Day # 8 - Aberdeen & the end of the "kwests"

07, July 2009 Writing at 18:02
To be posted later tonight (07, July 2009)
Posted at 21:00

We're staying at the Aldersyde Guest House and things have been a little quieter. Aldersyde is a cross between a B&B and a hotel, John (the owner) calls it a guest house. There are several rooms with wireless internet access, TVs, and locking doors. Breakfast is continental and while John is very friendly the environment is little more commercial and does not feel like someone's home. Last night we walked down the street for dinner at small local hotel and then spent the evening reading, sipping whisky, taking advantage of the wifi access to update the blog, worked on some emails and watched a little TV.

I had worried about whether Sioux Trail (the school I am principal of - a.k.a. "my" school) had made Adequate Yearly Progress or not (this is part of George W Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation - another problem he stuck us with), but checking email confirmed that I need not worry any more as the preliminary results are in and we have new challenges ahead of us for the 2009-10 school year. I'm not coming right out and saying that Sioux Trail didn't make AYP because the results are preliminary and I'm not clear if the results are public or not.

Unlike the B&B's we stayed at, breakfast was not served when we wanted to eat, but available between 7 and 8:30am. We cleaned up, had breakfast and were headed out the door around 8:30. We were searching for a launderette (a.k.a. laundromat), with little success. We found several, but not understanding the addresses very well, I had selected two that are in towns we'll pass through tomorrow, another two were closed and the only one that was open and in Aberdeen, wasn't open to the general public until after 18:00 as the owner uses the machines to wash clothing she is paid to wash & dry. Our plan, which has worked relatively well, was to limit our clothing and pack quick dry clothing that is impervious to wrinkles and to wash several articles at a time in the sink or or tub. We have used launderettes because the bathrooms have been fairly small and there has not been enough room to lay out clothing and let it dry. This will be out last trip to the laundry (we're only doing a single load of darks and whites) and then the rest of the trip we'll do little loads in the bathroom and make do with whatever drying space we can find. After we leave Abderdeen we are staying outside of Inverness (near Loch Ness) and on the Isle of Skye and we do not think we'll find any laundrettes. That was my long way of telling you that we didn't find a laundry as we had planned and postponed it until later (we're back here now at 18:26 washing, typing and reading).

We were waiting for the Gordon Highlander Museum to open at 10am and met more wonderful Scots during our visit there. The three gentlemen (I suspect they were all 80+ years old) that we spent time with were very proud of their regiment and thoroughly enjoyed telling us stories, showing us medal upon medal and in one case walking through each exhibit in the the museum one by one. The Gordon Highlanders were brought into service by the Fourth Duke of Gordon in 1794 to fight the French and existed as a kilt wearing regiment until 2006 when they were merged with other highland regiments. I enjoyed hearing the stories and seeing the Gordon tartan as part of the military uniform. We felt like we were getting a VIP tour as one gentleman went so far as to us through the armory and unlocked the regimental dining hall - called the Lakin Room for us (I think the addition of the "L" was a typo!). The photo of the deer head is the Gordon crest and "Bydand" means "remaining" or "stay and fight".

After visiting the Highlanders museum we continued on the "Kwest" for the Kilt and our loyal blog readers will be excited to read that "Kwest" has been concluded. We visited several kilt shoppes and inquired (again) about the sale of ex-hire kilts in a Gordon tartan. All of the shoppes we have visited sell ex-hire kilts (most once a year which is similar with tux rental shops in the U.S.), but none of them have had a Gordon tartan in stock, and if they did it was unlikely they would have it my size. We visited one shop and they couldn't meet my needs, but referred us to another shop (McCalls); there we met the right gentleman and bought a package with a kilt that will be cut to fit (everything except the white shirt button down shirt). The kilt in the photo is Gray Granite tartan (I will own a kilt with Antique Gordon tartan), but it gives you the basic idea. Stacy, I thought you'd be surprised to learn that most of the sporrans (the bag that goes around your waist - I'm not wearing one in the photo) is made out of sealskin as it is the least expensive. I bought one made out of cow, as seal skin is illegal in the U.S. and could have been confiscated by customs. The kilt had to be made and will be shipped in approximately 8 weeks.

The kilt fitting took several hours and we needed nourishment so we followed Dave's (the salesman) recommendation and found Ma Cameron's, which according to Dave is one of the oldest pubs in Aberdeen. The second quest of mine, the Hunt for the Haggis, is also over - Listen and you can the Scots celebrating! I had Haggis, Neeps and Tatties with some terrific gravy - it was wonderful! Our host told us that he loves Haggis and eats in when he finds it. This isn't what other Scots have said. I thought it was very tasty, a little gamey, like a spicy ground beef. I think the presentation was a little different from the traditional presentation, so I may have to try again.

We wandered Abderdeen, visited more shops looked for some appropriate souvenirs for Alma and Lillian, but the kilts were either way too expensive or too small. Tonight we take advantage of the wifi to plan our last two nights in Scotland, map out some sights between here, Inverness and the Isle of Skye and pick some other sites to see.