Journeying back to Edinburgh

Back on the bus and heading to Edinburgh. Through the highlands from Ullapool to Inverness and Culloden -site of a crucial battle between the Scots and the English which ultimately led to the highland clearances.  Near Culloden we visited the Clava cairns, Neolithic tombs and stone circles, set among noble beeches planted by the Victorians. 

Then on the road with a stop at Pitlochry for a quick coffee and toilet break before heading to our final destination. 

What a great tour!

Susan's Impressions on the Orkney tour.

May 30 2014

The Highlands are glorious – still snow on some of the mountains, Ben Nevis and others. Beautiful glens (valleys), rock filled streams and falls, billowing cumulus casting erratic moving shadows on the mountainsides. Stayed at Molly’s B&B at Dalmore House in Inverness.  Molly is a lovely pint-sized woman loaded with spirit and personality. 

May 31, 2014

Amazing bus trip to John O’Groats from Inverness.  We stopped at a very moving sculpture of a Scottish family of émigrés.  The man and older child are looking out with determination, across the water, striding forward.  The woman is looking sad and fearful, looking back at the land with a baby in her arms. Everything said in one visual image.

We crossed by Catamaran to St. Margaret Hope, a village on the harbour of South Ronaldsey, the first island in the Orkney chain. Found lots to photograph on the docks before leaving – mussels clinging to the undersides of iron girders, small white flowers growing among bits of rope, old chain, rusted rebar and rotted timbers. I could see my friend Jeff happy for at least a day, shooting on that dock. 

June 1, 2014

Orphir: Viking Saga Centre with remains of a round church, graveyard and other buildings, a house, meeting hall.  All local stone, which the Vikings adopted for building. A  well done film explained the Viking Sagas and Norse myths. 

Stennes: standing stones in a field, about 2,500 years old or more. Beautiful but somewhat ruined by graffiti, some as old as 1812.  

Brodgar: large circle of huge standing stones surrounding a small field of heather.  A large henge (ditch) about four feet deep and 5-6 feet wide surrounds the stone circle. Burial mounds are visible all around. The circle stands on the highest point between two bodies of water, one fresh and one sea. 

On the way to the stones we passed a nest of swans right next to the single lane path/road and next to the water.  Great photo op as the swans seemed completely unconcerned about our interest.   

Skara Brae was found by the Laird of Skaill House in about 1850, who was a distant relative – Farquharson MacRae.  Skara Brae is a Neolithic stone settlement more ancient than the pyramids of Egypt at about 6,000 years old. It was hiding under a large sand dune and was exposed when strong winds and a storm uncovered parts of it.  There are several stone buildings b in the complex, perched on a dune right by the sea, where the inhabitants would have fished and gathered sea food. One of the houses was reconstructed to give visitors a sense of the interior.  A low narrow entrance tunnel of local Caithness stone leads into a large circular room with several side compartments for storage and sleeping.  It had a high roof built of hides and poles into a point with a vent to let smoke out from the central cooking and heating fire. The roof was covered with sod for insulation. Stone aged tools and implements have been found on the site.  

Skaill House: owned by the Laird and lived in half the year by the family.  Full of beautiful rooms, Victorian and more modern furnishings, beautiful paintings and art work, some brought from India and the Far East where they traded and lived for a time. 

Kirkwall was home for two days on the main island. A pleasant prosperous town, but the worst B & B we’ve stayed in so far. 

June 2

Back to the ferry and a sojourn across the north coast of Scotland.  Incredibly moody vistas of highlands, moors, mountains, inlets, lochs, gorse, rocks and trees.  The moodiness was helped by low hanging clouds, intermittent sun and soft northern light sifting through the layers of cloud and fog. Lots of sheep, some cattle and great photo stops. Our great luck – the rain would stop whenever we wanted to take a photo! Even the highland cattle – the loveable ‘herry coos’ as Karen, our guide called them, cooperated and posed for portraits with their little ones, looking like large teddy bears. Herds of red deer gazed at us curiously as they bedded down for the night. 

Dinner at a beautiful inn by the water (Skerrish?) with the whole group, all friends by now. Karen showed some of her photos over dinner, with a slide show on her laptop. We’ll miss the group: Kathy and Julia from Alberta and BC, Sabina and Birgit from Germany, Linda and Demitrij from Australia, Calvin and Sara from Hong Kong, Jo from New Zealand.  An excellent group of travellers we hope to stay in touch with and of course our most excellent driver and guide – a professional shepherdess and wonderful photographer, Karen Marr with Rabbies Tours.  We’re back to Edinburgh tomorrow.

