Flying home to the USA Tues Jun 14, 2022

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Long, long line to get through security at Edinburgh Airport. Look at all the different flights from the terminal we’re in … cool!

It wasn’t until after we got home that I appreciated how smooth our flights went, coming and going. No baggage lost. Good food to eat in the airport terminals. Plenty of sleep and entertainment (movies) on the planes. Efficient re-entry to the US thanks to the Trusted Traveler (Global Entry) program. After a hard time finding the Uber pick-up spot at CVG, I was grateful that my power hadn’t gone out at home due to the electrical storm.

It was tough quarantining for 14 days after having lived normally again for so long. But I’m thankful I was never very sick with the virus, just tired.

By the time I watched the Open Championship on TV in July, I was well and back to normal again. Like the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl, I’ll enjoy watching this golf tournament on TV even more now that I’ve been there.

St. Giles Cathedral Concert, Edinburgh, 6/13/22

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Edinburgh Castle Mon Jun 13, 2022

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While I stayed in bed asleep in the hotel room, the singers got a tour of Edinburgh Castle, which they said was fabulous! I hope to get inside someday. Meanwhile here are photos the singers shared with me.

Pub Dinner in Edinburgh 6/12/22

After we got back to Edinburgh from St. Andrew’s on the bus Sunday night we walked to a pub near the Royal Mile for dinner. This is when I started feeling pretty bad and suspected I had a fever. It was a long walk back to our hotel but there were a lot of people out at 9p on a Sunday night and it was still light outside.

I went to bed and pretty much stayed there until the farewell dinner Monday night, missing the tour of Edinburgh Castle and our final SCS Concert at St. Giles Cathedral. Guess I was lucky not to have missed more and hope to get back to Scotland some day to visit Castle Duart on the Isle of Mull in the Hebrides, the ancestral seat of mom’s family, Clan McLean.

High Tea at The Old Course Hotel 6/12/22

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I so appreciated Margie’s willingness to have high tea at the hotel with me but it didn’t start out well for her at all! We’d gotten separated earlier in the day and communication via cell phone wasn’t working so she had a heck of a time finding me! I was okay, seated in the tea room looking at the whole town out walking on the old course with their dogs. But she was frantic trying to find me so I’m glad she thought it was worth it in the end, like I did.

St. Andrew’s University and the town 6/12/22

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This is one of my favorite photos I took walking through the town of St. Andrew’s: of the “swimming pool” on the North Sea.

Who wouldn’t want to go to college here? It is just beautiful on this June day! I enjoyed seeing the places William and Kate supposedly lived when they were in school. And liked thinking of the townspeople trying to protect their anonymity here, the way people in Augusta KY protect George Clooney and his family.

Lindsey and Allie being descendants of George Wishart, the Presbyterian teacher of John Knox’s who was martyred and burned at the stake here added interest to our tour of the town and its castle.

World Golf Museum, St. Andrew’s SCO, 6/12/22

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You can see where it was once called “the British Golf Museum,” like we used to call it “the British Open.”  But now it’s the World Golf Museum in St Andrews Scotland where the 150th Open Championship will be played just a few weeks from now.

Seeing the real Claret Jug in its case made the hairs on my arms stand up!

I was also quite thrilled seeing these older championship trophies where silver golf balls were draped over golf clubs.

More photos and story here. 

St. Andrews Scotland Sunday June 12, 2022

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No, I didn’t play The Old Course at St. Andrews a month before the 150th Open Championship: it’s closed on Sundays. But Margie and I did putt at The Himalayas right next to us with a bunch of families after having high tea overlooking the 18th hole at The Old Course Hotel.

What a thrill for me this whole day was! Exceeded great expectations and the weather really cooperated, temperate with mostly sunshine all day.

More photos and story here.

Bruntsfield Hotel Edinburgh Scotland 6/11/22

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Our bus pulled up at the Hotel Bruntsfield more than 12 hours after we’d left Belfast Saturday morning. We were a tired, wet, and hungry group, many of whom had self-tested positive for Covid19 and were trying to isolate themselves while not on a bus.

Although I’d been enthused about staying in an older and more “charming” hotel, I remember being annoyed about how cumbersome it was to get our luggage from the bus to our room.

The Scotch Whisky Tasting Experience 6/11/22

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Here I am at the end of the Scotch Whisky Tasting Experience with my souvenir glass, cold and tired and waiting for our friends in the final tour group before heading back to the buses to check into our hotel for dinner.

I wondered how many of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail distilleries had ever been here, as it was much like their tours but with a Disney World flair and representing all the distilleries in Scotland.

Since you actually got into cars like a theme park ride, our group of 70+ Sycamore Singers had to be sub-divided into four. Margie and I were in the third group and Rhoda and Linda Heminger were in the fourth.

Here we all are waiting out front at the base of Edinburgh Castle for our groups to be called. That’s our accompanist extraordinaire, Alex Thio, in the blue coat and mask with Linda standing in the lower right corner of this photo. 

Deacon Brodie Pub on the Royal Mile 6/11/22

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It’s nice to sit inside a pub and have lunch on a rainy Saturday afternoon so not surprising to find other Sycamore Singers sitting right next to us at Deacon Brodies.

My first taste of haggis was mixed in with the mashed potatoes with this lamb I had for lunch and I liked it! Kind of like that “champ” in Belfast last night - potatoes with other stuff mixed into it. Apparently “tatties and neeps” (potatoes and turnips) is a popular side dish here, like mushy peas, which I’ve also liked.

Arriving in Edinburgh 6/11/22

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It seemed like we arrived in Edinburgh at least an hour before we were able to get off the bus near Edinburgh Castle. I know because I had to go to the bathroom really badly but I was darned if I’d use that emergency toilet on our bus!

So I took photos out the windows until we parked and then ran in the rain with Karyn who found a pub on the Royal Mile (Deacon Brodie) where I could use the ladies room. We ended up having a nice pub lunch there before The Scotch Whisky Tasting Experience at the base of Edinburgh Castle.

 

Glimpses of Glasgow Sat 6/11/22

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We saw Glasgow even if only driving through it (slowly) on the bus.

More story and photos here

West Coast of Scotland 6/11/22

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On a cloudy Saturday morning our buses drove off this ferry and up the Western coast of Scotland on the way through Glasgow to Edinburgh, where we wouldn’t check into our hotel, the Bruntsfield, until dinner time.

We passed some storied names in the world of golf - Turnberry, Prestwick.

Saw a lot of those wind turbines like the ones manufactured in Belfast. Heard that >90% of Scotlands electricity comes from alternative sources like that.

More photos and story here.

Ferry from IRE to SCO Saturday morning 6/11/22

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Both bus loads of us drove onto this ferry from Belfast to Scotland around 6a Saturday morning. Reminded me of the ferries on the TV show Shetland. Long lines to eat the full breakfast were worth it - they even had the whiskey out to pour over your oatmeal.

More photos and story here

Belfast IRE Friday night 6/10/22

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Saw a bagpipe band playing in a square before we ate dinner in this pub. Too tired to wait up late enough for the music to be played so we walked home. More photos and diary here.

More Antrim Coast IRE 6/10/22

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More photos and story here

The Rope Bridge and Drive Back to Belfast Fri 6/10/22

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Giants Causeway IRE Jun 10, 2022

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More photos and texts here