Monty Python, Crags and Waterfalls

Does the title of this blog sound like a crazy combination?  Well....let's just say that it has been a crazy kind of day.

We started out taking a morning stroll along the River Teith.........in the rain.

Marty was on the lookout for trout....

But ne'er a one was spotted, although we did see a few ducks.

We didn't get too soaked, but it was obvious that the day was going to be a wet, cold, and windy one.

So, we filled up on a nice hot breakfast supplied by our B&B, then hopped in the car, umbrellas in hand, and headed to Doune.

Our destination was Doune Castle:

Does this look familiar?  Here's a hint......."We are the Knight who say....'Neee'."

Or, how about....."We're knights of the Round Table, we dance whene'er we're able."

One more hint:  "One day, lad....all this will be yours."

"What?  the curtains."

Well, I'd say that if you are a "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" fan, then you've guessed the answer to the question.  Here, at Doune Castle, the famous movie was filmed.  And the audio tour entertained us by interjecting many of the quotes from the movie as we toured the castle.

The weather was miserable.  Freezing cold (literally) and rain pouring down.  Since I misplaced (Ok, I really LOST ) a glove, my fingers were freezing. So, when I saw a pair of Lamb's wool gloves in the tourist shop as we were exiting, I grabbed a pair to buy.  The best decision of the day!

After spending quite a bit of time at the castle, and managing to capture some outstanding views

We hopped in the car, and returned to the Old Rectory Inn

where we warmed up with a cup of tea in the room before venturing out into the town.

We had decided to see the Bracklinn Falls which were on the East Side of Callander, so we bundled up, found the road to the footpath, and trecked through the woods, with the cold wind blowing, until we came to the falls along a gorge.

Do I look cold? Windblown? Crazy?  (you needn't answer that last question.)

There was an interesting footbridge across the falls which gave one a great vantage point of how the water has literally worn away the rock along these falls.

Here you can see Marty posing next to the bridge.

In this case, the hike was worth the end result, and the photos really don't do the grandeur of these falls justice.

We decided to head back to town and plan the rest of the day. The sky had finally stopped raining, although there was no sign of the sun, and the winds were nearly gale force.  We thought that we'd probably have to opt for something inside.

But, as we were walking back to the B&B, we spotted something in the distance that had been hidden by the clouds until then

Can you see that in the distance?  It's a mountain....with snow on the top.  The cloud had blended right in with the top, and we had no idea!  We then decided that we would hike the Callander Crag walk, up to the top, to see if we could admire those mountains from a different vantage point.

Ok, so that sounds like it would be an easy idea.   But, once we found the trail, it was obvious that this walk might be just a bit more challenging that what we had expected.

Marty kept saying, "I think we're almost at the top", at least a half a dozen times.  The trail would no sooner level out, and we'd see another hill to hike just around the corner.  We focused on finding the top because it just seemed like we should be there.  We were concentrating on our footing, as the trail was steep AND slippery, when we looked up and saw that we were definitely being watched.

Can you see that sheep at the top?  She never took her eyes off of us.  I'm sure that she thought that we were crazy.  But, we kept on climbing, and then, we just couldn't decide what to do.  Remember how I said earlier that I have this problem where I just don't know when to call it quits and turn around?

Well, Marty was sure this time that we just couldn't keep on walking and that we should probably just give it up and go back down.

I turned around, for some reason, to  check out the way back down, and I looked up and saw this

I let  out a gasp, and began laughing while I told Marty to look.  We just couldn't believe what we had missed because we were busy looking for the top of the Crag!

We took a celebratory photo near the top.  (Note the sheep in the background.)  

Then we decided to go a "wee" bit further, just to see if we could get an even better view.

Marty was able to capture this photo, just as the sun decided to bless us by peeking through the clouds.

Is that awesome?  The water in the distance is Loch Vanachar, which, by the way, is the name of our room at the B&B.  

We climbed a bit more, determined to find the top, as it sure appeared that we should be at the top, and we took in the beauty of the town, which was on the opposite side of the mountains.

By now, the sun had yet again disappeared, and the winds were blowing at extremely high speeds.  I was concerned by all of the uprooted trees along the trail, and I surely didn't want to have to worry about one deciding that it was time to fall on the trail, or, even worse, fall on one of us!

So we made the trip back down the crag, which was, by the way, far easier than the climb up!!

Here we are, excited to have accomplished the feat:

After all of that unexpected excitement, I decided that it was time just to stay put at the Old Rectory Inn, relax, and just have a bite to eat in the restaurant downstairs.

The staff here is extremely entertaining, and there was a local, Danny, who was more than happy to strike up a conversation with Marty which lasted through our dinner, and, as a matter of fact, is still going on.  I gave up and came up to the room.  

