Historic Scotland, You're Brilliant; Jousting at Linlithgow Palace

Linlithgow Palace with jousting set up on Linlithgow Peel.

When we arrived in Scotland last summer, someone (probably my boss) recommended that we get a family membership to Historic Scotland.  They run some of the loveliest and most popular historic properties in Scotland, including Edinburgh Castle and our "local" castle and cathedral in St. Andrews. They also run special events in the summer, and especially after going to Jousting at Linlithgow Palace near Edinburgh today, I am definitely a convert - our Historic Scotland membership was worth every pound.

Linlithgow Palace courtyard

We had not been to Linlithgow Palace before; birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, and her father James V. It is a ruin, but quite impressive as ruins go.  The fountain in the courtyard (pictures below), re-installed in 2005, is magnificent.  If I hadn't had two little ones dragging me off (to the Peel! to the Stairs!) I could have spent a long time looking at it. 





Below: the whole fountain from one side, from above , and a close-up of a Unicorn.

  Speaking of those little ones - I am so impressed, Historic Scotland, with how well prepared you were for them, and us.  The special-event parking area was clearly marked, Historic Scotland staff checked our cards and gave us wristbands for entry right there in the car park, there were buses lined up to take us over to the Palace, and we were dropped off just down the (small)  hill from the entrance.  There were toilets right as we went through the gate, and more down near the Jousting area - clearly, Historic Scotland event planners, you are familiar with potty-training toddlers!

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day - sunny, warm but not roasting, with a wee bit of wind rain thrown in during the joust, just to remind us it IS still Scotland.

Peel, from a window of the Palace

Introducing the competitors

My best picture of the competitors; not that flattering of the horses...

And the Linlithgow Peel was gorgeous as well; mature trees for shade, all the arenas and tents well organized, and even dueling ice-cream trucks  (one with real ice cream and the other with the whipped-cream-ish stuff that passes for ice cream here - but they were equally popular.) 

Dueling ice cream trucks in the shade

And of course the most popular feature for the girls - they had hobby-horse jousting, which amused for a minute, but the playpark and the grass and trees held their attention much longer. The most scenic playpark I've ever been to, for sure.

Hobby horse jousting with dad holding the lance (can't hold horse and lance at the same time...)

Part of Linlithgow Peel playpark (swings not pictured)

Playing with a friend they found, under the trees

All in all, a great day out (as Historic Scotland promises) as you can see by the smiles as we were getting ready to head out (note duck in shining armor), and Paul's artwork for Audrey before she headed off to bed...

In a window near the Palace entrance

Jousting artwork by  Paul Orzech

The Royal Highland Show 2014: An American Perspective

 Last Sunday we went to the 2014 Royal Highland Show.  I had wanted to go since last June, because the day I left Scotland (after having an interview for the job I currently hold) was the first day of the RHS 2013, and the taxi company made me leave Dundee at 5:30 am for a 9:30 am flight out of Edinburgh, even though the trip is only about 1 hour. The Royal Highland show is THAT popular.  And, apparently, that close to the airport. So I thought there must be something to it.  The BBC reported this year that close to 200,000 people attended the show - that's more than the population of Dundee.

It turned out that some of our friends here are lifetime members of the Royal Highland show, so they get tickets for all 4 days of the show, every year. They couldn't go on Sunday so they gave us their tickets, their fancy member tags, and their parking pass. Bonanza!

So what is the Royal Highland Show? Call it a celebration of rural living, and things eminently Scottish. 

There were...Horses, including heavy horses, like Clydesdales and Percherons, small horses like Shetland Ponies, and pony club ponies. The (20-second) video below is the Young Masters Show Jumpers warming up.

Winner of the Heavy Horse Turnout, Team of 6

Girls watching the Clydesdale Young Handlers

And Cows. Seriously, more types of cows than I have ever seen. I tried to capture the breadth of cows by photographing the Parade of Cows (really...and cows like being paraded a lot less than horses, if the distressed mooing was any indication) but there were maybe 20 of each of 10 types of cows and I ultimately gave up. See the 2014 RHS Livestock Showing Timetable for an idea of all the breeds and categories.

Trying to capture the breadth of cows, maybe 5 types in this photo.

The Grand Prize winner, perhaps an Aberdeen Angus cow, but don't quote me. He was humongous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Highland cow. I know these - you don't get them elsewhere!

And of course there were sheep and goats.

