Fiddle Camp... from MY side :)

Hey loyal followers! :)

I officially started this post on the third day of camp, but internet ran out and I didn't have time to finish it. SO: Here is a post from then, and another part (which I'll write in a bit) from the end of the trip. : )

***Well, we're here at camp in Solingen, Germany. It's the end of day three, and I've learned (officially) ~18 tunes...... in a total of 12 1/2 hours (ish), including reviewing old tunes. UUUUUUUUUUUmmmmmmmmmmmmm that's a lot............ :) but I LOVE them.... mostly : ) the Shetland tunes that Kevin teaches (even tho he's like the coolest Scot I know) are a little strange. After all, Shetland is kinda secluded..... so I guess that explains a little of it : ) The tunes that Kirstine (a Dane) teaches us a cool; the tunes that Harald (the camp leader) teaches are awesome (and hard); and the tunes from Hanneke are GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the tunes that Kevin taught us, called Christchurch Cathedral, is gorgeous, and I heard a beautiful harmony line in my head for it... so saying, in class that day I decided to play it just because, and Kevin LOVED it and wants me to teach it to the class tomorrow (btw, with hindsight, I did and everyone else loved it too :D). SO COOL!!!!!! I also did a masterclass today with Harald, playing a Danish jig called Trekant Fra Hardyssel II (a typical Danish name meaning a jig). I learned some really cool tricks - it was awesome. Then, we had a magic show (which I was a volunteer in) tonight. That's all for today!***

THIS part of the post will all be hindsight, cuz we're home : )

So here's the rest of the week: Wednesday (and Thursday and Friday) -- learned some more tunes (totaling more than 20 tunes learned now). I taught my harmony part to my class (the Super Advanced class or as we were more "lovingly" called, the Champion's League) and reviewed tunes. Wednesday night we went to the Teacher's Concert (SO GOOD!!) and then Thursday nacht was the open stage concert (btw, we learned some German too) Caiti, Chris and I played some Celtic Fusion and Bluegrass fiddle, then all of us played a tune that Mum and I wrote for Harald and his wife Helene, called Solskin og Latter (meaning Sunshine and Laughter in Danish). Friday, we reviewed tunes, rehearsed for the concert, and had the concert (in which I got to lead a tune, as the only non-teacher in the entire concert to do so - how cool is that??). Then we jammed and hung out until almost 2am (which I did almost every night - so fun). Saturday we packed up and left (which was sad) and drove to Haarlem, where (unfortunately) the Corrie Ten Boom house INSIDE was closed, so we saw the outside. We also got AMAZING Belgium waffles with "eis" (ice cream in German). Sunday we ate breakie in the castle and flew home!

So there you go! After a mindblowingly INCREDIBLE trip to the UK and Europe, WE'RE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Meghan

This is it...

Well ladies and gents, tonight I am writing you from a castle. Nothing big. just a castle. WITH A MOAT. Just thought I would get that off of my chest...

Anyway, Yesterday we had our concert which was a blast. Everyone played very well and the audience loved all of our fiddle tunes. After the concert, we all went back to the hostel where we had dinner and some jamming time until like one AM. I was extra-happy because I got to play a contra-bass for a while... until I got a blister on my plucking finger that is...

In the morning, we were woken up by a kids football club that was being annoying loud at ungodly hours of the morning. After breakfast, we said our goodbyes, packed, said more goodbyes and then were off to HOlland for our last night in Europe. We Went through the city of Haarlem and saw Corrie Ten Boom's house... Haarlem was a really cool little city. Much better than Amsterdam. Then we went to the hostel which is a 13th century castle that was rebuilt in 1546. It is awesome.

Well, that's it for Europe. I will talk to you all again stateside!

Chris

Thursday

Howdy!

Well today I was sore. Besides that... Meghan got to teach part f Kevin's class and we had our last class with Kirstene :( and then Harald taught me some chords in his class. After lunch, we had the afternoon off so me and my family and 2 friends went to Cologne to see the cathedral. It was ENORMOUS and beautiful. The bones of the three magi are also kept there in a shrine... After that we went out for ice cream and has spaghettti shaped ice cream that was quite good :).

Tonight we had the open stage show. In the show, there were some pretty cool acts and my family did a couple of fun ones and a sing we wrote for harald and his wife.

No time for random thoughts today...


Probably wont have internet 2morrow but I should on Saturday night. See you all soon!

Chris

Tuesday/Wednesday

I forgot how to say hi in Swiss....

