007-04-15T17:48:00.000-04:00

In my ventures around Aberdeen this weekend, I was amazed at the number of flowers that seem to have bloomed overnight! Here are a few of my favorites.

Oh, and last night on our way to the theatre, we passed by this statue. Notice anything unusual about it?

Beauty and the Beast

2007-04-15T17:44:00.000-04:00

Last night my flatmate, Emma, and I went to see the Broadway musical of Disney's Beauty and the Beast at His Majesty's Theatre here in Aberdeen. It was SO good! The effects were amazing - the beast changed from a beast to a man right before our eyes! And the music was of course incredible. Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favorite Disney animated movie, and I have wanted to see this musical for a long time, so I was so excited to finally get the opportunity.

Day 8 - Stirling

2007-04-14T10:02:00.000-04:00

Finally, a pretty day! We woke up to sunshine and blue skies, and it helped to put us all in better spirits. I got ready quickly and went down for an early breakfast at the B&B while everyone else was still getting ready, then I headed out to do a little souvenir shopping at the Royal Mile. The rest of the gang picked me up about 45 minutes later and we headed to Stirling. We certainly enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine as we explored the grounds and various sights of Stirling Castle. The views from the outer walls were incredible. You could see the famous Stirling Bridge and the Wallace Monument. From the castle we headed to the Stirling Bridge, where William Wallace (Braveheart) fought his most famous battle. We didn't spend long there, but did take quite a few pictures in this picturesque setting.
The Wallace Monument was next on our list. It sits high on a hill and supposedly offers amazing views of the town and castle. Unfortunately, it cost quite a bit more than we were willing to pay to climb to the top of the monument, so we just got out at the car park and took a few pictures of the statue at the bottom. Braveheart is Ben's favorite movie, so he really enjoyed getting to see the sights in Stirling.
We weren't really sure where to head next, and Mom saw a sign saying it was Stirling Tartan Week, so she convinced Dad to let the two of us out in the town center to see what was going on. There was an open-air market, but not much else as we walked through the town. On our way back, though, there were three bagpipers dressed in full traditional attire playing in the town square. We listened for a few minutes before we headed out of town.
Next we went to Linlithgow Castle, which was on our way back to Edinburgh. The castle was yet another ruin, but it has tall towers on each of the four corners, and we climbed up ALL of them. Dad counted over 100 stairs on one tower, and that wasn't the tallest one! The view from the castle was lovely - it is right on the lake and next door to a fine church (with a rather odd ornamentation on top). Just like at Edinburgh Castle, there was a wedding going on at Linlithgow, so Papa and Ben people-watched while the rest of us explored.
As we left Linlithgow, I heard about another castle which was only 4 miles away and supposedly offered superb views of the Forth Rail Bridge, so I convinced Dad to drive that direction. None of us wanted to explore that castle, because it really wasn't much to see, but it is right on the bay, and I REALLY wanted a picture of that bridge (in case you don't know, I love bridges). So I walked out on the pier (it was really windy and cold out there) and took a few pictures of the bridge. They aren't the best, because it was kind of hazy and the bridge was farther away than I expected, but at least I got my picture of the bridge.
I know - it seems like this was a really long day, but it wasn't over yet! We drove down south to Rosslyn Chapel. This little chapel was featured in The DaVinci Code, and I had heard wonderful things about it. It was one of the places I most wanted to visit around Edinburgh. Rosslyn Chapel is known as having links to the Knight's Templar and the Mason's, and its most notable feature is the stone carvings that cover nearly every inch of its interior. Pictures simply cannot do justice to the beauty inside this little church. Unfortunately, the exterior is covered in scaffolding, but it did allow the opportunity to walk around on a raised walkway above the flying buttresses and see upper exterior of the building up close and personal.

Finally, we headed back to Edinburgh and the B&B. We dropped Papa off to relax for the evening, and we ventured back down to the Royal Mile for one of the oddest experiences of our trip - an Edinburgh ghost tour. We had a rather obnoxious guide who chose to pick on Dad (since he's an American) and made him be the witch in one of his stories. We all had to chant "Witch, witch, kill the witch" at Dad, and he made me say that Dad killed my poor dog. It was kind of amusing. What wasn't amusing was when he took us down into the underground crypts and scared the bejeepers out of us! We all agreed that the tour wasn't worth the money, but it is a quintessential Edinburgh experience, so we were kind of glad we did it.

Finally we went back to the B&B and fell into bed exhausted - after packing up and getting ready to leave Scotland the next day. More on that adventure later...

Day 7 - Edinburgh

2007-04-13T11:48:00.000-04:00

We were all disappointed when we woke up on Friday morning to find that the weather had not changed overnight - it was still gray, cold, and windy. But we didn't let it keep us inside. After a nice breakfast at the B&B, we headed for the bus stop and the Royal Mile (Edinburgh's main touristy strip). We started walking up (yes, uphill) the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Castle, but decided to stop into St. Giles Cathedral first. The cathedral is topped by an enclosed crown, much like the one on King's College Chapel in Aberdeen. But this cathedral is much larger than our chapel. It has a huge organ (and the inside lights up so you can see all the inner workings), gorgeous stained glass, and a smaller chapel (can't remember what it's called) that has some AMAZING carving. Unfortunately, you have to pay for a photography license to take pictures, so the only ones I have are those I took before I found out about that.

