News & Notes

Allegro bonds as they explore Scottish culture, history, and games.

It is Saturday, the fourth day of our 2015 European Concert Tour, and we FINALLY got to sleep in. At 10:00 we were picked up to go participate in the Highland games experience. Which by far is probably the coolest thing we have done. We got to throw logs and Haggis balls, among other things.

After the games we played a friendly game of tug of war. The ladies totally won..i.f that means letting go of the rope and watching the guys fall to the ground. Bill and Jim planted firmly into sheep poo. (The guys promise revenge.)

Allegro plays traditional Scottish games...and a few people end up stinkier than the rest.

In the end, Jim (our tour adviser/firefighter/paramedic/all-around-nice-guy) won. Gretchen took second. And Liz (another tour adviser/Allegro alumna/all-around-wonderful-woman) placed third.

After the games, we got showered up and headed to lunch at Nandos. We then went to Hollyrood Palace to tour the castle grounds. The history and beauty of the place is out of this world!! Mary Queen of Scots' history will blow your mind!

The Scottish scenic way is the Allegro way.

Once we finished our tour, we accidentally hiked up the wrong path on a volcano to see King Arthur's seat. We traveled in three groups ranging distance from about 3-6 miles at a not so gentle incline. We did see some amazing views of the city along the way, though.

Our view of Edinburgh.

Half the group headed back to the apartment (after ransacking the gift shop) while the rest continued to climb. The group that stayed in ordered food and played games, while the other five went out to dinner before coming back.

When everyone returned we had a chill night in and played games together while talking and joking around. Finally, everyone got tired and we all went to sleep.

Allegro's next concert will be at Dunblane Cathedral tomorrow, 14 June at 7:30 PM. The program features both our group and the Dunblane Cathedral Handbell Ringers! Tickets are £5 (concessions £4, children free).

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