Anyway... After dinner yesterday (which by the way, the Germans tend to have big lunches and little dinners which I can't get used to...) we had a "surprise" magic show. For being done by a German, it was quite good. He did some excellent tricks i can only wish that I knew how to do. Then, because i wasn't feeling to good, I went to bed. Today, I felt better (praise the Lord) and during announcements, I was surprised with having Happy Birthday sung to me in 3 different languages and I was given some sweets and this shirt:

It comes from a local candy company called Haribo that makes some really good candy :)

Then we had classes in the morning, a class this afternoon, my parents provided cake and ice cream at tea and then we went out to play the Danish version of baseball in the rain. I ended up being the big home run hitter :). Now I am drying off before the instructors concert tonight. I can't believe it, but we're only in Europe for 3.5 more days!

Random thoughts:

I am feeling better...

I can't wait to have no driving restrictions back in the states...

Kevin Henderson is pretty awesome. Not only does he have the best accent in all of creation, but he also is very much a freestyle fiddler that doesn't care how his tunes are played and he's pretty good at Rundbold (Danish baseball)

The building where we are all staying is an old scissor factory...

I'm convinced that one of the guys here is a direct descendant of both William Wallace and Tarzan...

I really wish I knew how to speak German...

I think I pulled a muscle in my upper thigh...

Cody, I was thinking about you and your football games while I was out playing in the rain...

I fall asleep to Taylor Swift music almost every night...

I need people for my fantasy football league (email me if you are interested...)

One of the Swiss gals here is from the village where Swiss Army Knives are made and was the teacher for the owner's daughter...

I'm ready to hear some good pop/country music again...

I'm still singing Wicked songs like all the time...

Sometimes, it is hard for me to not start speaking Spanish...

And that's about it for today!!

Chris

Tuesday/Monday night

Hey all!

So last night, we had a dance. We did some Danish dances, a few Scottish/American dances, a crazy Swiss dance, and few others. It was quite fun :)

Today, after breakie, we had class with Hanneke (the American teacher) and she taught us 2 tunes in an hour. After that, I had a headache and slept the rest of te morning until lunch. Then it was off to class with Harald (where we learned another 2 tunes) but they weren't too bad. Then we had coffee/tea break before afternoon activities. While the girls did a master class with Harald, I went to hear Kevin (the Shetland fiddler) talk about "trows" which are the Shetland version of trolls. It was pretty unique :)

Tonight we have a surprise waiting for us followed by a jam so we'll see how that goes...

Random notes:

As big as football is in the states, no-one else cares...

REAL football on the other hand...

There are many more different kinds of bagpipes than I thought including French and Swedish versions...

The Fins spend a ton of their off-road car racing...

Danish cheese isn't too great...

Swiss people are pretty wacky...

Apparently I have a better English accent than an Englishman...

I am about to be an adult (at 6 oclock on the East Coast...)

Please pray as I am not feeling 100%...

I am drinking more coffee than i ever have...

Maybe the two are connected...

Adios!

Chris

pictures :)

here are some long-awaited pics

Getting off in Scotland...

Random pretty flowers...

Random interesting archway...

Chris...

The Highlands...


Eillein Donan Castle... (like the coolest ruin in all of Scotland)


Scone Palace


Self explained...


Part of Edinburgh castle


Hadrian's Wall

The Roman Baths at Bath

Sunset over our ferry to Amsterdam

Big Ben


Amsterdam


Anne Frank's house

Chris being a goof on a bouncy animal thing


~mj

Let the music begin!

Hey everybody!

So we started out the week with church at the Arche (sovgrace) Church in Hamburg. It was especially cool because we were asked to play with a worship song and do some special music as a family. Despite the fact that most of the people spoke very patchy English, they were all very grateful that we could be there. Then our friend Frank and one of the youth of the church, Matthias, gave us a tour of the church. It's pretty big. Almost as big as Covenant Life actually... Anyway, the youth group room was awesome. I want one. It had like 20 couches and armchairs, a bar with sodas and cocktails (legal drinking age here is 16...), a stage for worship, a pool table, "kicker" table (fooseball), lots of games, so yeah. It was cool. Anyway... after having a little bite at the Church's cafe, we said our goodbyes and drove off. Right before dinner, we arrived at Solingen for Harald Haagard's International Fiddle School. Then we joined people from England, Japan, America, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, the Shetland Islands, and a lot of Germans for a good meal, some dancing, and some jamming.

