My Fabulous Orkney Tour

This past spring, looking ahead I was fairly certain that this was going to be my last summer in Scotland -- mine was never intended to be a permanent position, and the latest bit of funding was scheduled to run out at the end of the year. Usually I head back to the US for my holidays to visit family and friends, but I decided to do something different this year. Something like taking advantage of the fact that I'm living in Scotland! Something like trying to see more of this fabulous country, like maybe the Highlands! (I couldn't leave Scotland without seeing the Highlands!) Or, looking at the map, what about going to the very top of Scotland!!

A friend of mine (Hi GP!) had a great experience with Rabbies Tours, so I thought I'd see what they had to offer. I wavered back and forth between a couple of their 5-day tours, but finally I decided on the Orkney and the Far North tour.



I signed up for the tour, and although June was shaping up to be an incredibly busy month, I was so looking forward to the trip. Not that I knew anything about Orkney and I didn't have time to do any reading up. I just knew that it was up there at the top of Scotland, and I was going to get to places that I would probably never go to on my own.

The morning June 11 finally rolled around, and I made it down the the Royal Mile (only a wee bit late) where Rabbies buses load up. They do small 16-person buses, so the tours are more intimate than most others. There were only 14 on our tour, plus our tour guide, Karen. It was an interesting bunch: three couples from different places in Canada and the US, a couple from Poland on their honeymoon, two woman from Germany, and four woman traveling alone (including myself). Zeitha and Leslie were both from Australia, although both have ties to Scotland. Jane was from Toronto, but she grew up in Scotland. I would really enjoy getting to know these three ladies over the next five days.

I'm going to do a blog post for each day, because there is way, way, way too much to try to squish it all into one post. But here are a few of my favorite pictures below. The tour, by the way, was incredible and fabulous and amazing and really there aren't enough words! It's trite, but Scotland is so very beautiful! More to come...

Our mascot: A Highland Cow (not a cow wearing a viking helmet)

Flowers at the Falls of Dochart

Glencoe

Gorse on a hill

Me in my twee Scottish hat on the ferry to Orkney

Stroma

Broch of Gurness

Brough of Birsay

Skara Brae

Ring of Brodgar

In St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall

Flowers at Smoo Cave

Real Highland Cow

Along the northern coast of Scotland

Gorse in the Highlands

Just a picture I liked (near Carr Bridge)

In the woods near the Falls of Bruar

New Friends

Teaser: The Highlands

Teaser: Highland sea loch

Teaser: On the road in Orkney

Teaser: Welcome to Orkney

Just off the ferry in St. Margaret's Hope on South Ronaldsay in the Orkney archipelago:

Teaser: On the road

Teaser

I just got back from a great 5-day adventure up to Orkney. Along the way, I saw quite a bit of Scotland that I'd never seen before and it was FABULOUS!! I'm not going to have time to write actual posts about my trip until probably July, as the next couple weeks are insanely busy. But I really want to share, because it was FABULOUS!!!

So instead, I'm going to try to find time every couple days to post a teaser picture, with no commentary.

This was my view upon leaving Edinburgh :+). (Ok, maybe a little commentary.)

Race Report: Paisley 10k

Hey look, my blog is still here! Flips on the light and peers around. Alright, who wrote "clean me" in the dust on my monitor?

Seeing as I have another race tomorrow, I figured I'd better get moving and actually finish my race report from my last race, almost two months ago now.

Right. August 30th I ran my fourth 10k race in Paisley. It was also my best 10k race! I ran it in under 1 hour 17 minutes, beating my previously best time from a year ago in the Great Scottish Run by 39 seconds. Woot!

I had several goals for the race, and I'm happy to say I met most of them.

• Goal 1: I was not last! Ok, given that there were over 1000 runners, this wasn't likely, but you never know. As it turns out, 65 people were slower than me. Knocked that goal out of the park.
  
• Goal 2: Yep, I beat my times from the Great Edinburgh Run and the Great North 10k!
  
• Goal 3 (unstated): Set a PR -- Check! My best 10k time before this was 1.17 something in the Great Scottish Run in September last year. That also happened to be my first 10k, but that's neither here nor there.
  
• Goal 4 (unstated): Finish in under 1:15. Nope, didn't happen. This was a long shot, but it's a goal that is within reach. I think. Eventually.
  

The race itself was fun and well organized. Highlights of the race were running through St. Mirren Stadium and along the Paisley canal towpath. The only downside was this one pair of runner-walkers. As I was running the whole thing (woot!), we kept passing each other. Unfortunately, these two were conversing nearly the whole time and completely oblivious of others who might be around them. Just the two of them somehow managed to run/walk such that they often were taking up most of the path. And once, they even ran past me, immediately crossed right over in front of me, and then dropped to a walk, nearly causing me to plow into them. Argh!

However, aside from those two, it was a great race!

As to Paisley itself, well, it's basically a suburb of Glasgow. It wasn't always that way. At one time it was a textile powerhouse. They had several statues and monuments dedicated to various dead guys named Coats. By the way, if you sew, this is the same Coats associated with the thread company.