But, if you're wondering just what type of temptation is keeping Marty occupied, let me just give you an idea.

Those are bottles of whiskey.  Countless types.  But Marty insists that tasting them must be educational, because the word, Library, is involved.

I'll let you know how that turns out.

On the Bonny Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond

Guess where we are?  Staying at the Old Rectory Inn where the establishment obviously loves  plaid.

This tartan runs from the front door, all the way up the stairs into the hall.  Don't you just love it?

Marty has chosen to take a week's vacation between plant visits, so we have headed west, and are on the outer banks of the Trossachs, not too far from Loch Lomond.  My friend started singing the ballad in the Family History Center last week, and I still have it stuck in my head.  (Thanks, Sharon!)

The weather is horrid, and we are hoping that it at leasts stops raining so that we can get out and explore the area.  Actually, it would be nice if the fog would lift so that we could actually SEE the area!

In any event, Marty worked half the day (here in Scotland, the majority of  people only work half days on Friday....it took Marty quite awhile to get used to that idea), then he swung by Inverkeithing to pick me up.  I had taken the train to join our "Steeler Nation" B&B friend whom we met on our last trip.  We went to Mass, and said the Divine Mercy Chaplet, then headed back to the B&B where I had a delightful conversation with the proprietors before heading off with Marty.  It was  a terrific start to the day.

Along the way to Callander, where we are staying, we stopped in Dublane to see the magnificent Cathedral that has stood there since the early 13th century.

We weren't sure if we could go inside because we could see that the lights were shining, and we could hear the pipe organ bellowing.  But once through the door, we were greeted by an extremely friendly man named Howard, who assured us that we could walk around at our leisure.

We were surprised to see this Pictish cross from the 9th century.

Can you believe the details in this aged stone?

The church pews had some very interesting carvings:

Here you see an angel in the choir area.

a bunny

and a camel.

I have no idea of the significance of these carvings, but they are all carved from Scottish oak.

We were ambling along, admiring the beauty of this immense Cathedral when Howard suddenly appeared and began to give us a private tour of the place.  He opened a large wooden door , and encouraged us to walk up the round turret to the second story to get the view from that point.

It was certainly breathtaking.

Behind me were beautiful Stained Glass windows that represented the Root of Jesse

Inside the church stands this beautiful stone pillar, placed in the church in March 2000.

The stone pillar stands to honor 16 children who were massacred by a gunman on March 13, 1996 at the Primary school in Dunblane.

An entire first grade class was lost that day, along with the teacher, and the gunman himself.  This story was hard to fathom with the recent events in Connecticut so fresh in my mind.

How could something so tragic, and so similar,  have happened without my having heard of it?  The stone's inscriptions touched my heart.

By this time, Howard had caught up with us again, and he was showing us all of the old keys that he used to lock up the place.  Then, he mentioned that there were some graves under the pews.

He pointed to one in particular, and began to tell us the story of how a man had come from America in search of his relatives.  He had given Howard the names, and Howard retrieved the registry, and found that the family was buried in the church, under the pew.   So, they moved the pew so that the man could take photos of the family graves.  Now, how is that for genealogy accommodation?

Howard went on to tell us that the next year, the man's grandfather came, and the year after that, another family member came.  (Perhaps they should have relocated the pew!)

The Church registers are held in this building across the street from the church.

Outside of the building there is a sign that says, "you are welcome to use our toilets".  Believe me, you don't see that too many places!!

Howard was a real gem, and a genealogy lover's dream.  So, if you know anyone who has roots from Dunblane, send them this way.  Howard would love to give them a hand!

Until tomorrow........

Innovation At Its Best

The day began as it had ended yesterday:  cold, windy and rainy.  The perfect day for museum touring! So I boarded the bus for Edinburgh with the Scottish Portrait Museum as my goal.

But, at the last minute, I decided to make a little detour and head towards St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral.  It had been on my list of "must sees", and this seemed the perfect time to check it out.   I no sooner walked up the steps and headed towards the side entrance when I noticed a young woman, with a large microphone in her hand, heading towards me.

She was alone, and I was nearly at the entrance, and the next thing I knew, she stuck the microphone in my face, introduced herself as being from Channel 4 news, and began asking me my opinion on the recent resignation of the local Cardinal.  Now, how was that for a surprise?

Luckily, I was up to date on the scandal, and I briefly answered her questions, told her that I was from the United States, and that I was really looking forward to going inside and visiting the church.  I didn't notice any television cameras, so I don't imagine that I'll be famous at the end of the day....or that I'll be on any type of hit list, for that matter.   Well, at least let's hope not!

