A low intensity day at Bill and Olive’s place start off this
chapter in our Big Adventure (Bill is Calum’s cousin from his mum’s side of the
family). Good thing too, because the weather was absolutely shocking! We timed
everything well, because if the weather had happened this time last week we
would have been flooded out in York! I took advantage of the down time to get
four loads of washing and drying done; Danielle did homework – much to her
disgust; and Calum and Cameron went to The Secret Bunker then to watch Typhoons
take off in the rain from Leuchars Air Force Base.
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| Bunker blast doors |
In the afternoon Danielle and I did venture into Cupar
(pronounced ‘Cooper’) for a look-see – took all of 10 minutes. The most lasting
impression was made on our senses – the fields had been fertilised with chicken
manure, and the wind and rain left a miasma of it hanging over the centre of
town. Two hundred yards away at the supermarket there was no lingering stench
though – go figure!
We caught the train in from Cupar for our one day in
Edinburgh, with so much to fit into it in a limited time! The main things to
see were Edinburgh Castle, Greyfriar’s Bobby, the Hollyrood Palace, and Our
Dynamic Earth. We decided to hoof it around, as it would be a waste of money to
purchase tickets for the sight-seeing bus – the routes usually go for a couple
of hours, and we didn’t have that kind of time to spare. At the castle, we
wanted to be there for the firing of the one o’clock gun, so it was off to find
Greyfriar’s Bobby first. Not too far from the castle, so no problem locating
his statue or grave.
Up the Royal Mile to the Castle we went, where we separated
again as usual. Danielle and I joined a tour of the outside of the castle,
while Cameron and Calum flitted between the tour and visiting the different
military museums in the castle grounds. We had a look at the Scottish Crown
Jewels which included the Stone of Destiny), then the Prisoner of War exhibit
before heading off for a bite to eat before the one o’clock gun was fired. The
gun used to be fired so that ships captains could set their watches /
chronometers etc to an exact time. Why a 1 o’clock gun and not a 12 o’clock
gun? So they only had to pay for one shell being fired to mark the hour instead
of 12 ;)
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| Looking down the Royal Mile from the castle |
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| The main keep |
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| Mons Meg |
Final stop at the castle before
heading on our way was the gift shop. My ears have been getting rather cold
lately and aching a bit (poor me), so I invested in a Sherpa hat to cover them
on windy days – and who cares if I look like a dork. As I went to get it out of
the bag, the pom pom came off the top – so it was back up the castle and into
the gift shop to swap it.
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| stunning, huh? |
Walked the length of the Royal Mile, turning just before the
end to go Our Dymanic Earth – a science centre that explores the origins of the
universe, explains the geographical and geological history of our earth and
solar system, and ponders what the future has in store for us.
From there, back to the Royal Mile and on to the Hollyrood
Palace, which is the official residence of the Queen when she is in Edinburgh
(no photos permitted inside). The palace grounds also contain the ruins of the
Hollyrood Abbey – which would have been a glorious structure 400 years ago.
It was after 5pm by the time we had finished our tour of the
palace, and time to head back to the train station for a bite to eat and to
await the 6:11pm train back to Cupar. I had a little quest to find some
supplies from a chemist, so left Calum and the kids at the train station to
attend to that. I made it back after a successful mission just as the train was
pulling in to the platform. Talk about cutting it fine!
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| Oil or gas platforms in the Firth of Forth - seen from the train window on our way 'home' |
Heading further into the Scottish North we find ourselves at
the RSS Discovery Centre in Dundee – a museum honouring the Antarctic
expedition in 1901 of Scott et al. They even had THE RSS Discovery in the dry
dock that we could explore.
Next stop – Sensations Science Centre, also in Dundee. This
is an interactive and hands on centre exploring the functions of the five human
senses - great fun to be had by kids of all ages. They also had a robot
exhibition going, with life size replicas of some famous robots. Can you pick
who they are from our photos?
Leaving Dundee we head for the ancestral stomping grounds of
Kirriemuir – the place where Calum’s parents grew up and lived, and where
family still reside today. Spent a good four hours wandering around the town
visiting relatives (Auntie Annie) and looking at historic landmarks, such as a
memorial to Bon Scott of AC/DC fame, who was born here, and the birth and death places of CM
Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. Rain was forecast for today, but we were lucky
in that it stayed away for our wanderings, except when we were in visiting
Auntie Annie.
The Kids with their Great Uncle Brian (Calum's Dads Brother)
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| R.M. Barrie's birth place.... |
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| .... and final resting place! |
Calum's Mum's old work, now a nice little local museum
Tomorrow our time in Kirrie comes to an end as we head
further north into the Highlands and on to Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch
Ness. Wonder if we’ll see any monsters – besides the two that are sharing our
travels, that is…
Jo. xxx
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