I got there late enough in the day on Saturday that I didn't get a chance to see anything of the town. But I did take some time on Sunday after the race to walk around and see some of Paisley. Here are a few pictures that I took.

Paisley Town Hall
Paisley Abbey
Public Torture Device on display at the Paisley Museum

My next race is tomorrow, the Jedburgh 10k. Given how I've been currently running, I don't think the under 1.15 time is in my legs just quite yet. But who knows, maybe the fall leaves will inspire me and I'll surprise myself!

St. David's Day 5k Race

Back in January, I was hunting around for a 5k race to run this spring, and there were none to be found in my neck of Scotland. But I really, really wanted to find a race to run in, so I started looking farther afield, and stumbled across the St. David’s Day 5k and 10k races in Cardiff, Wales. Hmmmm…Wales…I’d never been to Wales. I emailed my friend Xenia and she was all for the idea of a weekend in Cardiff, including the race. So last Friday, I was on my way to Wales!

It's a long train ride down to south-east Wales, 8+ hours if you go through London. They do have a more direct train route, but the London route was actually cheaper, even if it took a bit longer. The train from Edinburgh arrived in King's Cross Station, and it only took a short hop on the Underground to get to Paddington Station, where I would get the train to Cardiff. Finally, about 10:30pm I rolled into Cardiff -- I'd left Edinburgh at 2pm.

Paddington Station

On Saturday, Xenia and I saw some of the sights within driving distance of Cardiff. (Thanks for driving, Xenia!) More on those in another post. And, Sunday, it was race day!

It was terrific weather for a race, around 50 F, and Bute Park, where the race was being held, was a very pretty place to run.





Bute Park is right by Cardiff Castle.

According to Wikipedia, it was landscaped in the 18th century by Capability Brown. I wonder what he'd think of this pig in his park.



Oh yes, this is supposed to be a race report. My goals for the race were very low. Run the 5k (3.1 miles) in under 39 minutes and no walking. I'm happy to say that I did meet both of these goals! My watch time for the race was 37:12 (12 min/mile on the dot!), and the official clock time was 37:36. There was no chip timing, only a starting gun time to mark the start of the race. Since I'm slow, I positioned myself at the back of the starting pack, so it took a just a bit to get across the starting line. Either way, well under 39 minutes!

At times during the race, I was a bit demoralized by the kiddies who were beating me. And yes, I do mean kiddies. One boy was running with his mum, I'm guessing he was no more than 6 or maybe 7. And then there were the two girls that I'm guessing couldn't be older than 4 or 5 (ok, maybe the younger of the two got a couple piggyback rides, but still). These two were particularly annoying because at the start of the race, they were weaving back and forth in front of me along the path, making it impossible to pass them or anyone else. And then there was the chicken, or rather someone running in a chicken suit. I kept the chicken in my sights through most of the race, but was never quite able to catch up.

In spite of the fact that I'm slower than a 5 year old and a chicken, I was still really happy with myself at the end of the race. I'd picked a pace that I was pretty sure I could keep for the full 5k, and I did! And then, right after I crossed the finish line, something really cool happened. The woman who crossed the finish line right after me (I didn't even know she was there), came up to me and thanked me for my steady pace and not stopping to walk! I vaguely remember passing her in the first kilometer or so. Aparently after that, she just stuck to me, and used me to pace her through the race. It was a really good feeling, knowing that I was able to help someone. I wonder now if it was her first race.

After that, it was back to the B&B to grab a quick shower, while Xenia went on to run the 10k race as well. And after lunch, back to the train station to catch our train. It was another long train ride back to Edinburgh, but I at least got to see this fellow on the way.

Tropical Sunset

I have many goals of things I want to do between now and the end of the year. One of them is to write and post blog entries for my various trips this past year. I've put up a few, but I've yet to share pictures from Delft or Morocco or Australia. There may be one or two more I'm forgetting. And then there's the conference trip from this past week, where I got to watch the following sunset.








But, until I get my act together and get those posts put together, these pictures will have to tide us all over. Now close your eyes. Imagine a warm breeze blowing across your skin. Imagine the soft churning of waves on the beach. Sand under your feet. Maybe, just maybe, this image will help keep the cold weather away for a little while longer.

Random Travel News: Brisbane

Well, yesterday after almost 2 days of traveling, I finally made it to Brisbane.  Woo!  Travel was uneventful, at least once I got on the plane.  The fuel spill on the road between Edinburgh and Glasgow seemed to portend dire things, but other than an extra-long, scenic trip to the Glasgow airport, all was well.  I would recommend Emerates Airlines for long trips, with good food for economy class and plenty of leg room.  The only downside is their ridiculous 7 kg carry-on baggage limit -- just not realistic if you're going to be traveling for TWO DAYS. 

So can I now say that I've been to Dubai and Singapore since I've transited through their airports?  Probably not.  By the way, Singapore wins as far as nicest, most original airport decor.  It almost didn't feel like Any Other Airport for the whole hour that I got to enjoy it.

