Saturday day 6

We went to the Highland Games in Braemar and they were very interesting. It was an hour and a half drive because it is a small town and there is tremendous demand for the tickets so we couldn’t stay close. It is somewhat like a county fair. There was lots of highland dancing, running races and feats of strength. Throwing the caber was great. It’s a 19 foot long tree trunk that weighs 140 lbs and the idea is to have it turn over after it is thrown. They carry it from the thinner end, run forward and try to flip the top as the thicker end comes down.

The highlight of the day was when the king and queen of England arrived. We were in the front row on the track and 15 feet from the limo. We were about 50 yards from their pavilion. The track was grass and everything was very low tech. There was no screening coming in and the King was giving out awards to winners without any obvious security people.

There were 11 bagpipe bands that played during the day. They were one big band for the opening and closing. They led the royal party in and out. There were several cars in the entourage. The music was incredible. They also had bagpipe competition for prizes.