Sketching

While on the bus, I have been trying to do some rapid sketches to capture the landscape and note colours and shapes. 

This sketch lists some of the sites we visited today.  The stones of Stennis stand amid the heather on a small rise above The road.  We also visited the Brodgar ring and Skara Brae -  a site where changing winds uncovered a Neolithic village  that had been buried in the sand dunes. We also visited Ophir, a Viking site, where there are remains of a medieval round church and a drinking hall which would have been used by a Norse earl of Orkney.  

Some highland scenes. Wonderful greens and the Colour of the gorse and rhododendrons which grow wild here. 

Drove by Bamburghq castle the other day. Grey stone, green hedge, but the most enormous orange poppies by the side if the road.

Each sketch is less than half a minute since the scenery changes at every turn in the road.  Wonderful!

Touring the Orkneys

What a fascinating place. Here, history is part of the present, and both are products of the location and geography of the islands. Standing stones, chamber tombs, a village emerging from the sand dunes, and cairns speak to Neolithic times, and some of the earliest inhabitants of the islands. Runes carved into stones, ruins of round churches and halls and the sagas tell of the Vikings and the Norse earls of Orkney.  Castles, churches speak to Stuart times. Monuments to lord Kitchener, the history of the Scapa Flow in both WW1 and WW2 speak to the more recent history of this place.  The people use the past to build their present and future. They use rocks from Neolithic sites to build their houses or decorate their lawns.  In fact, the search for these stones is often how they discover these sites. We visited a 5000-6000year old chamber tomb that is so well built that it will never collapse unless we try to fix it. ( early "archeologists" explored the mound with picks and small explosives)

The island is almost minimalist. No enormous highlands. Just rolling green tree-less hills leading to cliffs over the sea.  Sheep, cattle, prosperous farms.  Small compact towns with stone houses. Farm houses and cottages that all seem to have vistas.  Ruined stone houses that seem to be ageless. It is hard to know if they were abandoned 30 years ago or 300. And above all, an air of ancient roots and a comfortable now.  We love it here, and I am already trying to figure out how to express this in painting. 

We promise be to show pictures in future blog posts, but haven't had a chance to go through the (now) thousands of shots we have taken between us. My camera is still cooling after today's ventures. 

Tomorrow we return to The mainland and tour north part, ending up in Ullapool.  I can hardly wait

Edinburgh

Landed safely, and now ensconced in our apartment hotel just off the Royal Mile near Holyrood Palace. We have discovered these apartment hotels, and have found them to be a great place to stay. A little more pricey than a B&B but cheaper than most hotels. In Dublin, we stayed in the Staycity apartments, and here we are at the Holyrood aparthotel in a lovely studio apartment. These places have all the conveniences of an apartment. This one even has a dishwasher. We enjoyed the ability to wash clothes in the tiny washer-drier in our Dublin apartment so that the citizens of Scotland do not have to put up with our smelly clothes. 

Donegal to Westport and back to Dublin

May 25, 2014

Leaving Donegal, we drove a beautiful shoreline and stopped for photos across from a lovely gift shop and tea room in the middle of nowhere. Gaele, Glenda and Kathy – the three sisters- had announced early that they wanted to shop today and to arrive back in Westport, where we stay for a second night, in time to do that.  We spent time at the gift shop and every other one we spotted all day.  Lovely woolens including a hoodie zip up Aran sweater for Emma and a little black faced sheep. I’m tempted to buy Aran sweaters for the boys too, but they are too expensive if they won’t wear them.

We stopped at Kylemore Abbey, a castle like structure built by a rich man for his wife complete with Victorian gardens. A friendly calico cat inhabited is now an Abbey, purchased by Benedictine nuns in the early 1920’s after their convent was destroyed in WWW I in France.  They ran a prestigious girls school until 2010.

Furnishings inside were opulent.  I was especially impressed with the fireplaces, hand carved stone with inlaid painted tiles on the hearths. Lace making in the parlour with musical instruments and lots of windows overlooking the pond. Stop for lunch was Clifden, near the original Marconi site for the first transatlantic transmissions of Morse code.  The Wright brothers landed there on the first transatlantic flight, in the bog.  Lots of conflict in Clifden in the past century. 