Amazing horns.

And there was Food: Haggis, beefburgers, and (I wish I had gotten a picture of this) a Yorkshire pudding as big as a dinner plate on which you could have sausages and mash OR haggis, neeps and tatties.  Not many veggie choices - I made do with a huge jacket potato with beans & cheese.

It wouldn't be a Scottish festival without a person dressed as a Haggis.

An entire tent of Poultry. Another tent of Rare Breeds (no dogs allowed in this tent). A zillion Dogs, with their people (to amuse the kids we started counting them as we walked across the show area - we stopped at 35).  A small herd of Llamas.  A show called (I kid you not) The Drakes of Hazard, involving a gaggle of running ducks, herded by a dog, who navigated an obstacle course.  I didn't get a picture of that show, because I spent most of it in the bathroom with Claire. This is what happens when you take a potty-training almost three-year-old, well, anywhere.    

Claire pretending to milk the fiberglass cow.

We probably only saw a third of what was there.  We skipped by most of the agricultural equipment. We barely saw the sheep. We only saw a tiny bit of horse riding (show jumping finals). We didn't visit any of the sponsors tents (even the Marks & Spencer farm-to-table tent that was larger than any Marks & Spencer store in Dundee). 

As for the American perspective: while this event bore some resemblance to county fairs we have attended (Pima County Fair in Arizona, for example) it was much bigger and seemed truly representative of Scotland, which is still by and large a rural economy.  Drive 30 minutes from even the largest city, and you'll be among rolling green hills, dotted with sheep and cows. Through its focus on the agricultural diversity of Scotland, the Royal Highland Show captures this feeling.  Chances are, we'll be back next year to see some of what we missed.   

Happy Father's Day, Dad

Dad and Claire in London, April 2014

When I was a kid, I didn't know what my father did for work.  He liked his work, and he seemed to do it a lot...he left for work at 7:30 in the morning and came back at 7:30 at night. And he traveled too. Sometimes it seemed like he was gone all week and only back at the weekend.  I remember a lot of sweatshirts from colleges around the U.S., too.

It was only later that I figured out what he did, and realized it's not that different from what I do today. The applications were different, but really Dad was a researcher, an interviewer, an ethnographer - he traveled to companies, figured out what their underlying motivations were, then talked to people at universities and heard their stories of how the chemical or environmental substance he was interested in behaved under various conditions. And then instead of writing an academic paper about it (like me) he developed a coherent story and put on a Spectacular Spectacular, with a vast supporting cast (thank you Moulin Rouge: Youtube Clip Here) and with some Razzle Dazzle (Chicago, the Musical: Youtube Clip Here). And voila, a magical settlement. A bit more exciting than your average corporate attorney, don't you think? But we always knew Dad was special.

Now that I've had the chance to see Dad as his alter-ego "Papa" (He and Nana decided 6 years ago that they weren't the Grandpa and Grandma type). I've had the chance to enjoy all the bits I don't remember from being a kid (I have a really poor memory of most everything before I was about 9) - dad making silly faces and sounds with the girls, singing "The Noble Duke of York" and bouncing them on his foot, reading endless numbers of books and generally entertaining them by being Papa.

I see your influence (not to mention your face) when I look at myself and what I'm doing, and especially when I look at how Audrey and Claire are growing up to be like you, too. Love you, Dad - Happy Father's Day!

The Scottish Language Barrier

We have been in Dundee nine months, give or take.  Audrey has been in school for eight of these months. Although the language wars ("You have to say trousers, Mommy! Pants mean underpants!") started the minute we arrived, it is now clear that our family has lost one member to the other side.  By this I mean Audrey's Scottish accent has taken over.

Paul marveled at how fast it has happened. "I knew it might happen, but I didn't expect it to be this fast. Especially since her teacher is Irish!" A visiting Scottish friend commented on in when she visited on Sunday - "She's rolling her R's!" and when I said she's been dropping her T's (Mummy, can I have some wa'er?) the same friend nodded knowingly and said, "Yes, that's very Dundonian." 

So now it's three against one, and I'm not holding out much hope for Claire. After burping today, she said "Pardon me!" and in the science center she asked Paul if they could "take the lift." Even I am starting to slip into British English.  I have started to say "straightaway" to mean "right now/right away," and sometimes I'll even say "half-three" if I want to set a meeting with my boss for 3:30.   Paul has taken to the standard Dundonian greeting (Hiya!) , but both of us change slower than the kids.

