Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Our 10 day choir tour to Scotland

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Our day at Lindisfarne was long, windy and cold. We left the hotel at 7:45 am as our trip was dictated by the tides; many of our group wanted to do the 3 mile pilgrim’s walk to the island on the sand flats when the tide was out. DH and I and several others with various physical limitations (or aversion to walking on wet sand in the cold, windy rain) stayed on the bus for a short, dry and blessedly warm trip over the causeway. We had breakfast at a cafe while waiting for the others, who eventually arrived in a state of shock at how cold, windy, wet, etc. (I have my own ideas about whether or not God wants us to mortify the flesh to his glory; the simple answer is no!) We explored the priory ruins which were beautifully preserved in a park like setting, as well as the museum and cemetary. We performed a recital at St. Margaret’s church before leaving for Rosslyn Chapel. We jad a packed lunch on the bus which consisted of a sandwich, chips, apple, a bottle of water and one of soda. The sandwich of dry white bread with a slice of cheese and two anemic pickles was inedible, so we ate the chips and fruit and our bus driver had kindly bought a box of tea cakes that our guide handed out. They were like mallowmars only round and domed and the marshmallow was much softer. DH doesn’t like marshmallow so I ate his as well and that made a surprisingly tasty and filling albeit nutritionally inadequate, lunch.

Rosslyn Chapel was a wonder of ornate detail and we loved it. The museum has informative and well done interactive exhibits about everything from the history of the famil construction of the chapel to the origins of the green man lore.

The bus took is to Glasgow, where we are staying two nights as all the Edinburgh hotels are full of Swifties. Many of the younger choristers are going out to dinner and on the town; we skipped dinner and went straight to bed. It was a long day and DH was exhausted and I was anxious to get back to my book (the latest Cornoran Strike if you’re familiar with that series).

Saturday: we had a very full day; this was the day of two sings, not yesterday. (I should read the itinerary more closely.) An early departure after the typical hotel breakfast buffet took us to Stirling Castle. We were able to tour on our own for an hour before our recital in the chapel. Lunch afterwards was at the on site cafe and was surprisingly good. From Stirling we went back to Edinburgh for our rehearsal and Evensong with Christ Church Scottish Episcopal church. The church is smallish, old and lovely and the choir is wonderful. They had tea and coffee for us upon arrival which was very well received. Mutual introductions and chatting revealed many areas of mutual interest. One of their members has sung more than 80 years in that same church choir! He began singing when he was just eight years old and is now 89. On the anniversary of his 80th year of service he received a special recognition from their bishop, well deserved for his singing and role as their music librarian. He was the first person who spoke to me at tea and still has a firm handshake and a strong tenor.

We rehearsed in the choir stalls for several hours, practiced the processional and recessional, then went back down to the parish hall to robe up. Evensong was well attended, the pews about three quarters full including our bus driver and guide. The service went off without a hitch; all the responses were not ones we use normally and the prayers were a bit different, but we’d practiced them and got advance copies of the service leaflet and were thus prepared. The acoustics in the church were especially fine and our 36 voice combined choir sounded much grander! We assembled on the back stairs for a group photo, then we were treated to a bagpipe concert in the rectory garden. A young lady, daughter of a friend of a choir member, played for about 20 minutes with a skill that seemed far beyond her 17 years. She played a variety of tunes in what the choir told us was their antidote to Taylor Swift music 🙂. Another group picture was taken in the garden and afterwards the local choir hosted us for dinner in the hall with a tasty quiche, potato salad, a green salad and crusty French bread. Wine flowed freely and contributed to lively conversation and general hilarity. Dessert was homemade cranachan, a divine concoction of whipped cream, oatmeal, honey, raspberries and whiskey. This was served with a shortbread cookie and was a delicious end to an equally delicious dinner. We all helped clear the tables then got on the bus in a flurry of goodbyes and invitations to visit Atlanta and Edinburgh.

Back in Glasgow the young folk went pub hopping while the older contingent, DH and I included, went up on those ancient lifts gratefully to bed.

lovely story so far.

your cranachan will have "whisky" in it, as whiskey comes from other places ;-)

Yes, you are right about that, Bilbo, everywhere we’ve gone that’s been pointed out.😎

Jubilada, it’s been a great experience!

Today was a traveling day, we had a leisurely breakfast in Glasgow and boarded the bus for Iona, taking a somewhat circuitous route through the highlands, stopping at lochs and “beauty places” to enjoy and photograph. We checked into the Oban Bay Hotel and had a very fine dinner that had been ordered for us. DH and I sat with an interesting couple we get on with very well. He and I had the tomato soup starter and mushroom risotto for our Main. We shared a sticky toffee pudding and a lemon cheesecake with raspberry compote. We drank a bottle of wine that the other couple chose. I kept meaning to look at the bottle as it had a nice sharpness but forgot and now have no idea even what kind it was although I suspect it was a Spanish verdecho.

