Scotland V b: Fort George

Rounded the day off with a dinner at McGonagall again, followed by live folk music at the Hootananny - fiddles, flutes and guitars, footstomping and highland dancing. All round good fun! On my way back to the hotel I was harassed by a friendly drunk, who became positively giddy when he heard I was Norwegian. There were numerous handshakes and assurances that I was always welcome in Scotland, and that the Scots loved Norwegians, etc, etc. Even the drunks are nice to me up here, is it any wonder I love the place?

Anyway... as promised, here are the pics from the middle ages thingy out at Fort George earlier today. It's an interesting place in itself, being a rare combination of museum and functioning military facility and definitely worth a visit. Click on the pics for a larger version.


An old guard room, containing a humorous, heartfelt "Soldier's Prayer":




It's a huge place:




The quiet before the storm:




"It's just a flesh wound"




The archer presentation was hilarious. This guy was a real show man and managed to insult just about everybody while yet managing to teach us a bit. They also pulled a Wilhelm Tell stunt on some poor bastard.




From the jousting tournament, which I thought was a bit disappointing. The presenter just tried too hard, and quickly became annoying . The whole setup was too childish for my taste, and not informative at all. If I wanted the Disney version, I'd have gone to Florida.








There were several tents on the other side of the square from the jousting arena. People were demonstrating weaponry and fighting techniques, arts and crafts, ancient games, food, etc.




"The meteor flag of England..."