Audrey already asks for "a wee bit of this" and "a wee bit of that" - before long, the wee bit of American vocabulary that she retained from the States ("America") will be buried under an avalanche of British and Scottish vocabulary and pronunciation. I close with a question (and some help from Scotranslate:)   Whit's this world comin' tae? 

Beautiful Glasgow, Scotland: a photo blog

Yesterday I traveled to Glagow from Dundee to meet up with a friend from Rhode Island who was enroute to the Isles of Lewis and Harris (known for Harris Tweed) in the Outer Hebrides. Although the weather forecast almost always calls for rain in Glasgow, it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny, warm day!

A little cloudy in Dundee as I set out in the early morning:

Magdalen Green bandstand with construction crane behind; very symbolic of Dundee - the Green, and construction work.

The Tay Railway Bridge.

Part of a pretty awful poem about the Tay Railway Bridge: so awful, in fact, that it's celebrated.

Looking toward the Tay road bridge with very calm waters.

Leaving Dundee (also in Gaelic).

George Square, just outside the Glasgow Queen Street Station:

War Memorial in front of the Glasgow City Chambers.

Glasgow crest, in mosaic on the floor as you enter the City Chambers.

Beautiful mosaic on the ceiling of the City Chambers.

The Commonwealth Games "Big G" (the games, a sort of mini-Olympics, are happening in July), and visiting the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA):

Some publicity event at the "big G"

GOMA exhibit on female under-representation in science fiction movies.

Selfie in the GOMA mirrors.

A Little more Pop Art as I was walking around Glasgow

What else would you expect to find on Glasgow high street, but the Tardis?

Or maybe a Dalek swimming in the River Clyde?

Never mind, I definitely like the elephants better.

Though the fire cat is pretty cool too. 

The River Clyde was beautiful, as was the People's Palace on Glasgow Green.

Suspension bridge over the River Clyde in downtown Glasgow.

View of train bridge over the Clyde.

Crossing the suspension bridge

People's Palace Greenhouse view.

Inside the greenhouse, view from the cafe.

First Nations art from Canada outside the People's Palace; Glasgow is twinned with a Canadian city.

This is an old carpet factory, built to look like a famous Venetian building.

The front of the People's Palace, and amazing blue sky. Nelson column to the right rear.

Late 1800's fountain, recently refurbished, largest terra-cotta fountain in the world. That is Queen Victoria at the top.

Shakespeare tiles in the Ladies Room. Seriously.

One of the gates of the Glasgow Green.

A funny sign, more Gaelic, then time to head home.

In front of the court. All I could think was, "In the U.S. they would never build a wall with this kind of drop behind it. Some kid would fall, and his parents would sue."

Departing Glasgow Queen Street Station.

Sheep from the train.

Cows from the train. 

Back in Dundee: a closeup of the Tay Railway bridge. You can see the pylons from the "old bridge" that was taken down after a train derailed in the late 1800's.

Primary School Discos and Birthday Parties, oh my!

Picture of disco ball from Wikimedia Commons.

Just last night I didn't know what to write about.  But today when I picked Audrey up from her second birthday party in 2 weeks, it hit me. Discos and birthday parties, of course.  The disclaimer is that the information I have on primary school discos is secondhand.  I didn't actually take Audrey to this event - Paul did. But he told me a few things, which I pass on here.

I don't know about you, but in the U.S., the first dance I remember going to was about seventh grade (age 12 or so).  Not so here in Scotland.  Last week, the school that shares space with Audrey's school threw a disco, with everyone invited - P1-P3 (ages 5-8) from 6:00 to 7:15, and the older kids (up to age 11) a bit later. Paul said they had a real DJ, who played such crowd-pleasing favorites as "Let It Go" from Frozen (you should have seen it, said Paul - every little girl in the room started singing along) as well as things you could dance to.  The organizers also served typical "party food" - crisps (potato chips), sweeties (candy) and juice (blackcurrent and orange, the two juice flavors you see everywhere for kids). Apparently discos are not just for school, though - our friends who went to a family-friendly vacation park in northern England said there were kid discos there too - their 5-year old got dressed up and went out to dance.

Clipart of cake from Wikimedia Commons.

