I don’t know why _I_ never see naked men emerging from bodies of water. Not looking at the right moment, I suppose.
Doug and I had a lovely dinner on the 19th at Castle Stuart (which sort of has to be seen to be believed), with Alastair Cunningham and his merry tour group of Australians, all of whom _had_ been looking at the right moment, earlier in the day, when they paused to have a look for Nessie and instead beheld a local gentleman emerging from the loch “in all his glory,” as one lady put it. “I couldn’t believe it; it was only _that_ long!” (fingers held about two inches apart). (Well, Loch Ness _is_ very cold, after all.)
The one drawback to Castle Stuart is its internet connections; as the castle was built in 1625, it’s rather impervious to modern wiring (though they did somehow manage to do remote-controlled fires. Really—you point a little box at the fireplace and poof! Fire. Push the button and it burns higher, push the other one and it burns lower. Click again, and poof! It goes out).
After leaving Castle Stuart, we took up with independent tour guide Hugh Allison (whom I met many years ago, when he was working at the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre) for a four-day journey around the north and west of Scotland, to places we’d never been. And _what_ places!
[Isle of Stroma - image from Wikipedia]
Orkney, for one. We took the ferry from the mainland, going past the Isle of Stroma—where the entire population emigrated en masse in the 1960′s, leaving their houses deserted. Eerie place, but well populated with puffins, who whirled off the island like a hurricane of fish-eating autumn leaves, some couple of thousand of them wheeling round the ferry, close enough to see their amazing bills.
[Image courtesy of The Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds - www.rspb.org]
I’ll tell you more about all the cool things we’ve seen—Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, Maeshowe, etc.—but right now it’s the middle of the night at Culloden House, and we’re leaving in the morning to drive to Edinburgh (pausing to walk the battlefield at Sheriffsmuir on the way), and I wanted to post the information about Tartan Day in Aberdeen, coming up THIS SATURDAY!
Tartan Day, Aberdeen, Scotland Saturday 30 July
RED HARLAW Premiere of Mike Gibb’s new short play (with music) with a cast that includes Allan Scott-Douglas and Michelle Bruce from the Outlander The Musical CD.
Performances at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm in the historic Drum Aisle of St Nicholas Church. Admission is free
DIANA GABALDON BOOK SIGNING Courtyard of St Nicholas Kirk between 12.00 and 1.00pm
I’ll be around most of the day, so hope to see lots of you there!
That is the coolest!
Sounds as though you and Doug are having the most wonderful time. Enjoy the view, soak up Scotland into your bones and then you can do what do so incredibly well: paint the word masterpeices that let us see what YOU see, without letting us lose our own imagination in the bargain.
Safe trip, safe home.
Pat D in PA
We LOVE Scotland! A couple of years ago we had a week in Inverness staying in a house called ‘ The Green Bothy’ it was a fantastic week! Culloden has a very strong atmosphere, and we heard stories of how people have noticed how birds do not sing, nor flowers grow on the side that many of the Scots died on. Also as we drove past, we noticed the grass has a red tinge. We can’t wait to go back.
Wow! I cant believe its been almost a month since your last post! Hope youre enjoying your “holiday” ;-D
Wow. Sounds like you are having an amazing time! Thanks for sharing and please tell us more of your Scotland adventures! Enjoy!!
In May 2010, we tour Scotland and one of the places for me to go was Orkney, what a marvel!. The ring of Brodgar was my favorite, and the town of Kirkwall, we ended up the Scotish visit also a Castle Stuart, that we ha all for ourselves for a day!
But the visit left me just with the taste of it , have to go back for much more!
Enjoy the trip!
Dalma
It sounds like you are having a great trip. Thanks for sharing- it makes me want to make a trip over there someday.
We went to Orkney on our honeymoos, it’s a magical place and surprisingly sunny in July!
Um, that would be honeymoon, honeymoos are cows that produce sweet milk…
Such a shame I can’t make it up to Aberdeen this weekend – no chance of you venturing further south on this trip (say, London!!). Sounds like you are having a great trip – enjoy!!
Dear Diana,
What is it with you and naked men emerging from bodies of water?!? (ref. Jamaica Feb. 2011)
Alright, now keep your eyes open for any sightings at Tartan Day {wink}
Glad you are enjoying your trip.
Have fun!
Apparently Diana’s appeal is such that it causes clothes to just drop off of men, no matter what country she’s in – or if the hubby is Right There! Lol…well, maybe not “naked” men in Aberdeen but possibly a strong breeze now and then for all those kilted men….to cool off if the weather is a bit warm, aye? I’m just saying……… {wink}
Scotland…castles…naked men! One can dream, sigh….
It sounds like you’re having a wonderful time! It really makes me want to go back to Scotland. I miss it so much. Safe and happy travels to you Diana!
Are you planning on doing any book signings while you’re in Edinburgh? I’m here with my husband getting my Master’s degree in Highland Studies and learning Scottish Gaelic (of all things! You might be happy to know your books were the final push to get me to come and do it). Still working on my dissertation, due in next month. I’d absolutely love to meet you, even if it’s just for a fleeting moment while you sign one of your books for me. If not, perhaps next time you’re in Asheville, NC, that’s where I’m from and unfortunately hadn’t begun reading your books the last time you were there. Take care.
Le gach deagh dhurachd,
Caitlin Foreman
from black currant thoughts.