Tomorrow we are on to Mull via the ferry, and will sing a concert in the historic abbey at midday. We have the afternoon to explore and another great dinner at this hotel. Tuesday we’ll be in Aberdeen doing a workshop with the composer of a mass we are working on.

A moderator has seen fit to rename this thread for reasons best known to them. 😎 What began with a nightmare scenario has unfolded as a busy, happy tour of singing in beautiful, historic venues. We are currently on our way to Iona, where we will give a recital in the abbey. We took one ferry, are back on the bus for an hour and another smaller ferry will take us the rest of the way.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2b264e548.jpeg
On our way across the Isle of Mull to catch the ferry to Iona

Hi kswl - I spent several days on Iona in June in 2019 and attended services there every evening. What a place! What an experience for your choir and you!

Thank you Greuzi, we are having a great time!

Today at the abbey on Iona :

It was FREEZING and we wore our street clothes in Iona. We were disappointed not to have a bigger crowd but the weather was really, really cold! one ferry down, an hour to the ferry at Mull, then back to Oban for dinner at 8 pm.

adding, I just watched most of it, the acoustics were not great. A couple of the places we sang we sounded like a 30 voice choir with just the 18 of us.

Later: We arrived back in Oban barely in time for dinner at 8 pm, another very fancy dinner. I had a first course of ham terrine with wholemeal oat crackers and apple chutnney, a main dish of chicken and banoffee pie for dessert. After the hot toddy I drank while waiting for the first return ferry I thought I’d better drink tea with dinner. We ate with the same couple and she and I are already planning a trip together.

We have bought a couple of gifts and souvenirs for ourselves. At Rosslyn I found beautiful blue and white ceramic Christmas ornaments and bought nine for our tree. and DH got a lovely Royal Stewart wool tie. In Iona I bought two more ornaments of blue velvet, a puffin tee shirt and a small stuffed sheep for our two grandchildren. We bought tartan patterned socks for DS2 in Lindisfarne (he loves loud socks), and I bought a pair of cute tartan button earrings and a sterling silver and blue enamel modern cross necklace. All small items, easily packed. I would have bought sweaters for our adult kids but the fair isle patterns were a truly bizarre palette of colors that did not harmonize, like beautifully sewn but ugly quilts that are pieced together using any stray scraps of fabric at hand with no thought to a color scheme.

Tomorrow we are off to Aberdeen for a workshop with a musician / composer and a very long day.

Thanks for sharing your trip. I'm enjoying reading this in sunny Brisbane (being cold in Scotland would not thrill me). I love desserts and when I read your main course was chicken and banofee pie, I thought well that's a bit different, it sounds interesting. Then got to the rest of the sentence FOR DESSERT !!

Chicken and bananas! I’m kind of surprised that some nouvelle cuisine has not featured that combination :D

The chicken did require a bit of a disassemble to divest it of the bacon wrapper and haggis stuffing. 🙄

I thought I had included a link to the church FB page; the rector filmed our Iona recital. We were disappointed there weren’t more people there but it was not a service and the weather was pretty wild— winds gusting up to 35 mph that day and cold. Here it is…. as I mentioned, our sound may have been better in other venues on the trip; we were down three sopranos to illness but the three singing are truly amazing. (I’m a 2nd alto and our full complement on this trip was 18 voices.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1196946558010736/?app=fbl

"...the rector filmed our Iona recital..."
I'd been meaning to ask KS, whether there was any recording going on, audio or visual.
Good to see that you'll all have a record of these special moments.
I am done. the mic & the camera

So beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I was in the choir in high school and the summer between my junior and senior year we took a trip through England. We started in the Lake District and made our way down to London. Along the way we did many concerts in the beautiful churches. Your photos and Facebook clip brought back many memories. Singing in those beautiful buildings is an experience in itself.

It is joyful and humbling all at once, Gardendiva. It was a very hectic trip with lots of moving hotels and very early starts, not the sort of trip we usually take these days but all made worthwhile by our singing. We got home last night and glad to be back safe and sound. :D

An exciting and busy choir tour indeed!
Did you have the workshop in Aberdeen with the composer?
I am interested in knowing about the person and the work.
The choir I sing with enjoys learning new/contemporary material and of late we have had some lovely feedback from composers, because our services are live streamed each week.
This is quite a treat.
Thank you for sharing your musical travels.

Enjoyed your stories and gorgeous photos. Especially intrigued that you visited Lindisfarne. I will be heading to Glasgow and then a tour of the Highlands soon; looking forward to escaping the Georgia heat.