Scotland, Part 2

Due to a few last-minute changes of plans, here is Scotland Part 2....a few days delayed.

Other than being the birthplace of Golf (which is reason enough to love a place), Scotland has a lot of other cool old stuff to see.
Rob and I went into Edinburgh to see the very formidable Edinburgh Castle, home to Scotland's Crown Jewels and the Stone of Scone (pronounced 'Scoon'...apparently it's not supposed to rhyme). The castle has been in use since the 12th Century and has been a stronghold for both the Scottish and the English at different points in history.

Me in front of Mons Meg, a 'Medieval Supergun'

Then, because we couldn't get a good picture of the castle up close, we hiked up Arthur's Seat (a really big hill on the other side of the city).

Much better...

We also went to Stirling to see the appropriately named Stirling Castle, one of the most important castles in Scotland.

Just b/c my maiden name is Schneiber doesn't mean I can't pretend to be Scottish royalty...

We learned a lot of interesting Scottish history, then stopped in to see the people who are weaving a replica of the medieval Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries. Each tapestry takes a team of 3 or 4 weavers, working 6 days a week, about 4 years to complete. The level of detail was really incredible.
After the castle, we hiked up to see the monument honoring Mel Gibson...I mean, William Wallace....

Freeeedommm!

*actually, this is a statue of Robert the Bruce, but he's in the movie too. So that counts...

Saturday morning we had to leave to catch our flight to Istanbul, but Scotland was beautiful and we already can't wait to go back!

Scotland, Part 1

Another term has ended, which means.....it's time to TRAVEL!

To kick off this round of country-hopping, we went to visit Rob's Uncle Bill and Aunt Marion in Scotland.

click to enlarge

Bill and Marion live in a charming town near Edinburgh, in a Beach House with amazing views of the Firth of Forth.
The first day we were there, Bill took us for a walk up the Law (a very old ex-volcano just outside of town). Once we reached the top (despite the crazy gusts of wind) we had a great view of the beautiful Scottish coast. We also had an up-close view of the jawbone of a whale that has been a marker on top of the Law since 1709. Of course, the jawbone has been replaced a few times, and in 2005 when the last bone wore out, they replaced it with a fiberglass replica... definitely not as cool.
On day two (to satisfy my dormant golf fanaticism) we went to see the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. The R&A is the governing body of golf outside of the US, and pretty much wrote (and still writes) the rulebook for the game. It's basically the Mecca of golf. And I was happy to be there!
Even though we didn't get to play the course (you have to book tee-times about a year in advance), we did manage to eat lunch at the clubhouse. There I tried my first authentic scone...and it was goooood. When we get home I'm going to work on replicating it, and if I'm successful, I'll definitely share the recipe!
A few days later we were still feeling inspired by our trip to St. Andrews, so Bill took us out for a round of golf at their club. Their course is right on the ocean, so we had beautiful views while we battled the wind, hiked up and down hills, and had a blast getting back in the swing of the game (har, har).
Bill and Marion, we're thinking about moving in....

A Moment of Weakness

Late Friday night before bed, Rob finally succumbed to a moment of weakness and thought it was time to say goodbye to his Lumberjack alter-ego.

My husband: the rugged, beardy-man.

Now the only question is: What look should he go for?

A: The traditional, full goatee

B: The red-neck handlebar (or the "Hulk Hogan")

C: The mustache/soul-patch combo

D: The 70's professional mustache (he's a dead-ringer for his dad 20 years ago!)
or E: Good ol' Rob
Cast your votes!

Personally, I think if lawyering doesn't work out, Hulk Hogan is getting pretty old these days....and couldn't this face make some waves in the WWF?

Chelsea vs. Wolverhampton

We knew our experience here would not be complete until we had participated in England's favorite national past-time: Football.

One of Rob's classmates managed to get tickets to a Premier League game, Chelsea vs. Wolverhampton. So on Saturday afternoon we rented a car and drove 2 hours to Wolverhampton, parked, and followed the yellow and black masses to the stadium.
Our seats were surrounded by die-hard fans cheering the Wolves, and heckling Chelsea at every opportunity. And this was the most elaborate heckling I've ever witnessed. Whenever certain Chelsea players touched the ball, entire sections of the stadium started singing songs specifically designed to mock that player.
And, of course, we had no idea who anyone was or why they were being made fun of, but our neighbors were more than happy to fill us in on their reasons for hating Chelsea.
In true football form, the action was intense...
The players fought hard...
...and did their best to influence the Ref by flopping on the ground at every opportunity.
At the end of the day the score was Chelsea: 2, Wolverhampton: 0. As we headed home, we saw many of the poor Wolves fans headed to the pubs to commiserate with each other and plan the cheering strategy for next match.