Discos I can see as a cultural difference - chalk it up to European influence. But kids' birthday parties should be the same, right? Wrong, and I'm beginning to understand the typical structure of a Scottish kid's party. though I don't understand the reasoning behind some of the party choices. First, the attire.  "Dressed up" seems normal to me (which is how some kids, including Audrey, dress for parties), but "Wear your Halloween costume?" It's called "fancy dress" here, and today there were three Meridas (from Brave, as you might imagine, a popular Scottish heroine), two Alice in Wonderlands,  one Sophia the First (the birthday girl), one or two who might have been Elsa , one possible Ariel and one possible Jasmine, plus assorted pirates, nurses, etc.   There's also the tradition (also present in Rhode Island) of not opening the presents at the party.  This seems odd, because if everyone brings a present, isn't it nice to open them and say thank-you? We always did this at my parties as a kid (at least that I remember), but maybe we were different from the norm in the 80's too and I just don't remember it. The final thing about Scottish birthday parties that I can't figure out is this: they always send the cake home in the goodie bag.  Granted, kids are eating the typical party food like crisps, sweeties and juice, so they're probably not hungry for cake.  But all the parties Audrey has been to, the cake is wrapped up in a napkin and either handed to the party guest or put in the goodie bag. They sing Happy Birthday, cut the cake, and then don't eat it. Audrey is quite sensitive to these norms, and when we have her party in a few more weeks, she may insist that we too send home the cake.  But right now we're thinking of putting a disclaimer on the invitations we're soon to hand out to her friends: Caution: Cake Will Be Served!

Loadsaweeminsingin, or my Scottish singing experience

One of the first things I did when I arrived to Dundee was to join a singing group.  After having not sung with any organized group since leaving Arizona in 2010, it was a priority for me to find a choir. Not only do I like to sing, I was (and am) pursuing some work-life balance.  Singing is for ME, not my boss or my husband or my kids. And I really lucked out.  Literally before we even moved into our rental house here in Dundee, I found a women's singing group (official name: Women's Singing Group) on the Internet.  The references to the group were a couple of years old, so I worried the group might not still be around, but the email address still worked and I was able to register over email, and get instructions to go to the local professional theater for a rehearsal the following Monday night.

I wasn't quite sure what I was in for. I had been in Scotland less than 2 weeks. But I wanted to sing, and these women were singers. So I walked in, to a room of approximately 40 women who all seemed to know each other very well, and who were not just "Women's Singing Group" but "Loadsaweeminsingin" (or Loads of Women Singing, for the non-Scots speakers :-). And then it turned out that all the singing was by ear, just a sheet of words in front of you, and no music. But a few ladies, especially Molly, a fellow soprano, welcomed me, and two hours flew by. I wasn't used to singing regularly, much less singing by ear, so I concentrated intently on parroting back what our tutor, Sarah, sang to us, and singing what the other sopranos (the ones who had been in the group for two or five or, in one case, almost 20 years) were singing. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work.

Now that I've been in the group for seven months, singing by ear is a lot easier, though still frustrating at times.  I am amazed at the longevity of the group (we're about to celebrate the 20th birthday of this group in early June 2014), and how much singing with them teaches me about being Dundonian (from Dundee).  For the 20th Birthday program, we're singing 12 songs. Three are African, including Nkosei Sikeleli, the national anthem of South Africa, which the group has a history of singing. I actually even sang it with them shortly after Nelson Mandela died.  The other nine songs are Scottish, with an emphasis on the factory past of Dundee (Women O' Dundee, Alice's Song) and a local Dundonian singer/songwriter who recently passed away, Michael Marra. And of course, it can't be Scotland without a connection to Robert Burns - were closing our Birthday show with a song for which he wrote music and words, Green Grow the Rashes.

Without Loadsaweeminsingin, I would know far less about the history of Dundee.  I would know far less about the issues that concern Dundonian women, past and present. I would know far less about what a group of 40 (or more) determined women can accomplish with the help of an energetic tutor who knows each woman by name and brings out the best in everyone.  I still sing for ME, but with Loadsaweeminsingin, I also feel like I am singing for US, the women of Dundee.

To give you a bit of an idea of how Dundee's past shows up in our music (and to hear a bit of a Dundee accent), listen to Sheena Wellington singing Women O'Dundee   (note: I tried to embed this as a Youtube video but since I can only find it on Youtube UK, and Blogger only wants to go to Youtube.com...a link is it.  And if you can't figure out what she's saying, check out Words to Women O' Dundee, with some translation.