6/30: Going The Royal Mile

We took two more photos from our vantage point above the city. At the
top of the Royal Mile you can see Edinburgh Castle, of which I wrote
about a week ago. At the bottom of the Royal Mile is the Palace
Holyrood where royalty actually resided in medieval times (warmer and
more pleasant than the dreary castle). Mary Queen of Scots lived here
and when she was forced to go up to the castle she apparently wasn't a
happy camper. Bonny Prince Charlie, it was said, that when he rode
into Holyrood on his returned attempt to take the throne from the
English, was given a royal cheer from the locals.

Unfortunately it was closed. So we went drinking scotch instead, at
Golfer's Land. You can read the very interesting history in the plaque
on the wall.

When lunch was done we wandered to a modern standing stone place that
explained the amazing geological history of Scotland. That became our
final earthcache for this trip. From that vantage point we took a
better photo of the hill and rocks above.

And that's it. What an amazing geoeuroadventure!

See you in Canada!

6/30: Last Cache in Edinburgh

This morning we packed up after breakfast and headed ootnaboot for
some fresh air. We had spent so much time on the bus the past two
weeks that we just wanted to be out in the fresh air and on our time
schedule.

Sonwe walked past the Cowgate to a church with a clock tower that
tells the time perfectly twice a day. Next we wandered over rogue end
of the line and grabbed a cache near a former warehouse used for
unloading trains of coal. The train was closed down and decommissioned
a long time ago.

Finally we climbed this big mountain and grabbed the cache that was
under the shadow of the rock wall. The scenery looking down over
Edinburgh was phenomenal!

Love Cows

We decided to grab a few more geocaches today in Edinburgh. On our way
to the first cache we saw this amazing building rift in front of an
old gate. It made us laugh.

6/29: Killiecrankie & the oldest Cathedral in the Highlands

The battle of Killiecrankie went to the Jacobites. In fact it was so
successful tha even the Jacobite warriors were grim when they went
back to. Left he dead after. Read the info plates.

One red cost kept 5.5m or 18feet to get away from the pursuing Scots.
Many of his fellow soldiers drowned trying to cross the river.

The famous Rob Roy fought in this battle and was very successful.

The cathedral you see as built 1400 years ago. The small church added
was built 400 years ago. It is one of the oldest cathedrals and most
important ones in the highlands during the ancient times.

6/29: Curling!

This was so cool to see an 1800s curling rink and all the tools. Very
awesome to see how it was authentically rebuilt.

6/29: Highland 1800s home

Totally different and "modern" compared to 100 years earlier. A stark
comparison to how the Scottish life changed after The Battle of
Culloden changed the way of life in the Highlands forever.

6/29: Highland 1700s Village 2

All Sod homes.

6/29: Highland 1700s Village 1

This is a reconstructed 1700s village. The buildings were amazing. And
smoky as hell! It was so neat to see this. More photos coming.
About 1/3 of the buildings have been reconstructed on top I the actual
village layout that existed. All by hand in the traditional way.

Loch Ness Scenery

More Loch Ness Scenery on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08PYjqqrTGo&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Cam

6/28: Highland Lessons

How they dressed, ate, slept, lived, killed and loved. And how they
stunk! What an amazing 50 minute live lecture. So fascinating.

Just imagine wearing the same 7m of material all year and washing it
only once (in water and urine) to remove the blood, shit, pests, oils,
smoke, etc. that accumulated through the entire year. What Matt and
Alyssa are wearing is what they would wear all year. It is all they
would have. One set. That's it.

The weapons here are all real. They are not replicas. They were used
in war. And they all killed. The stains are of the remains of human
death.

Powerful. Very powerful.

6/28: Urquhart Castle

It was quite a rainy day today with apparently flooding going on in
eastern England.

After visiting Culloden for a scant 30 minutes we had two hours in
Inverness. I wish we could have had an hour at Culloden however a lot
of the people just saw a big field with stones and perhaps didn't
really feel or understand the fact that this field is where Scottish
history changed forever.

Then we went to a great whisky distillery and had a tour that was
fantastic. I even found my namesake in whisky!

On the way back to Fort Augustus we made a (far too brief) stop above
Urquhart Castle. This is the only castle on Loch Ness and it was built
by and used by Robert the Bruce. It was also used by the jacobites. I
wanted to go down and into the castle ruins but we only had a few
moments. By the time I had taken these few photos everyone was already
on the bus and waiting. Sigh... History lesson lost.