After St. Giles Cathedral, we continued to Edinburgh Castle, which is huge, and is really more like a fortress than a castle. There was a wedding taking place in the small chapel there, so Ben, Papa, and Mom were in heaven people-watching. We saw the One O'Clock Gun presentation (which was nothing like we were expecting), the crown jewels of Scotland (pretty cool), and froze our fannies off!

After a break and some hot drinks, we headed back down the Royal Mile, stopping in several of the little touristy shops on our way, including the tartan weaving factory where they make kilts. We walked all the way down the Royal Mile to the Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyrood House, only to find that both had just closed.

We were quite frustrated, because it felt like a lot of our day had been wasted. So we decided to go back to the B&B, get the car, and ride around to see some of the other sights of the city. We saw the Scott Monument, Princes Street (the main shopping street in Edinburgh), and drove up Calton Hill for beautiful panoramic views of the city.

We finally decided it was time for dinner, and we all wanted something good, so we went for TGI Fridays. Mom wasn't all that impressed, but the rest of us enjoyed it. After dinner we drove back up Calton Hill to see the city by night. It was lovely. Some of the clouds had finally dispersed, and I had fun using a makeshift tripod to take a few night pictures before I couldn't stand the wind and cold anymore.

Spring has Sprung!

2007-04-12T15:21:00.000-04:00

Moving into the present for just this one post...

There's no doubt about it - spring has sprung in Scotland! Finally! The weather this week has been absolutely amazing. I've been walking around without a jacket (though I usually take one with me to the office, because one never knows when the weather is going to change), the sun has been shining, the skies are blue, and the temperatures have been in the upper 50's or low 60's. Wow!

The weather is not the only proof that spring is here. Flowers are cropping up everywhere. All over the city, daffodils are blooming in huge patches. Trees are flowering, and bursts of color can be seen wherever you look. (The two pictures below of the daffodils were taken in London and at Brodie Castle, but the city is still full of them, believe me.)

Not only that, baby lambs can be seen in all the fields in the countryside. They are so cute, running around the fields, following their moms and playing with one another.

Also, we are having much long days now. When I first arrived in Aberdeen, it got dark around 5:00. Last night, I was walking home at almost 9:00 and it wasn't completely dark. Notice in the picture below - today it was still bright as noon at 6:00 p.m. It's getting light a lot earlier too. I'm told that, because we're so far north, in the summer the skies will never get completely dark, and it will still be quite bright at 2:00 a.m. That should be interesting for someone who likes complete darkness when I sleep. Thank goodness for sleep masks! But I encountered maybe the most telltale sign of spring this evening as I walked up to my flat. As I topped the hill, I was met with the unmistakable scent of FRESHLY MOWED GRASS! That's the first time I've smelled that in Aberdeen. I immediately knew that spring is here!

And in honor of the season, I have changed the colors of my blog to have a more cheerful, springy feel. Happy spring, everybody!

Day 6 - St. Andrews

2007-04-12T11:20:00.000-04:00

When we got up on day 6, we knew that the weather was not in our favor - it was dark, cold, and oh so windy! But we were planning to drive a good part of the day anyway, so we packed up the car and headed south on the coastal route to Stonehaven and Dunnottar Castle. I'd visited this castle once before, and really enjoyed it, but the weather couldn't have been more different. The first time I was there it was warm, clear, and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. This time, well, I thought the wind might blow me right off the cliffs. Ben and Papa didn't even get out of the car, and we only walked as far as the top of the stairs. The climb to the castle is quite steep and long, first down wooden stairs, then back up slick stone stairs. And since the inside of the castle wasn't even open, we didn't bother. The view was gorgeous anyway, though.

From there we headed south to St. Andrews. Our first stop there was the famous Old Golf Course, where we visited no less than 4 gift shops, walked around the club house and hotel, and even walked on the grounds of the golf course a little bit. Even though it was still bitter cold with the wind, men were still out golfing. I guess since you have to reserve your tee time so long in advance, when your chance comes up you play regardless of the weather. Papa really enjoyed being out there at the golf course, and was very excited to walk out on the 18th green to the bridge where Jack Nicklaus did his famous last walk when he retired from the course. Notice, Papa even dressed for the day - in his Master's sweatshirt - just to make everyone jealous! Oh, one cool thing - there's a road right across the 18th green. The sign says to watch out for golfers, proceed at your own risk, and when you go, do it quickly. So we drove across the 18th hole of the St. Andrews Old Course!

After we were able to pull Papa away from the golf course, we visited the St. Andrews Cathedral and Castle. Now I'll admit, I probably would have enjoyed these a lot more if the weather had been nicer. As it was, none of us had much desire to spend much time outside.

Finally, we drove on to Edinburgh, checked into our B&B, and headed out in search of dinner. Day 7 was coming, and we knew it would be a long one with lots of walking. A post with those adventures is coming soon...

Day 5 - Coastal Trail

2007-04-11T16:23:00.000-04:00

This day we started out early from Aberdeen, driving north along the coastal trail. Our first stop was in the little fishing village of Cruden Bay, where mom and dad walked on the beach even though it was extremely cold out there. But you just can't keep mom away from the ocean when she sees it. I'm sure it felt a little odd to her to be walking on the sandy beach wearing tennis shoes, winter jacket, hood, and gloves. But she enjoyed it anyway.

