Apologies to my avid readers (all four of you) for the delay since the last update - the mayhem and wonder of our recent travels has not allowed for leisurely internet time. Now that we have arrived in Valencia, a beautiful city which runs at a much slower pace than our previous encounters, I have hunted out a laundromat with an attached internet cafe - one of the benefits of holidaying in a university town. I am sure we will experience some wonderful history, sights and cuisine while we are in Valencia, but first, I will pick up where I last left off, with a few tales from Ballater, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Dave´s aunt Anne and her husband Jimmy Armstrong retired to the small country village of Ballater some four years ago. They live, together with their son Cameron, and cat Sydney, in a lovely spacious home which backs onto the village golf course. The previous use of the home as a bed and breakfast means that they can cater for many guests at the one time with each guest treated to a bedroom with golfcourse views and an ensuite - it was a very comfortable stay to say the least! On our arrival, we enjoyed a cheery few drinks with the Armstrongs and a delicious dose of north Scotland sunshine. Bill and Jean joined us for a delightful family dinner which was followed by an obligatory visit to one of the two Ballater pubs. Against my better judgment, I partook in a "turbo" shandy with Cam and Dave which is somewhat of a tradition for the cousins on the few occastions they catch up in the United Kingdom. I don´t expect Australian liquor licensing laws would allow these to be served!
Ballater is a quintessential country Scotland village with a small main street, lots of lush green spaces, old stone buildings and a exceptionally friendly atmosphere. Though with the Queen´s Balmoral estate in the neighbouring village, there are quite a few luxuries available for the locals as well. The butcher caters for the Queen when she is residing at Balmoral and consequently offers an extensive range of designer meats. The deli and bakery offerings were quite impressive too. I managed to sniff out the sole vintage shop in the village and picked up a gorgeous Beswick salt, pepper and mustard pot set which is just too cute for words! Anne tells me that Duchess Camilla recently dropped into that store on one of her recent visits to Ballater. Despite the prevalence of the Queen´s regiment around the streets during our visit, I am sorry to say Mum that I do not have any royal sightings to report. We did however, take a drive (in Jimmy´s brand new Jaguar if you don´t mind) to the surrounding villages to observe Crathie Church, Balmoral Castle and Prince Charles´ summer hideaway near South Deeside.
Unbenown to us, our vist to Ballater was exceptionally well timed as it coincided with the highland games on the Thursday. These traditional games are held at the local football fields and offer locals and visitors (from all over the globe) an entertaining day of highland dancing, pipe bands, track and field events, market stalls and LOTS of good cheer! I was most taken with the tossing of the caber which basically involved some very robust men throwing a power pole equivalent with the winner being determined by furherest distance and proximity to a 12 o´clock position. The tug of war between Scottish solidiers wasn´t bad viewing either :)
Cam, Dave and I were joined at the games by Cam´s friend Fraser (who Jimmy describes as being able to cause mayhem in an empty room) for the afternoon and evening frivolities. Needless to say, the evening turned out to be quite festive indeed! The pubs were heaving with highland games spectators and participants and throughout the night we were treated to several impromptu pipe band demonstrations in the main street. The wonderfully long nights during summer allowed us to enjoy light until almost 10pm, at which point, I pulled up stumps and allowed the boys to continue their mischief for a few more hours. The highlight of Dave´s evening was a ceilah, an Scottish dancing tradition, held in a local hall. I was sorry to have missed this tradition but was able to experience it, albeit in the virtual sense, the next day through Dave´s iPhone.
We farewelled the Burgh of Ballater on Friday (taking our sore heads with us) and safely navigated our way into central Edinburgh. Fortunately, the traffic was nowhere near as chaotic as that of London so we were easily able to find our very centrally located bed and breakfast down a cobbled street off the Royal Mile. After depositing the hire car (I was quite pleased to be hanging up my motorway navigating hat!) we stumbled upon a great cafe, Treacle, in the Leith area, and enjoyed a well-earned beer and some modern Scottish cafe fare. Bracing ourselves for the festival crowds we embarked on a walk down the Royal Mile which was abuzz with atmosphere and hoards of drama students touting their upcoming shows and street performers. I had been reliably informed to book a few shows in advance which proved to be a very good decision when we viewed the box office line ups! Instead, we shot straight to the pre booked tickets area, swiped our credit card and collected our tickets in a matter of minutes. It was at that point that we realised the Fringe Festival is on another level of festival coordination. To describe it as a well-oiled machine would not be giving the organisers enough credit!
The festival venues themselves, all 300 plus of them, are situated mainly in the Old Town with a smattering of venues in the more modern New Town and inner city suburbs such as Leith. We attended four stage shows and one jazz performance and really only scratched the surface - I think you would need at least a week, if not two, to completely immerse yourself in all the amazing cultural offerings of the festival.
With my washing about to finish, I will sign off here and leave the tales of our Edinburgh experience for another day.
xxx
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