Wembley Means Football...I mean Soccer

Usually, I build a trip to London around pubs and theater, with shopping, museums, and some classy hotel bars to fill in empty spots.  But this time, thanks to the graciousness of close friends, the heart of my stay was a trip to Wembley Stadium and a World Cup qualifying match between Scotland’s and England’s national teams.

You probably know about Wembley, home to soccer and infrequently the National Football League.  It’s often labeled the home of English Football, but is also used for a lengthy list of other sporting events, including greyhound racing and the Olympics.  You may not have known the current stadium opened in 2007 and replaced a stadium officially opened in 1924.

Getting off the London underground, the first sight of the huge bubble of concrete and aluminum is impressive. The stadium seems vast and my first question was:  How big is this place?  Due to diligent background study, I’m able to hit you with intriguing answers.  The field itself (pitch in soccer parlance) is 115 yards by 75 yards, or 8625 sq yards.  Compare that to our NFL fields that are 120 yards long and 53.333 yards wide, or about 6400 sq yards.

Overall, Wembley enclosed (the roof is moveable) is 4,000,000 sq meters, with a circumference of one kilometer.  Not a misprint.  That’s four million!

I know what you’re going to ask:  53.333 yards wide??? Really, I thought an NFL field was 100 x 50 yards.  Ah, my friends, you forgot to add in the end zones that are each ten yards deep and you may not have known NFL fields are measured in feet (360 x 160 ft).

Anyway, the Wembley pitch is bigger!  The stadium holds 90,000 people unless there’s a rock concert, in which case they cover the field to protect the grass and add another 25,000 seats.

On the night of the game, the official attendance was over 87,000 screaming fans, all of them wearing either white and blue for Scotland, or white and red for England.  Something well worth remembering as you take you seat.

The field itself is an interesting blend of both natural and synthetic grass.  How can that be???  The answer is a product called Desso Grassmaster.  The short explanation (taken from the Desso Sports Systems site) is: with a patented technique, specialised installers inject 20 million Desso artificial turf fibres in a natural grass mat.  (note some differences in American and English spelling!)

Despite the cost, Wembley claims, due to lower maintenance costs, the system paid for itself in a year.  Evidently, some NFL fields also use the stuff.

So, what’s a game at Wembley like?  Organized chaos.  Getting in is easy and as with most stadiums there’s a profusion of drink and food stalls.  In a stroke of genius, you can drink all you want in the food and drink area, but no alcohol allowed when you pass through security into the stands. 

It’s a clean and beautiful place, inside and out.  And on the night we were there, the stadium had an army of security and police sprayed around like shotgun pellets, and roving patrols when you got into the stands and took your seat.  The guy who checked my ticket towered over me and must have weighed at over three hundred pounds.  He smiled, I smiled, both of us acknowledging he could sip a beer and smoke a cigarette while kicking my ass.

Security was a necessity. Even though Scotland recently voted to remain a part of the United Kingdom, on the football pitch, there is no love lost.  Heaven help you if you unfortunately wore blue in a nest of English fans, or red among the kilted crowd. Burly security guards, with looks that could slay a dragon, constantly patrolled the aisles and took no crap from anyone, no matter which team you supported.  Several fans who decided to settle the question in the stands found out how long it takes to be duck-walked up a hundred steep steps and booted out the door by strong-armed men who could answer the call of duty faster than you could say, “What the fook did I do?”

Opening ceremonies also featured acrimonious insults, with both sides booing each other’s national anthems.  I loudly sang God Save the Queen, but I was in the thick protection of swarming English fans.  Those on the outskirts did so at their own risk.  As we do with The Star Spangled Banner, the English only sing one verse:

God save our gracious Queen! 

Long live our noble Queen! 

God save the Queen! 

Send her victorious, 

Happy and glorious, 

Long to reign over us, 

God save the Queen.

But I particularly like some lines from the second verse that are bitterly ‘stiff upper lip.” 

Scatter her enemies 

And make them fall; 

Confound their politics, 

Frustrate their knavish tricks…

Frustrate their knavish tricks!  Well said!  The Brits have mastered English.  We Americans only play at it.

Besides the national anthems, uniformed members of the armed forces unveiled huge round banners for both England and Scotland.  When the teams took the field there was near pandemonium!  What fanfare and ceremony!

So, how did the game end? Three to nil, England.  The Scots are used to losing and last won this oldest international rivalry game (began in 1872!) in 1999.  But, overall the wins are close to even, with England winning 48, Scotland 41, with 24 draws.

I admit, with over 87,000 fans, I viewed exiting the stadium and catching the underground into central London with some trepidation.  Hey, many of these folks were fortified with gallons of ale and at least half of them were pissed their team lost!  As with most fears, mine went unrealized.  Remarkably well-organized coming in and exiting.  Once outside the stadium, the crowd surged down the wide pedestrian avenue toward the train and tube stations, but with a difference.  First off it was orderly, secondly every few hundred yards stadium employees held up stop and go signs, which broke the crowd into manageable chunks and prevented dangerous situations as the trains and underground filled and departed.  I asked myself, would Americans stop if somebody held up a sign?  Yeah, when toads speak Greek.  It took us only 20 minutes from our stadium seats to our underground seats.  Better than well organized, Wembley Stadium is miraculously organized!

