We took a much needed "day off" today. Took things slow as we were all tired from the previous 10 days. There were a few things on our agenda today, tour the University of Aberdeen, tour the Cathedral Church of St. Machar, replenish the groceries the little koogs ate 30 minutes after we purchased them and get a kilt. I should report the water pressure here in Aberdeen is on par with our place in Conwy. We all felt very clean and maybe a little bruised after our showers.
Cathedral Church of St. Machar
On our walk from dinner last night through Seaton Park, we approached the towering Cathedral Church of St. Machar. It was closed when we passed last night, but it was a must today. A little about the history...the site has been some type of Christian church since 580, when according to legend St. Columba on Iona sent his disciple Machar to convert the Picts to Catholicism. It was rebuilt many times, but the church we were in today was built between 1380 and 1520. If you are interested in more info, ask Mrs. Koog if she remembers the construction? (on. a. roll.)
I digress. The Cathedral was just wow! The ceiling has 48 shields that represent the church, Europe and Scotland in 1520. The dark honey color contrasting the brightly painted shields is beautiful. I spent a significant amount of time trying to capture the lighting and the warmth of color. Not sure I got it right but it looked good in the preview screen, without my glasses, and without my hoodman loupe. We will see when I download them to the laptop. The 4 of us wandered around the Cathedral looking (and photographing) the stained glass windows that surrounded the nave on all 4 sides. There was a dude that handed me what looked like a pizza paddle with all the information on the windows and the ceiling. Just beautiful. I'm not a religious person, but I'm definitely spiritual. You could feel the spirit and grace in this place. It was super cool.
University of Aberdeen
After the Cathedral, we walked the few blocks to the University of Aberdeen. Mrs. Koog studied abroad at the University of Aberdeen in the 90's (the 1490's I Kid, I kid...) and this is the first time she's been back since 1994. Before we hit the UofA campus, Mrs. Koog, realizing she had three ravenous Koogs, took us to a bakery she used to frequent. Alas, they had my favorite breakfast treat: Steak and Ale pie! She got a sausage roll, E-Koog got chicken nuggets (a chip off my old block with odd breakfast choices) and B-Koog had a toffee donut. We walked over to the UofA's Kings College Chapel green, grabbed a bench and chowed down. Always aware of the dog-sized sea gulls stalking us. Seriously, I've never seen bigger birds! They are like roided out birds. They were out of luck because this Koog does not share food and I STILL have not forgiven nor forgotten the attempt on my Cornish Meat Pie from this gull's cousin in Bath. Shoo...get away.
We successfully kept our food safe until we devoured every last crumb. The gulls left as we got up and headed to the Chapel. The outside of the building is imposing with its gray granite and huge crown tower. Use the google machine and check it out. The inside was just as interesting. It kept with the gothic style with dark wood carvings and a ginormous pipe organ that started to play as we walked in. The only thing that was odd was the very nordic looking light birch chairs lining the nave. Like there was a sale on these chairs at IKEA and they decided to go hard for the Swedish look.
Taking a last look at the outside and the crown tower as we walked through the rest of the campus and headed back to our stone cottage to pick up the car and head downtown for some shopping.
Downtown and Kilts
Mrs. Koog found 2 kilt places for me and the little Koogs to really assimilate into Scottish culture and don kilts. I was super excited, the little koogs not so much. The driving in downtown Aberdeen is absurd. Not because the streets are narrow, they are not by the Highland standards we've become accustomed to but because they suddenly and without warning stop allowing cars and become one way...all at the same time!! Poor Mrs. Koog! We did find a parking lot and she happily left the car for a few hours!
McCalls was the store we decided on for the kilt extravaganza. They sell both bespoke and former kilt hires. Bespoke is out of the question as they start at £550. I mean, I've always wanted a kilt but at that starting price I'd need to wear it everyday and to sleep to justify the purchase! And Mrs. Koog said no. I was just as happy taking a look at the former hires.
Little known fact, kilts are super comfortable. As soon as I put it on, I was sold. Mrs. Koog seemed to be into it, too! Always a bonus when the Mrs. is happy! I tried on several tartans but always came back to the Black Isle. I heard bagpipes when I had it on. The nice kilt lady said it fit me perfectly. There was a limited selection in my size for jackets that didn't look like something Elton John or Freddie Mercury's closet. I opted for a Bonnie Prince Charlie waistcoat (vest) and will monitor McCall's website for something in a 42S that doesn't look like it was donated by a 70's British pop star.
