Day 3 - Rehearsals at Queen Victoria's School

The library at the Queen Victoria School where tea and lunch were served daily Rehearsal

The rhododendrons outside the hotel in Dunblane

The past 3 days have been very busy. Thanks to all who have posted comments. It's great to see that you are reading the posts and following our trip.

After two days of travel troubles (Leslie Lewis, who joined our group a day late, was also delayed coming out of Newark, but only 4-hours this time), we settled into rehearsals. I must say - the people of Dunblane were so accommodating and gracious to us during our stay. Rehearsals took place at the Queen Victoria School - a boarding school for the children of Scottish soldiers stationed away from home. We spent about 2 1/2 days in their school auditorium rehearsing. During that time, they served us tea 3 times, lunch twice and showed us a wonderful video about the history of the school. Tea is my morning beverage of choice - and no one does tea like those in the UK! Of course, it's always served with wonderful biscuits - my favorites are the chocolate mint - wonderful! The school has been wonderful. Our only regret is not having the opportunity to play a concert for the students (or the chance to hear their acclaimed pipe and drum band).

While we were rehearsing, five of our non-ringing participants joined our bus driver (Graeme) and tour guide (Joyce) on a trip to Perth and a Scottish distillery. They tell me the trip there provided views of some stunning Scottish country-side and that Joyce & Graeme kept a running commentary providing details and tidbits about the area and its history. They have promised pictures which I will post soon.

Tomorrow is our first concert. Rehearsals have gone very well. David has spent much time on all those little musical details that are his specialty! I just hope we remember them all during the performance tomorrow!

I've included some pics of the wonderful hotel in Dunblane - it has the look of an old Scottish castle. It was once a spa. The rhododendrons surrounding the property are in full bloom and provide wonderful scenery for morning walks.

More about our first concert in the next post...