What a delightful evening!  As I’ve always known, there’s so much more to Britain than downtown London.  And, if you’re a faithful reader, you already know about my trips to Dartmouth, Bath, Edinburgh, the Shetland Islands, and various other visits to the real England and Scotland!

The next blog, however, will take you back to the wonders of the most exciting city in the world, London.

The Castle of Mey: A Jewel in the Shetland Islands

The Queen Mother in a small part of her extensive garden.

One thing I’ve learned about cruising:  You can’t remember much.  It’s one of the reasons I prefer short excursions.  I’ve tried the all day and half day trips.  I end up tired and longing for a man in a white coat to approach me by the pool and ask politely, “Shall I make that a double, sir?” I may remember one or two places well, but the rest fade like fog in the black of night.

On the other hand, when I find a jewel, every detail sticks in the memory.  Ephesus, Pompeii, the winding streets and crystal blue water of Cinque Terra.  On our last cruise, a couple of our stops were in the Shetland Islands in the far north of Scotland.  Yep, we saw greenery, and got to pet Shetland ponies, but the thing I remember vividly is The Castle of Mey.  Why the name?  Mey is a nearby village.  Why is the castle of such interest?  Read on.

If you’ve traveled in Europe you’ve see scores of castles, big, small, ruins, historic, fanciful, overlooking valleys, and even a model for Walt Disney’s Disneyland.  Each splendid in its own way, but how much do you remember.  Come on, cough up a few details!  Not easy, is it.  So why would I remember The Castle of Mey?

I’ll begin with a few details about the long and storied history of the place, although recent history is what really sticks.  The castle was built between 1566 and 1572, but enlarged and changed many times over the years.  In 1952 something special happened.  By then it was dilapidated and the gardens fallen into neglect.  The U.K.’s most northern castle was slowly withering away under the onslaught of time.  Fortunately, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, widow of King George VI who had died a year earlier, fell in love with Mey and bought the castle and surrounding lands.

Does George VI ring any chimes?  His brother, Edward VIII, famously abdicated to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson.  George VI reluctantly accepted the crown in 1936 and was the King of England throughout the Second World War.

But, let’s get back to the castle.  Why would The Queen Mother buy it?  Surely the last thing the royals needed was another castle.  Well, yes and no.  They own nothing and to very loosely paraphrase The Queen Mother: I had never owned a home and wanted something that was mine.  Strange words from someone who everyone assumes wanted for nothing.

I warn you right away that photos inside the castle are not permitted, probably for security reasons, since Prince Charles calls The Castle of Mey home for a couple of weeks from the end of July to the first part of August.  I’ve heard it said he comes for grouse hunting.  As a consequence, any photos I’ve used of the interior are taken from public sources.

 

The Extensive Gardens

The first thing that caught my attention was the garden.  Perhaps it was because on a Lilliputian scale, I like to call myself a gardener.  These are no little plots, or a couple of tidy rows of blooms. The castle gardens are vast and segmented.  In the largest part, well-trimmed hedges divide and separate, making every turn in the path a new and often unexpected delight.  Flowers galore.  Row upon row of vegetables.  Wild grasses and more flowers.

Now that the Queen Mother is gone (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon : 4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) what need is there for vegetables?  I understand the preponderance of flowers, just for the beautification of the castle and grounds, but vegetables?  Yes, they are still used when Prince Charles is visiting, and also in the visitors center café, as well as being sold locally.  When The Queen Mother lived here, she took great delight in gardening and the plantings, although changed, still reflect the reach of her green thumb.

What interested me most was the answer to the question, what was she like?  By all accounts, The Queen Mother was a wonderful person, easily approached and easy to converse with.  It’s no wonder she was often called ‘the smiling Queen.’ In the First World War, she personally cared for wounded soldiers.  After moving to The Castle of Mey, her social schedule continued unabated.  The dining room and guest bedrooms seldom stayed empty.  Nor were the locals neglected.  She met many of her neighbors.  During a walk by the sea, only 400 meters away, she met a local lady.  They sat on a bench for a chat and The Queen Mother enjoyed it so much, they resolved to meet again and did every summer.

In my estimation, there is much evidence she craved the common touch, a sense of normalcy after all those years of fulfilling duties and living life in a glass bowl.  The Castle of Mey offered a respite where she could be comfortable and although it was larger than most houses, it was home. 

Despite her royal duties, The Queen Mother continued to spend her summer vacations here from August to October.

You feel the human touch from the moment you enter.  Not grandiose or the product of an interior decorator, the décor is more homey than elegant, the kind of place you’d like to sit and read, or play cards and chat.  Even the dining room, while clearly formal, has a certain hint of informality.  Both the interior and the castle grounds pay homage to a woman of the world who had never lost the human touch, or the need for it.