Continuing north, we came to the ruins of Slain's Castle, the castle that inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula. I'd already been there, but forgot how long of a walk it is from the car park to the actual castle. When we pulled into the car park, Dad decided not to stop there but to drive down the MUDDY dirt road as far as he could so that it would shorten the walk for Mom and Papa. I was so scared we would get stuck in the mud, and I don't know whether we were supposed to drive down there or not, but we did it. The rental car was COVERED in mud by the time we left there! It was worth the effort, too, because that was probably Papa's favorite castle. He climbed up towers, and really enjoyed seeing the cliffs. It was a gorgeous day (though cold), and the view from the castle is spectacular. We all really liked being there, and we spent a lot more time there than I expected.

After that, we drove further up the coast to Fraserburg and went to the Scottish Lighthouse Museum and the Kinnairds Head Lighthouse. It was the first time any of us had ever been up in a lighthouse. Our guide told us all about the history of that particular lighthouse, which was built in a castle, how the lighthouse works and is maintained, and then took us up to the top to where the light is and allowed us to go out on the balcony. So cool! Literally, actually - it was freezing up there! But we had fun anyway.

From there the coast turned to the west, and we drove along some very windy, hilly, country roads to get to the tiny fishing villages of Pennan and Crovie. They are very picturesque little villages built right on the sea, and the cliffs surrounding them are incredible. In Crovie (pronounced cri-vie) there is no access by car to the main part of the village. The residents have to park at the end, and they use wheelbarrows to transport items down to their homes!

We ended our tour of the coast in Banff & MacDuff, which were rather disappointing after the sights we'd seen earlier. Then we headed back inland towards home via the incredible Fyvie Castle. This was one of the few non-ruined castles we saw during the trip. Fyvie is a huge castle, with an amazing front door, and the grounds are lovely. I was pleased that we were able to see it before the sun set.We finally arrived back in Aberdeen and prepared to depart the next morning for St. Andrews. This was our last night in Aberdeen. From there the adventures really began! Check back later for details about our trip to St. Andrews on Day 6.

Day 4 - Loch Ness

2007-04-11T11:39:00.000-04:00

I've already done posts of the first three days of my family's visit, so I'm picking back up with Day 4. On that day we got up early and got ready for a 2 1/2 hour drive cross-country to Inverness and Loch Ness. I was so excited, because this was a place I have wanted to visit since I got here. On the way, we ended up at the coast of the Moray Firth, along the top part of the main area of Scotland. Mom was thrilled to get to go to the beach (she loves the ocean), though it was quite cold out there, and the water was frigid.

After we convinced Mom to leave the beach, we continued our drive to Loch Ness. It was amazing when we finally saw the loch. It is HUGE! They say that Loch Ness is big enough and deep enough that it could hold all the water from all the lakes in Scotland and England. Wow! The scenery was gorgeous, with the sun blazing strong and reflecting off the water, and the mountains in the distance. We parked in an observation point, where we walked down to the loch and searched for Nessie. Unfortunately, she didn't come out to have her picture taken. But Dad tried to entice her to the surface by skipping rocks on the water, and we all picked up rocks from the shore to take home as souvenirs.

After a picnic and a little shopping at the Loch Ness visitor's centre, we headed a little farther south the Urquhart Castle, (pronounced uh-kurt) a castle ruin on the shores of Loch Ness. Oh my goodness - it was incredible! First they show a short film about the history of the castle, then when the film is over the curtains open for this beautiful panoramic view of the castle and the loch. We explored all the various areas of the castle, braving the wind to climb to the top of the towers. Thankfully the sun was out in all its glory, because it made things much warmer.

Finally, we headed for home. We took a brief stop in Elgin and saw the outside of the Elgin Cathedral (another ruin, unfortunately). In its day it must have been phenomenal, and it was disappointing that it was closed by the time we got there. We got home late that evening, but I think it was one of our best adventures of the vacation. A truly incredible day.

Check back soon for details of Day 5 - Coastal Trail!

Summary of Family Vacation in Scotland

2007-04-10T15:02:00.000-04:00

I plan to do posts for each of the days that my family was here in Scotland, because I have SO many good pictures and adventures that I want to share with everyone. But I thought I'd first give a little summary of their trip.

We had great weather the whole time they were here. Mom had said beforehand that she was praying for no rain, but I was very doubtful that we could go 2 full weeks in Scotland and England without any rain. Well, we had a couple of dark and windy days, and it was wicked cold the first two days in London (notice the hot drinks in our hands in the first picture below), but the most rain we got was a light mist in London while we were walking to St. Paul's Cathedral. Some of the days were so warm we even had to take off our jackets! I was quite amazed that the weather held like that. Of course, when I got back to Aberdeen, I got rained on as I was dragging my suitcase back to the flat. Oh well - vacation's over!

Dad did a great job of driving on the wrong side of the street. He only reverted to American driving one time, and that was in the countryside where there were no other cars around. But he caught his mistake very quickly, with no incidents. He caught on well to the MANY roundabouts, and was soon driving like a pro, though navigational errors (that would be me!) caused quite a few u-turns and detours, especially once we got close to London. We did turn the car in right after we got to London, though, because London driving is insane! We relied on the bus and Underground to get around that city.

