Anxiety Conquered......well....maybe.

I forgot to mention yesterday about my pleasant experience at the train station.  Howard, the B&B proprietor, had mentioned that the Aberdour Train Station manager, Trevor Francis, was a bit of a celebrity, having been a recipient of the 2012 Queen's Honors.  He was honored for his unpaid service keeping up the lovely gardens in his off-time, but he surely deserves the award for much more than that.  Let me explain why.

When I arrived yesterday, Trevor was busy helping a young man arrange a journey, going over every detail.  I was getting a bit nervous, as the scheduled time for my departure was coming up fast, but Trevor was pleasantly conversing with this patron as if he had all the time in the world.

When I got to the counter, I was surprised to see a man who immediately reminded me of the character who plays Santa Claus in the old version of "Miracle on 34th Street" with Maureen O'Hara.

He was extremely polite and warned me about the train schedule (not all trains stop at Aberdour), and when he handed me my ticket, he said, "I hope that you have a great trip, Barbara."  I have never had a train attendant notice my name when I've used the credit card in the past.  I couldn't help but smile at that.

So, today, I was in a quandary as to what to see, and when I mentioned the Museum of Flight as being of interest, Howard and his wife set about helping me plan my trip.

I had forgotten to mention that when we first showed up here and Howard greeted us at the door, he was very disappointed to hear that I had already seen most of the area on my own.  "Part of the fun of this business", he sadly said, "is to help plan out day trips for our patrons."  So, when he saw that I wasn't quite sure what to do today, Howard was more than willing to give me advice.

I set off for the train station, and was once again greeted by Trevor who surprised me with his "Hello, Barbara".  He obviously remembered my name, since I was not wearing a name tag, and had not yet even told him of my plans.

I gave him my destination, and he helped me find the best route.  He even printed up the schedule of train departures for me, AND gave me a really cool plastic sleeve to put my tickets in.

How nifty is that?  I generally purchase the off peak return trip ticket, so I am handed 3 cards of the same size and color:  one for out one for return, and the last one is a receipt.  I am always concerned that I'll lose the return ticket, so this bifold with the plastic shield was a pleasant surprise!

Once again, Trevor wished me a pleasant journey, and I was waiting at Platform 1, when I suddenly heard someone talking to me!  It was Trevor, excitedly telling me about the plane in the museum that was the last plane that he would have worked on, after the war, before being employed by the post office.

As he was talking, I really couldn't help but notice that same similarity to Santa Claus in the movie.  His glasses, nose, height, and even his teeth looked strikingly like the man in the movie.  During our brief conversation, I mentioned how I was a bit nervous about getting on the correct bus from the 2nd train station, and Trevor looked at me and said, "Remember...you are not a tourist....you are a traveler."

Wow!  That was a bit of a confidence builder. I should have remembered that when my anxiety level was creeping up later in the day.

The trip involved taking a train into Edinburgh and transferring to North Berwick.  (that's pronounced Bare - ik,  with a bit of a roll to the "r").  From there, I was to take a bus to the museum.

I headed down high street from the station, to the information center.  The woman told me where to pick up the bus.  The schedule was very limited with departure times set out 2 hours apart.  

To complicate matters, trains only leave North Berwick every hour.  So, I had to manage to go through the museum and return in time to catch the next train.  Or, in this case, wait well over an hour to get the train. Needless to say, most of my time was spent "in transit".

I walked through the town while waiting for the bus to the Museum, passing the Auld Hoose.

I just liked the name :-)

And a statue of Ben Sayer which I found equally amusing.  

He is apparently a big name in Golf, but not someone I am familiar with.  

I really can't complain because the "wait" time between transports was spent admiring the beauty of this coastal time.

Finally the Prentice Coach came, and I asked for a return ticket only to be told that I could only purchase a one way.  So, I did that, and asked the man if I would have to ring the buzzer to get off at the right space, and he assured me that he would remember to stop.

