August 23 - Last Note from Scotland

Lyle and I are back home after our holiday in Scotland, but I did want to write one more post. We spent the last couple of days there in North Berwick (Scottish pronunciation is Berrick), a small town about a half hour train ride east of Edinburgh.

North Berwick was an interesting place. To me it seemed like a town trying to reinvent itself as a coastal resort town, although from what I read of its past history its main focus was boating and fishing. In the two world wars, it had a strategic geographic position looking out over the North Sea towards Europe. On the one hill there are remnants of this lookout position.

Our main reason for visiting North Berwick was the Museum of Flight, located just six kilometres north of the town. Lyle is always interested in aviation museums and he had discovered that this one housed a Concorde aircraft in its main hangar. We have visited numerous aviation museums over the years and generally they aren’t especially my cup of tea...this one was different.

In case you aren’t an avid aircraft enthusiast, let me give you a little more information. The Concorde was unique in its time – a sleek, jet powered passenger plane that broke the sound barrier to fly at twice the speed of sound. There were only fourteen aircraft that entered commercial operation. After a tragic accident in 2000 and a following economic downturn, operation of the Concorde ceased in 2003. Basically, the aircraft didn’t suit the economic downturn and environmental pressures of the time.

At the museum, we were able to thoroughly investigate the Concorde. We climbed the staircase to the main cabin and flight deck and wandered around every part of this absolutely huge sleek machine. I was impressed by its size. Although the Concorde was a feat of amazing aircraft engineering, I found that the passenger seats looked narrow and not especially comfortable. The toilet space was so small that a person would almost have to back in in order to close the door. After my post of a few weeks back, Lyle noticed that the flush mechanism for the toilet was initiated by a very large blue button on the side of the wall.

North Berwick was a good spot to round up our holiday in Scotland. I have added two pictures with this post. The first is of Lyle standing under the nose of the Concorde. He looks quite small in the picture but as I took this with our phone, I was quite pleased when he told me that I had framed it fairly well.

The second picture is of me standing by the long sandy beach in front of the town. Would you believe that there were even a few swimmers in the ocean. Lyle said that two of them were wearing wet suits, but I didn’t think that the chilly North Sea looked in any way an appealing place to take a dip. 

 

Lyle with the Concorde

Sue in front of beach at North Berwick

August 15 - The Edinburgh Tattoo

The Edinburgh military tattoo is both spectacular and popular. Each night of the August performances, there is a sold out crowd of over eight thousand people. We loved the evening and it was made even more enjoyable for be because of the Touch Tour before the performance.

The Touch Tour began with an explanation of what we could expect during the performance. We were also told how the stadium seating was arranged and how performers would enter and exit the arena. As well,were told about the sound system and coloured lighting that would under be used. I found this all very helpful.

Then came the treat of the evening. Two or three performers representing the different bands came out to meet us. We were invited to come forward for an explanation of their role in the show, and then to ask any questions we might have.

Lyle and I headed for the Australian representatives. They were in full costume and were holding their instruments, which we were invited to touch and hold. I was surprised at the weight of the bagpipes and the drum. I do not remember the names of the two young women but I do remember that they had named their black feathered headgear. One named her head dress Fern - as it really felt like a soft fern. The other had named hers Frizzie.

We spoke with Heather and Rod from the RCMP regiment. The Canadians didn't have their own band in the show but twenty-four of them were incorporated into the mass bagpipe and drum band.

We spoke with Amy and Emily, two of the Highland dancers. Amy explained the different parts of her tartan costume. Very informative. The girls had auditioned for the show back in February and they said the competition was fierce.

Another great part of the evening for me was the described audio. At the Touch Tour we were issued with head sets and receivers from which we would hear a description of the action in the arena. I really couldn't see much of the actual performance but the audible description certainly helped me to visualize it all.

The Edinburgh Tattoo is performed every August and is totally worth while. Our favourite band this year was the one from New Zealand. I liked their music and Lyle said their choreography was brilliant. The execution of the steps and formations was amazing. My next favourites were from France and Germany.

There are three photos with this post:

Sue with two Australian performers.

Sue with Heather and Rod of the RCMP.

Sue with Amy (green tartan) and Emily (blue tartan).

August 12 - Edinburgh - Timing is Everything

Timing is everything, and on our way from Inverness to Edinburgh our timing was a bit off. When we arrived at the Inverness station we discovered the trains were cancelled because of flooding on the tracks. There had been very heavy rain during the night. Two harried railway officials, who didn't appear to know much more than we did, directed us to stand outside and wait for buses which would take us to Edinburgh. From an initial group of about twenty-five, the waiting crowd swelled to three hundred in the next hour and a half. Finally one solitary bus pulled up. We were two of the fortunate ones as were able to secure the last two seats on the bus timing and our location on the sidewalk where the bus parked was everything.

I might add that the bus only took us as far as Perth and then we transferred to a train for the rest of the trip. When we finally arrived at Edinburgh we were greeted with torrential rain, and in spite of our raincoats we were soaked to the skin. It was not our day.