Today, we got up, had a traditional German breakfast of rolls, cheese, sliced bread, various meats, and a wee bit of cereal, then we were off to fiddle classes. We have 4 fiddle teachers: 2 Danes, a Shetland fiddler, and a zany American that teaches modern, Scottish, and Cape Breton fiddle. And we were taught by all of them today (so just about 6-7 tunes have gone into my ears and back out my fingers). After frying our brains we had afternoon activities of which I chose to do Danish dancing for the "ball" tonight. I have some new dances to teach when i get home nnow :) The funniest thing for me is that the Danes also do the Virginia Reel just uder a different name... Kinda funny :). Anyway... right now we're in a little bit of down-time before dinner and the "ball" tonight.

Random thoughts:

I am the only male between the ages of 14 and 20... There are like 10 girls in that range... and they all speak German with only a little bit of English...

Harald wears pointy shoes and skinny jeans...

Kevin Henderson, the teacher from Shetland, has the coolest brogue of all time (the Shetland Islands are just north of Scotland)...

I am one of two cellists and play the only electric cello most of these people have ever seen...

Danish fiddle tunes were never intended to be played on the cello because they love to play them very high up in the register...

I wish i spoke German...

I miss home...

I REALLY want to play my acoustic cello again...

I am not ready for the fair in any dimesnsion and it starts 4 days after i get back...

I love Europe...

I should stop rambling...

Chow!

Chris

P.S. the fam says hi!

The two seas...

Hallo!

These past two days have been more relaxing kind of days. Yesterday, we slept in a bit, had a nice German breakfast then got some practice and rest tie before heading out to the Baltic sea and the town of Lubec. The boardwalk area there reminded me so much of the fair! There were food stands, rides, and lots of people. Then we came home for some Turkish food prepared by our friend, Bilge. Today, we got up and headed off to the North Sea where, because of the low tide, we were able to walk very far out to the sea in this very soothing mud/sand. There were lots of shells and a few jellyfish and lots of people windsurfing. It was cool to watch. Then we went to a typical little North German seaside village for a lunch of schnitzel (very good). After walking around a bit, we came home, ate dinner, then practiced for church tomorrow. After church, we will be off to fiddle camp! Don't know what internet will be like there...

Random culture note: WARNING: The swimwear of choice for men, young or old, skinny or not, is the speedo. Just a tip for the tourists...

Meghan says hi as do the rest of the family! One more week!


Chris

Germany!!!

Gutentag!

So after getting off of the ferry yesterday morning, and headed to the train to Amsterdam. Then, we got our rental car which God provided very nicely. Then, while they were cleaning the car, we walked around the city a bit... It's a pretty city but there is so much sin running rampant. Amsterdam is known for its legal drug and prostitution cultures. Anyway, we headed on out to Hamburg (a 5 hour drive). Then, we met our friends for a homecooked meal and some time catching up before heading to bed. This morning, we spent the day in Hamburg, visiting any of the sights. One of the highlights for me was seeing the church of St. Michel where Brahmes was baptised, C.P.E. Bach was buried and music director, as well as Telemann. Then we climbed up to the top of the church steeple (24 stories) and got a full view of the whole city. Then, we spent a good deal of time in the harbour area before coming home to a good German dinner cooked by our friend Norma. We also had a really good Bratwurst at lunch...

btw, there is a Starbucks at like every corner for all of you coffee junkies....


See you in not too long!

Chris

Todayness

We're in Hamburg, Germany! Yesterday, we landed in our ferry and rode trains and drove from Amsterdam here to Hamburg, getting there pretty late. Today, we toured Hamburg with our good friends the Hucks and the Illeries. We saw a LOT of cool stuff, and climbed 487 stairs (up and down, 6 inch stairs) equaling 24 stories into a tower in St. Michael's cathedral. THAT was fun :) then we ate German bratwursts and came home and ate Norma's amazing food for dinner :) now it's off to bed :)

more later!

~meghan

Today :)

So, right now, I'm on a ship getting ready to cast off for the Netherlands. : ) But let me back up.

This morning, we ate breakie and then packed all of our luggage into the luggage room of the hostel. Then, we went to a guided tour of the west side of London, and learned all sorts of cool things about the city - like, Big Ben is just the name of the bell in St. Stephen's Clock Tower :) Afterwards we ate at a pub and then came back to the hostel to get our stuff. Then we separated and Chris and Dad took a cab while Mum, Caiti and I took the Tube to get to Liverpool Street Station, where we took a train to our ship, part of Sten Line (a Dutch shipline). Now we're on the ship (we ate dinner at the onboard restaurant) and I'm going to bed (it's after midnight here).

