July 4, 2003 - Broughty Ferry, Scotland

Independence Day.

Lisa and I arrived in Scotland yesterday by train.  It was a about a four hour train ride from York to Dundee.  The countryside was beautiful - farms and rolling hills.  Although I missed most of it.  Since the train left York at 7.35, I napped.  However we did cross the Firth of Forth on a railroad bridge, which was beautiful.  Dundee is just on the other side of a smaller bay to the north called the Firth of Tay.  The weather has been glorious since we arrived in Scotland.  Sunny and mild.

We met Lisa's Uncle Peter, Aunt Anne, and cousin Seumas, at a place in Broughty Ferry (a small town just outside Dundee), called the Fisherman's Tavern, for lunch.  Lisa and I had haddock with chips and it was quite good.  Seumas is about my brother John's age and had just finished high school (that day, I believe) and they went out to lunch to celebrate.

Then we took a walk around Broughty Ferry, which is a delightful little town.  You can walk to everything and everyone knows everyone.  Peter and Anne live in an old house, built in about 1820, that looks right out on the Firth of Tay.  Down the street from their house is the ruin of a 15th century castle.  We also walked to an Italian coffee shop for excellent cappuccino.

Broughty Ferry Castle

Last night, we went back to the Fisherman's Tavern.  Apparently every Thursday night they have local music - area musicians just show up and play for free.  Sometimes it is only a handful of musicians, but last night there must have been 15 or 20.  There were fiddlers, Highland pipes, the drums the Irish call bodrhain (I don't know what the Scots call them), tin whistles, flutes, and even an accordion.  There was also a musician from Peru playing a 12-stringed instrument from his local country that looked like an ukulele and he joined right in with the Celtic music!  The music was splendid with lots of jigs and reels similar to Irish music.  There were also rebel songs, but I wasn't familiar with any of those, and at one point, "Scotland the Brave," was going on the bagpipes.

At the pub, we met Peter and Anne's friends and colleagues, Jerry and Kerry.  They were quite nice and fun to talk to.  Some others we didn't know (including one gentleman we couldn't understand) came over to say hello, realizing we were Americans.  We were made quite welcome.  I was drinking a Scottish beer called, "Sixty Shilling," that was quite good.  It was black like a porter with a thick head.  It was smooth to drink like Guinness, but much lighter.  Very tasty.  In all, it was a fabulous evening.  We have been having a wonderful trip, but that was by far the best experience.

Today we had another wonderful day.  The weather is still perfect.  In the morning, we went to Glamis castle, home to the late Queen Mother.  It is on beautiful grounds and has been in the Bowes-Lyon family since the 1400's.  It has been added on to since the the original medieval fortress and much of the interior is Elizabethan and some of it Victorian.  It is as if you walk from the 1400's to the Victorian era over just a few rooms.  Shakespeare set the murder of Duncan by Macbeth at Glamis, although in reality, the events of Macbeth take place approximately 400 years before the current castle was constructed.

Glamis Castle

After Glamis, we went to St. Andrew's, one of the most beautiful towns I have ever seen.  We had a picnic lunch in the ruins of what was once an immense 15th century cathedral - with a mix of Norman and Gothic styles.  It was built on the site of an earlier 12th century church, the tower of which is still standing.  Lisa and I walked to the top of the tower and the view from there was magnificent!  Below you are the cathedral ruins and you have a spectacular vista of the North Sea.  Facing the sea, off to the left is the ruin of St. Andrew's castle and with your back to the sea, you look at the gorgeous campus of the University of St. Andrew's.  We also took some pictures at the 18th green of the old golf course.

The 18th green at Old St. Andrew's

 From St. Andrew's, we went to the small fishing village of Crail.  Also a beautiful place.  We walked along the shore of the Firth of Forth to a little pottery store that Adam and Shannon (Lisa's brother and sister-in-law) raved about from their trip there two years ago.  They did have some beautiful things.

Crail

 Tonight, for U.S. Independence Day, Peter and Anne are taking us to dinner at a restaurant in Arbroath and tomorrow we plan to tour Edinburgh.

In addition to the "Sixty," I have sampled other local foods, such as Scottish porridge for breakfast this morning and Arbroath smokies, which are smoked haddock, for dinner last night (apparently these were a favourite of the late Queen Mother).