Friday 20 June 2014

Alba (or Scotland) IV

After two days spent mostly on my own visiting Glasgow and Mount Stuart, the question was: what are Yamini and I going to see on Saturday. My original plan had been to visit Edinburgh, since that was where we were heading anyway. But having spent a whole day in the bricks and mortar that make up Glasgow, I felt that Edinburgh might not be my best bet. So...

A leisurely drive through Scotland it was. North of Loch Lomond and then on to Stirling and Falkirk, where we would see the horses' heads. Yamini had expressed a great desire to see them since she had seen a documentary on the making of those heads. I didn't really mind either way. 

Duke
Of course, since it was my holiday and hadn't been plagued yet by the dreaded H, it was time to be and when we finally made it to the horses (or Kelpies), my head was interfering with my enjoyment of the Kelpies a great deal. That didn't mean I didn't take any photos, I certainly did, but I would have enjoyed them a lot more had I not had the H. Which in turn wasn't helped by the fantastic sunny weather.

Baron
The Kelpies name reflected the mythological transforming beasts possessing the strength and endurance of 10 horses; a quality that is analogous with the transformational change and endurance of Scotland's inland waterways. The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges and coalships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area. (Shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia)

One of the horses is named Duke, the other one Baron and they weigh 300 tonnes each! And even if I didn't show that much enthusiasm on the day, they were beautiful and I did like them very much. 

After our visit to the horses, we continued on our way. Since I had to take quite an early flight the next morning, we were staying at Yamini's father's place. Nice dinner, nice company, nice present (rhubarb and ginger jam, very nice). I had a great week!

6 comments:

  1. What an unusual story about the horses. Sorry the H had to pay an untimely visit.

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  2. Wow ! these horse heads are beautiful ! A pity that I haven't seen them. I loved Edinburgh, it's such a nice town ! We stayed there for 2 days in it had really been worthwhile !

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  3. Hari Om
    Oh these came out super Mara! It sure became oppressive that day... as I said at the time, for me to get a headache is almost unheard of and mine was raging by the time we got to Edin too... but am glad you are able to look back with enjoyment! YAM xx

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    1. Next time I'm around we will have another good look. Promise!

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  4. ...oh good, so glad you are thinking of a next time!! Yxx

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  5. Sounds like you had a lovely trip. I am so amazed with these horse heads. I am putting them on my bucket list!

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Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!