Shallowford Presbyterian Youth

Thanks to everyone for keeping up with our journey over the last two weeks. We had a wonderful trip and it could not have been possible without all of your love and support. Here is a recap video with some of the highlights from our trip. Enjoy.  

Scotland Tour Highlights from Jay York on Vimeo.

 

Yesterday was a great day spent mostly in the home of golf. If you play or have ever played or even watched golf, standing on the fairways at St. Andrews is a pretty magical experience. We started off with great weather for our walking tour of St. Andrews. We saw the University, a few more old castles and cathedrals, and maybe even a toilet that William or Kate used on their first date! (Tori has the picture)

After St. Andrews it was off to the smaller town of Fife for a concert. We arrived with only 5 hours to kill before the show. After rearranging the entire sanctuary, and warming up, the kids got a chance to run around and let off some steam. It was another great concert and we even had some people that heard us in Perth come to another show because they enjoyed it so much. Nice to be famous.

The kids were riding high after the show and sang on the bus the whole way back to the hotel. Today is back to Edinburgh again for a tour of the Old Towne Jail, Edinburgh castle, and a ghost tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday on our way from Inverness to Aberdeen, we decided to take a detour from the four lane motorway where we might accidentally run into the Olympic torch, and instead we took perhaps the narrowest, curviest, hilliest road in all of Scotland. Somehow we only managed to make three people sick in the process, but another ten minutes and I think we could have tipped the scales.

All this took us to Balmoral Castle which is the Royal Families version of Camp David. It was an impressive compound with wonderful gardens, river walks, stables, etc. We couldn't see too much of the inside but we did walk through the ballroom, and see some of the queens former dresses. As we arrived, two rather official looking helicopters flew overhead. Come to find out, Prince Charles and Camilla arrived just as we did in preparation for the Olympic torch ceremony at the castle. Needless to say, we left just before the torch arrived.

 

After Balmoral, it was off to Aberdeen and Dyce Parish for a concert, dinner, and ceilidh. In one of the smaller spaces we have sung in, the choir did great. Despite making some adaptations and changes to accommodate the space, the almost capacity crowd loved every minute of it. Afterwards, we were treated to another ceilidh. This time was slightly different than the first, but they did a wonderful job of teaching all of the dances and everyone had a great time. If nothing else, it was a chance for some of our newly budding romances to have an excuse to dance with each other (no I will not give any names)!

This morning was our earliest yet so we would have plenty of time to get to Edinburgh in time to eat and shop before singing at St. Giles cathedral. We spent a couple hours on the Royal Mile and I am pretty sure that every ATM on the street ran out of money. The good news is, if our hotel goes up in flames tonight, I think we have enough wool and cashmere scarves to tie together and get everyone out safely.

There are certain places that are just made for singing. St Giles is definitely one of them. It was so incredible special to see and hear our kids singing in such a spectacular space, to see Emily and Claire get to conduct, to hear the way the sound lingers, etc. There were lots of people in and out as we sang, and I think we even developed some real fans during our 30 minute performance. Surely something that they will not soon forget.



After singing it was back to Dundee to the hotel for the night. Admittedly, I think we are all at least partly excited to be in a hotel tonight to catch up on our rest. Visiting each night with our host families has been so meaningful, but it's nice to turn the switch off and relax for a couple nights. For even more of a taste of home, the kids had KFC and McDonalds right across from the hotel tonight and as I write many of them are next door at the movie theater during their free time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow it's off for a tour of St. Andrews and an evening concert in Fife.

 

Don't really have any earth shattering news to report today. We sang in worship this morning, went out to explore Inverness a little more, and then had a concert and a BBQ tonight. Another full house for the show, and the youth were able to blow off some steam tonight at the BBQ so it was another good day.

Tomorrow we are off to Aberdeen by way of, you guessed it, another castle.

Tonight, I go to bed before 1:30 for the first time on the trip! We'll have more pictures tomorrow.

