Finishing Yesterday’s Entry…
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The marathon entry continues…
From Kircudbright to Wigtown: Wigtown falsely advertises itself as the literary capital of Scotland because it has so many bookshops. It could more accurately describe itself as the second-hand book store capital of Scotland, and when you visit you are under the distinct impression that the books in all of the stores simply continually recycle themselves from store to store within the same market square. A bit of a disappointment really, however; we did go down to the Martyr’s stake where two female covenanter’s were executed by means of drowning as they were tied to the stake in the firth at low tide, and the rising waters of high tide drowned them. Rather cruel and unusual punishment for insisting that God (not the king) was head of your church. It was interesting to see that the stake is currently in the middle of some marshy grazing land – it goes to show how much the waters have receded in the past 400+ years, as the two women were drowned in the 1600′s.
Whithorn / Isle of Whithorn: These two little towns are thought to be the origin point of Christianity in Scotland, as this is where St. Ninian landed several hundred years ago. There’s a ruined Abbey, some old illegible gravestones, and the original 15th century streets.
The real reason we went there is because that’s where the McQueen’s came from, so I thought it would be nice to go see for curiosity’s sake. I was surprised at how big the town was (I thought it would be a 1 street kind of place). The Ilse of Whithorn is actually a beautiful little fishing village set on a peninsula amongst some frighteningly jagged volcanic rocks. A bunch of local kids were diving in off the pier when we got there – I would have loved to have joined them, as the unusual heat wave that has hit Scotland has not let up in two weeks. The shore line is occasionally interrupted by a tiny protested beach cove, and it was fun to go beach combing for seashells and water-worn barnacles. I could have spent a lot longer on the beach, but we only rented the car for a few days, so off we went again…
Culzean: We drove up to Culzean Castle and camped at a campsite on the estate, so we could go see the castle early the next day. Incidentally, it’s right on the cliff – lined shore, and you can see the Ilse of Arran from the campsite. The weather thundered and lightninged all night, but it did not rain. It was fairly impressive to wake up at 3:00 AM and see thunder bolts hitting the water.
The next morning we drove thought the site of the British Senior Golf Championship (you should have seen the security) in search of a morning coffee or tea before we went to the castle. What is with the business hours in Scotland anyways? The average opening time for most businesses is 10:30 AM, and everything closes at 5:00 PM, but the people who work in the shops really stop working and begin kicking out or refusing customers at 4:30 PM. It makes you want to work in Scotland (it’s worse in Inverness…)Regardless – it was very hard to find a coffee at 9:30 AM, and I’m sure we attracted the attention of all the British Open security guards by driving around in circles looking for one (not to mention the fact I took pictures of them and the site…)
farm, a manicured tropical garden and fountain, a private gas works to supply gas for the lights, a walled garden, and a massive greenhouse (not to mention several shops and restaurants). The castle itself was designed by the famous architect Adams, and it’s center piece is the impressive oval staircase from which radiates several living spaces – gathering rooms, parlors, bedrooms, dressing rooms, etc… They are all still furnished and carpeted with the original furniture, and the ceilings and fireplaces still sport the original elaborate Renaissance friezes.
Here’s an interesting fact – Culzean Castle remained the property of the family that built it (the Kennedy’s) until the 1940′s when the decline in the necessary cheap, capable labour that was necessary to run an estate home like this was gifted to the nation. After WWII, Scotland gifted the top floor of the Castle to General Eisenhower as thanks for commanding Scottish troops during the war. You can actually rent out the top floor apartment for 900 pounds a night now, and stay in the Eisenhower suite (we actually met a gut in a bar in Glasgow who did just that for himself and his girlfriend – talk about money to burn – we could barely afford the campsite! Still, it was a beautiful place to visit…
Back in Glasgow: We were out at a local pub last night (Uisage Beatha)and ended up taking part in the local pub quiz night – and we didn’t come in last! We joined the locals in answering a series of unrelated pop – quiz type questions and had lots of fun. We made some friends, became known as “the Canadians” and lost the “name 10 famous Canadians” part of the quiz – the Scots refused to believe some of the Canadians we names were actually Canadian! Oh well, it was lots of fun. We did win the funniest joke contest with this: “What does the ‘CH’ stand for in the middle of the Montreal Canadians ice hockey rink stand for? A: Center H-ice!” I think the crown was just being polite…
Today we visited the newly opened Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It was fantastic! The gallery / museum was complete sensory overload with the front gallery containing an elephant, giraffe, a Spitfire, a giant sea turtle, a spider crab, enormous chandeliers, sculptural art and armory. Needless to say every little kid in there was going nuts…
The concept of integrating an art gallery and museum together made for some unusual and innovative display schemes (ie: displays of knight’s armor beside taxidermy animals that inspired the design of the armor – like articulated knee plates beside an armadillo). They also grouped animals according to “most” categories (ie: most poisonous, tallest, smallest, fastest, etc…) They put these animals in historical settings, and beside artwork and sculpture that co-ordinated with them. Really neat. The art works included some famous masters, most notably Dali’s “Crucification”, as well as several Rembrandt’s, works from the Glasgow Boys, Cezanne, Monet, Chegal, Botticelli, Venetian glass work… It was complete sensory overload and lots of fun.
Tomorrow we’re on our way back to Fort William. The plan is to climb Ben Nevis, and take in the Highland games up there. We’ll be back in Glasgow in 3-4 days to fly out to Innsbruck!
We miss everyone and our doggies!
Noel & George
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