G'night!

~Meghan

London

Hey Everybody!

Well today we got to sleep in. Oh the joy. And we didnt have to put sheets on the beds because they were already there. Extra plus. Then it was breakie before packing all of our luggage into a small baggage room and heading off into the city. After a quick stop at Harrods (biggest department store in the world if I remember right...) then we were off to a walking tour. On the tour (led by the very demonstrative and humourous Nathan) we saw the Wellington arch, Buckingham palace, St. James Palace, Several royal parks, the Princes house, St. Stevens Clock tour (with the ball called Big Ben), the houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Horsegaurd house, the citadel (a vine covered building that houses the security departments of the government), the Prime ministers house, Trafalgar Square as well as other things. Then, we went to a pub with the tour group for lunch before heading back to the hostel to get all of our luggage and get on a train to the coast. Then we boarded our ferry (more like a cruise ship) and we will be pulling out in not too long for our trip accross the North Sea to the Netherlands. Then we´ll be off to Hamburg for a few days with our good friends there.

Miss you all!

Chris

Cardiff/Bath/London

So Yesterday we drove pretty much all day. About 6ish hours. But, we did stop at the 2nd oldest abbey in the UK, built by William the Conqueror's brother. Eventually, we made it to Cardiff, Wales. In my opinion, Cardiff is basically Baltimore, just on the other side of the pond. And a little bit older too... Anyway, the next morning, we had breakie provided at the Hostel and then we were off to church at Christchurch, the SovGrace church in Wales. Pete Greisely preached an excellent sermon, there were 4 baptisms, and a BBQ afterwards. Another cool thing about it was that the youth group from the Arch Church in Germany was there and we'll be going to their church next Sunday. Then we were off to the city of Bath - of Jane Austen fame. There, we saw the Roman Baths which are the best preserved in the Roman world.

Today can only be described as WICKED

Reason #1: Rushing from Bath to London to get the car turned in on time.

Reason #2: Getting lost on the Tube (London's Metro system)

Reason #3: Hauling a 50Lbs. suitcase does a number on your arm

Reason #4: I'm in London period which is wicked awesome

Reason #5: I just saw the show by the same name. IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!

Enough said. Let me just say it was the highlight of my day. Maybe my life. Naw, Just kidding. but it was awesome. My new fav. Musical.

Well, 2morrow we're going to be touring London before getting on a ferry that will take us to Amsterdam and then driving to Germany to visit our friends there. So I have no idea what internet will be like over there but i'll do my best to keep you posted.

See you all in a few weeks!

Chris

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

yes sir. we went to see WICKED in London at the Apollo Victoria theatre. it. was. unbelievably, incredibly, stunningly-beyond-amazing. : ) we'll have to post more pictures later. oh, and I forgot to mention - we were chatting with some of the cast afterwards - no big deal ; ) sorry y'all missed it : )

no, just kidding - well not really. we did see WICKED, we did meet some of the cast, but it kind of was a big deal : )

thanks for letting us keep you in suspense : )

~meghan

hey y'all! it's meg :)

so yesterday was a very fun day :) we woke up early in the hostel and ate a great continental breakie, then went to church at the Newport, Wales church called Christcurch, which had a BBQ lunch afterwards. we saw several of our friends for the Arch church in Hamburg, who were visiting Christchurch! it was fun :)

then, we drove to Bath, where we stayed in a Jane Austin-style house and toured the ancient Roman Baths.

today, we drove to London, and rode the tube to our hostel (a long and confusing process), and ate BBQ pizzas to calm ourselves :) now, we're getting ready for our suspenseful thing tonight. wonder what it is? well, I'll tell you........ tomorrow :)

that's all for now!

~meghan

Cardiff/Bath

Will post details 2morrow. Comp trouble.

The past 3 days...

Hallo!