There’s another story of The Queen Mother that plays to her love of people and deep understanding of human nature.  One evening, some of the guardsmen who protected her played a little joke.  They’d purchased a small stuffed “Loch Ness Monster” and astride each other’s shoulders, they placed ‘Nessie’ on the curtain rod above the living room drapes.  On discovery, the household staff wondered how they would ever get it down.  But, when The Queen Mother spied it, she laughed and said it should stay where it is.  You can almost picture the twinkle in her eye.  After all, she was awash in close relatives, male and female, so she well understood that boys will be boys.  She accepted that.  Relished it in fact.

So, where did I get all these stories?  Google?  Bite your jaded tongue.  Of those who guide you through the 12 rooms that are open to the public, most knew The Queen Mother well, serving as domestic staff, or even delivery boys.  They bring to life the humanity of the royal, yet humble woman who tended wounded soldiers, raised daughters (one who became Queen), supported her husband through the rigors of a long, brutal war, yet craved the common touch.  The Castle Mey is a testimony to that stout heart and gentlewoman, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

So, who owns the castle now?  The Castle of Mey Trust, a registered Scottish charity owns it and is responsible for its upkeep.

By the way, if you and eleven of your well-heeled friends would like to stay for a long weekend, the castle is available (all bedrooms except The Queen Mother’s) for only £50,000 ($66,521) or a bit over $5500 per person.

The Queen Mother's bedroom

http://www.castleofmey.org.uk/castleofmey.cfm

Tasting the Scotch in Scotland

On The Royal Mile

The magnificent Edinburgh Castle

Churches galore

Blowing the pipes.

Edinburgh, a fine old medieval town. Whining bagpipes, kilts, clans and Scotch whiskey.

Want to play the bagpipe?  Race around in a wool skirt?  Claim ancestry back to the Celts?  Mac this, Mc that?  I don’t want anyone checking my ancestry, or my credit rating.

On the other hand:  Want some smooth sipping aged malt whiskey?  Even the Judge is nodding. The defense rests.

Found just the place to sip some Scotch and learn trivia that’ll win you a bar bet or two. The Scotch Experience, a discrete four story building in downtown Edinburgh, in the middle of The Royal Mile.

“Honey, you go on ahead.  I’m just going to stop in here for a second.  Looks like a real educational opportunity.” 

That’s not a lie.  The Scotch Experience will fill you with more information than you can possibly digest before compete inebriation.

Step through the door, a lovely maiden sells you a ticket, and plops you in a rotating barrel. Just sit back and grab an insight into the three steps of making whiskey.

The Tasting selections, from smoky to sweet

Fermentation.  Ingredients are almost the same as beer.  Malt, water, yeast.  What is malt again?  Barley drenched in water, allowed to sprout, then dried and ground. Mixed with water and yeast, fermentation takes place.  To get a smoky flavor, they dry the barley with a peat fire.

Distillation. Separates the water from the fragrant alcohol, raising the alcohol content to about 70%.  See, if you hadn’t slept through Chem class…

Maturation.  Scotch Whiskey must be made in Scotland, using only barley, water, and yeast, and it must be matured no less than three years.  Most single malts are aged much longer.  The longer it matures, the less Scotch you have.  Evaporation takes about 2% a year.

Barrels of oak, first used for Bourbon or Sherry...then Scotch

How about ‘blended whiskies?’  Good question.  To create a blended whiskey, a master blender combines several Scotches, along with some so-called grain whiskey.  Grain whiskey comes from wheat, or other grains other than barley. 

Here’s a tip:  A blended whiskey carries the age of the youngest scotch used in the blend.

The age of the Scotch (time in the barrel) determines the flavor.  But aging is not linear.  I tasted The Dalmore 12 and 15 year old Scotches, then bought the 12 year old, finding it smoother and tastier.  Taste is individual, like the ideal temperature of bath water, or the size of the perfect breast.  With breasts, of course, opportunity trumps everything but getting caught.

Another tip:  Once a Scotch is bottled, the maturation process stops.  Cold.  A 10 year old bottle of Scotch forever remains a 10 year old bottle of Scotch, until it finally becomes an empty bottle of Scotch.

Geography.  There are five Scotch producing areas in Scotland:  Highlands, Lowlands, Islay (pronounced Eye-la), Speyside, and Campbeltown.

Tip:  Every minute, 2340 Bottles of Scotch are sold worldwide.  That’s about 20 bottles per second.

Here’s a quick tour of the four major areas, by flavor.

Lowlands:  Citrus, to an almost bread flavor.

Highlands:  Sweet, nutty florals.

Speyside:  Light to dark fruit, like Christmas

Islay:  smoky, sweet, possibly a light iodine finish

These are only hints. Expect dramatic variations and surprises.  In any case, the best place to begin your quest in the heart of Edinburgh, on The Royal Mile, at The Scotch Experience. 

The perfect glass for tasting.  Glencairn. Designed in 2006 and winner of The Queen's Award 

One wall of the 3400 bottle Scotch collectiion

Another wall of the collection

World's largest bottle of Scotch...five feet tall

But, there's more to Scotland than Scotch

“Honey, I’m fine.  Just a few more minutes.  Go ahead and finish the castle tour… visit the gift shop, go to the spa, get a massage, have your nails done.”