Dear Caitlin–
No–the Edinburgh stop is just personal; visiting the (potential) in-laws. {g} I’ll be signing in Aberdeen on the 30th, for Tartan Day, but that’s the only public appearance this trip.
–Diana
Oh, well I understand that for sure. Enjoy your visit, hopefully the weather will stay lovely, sunny and warm for you–though it’s looking a bit grey just now. I’d try to make it up to Aberdeen if I wasn’t so bogged down with this dissertation (and near the end of my student loan), but enjoy that as well! Hopefully I’ll be able to catch you the next time you’re near Asheville, my husband and I are moving back in September, having to say goodbye to bonny Scotland.
For now though, I just want to thank you immensely for the stories you have given your readers. Your writing has inspired me in so many ways. When I was thinking about applying to the University of Edinburgh for Highland Studies, I was a bit wary, not sure if I should (I was reading the Outlander series at the time)–then I saw that the head of the program was a James Fraser! Hah! I took it as a sign, applied, and now here I am, with my husband, enjoying a year here and adventures a plenty. I’m also a writer, and your writing never ceases to inspire and challenge me, so thank you for that as well.
I hope the remainder of your trip is just brilliant.
Caitlin
Caitlin,
How interesting, getting a degree in Highland studies. I live only down the hill in piedmont NC, I’d love to hear more about your adventures when you get back.
Sure! That’d be fun, I still can’t really believe that I’m really here doing this degree! I write about it on my blog, which I linked in my original comment, if you’d like to read more about my adventures over here. I don’t update as much as I’d like, but with a dissertation to be written I suppose I’ve got an excuse.
Caitlin
Caitlin, I read your blog yesterday. You have a wonderful way of writing and it is obvious you and your husband are enjoying your time in Scotland. Happy Anniversary, a little late!
Lisa
Lisa,
Thank you so much! Your words are so encouraging.
Caitlin
Er, you did accidentally photograph a naked man in the Brazillian jungle or some such though, didn’t you? Sounds like you didn’t miss out on much with the Loch Ness version.
I salivate at the thought of seeing Scotland one day.
Enjoy
Skinny dipping in Loch Ness takes a certain amount of toughness. Dangly bits tend to retreat to where it is warmest. Enjoy your trip “nekkid” men and all! Share as much of your travels as you can, here, or in one of the books. You write most of it off as research right?
I’ll get there someday!
Safe travels
Vicki
Skarra Brae is AMAZING and the Ring of Brodgar is one of the most stunning circles in Britain!
I enjoyed a mystical sunrise from the center of the Ring at 4:00AM one summer morning a couple of years back. The event has stuck with me.
Have you been to Loanhead of Daviot? That is another circle that touched me – I watched the stars dance over that one on a cool summers night in 1998.
Sheriffmuir eh? That’s just to the NE of Dunblane if I remember rightly. Do go into Dunblane, though, as it is a very beautiful little place with quirky streets here and there, as well as the more modern housing. The cathedral there is really lovely; it’s a pity all we remember Dunblane for is the massacre of those children and their teachers all those years ago.
Pity you can’t make it to St Andrews but it takes about an hour more or less due east from Dunblane and then a further hour or so into Edinburgh, this time going south. It is well worth a visit if you have time.
I’ve never seen a naked man on vacation! Me thinks I’m going to the wrong places!
I have been flashed a few times, I could of done w/o those.
Happy Trails!
Michelle
Dear Michelle–
I _have_ actually seen a naked man while on a book tour (I didn’t actually _see_ either of these water-emerging naked men–very unfair). It was in a German hotel; I was up at 4:30 AM, packing to leave for the next city, and looked out my window to check the weather–only to see a tallish gent standing at _his_ window one floor down, on the opposite side of a light well. He was smoking a cigarette and evidently meditating on the universe, stark naked and entirely visible down to mid-thigh. Not markedly impressive {cough}, but a trifle startling.
–Diana
I once was the Night Manager for a large hotel chain. My team did the night audit to close the books and also staffed the front desk. Now and then a man would get confused in the dark and find himself in the corridor instead of the loo.. and the door would close behind him!
The poor soul would make his way to the front desk to ask for a key card. One man approached us carrying a potted plant in front of him. Another just hollered from the elevator. It happened at least 5 times that I can remember, but never to a woman.
What did we do? We can’t hand out keys to just anyone.. we had to ask for ID !
>>Not markedly impressive {cough}, but a trifle startling.<<
Was it cold?
Sounds like another great trip to Scotland for you. Does it feel a little like going home since you have written so much about the places there?
To quote a phrase from Seinfeld, “Like a frightened turtle!”
I guess I’ve been luckier than others since I have actually seen naked men rising out of water twice! Once on the island of Oahu, Hawaii and the other time in Nebraska, USA. So now I know for sure I have something in common with Diana. Visited Scotland in May, 2010 and was blown away with the beauty of the place and the wonderful people there! Love all her books!
Sounds like you are having fun, I hope my fellow Ozzies are keeping you well entertained
(to go off the subject a tad) just finished reading the series (again) and every time i finish the series i re-read the part about when book 8 is coming out in hopes that that has changed 
but it still says the same thing lol so i can only hope that book 8 with ready for purchase on the 1st January 2012.
Please keep blogging with LOTS of photos, as i know I (and im sure everyone else) loves hearing what your are doing and seeing.
Amy from Australia