Today I went to the Isle of Arran on a day trip arranged by the International Society. I keep confusing the name with my earlier irish adventures on the Aran Islands. But the Isle of Arran is different. It is like a miniature Scotland, with mountains like in the highlands and forests and a loch.
We drove to Ardrossan and took a ferry from there. The weather was nice, so it was looking out to be a great trip.
And look what the ferry had, it's been ages since I've seen one of these!
I stood up on deck to try and see dolphins, but I sadly didn't see any. I did get a beautiful view of the Isle of Arran though.
Right of the coast of the Isle of Arran is the Holy Isle (not to be confused with the Holy Island which is Lindisfarne.)
The Holy Isle
The harbour at Brodick.
Our first destination was Whiting Bay where we went walking up to Glenashdale Falls. The walking trip was amazing and probably good for my health.
Look, Narnia!
Glenashdale Falls
Look at the ash on the ground, it's the Forest of Death, I tell you!
The site of an Iron Age Fort.
Beautiful view they had from this fort back in the days.
More waterfalls.
And beautiful views
Whiting Bay.
Back in Brodick with a view of Goat Fell, the tallest mountain (or hill?) on the Isle of Arran. I think this is my first time seeing actual snow in Scotland.
We then travelled further north on the Island to Lochranza, where we first visited the Whiskey Distillery. We only had time for a brief taste of their whiskey and a stop by the gift shop. We didn't go on a tour, so where they got their barley from will forever be a mystery. I haven't actually seen any fields in Scotland so far.
And then we stopped by the ruins of Lochranza Castle. I don't know if this small thing qualifies as a castle, but it was built sometime in the 13th century so maybe this was the standard for island communities back then.
It was raining when we first got to the castle, but it soon cleared up, leaving a beautiful view.
And lastly we had a look at Brodick Castle. I honestly was a bit disappointed of this one. It wasn't as amazing as the 20 pound note made it out to be.
And who the hell thought red drainpipes on a castle was a good idea?
Anyway, the gardens were pretty nice. They had this cool palm tree, a Cordyline Australis from New Zealand. Let me educate you:
"The New Zealand "Cabbage Palm" is only hardy in the south and west of Britain. In recent years an air temperature of -9,4 degC killed the tops of many of our "palms" but they all regrew successfully from the stumps. The leaves are immensly strong - it is related to sisal (and distantly to Lilies!) - and low paid gardeners used the dead leaves as belts and braces."
So now you now all there is to know about British palms.
Ad we left Brodick Castle the moon was coming out and it was starting to get dark. Good thing it was time to return with the ferry. I didn't go on deck looking for dolphins this time, as I wouldn't be able to see them anyway. Instead I stayed in the pet area wishing I had a pet by my side. Sigh.
Anyway, it's the 5th of November and Guy Fawkes Night in Britain. They celebrate Guy Fawkes's failure to blow up the Parliament building on the 5th of November 1605 as part of the gunpowder treason and plot. They celebrate with fireworks and bonfires, so this day is also called Bonfire Night or sometimes Firework Night.
I went down to Glasgow Green, a park here in Glasgow, to see the fireworks display. I had no idea what to expect and got there a little over an hour before the fireworks were about to start. There was a traveling funfair, places to buy food and snacks and places to pick up lost children.
There were big screens where two quite known radio personalities were keeping us entertained in the hour leading up to the fireworks.
They were all: "Commonwealth Games bla bla bladibla Queen's Baton Relay bla bla bla Commonwealth Games bladibla..."(You see, in 2014 Glasgow is hosting the Commonwealth Games and that is all Glaswegians talk about these days.)
Anyway, while they were talking, the park was filling up with 50 000 people. It was a bit crowded, to say the least.
There were no bonfires in the park, understandable with that many people, but they had 50 tons of fireworks about to go off.
I had no idea which direction the fireworks where going to come from, so I had no idea if I had picked a good spot. It turned out my spot was perfect, as I was right in front of the fireworks. My digital camera have a fireworks function, but the pictures didn't turn out that great. I'll post some of them anyway, because they're funny.
And by some of them I obviously mean 10.
Anyway, the fireworks were cool, but nothing I haven't seen before. What was cool though, was that there were music playing and the fireworks were sort of choreographed to it. First there was the theme from Chariots on Fire, then there was Survivor with Eye of the Tiger, Journey with Don't Stop Believin', Katy Perry with Roar, Lady Gaga with Applause and some more I can't remember.
I tried to film some of it, so have a little bit of Eye of the Tiger:
This time the Scottish Adventures took me to Lindisfarne, Alnwick Castle and Bamburgh in a daytrip arranged by the international society.
After two and a half hour we reached our first destination, the Holy Island. We did as the Vikings in 793: invaded the island of Lindisfarne. We did it with 7 busloads of international students.
The weather wasn't all that good, as you can see.
Lindisfarne, or Holy Island as it's commonly called, is a tidal island located off the northeast coast of England. The caueway out to the island is submerged when the tide comes in, so you better not be stranded on the island when that time comes. It apparently costs £4000 to be rescued by helicopter if your car is stuck.
We only had 50 minutes on the island, so we walked to Lindisfarne Castle, built in 1550.
Alnwick Castle.
Alnwick Castle is famous for being the location where the outdoors scenes from the first two Harry Potter movies are filmed. The castle offers Harry Potter themed activities as broomstick practice, since the broomstick lesson with Madam Hooch was filmed here.
Here it is, the very lawn the broomstick lesson was held at.
Now for the broomstick practice offered nowadays... let's just say it's aimed at kids and even though I am a child at heart was more comfortable watching than participating.
After the lesson came the fun part, picture time! Always fun to attempt to take flying pictures and "up" pictures.
Photo by Taylor Fox
Photo by Taylor Fox
More pictures of the castle
Photo by Taylor Fox
In one part of the castle there was a place were you could dress up as knights and princesses. Great fun!
The five photos beneath are by Taylor Fox.
What I enjoyed most of the castle though was the inside. Because people actually live in this castle. The Duke of Northumberland lives here with his family. The Castle is closed in the winter, this was actually one of the last weekends the castle was open for the year. They don't live there only in the winter, they live there all year, and come down in the evenings to chill in the library.
So the castle rooms are beautiful. The paintings, the roofs, the furniture and the marble fireplaces. And what makes it all even more beautiful is that the castle feels very lived in. There is all the old glamour along with modern family pictures and a flat screen tv in the library.
I always joke around saying when I grow up I'll live in a castle to fit all my books and so on. Well, this is the kind of castle I wouldn't mind living in.
I weren't allowed to take pictures inside so I snooped around the internet looking for some. These are from James McDonald Photography.
The library.
The dining room.
The saloon.
The drawing room.
Bamburgh.
On the way home we stopped in Bamburgh to have a look at Bamburgh Castle and Bamburgh Beach. The castle was imposing and the beach was beautiful. If I didn't have a two hour bus trip ahead of me and 15 minutes to spend on the beach, I may have taken a bath.
I crouched down to take a photo of the waves, and this cutle, little puppy came running and wanted to play.
Photo by Taylor Fox
Some crazy people (and dog) did take a bath.
The sky was beautiful when we were heading back to the buses.
Photo by Taylor Fox