We got to see SO much of Scotland and London, so many places that I wouldn't have had access to without a car (and I'm not about to rent a car and drive here - SCARY!). We saw tons of castles, most of which were ruins, and by the time we left Scotland Papa said "If I never see another pile of rocks again..." We drove up the coast and saw a lot of the picturesque coastal fishing villages, took a day trip to Loch Ness (though Nessie failed to come out to get her picture taken), visited the Old Golf Course in St. Andrews (which was by far Papa's favorite part of the trip), spent time in Edinburgh and Stirling, stood in awe at the beauty of the York Cathedral, and spent three days seeing the major sights of London, including a ride on the Eye of London, the Millennium Wheel. So cool!

Mom and Dad agreed that their favorite part was driving through the countryside of Scotland (which we did a LOT of on our way to various places). As I said, Papa mostly enjoyed the St. Andrews golf course, though he had a good time exploring the ruins and cliffs at Slain's Castle as well. I'm not sure what Ben's favorite part was. I admit I am partial to the city experiences - I absolutely LOVE London - but my favorite place was probably Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle on its bank. It was absolutely GORGEOUS, the castle was so much fun to explore, and it was so exciting to actually be at Loch Ness. Amazing!

So, I'll share more details of our daily adventures in upcoming posts, but that's a good summary of my family's two-weeks in the UK.

He Is Risen!

2007-04-09T14:04:00.000-04:00

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Okay, so I know this post is a day late, but I wanted to say Happy Easter to you all. I spent the Easter weekend in Banchory at my friend Laurie's cottage. She had a house full! The Becker family was also there - Scott, Carrie, Matthew (age 4), and Adam (age 2) - plus Amie, another postgrad student. We had a lot of fun, but it definitely wasn't quiet!

On Easter morning we got up and went to an Easter service on the bank of the River Dee. It was brilliantly sunny, and WARM when that sun hit you. I even took off my jacket while we were standing there singing praise choruses, and was just in a lightweight 3/4-sleeve sweater! Who would have thought that it would be that gorgeous in Scotland in April?! For those of you in Ft. Worth who had snow on Easter, well, your weather was more Scotlandesque than mine!

After another worship service at the church, we went home to have an Easter egg hunt with the boys - they thoroughly enjoyed it. Easter lunch in the garden. Yes, we ate outside, another surprise. We had lamb (my first time to eat that), roasted veggies, new potatos, pita bread, veggies and dip, and an amazing cake with lemon syrup and raspberries. It was a rather Mediterranean feast.

After that meal, we all needed a walk, so we took a long stroll down by the river. By that time the clouds had invaded, and the wind was insane by the river. But it was still gorgeous, and we had a grand time.

This morning we woke to Laurie's announcement that the weather was so lovely that she was taking us on a hike up Scolty Hill. I was skeptical, since the last hike I took with Laurie almost killed me! Today's was quite a walk, but it wasn't so bad. We spent a lot of time playing at the top of the hill, enjoying the beautiful sunshine and blue skies.

All in all, it was a very nice Easter weekend. I missed being in Texas, singing in the Wedgwood choir and enjoying the Easter festivities with the Holmes family, but my Easter in Scotland was certainly not without its own charm.

Oh, and by the way, in case you're wondering, I do plan to post blogs and pictures of my family's visit. But my laptop battery is about to die, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. So check back soon!

London Adventures

2007-04-05T03:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a LONG day! We started out early by heading straight for Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guards. We stood at the gates for about nearly two hours before the ceremony began. But it was worth it, at least to me. We got to see the soldiers in their red coats and bearskin hats – so cool! The odd thing about it was, the soldier band played a medley of songs from Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, and Phantom of the Opera. What was that about?!?!

After the changing of the guards, we headed to see the typical London sights – Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. We didn’t go in the Abbey, because time was getting away from us and the weather was FINALLY sunny and a little warmer – we froze this morning at the palace.

After that we took a flight on the London Eye, the enormous 450-foot ferris wheel on the bank of the Thames River. It took half an hour to make a full rotation, and it was incredible. It was very sunny by then, blue skies and everything, and we could see for many miles. Definitely a unique experience and one that I would recommend to London visitors.

Finally, after a brief jaunt to Trafalgar Square to see the lion statues and the fountains, Mom and Papa were ready to call it an early evening. I wasn’t ready to go home – it wasn’t nearly dark yet – so Dad, Ben and I walked around a few more sights and did a little shopping (okay, that was just me) before returning to the hotel. We have one more long day today before heading home. It should be a good one.

Quick Update

2007-04-03T17:33:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a while since we've had email access, but we are in the London hotel now and have limited access, so I thought I'd post a quick update. We have had a great time so far. We've explored all over Scotland, and went through York on our drive to London. We've seen so many sights, and still have another two full days in London before we part ways on Friday. We've taken so many pictures that my computer hard drive is almost full! Here are a couple - I'll post pictures and details of our adventures when I get back to Aberdeen.