You might wonder why this cathedral is so special.  Well, it holds the National Shrine to St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland.  Legend has it that the relics of this saint were brought to Scotland in the middle of the first century. They were originally held in the Abbey in the town of St. Andrews, further up the coast of Fife.  The reformation resulted in the destruction of the Abbey, which still stands in ruins.  As a result, St. Mary's Cathedral now houses the National Shrine to this beloved saint.

The icon above the altar features St. Andrew holding a scroll which states "We have found the Messiah" in Latin, Gaelic and English. It was donated in 2004 to the Cathedral.

If you'd like to take a tour of the church from home, you can see inside via this webcam:  http://www.stmaryscathedral.co.uk/panorama/index.html

Lovely, don't you think?

I managed to escape with no sign of the news reporter, and I headed to the Scottish Portrait Museum.
 The ongoing tram construction made it nearly impossible to get a good photo of the beautiful exterior facade, but I managed to capture the entrance.

Most of the museums in Edinburgh have free admission, and this was no exception.  So imagine my surprise when a friendly man in plaid pants and a navy sweater opened the door to welcome me inside!  How often does that happen for free?

Walking through the front door was, in itself, a memorable experience.   A statue of Robert Burns, the famous poet, stands in the bottom floor of the vestibule which stands 3 stories high.

The columns that you see next to the statue, support a wall that is painted with significant men and women in Scottish history.  It is best viewed from the upstairs balcony.

Isn't the detail magnificent?  The mural extends along all four sides of the balcony.

This photo, taken from one of the galleries, shows a guard watching me take the photo.

Not to worry....I had asked if photos were permitted prior to taking this.

Now, you would have thought that all of this gold-gilded beauty would have awed me so much that the galleries of paintings and portraits would have paled in comparison.

But, the very first gallery that I entered was brimming with famous Scottish scientists! How could I help but get excited!

There was John Napier, mathematician; James Clerk Maxwell, a physicist who discovered electromagnetism and who influenced the work of Albert Einstein; Alexander Graham Bell (we all know what he did),  Sir William Ramsey, discoverer of the Noble Gases and their placing in the Periodic Table of Elements;

William Thompson (Baron Kelvin), whose work establishing the value of absolute zero led to the "Kelvin" scale;  Sir Robert Watson, who pioneered radar for the use of aircraft detection during World War II.

And then there were the not so familiar names of John Macintyre, who developed electrical equipment for x-rays to be used in hospitals and Prof Ian Donald who introduced the use of ultrasound in obstetrics.

Sir James Dewar, who researched Liquid gas and invented the Dewar flask.  He was the first to collect Liquid hydrogen in one of his flasks, but he never sought a patent, and as a result a German company manufactured his creation with the trade name of Thermos. (He was definitely ripped off!)

The most recent addition to these famous Scotsman is Professor Peter Higgs. He is a theoretical physicist known for the particle named after him:  the Higgs boson.

Lady Lucina McKay has painted Higgs with particles whirling around in space, supposedly reflecting the clashes of atoms at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.

As recently as July 2012, scientists in Geneva reported strong indications of the presence of this new particle.  My younger brother, Steve, is quite familiar with this phenomenon, as he has been working with this scientific community for years.  

I wonder if we were of Scottish descent if HIS painting would be on this wall?   

Well, enough of this scientific stuff.  Here's something that I know that all of you  blog readers will appreciate.

Did you know that Dolly the sheep was cloned in Scotland?  Some of you probably remember me mentioning this sometime in a past visit.  

But, do you know just how the name "Dolly" was picked for this famous sheep?  I certainly did not.

It appears that she was named after "the buxom country and western singer"........ Dolly Parton. 

Did you know that?   Do you want to know why?  

Sure you do.

Apparently Dolly was derived from a mammary gland cell.  Really.....you've got to love that Scottish sense of humor.

I managed to drag myself away from the innovation room to peruse the other galleries in the building.  I was surprised to find portraits that had been painted in 1537. 

The layout of the portraits was quite unique, as each room displayed a particular family tree, and the portraits of those people on the tree were hung around the room.    Touring this museum was more than just admiring paintings.  It was definitely set up to help the observer  picture Scottish history through time.  Quite ingenious!

I will admit, that although the museum was really quite fascinating, I can only handle so  many portraits and paintings before my head starts to spin.  So, I decided to call it a day, board the train, and make my way back to the B&B. 

When I opened the door to the room, I couldn't help but burst out laughing at what awaited me:

That was probably the best artistic work of the day!

Mr. Rhino, what do ya know?

He's only got ONE big horn on the tip of his nose.  What kind of rhino is he?  Well.....he's an Indian One-Horned Rhino, of course.