 

Another great day yesterday. We boarded the bus bright and early for our longest bus ride of the tour so far at just over two hours time to Inverness. As we made our way closer and closer to Inverness, the fog and rain started to roll in and we just knew that these were going to make for ideal Nessy spotting conditions on Loch Ness. We met up with the Wikle and Thatcher families and boarded the boat for our short cruise over to Urqhart castle and back.

Several of the kids are still convinced that they saw "something" amidst the white caps and shadows. We didn't manage to get any pictures of her, but we did get some great shots of the youth.

Aside from running on castle walls, throwing the frisbee on the grass, and swimming in the frigid lake, we almost managed to stay out of trouble at the castle this time. Boys will be boys. After our tours, it was off to Crown Church. This is a wonderful church who has hosted us before so we knew what to look forward to. After dinner in our host homes, we gathered back at the church for a Ceilidh.

We listened to them sing, and recite poetry, watched them do some of the more difficult traditional dances, and then they taught us many of the familiar group dances. After about thirty minutes the awkward, middle school dance, boys on one side girls on the other, I don't dance feeling had disappeared and everyone covered the dance floor. It was a wonderful celebration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Today we sing in worship, tour the streets of Inverness during the day and then come back for a concert and BBQ tonight.

 

 

We are coming down the home stretch to the final hours of what has been such a wonderful first stop. Everything from the welcome to the continued hospitality, the food and accommodations, the sightseeing, the amazing energy and enthusiasm at our first concert. Perth has really set the bar high and we will definitely be sad to leave these new friends behind.

We spent a few hours in early afternoon wandering the streets of Perth. Sadly, our bus dropped us off right at the entrance to an indoor "shopping mall" and Claire's was the the first thing our kids hit. Eventually they wandered out a little farther and found more useless things to spend their money on. After a short bus ride to the church, it was time for warmups. It was apparent that the tours and the walking had taken their toll as the kids yawned their way through rehearsal, but after a wonderful potluck spread at dinner and 147 meringues the boys especially were alive and well.

It was a good thing too, because the Kinnoull Parish had gone all out in their publicizing our event. we woke this morning to find an article in the local paper highlighting "a top American choir that was in town for a concert" and found the sanctuary later that evening full of paying, yes paying guests. It was one of those concerts where you can tell from the reactions, that the audience really enjoyed and appreciated what they were hearing.We even got a full video recording of the performance and a reception following.








Tomorrow we have a date with Nessy and Urquhart Castle before a Ceilidh in Inverness.

 

Well after many long hours of traveling, we have finally arrived in Perth. It wasn't quite like the airport scene from Home Alone, but the transfer in London certainly was not as smooth as it could have been. The nice young ladies at the customs clearance were convinced that we were a traveling show choir that was in their country to make money. I think we fooled them with the snazzy, professional looking t-shirts we were all wearing.
Eventually, we all made it to the gate for our flight to Glasgow with at least 15 minutes to spare. After just a very short flight, we were greeted there by a charming, kilted man who directed us to baggage claim where every single one of our bags were waiting! Well except for parts of the cross and candle stand, but supposedly those will be shipped to us tomorrow.



The double decker bus is surprisingly roomy, with plenty of storage space for both us and our luggage, at least for now. Despite the Scotland drizzle, we walked around downtown Glasgow just long enough to find out you don't go to Scotland to get good pizza, to exchange money, and to practice looking the "wrong way" first before crossing the street. After that it was back on the bus for the hour plus ride to Perth. Along the way the kids got to see the first glimpses of the real Scotland we have come to love. Rolling green hills, windmills, sheep-filled pastures, and round-a-bouts.




We were pleasantly surprised to arrive in Perth to a car park full of people waving banners and signs as if Justin Bieber had just rolled into town, and we were even serenaded by our very own bag piper. There was lots of energy and enthusiasm as families cramped into Scottish sized cars, suitcases and all.


Tomorrow, we tour Scone Palace in the morning, and then we switch gears slightly and begin rehearsing for our first concert of the tour at Kinnoull Parish Church in Perth. It's been a long 36 hours but we are ready to finally settle into some sort of routine. Ride. Eat. Sing.