We’ve had two nights in Westport at a lovely B&B Brook Lodge.  Hosts are friendly and helpful. Michael has driven us downtown for supper both nights.  

On the road again to Cong where The Quiet Man was filmed, very picturesque.  On to Galway and lunch in an old stone pub.  Didn’t see much of the city.  We said goodbye to most of our fellow travellers, Justin and Kaylee to rent a car and tour on their own, the three sisters, Michael and Jody and Steven and Pam are continuing the tour for another six days.  We’re ready for a break. Overcast intermittent rain.  I think the four of us left, Margaret and Marita along with John our lovely driver, are anxious for Dublin.  

We stopped at Distillery Kilbeggan on the road to Dublin and a fun self-tour tromping up and down and through the old distillery fixings. Tony’s got a cold so he bought some samples for ‘medicinal purposes’!  Irish whiskey is more palatable than scotch.  They distill it three times instead of two for Scotch and it tastes smoother.  According to the Irish, they taught the Scots to make whiskey but they never got it right!

Dublin at last and goodbye to the last of our new friends. We’ll be in touch again when the photo book on Ireland is ready.  

We’re at the Staycity apartments on Augustine Street, in the heart of the city and a block from the Brazen Head.  We met our friends Rossann and Chris from the Dingle painting crew, for a beer and light supper at the Brazen Head. It was great fun to see them again and compare adventures.  They were driving and found it a bit stressful I think, but there was lots to tell. 

We’re taking a day off in Dublin, so Tony can recover from his cold a bit. We can catch up on laundry and get ready for our next adventure in Scotland, starting with a short flight to Edinburgh tomorrow morning, Tuesday. Stay tuned.

Dublin and the Antrim Coast

May 22, 2014.

I liked Dublin more than I expected, from its great stone hewn cathedrals to the oldest pub in Ireland, the Brazen Head - excellent   We’ve discovered Staycity – a marvelous concept.  An apartment with full kitchen a washer dryer, separate bedroom room dining living room for $130 cdn and Tony could use TD points too. We’ve booked for the return from the tour of the north and when we get back from Scotland too.  

Bus for Belfast left amidst sun and cloudless sky, and rush hour in Dublin.  Passed the Jenny Johnson tall ship one of the coffin ships which took emigres, better described as refugees, to north America and the southern hemisphere.  It was one of the very few that never lost a passenger. There are statues of starved people walking down to the quay as there would have been throngs of them, in the 1845-50 period of the potato famine.

One of the things we’ve learned is that the British behaved criminally and brutally during that period of history in their treatment of the Irish and possibly other colonials too. It was the era of laissez-faire economics and the survival of the fittest. They took away the livelihoods of the Irish, left them to cultivate and survive on rotting potatoes and confiscating any other crops, animals, fish, claiming ownership and exclusive rights for the British or the Irish land owners who sold to the British.  The Irish will never forgive the English for the deaths and forced emigration of millions.  The Irish population went from 10 million in 1844 to 2.5 million in 1860.  Over 6 million left Ireland over a century and many more died in the famine.  

In Belfast, murals abound commemorating the violence and “troubles”, the euphemism for decades of violence, murder and mayhem on all sides. 

The Titanic visitor centre was a revelation. Beautiful building shaped like an iceberg with reflecting pools all around. Fabulous design inside and out. A stunning presentation of building the Titanic is done on four floors.  There is a ride through the four floors, which we took, showing the shipbuilding process in video and props, including girders several stories high. It felt like we were in the bowels of the great vessel. It took 4 years to build, about 10,000 people and another year and a half to outfit and test it.  Only one voyage to sink it. A moving experience. 

Ballycastle on the River Marguey was a centre of smuggling at one point and then an industrial town for glass, hide tanning, glass and salt. Now a pretty tourist spot with beach and harbour. 

Ballinatoil is a small port town and the site of filming of Game of Thrones.  A lot of dredging going on, hope it doesn’t get ruined.  Beautiful rugged coastline, several caves and a beach.  Was a site for lime kilns in the past. 

Giant’s Causeway was inspiring with its tall hexagonal columns, an amazing geological structure and now a World Heritage Site.  Beautiful weather but impossible light for good pictures. Must look up the paintings and engravings of Susana Drury cica 1780 – beautiful pieces which helped popularize the causeway. 