Day 3 - Castle Trail

2007-03-27T03:10:00.000-04:00

On Monday Dad and I went back to the airport to pick up the rental car for the rest of our trip. Overall, he did a great job of driving on the wrong side of the road, especially considering the van is a manual and Dad was having to shift with his left hand!

After we picked up the rest of the gang, we set out on part of the castle trail. We drove up to Oldmeldrum and saw the ruins of Tolquhon Castle. This castle was not supposed to be open, so we had only expected to see the outside, but the gate was open and the groundskeeper said to go on in, so we did.

After that we headed over to Huntly Castle, the one castle that we knew we would get to see inside. This was another ruin, but the outside was especially impressive. We also had a picnic lunch on the grounds. It was a bit chilly for those of us not quite acclimated to Scotland weather, but still a beautiful day to eat outside.

We also got to see the ruins of Kildrummy Castle, another one that wasn't supposed to be open but was. We had great luck with that yesterday. A highlight for me at Kildrummy was seeing the little lambs. This little guy almost came over to me before some people started making a lot of noise and scared him away.

From there we headed south over the mountains in the Cairgorm National Park. The view was gorgeous from the top of the mountains, though we did feel like we were on a roller coaster a few times. At one point we had to stop to let the sheep cross the road, because they sure weren't stopping for us! I enjoyed the ride - I'm not sure if the rest did.

Then we went to the best castle we saw - Balmoral. This is the Queen's residence when she's in Scotland, and it was by no means a ruin. It was gorgeous! Unfortunately we couldn't drive the car back to the estate, and the castle is quite far from the main road, so Papa didn't walk back there with us. He would have loved this castle though. On the walk back, Mom started a snowball fight with the snow remnants on the side of the trail.

Finally, we turned toward home. The sun was going down fast, but we did pull in to see the outside of Drum Castle. It wasn't the most exciting castle, but it made a total of FIVE castles in one day!

Overall, we had a great day of traveling. We spent a while in the van, but also got to see a LOT of sights, including part of the Scottish highlands.

Day 2 - Campus Tour

2007-03-25T15:21:00.000-04:00

We started today off a little bit lazily. Okay - we were a lot lazy. Dad and I woke up around 9:15, and immediately called the airline to find out when the bags would be delivered - sometime between 11:00 and 1:00. Mom and Papa got up around 10:00, and Ben slept till 11! At around 12:30 the bags were delivered, finally! Everyone was so glad to have clean clothes.

After lunch, we finally left the apartment around 2:00, walked down to Union Street and caught the bus to the University of Aberdeen campus. I was glad to finally be able to show them Kings College, and I even got to take everyone up to my office to show them where I spend most of my days. I think they really enjoyed seeing the campus.

We also walked over to St. Machar's Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in Aberdeen, then rode the double-decker bus up to my own flat so I could show them my "hole in the wall." Mom's words when she saw my room were "my poor daughter!" It's not all that bad, but I will say this - my new two-bedroom apartment in Ft. Worth will feel like the lap of luxury when I get back! Here's a picture of all four of them in my tiny bedroom, one on the top deck of the bus, and a new one of St. Machar's (see my old post for lots of pictures of this cathedral, inside and out).

Finally, we ate dinner at a pub called The Illicit Still. It's got great atmosphere, and is really neat inside, but the food was only so-so. Oh well - now we can say we've eaten at a pub. We even watched a rugby match on TV while we were eating. A very Scottish experience...

One other thing - European Daylight Savings was last night, so it doesn't get light quite so early in the mornings, and it stays light much later in the evenings. It was still light when we finished walking home at 7:30 tonight (late night out, I know!). I think I'm going to like Daylight Savings here. Though from what I've heard, in the late spring and summer it stays light until around 2:00 am, so that might get a little old!

Well, tomorrow we're picking up the rental car and taking in some of the Castle Trail. I'm sure I'll have a lot of pics to post tomorrow night. For now, I think we're all about done in - they're still jet-lagging, and I don't know what my excuse is!

Day 1 - They're Here!

2007-03-24T13:37:00.000-04:00

Well, they made it! My family is here. After a long flight to London, a 6-hour layover, and an hour and a half flight to Aberdeen, they made it. Unfortunately, their bags didn't make the transfer from London, so right now they have no clothes except the ones on their backs! Hopefully we'll hear from the airline that their bags are in Aberdeen soon.

After giving them the grand tour of the flat (which took all of one minute!) we took a walk down to Union Street in city centre, to see the basic sights of the city - Marischal College, Castlegate, and the town hall. We took a brief look inside the kilt shop (which has a lot of touristy gifts but also makes kilts). While on our walk, we were typical Americans, and went into Burger King for a milkshake. I couldn't believe they were drinking ice cream, when it's cold outside! Mom kept saying how cold she was afterwards. Actually it's been a really nice day, not very cold at all!

Here are a few pictures of the first day of our visit. I'll post more pics of our explorations soon.

Anticipation

2007-03-23T10:18:00.000-04:00

I don't really have much new to share, and I certainly don't have any pictures from the last few days - I've been very busy attending lectures from prospective NT faculty for the University of Aberdeen (which was quite an interesting experience), translating a French article about Revelation, and trying to get things ready for my family, who gets here TOMORROW!!! I am so excited! My parents, brother, and Papa are all coming for almost 2 weeks! We are going to have a great time, exploring Aberdeen and the coastal region to the north, taking a drive out to Loch Ness (hopefully I can get a picture of Nessie!), visiting St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and driving down to London for a few days in one of my absolutely favorite cities. Anyway, I just had to share my anticipation... I'll share pictures when I can.