We headed to lunch after the kilt store and a quick spin through Primark for pants that were not highwaters for E-Koog. This kid cannot stop growing! His athletic pants were basically capri pants. The white hightops and black socks with the gray capri pants did provide quite a look. The pub was a former church that was turned into a horror/gothic pub. The food was great, the service was more in the horror genre. So slow. But, we're on vacation so we're really not in a hurry. An interesting note, there were no less than 3 former church now pubs on the same block as our horror/gothic pub. Not sure what, if anything, to read into that fact!
As we were leaving the restaurant, it was raining and blowing a gale. It only lasted 10 minutes. Unfortunately, that was the 10 minutes we were walking to our car. Alas, we were all in waterproof raincoats with hoods, so all was well.
Groceries
Not the most exciting part of the day, but grocery stores in other countries always seem to fascinate. Lidl in Aberdeen provided a great selection of meat and meat products like haggis. I want to try it so bad, and it was very inexpensive, but neither I nor Mrs. Koog knows how to cook it or if it smells as it cooks. We discussed and decided that haggis is probably something one wants to be sure is actually cooked and that anything with the predominant ingredient of sheep organs must have a scent when cooking. We passed on the make-your-own-haggis. I registered my complaint in every aisle about the utter lack of Welsh products at the Aberdeen, Scotland Lidl. No Welsh yogurt. No Welsh cakes. No Bara Brith. No Welsh Whiskey. Disappointed, Lidl...very disappointed.
Our teetotaler, B-Koog, registered his complaint about the Mrs. and I buying a 4 pack of hard cider. He made sure we were not driving when we would be drinking it (we certainly would not) and he wanted to be sure all 4 cans would not be imbibed this evening (nope). He reluctantly gave his approval as if we were actually waiting on his decision.
We headed home with our snacks and our 4 pack of hard cider. Of course, I immediately changed into my kilt. I'm still wearing it now as I write this blog. I may sleep in it.
Tomorrow, we pack up and head to Clackmannan. Our accomodations there? A glamping anthropod with a hot tub. Will keep you posted!
Cathedral Church of St. Machar
On our walk from dinner last night through Seaton Park, we approached the towering Cathedral Church of St. Machar. It was closed when we passed last night, but it was a must today. A little about the history...the site has been some type of Christian church since 580, when according to legend St. Columba on Iona sent his disciple Machar to convert the Picts to Catholicism. It was rebuilt many times, but the church we were in today was built between 1380 and 1520. If you are interested in more info, ask Mrs. Koog if she remembers the construction? (on. a. roll.)
I digress. The Cathedral was just wow! The ceiling has 48 shields that represent the church, Europe and Scotland in 1520. The dark honey color contrasting the brightly painted shields is beautiful. I spent a significant amount of time trying to capture the lighting and the warmth of color. Not sure I got it right but it looked good in the preview screen, without my glasses, and without my hoodman loupe. We will see when I download them to the laptop. The 4 of us wandered around the Cathedral looking (and photographing) the stained glass windows that surrounded the nave on all 4 sides. There was a dude that handed me what looked like a pizza paddle with all the information on the windows and the ceiling. Just beautiful. I'm not a religious person, but I'm definitely spiritual. You could feel the spirit and grace in this place. It was super cool.
University of Aberdeen
After the Cathedral, we walked the few blocks to the University of Aberdeen. Mrs. Koog studied abroad at the University of Aberdeen in the 90's (the 1490's I Kid, I kid...) and this is the first time she's been back since 1994. Before we hit the UofA campus, Mrs. Koog, realizing she had three ravenous Koogs, took us to a bakery she used to frequent. Alas, they had my favorite breakfast treat: Steak and Ale pie! She got a sausage roll, E-Koog got chicken nuggets (a chip off my old block with odd breakfast choices) and B-Koog had a toffee donut. We walked over to the UofA's Kings College Chapel green, grabbed a bench and chowed down. Always aware of the dog-sized sea gulls stalking us. Seriously, I've never seen bigger birds! They are like roided out birds. They were out of luck because this Koog does not share food and I STILL have not forgiven nor forgotten the attempt on my Cornish Meat Pie from this gull's cousin in Bath. Shoo...get away.
