Why be like the other sheep?
From Bonnie Prince Charlie’s cutlery to Dolly the sheep and from Lewis Chessmen to the St Ninian’s hoard, here are 9 reasons why exploring the National Museum of Scotland should be part of your Scotland itinerary.
The National Museum of Scotland might not be high on your list of must-sees when you visit Edinburgh, but you really should try to find the time to squeeze a visit in.
Here are 9 reasons why you should explore the National Museum of Scotland.
Continue reading “Exploring the National Museum of Scotland”
I had a lot of questions before I went to the Hay Festival for the first time and you probably will too. So I’ve written a Hay Festival Survival Guide to answer them.
I’ve just returned from a fabulous week at the Hay Festival. It was my first time there and I really don’t know why it took me so long to actually get there. As it was my first time I wasn’t too sure of what to expect and so in case you’re planning to go next year I thought I’d write this Hay Festival survival guide whilst everything is still fresh in my mind.
Continue reading “The Hay Festival Survival Guide”
The Queen Mother turned a derelict castle on the far north coast of Scotland into a beautiful home. I went to explore and found a place I never wanted to leave.
Who doesn’t love exploring an old castle? Whether it’s clambering around ruins or wandering through stately rooms decked out for the 1800s there’s just something about a castle that will pique most people’s interest.
The best kind of castle though, at least to me, is one I really could imagine living in. And to help facilitate my imagination it’s best if the castle actually looks like a home I’d want to live in; the sort where I really have to restrain myself from pulling a book off the shelves, flopping on the sofa, putting my feet up and pouring myself a coffee from the silver pot (there’s always a silver pot).
The Castle of Mey is just such a castle.
Continue reading “Exploring Mey – Scotland’s Homeliest Castle”
One activity that needs to be high on your ‘must-do’ list if you visit Oman is a night at the Royal Opera House in Muscat.
On my first visit to Muscat four years ago, I wandered round the outside of the white building, but couldn’t get inside even for a brief glimpse. Of course, what I really wanted to do was get in to see a performance, but I never got the chance. Continue reading “A Night at the Royal Opera House Muscat”
This museum is about everything Västerbotten
I was only in Umeå because that was where the bus ended up and it was where I could pick up the night train back to Stockholm. I’d spent the summer walking northern Sweden’s Kungsleden trail and now I was on my way home. Continue reading “Västerbottens Museum, Umeå”
The British in India Museum is hidden away in a warehouse in Nelson (Lancashire). It’s not signposted and is difficult to spot. We drove past it several times before we spotted the sign over a side door to the warehouse reception area. As it’s closed at the weekend I’d already waited a long time for the chance to see it and so was determined not to let its camouflaged location beat me. Hardly surprising really that it ranks at one of the top five least visited museums in Britain.
The museum started life as the private collection of Henry Nelson who had served in India in the 1940s. He came home with a suitcase of souvenirs and continued to develop his collection and his interest. By 1972 he had enough to open a museum.
The museum is as museums used to be. It smells musty and is crammed with artifacts and memorabilia; everything from a tiger (complete with black and white photo taken of the party who shot it) to medals, newspaper cuttings to weapons and clothes to model soldiers. There’s a lot of information to read and even more to see. We walked round several times, each time seeing things we hadn’t noticed first time round.
Originally the museum was housed in a building in Colne and it moved to its present location a few years ago after the death of its founder. His son now runs the museum, but it is a sideline to the warehouse. The entrance is shared with the warehouse reception. The man on reception walked us through to the museum and from then on we were left to our own devices. He told us that there are a lot more artifacts in storage, but it’s a massive job searching through everything and getting it all catalogued.
Although it seemed obvious that the museum could do with a full-time curator and a new roof, as well as a bigger space, part of me hopes it will never change. There aren’t many museums left like this and visiting it is an experience in itself. And I like that I’ve been to one of the least visited museums in the country.
I wonder what the number one least visited museum is? Maybe I could go there next?
Here’s a short clip of the museum I found online.
Can you recommend any unusual or little-visited museums?
Sunshine, sea and sculpture. A great way to spend my first day back in Stockholm.
For this week’s Friday Flickr I’ve returned to Sweden.
Millesgården, just outside of city centre Stockholm, is the former home of sculptor Carl Milles.
