点评:Even though we live in Aberdeenshire, this was our first time visiting. It was recommended by a friend who has young children, so we decided to take our six year old.
Our first impression was that it was a small, well-kept centre, and we thought we would maybe spend an hour or so there. We arrived 20 minutes before the first show at 11:00 and made our way to the field next to the centre, which had deer in it. This was a fantastic bonus to the falconry show, with around 20–30 deer running about and a few of the stags being mischievous.
John started the show and instantly had everyone engaged. The way he interacted with people, mixing witty banter with interesting information suitable for the whole family, made it obvious that this was a passion and not a chore. Although the session was busy, with a coach full of visitors, he still made sure everyone who wanted to be involved in handling the birds got the opportunity. Thankfully, with some encouragement and because of how good John was with him, it wasn’t long before my son was holding hawks and owls.
After the show, we went into the centre’s cafe and bought some cakes and hot chocolates, which tied us over until the second show. I would definitely recommend staying for both shows, as we got to see a different selection of birds. This might not always be the case, but it worked perfectly for us and gave us time to stretch our legs between shows.
The cafe had a nice selection of cakes, tea and coffee, but I also noticed that some families had brought their own packed lunches. A lot of places don’t allow food bought off the premises, but this is where the centre differs from others. It is a business that obviously cares more about sharing its knowledge and showing how wonderful these creatures are than grabbing money from families, which is becoming all too common nowadays.
It was a really enjoyable day. From initially thinking we would stay for around an hour, we ended up spending closer to four hours there. We will definitely be back, and I can’t wait to spread the word about how much we enjoyed our visit.
翻译:虽然我们住在阿伯丁郡,但这是我们第一次造访这里。是一位有小孩的朋友推荐我们来的,所以我们决定带上我们六岁的孩子一同前往。
给我们的第一印象是:这是一个规模不大但打理得井然有序的中心。我们原以为自己大概会在那里待上一个小时左右。我们在11点的第一场表演开始前20分钟抵达,随后便前往中心旁的场地,那里有鹿群出没。对于这场猎鹰表演来说,这真是一个极棒的加分项。现场有大约20到30只鹿在四处奔跑,其中有几只公鹿还表现得十分调皮。
约翰主持了这场活动,立刻就吸引了所有人的注意力。他与观众互动的方式十分出色——将幽默风趣的玩笑话与适合全家人聆听的有趣知识巧妙结合。显然,对他而言这是一份充满热情的事业,而非单纯的苦差事。尽管现场热闹非凡,旅游巴士上也挤满了游客,他仍确保每位希望亲手照料这些鸟儿的人都能获得机会。真是太好了。在一些鼓励下,再加上约翰对我儿子照顾有加,没过多久我儿子就能亲手抱起鹰和猫头鹰了。
表演结束后,我们走进中心的咖啡馆,买了些蛋糕和热巧克力,这些食物让我们撑到了下一场表演开始。我绝对推荐大家观看两场表演,因为这样能看到不同种类的鸟类。虽然情况未必总是如此,但对我们而言这安排再合适不过了,也让我们有两场表演的间隙来活动一下腿脚。这家咖啡馆提供了各式各样的蛋糕、茶和咖啡,不过我也注意到有些家庭自带了便当。很多地方都不允许顾客携带店外购买的食物,但这家中心却与众不同。显然,这家店更在乎的是分享相关知识、向人们展示这些生物有多么可爱,而非单纯地从家庭顾客身上牟利——如今这种做法实在是太普遍了。
这一天过得真愉快。起初我们以为只会在那里待大约一个小时,结果实际上待了近四个小时。我们肯定会再来的,我迫不及待想把我们此次游玩的愉快体验分享给更多人。