We successfully kept our food safe until we devoured every last crumb. The gulls left as we got up and headed to the Chapel. The outside of the building is imposing with its gray granite and huge crown tower. Use the google machine and check it out. The inside was just as interesting. It kept with the gothic style with dark wood carvings and a ginormous pipe organ that started to play as we walked in. The only thing that was odd was the very nordic looking light birch chairs lining the nave. Like there was a sale on these chairs at IKEA and they decided to go hard for the Swedish look.
Taking a last look at the outside and the crown tower as we walked through the rest of the campus and headed back to our stone cottage to pick up the car and head downtown for some shopping.
Downtown and Kilts
Mrs. Koog found 2 kilt places for me and the little Koogs to really assimilate into Scottish culture and don kilts. I was super excited, the little koogs not so much. The driving in downtown Aberdeen is absurd. Not because the streets are narrow, they are not by the Highland standards we've become accustomed to but because they suddenly and without warning stop allowing cars and become one way...all at the same time!! Poor Mrs. Koog! We did find a parking lot and she happily left the car for a few hours!
McCalls was the store we decided on for the kilt extravaganza. They sell both bespoke and former kilt hires. Bespoke is out of the question as they start at £550. I mean, I've always wanted a kilt but at that starting price I'd need to wear it everyday and to sleep to justify the purchase! And Mrs. Koog said no. I was just as happy taking a look at the former hires.
Little known fact, kilts are super comfortable. As soon as I put it on, I was sold. Mrs. Koog seemed to be into it, too! Always a bonus when the Mrs. is happy! I tried on several tartans but always came back to the Black Isle. I heard bagpipes when I had it on. The nice kilt lady said it fit me perfectly. There was a limited selection in my size for jackets that didn't look like something Elton John or Freddie Mercury's closet. I opted for a Bonnie Prince Charlie waistcoat (vest) and will monitor McCall's website for something in a 42S that doesn't look like it was donated by a 70's British pop star.
We headed to lunch after the kilt store and a quick spin through Primark for pants that were not highwaters for E-Koog. This kid cannot stop growing! His athletic pants were basically capri pants. The white hightops and black socks with the gray capri pants did provide quite a look. The pub was a former church that was turned into a horror/gothic pub. The food was great, the service was more in the horror genre. So slow. But, we're on vacation so we're really not in a hurry. An interesting note, there were no less than 3 former church now pubs on the same block as our horror/gothic pub. Not sure what, if anything, to read into that fact!
As we were leaving the restaurant, it was raining and blowing a gale. It only lasted 10 minutes. Unfortunately, that was the 10 minutes we were walking to our car. Alas, we were all in waterproof raincoats with hoods, so all was well.
Groceries
Not the most exciting part of the day, but grocery stores in other countries always seem to fascinate. Lidl in Aberdeen provided a great selection of meat and meat products like haggis. I want to try it so bad, and it was very inexpensive, but neither I nor Mrs. Koog knows how to cook it or if it smells as it cooks. We discussed and decided that haggis is probably something one wants to be sure is actually cooked and that anything with the predominant ingredient of sheep organs must have a scent when cooking. We passed on the make-your-own-haggis. I registered my complaint in every aisle about the utter lack of Welsh products at the Aberdeen, Scotland Lidl. No Welsh yogurt. No Welsh cakes. No Bara Brith. No Welsh Whiskey. Disappointed, Lidl...very disappointed.
Our teetotaler, B-Koog, registered his complaint about the Mrs. and I buying a 4 pack of hard cider. He made sure we were not driving when we would be drinking it (we certainly would not) and he wanted to be sure all 4 cans would not be imbibed this evening (nope). He reluctantly gave his approval as if we were actually waiting on his decision.
We headed home with our snacks and our 4 pack of hard cider. Of course, I immediately changed into my kilt. I'm still wearing it now as I write this blog. I may sleep in it.
Tomorrow, we pack up and head to Clackmannan. Our accomodations there? A glamping anthropod with a hot tub. Will keep you posted!
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