Maybe Not

2007-03-20T04:42:00.000-04:00

Last night before I went to bed I posted the "Signs of Spring" pictures. When I woke up this morning, it was snowing - huge flakes that were swirling around and around in the wind. The wind has since calmed down and the sun is out, but I guess Old Man Winter isn't finished with us yet.

Signs of Spring?

2007-03-19T15:31:00.000-04:00

I had a different journey to campus today, since I'm staying at Jason and Erin's flat while they're in the States. So I had to walk to Union Street to catch a bus to campus. On the way, I passed by St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral. Take a look at these pictures. The first one is from my first day in town. The next two are from today. The trees are flowering, and it's so pretty!

So, it looks like Spring, right? Well, looks can be deceiving! Within the next 4 hours after taking these pictures, we had snow, ice, hail, rain, and bitter cold winds. Oh, and sunshine too. This weather is crazy! I guess Spring isn't ready to settle in quite yet. I hope it gets here soon though!

Just for mom

2007-03-19T09:01:00.000-04:00

Well, Mom has urged me to make another post on my blog, so here it is. There's not really much to say, since I didn't really get to do any exploring this weekend. I have been down with a sinus infection, and my exploring buddies were all either sick, out of town, or packing to leave town, so I had a pretty quiet weekend. My flatmate Anna and I did venture down to the amusement area by the beach on saturday afternoon to go to the cinema. We saw Becoming Jane, about Jane Austen - it was pretty good. We had a little time to spare before the movie started, so we drove over to the harbor. Here are a few pics - nothing special, but I can't go very long without pulling out the camera. Saturday was actually a rather warm day, but when we were down by the water, there was a cold wind blowing so hard I thought it was going to blow me over into the water!

Yesterday I didn't do much of anything. Didn't go to chapel since I couldn't sing - I'm still pretty congested and coughing a lot. I did go down to the "hotspot" to get online for a little while. While I was down there it started hailing - not big hail, but tons of it, and it was really loud hitting the roof of the building. When I walked outside, it looked like the ground was covered in snow. So of course, out came the camera again. This is my apartment building in the hail.

Hopefully I'll have some more exciting news to write about soon. I know I will next week, because Mom, Dad, Papa and Ben arrive on Saturday! I can't wait! We're going to have so much fun exploring Scotland and London, and all the places in between. Hopefully I'll be able to find internet access periodically to update the blog. If not, I'll have plenty to write about when they leave!

Swans of Seaton

2007-03-14T15:52:00.000-04:00

On Monday, my flatmate Judie and I walked to campus through Seaton Park. This park is supposed to be absolutely lovely during spring and summer. Unfortunately, it has become a den for druggies, so it's not safe to walk through the park alone or at night. Since we were together and in the bright mid-morning sun, we were quite safe. Anyway, not much is blooming in the park yet, but we walked down by the River Dee (one of two rivers in Aberdeen) and met two members of the swan family that lives in Seaton Park.

They were paddling upstream, but not making any progress, basically just staying still. Judie wanted me to see them fly, so she ran toward the bank trying to scare them. It didn't work. They just looked at her, swam away from the bank, and came back as soon as she went away. Oh well. They are beautiful creatures. Next time I go into the park, I'll take some bread. Then maybe I can entice them to leave the frigid water for some different pictures.

Weekend in Banchory

2007-03-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

This past weekend my friend Laurie (the other female NT PhD student here - from Seattle) invited me to visit her home in Banchory, a small village about an hour by bus from Aberdeen. I rode the bus down Friday evening, and met Laurie to go to a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee), a Scottish dance that's sort of like square dancing. It was a lot of fun. Ceilidh's are popular events in Scotland, and this one was a fundraiser for youth mission trips this summer. I will admit - this was the only youth event I've ever been to that was BYOB! One of the trips is to Seattle, so there were American flags decorating the walls and some of the tables. (If you notice, the handpainted flag in the background of this picture has one too many red stripes. It caught my eye immediately, and Laurie noticed it as well. Too funny!)

The name of this ceilidh was "Any Excuse for a Ceilidh," and it was a very informal, family-oriented atmosphere, with little kids dancing with senior adults and the whole mix in between. A lot of the men were wearing kilts, and the featured instrument in the band was a fiddle. I danced several of the dances, though not well, I must say. But it was fun to try them. I sat out the most active dances, because of course I didn't know the steps. One of the coolest dances (which I was not about to try) was called a "helicopter". Two women and two men go into the middle of the circle. The women put their arms up over the shoulders of the men, and the men run around very quickly in a circle while the women's legs fly out from the motion (see below).

Anyway, my ceilidh pictures aren't the best, and definitely don't convey the atmosphere very well, but they're all I've got, so I'm posting them anyway. You'll notice in the picture of Laurie and me below that we're standing in front of Scotland, not America (by the way, that picture was taken around 1:00 am, after a lot of dancing, so that's why I look so rough).

