The Folly

And so we decided to drive up to the tower, in retrospect everything in Oban seems further than it is and we probably could have walked but then my foot is still dodgy (more on that another time), I wish I took photos of the tiny roads, but I was in charge of navigation, and that was a full time job! But we made it up to the top of Battery Hill to see McCaig's Tower and the stucture itself was really cool though McCaig did have quite lofty intentions of a museum and gallery to be included, when he died the shell was all that had been built, thus leaving this impressive folly. Thought it was now starting to be the evening, the sun was still shining and lit up the bay beautifully so we could see all the was over the Isle of Mull and beyond.

And so to finish off the night I surprisingly found a vegan resartaunt in the seafood capital that is Oban, and Dixon agreed to go to it with me. So we had amazing Japanese food from Itadakizen, which was delicious!

Burns Night

It was Burns Night on Saturday the 25th and I really wanted to get into the spirit of the thing A. because Dixon and I usually go round to Gail and Gordon's often but haven't lately, so it was really nice to have them and Hayley round to ours, and B. I really like Veggie Haggis. So after seeing Haggis and Burns Night things everywhere I convinced Dixon we should have the meal at ours. I made Veggie Haggis Stuffed Peppers and and Honey Glazed Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips, for Gail, Gordon, Hayley and I, and Dixon had real Haggis Pizza, which Gail and Gordon had a sampling of too! And for dessert, Cranachan! A traditional Scottish dessert made from double cream, toasted oats, raspberries, honey and whiskey. It was awesome!

Gail also read a part of one of Dixon's Nana's favorite poems by Robert Burns, To a Mouse,

Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,

O, what a panic's in thy breastie!

Thou ne na start awa sae hasty not,

Wi' bickering brattle!

I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,

Wi' murdering pattle!

And today Hayley and I are going to the Sharmanka exhibit, it is going to be brilliant. So Hopefully some really cool photos of that later!

3 Weeks Down

And we are back with 7 more happy days, its been a pretty great week this week! We had Burns Night, which I will hopefully talk more about in my next post, and I had got my pictures back from the printers. So even with January feeling like the longest month ever, I have had a lot of ups! So lets bring on the final week of January!

1. Getting my film back from the printers

2. Playing with negatives on my Lomo Scanner

3. The cutest Oilers fans ever

4. No cavities, painless dental checkup

5. Catching the early bus, 20 mins extra time at home

6. Burns Night Supper, yum!

7. Free Coffee, thanks O2!

That about sums up my week!

St Andrews Day

I was St Andrews Day on the 30th, the official national day of Scotland and because of that many historic sites throughout Scotland were celebrating with free entrance, which Hayley and I took full advantage of! The Palace of Holyroodhouse was our main destination but we got sidetracked a couple of times, first in the Museum of Edinburgh  which had just been refitted, we probably could have spent a whole lot longer in there but unfortunately we didn't have the schedule for that. We did catch a rather informative wee video outlining Edinburgh's history, which was very good, as well as the plans for the New Town, and bits on how people lived and I especially liked the feature on Greyfriars Bobby.

So we made it to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where we took as many pictures as were allowed and some that weren't. Hayley was a lot more ballsy with the photos than me. I was glad though that I got the audio tour, I have never gotten one of those before, but I think I definitely will from now on. I would not have known so much more about what we were looking at. It is totally worth it.

So the Palace of Holyroodhouse joins onto Holyrood Abbey and it was spectacular inside and out.

We then stopped at the Kirk of the Canongate because we could see a Churchyard/Graveyard and wondered where the entrance was and it turned out the symbol above the church of the Stag with the crucifix between its antlers was part of many tales of King David and the Stag that we heard loads about in the Palace of Holyrood. 

And to finish off the day we had sushi from Bonsai, Hayley got a brilliant deal from Groupon and the food was amazing!

So it was a brilliant day celebrating Scotland and all it has to offer!

Hopefully you saw the Google Doodle, it was brilliant!

I know I know, I don't write for ages and then bam massive post, but there was so much to see along the way it was incredible, and it turned out to be a beautiful crisp day to be out in. So I hope you enjoyed St Andrews day as much as I did!