Dundee

Last week I went to visit some friends of friends outside of Dundee overnight, which was a lot of fun. I took the train up to Dundee, and they met me at the train station. They had their grandchildren visiting, so it was really nice of them to let me visit; the kids were cute, and it was nice to be around children again after so long in the university setting.

On the drive back from Dundee to their house, they found out I was majoring in Medieval Studies, and took a short detour to see some Pictish standing stones. As it turns out, two of these stones were ones I had studied in class this semester, so it was really great to be able to see these carvings for myself; I've never really seen that kind of thing before, of course, so I loved it. It was rather amazing to stand next to these stones and imagine the care and precision that had gone into carving them so long ago.

We spent the night in, which was great for me. Nice and relaxing. The kids and I jumped on the trampoline for a while, and then we all sat down for macaroni and cheese and broccoli, probably one of my favorite meals - simple yet tasty. I finished my Ian Rankin mystery (started on Skye) in front of a cozy wood stove, and had a good night's sleep.

The next morning we took off at 9:30 and headed to Arbroath Abbey, which is in ruins - medieval of course. The ruins were spectacular; there was so much architecture still left that it was really quite dramatic. We could even go up into two towers, up and around the winding stair into high hallways far above the old church floor. It was a great place for kids. The sacristy was complete, so we had fun in there with the echoes. And there was also an abbots house, one of only a handful in Britain to still be intact today, and the only one from the Middle Ages, according to the guide in the gift shop. Arbroath was also the site of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath, which was the inspiration for the Declaration of Independence, so there was a small exhibit on that as well. There was plenty of good history around, and I was able to learn a good deal about the area both from the abbey and particularly from my hosts, for which I was grateful.

After that, we had a good lunch on the seaside, and took a very pleasant walk through a park on the shore. And then it was time to go - they dropped me off at the train station in Arbroath, where I took the train to Dundee. Once in Dundee, I found that I had a one hour layover for the train to Edinburgh, so I went across the street to see the RSS Discovery, the ship built for Sir Robert Scott for his first trip to Antarctica. There was a great exhibit on the Golden Age of Antarctic Exploration, and then of course the ship itself. I wish the age of explorers was still going on today; I would have joined immediately. As it is, I am stuck with fascination and admiration whenever I encounter these figures.

So it was another good trip!