This ruins is used in a scene of Outlander when Claire is recalling
the story of the kelpie and the prince. She is sitting near this ruins
and sees Nessie. When Claire is back in time the castle is stile
functioning.

I also found many Lovat signs so those of you familiar with Jamie's
grandfather, Lord Lovat or the Old Fox (promised forces to Prince
Charlie but didn't deliver, and therefore was able to suck up to the
British)will know that name.

Tomorrow we head back to Edinburgh.

Sigh.... This was a wonderful part of this trip. I am so glad that I
read the Outlander books and learned so much of the history of the
area.

6/28: Culloden, Part 2

Powerful. Very powerful.

6/28: Culloden Part 1

Unfortunately we were only given a scant 30 minutes to walk trough
this very dark history and the end of the Scottish Jacobites as well
as the final battle for Scotland' freedom. 30 minutes is not nearly
enough to feel the power of this battlefield where the Scottish army
were decimated and the survivors massacred by the British government
forces.

I could spend an entire day here.

1600 Jacobite soldiers were killed in a matter of 45 minutes while
only a small amount of English died. The Scots were severely out
numbered, outgunned and their Highlander charge was totally
ineffective on the swampy, flat marsh plain.

It was amazing. I will split the photos up.

Look at the clan headstones. You will find a critical one in the group.

Wow....

Cam

6/28: Highland Recap

Today we drove around Loch Ness and heard some more stories of the lake, from the science to the mysteries. The rain on the lake and the low lying Scottish mist added a very good feeling of mystique to the entire experience. 

We travelled to Culloden, the final stand between the Jacobites and the British government troops. On a marshy, boggy field the Scottish Highlanders loyal to the exiled King James were heavily outnumbered, out gunned and completely unprepared for the massacre that took place. In a scant 45 minutes 1,600 Scottish warriors were decimated by the British troops who lost very few soldiers compared to the Jacobite losses. This was the end of the drive for a free Scotland and the beginning of the "ethnic cleansing" that was about to take place. 

I wish we had more time than the scant 30 minutes because walking amongst that history, if given enough time, surely one cannot fail to feel the energy that remains. The headstones of the clans who fell, the warrior lines marked out, all was there for the eye to see. And the terrain they battled in, once viewed directly, it was so plain to see why the highlander charge failed miserably. I will have to go back. 

We spent two hours dining and wandering in a vey rainy Inverness and then moved over to a whisky distillery for a very good lesson on how single malt whiskies are created. Art! The smell in the 20hr fermenting bin was so overwhelming that every person who stuck their head in had the very same reaction! But the overall aroma of the tour was a delight. It ended in a taste test of Singleton Single Malt Whisky. 

We then headed back to Fort Augustus and on the way stopped above Urquhart Castle where we had only a few moments to take a couple of pictures. This castle is the only castle on Loch Ness and it was used by Robert the Bruce during his day. Oh. My. God! It was also used by the Jacobites during their uprisings. Again, I wish we had more time to explore this castle because it too was very important in the history of the highlands (and shows up in Deborah Gabaldon's "Outlander" series). 

Dinner tonight in Morag's Lodge was lasagna and salad by candle light (power failure due to big storm). It was quite good. 

At eight o'clock we headed over to the clan house to enjoy an amazing story of how the highlanders lived for nearly 1,400 years. We saw the small home in which 20 family members and their animals would live. We had a demonstration showing us how the 7m of kilt material would be pleated and worn by a highlander man as well as the clothing the women wore all year long. Our instructor Mr. Robertson showed us real weapons that were used in battle and explained that they had killed many people (mostly Fraser clan weapons) and he showed us how to use them. That. Was. Fascinating. 

What a great day! 

Tomorrow we are into our last day and head back toward Edinburgh. On the way there should be several events and stops so hopefully it will be as interesting as the past four days. 

This is a good trip and we are getting a fairly good amount of history along the way. 

6/27: Highlands. Fort Augustus Loch Ness

And geocaching!
It was a fun filled evening and the haggis-stuffed chicken was great too.

6/27: Highlands. From Skye to Loch Ness

Today we traveled around the Isle of Skye and saw a lot of great
history. There was an ancient Viking tower where the local MacLandlord
and his wife Saucy Mary would collect tolls for the ships to pass.
When the payment was made, his Viking wife Mary would flash her
breasts for them in thanks.

We went for some great walks (previously published photos) and
generally enjoyed the day.