Which is a good thing, because I noticed that if no one is standing at the station, the bus just zooms by.  So, one really needs to be aware of where the stops are.   How was I supposed to know that?  My bus anxiety started to creep back in.

When I finally arrived at the museum, I knew that I only had an hour and 10 minutes to try to cram everything in, because the next bus was the only one that would work with the return train schedule.

I was amazed to walk into the first Hangar and see an original Concord standing in the room.

I was equally surprised to see that I could even walk through plane to see the interior:

even the cockpit, which, as you can see had an abundance of controls which I knew absolutely nothing about.

But I'm relatively certain that my friend Ernest does.

Here are a few interesting facts that I learned in relation to the Concord.

The speed of sound varies at different heights and temperatures:  at sea level it is 760 mph, whereas at 20,000 feet it is 660 mph.

A man named Justin Cornell from Portsmouth spent £800 on biscuits as part of a special supermarket promotion so that he could accumulate enough loyalty card points to convert them to Air Miles to book a flight on the Concord.  He apparently consumed so many biscuits that he was concerned that he wouldn't fit in his seat.  Luckily, there was no problem.

The Concord was mainly used by celebrities and businessmen, although the Queen did fly on it a couple of times.

The most amusing story that I read involved Rod Stewart, who apparently paid for his hair dresser to fly from New York on the Concord when he was victim of a poor haircut.   

Do you really think that anyone would have noticed anyway?

When I realized that I had spent half an hour walking through the Concord hangar, I immediately headed out the door and made a B-line for the military hangar, which had been my original reason for going.

Outside the hangar stood an original Vulcan bomber.

This was a British Nuclear Bomber built in 1963.

And there was a Comet built in 1961 for the Royal Air Force:

Inside the hangar were various planes from different eras.

There was a Ferranti Phoenix, built in 1980 in Edinburgh for battlefield reconnaissance.

It was probably the first stages of the present day "Droid".

The Buccaneer was designed to fly under the radar.

It apparently made a horrid squealing sound which was quite annoying to the people who lived in the Highlands near the training flight areas.

Here you see the MiG-15, a Soviet Union fighter jet that suddenly appeared in 1950 during the Korean War.

It was designed to take on the high range U.S. bombers that piston-engine fighters could not reach.

There was also a Nazi rocket fighter

It had been designed to foil the American bombers during World War II, but design flaws prevented it from being successful.

Here were a few surprising facts that I learned in the military hangar:

In 1916, German airships dropped bombs intended to hit Rosyth naval base off the Firth of Forth, but they missed and ended up landing on the city of Edinburgh.

The East Fortune airfield, where the museum is located, was set up as a naval air station to protect the Firth of Forth from German attack during World War I.  The field is located near the mouth of the Firth.

In 1918, the British had the world's first aircraft carrier with a full-length deck located in the firth.  It was called the HMS "Argus".

During World War II, this same airfield was expanded and used for air force flight training.

There was so much to see, but so little time.

I knew that the bus would be arriving soon, so I jaunted across the field for a quick peek at the parachute training hangar.

Here you could try your hand at folding a full size parachute so that it could fit into the necessary bag.

And, just look at that sewing equipment.

Pretty remarkable, isn't it?

There was still much to see, but my time was at an end.  I was just popping my head into the repair hangar

when I spotted the bus barreling down the road in the distance.  I made a dash for the bus stop, because I knew that if I wasn't standing there.....he wasn't stopping.

I made it by a few seconds, purchased my ticket, and took a seat on the bus. 

After a few minutes, I asked the woman sitting next to me if she would let me know when we were near the train station.  She was kind enough to help me out, and she told me when to get up as she pushed the buzzer for the driver to stop.

I thanked her, disembarked from the bus, and headed to the train station.....only to see the train departing.  But, no worries, as I had expected to have to wait another hour anyway according to my original schedule.

So, I walked around town for a bit, and took a seat on the train as soon as it arrived.

It departed on time, and arrived in Edinburgh, when, again, I had expected a 45 minute wait.  I walked down to the usual departure platform, only to find that today, the platform was in a part of the building where I had just gotten off of the train.  So, I headed back up to platform 1, only to find that I had missed an earlier train by a few minutes.  Oh well!