His house is now a gallery for sculpture and artwork. Best of all, the beautiful grounds, running down through terraced levels from the house to the sea, are a fabulous sculpture park.
I visited on my first day back in Stockholm when I returned from Northern Sweden. It was a hot, sunny, blue skies kind of day and Millesgården was the perfect way to spend most of it outside.
I took so many photos. I’d take a photo of a particular sculpture, then see if from a different angle or with a different backdrop and shoot a few more.
To access the Flickr album click on the image below.
My first Friday Flickr album is from Skansen Open-Air Museum in Stockholm. It was the world’s first open-air museum and is huge. AND it has bears!
As part of being super-organised with my new website (and being super-enthusiastic) I’ve decided to have a regular feature.
Yes, just like the real bloggers.
As I have an abundance of photos that I’m slowly trying to upload to Flickr, I thought I could do myself a favour and make my Flickr albums multi-functional by using them on here.
I’m also thinking that linking my social media accounts in this way might generate more readers and be good for my SEO. I sort of understand what SEO is and why it’s important, but actually I don’t really. Pearls of wisdom in the comments section below will be welcomed.
So, onto my first Friday Flickr (drummm rollll) …
It’s an album filled with the best of my photos from Skansen, a photogenic place if ever there was one.
Skansen can be found on the outskirts of Stockholm and was the world’s first open-air museum. It was opened in 1891 and has been growing ever since.
It showcases historic buildings from the full length of Sweden and also has a zoo and an aquarium. People dressed in periodic costume demonstrate crafts from times gone by like breadmaking and glass-blowing.
But best of all, I got to see bears. Real ones! They looked so cute and cuddly. Well, except for their huge claws. I think I’m probably glad I didn’t meet any in the wild when I walked the Kungsleden.
I spent a very long day wandering round and only stopped for one quick coffee (couldn’t miss out on fika, especially when it looked like this). I saw pretty much everything except the aquarium, but felt like I was rushing. I would have liked to have taken it slower and had more time to watch the animals. Two days would have been much better, but there were so many other things to see in Stockholm and my time was running out, so I couldn’t really justify it. I’d definitely go back again though.
Click on the image below to access the Flickr album.
The website for Skansen can be found here.
Up Helly Aa has been and gone again. It’s always on the last Tuesday of January and brightens some of the darkest days in the British winter. Shetland being so far north, it gets even gloomier than Manchester. Something hard to believe with the gloomy, drizzly weather we’ve been having lately.
Last year I was fortunate to be able to spend a week in Shetland and attend the festivities. I got to have one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life (and there have been a few!) and to cross a challenge off my 60 things to do before I’m 60 list.
I’ve been following it closely online this year and wishing I was there. I’ve just been reminiscing with my photos. The low light, rain and fast moving Vikings made it difficult to get good photos, but even the worst photos have good memories behind them and I love looking back at them. I’ve selected a few of the better ones and have put together a Flickr album.
I’ve written a few other posts on Up Helly Aa and they can be found by clicking on the links below.
After my trip last year, I wrote about the day and the night parts of the festival.
I’ve also written an overview of what Up Helly Aa is.
My potted history of the festival can be found here.
The Up Helly Aa website can be found here.
Burly men in beards and bras. Definitely a night to remember.
As I watched the flames die down and the burning galley turn to ash, I was buzzing with everything I’d seen, heard, felt and smelt so far this evening. It was after 9pm, but the night was only just beginning. It would be at least 12 hours until I’d get to bed. With exhilaration coursing through my veins and anticipation tingling my nerve endings I made my way to the primary school where the evening’s entertainment was just beginning.
It was already busy when I arrived. I gave my name at the door and, thanks to Linda, the daughter-in-law of the man I’d met earlier at the galley, my name was on the list and in exchange for 25 quid I was given a wristband. Up Helly Aa is expensive. The costs involved in making the detailed costumes and weaponry and building the galley are no mean amount. I don’t know if any of my £25 went into a general Up Helly Aa fund or if it was all to cover the costs of the evening, but either way by 8am I definitely felt I’d got my money’s worth.
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| A disrespectful tribute to Elvis. He was sat on the toilet which flushed each time the music changed. |
I headed first for the toilets to peel off a few layers of clothing. A couple of girls were fluffing their hair and applying extra make-up. They looked very glamorous and in my trousers and plain top I felt very under-dressed. I mentally kicked myself for not having packed an outfit on the off chance I got lucky enough to be invited to a hall. Fortunately I’m not one for letting the wrong outfit get in the way of enjoying myself and I made my down to the far end of the school corridor where I stashed my bag and extra clothing.
