Scotland and Beyond

Posted by on Dec 14, 2016

Scotland and Beyond

Scotland blog: (RK)

Stardate: 12-14-2016

Today finds us in Budapest Hungary, following a wonderful 10 days in Scotland.  The Scotland journey started with 3 days in Ayrshire, Gowanbank House specifically.  Gowanbank House is currently a B&B run by our friends Willie & Isabel Smith.  Willie & Isabel have impacted us, and many others with their unshakeable faith, wisdom and servanthood.  Their fireplace is one of our favorite places in the world, catching up with them, family, or friends over tea/coffee.

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Randy and Ben at Gowanbank

 

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Practicing by the fire at Gowanbank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there, we spent a day in Glasgow, mainly so we could catch fellow-Chicagoan Michael McDermott’s (amazing singer-songwriter) show.  He did not disappoint.

Post-show with Michael McDermott at the Hug and Pint - Glasgow

Post-show with Michael McDermott at the Hug and Pint – Glasgow

Bagpiper on Buchanan Street - Glasgow

Bagpiper on Buchanan Street – Glasgow

After Glasgow, we spent a few days in Dumbarton.  It’s near Loch Lomond.

We did a number of shows with our fellow troubadours Sammy & Kylie Horner (The Sweet Sorrows) and our new friend Joe Quinn, including a fantastic night at the Artizan Community Center with poet Rolf Campbell and Jeff Jeffreys, where people in attendance generously gave toward our trip to Romania in support of the work at Vis de Copil (see below), and a terrific evening at the Balloch Folk Club where several styles, ages, and instruments were represented by the local folk community in the round over the course of three hours and a few pints.

Sammy & Kylie tearing it up in Dumbarton.

Sammy & Kylie tearing it up in Dumbarton.

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

 

So, here we are at the Maverick Hostel in Budapest, bags packed, train tickets bought, ready for our trip tomorrow to Arad Romania, where we will be volunteering with Vis de Copil, an outreach to the homeless (and nearly homeless) of that city.

There will be lots of kids, and some adults to care for–Christmas parties to pull off, walls to paint, things to clean, music to play, and things to organize…and shoeboxes of gifts to hand out! We are sure to experience a crazy jumble of joy and pain in the coming month as we see a side of life we are often sheltered from, and hope we can be of some use and learn new things from this experience, as well as our hosts Katey & Kenneth.

When we return from Romania, we will be focused on music in the months that follow. Please keep an eye on the Tour page for UK dates in March and April with the Sweet Sorrows. We are also trying to figure out how/when/where we’ll record the new songs this spring so that we can have them in recorded form for you this summer/fall on a US House Concert Tour. 

Lastly, due to limitations in internet signal and crazy travel schedules, we are not able to include as many photos in the blog as we’d like. If you want to see more, please follow us on instagram:

Us.

@bekihemingway and @randystravelhaiku

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

 

PS If you are interested in an update on our Romania budget, you are welcome to view it here.

 

2 Comments

  1. Missing you folks already. It was a blast to meet you, and I adore your tunes. Find myself whistling ‘Finnieston’ a lot these days. (ps Jeff was playing in the Counting House, Dumbarton Friday. Joe came in too, before his gig in Glasgow. Both of them had a word with the manager Ryan. Might be good for March.)Have a great Yuletime, and hope to see you soon, also today’s my birthday, but I don’t feel 52…Sigh….

    • A belated happy birthday! We are excited to see you again in March. Been slowly savoring your poetry book. Makes for good travel reading. Thank you again for the gift. 🙂

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