Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Scotland’

Facts About The Edinburgh Festival

March 30th, 2011 No comments

The Edinburgh Festival is known as the biggest cultural occasion in the whole world. The origins can be tracked back to the late 1940s when the Edinburgh international Festival was created. Each year, the festival is growing in size and popularity as more people from around the globe decide to pay a visit to the region and take part in the various festivals. The Edinburgh Festival is really not just one event but a number of independent festivals all happening within a 3 or 4 week timeframe.

One of the most discussed among these festivals is definitely the Edinburgh International Book Festival which takes place within the last 3 weeks of August on a yearly basis. It happens in Charlotte Square which is within the center of Edinburgh. Claiming as being the largest festival of this sort anywhere, this particular book festival offers many political and cultural discussions and debates combined with the popular children’s program.

One more well-known Edinburgh Festival is referred to as the Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This festival has been given fantastic reviews coming from a variety of news sources because of its track record of presenting award-winning entertainers and events. The festival centers around comedy, children’s performances, cabaret, opera plus much more.

The Edinburgh Comedy Festival is yet another common destination. For individuals who enjoy a good chuckle, this variety of humor performances is worth visiting.

For your music devotees around the world, the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival is the place to be. For 10 days each and every year, individuals come from around the globe to hear the musical stylings of many popular entertainers along the lines of Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis among others. Annually, the music entertainers come from all corners of the globe to perform for a group of excited vacationers and locals. In addition, Scottish performers share their skills with the audience too. Needless to say, the blues is a main component to this event so other entertainers who’ve come in past times were names like BB King and Buddy Guy.

The biggest jazz celebration in the UK also has “Jazz on a Summer’s Day” that takes place out in Princes Street Gardens just under the Edinburgh Castle’s shadow. This particular event is free of charge and showcases the very best performers from the Festival.

There is plenty to do and experience during the Edinburgh Festivals every year. Individuals come from across the world to see these displays of culture and entertainment. There exists really nothing just like it in any other section of the planet, and it is growing even bigger every year.

If you are considering a Scottish vacation and you are currently looking for guest houses and Edinburgh hotels then please consider taking a look at our listings of hotels in Edinburgh

Incredible Vacations In Pitlochry, Perthshire

February 7th, 2011 No comments

Scotland is a contrasting country, gorgeous rural areas with a valuable number of jaw-dropping sites of beauty, fortified houses, historical buildings, castles and country houses contrasted by urban spaces featuring oodles of first class visitor attractions including some of the best museums and galleries in the Britain. In the article below I talk about Pitlochry, a much loved Scottish vacation destination.

The burgh of Pitlochry is situated on the banks of the River Tummel in the council area of Perth and Kinross in Scotland. Known all over earth as the “Gateway To The Highlands” the small town is very popular with hikers, hill-walkers, ramblers, mountain climbers and other tourists of that ilk. Plainly a diverse range of more activities of this type can be thoroughly enjoyed here and you will also see a superb choice of visitor attractions well worth a visit. Due to the massive appeal there is an incomparable amount of Pitlochry guesthouse and hotel accommodation, the vast majority of which are found on the high street.

Pitlochry Visitor Attractions To Visit

Blair Castle: Blair Castle can be dated as far back as the thirteenth century and is the ancestral seat of the Earls and Dukes of Atholl. The construction of Blair Castle began in the year 1269, under the guidance of John I Comyn, the Lord of Badenoch, a northern neighbor of the Earl of Atholl. The Earl was away from home, fighting in the Crusade’s, when his neighbor began to build of the castle on his land. When he returned, the Earl complained to Alexander III, the king of Scotland about his neighbor, and his lands were returned. Rather than destroying the tower than John I Comyn had built, the Earl decided to amalgamate the tower into his own castle. A Great Hall and a number of vaulted chambers were added to the castle over the centuries, by various Earls. It was the 2nd Duke of Atholl who, in 1740, decided to remodel the castle as a Georgian Mansion.

