Aberdeen F.C

As the NFL is approaching the end of another season, we felt it was a brilliant time to provide some insight on our “football” experience here in Scotland. For starters and as most of you know, soccer is called Football here. In fact, there has been only one occasion where we have seen kids practicing American football, and we think that was on the grounds of an American School! Since our move, we have attended two matches of our hometown Aberdeen Dons. The first was against Kilmarnock, a smaller city team, and the other was against the Hearts, a better-known Scottish team from Edinburgh. Aberdeen plays within the Scottish Premier League and generally doesn’t mingle with the English Premier league. That being said, it needs to be mentioned that Aberdeen just beat Celtic yesterday (4-2) which was quite an upset.

In the event that you catch a football match on the tele, or make it to a game when you visit, we want to make sure you are prepared for what to expect.

1) Although English is spoken here, several words are different in the football world. The following list includes the American English word followed by the U.K English word

Field = Pitch
Schedule = Fixtures
Equipment = Kits
Receiving a yellow/red card = Getting booked

2) If you are attending a match, it is important to wear the appropriate colors or team scarf. The picture below shows us decked out to support our Aberdeen Dons. If you are not adequately showing your home support, you may not be able to enter pubs before / after the match and you may get yelled at on the streets!



3) Once you arrive at the stadium, take note of a few basic rules and expectations of crowd behavior.



3) Upon entering, should you fail to convince the ticket agents and security that you are a home supporter, you will be forced to sit in the visitor section pictured below. Note the high security fence that separates you from other spectators as well as the police every three feet to monitor your behavior.



4) Lastly, expect to be on your feet and chanting for the majority of the game. We found that there is a chant for absolutely everything and that most are not PG rated. Apparently, chants that use profanity directed at the opposing team are accepted and encouraged. Parents and wee-ones don’t seem to be bothered or surprised. We do have a couple recorded, but will not be including them on the blog!

The home stadium of the Aberdeen Dons is Pittordrie. It is located right on the ocean and has an open view to the city skyline.



Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Aberdeen!

Exploring Edinburgh

Last weekend we found ourselves in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, or Edin-burra, as the locals pronounce it. We left our flat early Saturday morning to catch our 2.5 hour train ride south. The train was fairly uneventful as the sun didn’t rise until we were almost two-thirds of the way there. Currently, the sun rises around 8:45 a.m. and is fully set by 3:30p.m. Sometimes it seems even earlier if it is a cloudy night! Despite having limited sunlight, we were able to get out and enjoy all that the historic city has to offer. In total, we visited Edinburgh Castle, St. Giles, Mary King’s Close and Camera Obscura.

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and is the seat of the Scottish Parliament. Edinburgh is thought to be originally settled in the late Bronze Ages as an Anglican Kingdom and it wasn’t until the 10th century that the Scots were able to call it home. Several battles took place between the English with regards to the rights to Edinburgh Castle, which is located right in the center of the city. By the 15th century, Scotland had firm control of the Castle and the city. The picture below is Edinburgh Castle at night. We actually took this photo from our hotel room!

Edinburgh Castle at Night

Situated on volcanic rock, the castle is protected by sheer cliffs on three of its four sides. This provided excellent protection from the multiple sieges over the centuries, but also made it difficult to keep an adequate water supply during those sieges. The castle was only taken by force once throughout history under the legendary Robert the Bruce who secretly dispatched 30 men to scale one of the deadly cliff faces at night.

Believe it or not, this is still a functional castle. Active-duty Military personnel are stationed on sight and several governmental functions are held each year. It is also home to the War Memorial of Scotland and several military museums. The Crown Jewels, sword and scepter of Scotland have been located at the castle since 1996, with an agreement that they are returned to Westminster for any future coronations. During WWII, they were actually buried inside the castle for safe keeping, with only four people knowing their whereabouts.

The next historical stop was the High Kirk of St. Giles, which has been a religious focal point in Scotland for over 900 years. It is widely considered to be the “Mother Church of Presbyterianism.” Although the church has survived fire and gone through several renovations, the structure dates back to 1124. Inside you will find beautiful stained glass windows, a massive organ and many other interesting decorations. Services are still held here.

High Kirk of St. Giles

Mary King’s Close is a street filled with many myths. Historically, the street was surrounded by buildings up to seven stories high, housed some of the richest middle-class in the city and had one of the busiest public trade markets. In 1645, the plague hit the area very hard and many people spent their final hours quarantined in their homes on Mary King’s Close. Because it was unknown how the plague was spread, residents were not allowed to leave their home. Instead, they were required to hang a white sheet out their door, so people would know not to go near that home. When the plague was over the street remained abandoned for many years. People only returned to the area because they could not afford to live elsewhere and soon after (partly due to the streets reputation), many reported supernatural occurrences. Some claim that the first “ghost story” came from Mary King’s Close.

In the 1750’s, the city decided that the buildings on Mary King’s Close were not in great state, so a “covered place of exchange” was built directly on top of it, eventually blocking the street from all sunlight. Despite being closed off, one residence was still inhabited until 1932. In 2003, the city decided to reopen Mary King’s Close to tourists while continuing to excavate several areas. The tour gave us a glimpse of what life in Edinburgh may have been like in the 1600 and 1700’s. The buildings are remarkably intact with remnants of “homemade wallpaper” on one of the walls. One interesting fact about the city was that the government instituted a "window Tax," essentially taxing people for daylight. Due to the cost of the tax, many people boarded up the windows in their homes.

Our whirlwind trip of Edinburgh was very interesting and informative. It is a city worthy of several days of exploration. We could go into much further detail, but the post would become rather lengthy!