 |
CHAS & SUSAN’S
EXCELLENT
UK ADVENTURE
Day Six …
The Gathering
Continued |
Unlike USA “Highland Gatherings,” the Braemar Gathering has ALL events in ONE huge field …
the events and competitions ALL are performed – in that one place – simultaneously!!!
There are “pros” and “cons” about this.
PROs: You can see EVERYTHING that goes on!!!
CONs: You can see LITTLE of ANYTHING very “well!”
(Except for the Mass Pipe Bands … which pass at your FEET!)
A PANORAMA o’
The BRAEMAR
STANDS and FIELD
A Fairly Nice
Mini-Vid!
This gives you an idea of
the SIZE o’ the field,
and our
NICELY centralized
view-point! |
 |
 |
MY camera’s
Dance Competition Stage
“close-up.”
As you can imagine,
our actual VIEW of the dancers
was from quite a distance!
Which is rather a drag … ‘cause,
the dance competitions are really
FUN to watch (now and again)! |
Susan’s camera’s
“close-up”
is a
much better shot.
It also includes a snippet
o’ the HIGH JUMP area …
which was
between us
and the
Dance Competition Stage! |
 |
 |
A PIC from the
PROGRAM!
Highland Dance Competitions
are primarily entered by children
and TEENS.
These competitions can be
likened to the BEAUTY PAGEANTS
in the USA. However, THESE
competitions require incredible
preparation and practice
(rather than mere “beauty”)!!! |
(The “furry-looking” stuff around the stage platform is HEATHER!!!)
 |
The Family That
PIPES
TOGETHER,
… er …
PLAYS
TOGETHER!
(Yeah! That’s the ticket!) |
DUDES in KILTz ABOUNDED!!! Of ALL ages, shapes, and sizes!
 |
At LEFT: Susan’s pic.
ABOVE: A pic from the program.
(I love the kid’s expression!!!) |
 |
 |
HA! … We learned
– First Hand! –
what “A SCOTISH RAIN”
MEANT!!!
Essentially, in Scotland,
if it’s going to be “rainy”;
it RAINS BUCKETS for a few minutes …
then it’s CLEAR for a short while …
then it RAINS BUCKETS for a bit …
then it CLEARS UP again …
and SO ON … and SO FORTH
throughout the ENTIRE DAY!!! |
HEY! WE
DIDN’T MELT!!!
Suz had her umbrella …
and, as you can see,
so did almost ALL the
other attendees!
If given a choice between the
COVERED STANDS and
where we WERE …
I’d STILL pick the seats we had!!! |
 |
 |
THE QUEEN
ARRIVES!!!
A VERY SHORT
(not great)
MINI-VID HERE!
DANG!!! … I was
TOO SLOW to VID!!!
The Queen was
QUITE CLEARLY VISIBLE
when her car passed in FRONT of us …
but I MISSED it … So,
there’s no view of her FACE! |
Both THIS
& the next PIC
are SUSAN’s!
(Her camera gets close-ups
much better than mine!)
The Queen being
greeted by the
Royal Highland Society
Head Dude |
 |
 |
Her Majesty
the Queen,
and HRH the
Duke of Edinburg,
standing and genuflecting
at the entrance to the
Queen’s Braemar Box. |
Thankfully, ANNE had joined us long before the Queen’s arrival!
So, we were getting the “inside story” on lotz o’ stuff!
The Queen only comes for about an HOUR or so … from 3 to 4 pm … and views the
“FINAL” competitions. This year was no different in that aspect. However …
Apparently, most Braemarians (?!) were rather angry that the “only” Royal Family members who attended in 2002 were the Queen and Prince Philip! After all, it was the Queen’s “Golden Jubilee” year,
and the Queen Mum had only recently died. (The Queen Mum had been the most AVID Braemar Highland Games supporter since Queen Victoria! She NEVER missed a year!)
Thus, ALL the locals were peeved that Charles and the boyz (e’en Camilla) hadn’t shown up!
Return to CHAS & SUSAN’S UK PIX Directory
Return to The Miller Family’s HOME PAGE
(the one with other Main-Directory Page Links)
If you have suggestions for The Miller Fandamily Web Site,
OR contributions to the photo gallery!
please Email WebMistress Chas!
c-d-miller@neb.rr.com
That’s: c-d-miller@neb.rr.com –
those are hyphens/dashes (-) between the “c” and “d” and “miller”
This COUNTER was started on September 22nd, 2002.