Sorry I couldnt post last night but there wasnt any internet at the ROMAN FORT we were STAYing in. Anyway... after leaving pithlochry, we drove south to Scone palace, the crowning place of many scottish kings. Uhm, it was huge. And people still live there which I find hard to believe. Then we drove on to the wonderfully loud town of Edinburgh where i was rudely awoken at 3 am by a drunken partier singing in the street. The next day we went to Edinburgh castle which is truly the biggest castle i have ever seen. Its up on a cliff, there is only one angle that it can be attacked from and it covers like the entire cliff. I never really realised it but the Scots were all about war. thats like all they did. Anyway, after that we strolled down to royal mile to Hollyrude palace before leaving the citz. Then we drove to Eyemouth village cuz i play a fiddle tune from there. it was really cool to see small town scotland. then we finished driving to Hadrians wall where we stayed in a farmhouse built on top of the ruins of an old roman fort with other ruins surrounding it. Then we drove all daz to get here in Wales were we met up with Lauren Crosby of all people. 2morrow were going to church, a visitor picnic, then off to Bath England.

TTYL!

Chris

It's Meghan!

hey all!

so, since I haven't posted in several days, I'll just do it this way:

JULY 22ND:

"I know what I have seen, but I know not how to say it. As we drove through Birnam Wood, methought... that the woods were still!" We drove through Birnam Wood today on our way to Edinburgh. We have now been (in total) to: Macduff, Inverness, Birnam Wood, Scone, and Cawdor (all places from Macbeth) : ) SO MUCH FUN!!! |So thanks to all at once, and to each one, who we invite to see us crowned at Scone." (I quoted the whole last scene that day) (sorry that this will be short, I have limited internet time)

JULY 23RD:

We toured Edinburgh Castle (go online and look it up - AMAZING!!!) and then drove to Hadrian's Wall in England, where we stayed in a hostel in the ruins of a ROMAN FORT!!!!!!!!!!!! There were sheep pastures all around, and the wall was so cool!!!!!! : )

JULY 24TH (today):

We drove a LOT, from Hadrian's Wall in the north part of England down to Cardiff, Wales (yeah, long drive). We're going to church at the Cardiff church in the morning.

I'll post more details on our trip when I have free internet, but I paid a pound for this 15 minutes and am just about out of time :)


More later!

Meghan

UIg (Skye) and Pitlochry (Mainland)

Hey all!

Yesterday we were on the isle of Skye which is BEAUTIFUl. It was unique because there were mountains but they were really rounded and almost completely bare. They basically looked like big piles of rock with moss growing on them. That was the majority of what we saw for the poast two days as we did a lot of driving. The hostel in Uig was up oin a hill and was very small. Today, we took a ferry from Skye over to the mainland and drove through the gorgeous highlands (my fav. mountains now) to get to the little town that we're in now (Pitlochry - coolest town name ever). We drove past a HUGE castle today. Oh yeah. Yesterday we drove down Loch Ness for a long time. It is really cool. Sadly, we didn't see Nessie :(. I really do believe in her so dont make fun of me.

2morrow we#re off to the Palace of Scone where Scottish kings were crowned then it's off toi edinburgh to see the huge castle there and the crown jewels of scotland. Then we're going to leave scotland for England where we'll be staying our first night INSIDE Hadrians wall (google it).

And we also took care of some business yesterday that you all will here about after our London trip... oh the suspense :)

Ta Ta!

Chris

also...

can everyone who wants a postcard from overseas comment on this post with their address? or maybe email chris or I?

thanks!

meg

Finally able to post!

Hey All! Sorry I haven’t posted yet. We’ve had some trouble getting internet access. Anyway… we got picked up from by the shuttle @ 2:30 on Friday and were off to the airport. After a half hour delay, we boarded our 7 hour flight to Amsterdam. On the flight, I watched How to Train Your Dragon (excellent movie btw, I’d call it Dream Works’ best) and Sherlock Holmes (which turned out to be basically a glorified, mostly clean Psych episode placed in Victorian England). And I got a wee bit of sleep but what does that matter…
Then we arrived in Amsterdam to catch a flight to Aberdeen Scotland. We arrived after spending an hour and a half plane ride amongst a bunch of German soccer girls though our luggage did not. So we asked for the luggage to get delivered to our hostel, left for the hostel, arrived at the hostel, and slept for 2 hours. Then it was off to downtown Aberdeen to see the sights and buy tickets for Alisdair Fraser and Natalie Haas in concert as part of the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention. Then we slept.

