World Pipe Band Championships

Saturday August 15th, we made our way around the corner to the Glasgow Green for a really entertaining competitive event involving pipe bands from around the world. The Simon Fraser University Pipe band won last year, and we saw them perform and win it again this year. Glasgow has hosted the World Pipe Band Championships for the last 60 years. More pictures and videos here.

We watched the Grade 1 competition (the pros) from a little ways back in a big crowd. Seats were an extra cost. It was actually quite difficult to hear because of all the other bands marching around and playing not far behind us.

The BBC had a camera on a big crane to give us a view of the formations. It was shown up on a big screen.

This is Simon Fraser.

Here's a video of Simon Fraser. Sorry about the very poor sound quality.

Another competitor.

In addition to the piping competition there were several strong-man competitions. These guys had to throw a weight backwards over their heads over what looked like a very tall high-jump bar.

The drum majors were my favourite. Even the young people are very serious, and are marked very carefully on their form.

Some older drum majors.

One of the bands accompanying the drum majors.

We aren't sure who won the adult finals, but hopefully it was this guy. He was excellent.

These are some younger competitors. Again really sorry about the sound, it was very windy.

This is one of the adult finalists.

Taste of the Tattoo

A week ago today (yes, I've been shirking my blogging duties -- what else is new?) the Edinburgh Tattoo brought a sample of their performance to Glasgow. They do this on a yearly basis under the title of "The Taste of the Tattoo", and it's an excellent opportunity to see some great performances without forking over a single pound.

Kristie and I headed to George Square at lunch time to grab our seats. Upon first glance, the entire set of stands was packed with spectators half an hour before anything started. Fortunately for us, they opened the gates to the premium seating (right behind the guest of honour) just as we got there. We ended up being wedged in between two cheery old Scottish ladies (one eating haggis, tatties, and neeps) that commentated the entire show. The show ended with Auld Lang Syne being sung by everyone (us included) with hands held. We had little clue as to what the protocol was, but there always seems to be a nice old Scottish lady around to explain things ;). Lots more photos here.

 Band major leading in a traditional Scottish Pipe Band.

 

 Cuban dancers and marching band (it was raining bad at this point).

Austrian (I think?) marching band. They were a little more worried about getting wet.

Calgary (yes, Calgary Canada) Men's Club. They had a great tune about haggis & whisky.

 

Great traditional Chinese group.

  

Group of highland dancers from Australia.

By far, the most impressive group was the Swiss, Top Secret Drum Corps. They were very impressive, but unfortunately our camera was out of space for video at this point.

Skye

We just got back from a really nice road trip to Skye. Our friend John Davis drove up from England and stayed with us for a night and then we headed north and stayed at a hostel in Portree for three nights. Christian met John in Stockholm and he was there for the reunion that we attended earlier in the summer.

We took a lot of pictures, and if you'd like to see more head here.

John's trusty vehicle.

Christian took this one at one of our rest stops. This is Loch Lomond.

Approaching Glencoe. The soundtrack was Iron and Wine... I was partial to Bon Iver too.

Inevitable texting.

Here's what I was looking at.

We went past this castle on our way to the bridge to Skye.

This is Portree, not far from our hostel (which I forgot to take a picture of).

John drove us all around Skye on these crazy single-track roads. Sheep beware.

Christian standing way too close to the edge at one of our stops. This is Cuith-Raing.

This is me at the same spot.

Same place again with John.

Sorry, one more. I really liked it here. It would've been nice to go for a hike, but there wasn't time... we were on our way to the ferry from Uig to Tarbert.

It was sunny and beautiful all day, so we sat on the ferry to Tarbert and soaked it in.

We didn't get off though.

Just setting off on the boat.

As we approached Tarbert the band started to play.

This was the view as they played.

Little houses were perched all along the rocks.

The ride back.

The next day we went on a distillery tour. Christian bought a nice bottle of the distiller's edition. No pictures inside though unfortunately.

This is the view from a pub nearby where we had lunch. Excellent fresh food.

Christian at a nice beach we stopped at.

Me. Same beach.

John. Same beach.

John and Christian glued to the Newcastle game at a pub in Portree. We had some great nights out there too. One evening we stayed at a pub until closing and an old local fisherman started singing and playing guitar. John gave us a nice rendition of "hit me baby one more time" as well.

Overall, it was an amazing trip... beautiful scenery and excellent company. Thanks guys!

Waverley Paddle Steamer

Last Saturday we went on a little excursion down the Clyde to Dunoon on the Waverley Paddle Steamer. It was lots of fun, but very cold (Cristina was right!), and with a whole boat load of drunken Scots at 10:00 am. There was a stag party of pirates, a hen party of cow-girls, and at least two parties of 40th and 50th birthdays.

One funny thing was that everyone who lives in the buildings that overlook the Clyde, seems to wait around for the Waverley to come by. They all waved from their windows! The best was one guy out on his balcony in his underwear waving away.

In Dunoon we had some greasy fish and chips by the water (I opted for mushy peas instead of fish) and we split a deep-fried mars bar four ways.

More pictures here.

Next post... images of Skye.

This is the Glasgow Science Centre where the boat left from.

Waverley Paddle Steamer.

Here's a video of the gears working inside the boat.

This is Cristina and Martin who came along with us, and showed us around Dunoon.

This is a bit of a castle we saw from the boat.

The boat leaving us in Dunoon.

The wind in Dunoon was feirce, and it did eventually rain, but it didn't stop Christian and Martin from throwing rocks into the sea.

We popped in here for a drink during the rain.

Germany Part III (Berlin)

After all the fun in Altenburg, we spent one night in Berlin before heading back to Glasgow.

Christian's lovely friend Anne took us out for "Berlin's best ice cream" and a drink. She is another of his friends met in Stockholm. We sat at a table together at the wedding... Stockholm was our name on the seating chart.

Here's Christian and Anne. He had a coffee thing and she had three delicious flavours that I sadly can't remember the names of.

I had a hazelnut cone, and I'd definitely say it was one of the best ever.

We went through this awesome park with gigantic benches, a bus made out of mosiac tiles, grassy mounds, and cars made of turf.

This was definitely an artistic and youthful neighbourhood. Really felt in our element.

Anne's original plan was to take us to this Bath ship which is a barge converted into a big swimming pool. There was a big line, a fee to get in, and we didn't have our suits so we opted out.

Instead we had a beer and dipped our feet in the river. The DJ at this place was very good.

This guy was showing off for all the hipster ladies on the dock I think.

Then we headed back to the station to get our stuff and train away to our hotel room near the airport.

Christian grabbed some curry-wurst before we left. This shot showed up on the viewfinder when a security guard made us turn on the camera at the airport. Apparently he should have had this curry-sausage stuff at another spot. Oh well, next time.