What really counts is that I made it back to my B&B safe and sound.

I would have loved to have had more time to explore the Museum of Flight, but you have to work with what you've got, and enjoy what you can.

And, I'm so glad that I've upgraded from "tourist" to "traveler"!

Peebles to Innerleithen

Blue skies......white puffy clouds.....sun shining......get out and walk!

It just so happens that today was already a scheduled walking day (rain or shine) with my friend, Isobel, whom I met last year on a trip with Marty.  We stayed at her B&B for a few days, and we've kept in touch since.

When I visited in June with Marty, (and I was relaying my stories of getting very lost along the Coastal Trail), Isobel suggested that I let her know when I would be in the area and she'd be happy to take a day and go walking with me.

Well, I took her up on that suggestion, and she invited me to come along with a "Strollers" group that she is part of.  They would be walking from Peebles to Innerleithen, did I want to come along?

You betcha!

I had anticipated the strollers being a bit more relaxed on their walk, but such was not the case.  They started off at a pretty quick pace and I had to work at keeping up with them because I kept stopping to take photos.

The day was SO picture-perfect.....how could I resist?

We were following a macadam path that had once been the site of the rails of a steam engine in days past.   This is in the part of Scotland called the Borders, because it "borders" along England.

The trail took us through spectacular countryside offering breathtaking views. 

At one point, we were walking alongside a golf course.

Notice those men in the distance?  It just after this point around the corner and a bit down the trail, when I heard a WHISH right by my ear, then a KERPLUNK right next to my left foot.  

Can you guess what that was?  An extremely errant golf ball, which narrowly missed my head!  Don't know if you'd be reading a blog right now had it landed there!

We crossed a bridge over the River Tweed.

where we saw some beautiful horses along the side of the trail.

Further along, I couldn't resist capturing this photo with the horses in the field along the river, and a mama duck with her ducklings in tow, in the background, hurriedly swimming up the river.

Just a bit further, I spotted this man fly fishing, but didn't see him actually catch any fish.

Actually, he'd have to be on speed catching, because there was no stopping that group of strollers!

We ended up in the quaint town of Innerleithen.

A very nice fella on the walk with us offered to take us back to the car park in Peebles. We could have ridden the bus, but we decided to take advantage of the free ride.  By then, my tootsies were burning!

Here is the view of Peebles from the car park.

Quite lovely, don't you think?

Isobel then drove us back to Inverkeithing, where I hopped the train back to this quiet little town of Aberdour.  I took this photo from the sitting room in our B&B.

When Marty arrived back from work, we walked up to the Aberdour Hotel for dinner, which was a bit complicated for my order since peppers seemed to be in nearly everything that I found interesting.

I settled on the Fish & Chips simply because we are on the coast, and I was told that the fish was fresh caught.  It was quite tasty.

After the 7 mile walk, I thought I'd go ahead and try some dessert.  The description was a Turkish Pana Cotta with some sort of embellishments involving pistachios and chocolate.

Here's what I got

If you're drooling....don't bother.  Marty appropriately described the flavor as tasting like soap.  The little pink squares were like gelatin and tasted like rose hip perfume.  And I find it hard to believe that those shortbread cookies were "home made".  If they were,  they weren't baked in the last few days, that's for certain!

Lesson learned:  No more Turkish Pana Cota.

After dinner, we walked down to the harbor.  It was once again a beautiful clear night. There is a set of benches along the beach, and we sat and enjoyed the stillness and beauty.  I wish that I could capture the moment and share it with you. 

Darkness, but the city of Edinburgh reflecting off the water.  Bright stars glimmering above.

The quiet whish of the waves lapping up over the rocks.

Not a sound to be heard around us.

And then, we heard the echoing wail of a seal, obviously quite close to shore, with a response from the other side of the forth.  It certainly was entertaining, waiting to hear them having a conversation from afar.

Marty commented that if he wasn't working....he'd have thought that he was on Holiday!