So, guess where my adventures took me to today?  To the Edinburgh Zoo.  I have often thought of going to this zoo, especially when  I read that it held the largest Penguin colony in all of Europe.  But, the zoo location doesn't fall on a train line, so traveling there was a wee bit more complicated.  And, I had presumed that it was a bit more in the country, and more difficult to get to.

But I was wrong.  It is actually off the main road from Edinburgh City Center to the Airport, located, believe it or not, in a residential neighborhood.

And the Airlink bus actually stops right out front. And it's kind of hard to miss with this sign standing along the side of the highway.

So, I purchased a round trip ticket to the Haymarket Train Station where I was able to board the Airlink bus for much less money than I had anticipated.  But the entrance to the zoo took care of any unexpected surplus.  Let's just say that admission is a bit pricey.

When I purchased my ticket, the young lady asked if I would be interested in viewing the Giant Pandas because there was an open viewing in 10 minutes.  I hadn't planned on seeing them, because the zoo webpage stated that viewing needed to be arranged prior to the visit, and one needed a printed ticket to see them.  Well, as it turns out, there were plenty of openings today (probably because the weather turned for the worse), and since there was no extra charge, why not go see them?

I was surprised that we could get so close to them.  And this guy wasn't the least bit disturbed by anyone in the room. He was just busy munching away on bamboo, while across the way......

Tian Tian (which translates "Sweetie"), was taking a little nap. 

Yang Guang (Sunshine) just kept on eating, obviously not the least bit interested in sleeping.  I had to chuckle when I heard an older woman complaining about the sleeping panda.  She  stated that she would have really been upset if they had both been sleeping after she reserved her tickets to see them!  Her husband went on to say that there should have been a disclaimer printed on the ticket.

But, the Panda viewing was FREE.  And it's not like the proprietors can keep the animals awake for viewing!  In fact, it was obviously siesta time while I was there because many of the animals were either sleeping.....or hiding from the cold, which I found to be rather amusing since it is cold and rainy most of the time in Edinburgh.

The rhinos were snoozing away....

until one of the zoo employees decided it was time for them to wake up, which is when I snapped the photo at the top.

The pygmy hippos were off in dreamland.

And all 3 of the Koalas were sound asleep on tree limbs.  Luckily, this little thing was snuggled up near the front, so I could capture a photo.

 I even went back to see if the Koalas had awoken before I left, and they were all in the exact same position as when I had left!

But, although many of the animals were MIA, or too far off in the distance to see, some were out and about, and even willing to pose for me.

Here you see a Chinese Goral who appears to be as interested in me as I was in it.

The meer cats were scurrying about:

And this Rockhopper Penguin puffed himself out for me when he saw my camera.

The entertaining thing about Rockhopper penguins is that they do just that. Hop on rocks.

I had a grand time watching them hop from one rock to another.  And that one penguin that looks like he's teetering on the edge, ended up sliding down the rock, quite by accident.  But he caught himself before tumbling off the edge and hopped to safety.

There was another penguin hangout, with a different species,  near the Panda house.

But, as it turned out, visitors were not permitted in the display area because the zoo personnel are doing renovations. So, I had to zoom in to take this photo.

And, if you're wondering just what happened to this "largest" Penguin colony in Europe, as I did..... it turns out that many of the Penguins have been on "Holiday", as I was told.  Some went to Belfast and some to Denmark, and they are due to return in a week, and there will be a grand display on March 17. Hmmm.....I wonder if the Belfast vacationers picked up any Irish jigs to perform, since that is St. Patrick's Day?  In any event, I was told to stay clear of the place that day, as it will be a real "Zoo"! Imagine that!

The animals weren't the only entertainment in the place.  I found this "tongue" bench to be amusing.

And, then there was the Monkey bench.

Gotta love that Scottish sense of humor!

Ahhh....before I finish my zoo story, let me show you the "Spectacular" Hilltop view from the zoo.

It's supposedly one of the best views in the city surrounds......on a clear day, of course.  But that wasn't happening today.

And, with the cold weather and my calf muscle still complaining, I decided that it was time to make it a day and begin the return trip to the B&B.  

Before leaving, I questioned an attendant regarding catching the Airlink bus back to Haymarket Train Station.  He told me that the Airlink doesn't always stop, and that I just might need to flag the driver down.  Really?  Did I need that kind of stress? Did I want to jump into the street and wave my arms to get his attention?  Reluctantly, I mentally prepared myself for the challenge.

As I headed down the ramp towards the bus stop, an Airlink bus approached, and when the driver spotted me, he stopped and let me in.  

Whew!  What a relief!  And, despite some confusion at the train station, I managed to get back to the B&B without too much difficulty.  How lucky was that?