So, I stayed at Laurie's cottage in Banchory friday night. We didn't get in from the dance until around 1:30 am. Saturday morning we got up and met a couple of her friends for what I understood would be a walk. It turned out to be a HIKE up to the top of a hill. I am so out of shape, so it was quite a stretch for me to make it to the top, but I did it. My face was so red and hot. But the weather was gorgeous - almost 60 degrees! That's unheard of in March in Aberdeen. The view from the top was quite lovely, very scenic, and thankfully the walk down was much easier.

Boy were my knees tired after that hike, and when I got up yesterday my legs and hips were so sore! I felt like an old lady trying to walk. But it was worth it - I had a blast out in the country for the weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to get back out there sometime, and go to another ceilidh. At least this time I' d be somewhat familiar with the dances. I still don't think I'd try the helicopter though!

United Nations UNO Tournament

2007-03-09T07:30:00.000-05:00

In our flat we have our own version of the United Nations. We have Emma (Isle of Man), Eileen (Ireland), Judie (Scotland), Anna (England), June (China), and me (America - or Texas, as the others sometimes call me). Shortly after I moved in, Judie broke out the UNO cards, and the United Nations UNO Tournament was born. Almost every night at least 3 of us gather at the kitchen table for a couple of highly competitive rounds of UNO before bedtime. It brings back so many good memories from childhood, playing UNO with Aunt Alice, Granny, Nana, and the cousins, and it makes me laugh that we are so serious about this game now.

When we started out, I did America proud. I was in the lead for almost 2 weeks. Unfortunately, Scotland has now overtaken America, and I am desperately trying to play catch-up. I'm gaining on her though! Time is running low, I'm afraid, and Scotland is pulling out of the UN headquarters on Tuesday to move home for her last couple of student-teaching placements. It's too bad. I imagine the UNO tournament will continue in her absence though, as long as we can find another deck of cards.

Here are a couple of pictures of our tournament:

England in deep concentration planning her next move

Scotland in high spirits after a big win

Illegal consulations between the Irish contingencies (the head Ireland representative and a guest)

Friendly interactions among the various representatives (we are the UNITED nations, after all!)

Dunnottar Castle

2007-03-05T07:27:00.000-05:00

This weekend I went on another castle exploration, this time to Dunnottar Castle. It is a phenomenal ruin, less than half an hour south of Aberdeen, right on the cliffs in one of the most picturesque locations I've seen yet.

One of the coolest things about this castle for me is that I have a somewhat personal connection with it. I found out last week that two of my closest friends in college, Bill and Ginny Keith (brother and sister) are from Scotland, and that their family used to live in Dunnottar Castle. Sure enough, in the last room of the castle, the information guides mentioned their family. It was intriguing to actually know people related to those who used to live there!

My flatmate Judie and I drove down around 3:00 on Saturday - the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and actually kind of warm until we got onto the cliffs and the wind hit us. To get to the castle you have to walk down the cliffs via a very lengthy wooden staircase, then back up the cliffs on winding stone stairs that were slick with all the rain and moisture we've had lately.

Once in the castle, we walked around all the rooms, exploring various nooks and crannies and guessing what the different rooms were used for (there was no guide book or information until we got to the last room of the castle, unfortunately). Most of the rooms were just ruins, with dirt/mud floors, no ceiling, and puddles of water blocking the doorways (which Judie and I did not allow to keep us from entering). The old dining room, however, still has its ornate ceiling and fireplace.

We had a great time wandering around, playing and climbing on the castle ruins, looking through the open windows, and just enjoying being outdoors in the lovely weather and in such a unique setting. And of course taking pictures...

The castle closes at sunset, so we left around 5:30. By the time we got back up to the car we were greeted with the beginnings of a beautiful sunset, with the moon rising in the distance. Overall, it was a fantastic trip to the most intriguing castle I've visited so far.

Sunny Day

2007-03-02T16:33:00.000-05:00

Today was the most GORGEOUS day here in Aberdeen. Blue skies, not very windy, bright sunshine, and really not all that cold (at least to start out with). I couldn't resist getting out and taking a few pictures - okay, a lot of pictures!

They just finished the restoration on Powis Gate and reopened it. It's pretty cool looking, though it doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the architecture around campus. It's almost directly across the street from King's College.

Here's a picture of my daily transportation. The "20 bus," every 15 minutes (most times) from Hillhead Halls (my dorm), through King's College to city centre. Most of the places I need to go are on this bus route. Most days, except in wintery weather, the bus is a double-decker. Makes me think of the "Night Bus" in the 3rd Harry Potter, except this one doesn't change shapes to fit the need! I was waiting for the bus when I snapped this picture this evening, and when I got on the driver was laughing at me. Oh well...

I also went into King's College Chapel today, since the sun was shining, to take a few pictures of the stained glass and the rest of the interior. I honestly don't know if photography is allowed inside, but there was no one to ask, so I just went for it. The first picture is of the choir stalls where the chapel choir sits on Sunday mornings.

Like I said, I took a lot of pictures today. Some of them are the same old subjects as a lot of my other pics, but you know me - I can't resist a pretty picture, even if I have one almost identical to it already. So here are a few of my favorites. Hope your day was a beautiful as ours (though unfortunately, it has started to rain now - I knew it wouldn't last). More pictures to post soon...

