Day 3, the Highland Games.

Travel blog about our trip to Scotland in May/June of 2005
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Pieter
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Day 3, the Highland Games.

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Kinloch Rannoch, Scotland.

29 May 2005

Sunny, a little rain every now and then, 15 to 18 degrees, what lucky bastards we are! 79km.

It is Bank Holiday Weekend, so lots of bloody tourists on the road, except for us that is. It looks like it’s becoming a very beautiful day, so we’re up and about early to avoid the crowds on the road. At 9:45 we were on the road to Blair Castle in Blair Atholl, via Dalchalloch and Calvine. Needless to say we made some stops along the way in order to shoot some pictures, because it is a beautiful scenery. The Bridges of Struan had to be recorded, it comprises out of two bridges crossing each other, one is a road bridge, the top one is a railway bridge. Worth the trouble of a visit.
Our destination is like already said Blair Castle in order to take a look at it on the inside, but also for the Highland Games which are held today.
A beautiful driveway brings us up to the castle, it’s a hidden gem, but unfortunately not for sale. We took the self-guided tour through the castle, 30 rooms ranging from large to small with lots of old furniture and art. Beautiful embroidered curtains and a large weapons collection. Skeandhu’s, the traditional Scottish dagger with cutlery, musket’s, swords in all sorts and even Japanese lances, a must see when visiting Scotland.
In the brand new tearoom we gobbled up a sandwich and a scone, washed it down with a delicious cappuccino and went to the courtyard where a piper played his tune. He does so every two hours. After this we took a stroll through the Hercules Garden, followed by a lovely country lane to the field where the games were going to be. In the background we hear music drifting on the wind, it turns out to be the pipers practicing their tunes and tune the pipes. How becoming in this beautiful setting, it almost feels like home.
A round piece of grassland marked the area where the games would be and around this all were a whole range of stalls put in place with all kinds of play and stuff. Because of the charity we both squandered a whole pound on gambling and we both won a prize. Margreet won a pack of Highland toffees pulling the nails and I won a bottle of wine on the dice, two pounds well spent.
After the gambling we looked for a good spot to watch the games and it was not long before things livened up. The opening of the games started with a parade of the Atholl Highlanders ( the only private army in the British Isles), accompanied by pipes and drums. Beautiful to look at and listen to. This all got a freak splashing of rain, but that didn’t matter. They even fired a canon and even you know the bang will come, it still startles you. After the parade the Duke of Atholl did the official opening by hitting a shield he held in front of him with a sword, doing so to every quarter of the compass.
All kinds of stuff went on, stone throwing like Hamish, folk dancing by beautiful dressed girls and pipers playing their tunes. The whole valley was filled with music, no-one can resist an invitation like this. Still we left early in order to avoid the crowd and some drunk English tourists, also because we had some other stuff we wanted to do on this day. We even hadn’t had lunch, so we went to Pitlochry to enjoy a late lunch. It was more a kind of early super and it was very tasty. Café Biba is the name of the place.
Half past 3 it was time to head back home and because Queens View was on route we decided to make a stop there. For the amount of 1 pound you can park your car on a very tidy parking lot and gives you ample time to watch the magnificent views over Loch Tummel. We made lots of pictures from the stunning views, no wonder it was the favorite spot of Queen Victoria. We were blessed with beautiful skies over a glistening Loch where clouds drew shadows over the scene, changing the view every time.
On the seating area of the pavilion we drank a very good cappuccino and made pictures of the finches, the blue teats and the robins that sat next to us, picking up the crumbs of the scones, a real treat to watch.
Back on the nest we wrote this journal whilst enjoying a glass of wine and the music of the Black Watch. The remainder of the evening? Nothing, just sitting and watching the view. The dripping noses al still dripping, we’re heavy on the tissues.

Another workday blown to bits.
Don't put your mouth into motion, before your brain is in gear.
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