Then we came back to the mainland and drove up to Fort Augustus,
another fort that was built by the English (taken by the Jacobites,
etc etc. ) and finally used as a prison of hard labour after the
battle of Culloden. This fort shows up in the amazing "Outlander"
series as well. Jamie, the other main character of the series was in
jail while he was young for several years but not in this prison. He
was in the Fort William prison that we saw the other day.

Tonight we checked in to our hostel had dinner and took a tour of Loch
Ness where we saw Nessie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4VPO5p1Ev0

Then we did some geocaching and got two caches as well as suffered an
attack of midges. Those bastards hurt!


Cam

Via iPhone (please excuse any bizarre autocorrections)

6/27: Highlands walking

Great wee hill walk today. So lush and mushy

6/26: Highlands: Bonnie Prince Charlie

This area is where Bonnie Prince Charlie rallied the Scottish
highlanders to fight the English. This spot is in Outlander! Awesome!!

6/26: highlands: Hogwarts Express

This is the bridge they used in the Harry Potter Series. Amazing!!!

6/26: highlands: castle!!

The most photoed castle in Scotland. The inside has been totally
redone and the tour was amazing.

6/26: Highlands 2: Braveheart

40% of Braveheart was filmed out here. Ben Nevis is the highest peak
in the UK at 4000+ feet. Gorgeous here.

6/26: Highlands 2: Dunollie Castle cache

Dunollie Castle is situated on the Ganavan sands road approximately a mile to the north of Oban. It sits overlooking the small strait between the mainland and the island of Kerrera, which is also owned by the MacDougall estate. The small grassy island is Maiden Island which in itself has an interesting legend attributed to it. The castle was the seat of the clan MacDougall, Lords of Lorn, who were a significant force in Scottish history - at one point they owned a third of Scotland. (That's a whole lot of real estate by any standard!). The MacDougalls were previous resident in Dunstaffanage Castle which was taken from their care, declared a royal castle by Robert the Bruce and the Campbells made keepers. There have been fortifications on the Dunollie site since the 7th century, originally by the kings of Dalriada. (One of a few old names for Scotland.) A keep and courtyard fortress was built in the 13th century with the current four storey keep being added on the castle enclosure in the 15th century. In 1746 the castle was abandoned and the family moved to newly built Dunollie House, behind the castle. Dunollie Castle is still owned by the MacDougalls.

Cam

Via iPhone (please excuse any bizarre autocorrections)

Scottish Highland Day 1 Photos 2

Scottish Highland Day 1 Photos 4

Scottish Highland Day 1 Photos 5

Scottish Highland Day 1 Photos 3

6/25 Scottish Highland Day 1 Photos 1

6/25: Scottish Highlands Day 1

Our first stop was at the Wallace Monument.  It is a monument to William Wallace, Guardian of Scotland. That's Braveheart. At over 200 feet high it is the tallest monument to a non-religious figure in all of the UK. 

As you know, Wallace and his buddy sat atop a hill for a few days looking over at Stirling Castle, trying to find a weak spot in the occupying army of Edward I. They found it. They lured out the entire army on their chargers and heavy war armour, and when they were all in the bridge the scots rushed down the hill to the bridge, and spooked the horses. The panic caused the bridge to collapse and the ensuing battle went to the Scots. This pissed Eddie off so he retaliated at Falkirk. The scotsman that one. Then Wallace's friend betrayed him and Willy was captured, taken to London and ... We all know the rest of the story. 

Next we passed through Callander, had a break, met Hamish the sexy highland cow,  then returned for a relaxing lunch of fish, chicken, apple cider and rhubarb tart in Callander ((average age of citizens is 65). 

It's a very nice day today. 

We stopped for a wee break at Rannoch More just to get a wee bit of fresh air. The piper has been coming here every day for 20 years and piping. He collects 20p if you want your photo taken with him. So I took a photo of the landscape instead. (15:00)

Then we kept on going and made a wee stop for a wee hill walk around the three sisters before heading to our destination for the night. This is a nice place! Oh and I found another Cameron!

We also passed through Rob Roy (Sheila) MacGregor country and heard some very good stories. 

On a new bus and away we go. 

McCaig's Tower

We decided to go for a geostroll in Oban, Scotland, the seafood capital of the country, before dinner (fish and venison) and headed up the hill to McCaig's Tower, a structure that was built in the late 1800s and based on the Colliseum in Rome. 

More on that: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCaig's_Tower

The walk was breathtaking (taking breath away from the steep street) and the view was breathtaking, too! 

