Scoooootlaaaaaaaand!!

Day six: a song that reminds you of somewhere.

It's funny how certain songs can trigger certain memories, isn't it?

There's a whole CD of songs that remind me of Scotland. We played the CD every day in the car while we were there, and just listening to any of the songs brings back floods of memories.

Kat, the stinker, chose the song I was going to do.... and since we're trying not to post the same songs on the same days, I don't want to do the same one...

So I'm doing a different song from the same CD.

I never really realized how much  my taste in music varies. It's like: Classical! Country! Pop! Seventies!

(I'm awfully glad I found just the lyric video. Smokie was a pretty good band, but they were seventies and it's a little embarrassing to admit that I like their music sometimes. hehe.)

I'll Meet You at Midnight by Smokie

You recall the night they met was warm with laughter.

The words and music as she turned away.

"I'll meet you at midnight,

Under the moonlight.

I'll meet you at midnight."

It's a super fun song to listen to. I love the violins in it.

It reminds me of a spy story for some reason. 

Scots in the kitchen-- What more could you want?

And this is merely one reason why we love the Scots.


       >
And he's speaking GAELIC! 

He also cooks very similarly to the way my family does.

And you can watch him singing here.

He's an absurdly talented person. I think I quite like him.

God bless!

Treskie

One Year Ago Today--May 7th.

Exactly one year ago today, we were coming home.

**Pauses for a moment** But let's not end this series of posts on a depressing note.

     .....So for the last post of the Year Ago Today set, I decided to post some of my favorite things about Scotland.

1.)   Scotland is full of Scots. (And you're sitting there thinking... "no duh.") But really. I have to admit that I have an absurd love of other country's accents, and since every time we went out we were confronted with glottal-stopping people, I was in heaven. :)

2.)   Scots tend to be a lot more 'rough and ready' than Californians, and that was refreshing.

3.)   It has awesome history. Don't get me wrong, America has cool history too, but Scotland has more. It's been there longer. (It was odd to realize that most of the castles we went to were older than America has been America.)

4.)   Everyone seemed friendly.

5.)   It had incredible landscape, quite varied. I can actually see me moving there if I wasn't such a....coward. I felt very much at home there, even though it was 5000 miles away from where I live. I didn't ever feel out of place.

6.)   I loved the girls' clothes. Man! I would probably end up spending a lot more on clothes there than I do here. They have much more my style. And I seriously want a pair of tartan shoes.  Yes, I would totally wear those.

Sometimes you just need to relax. Sometimes you need to enjoy yourself. Sometimes you need to take a break and go somewhere new. Sometimes, you just really need to go to Scotland.



    This is one of my favorite songs, we listened to it almost every day while we were there. It leaves me feeling very wistful and homesick for Scotland. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. =)

God bless. xox

     Cheers.

One Year Ago Today-- May 6th

Exactly one year ago today...

Was our last day in Scotland.

It was therefore, for me, slightly bittersweet.

It was also kind of depressing. **Sigh**

I was surprised at how much we managed to cram into the trip. We went almost all over Scotland.


First off, we went to the Edinburgh Dungeons. They were weird. I quite liked them. But it's very hard to describe, so....I won't. I just give you the linky . =) Yeah......Weird.

And then we went to the Royal Yacht Britannia. It was ginormous!

Check out that table.

I wouldn't do well at it.

I hate formal meals.

It even had a bar. That drink was completely fake. Like plastic fake. This picture was completely accidental, he was just goofing around. **Grins**

We took turns writing in the guest book, 'cept no one took a picture of me writing in it, so I put Mahri up instead.

The engines were sooooo shiny! Woot, woot!

And we enjoyed the gift shop. :)









And then we climbed the 246 stairs of the Wallace Monument.

Seeing this, seemingly unendingly, was daunting.

I quite like William Wallace. I don't think Braveheart did him justice.... (It was edited. I liked Steven the Irishman, he was funny.)

I found this view....

to be most awe-inspiring. Look how high we were!






             That was because we climbed 246 steps. It was cool.

I did not want the day to end. We dragged it out as long as possible. It does sort of make me sad to remember...and not be there. **Virtual hugs, pepes!** sniffle.

One Year Ago Yesterday and Today--May 4th and 5th

Exactly one year ago yesterday....

We did a lot of shopping on the Royal Mile. We got lots of souvenirs.

We were in the Camera Obscura.

Super fun place. :) Loads of optical illusions, a mirror maze, and other weird things. I like optical illusions. And mirror mazes. I love mirror mazes.

Mirror mazes.......so, so fun!

And there was this weird thing that took a picture of you, and could change how you look. For example.

                                                                                AMY before...and after.

We went to the roof....

And got pictures....Aren't we adorable?








There was this room that we went into that gave the impression of one person being much, much bigger than the other one.

I dominate you. Mwahahahah!

I may be small, but my heart is large... metaphorically speaking!

And the table that creeped me out slightly....

Forget it...I'm not eating that!














    And the incredibly cool mirror that doubled you and made you....disappear!!!

I found that place to be quite entertaining. :)



Exactly one year ago today-- May fifth.


Jim took Maria, Kit, Amy, and I to Glencoe. I have to admit. I am a huge fan of the landscape there. I love the ruggedness of it all. :)

I can't do the story of Glencoe justice. So, go HERE to read about it. Let's just say I finally got why my sister Maria had such an aversion to the Campbell tartan. DO NOT WEAR THAT TARTAN! It is evil. =)

That was the only drizzly day that we had while we were in Scotland. It's unusual to have two weeks of sunny days there.

Gosh. It's so pretty! More pictures! 

We stopped in at the gift shop and got postcards.

And looked through this telescope:

We stopped here on the way home. It was beautiful.

I'm writing a story about it.











     We got stuck in traffic for ages on the way home. We're fairly sure there was an accident. But it was a long wait. :)

God bless! :)

One Year Ago Today: May 3rd.

         Exactly on year ago today we were standing on Culloden Moor.

     Culloden is where the final battle of the Jacobite Rebellion took place. The Scots (who were brilliant at guerrilla warfare) decided to meet the English head on. The latter were armed with cannons, rifles, and many, many more men. The Scots had claymores and that's about it. And they got slaughtered.

     Culloden Moor is probably the most solemn place I've ever been to. It's almost unnaturally silent there, and the very atmosphere of the place demands respect. And it deserves respect! It is basically...a mass grave. We walked around the moor, and saw the places where the Scots lines stood, where the English lines stood, and where the two met in battle.

The Scots ran over this....

Entire clans were wiped out....

This cottage has been there since before the Battle Of Culloden, and that was in 1746. The wee place withstood a cannonball. Architecture back then was something else, eh?

This plaque was by the cottage.....

















Something about this made my chest hurt:

             "Cold the winds on the moor blows.
                  Warm the enemy's fire's glow.
                        Like the Harvest of Culloden,
                             pain, and fear, and death grow."
                                   (From the "Harvest of Culloden")


                                                           God Bless...