Dublin Airport, June 2003

A very, very early morning in June McBear, Roger and Bamse went to Dublin Airport. We had flight tickets with Ryanair to the Scottish capitol, Edinburgh - also known as Auld Reekie. McBear was on a quest: He was hoping to find his Scottish roots, that is the place where Frances had bought him back in January 2000. This had marked the event that started it all: The Travelling Bears.

Click each photo to enlarge

Visiting Edinburgh, we felt we just had to wear decent and appropriate clothes, so Roger and Bamse bought kilts. Due to his figure, McBear wasn't able to wear a kilt. We told the manager that he should get some bears' fitting rooms, and he appreciated our proposal.

We went to visit Edinburgh Castle, which is built on top of an extinct volcano. Bamse was very proud of his kilt. He actually was thinking on changing his name to MacBamse of Ballerup (a suburb near Copenhagen). This would be very appropiate as Ballerup is twinned with East Kilbride in Scotland.

As soon as Roger saw a camera, he thought he was to have his photo taken, and soon after McBear joined in! Bamse got a bit annoyed.

As we walked along The Royal Mile in the old town, there was a gathering of people and policemen. Suddenly, to our surprise, there was a big fuss with policemen on motorcycles and a Bentley came around and out got ... HRH Prince Charles!
- I'm here, Charles, I'm here!!!! Roger cried. He was convinced Prince Charles had heard of Roger's visit, and the prince undoubtedly was hoping for a meeting. Prince Charles, however, to Roger's disappointment went into an old building...

We enjoyed the sun in a nearby park. People passing by admired our brand new genuine kilts, and McBear had got a Scottish flag. After a while we had to move on: McBear was on a quest after all...

Suddenly, McBear went hyper as he discovered the place, where Frances originally had bought him. Well, the souvenir shop in Prince's Street had now closed down, but it was the very spot! McBear sat down and sighed. Those 2 Pounds Sterling Frances originally had spent in 2000 had turned out to be a tremendous investment

McBear was delighted. Bamse and Roger joined him, and they were all listening to the pipes and drums playing music from Edinburgh Castle. It was nearly time to fly home to Dublin.