Dr. Livingstone......I presume?

So we're all somewhat familiar with the phrase, and most of us probably have some idea regarding the story of David Livingstone.  But did you know that he was Scottish?

Well, even if you did.....I never really gave it much thought, and today was certainly quite a learning experience for me!

But before I delve into that fascinating story, let me start at the beginning of the day.

After a delightful breakfast at our B&B, we loaded up the car with our luggage and began the drive to Craignethan Castle.  Finding it was a bit challenging, to say the least, as we wove our way up a very narrow, curvy road, praying that no one would be rounding the corner in the opposite direction.

My first words to the proprietor were, "Do you get many visitors up here?"  He immediately realized that we had taken the difficult route up, and he was kind enough to give us directions that were quite easily maneuvered on our way out.

The castle was built in 1530 by Sir James Hamilton of Finnart and it stands on the edge of a natural gorge.

Heading down from the car park this stronghold is the only thing in view.
Believe it or not, but the sun was shining so brightly today that it was difficult to get a photo of the castle.

The sun was definitely shining on Marty before we entered through the gate.

It's a good thing that he remembered his sun glasses!

This castle was the last of its type built in Scotland, as manor houses became the more comfortable residence.  But in its day, Craignethan is famous for having sheltered Mary, Queen of Scots in May 1568. 

The construction was unique, as it was a “double pile” residence.  The back tower cannot be seen from the front of the grounds.

It also had a caponier, one of only two built in Scotland, and the first built in Britain.  

The grounds were quite vast and in remarkably good shape, although there were some areas that were off limits as the NTS is attempting to stabilize them.

This is the view from the front tower.

  Here you can see the gorge from the top of the tower.

And this view is from the back tower looking towards the front entrance.

After a rather extension exploration of Craignethan Castle, we headed towards Chatelherault, located in a village called Ferniegair.

This magnificent place was built as a hunting lodge for the Duke of Hamilton in 1734.

It has been preserved in a large park that offers 9 miles of wooded walks, and it was the perfect day to go out and explore the area.

 First, we walked through the lodge itself, which had some  absolutely stunning rooms.

 And we couldn't resist a little fun!

From there we got an excellent view of the gardens.

Then, we hit the trails and headed to Cudzow Castle, now a set of ruins, 

then we walked the trail to the Cudzow Oak trees which are over 800 years old!

This photo shows Marty standing next to one so that you can get an idea of just how large these old trees are.

Isn't it great that I have Marty to help put things into perspective?

One of the unusual residents of this hunting lodge is the White Cow.  The reserve is attempting to establish another herd that was depleted on these grounds.  This was the closest that I could get to the female.

 But, the views from that spot were pretty spectacular.

There was also a World War II memorial on the grounds:

We could have stayed longer, but we didn't want to miss the opportunity of visiting the David Livingstone Center just a few more miles up the road.

So, we made the drive and I, for one, am certainly glad that we did.

The story of this man was fascinating!

He was born in the village of Blantyre which was known in the early 1800's for its cotton mill. The similarities to New Lanark were amazing.

His father changed trades from working in the mill to becoming a tea salesman.  At the same time, he preached his Christian beliefs.

David grew up with a strong Christian faith, and he was determined, after studying at the University, to go to Africa to spread his religious faith.

The center went into great depth explaining his life and exploration and there was a remarkable amount of his personal letters, writings and equipment on display.

We had a lovely guide who gave us the complete run down on his life.

After touring the center, we walked through the gardens,

and strolled down to the river Avon where we actually did manage to see a salmon attempting to jump over the waterfall.  

Unfortunately, I could not capture the moment on film.

We then headed to Aberdour to our B&B.  This is a lovely little town, and after a delightful dinner at the Woodside Hotel, where we ate in a room that is actually the dining room of a restored Ocean liner,

and a delicious raspberry and strawberry Pavolva

we strolled down to the banks of the forth and enjoyed a remarkable view over the forth.

I'd say that was quite a day.....wouldn't you?