Killiecrankie Visitor Centre: During the period of the Jacobites Killiecrankie, near to Pitlochry, found itself filled with the noise of battle. The government soldiers were soundly destroyed by the rebel army of the Jacobites, under the leadership of Bonnie Dundee. During the bloodthirsty battle one of the escaping soldiers managed to leap across the River Garry, which became known as, Soldier’s Leap. The area of the Pass and gorge were a popular place of Queen Victoria. To learn facts about the famous battle one can visit the Killiecrankie Visitor Centre. The Killiecrankie Visitor Centre has a collection of otherpresentations and services, which include; a natural history of the area, guided walks and ranger service’s as well as many others.

Scottish Hydro Electric Visitor Centre: A power station is a pretty strange site for a tourist attraction, but this is just where you can discover the Scottish Hydro Electric Visitor Center. The visitor center is situated within the resplendent Pitlochry Power Station, and includes interactive exhibits tracing the development of hydro power in Scotland, dating from the nineteen forties to the present day. The Pitlochry Dam(built 1947-1951) offers visitors the fascinating opportunity to view the amazing salmon ladder through 3 viewing areas. Within the Scottish Hydro Electric Visitor Centre, you will find audio-visual presentations and interactive explaining in detail this natural phenomenon. The turbine hall of Pitlochry Power Station can also be observed from within the Visitor Center.

If you are considering visiting Scotland based in Pitlochry then you will find Pitlochry bed and breakfast online by using the search term “Pitlochry hotel accommodation” or “Pitlochry bed and breakfast” into your favorite search engine (the quotation marks/inverted commas can help greatly).

If you are thinking about taking a Pitlochry vacation please take a look at our listings of Pitlochry hotels and Pitlochry bed and breakfast

Scotland And The Clans Of The Highlands

February 19th, 2010 No comments

The Highlands of Scotland were well written about for their wars and betrayals and it is certainly accurate that from the reign of James IV in the 1490′s existence in the Highlands was somewhat tumultuous. In 1493, James went against the strong chiefs of the MacDonald Clan and forfeited the MacDonald Lord of the Isles in favour of himself and the Campbell Clan. Therefore the Campbell’s took over as powerhouse in that time at the expense of the MacDonalds.

Issues came about not merely with the MacDonalds but also with several other Scottish clans because of this unhealthy power divide that the Campbells held over everyone else. The Campbell were in such a position that they could buy up readily available land and charge a kind of rent upon anybody who wanted to utilize the area for cows or sheep. The MacLeans were especially aggrieved Clan. As a sidenote here, the word Clan originates from the Gaelic word “clann” which actually signifies “children”.

It would seem this can signify any person inside a clan were strongly related however this was not the case. Only the higher echelons of the specific clan were associated with the chiefs. All others simply saw the chief as the leader rather than as a relative as such.

The particular system of clans came from a mixture of early Celtic idealism and feudal ways, the main point being the ownership of lands. The clan chief was the owner of the lands of the clan and he had the capability to grant the land out to his fellow clans men. The status of a clan nonetheless wasn’t necessarily about the amount of land that the family owned or operated but more concerning the number of males the clan could possibly muster to be able to fight in war. Because of the Highlands being extremely militaristic they would be looked to for fighting men during the time of conflict between the King and his opponents. For the highland clans this became problematic because they often became embroiled in lowland politics.

When James VI came to be King however, civil war broke out. When he called on the clans to assist the Campbells decided otherwise. It was not just the Campbells who were to cause issues for James – he extirped (sent away) the clan MacGregor in 1603, and in 1609 he introduced new laws in to force which limited all clan chiefs from utilizing and abusing their earlier powers.

More can be learned about the colourful history of Scotland at visit Scotland.

The Resort Town Of Oban – Argyll And Bute

January 8th, 2010 No comments

A quick look at the town of Oban – Argyll and Bute reveals a piece of classic Scottish town living in a very large local council area. Located on the Firth of Forth, the town has a year-round population of about 8200 people and is the largest of its sort between Helensburgh and Fort William. In the tourist season, Oban’s population can swell to as much as 25,000 people.

