In and Around Montrose

For the last week we've been hanging out in Montrose and visiting the local country side and townships.

First time either of us saw a charge area for electric cars was in Montrose

We visited the beach at Auchmithie 

Went for a walk along the St Cyrus beach, found a cool little cave and jelly fish.

There was a crazy amount of dead crabs along this beach, so I had to make a crab out of crabs.

There were little abandoned houses along the coast that fishermen used to stay in. This is the fireplace from inside one.

At the end of the walk we came across an old graveyard. There's a local poet buried here.  He had a crush on a girl who rejected him, he then pretty much instantly shot himself in the head. There was also a little house in the corner of the graveyard where a caretaker used to live. The graveyard needed constant watch due to body snatchers.

Found this bone just outside one of the graves. I think the rabbits are are working with Zombies.

This is the Montrose Steeple. You can pretty much see it from anywhere in town.

This is Fasque House, owned by the Glastone Family. (It was sold 5 years ago and it now used for weddings and things, but some of the estate is still owned by the Gladstone Family). William Ewart Gladstone, British Prime Minister that Gladstone Queensland is named after, used to live here.

We saw a beautiful peacock in the car park

And they let us take some photos out the front even though they were preparing for a wedding. 

We went for a drive to Aberlemno and saw these stones that were worked by the Picts (local tribe of people) between the 7th and 9th Century. Harley Davidson is also from this area. We think we drove past his house but we couldn't see a plaque.

A quick whip around Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee

On Wednesday we took the train down to Edinburgh to spend two nights at the Fringe (the largest arts festival in the world). After a few hours in Edinburgh amongst the chaos we had an impromptu climb up Arthur's seat, a hill in the middle of the city that offers great views.

It's a romantic hill

View from the Top

We were lucky enough to score tickets to see David O'Doherty (Often mistaken for Chris O'Dowd) and about 10 minutes after we bought the tickets he actually walked right past us. Unfortunately we didn't see anymore shows at the fringe due to a combination of jet lag, sickness and excessive walking, but at least our one show was a good one.

David O'Doherty doing his thing

Some more sights from around Edinburgh:

St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary's Cathedral

Dog Cemetery at Edinburgh Castle

View of the Wheel and Scott Monument from Edinburgh Castle

Inside the Castle

Friday we headed off to Glasgow for a two days to get Alex a new passport and visit a friend. Tasty brunch was had (tried black pudding for the first time - surprisingly nice). We also had a walk around Hogwarts (The University of Glasgow) and met Clyde, the Mascot for the Commonwealth Games at the Art Gallery and Museum. The final debate for an Independent Scotland was held at the museum 2 days after we were there.

Clyde

Inside the Museum

Hogwarts

Sunday night was a quick stay in Dundee to visit another friend. We saw the Yes Campaign out in force. Dundee isn't really a tourist destination but seems an interesting place. Grand Theft Auto was created there and there's a cancer research centre.

Graffiti in Dundee

We're Alive!

Just a quick little post to say that after about 36 hours of travel (Brisbane - Melbourne - Qatar - Edinburgh - Montrose) we are safe, sound and warm in Alex's family home.

The Base in Montrose

Within our first 10 hours in Scotland we had already shamelessly consumed a pizza crunch (half a margarita pizza battered and deep fried - found in Fish and Chip shops). The days long, with the sun going down about 9pm, adding further confusion to the body clock. The weather changes it's mind often. During a walk around town it varied from cold and windy, to sunny and warm, back to cold and windy and then some drizzle. Today, for the first time in Scotland, I (Ness) was able to wear just a T-shirt outside (It lasted for about 5 minutes before the weather turned again).