However, the next day, Thursday, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. This was great for us because it was our ticketed night to attend the Edinburgh Tattoo.

Now I mentioned that this was a Thursday. This is important because on two Thursdays in the month the Tattoo organizers offer a Touch Tour for people who are blind or visually impaired. I had registered for this.

Prior to the performance, a small group of us gathered near the drawbridge at the castle. It was great! To this point on our travels we hadn't seen a single white cane user. Suddenly there were about ten of us as we gathered together, plus one man from Carlisle with a guide dog. I met Toby and Natasha. Toby was from Australia. He was excited to learn that we were from Canada. He wanted to know if I skied. He loved to ski and the freedom of movement that skiing offered.

Natasha lived in Scotland. She and her guide were curious to know about the red marking on the bottom of my cane. I said I thought it was just for contrast. They told me that in Scotland, the red marking would indicate that I was also hearing impaired.

I will have more to say about the Touch Tour and the performance in my next post. For now, here is a picture of me standing in front of the castle with my new friends Toby and Natasha.

Toby, Sue and Natasha in front of a castle.

August 10 - Inverness, Scotland

We found Inverness to be a busy city. We shouldn't have been surprised because after all, the population is around 60,000 and growing rapidly. I didn't like walking here very much. The city core wasn't too bad but outside of this, the sidewalks were narrow and very uneven. Perhaps this is why I really enjoyed our river walk on our first day. The walking trails along the River Ness are excellent -  modern, wide, and smooth. According to Lyle's Fitbit, we put on just over ten kilometres along the river.

Of course we also did the typical tourist things. For instance, we took a city bus to the battlefields of Culloden. We liked this, but really, a person needs at least a moderate interest in Scottish history to make the most of what was presented.

I had my picture taken at the visitor centre. I am standing beside a Highlander dressed in traditional gear. He was very tall and even drew his sword for the photo op.

We also took a tour bus out to Loch Ness. It rained that day and the rain limited what I could see, but neither of us saw the Loch Ness monster! However, the commentary by the guides was very informative.

There are two pictures with this post. The first is me posing with the Highlander. The second is a partial view of Urquhart Castle on the shore of Loch Ness.

Sue with a Highlander

 

Sue in front of Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness

August 7 - Glasgow, Scotland

Lyle and I are in Scotland. Our first stop was the city of Glasgow. On Day 1, we took the hop on/hop off bus tour and it was a good way to acquaint ourselves with the layout of the city. We made two circuits with the bus and hopped off several times. Two of those stops were the Transportation Museum and the Art Gallery and Science Museum.

Now with my sight, I don't usually get much out of gazing at exhibits in either art galleries or museums, but I did enjoy both of these. At the Transportation Museum, there was an original tall ship docked on the river. We strolled along the deck and peered into the cramped interior. The mast was so tall I couldn't even see to the top. Sailing on one do these vessels must have been both exciting and terrifying. According to the ship logs, this particular ship had circumnavigated the globe three times.

At the Art Gallery and Science Museum, it was the building itself which impressed me. It was huge and magnificent both inside and out. I was delighted in the Museum section to come across a life-sized exhibit of an albatross. I remember how disappointed I was when we had visited the Dunedin Albatross Sanctuary in New Zealand. I had hoped to see an albatross there, but they were so distant I couldn't even see a white blur. Hence my excitement at seeing this closeup exhibit in Glasgow.

Possibly my favourite afternoon in Glasgow was walking along the banks of the River Clyde. There was a wide promenade that stretched for miles. Walking along the Clyde in Glasgow!  Who would have believed it!

Lyle and I have been very fortunate with our travel experiences. Tomorrow we will travel onward by train to Inverness.

August 5 - Toilets

Lyle and I have been travelling again, and over the past few days I have lost count of the different flushing mechanisms of the various toilets I have used. This is not an easy thing for someone with limited vision.

The toilet in our hotel room has a lever mounted horizontally on the wall behind the toilet unlike other levers, which protrude at a right angle from the wall. Some toilets have buttons against the wall above the tank.  Others have flush mechanisms on the tank itself either buttons or levers. My biggest surprise was a foot pedal, which I discovered quite by accident.

There are also sensory flushing mechanisms. Sometimes the toilet will flush while the person is sitting, sometimes standing, sometimes by opening the cubicle door, and maybe sometimes there is a delayed action where you might even make it to the sink to wash your hands before the whoosh of the flush is heard.

The trickiest motion sensory flush I came across on this trip was on our flight over the Atlantic. It must been hard to hide the motion sensor on the Boeing 787 aircraft, but the engineers managed it. Apparently there was a teeny black dot on the back ledge behind the toilet. Again, I found this quite by accident as I ran my knuckles along the ledge.

Oh the joys of toilets and travel!  Over time I have managed to flood the entire women's washroom at LAX Airport, locked myself into a cubicle in Mexico, and have wandered into the Men's in Alberta.  Different toilet flushing mechanisms can be tricky for anyone, but for a person with limited vision or no sight, they can be a real challenge.