Tuesday, September 15, 2009

You know you're in Scotland when...

You see the Scottish blue and white blowing in the breeze,

with a huge crowd that came to watch...

lovely young ladies dressed like this and dancing like that,

with men in skirts playing the bagpipes,

marching in a parade and competing for a prize,

as a guy like this successfully tosses a heavy caber,

as tall as this and as heavy as I'm not sure what.

(This is known as the "Caber Toss" wherein a fellow a.k.a. "strong man" tosses a huge, heavy piece of wood as if holding a pencil by its eraser with careful balancing, running forward to toss it in the air with the hopes of it landing on its point and further falling forward with the eraser end far away from where he started directly in front of him).

While in Scotland at these "Highland Games", you might also see...

a guy like this who is apparently officiating and greeting people and loves being there,

a young fellow playing his bagpipes, with a desire to be the best, in front of two judges (who are tapping their feet as they listen to him play),

while men assume this position for at least 15 minutes before even starting the tug-o-war,

who look like this in the midst of the tugging.

Those same "strong men" hurl this heavy metal object round and round tossing it as far as they can possibly make it go,

as this guy attempts for at least the third time to toss that caber,

which this guy was also successful at doing,

while these guys play and play as the crowd joyfully listens.

We have been to two Scottish Highland Games in the past year and love having had the opportunity. Click on the button to find out more.

I'll be posting more pictures of our weekend up in Scotland soon.

11 comments:

Joyce said...

What wonderful pictures! Looks like you were very lucky with the weather too : ) I love Scotland-have you been to the Tattoo in Edinburgh? It's held weekends in August and its terrific...you have to book tickets far in advance if you're interested.

Love the tug of war picture especially...that's awesome!

julie l said...

It is sure good to read what you guys have been up to. AWESOME post. Looks like it was so much fun. Have a great week. julie :)

He & Me + 3 said...

Wow those pictures were amazing and it looks so fun. I have seen it on TV before, but never up close and personal. What an experience. How cool.

Darcie said...

My 15 year old daughter would DIE to be there. She has a thing for Scotland and her greatest dream right now is to go someday. Enjoy every moment!

Eyeglasses & Endzones said...

That is amazing! I love the tug o war pictures! Those were great!

Penny said...

What awesome pictures!!! I want to go to Scotland!

Tara Steffen Fotos said...

Wow Carol! That's awesome to see it for REAL! I've seen it on TV, but never live! Great shots too!

Five Moms & A Blog said...

Wow, what cool pictures!!! I'll never get anything like that around here...in Texas. For some reason Cowboys & Kilts just don't mix.

Glad you enjoyed the HTML tips! Hope you find some use for them.

Erica

Rachel said...

WOW that looks like so much fun!! What an experience! When can I come visit?? ;)

McCrakensx4 said...

Oh how I would love to visit Scotland espeically to see the Highland games! Both of my grandmothers were born there and I have always wanted to go! What fun and great story with pics!

Heart2Heart said...

Carol,

This looks like so much fun! I would completely be getting into the spirit of the events!

I often wonder if these men have bad backs or visit the chiropractor often! Yikes!

Love and Hugs ~ Kat