We got the cache, enjoyed the view and then enjoyed dinner down below.  

6/18-22: Wales the last

Smallest house in Britain this house is only 66cm wide and 175cm tall.
It was lived in by a single fisherman and was built in the 1800s.
Cool.

6/18-22: Wales. Cardiff Castle

Originally a roman fort existed here, built in AD 54. It was used and
rebuilt four times over he next several hundred years until the Romans
pulled out of Britain. Then it was in ruins until the Normans
conquered and rebuilt over it in 1069. Then it was kept up and passed
down for several hundred years, getting old again. In the 1800s it was
expanded, renovated, renewed, refurbished, and recreated as a home for
a very wealthy marquess. The roman walls are still visible. Amazing.

6/18-22: Wales Edwardian Castle, Part 2

This is the castle we envisioned in our AD&D days.

6/18-22: Wales. More of the castle

This was one awesome castle!

6/18-22: Wales Ancient Edward 1 Castle

6/18-22: Wales Snowdonia

The legend of Merlin began here. There is another lake under this lake
that the found over a thousand years after the legend of the lame
existed. Amazing. And so was the ancient bridge under the bridge. And
the painter.

6/18-22: Wales: Over 100 year old iron aqueduct

Connecting all the waterways by boat...

6/18-22: Wales Llewelyn the Last's ancient Castle

6/18-22: Wales 2

6/18-22: Wales 1

6/16: Blessing Too!

6/16: cut the cheese!... Cake!!

6/16: You, your friends, and your barbecue...

6/16: ah choo!

Bless you!

6/16: Costock Church

History

CORTINGTOCHE (Domesday Book 1086)CORTINGSTOCCORTLINGSTOCK (1211)CORTHINGSTOCKCURTELINGSTOCKCORTLINGSTOCKE ( Palimentary commissioners in 1650)The meaning according to Elbert Elkwell "Corts place or farmstead"(The personal name "Short" meant "Short" in Anglo SaxonA Brief History

The Normans conquered England in 1066 and compiled a sort of Income Tax return Domesday Book in about 1086. At that time several manors in Costock were held by Saxon thanes Gordic and Algar.

The first Norman lords were Roger and Ralph de Birun (later Byron), the de Birons took the title de- Cortinstock. Robert de Biron gave the churches at Costock and Rempstone to Lenton Priory who held them until it was disolved in about 1540.

St.Giles Church, Costock.Costock Church, dedicated to St. Giles, was probably built in about 1080,( according to the Rev. Wilson- quoted by"Thoroton Trans" 1902).The 14th century relics include the bowl at the Font, and a recess on the outer south wall in which a mutilated figure marks a shrine of some kind, there is also a 13th century lancet window.

For the most part the Church which originally consisted of a Chancel and nave, without the tower,dates from the 14th century. The present porch was added in 1849 and the ailse was added in the previous year. Further restoration by Scott (1862-3) in the nave and chancel has rather obscured some of the original features. Other points of interest include some poppy headed bench ends, six of which are original, the remains of a churchyard cross, reputedly of Irish pattern (see ThortonTrans 1902), a bell dated 1600 and unique Lepers windows ( they may have had some other obscure useon the north wall.

Perhaps the most outstanding is the remains of what was at one time a richly canopied recess in the wall of the church in which lies the battered figure of a priest in robes. It is said that the head of the figure was knocked off by soldiers during the civil war. There is some evidence that the recess and the figure is in memory of the Rev. John Trewman, who was instituted in 1425, for in his will, dated May 14 1427, he expressed a desire to be buried in the chancel at Costock. It is thought that the recess, or tomb, was built in the wall of the church to comply as near as possible with his wish.

Today much of the rich carving has been worn away , but the stonework has acquired additional significance historically for it is believed that the shallow depressions at the back were made by soldiers sharpening their arrows.

Certainly a battle was fought on the hill outside Costock. Bones found during the excavations in the lane behind the church showed horses were buried there.

Built into the near the recess is a fragment of what has been called a Saxon preaching cross, although some believe it looks more Celtic than Saxon.

The stone was probably part of a structure which stood on the land which is now the churchyard and its presence indicates there were religious gatherings long before the church was built.

Cam

Via iPhone (please excuse any bizarre autocorrections)

6/15: Robin of Sherwood!

Cor took Hiroko, Charlie and I to Sherwood Forest today to see The
Major Oak, which is over 1000 years old and lived during the time of
Robin Hood! It was an amazing tree! We met some elderly people walking
in the forest who said they used to play inside this venerable old
tree when they were kids. It was a great story standing around an oak
tree that has been living since King Richard the Lionhearted.