I am staying at a very cute B&B in the middle of Brisbane, the Eton Bed and Breakfast.  Unfortunately, it is in the middle of Brisbane and nearly surrounded by backpacker and youth hostels.  Actually, it hasn't been as bad as I expected, noise-wise, for which I am thankful.  It does, however, look out of place, this cute, historic house surrounded by Modern City.

After arriving yesterday morning, I did exactly what they say you should not do to get over jet lag, which is to sleep during the day for 6 hours.  That and getting dinner in the evening was pretty much my day.  So much for my grand plan to knock myself out on the plane with drugs and arrive bright-eyed and bushy tailed so that I could get some work done on Sunday.  The drugs, which I especially requested from the doctor, did not deliver the knock out as promised.  Argh.

So this morning I woke up earlier than planned and went for a run!  It's always fun to run in a new place.  Brisbane has some nice trails along the river, although it took me a while to actually figure out how to get down to one of them.  But in the end, I had a nice, scenic run starting with the William Jolly Bridge and then around the South Bank.  Way more hot than I'm used to though, and it's only spring!

After the run and breakfast, it was off to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.  Sorry, no pictures yet.  I won't be able to download them until I get home.  I will say though that, yes, koalas are pretty darn cute, and yes, I did get to pet one. His name was Mike. :)  I also got to see frisky kangaroos, lorikeets, cockateels, kookaburras, emus, a cassowary, bats, and sleeping wombats. 

And then I came back and took a late afternoon nap.  Sigh...

Tomorrow the conference starts, so no more major sight-seeing until Saturday.  But today, I got to pet a koala.  I think my trip to Australia is now complete.

A Weekend in Oxford

This past weekend, I finally ventured out of Scotland to other parts of the UK. I took the train down to Oxford to spend the weekend with friend and fellow member of Team CB, Xenia. On Saturday, we ran in the Oxford 5k Fun Run. If you follow the link, you'll notice the runners, presumably from last year, actually have bibs with numbers and it looks all official like. They lie. Rather than going into the details, I'll just point you to Xenia's race report (both very true and very funny). Based on my watch time (the only time I have for the race), I completed the 4.9k in 37:15. Which is actually pretty good for me, but I did end up walking for about 3-4 minutes of the race. Bummer.

Chri..err..Xenia and I spent the rest of the day walking around Oxford and enjoying the sun. Xenia is a terrific tour guide! I learned all about the weird collegiate setup that is Oxford, about pimms and punting (a very good way to look silly). It was a beautiful day to be out and about. And Oxford really is a neat place to wander around. Here are some pictures from my tour.

This first picture is of Wadham College (I think).

It turns out that the University of Oxford isn't
really a university as we typically think of a university. Imagine if someone picked up all the small liberal arts colleges in Ohio and plunked them down in the same city. Oxford is kind of like that. Each college is much, much more independent than a college in a US unversity. I also learned from Xenia that the castle-like, up-and-down, edging bits on the building are called crenellations.

Oxford was interesting because, like Edinburgh, the city and buildings resonate age. Here is a picture I took along Broad Street.

Although you can feel the age as you walk around, the weightiness of Oxford was very different. Buildings and sidewalks in Edinburgh are made up of all this dark, grey stone. The stone buildings in Oxford have a much warmer feel, probably because they are made of a lighter sandstone.

Enough about stone. This is a picture of one of the guys they have ringing the Sheldonian Theatre.

I think it looks like he's going to sneeze. Hopefully it won't happen during graduation, which is held here.

These next few pictures are of the Bodleian Library.


If you look closely at the second picture, you'll see they have Latin above the doorways. Apparently, you need to know Latin just to know your way around this particular library. I'm guessing you won't find any fun romances here.

And now we have the Bridge of Sighs. No wait, wrong bridge. That one's in Venice. This particular Bridge of Sighs is a replica. I can't help but wonder what message they were trying to send to their graduate students.


And here is me, in front of the Radcliffe Camera. "Camera" seems like a funny name for a library, until you realize they were just trying to be all pretentious with the Latin again ("camera" means "room" or "chamber" in Latin according to the Wiki page).



This next building is part of All Souls College, or more formally, The Warden and College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford. I can't help but wonder what the requirements are for getting into this particular college.


This next batch of pictures were all taken at Christ Church College, which is very pretty and not Latin. (Ok, there was Latin in the Chapel, but I didn't take any pictures there.)







For all you Harry Potter fans, this dining hall in Christ Church is the one they used to film the dining hall scenes for Harry Potter.





Ok, enough buildings. One of the very, very cool things about Oxford was the parks and greenspace. There are two rivers that run through town, where you can find ducks and geese, including Canadian Geese, which is a bit surprising. My best guess is that the geese in these pictures are Greylag Geese. Although this one looks like she's walking, she was actually posed that way for several minutes.

And look, goslings!! Awwwwww.



Ok, not geese, but also not animals that I was expecting to find in Oxford.


And since I love trees, as usually I must include a couple that I thought made for particularly interesting pictures.



And that concludes your tour of Oxford!