Dunluce Castle a coastal ruin, part of it fell into the sea. Beautiful light as the fog bank rolled in from the sea. 

Saw Bushmills distillery, but didn’t go in. 

Magracross view point gave us pink flower banks, sunspots on the sea, dazzling cliffs. Nesting birds on the cliffs were plentiful and the smell of guano strong.

Overnight in Portrush, a northern coastal town and a favourite Irish vacation spot with its lovely beach.  Nice dinner overlooking the beach at North55, I assume that is the latitude. 

Next day to Londonderry or Derry as it is known in the north.  Beautiful old stone city walls, the only one in Ireland.  Continued onto Glenveigh National Park, a rainy day and those who were ambitious walked through the woods. On to Donegal for the night and supper at the Olde Castle Bar with John our driver, a lovely guy and single father who hails from Tralee. 

Week 2 in Ireland

May 20 2014

Susan McCrae

We left Dingle yesterday, for the trek by mini-bus to Killarney, through several villages – MaCroom, Castlemaine and others.  After a charming lunch at an old mill we proceeded to Cork and an overnight stay at Killarney Guesthouse – Spartan but comfortable student apartments vacated for the season. Every imaginable shade of green accompanied us through the lush well watered landscape.  If it were further south, it would surely be rainforest. Sheep and dairy cattle in abundance and the occasional herd of steers and pasture with horses.

Cork is a beautiful modern city with a famous harbour which we didn’t have time to see – next time.  The fame is due to Cork’s and Cobh’s importance as the jumping off point for much of Irish emigration in the 1800’s and into the 1950’s.  Six million souls over a century. There are documentation centres in Cobh where you can research the ship manifests to see when ancestors might have travelled.

The group bid Andrew Sookrah farewell, the first of us to return home. It was a successful trip for him, he sold one large and three small paintings.  Two others sold paintings and I sold a photograph! And traded two others for a painting. My sale was of the turquoise door in the old stone stable, already posted. Tony traded a pastel painting for another painting by Rossann.  

Dined last night at La Bodega, a lovely old building full of archways, art and atmosphere in the heart of Cork. Great cannelloni, lamburgers and salads.  My favourite drink has become half Guinness and half cider so had a pint.

Goodbyes to everyone this morning, each going different directions.  Chris and Rossann by car to Galway – good luck with the driving and those roundabouts! Paria, Carole and Charlie to tour galleries in Cork and Dublin. Happy Viewing! We all plan to return to Dingle for two weeks, next year.

Tony and I set off for Northern Ireland tomorrow on a five day coach tour to see if we like that mode of travel, hoping to store a suitcase with art supplies in Dublin until we get back. The other point for Irish emigration was Belfast in the north, from whence the Titanic was launched and departed on its historic voyage.  We’ll see that spot tomorrow. More to share later.

Susan's Photography

Here are a couple of pictures that Susan showed in Dingle. PThe one with the turquoise door was sold. Paid for dinner!

On the Way to Dublin

On the train from Cork to Dublin.  Yesterday we said goodbye to our new friends in Dingle, and with the group, took a bus to Cork. Once. In Cork, Andrew left us to take a train to Dublin and his flight home. That evening, we went into downtown Cork to dine at Bodega.  Good food.  Susan has taken a liking to a mixture of Guiness and sparkling cider, and has graduated from half pints to whole pints. (Yes, Frodo, it comes in pints.)

This morning, we said goodbye to the group and after packing,went to the train station to catch our train to Dublin. Tomorrow we catch our coach tour to the north. So far the weather has been good to us. Fingers and toes crossed 

Down to the Dingle Peninsula

Every incarnation of spring weather has put in an appearance since we arrived in the Dingle Peninsula.  Warm and sunny today but there’ve been days where we’ve worn every piece of clothing we could reasonably put on.  A truly glorious place for painting and photography, we’ve all been busy creating and enjoying.  We’re doing a popup show with our work tomorrow for the locals and any tourists in town. Lots of those as it’s the weekend. 

We’ve toured around and been introduced by Carmel Brennan and other guides to some of the most picturesque scenery on the planet.  Mountain passes with one lane roads and sparkling vistas, rocky coastlines, tumultuous skies, heavy rain, moody graveyards mired in fog, sunshine and cornflower skies, we’ve seen them all. The tidy villages with ancient buildings mixed with new, hopping pubs, tea with hot fruit scones, gourmet meals, even a resident dolphin called Fungi in the harbour, who greets every boat in or out. And a group of wonderful people have made this trip significant and memorable.  