If you enlarge the second photo you can read a bit about this ancient
tree. The forest also had many other ancient oak trees as well but
this is the most famous.

We continued to walk around the forest and picked up two geocaches
before heading back to the Visitor Centre for some biscuits and tea
(and coffee).

It was a grand day with wonderful new friends.

6/14: Horse Hockey!

Today we visited Jo's Office to meet a lot of people, have lunch and
get a tour of the facilities. (amazing building and layout; Japan
needs to take a lesson on human-friendly buildings).

Then we took a walk into the village of Ashby de la Zouche. We were
looking for some geocaches and found one out of three during that
walkabout. Earlier we stopped at another Cache and showed Cor, Jo's
husband, what caching is all about.

We had to go into a paddock and walk a bit through the mud but
unfortunately there were nettles so we gave up. Suddenly the horses in
the paddock all came over to get attention from us. One kept pushing
Hiroko about and it tried to prevent her from getting back to the
path. Put we persevered and all was well.

The second cache was right next to this old Norman castle started in
the 12th century. We found the castle but not the cache.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/ashby-de-la-zouch-castle/

Then we walked a little further and found a cache. And so we walked
home satisfied and smelling a tad horsey.

Hiroko's New Hot English Lover

I've been replaced!

6/13: Leicestershire

The English countryside where we are staying for the next four days ...

And the Anglican church (built in the 1300s) where Hiroko and I are
going to have a "marriage blessing". We couldn't do it with the
catholic church (Hiroko is catholic) because the priest told our
friends that "they don't recognize divorce". So we have a great
opportunity for Hiroko to experience the Anglican religion!

6/12: Londoninteresting

The three interesting things we found in the day:

1. Would you want to cross this bridge?
2. A bovine version of the Mini!
3. Cameron Hotel

Ta! We are off to the Laughing borough (near Robin Hood's famous oak
tree) next for a few days of R&R&GC!

Love from London

6/12: Londoncaching 3

This one was tough because t was attached to a bus schedule on Oxford
street in front of a very busy dept store. Talk about having to be
stealthy!

And in the previous post there was one of me standing by a tree.
Getting across Park Lane was ... Hair raising!

6/13: Londoncaching 2

All we found of excitement to shoot were us. Caching.

6/12: London 1

A very young city with very young architecture and very busy people
all rushing about focusing on their stuff. Compared to Italy, of
course No sexy here... First five of 12 caches in the city.

6/10: Truth, vero!!

The Mouth of Truth cache was yesterday but we didn't see the actual
mouth. Today we found it but it was closed for the day. My arms are
long but not that long.

And walking past the Circus Maximus again, where they used to have the
gladiatorial chariot races, (we walked in there again today!!!!!!!!) I
took a photo of the ruins of the beginning of Rome. You can't see too
much but the ruins there were inhabited over 2760 years ago. I. Am.
Struck. Dumb.

Tomorrow we will check out and try to get into the Colliseum. But if
the lines are too long that's ok as we saw a huge amount of stuff on
our Italy leg of this adventure.

Our flight leaves about 1700 for London.

Italy is even after coming here for five or six times, still to me the
most comfortable place on earth. Not once have I lost my voice. Not
once has my hearing gone bad. It is incredible.

See you in the UK!

I love you!!!

6/10: Pantheon!!!

Next we headed over to the Pantheon and grabbed a cache on the way.
There was a guy who saw me put the cache back and he kept staring at
me so I just faked a bunch of photos here and there until his woman
took him away. Probably he will forget. Pinocchio is holding that
cache.

So we walked a bit more and discovered .... The Pantheon!!!!

You can see all the bullet holes in the stone. Probably it was all
done during WWII. It that is just a guess.

The Pantheon, people! The. Pantheon!!!!!

There was another tough nano cache hidden at a gate in front of a
concrete closed portico that at one time led into the Teutonic
Catholic Priest School. I wonder how many hundreds or thousands of
years ago that was closed off?

We grabbed another one behind a sign next to a restaurant. The area is
very old and the restaurant is in a particular location that was
historically very interesting! I'm worried because as I was putting it
back a waiter came out and saw me doing it. He was then looking at the
cache location... I hope it stays there.

And then heading back we found another fountain with four boys and
four dolphins and four turtles. Nice! So we grabbed the cache there,
too. Then we kept walking home.