The Queen trumps all

So I had a relaxing and productive Sunday.  It was a lovely sunny day-- ALL day.  So after I dropped off friends to the airport and the train station, I came home to start my laundry and take a nap.  I washed three loads and hung each out to dry.  This took almost the entire day (not just the drying part, as one load in the washer takes over an hour to finish its cycle).  I sat in the sun for a while, read a bit, cleaned the kitchen, straightened up the house.

But on SATURDAY, now that was a different story. 

Indeed, all of the happy housework happened…but the highlight of the weekend was the Highland Games at Braemar (pronounced Brae MARH), hosted by the Queen.  Yep, Queen Elizabeth II was in attendance, as were her husband the Duke, Prince Charles, and Camilla, along with a bunch of other not-so-important royals who had really rocking seats.

The royal bower

Close up of the Royal box seats.

Now a Highland Games is essentially a big track and field meet with the addition of dancing and better food and drink.  The events have different scheduled times, but much like a three-ring circus, several events occur simultaneously.  This continued throughout the day.

The track events are on grass.  Painted lines create an oval field complete with lanes.  Sprints on super-thick grass were interesting to watch.  It must be an added challenge for the sprinters.  There was also a long distance run—up a mountainous hill and back.  When they got to the top (so far away I could barely make out a figure) they shot off a smoke plume so that the spectators could know the race was halfway over.  The fastest time was just over 26 minutes.  The distance is 5.3 km.  THIS WAS IMPRESSIVE. 

I borrowed this picture from an on-line sight

The field events had some elements of similarity to my days-of-old high school competitions.  There were putting events (as in shot put, but the Scots use big rocks).  One event used a 26 pound-semi-circular river rock.  Another difference, the shoes had little knives sticking out of the toes to ensure grip. 

There were two different sizes/weights for the hammer toss.  And an event called weight over a bar.  In this event the competitor bent forward to pick up a large, square weight (56 pounds), which he then threw up and over a bar set up like a pole vault.  The weight must clear the bar without knocking it down.  The bar started at 13 feet and the final competitor of the day cleared over 16 feet.  During this event three bars were broken. 

The games began over 1000 years ago and have been used by Kings and Chiefs to identify the fastest runners for messengers and the strongest men for bodyguards.  Then the dancing was added for females to compete.  Now, the events are open for anyone and in the running events girls and boys compete in the same heats.  There were no women who competed in the field events, but this is not surprising to me.  The men were HUGE. 

The highlight of the field events was the tossing of the caber.  The pole was 19’9,” with a slightly thicker end.  The pole weighed 132 pounds.  The competitor squats down and puts his hands under the thinner end, then stands, balancing the pole, then runs forward to the line.  He then abruptly stops and heaves the pole up and forward.  The object is for the pole to turn 180 degrees, land on the thicker edge, and fall forward toward the 12-position (as in a clock).  Any other direction (and especially back toward the competitor) is not acceptable.

The finest event was a non-competitive one: Queen watching.  She was dressed in a feminine, mauve coat, wearing a white hat with a matching scarf band.  She sat with the Duke and Charles, who both wore kilts.  Camille was also in attendance and wore a maroon hat.  The royal party seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves.  At the end of the gathering, we lined the exit route and were able to see the Queen passing by in her car.  I was so excited that I forgot to take the picture!  She really does do a little Queen-wave.  Thanks to Stephanie Keagle for this great shot!

This is her vehicle.

Isn't she so cute?

 

My terrible shot of her face, but a pretty good look at the QE2 Wave.