Yesterday i had a pretty action packed day at The Gathering 2009. The Gathering is part of Homecoming 2009, Scotland's big festival this year. It is a gathering of clans as well as some International Highland Games mixed in. Plus music, dancing and the like. I headed out early and was stoked to wake up to clear skies. I knew a day in Holyrood Park in the wet would have sucked. My flatmate Totty came along too, so it was good to have the company. She loves the opportunity to watch highland games whilst drinking beer. Wonder if she's Scottish?! The queue for pre-purchased tickets was oddly much longer than tickets purchased on the day and being the organised person that i am i had pre-purchased so i had to wait half an hour to get in. The poor guy keeping the line straight copped so much crap for it. We finally got in and headed to the highland games arena as games were already off to a start. I can't help but laugh to see events happening for things like how far you can throw a rock, or lift a rock, or fling a rock. There more more competitors from the US than there was from Scotland, but there was one lone Aussie from Melbourne competing and Hans from the Netherlands. After some games action we spotted some uniformed men so we followed them into the tent they were heading in to.
We had entered the military tent and just cruised around looking at memorabilia with beer in hand. After checking it out we went to get out from where we got in and it was closed, so i thought, 'OK, we'll just go out this exit'. Whilst making our way out i couldn't help but notice how professional the military men were all standing in line, straight faces, no talking. It wasn't till i nearly bowled Prince Charles over heading out the exit that i found out why they were all so serious. I kid you not. I had to start walking backwards as Charles and the leader of the Scottish Parliament (i found that out later from Totty) walked inside. I was so shocked but managed to start snapping away. I knew i wouldn't be able to walk up to him with my camera and say, 'I'm a hugh fan, think i could get a picture?' By this time Totty and i had practically wet our pants from laughing at the shock of the scene. Hands down made the day.
After that bit of excitement we headed to the official merchandise tent as we both decided we'd need to buy something to remember the day by! Another long queue but i got my t-shirt and then it was time to find some food and drink. The line for haggis was too long to wait (yeah, cause that's why i didn't line up) so we had the choice of Venison burger or steak. Given Venison is basically Bambi, i opted for the steak. It was then back to the games arena for some tossing and caber throwing. I tell ya, that caber doesn't go real far, which aint surprising. We also saw some tug o war action too. Then it was on to the Acoustic tent for some music and the arts and craft fair...of course! I felt slightly left out whilst there given i had opted not to wear tartan. I'm told by some Scots that the more tartan someone wears the more English they are. The English are clearly just jealous of the get up. I should have at least worn a Jimmy hat. I was keen to try some whiskey and they had a whiskey tasting tent so we bought our whiskey tasting glass and 3 tokens and headed in. I was a bit nervous drinking whiskey as i've never been a big fan and i'd already had several beers. They were only serving half nips so it wasn't much. I tried a Taliskers, Salisberg, and an Oban. I think i like the Oban best but dont think i'll be a big whiskey drinker any time soon.
We then made sure we got to the Music stage in time to see the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Dad had mentioned them so i thought I'd check it out. They basically do covers and make bagpipes cool. After their first song, 'Smoke on the Water' they did Coldplay's 'Clocks' and it was awesome! They are a real crowd drawer and it was packed around the stage. It was by this point that the day was slowly drawing to a close. I checked out some of the Clan Tents then we headed back home. Unfortunately i couldn't find the Wilson clan tent. I loved the fact that i could walk to the event. It's all nice and close.
I had planned to head to the Walkabout restaurant/bar to see the Wallabies play the All Blacks but the excitement of the day, namely seeing the Prince, had taken it out of me so i called it a night. An early one too!
Prince Charles
In his kilt get up
A piper band
Having my first wee dram
My flat mate Totty with her new hat
1 comment:
Oh my God - you nearly bowled over a Prince! Well - don't do anything by halves girlfriend! Excellent work!
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