Kelpies

The second part of the first day was even better!

The Kelpies are giant horse head statutes near Falkirk, in a massive park. It would have been great to spend more time int he park but we really came to see the Kelpies. Dad was a little unsure on this part of the trip (how impressive can a couple of horse head statues be?) but even he admitted it was amazing. We had a quick lunch there before going over to the Kelpies.

Near the visitors centre and restaurant, there are some smaller scale versions. These were used to tour the world before the larger versions were built to fundraise the money needed for it. Also to figure out how to actually make them! Each of the metal panels is individually shaped and had to be very careful placed. 

I have a wonderful sweet photo of my parents from their trip to see me in America. I have been trying to get another for some time. They always seem to look slightly nuts. :) I haven't managed to them to be even slightly serious for a photo yet. Which I guess is therefore an accurate picture of them.

Photos at the little kelpies.

The main statues are a fair bit bigger at 30m tall. A Kelpie is a mythical water horse, thought not a very nice one. They would wait for someone to touch them out of the water and then they could not remove their hand and would be dragged under water to drown. But the are a Scottish myth and also represent the Clydesdale horses used in the area for moving anything.

And the tour inside is pretty cool (and more than worth the entrance fee). The talk was fascinating. Like how they deliver all the pieces and laid them out nicely on some spare ground. Which was a bog. So they all sank. They ended up being moved to an Asda carpark. :)

Looking up inside the Kelpie

picture of the original horse models.

After this we had a long drive around Glasgow to get over to Saltcoats, in Ayrshire. It wasn't quite where we thought it was but it was fine.

Mom and Dad got a full scottish experience when the police came to the caravan we were staying in a couple of times the first night. The second time the police were accompanied with a drunk and bleeding gentleman who thought he was staying in our caravan.  The police were attempting to get him home but had no clue where that was. All (police and drunk) were very polite and apologetic about it all. 

Welcome to Scotland!

Buckingham Palace

Last weekend I got a ticket to visit Buckingham Palace (the gallery, mews and state rooms). I got there a bit early (you have timed entry) so stopped for a cup of tea and something to eat. It turned out to be the most expensive cup and tea and biscuits I have ever had. And the biscuits weren't even very big!

The gallery is nice but I am just not that into historical art. Especially as I had no idea why I was looking at Venetian art at an English palace.

Some of the sketches of the theatre parts were interesting.

You are supposed to spend about 1 hr 15 mins around the gallery. I was bored within 10 mins. Though it took another 5 mins to find the way out.

The next stop was the Royal Mews. Which apparently doesn't actually house any horses. There are the carriages, though they all looked the same to me and the numbers on the information had no relation to the numbers on the audio guide. 

The only one with real information was the jubilee carriage. From what I can gather, most of it is made from old material but is newly built.

Jubilee carriage.

Distinct lack of horses

The only horses were plastic!

The main carriage (the name I forgot) was very dramatic, and I think used for the coronations.

A lot of gold leaf.

Neptune.

I managed to spend about 20 mins there before I ran out of things to do and had a while before my next entry so went for lunch before the state rooms. 

On entry they had 3 metal detector to get about 250 people through every 15 minutes. So chaos. 

Once I got in, it was better. You can't take any photos inside, but it was the only bit worth seeing. Though I would have liked some more information about what was going on. 

From the gardens.

Overall it was a giant disappointment. Windsor was so much better, with more information and much better organisation. 

Through the garden on the way.

The day was not helped by mass chaos at the tube so it took me ages to get home on the overground. Hoping this weekend will be better. I'm back in the centre of London but this time on a food tour. :)

Pumpkins and Pizza

On Saturday I went with Steve and Eva to a few fall festivals. The first was at a Horse farm. We got here as they were opening so things were still getting going but there was still plenty to do. Starting with an assault course.

Race around the cones

They had lots of pumpkins around, as does everywhere at the moment. Apparently painted pumpkins are just as common as carved ones around here.

Painted pumpkins

There was a pony ride, trail rides, and tractor rides. So Eva went on a pony ride.

Looking a bit cautious (it was big pony)

Lucky the pony

We did get tickets for the tractor ride but no one seemed to know what was going on. I thought about offering to drive but doubted anyone would get on the back if I did! So we amused ourselves with the games around. Well, Steve and Eva amused themselves and I took photos!

Seesaw

Lassoing the "bull"

Get that bull!

It become a tug of war - Eva won of course.

The weirdest was the udder toss which just sounds wrong. It's like corn holes, where you have boards with holes in and the idea is to throw bean bags throw the holes in the opposite teams boards - very popular in tailgating (pre-football drinking and eating in car parks). Except here they had gloves filled with water to look like udders and the aim was to throw them into the opposite teams bucket.

Toss the udder 

Climbing on the hay bales

Nap time!

After the horse farm (we never did get those tractor rides), we headed to Sinklands, which is a pumpkin farm where  they have a festival throughout October. There was lots to do and very colorful.

Pumpkin scarecrows.

They had lots of pumpkins still, though this was the last week. I decided not to get one as I still have about 3 butternut squashes in my fridge. I don't think a pumpkin will fit. (I have developed a serious addiction to homemade butternut squash soup!)

Pumpkin patch

Colorful pumpkins

We got some chili and sandwiches for lunch and tried to avoid the yellow jackets (local wasps) while eating. (Eva wanted to give them her cheetos to make friends.) The sun was out and it was so nice sitting outside. It is not going to be possible for long. It is supposed to snow this coming weekend! :-(

Tractor

They had a very cute little maze which Eva enjoyed.

Headed for home!

They also had some animals to pet. My favorite was the cutest little kid I have seen in a long time!

Mini ponies.

Cute kid

I also went into my first corn maze! Eva was leading and did a very good job. (Though we did take some interesting routes which I am not convinced were actually paths.)

Corn maze

The advantage of being a kid.

After the maze, we had to go on the hay ride. (I made sure! I have never been on one before so we HAD to!) We got some kettle corn for the trip. It was only about 10 minutes but fun munching away as we bounced along.

Tasty kettle corn.

They also had a pumpkin toss - Shooting pumpkins from a sling as far as they can go, which is quite far. It seemed fun but a waste. I would rather find a way to eat them!
I was really tempted by the tiny pumpkins. I have no idea what I would do with them but they were so cute.

Lots of little ones!

The creepy Hokie bird was also out. It's a guy on stilts and very steam punk. He even had a tip jar but it was on his butt. Strange!

Steam punk Hokie bird

Last stop was for ice-cream. I stole a bit of Steve's pumpkin ice-cream, which was tasty but I had eaten way too much kettle corn by this point. (And Eva was not going to share any of hers - she put away the whole tub!)

Tiger eyes.

More pumpkins.

They dropped me home for a few hours while Eva went to her friends Birthday party. I try to avoid those - loud! So I skyped home to catch up as my parents have been away for the week. After the party, on the way back Steve and Eva picked me up and we made pizzas. I was going to try a new recipe for the dough but forgot a few of the ingredients. :-( But thankfully I brought some bases (just in case the recipe didn't work). I was going to take photos but the kettle corn had worn off and they didn't last long enough. :-)
Eva and I curled up and watched a movie before books and bedtime dancing. It was very sweet. Steve and I then drank too much wine before I got a taxi home.
The rest of the weekend was the normal - work. :-( But needs to be done.

This week has been the usual - work. But I am going to the ballet tomorrow night which I am very excited about. It has been ages and I am looking forward to seeing the new arts centre at VT.