GreatScot! How Much Is That Jamie in the Window? – 2nd Outlandish Adventure Day 11

Hit the ground running for our first of several days of racing from one Outlander filming location to another. We started the day however at the local Co-op. A great benefit of having a house is that we can save some money by making some of our own food and keeping provisions in the car in case we don’t have time to stop and eat. Summer even got a haggis that she plans to cook in the oven (more on that later).

Shopping done, we headed south to Aberdour Castle.  This was one of my favorite stop last October and I couldn’t wait to show it off to the girls. I’m pretty sure that Summer must be related to Candida, because no sooner had I stopped the car than she was out and off. G and I stopped to buy her an entry ticket in hopes of keeping her out of the clink! The super friendly person working confirmed my memories from last year regarding the locations that were used by the Outlander production: the stable block, Long Gallery and Old Kitchen.

We haven’t yet seen Aberdour on any of the episodes that have aired, so our suspicions that Aberdour is being used for the Abbey are likely correct. I think I may have even spied the Stable Block in the preview for episode 116. Will find out next weekend for sure!

After Aberdour, we headed over to Falkland to immerse ourselves in make-believe Inverness. It was there we noticed a trend developing. There were PocketJamie’s in several windows. Believing it might be some kind of Outlander fan distress call, we popped in to make sure all was well. Much relieved, we took the required photos in GhostJamie pose and then popped in to Campbell’s for a spot of lunch. G and I were unable to make up our minds, so we split everything we ordered while S looked on smugly drinking her cappuccino.

Next, we headed to Culross, where in a time honored tradition of traveling with me, we arrive 6 minutes past last entry for the Culross Palace and Gardens (where outside Castle Leoch scenes were filmed between Claire and Geillis). We contented ourselves with a few peeks over the wall and up the hill and then vowed to find time to come back later in the week. We did walk up to Mercat Cross and I was finally able to snap a few pics of the Duncan house without all the scaffolding that was on it last October. We then made our way out-of-town to the West Kirk, my absolutely favorite Outlander film location so far. I wasn’t brave enough to try to drive the car quite all the way to the Kirk this time though after hearing a story of someone dislodging their gas tank. Braving the whipping winds, we walked the last quarter-mile or so.

Beginning to fade, we made our way back home for the evening. We need to rest up a bit for a full day of chasing Outlander locations with our favorite medieval PhD student and Outlandish Baker, Steph, especially since goodies have been promised! We made a couple of pit stops to fill up the car with petrol and get the ingredients for a special something to celebrate our success with tomorrow evening. Wonder which Outlander Kitchen recipe it could possibly be? Stay tuned!

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Slàn leat an-dràsta!

 

GreatScot! Looking for Ghosts – 2nd Outlandish Adventure – Day 5

Slept in a bit this morning but luckily suffered no ill effects from last night’s excesses. 😉 We had Irn Bru just in case, but ended up heading downstairs to eat a good breakfast instead.

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Soon enough we piled into the car to find some adventure. We decided since the weather was not too bad to head up towards Falkland in search of ghost Jamie. After navigating a combination of surface streets, motorways and rural roads, we arrived in Falkland and, wonder of wonders, found a parking place right on the street. Yes, that is right. This girl parallel parked on the wrong side of the road, while driving from the wrong side of the car and only required a little help. 😉

As we made our way up the sidewalk, we paused to let a car make a turn. Much to our surprise, the driver rolled the window down and asked ‘Are you Outlander ladies?’ We replied in the affirmative. It turns out that she had been at the Outlander Gathering and recognized us. The Outlanderverse is such a small world.

We strolled around the little Falkland town centre and took our photos at the fountain and visited the shopfront used in the series for where Claire looks at the vases. We then decided to stop into Mrs. Baird’s, I mean the Covenanter Hotel, for lunch. All of us enjoyed our jacket potatoes and then I had a scone for pudding, my first since I’ve been here!

After lunch, we felt the need to stretch our legs, so we did so while touring the lovely Falkland Palace. The palace is mostly a late Victorian reconstruction of a dwelling used by Kings and Queens of Scotland for many years. The palace itself is still a Crown possession but the title of Keeper of the Palace and the right to live there is still maintained. The current title holder actually still uses the Keeper’s lodging and we were shown the spot where he usually puts up the tree at Christmas.

As we made our way through the palace, I had my hands full keeping the other girls in line. 😉 Luckily. I have some previous experience with that. 😉

After finishing the tour of the palace, we headed back up the street to the car when, lo and behold, what did we find but more Outlanders! We spent several minutes hugging and chatting with Karen, Sheila and Deb before bundling back into the car for our next location.

We headed towards Culross, dodging showers the entire way. And after only I little searching (and one stop at the tourist information office) managed to find our way to the West Kirk, also known as Outlander’s Black Kirk. I was rather proud of finding my way back without Miss S. telling me where to turn every step of the way this time. We were fortunate with the weather while we were there and even had some sun! Lu also had the opportunity to fondle yet more stones. These appeared to be Celtic carved grave slabs reused in the building of the later church.

We made it back to the car and headed back to Glasgow just in time as the rain began again. Back at the hotel, we again treated ourselves to some snacks in the lounge, albeit sticking with water this time. 🙂

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Well that’s it for today’s adventures.

Slàn leat an-dràsta!

 

Lights, Camera, Outlander! – Scotland Day 12

The day started bright and early this morning as we had an action packed day planned. I probably owe Candida the first shower tomorrow as I apparently used more than my half of the hot water. Oops. After a quick breakfast, we hit the A9 south towards Stirling where we were meeting one of the Outlander UK girls at our first Outlander filming location of the day.  We arrived right on schedule and found our compatriot with no problems. She led us on a short hike up the hill to a very familiar location to those who have either seen episode 105 – Rent or keep up with Matt B. Roberts’ pictures of the Day.

Next up, we headed over to Culross. Culross is the village used by the Outlander team for the fictional Crainesmuir as well as some of the outdoor garden scenes at Castle Leoch. The Palace itself was closed but we were able to explore the gardens to our heart’s content. We then ventured up cobblestone streets to the house that was used for Geillis and Arthur Duncan’s house. It has scaffolding because they are still in the process of returning the house to its pre-filming color. Continue reading