So Sunday we slept in till 11, got breakfast/lunch and then went off to NAFCo workshops. Oh yeah, we also shopped at a Wall-Mart Supercenter. Which reminds me… there are many American things around here. There are at least 4 starbucks, 2 McDonalds, a Burger King, 2 pizza huts, and a KFC all within walking distance. Anyway… We all went to workshops where we learned fiddle tunes today. We also got to talk to some of our fiddling friends that we know from camps and such. Then we went out to eat and got some AMAZING fish and chips before touring a bit more (including visiting Kings College, the most beautiful college I’ve ever seen). Then we went to McDonalds and got the Scottish version of a McFlurry (it has ground up ice cream cone in it), went to a jam session, and then came back to the hostel to find that we are now sharing a floor and bathrooms with a young girls soccer club. Which = noise. Which = little sleep. Oh well. Pix and such are forth-coming.
Tootles!
Chris



‘Allo there!
This is Meghan. Well, we made it… finally  I’m sitting on Chris’ bed in our Aberdeen hostel. Can I just say that Scotland is… BEAUTIFUL??? Um, yes.  So, I’m not going to outline the itinerary of the past few days, seeing as Chris already did as much, but I’ll tell you some details about it. First, the flight: I watch How to Train Your Dragon (thanks for the suggestion, Robert) and part of Leap Year (we landed before I had watched it all) – good movies. I’ve been seeing several Macbeth things, too: an author’s last name being Ross; Ross technology; Ross this, Ross that; Glamis, Cawdor, and Scone castle pamphlets; etc. When we landed, we got to walk out on a flight of stairs onto the runway and into the airport like that – really cool. Then, (skipping the part about us walking close to 3 ½ miles yesterday all around Aberdeen… with me in heeled sandals because the airline lost our suitcases), we went to a concert with Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas – fun times. Today, (after sleeping in until 11am), Caiti and I went to a Cape Breton Tunes workshop with the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention and learned a strathspey and a reel. When that was over we went to the Final Fling, with Alasdair and Natalie, Nic Gareiss, and Bruce Molsky (FUNNESS!!!). After an AMAZING dinner of fish and chips, we went and jammed at the Lemon Tree (a Scottish pub), where I led several tunes (including Amazing Grace… in a pub).

Tomorrow [this was written Sunday night], we plan on going to several of Macbeth places (missing you all!), such as Macduff, Scotland (oh, and thanks a lot [not] for not saying goodbye, David – ahem ahem) and Cawdor. Can’t wait!

Yesterday’s quote: “She’s like a rat in a bag – she can’t get out to save her life!” – a NAFCo person 

TODAY: It’s Monday, and we’ve gone a bit of a ways from Aberdeen. After breakie, we left Aberdeen and drove to Macduff, Scotland (where I blew a kiss to no-one in particular… ahem ahem); then to Cawdor Castle (BEAUTIFUL place – and my brother being thane, and all ); and lastly to Inverness, where we had a delicious tea [dinner] and a great walk about the town.

Quotes: “My hair won’t corporate… er, co-ooperate… co-aperate… oh I don’t know.” –Caiti.

“What does BP stand for?” “British Petroleum.” “Oh, I thought it stood for British Parliament!” – us kids 

Missing you all but having a jolly good time,

meg

Inverness

Hey all!

so the first couple days will be coming up shortly but here's today. We left Aberdeen later than we had hoped but I got to go to a music shop and play guitars for a while. Then we drove to the town of MacDuff (for all of you Shakespeare people) then we drove to an old town called Elgin were we saw thge ruins of a 13th century cathedral. Then we went to A REAL CASTLE!!! Cawdor castle (another one for you shakespeare peeps) was awesome. It was a later castle so it was a big of a fortification but it was still really cool. THen we drove to the Culloden battlefield and I got to see one of the major battlefields of scottish history. Then off to Inverness where we got dinner, did a wee bit of shopping, and decided that I liked Aberdeen better.

Ok so the other wierd thing about being this far north is that the sun is up for a long time. Like there was still light outside at 11 o'clock. So that's cool. And tomorrow we're off to the Isle of Skye which is supposed to be absolutley beautiful so I am looking forward to that. PIctures will be forethcoming once I don't have a 20 minute time limit.

TTFN! ta-ta-for-now!

Chris

P.S. please forgive my numerous spelling errors as I have to speed type to fit all of it in.

Aberdeen - having trouble posting. More tomorrow.

We're in Scotland!

Europe Trip!

Hey ya'll! The blog is now converted to a Europe trip diary-ish thingy. I'll be getting on everyday if possible and posting what we did as well as pictures.

I hope you all enjoy it! We leave on July 16th at 6:30, fly to Amsterdam and then to Aberdeen, Scotland where we'll begin our trip. We return at some time on August 8th. I'll hopefully be posting our full trip itinerary sometime in the near future.

Chris