Sunshine

2007-02-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

In case anyone was wondering (and I admit, I have been), yes, we do have sunshine in Scotland - on rare occasions, anyway. It has been almost 2 weeks since we saw sunshine, but at least it didn't rain today. Then this evening the sun came out for about an hour as it was setting. It was very pretty. I was on the top level of the doubledecker bus coming back to the flat, so I got a nice view of the sun. As soon as we got back to the flat, I ran upstairs, grabbed my camera and ran back down to snap a few pics. Then about 1/2 hour later I went and took more of the sunset colors (if you know me at all, you know I'm a sucker for sunset pictures). Hopefully this is a sign of things to come - more sunshine in future days. If not, at least I'll have these pics to remind me that gray skies are gonna clear up - eventually!

Another vocab lesson

2007-02-28T06:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been in Aberdeen for a little over a month now, so I'm beginning to get familiar with the lingo. Here's another short lesson in Scottish vocabulary for you

America vs. Scotland:
yes = aye
dinner/supper = tea
dessert = pudding
parking lots = car parks
popcicles = iced lollies
ground meat = mince
potatos = tatties

I'm sure there are many other differences which I have simply forgotten. Also I joined the King's College Chapel Choir, which sings in the crowned chapel for services every sunday morning. It's a lot of fun, and the music is awesome - a lot of classical pieces like English Tudor anthems or masses by Vivaldi and Mozart (certainly no Brooklyn Tab or Prestonwood Choir music!). But I tell you, reading music over here is like learning a new language:

Half notes = minims
Quarter notes = crotchets
Eighth notes = quavers

I think I got that right! I much prefer our way of doing it - at least it makes mathematical sense. Oh, something else amusing - you don't see very many speed limit signs, usually it is painted on the road. But occasionally, in 20mph (or is it kilometer per hour) areas, you will see "Twenty's Plenty" signs. It just cracks me up.

Anyway, I think I'm beginning to get the hang of things. I'm reminded every day, though, that I am definitely living in a foreign country!

Blog changes

2007-02-26T08:06:00.000-05:00

So... as you can see, the blog undergoes yet another revision. I was told it was hard to see the pictures on the black backgrounds, and I'm in a rather patriotic mood today (missing America), so I decided to go with the good old standby - red, white, and blue. Let me know if you find it hard to see the pictures or read the text, and I'll make changes accordingly. Hope you are all well.

Crathes Castle

2007-02-24T16:49:00.000-05:00

Today Jason, Erin (friends from TX who are here for the long haul - 3 years!) and I went to Crathes Castle, a 16th century tower house about 45 minutes away from Aberdeen by bus. I was afraid that our plans were going to fall through, since the day dawned very rainy in Aberdeen. But we decided to chance it, and were rewarded with cloudy but dry weather while we walked the grounds (it did start raining again pretty hard as we walked back to the bus stop though). So here's a bit of information and a few pics of Crathes Castle.

Crathes castle stands on an estate granted to the Burnett family by King Robert the Bruce in 1323. The house was occupied by the same family until the 1950s, when it became a historical landmark. Photos are not allowed inside the house, but it was pretty neat inside. There was a heraldic ceiling (wood, with coats of arms throughout) in the room which the laird used as a court for petty crimes, original painted ceilings in four rooms, and period furniture and family portraits in every room. At the very top of the tower the guide did open a window and allow us to stick our camera out the window and photograph the grounds - see below.

The most impressive part of Crathes Castle is supposed to be the 4 acres of walled gardens, which still have the original hedges, planted in the early 1700s! Unfortunately, whoever told me that the walled gardens are in bloom all year long apparently lied! Everything was pretty dead except the shrubbery. Oh well. It was still pretty. Here's a couple of pictures of the gardens.

Pretty much the only thing we saw blooming other than the hedges were the snowdrops, a wildflower apparently the first sign of spring in Scotland (like the bluebonnets in Texas). The reason for the name "snowdrop" is quite obvious - in large patches it looks like the grounds is covered in snow. There were small bunches here and there throughout the garden, and a couple of larger patches on the grounds.

So, that was my adventure for this weekend. The castle was pretty cool - the first real castle I've seen in Scotland (last week's was in ruins), and it was fun to get out of the city and hang out with my fellow transplanted Texans. Hopefully more of these weekend explorations will follow.

Ornamentation

2007-02-22T06:29:00.000-05:00

Well, this rainy week has not provided much opportunity to get out and enjoy the campus or surrounding areas. It has been very good for my research, though - since it keeps me indoors.
I thought I'd take a few minutes to show you some of the detailed ornamentation around the University of Aberdeen campus. For instance, when you walk through the main entrance to the King's College quadrangle, directly ahead of you is a more modern doorway flanked on either side by statues of animals bearing shields. To be quite honest, I'm not sure what the symbolism of these statues is, though the unicorn seems to be holding the Scottish flag.

Another interesting feature of the campus is the coats of arms that decorate all the oldest buildings, especially over doorways or archways. One example is the one above the main door in King's College Center. These certainly give a feeling of antiquity to the campus, and also add a splash of color to otherwise very grey buildings.

Anyway, this is just a brief look at some of the campus details. I am supposed to tour a castle this weekend, so hopefully I'll have some more interesting photos to share at that time. God bless you all!