Day Tripping Down South

On Saturday we decided to take a day trip down South. When we woke up, the day was bright and sunny (sunrise is currently 6:05a.m.). Since it was such a beautiful day, we set off on the coastal route towards Dundee and St. Andrews. We were looking forward to seeing the ocean on our drive…but then the typical Scottish weather set in. Intense thick fog made it impossible to see more than five feet in front of our car and lasted for about two hours until we hit St. Andrews.

Our first stop was the prestigious St. Andrews golf club, the birthplace of golf! We weren’t able to go into the clubhouse as it isn’t open to the public, but we were able to walk along the course for a bit. At first glance, the course doesn’t look like anything special or too challenging. However, when you see it up close, you notice the subtle rolls, dips and angles in the fairways and greens. The bunkers also resemble black holes! We would have loved to play a round…but that costs more than a few pence and you have to book far in advance, only to find out if you were selected by the lottery system the day before you want to play!

While in St. Andrews we also visited the Castle and Abbey. As you can see from the pictures of both the Castle and Abbey, there isn’t much left. But even from the ruins, you can imagine how impressive it was in the 11th and 12th Century. The pictures don’t show it well, but both they are located on the ocean, which was finally beautiful now that the fog disappeared. Before we left for our next stop, we had a fish and chips lunch in a local pub that was finally served in the traditional style – wrapped in newspaper. Aberdeen doesn’t allow this for sanitary reasons.

After our lovely lunch, we got back in the car and travelled to Loch Leven. This loch is home to Loch Leven Castle were Mary Queen of Scots was exiled for several years. The castle is located on an island in the middle of the loch.

Our last stop for the day was Stirling Castle and the Church of Holy Rude. This castle is set up at the top of the city, and seems to have its own little village. It really looks like a miniature Edinburgh Castle. The history is also somewhat similar, as it was used for a military garrison after being a functional castle. The Church was also the location for the coronation of King James IV.

After that, we had a quick drive home. Amazing how much you can see in a day!

Pancake Day!

Today is Pancake Day here in the UK so “tuck in” and enjoy a plate of pancakes however you fancy them: crepe or buttermilk style, although thinner is more traditional. Everyday is a good day for a pancake, however eating pancakes today has more meaning that you may have known…today is Shrove Tuesday.

Shrove Tuesday is always celebrated the day before Lent begins. Since tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday is today - 24 February. As Wikipedia explains, “The word shrove is the past tense of the English Verb shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by way of Confession and doing penance. Thus, Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving that English Christians were expected to do prior to receiving absolution immediately before lent begins.” As some of you may put together, today is also Fat Tuesday within the Mardi Gras celebrations.

So why pancakes? Shrove Tuesday originally began with eating pancakes because they included ingredients such as fat, butter, eggs and sugar, which were traditionally restricted during lent. A Scottish Shrovetide tradition, which appears to have gone by the wayside, was known as the “Festy Cock.” This is a ball of extra finely ground meal, wetted until it can be patted and rolled into a round shape, then roasted or baked in the hot ashes and burning seeds from a mill kiln. It was made to eat up the food items prior to fasting and substituted for cockerel. Festy indicates “Feast Day.”

Pancake Day, as most call it here, has been publicized throughout supermarkets and television programs. There are also organized events including a fundraiser, The UK Parliamentary Pancake Race, which has teams from the House of Commons, House of Lords and the Fourth Estate. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first whilst flipping a pancake in a frying pan a pre-decided number of times. The skill lies not so much in the running of the race but in flipping and catching the pancake, which must still be intact at the finish line.

In the past, it was considered a “half day” from work and businesses would stop at 11:00a.m. with the signaling of the Church bells. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.

So today, enjoy your pancakes with whatever toppings you prefer. The most common toppings here are sugar and lemon or jelly. If you ask for syrup on your pancakes they may assume you are from Canada…since that is where maple syrup comes from!! Although not as traditional, we prefer a small spread of Nutella on ours.

Enjoy your pancakes!

Marin and Erik

Winter Wonderland

Well, winter is finally upon us here in Aberdeen. It did not arrive until February, but it came with some might. Prior to the storm, the weather had been chilly and windy, but nothing unbearable. It has actually been quite pleasant compared to what our previous hometowns have been facing this winter, Tacoma included! When we would comment on the weather, everyone responded “hold tight until January and February,” as those were supposed to be the bad months. January came and went without much to comment on. Then as February rolled in, so did the winter storms.

Most of you have probably seen the weather reports of London on the news. They received several inches of snow and the city basically shut down. We thought we were lucky, until Thursday arrived. We woke up to a very pretty snowfall that actually stuck around. Since then, we have been through sleet, snow and ice. The climate is quite interesting here as the storms literally blow in due to the ocean. It will be sunny and blue skies one moment, then within two minutes, it will be dark skies and blizzard like conditions. We have yet to see snow fall gently; it is really all or nothing here.

To present our weather visually, we have three pictures below that we took on a hike to Glen Affric when Erik’s parents were visiting us in mid-January. The photos weren’t taken in Aberdeen, but rather a mountain range outside of Loch Ness. This first photo shows what a beautiful morning it was when we were getting ready to start our hike.



This next picture was taken when we started our hike, the skies were still blue.

The last picture we captured as we returned just 30 minutes later after actually seeing the snow blow in from the mountains over the lake. We had hoped for a longer hike that morning, but were thwarted by the unexpected snow storm!

We hope everyone is staying warm and hopefully defrosting a bit. A special thanks to Warren and Jaime Ross who have been taking care of our house in Neenah, frozen pipes and water damage included…..

Cheers,

Marin and Erik