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| Buxom ladies at a local cafe |
This area was doubling as the ‘bar’ area and people were sat around tables enjoying a beer, glass of wine or something a little stronger. No alcohol is sold in the halls so it’s strictly BYO. Most people were very well prepared, with stacks of plastic glasses as well as the booze of their choice. Alcohol is not allowed in the main hall so throughout the evening people were disappearing back here to return a while later with an extra glow to their cheeks.
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| Tea-dancing OAPs find themselves in an aerobic class |
I found my way to the main hall and pushed through men in fancy dresses to enter. The 48 squads make their way around the 11 participating halls and put on a short performance in each. There are two to three squads in each hall at a time and once they’ve all performed, the band strikes up and everyone is pulled up onto the dance floor to be whirled around in a series of traditional dances with names like Strip the Willow, Eightsome Reel and St Bernard’s Waltz.
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| Green Been / Red to Come – the numbers representing the squads |
A board behind the band held the numbers representing each squad. The numbers started out red and were changed to green once the squad had performed.
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| ‘I Don’t Look Good Naked Anymore’ |
As the squads are all male and many performances require female characters, the squads adhere to the traditions of theatre from years’ past and enthusiastically embrace cross-dressing. It is said that lingerie shops in Lerwick do a roaring trade in the month before Up Helly Aa with all the butch builders, plumbers and roadworkers piling in to buy their bras. Shakespeare would have been proud.
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| The Jarl’s squad arrived at about 12.30am |
As the squads are meant to be in disguise most performers wear masks, heavy make-up or dark glasses, only revealing their identities once their performance is finished.
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| They must’ve been feeling hot |
The performances are outlandish and tend to be risqué with the squads having names like Fat Bottomed Girls (pink frocks and well-endowed bottoms) and Horny Germans (lederhosen and William Tell hats). Some acts had performers removing clothes, thrusting their pelvises and generally behaving in ways you wouldn’t want your granny to see. Except the grannies here had seen it all many times before and didn’t bat an eyelid. Other performances poked fun at local issues, one such being the skit performed by the Clangers. The squad were dressed as the pink woolly Clangers from the 1970’s children’s TV programme and in the style of the programme, which was quite subversive in some of the issues it alluded to, pulled no punches in referring to all the ‘clangers’ they say Shetland Islands Council have been responsible for.
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| ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ |
As well as performances and dancing and trips to the bar there were visits to the buffet. Hot soup was being served along with unlimited mugs of tea. Plates were continually being replenished with sandwiches, cakes and biscuits. The tea was welcome, especially when it got to about 5am and I was starting to flag. A couple of mugs of tea and I was raring to go again.
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| A ‘Fat Bottomed Girl’ watching ‘Putindabootin’ Russian dancers |
It did strike me that, despite all the merriment, party-spirit and alcohol, no-one seemed really drunk. There was none of the falling around you see on Saturday nights in city centres. No-one burst into tears or started a fight. And I didn’t see one person throw up. I don’t know if it was because of the mixed age group or because everyone knows everyone else or just because of the laid-back character Shetlanders all seem to share, but I do know I liked it.
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| He wasn’t really naked |
By the time the last squads had performed, the last tunes had been danced to, and the last mugs of tea had been supped it was 8am. There weren’t quite as many people as there had been earlier, but there were still a lot. Everyone was still cheerful as they made their way out, shouting their byes and dispersing to their beds.
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| In need of a bikini wax |
I walked back to Tesco car park where I’d left my van. I was surprised to see the burger van in the car park was open for business and had a customer. How could anyone still be hungry after all the food in the halls? I wasn’t surprised however, to see the customer was a man wearing a tutu.
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| In need of a diet |
Note: my photos are RUBBISH. Trying to take photos of fast-moving performers indoors whilst facing a spotlight was a challenge way beyond my photographic abilities. I’ve included a few here anyway as they at least give an idea of what some of the performances were like.
To read about Up Helly Aa day click here.
I’ve written about the history and traditions of Up Helly Aa here and here.
The main Up Helly Aa website is here.