Oban also is gifted by its location on Oban Bay, a nearly perfect inlet of horseshoe-shaped proportions. Its weather also is moderated because of its proximity to Kerrera island, which sits in the bay and which is further sheltered by the very large Isle of Mull. The town benefits from its proximity also to a collection of mountains known as the Morvern and Ardgour as well as the Isle of Lismore.

Within the country, Oban is sometimes called the Gateway to the Isles and can boast that nearly 10% of its population speaks the native Scottish tongue known as Gaelic. Also, the town features a number of attractions of historical or other note, including a Scotch whiskey distillery and a number of castles famous in Scottish history.

Many tourists stay in and around the town in order to go out and explore the wider region known as Kilmartin Glen. That particular area is known for the quality of its Neolithic and Bronze Age remnants and ancient monuments. There are also remnants of an ancient fortress nearby in the Glen, which many tourists and sightseers make a special effort to visit.

In recent history, the town has also played a significant role as a port for World War II Royal Navy and merchant ships as well as having a role during the Cold War. At that time, Oban was the site where the transatlantic communications cable that was used by the leaders of the USSR and the US to communicate via a “Hot Line” came out of the water.

In Scotland itself, the town is also known for being the host of one of the most famous Gaelic festivals of its kind in the country, the Mod. It first took place back in 1892, as a matter of fact. Over here, it is perhaps best known as being a sister town to Laurinberg, North Carolina. Back in Scotland, its location at the western end of the A85 makes it accessible by one and all.

Argyll and Bute, the local council area that the town calls home, can boast of almost 92,000 residents. It also has many miles of scenic coastline — up to 3000 of them when all of its islands are added in — that can rival some of the finest coastline in terms of scenic beauty in the world. In fact, it probably has more coastline than does France. Both the town and the council area are very beautiful and very Scottish.

To find a hotel in Lincoln just click here.

Glasgow – City Of Glasgow Is One Of The Grandest Of All Cities In Europe

December 9th, 2009 No comments

The city of Glasgow is the third most populous city in all of the United Kingdom and the largest city in Scotland. Located in the west central lowlands along the River Clyde Glasgow is one of the most historic cities in all of United Kingdom. Glasgow originated as the home of the archdiocese of Glasgow. This originated with the reign of David Prince of the Cumbrians but it is believed that the earliest bishop in the archdiocese of Glasgow were the appointees of the Archbishop of York during the 11th century.

Glasgow played a major role in the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th-century. The Enlightenment period involved a large number of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. During this Enlightenment Scotland became one of the most literary countries in all of Europe. It became the norm for Scottish citizens to become literate. In fact it is believed that over 75% of all citizens were, literate in 18th-century. This is a staggering number in comparison to other countries at the time. The University of Glasgow played a huge role in the Enlightenment.

It was during the 18th century that Glasgow grew to become one of the major trading hubs for trans-Atlantic trade between Europe and the Americas. Further growth within the city of Glasgow occurred as a result of the industrial revolution. During this period Glasgow became one of the worlds pre-dominate centers of engineering and shipbuilding. It was during this period that Glasgow became known as the second city of the British Empire. In current times Glasgow plays a huge role in financial and business segments of Scotland,

During this period Glasgow earned the title of the second city of the British Empire. Glasgow still plays a major role in the business and financial segments of Scotland today. This city is also one of the prime tourist destinations in the world.

In recent items Glasgow has become a major tourist destination for travelers from all over the world. One of the reasons for this is the grand structures that make up Glasgow’s proud architectural history. There are many structures in Glasgow that provide testimony to worlds long gone. One of the most visited of these structures is the Provands Lordship.

The Glasgow Cathedral, which stands in the center of Cathedral Square, was built in the same spot where the patron saint of Glasgow saint Mungo built his original church. Built before the Reformation this is an outstanding example of Gothic architecture.

The Cathedral of Glasgow is one of the few remaining Scottish medieval churches most of these churches were unroofed during the Reformation. This structure is just one of the reasons that Glasgow is recognized as one of the grandest cities in all of Europe to visit. Glasgow is truly one of the best attractions in all of Great Britain.

Find your next Glasgow hotel here.