Isles and Trials

Tag: scotland

  • Touristy stuff in the capital

    Touristy stuff in the capital

    We saw the Edinburgh castle. There is a ton of history to see here. I think the social connections only allow the “featured” photo through so if you can’t see the other pictures here – be sure to head to the site islesandtrials.org .

    American flag graffiti carved into prison door at Edinburgh Castle

    I feel some complicated feels about how we owe the American ideal of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to a lot of people (including some imprisoned here way back.) Hopefully the pursuit of happiness will return to favour soon.

    More info on the graffiti
    The Great Hall, Edinburgh Castle

    Other fascinating or cool stuff here includes the Crown Jewels (photography not allowed), the history of Scottish involvement in many wars, the history of the various takeovers of the castle, and the tremendous views of the city.

    I kept saying you can see a bit of the Firth of Forth rail bridge from here – and while I was obsessed with bridges as a kid – my kids were thoroughly umimpressed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_Bridge

  • Quick holiday in Edinburgh

    Quick holiday in Edinburgh

    We took the train 2.5 hours down to Edinburgh to see some different sites while the young ones have break. Here is St. Giles’ Cathedral – from the website – “St Giles’ Cathedral, founded in 1124 by King David I, has been a working church for almost 900 years. A backdrop to Scotland’s turbulent religious history, it has seen the seeds of civil war sown and been John Knox’s parish church during the Reformation. It is still an important centre for civic services such as the Kirking of the Parliament and services for Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.”

    https://www.stgilescathedral.org.uk/

  • Visited the Hazlehead Park Pets Corner

    Visited the Hazlehead Park Pets Corner

    Slight change of plans this week – while the girls are on holiday. We visited a lovely park a couple miles up the road.

    Goats “playing”
    Pygmy snake
  • Inspiration

    Inspiration

    Our current house, built in 1887 has stained glass windows that evoke the “inspiration” memes that were memes before memes were memes. It says “faith is the subtle chain that binds us to the infinite.”

  • Where we live

  • Deeside Way Bike Trail

  • Spectre Light Festival 2025

  • Fraserburgh Lighthouse

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  • What is this about

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    Isles
    We are taking a roughly 4 month trip to Aberdeen, Scotland. Scotland is on an island, and is made up of many additional small islands (a few of which we hope to see!)

    Trials
    If you don’t know, I am an emergency physician and professor of emergency medicine. I work on clinical trials (research studies where new treatments are tested) – with a focus on ones that try to reduce damage from sudden brain injury. This can include traumatic brain injury, stroke, or damage from the stoppage of blood flow during cardiac arrest. While here I am working with clinical trial methodologists and emergency docs.