A Walk on the Wild Side

First things first - chronological time?  We don't need no stinkin' chronological time!  I hope nobody expected this blog to follow something as silly as that!

Several weeks ago, the 3 of us were invited to go for a hike in/on the Pentland Hills, which are southwest of the city, out Rick's workplace way.  We were the first people there, as we are keeners, as well as we still don't really know how long it takes us to get anywhere.  Eventually, everyone else showed up and off we set, with some people choosing an easier, more level route, and the rest of us opting to climb and circumnavigate some of the hills.  

It was a lovely sunny day!  Umm...no wait...that isn't right.  It was an overcast, rainy and windy day.  Yes, that is more like it!  Still, we are made of sterner stuff, so even though the wind blew the rain into our faces, and blew our faces into the rain, onward we carried, over hill and dale and heather and sheep poo.  The views were inspiring and, while the weather could have been better, we were treated to some sunshine as a reward.

A big thank you to the Scottish teachers who arranged this fabulous outing!

Dougal is ready for a day on the hills.  Too bad he is rather out of focus!  Sorry about that.

Even the view from the parking lot was lovely.

The start of the climb.

Look!  Sheep!  We were to encounter many more along the way.

One of many reservoirs within the park.

Somewhere, over the rainbow...maybe the wind will stop blowing!!

A stunning view, made all the more impressive by being able to see IKEA in the distance!! 

Hey you sheep, get off my hill!!!

The day starts to brighten.

The spectacle that is the Pentlands.

Rick and Dougal leading the pack off the beaten path.

Bringing up the rear.

Finally back at the reservoir. 

Sunshine on Pentlands.

The intrepid hill walkers.

The Flotterstone Inn, where we all finally met up for some much needed warmth and eats.  Fortunately, the inn is dog friendly.  Unfortunately, Dougal is not dog friendly inn friendly.  While there was food to be had, he was a good boy, but when another dog came into the inn, he insisted on barking his disapproval.  We were asked to leave.

The calm before the barking storm.

One for my sister

I know that my sister will understand why I would post this photo.  By the way - great cheese.

One for the guys

This is in the toilets of a local restaurant - The Ghillie Dhu.  Most guys will realise just how "unique" the urinals are.  The one at the very end, facing away, has a sign over it that says, "I want to pee alone."

 

Rugby!

What a great surprise we had this weekend!  A parent of one of Rick's students offered Rick two free tickets to a rugby match pitting the Scottish National Team against the New Zealand All Blacks, who must be very good as we have actually heard of them.  It turns out it was a major match up, so was sold out.  It also turned out that, as the parent has connections, our seats were about 10 rows up and right at center field - the "platinum" section, as we have found out.

We walked Dougal to Murrayfield Stadium early yesterday to pick up the tickets and also get the lay of the land.  When we left for the actual match, which started at 5:30pm, we walked up a major road that leads to Glasgow, with hundreds of other fans.  The road that leads directly to the stadium was virtually traffic free as the people took over most of it.  Finally, we reached the stadium with is ringed with all sorts of food, drink (if you know what I mean) and merchandise vendors.  We were so pleased with our seats, we couldn't have been more happy.

Neither of us really know a lot about the rules of rugby, but we were able to pick up some more knowledge by watching closely, and were surprised by a couple of things.  One was that the announcing is limited to when someone scores a try or when a substitution is taking place, so it can be surprisingly quiet at the stadium when there is a lull, which was refreshing.  The other is that rugby, which we mistakenly viewed as perhaps a bit crude, is incredibly physical but surprsingly gentlemanly.  We were impressed.

Unfortunately, Scotland didn't triumph, but they gave a good accounting of themselves!  Go Scotland!!

Leaving the stadium for home was almost surreal.  A good portion of the 66,000 fans , who of course were all leaving at the same time, were taking our route, so it was a seathing mass of humanity that not only took over the road to the stadium but also the route to Glasgow that was officially closed to traffic.  That was probably a wise decision, as it took away the potential for crowd/traffic confrontations.  As we neared our destination, the police had barriers erected to steer crowds different ways depending on where they were intending to end up.  Once again, a brilliant solution.

All in all, a great experience, and one we wouldn't mind experiencing again.

On the way to the stadium, which you can see a bit of in the distance.

We thought the crowd heading to the stadium was large, but we would be proven to be very wrong once we left with all the other 66,000 fans!

Portrait of a fan.

Portrait of another fan who looks like he is supporting team Hudson Bay!

How it this for a great location to watch a match??

Looking left from our seats.

And, of course, looking to the right.

Two handsome lads at the local match.  As you can tell, we were a bit early, but the seats did definitely fill up behind us.

Before the match started, they turned off the lights and asked everyone to turn on the flashlight of the mobile phones.  Just shows how many people have one.

Just like before, a photo to the left...

...and a photo to the right.  Very cool idea.