A small art show in the Lantern B & B, our home in Dingle, and a visit to a local print making studio have rounded out the art part of our trip.  Then there’s the music at O’Sullivan’s – amazing musicians on Irish bag-pipes, whistle, guitar, fiddle, tambourine and box. Ancient rhythms and songs ring the soul.  We’re planning to return next year for two weeks.

Tomorrow we tour on our way thorough Killarney and to Cork for the night. May look at ancestry resources in Cork. Then train to Dublin.  

Unafraid of Colour

The citizens of Dingle love to paint their buildings in all colours. There is even one done ip in lime green and pink stripes. 

I love this little nook.  I sat and sketched it until I decided I needed to thaw out. Beautiful sun, but a cold wind

Painting the Pass

We all headed up to the Connor Pass (spelling doubtful?) to paint, photograph or just hike and hang around. The vista is magnificent.  You can also climb up the hill behind the parking lot (easy if you are a mountain goat, not so easy for aging knees). At the top of the first rise there is a small lake. Very picturesque.  We picked our spots and painted in the lovely sunshine. Even the sheep came to visit and check out the paintings - or be painted!  Pleasant temperature, but a cool wind.  We spent a long time there and returned to Dingle happy and tired.  We stopped in a pub for a pint, and then went our various ways til dinner.  Tomorrow we paint in town, and Sunday will be more of a social day, as a big storm is expected. 

Another Wonderful Day

Although the day began overcast, the sun soon appeared and the day became glorious.  In the morning, Carmel, our chauffeur par excellance drove a group of us ( Carol, Charles, Andrew, and moi to Connor pass. Spectacular! Breathtaking views. 

 

Carol stayed to paint. Andrew wanted to return to the B&B to paint, and I, courtesy of Ms Brennen, headed out to Wine Strand to paint and sketch

Susan went to Connor pass later in the day, and ended up in a woolen goods shop.  Poor bank account!  

This evening we shared a wonderful meal and ended up at O'Flaherty's for a night cap and some real Irish music.  Altogether, a wonderful day. 

Touring the Dingle Area

Today, I walked around the town of Dingle while Susan went on an outing with Carmel Brennan.. It was a misty cool morning, but the weather improved during the day. In the afternoon, we all went on a bus tour of the peninsula. What wonderful views of cliffs, hills and more.  We stopped at a pub for a pint of course.  We had fun scouting out places to paint. Because tomorrow we paint. 

We took lots of pictures both for showing and for photoreference material for future paintings. So we can expect a out of work coming from this trip. 

Arrived Safely

After a smooth flight, we landed, right on time, in Dublin. Bit by bit the group got together,only to find that the Dingle Shuttle had not arrived. No panic, but a lot of wondering. Should we rent a car, or van? We had almost decided to do that when the driver showed up. He thought he was early, as he had been misinformed about the time we were landing. Nevertheless, we were glad to see him and we happily boarded the Dingle Shuttle Bus. 

Now we would have arrived a bit earlier in Dingle if the driver, Morris, had gone in the right direction. But he finally found the right road, and we arrived safe and sound ( and hungry). 

Group dinner and some good beer and off to bed for a good night's rest. 

Waiting to Board

The suitcases are checked, and we are waiting for them to call the flight. We have packed far too much. But artists want to take everything - just in case. As you can imagine, we are very excited about this trip. We are prepared for rain, fog, snow, sleet. Oops! I forgot my sun glasses.

Next post from Ireland!

One More Sleep

Packing and re packing. These shoes or those? Shorts? No!  Fleece? Yes! Long sleeves? Short sleeves? Decisions, decisions, decisions. Too many paints?  Not enough?  How many canvases? What about paper instead? Both? Pastels? How many? And don't forget the masking tape! Did you pack an eraser? Where are the cables? Adapters? Drugs? Don't forget the passports and boarding passes? Where did you put the euros?

I cam hardly wait til we're sitting on plane. What we forgot, we will do without or buy there!

Going to Ireland with the OSA

We are slowly getting packed and ready to travel to Ireland.   Susan and I leave on May 12 go to paint with the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA).

We arrive in Dublin and head to Dingle, where we will be for the first week.  After that, we will be off to discover new places!

We will be posting pictures and stories here, and hope you enjoy them.