Scotland trip, part 1

We've already been back a week...so sad the adventure is over. But wow! We had a great time and saw some amazing sights and enjoyed every minute of it. Well, almost every minute. There were some stressful moments getting used to driving on the left side of those narrow roads. 

Friday and Saturday, June 8 and 9
The vacation began for me on Friday, June 8. I took the day off from work in order to do last minute laundry for myself, as well as Andy's parents. Then I packed my suitcases and stopped to see Andy before driving over to Christy's to pick her up, along with Grace and Anna (Grace's cousin).

I drove my Prius up to the Stewart International Airport with the four of us and our luggage. Christy had chosen that airport because the flights, as well as long term parking, were more reasonably priced. Another advantage was that we avoided city traffic congestion. I suppose with pros, you can expect some cons, though. We had to sit on the tarmac for an hour before taking off. And the flight was interminably long, especially since I couldn't sleep at all. In the sitting position, my legs just couldn't get comfortable. It didn't help that people around us were eating, chatting, and having a great time. I might have slept 1-2 hours, but it didn't feel like I slept at all. 

When we arrived in Edinburgh, we got our rental car. That was an adventure, to say the least. The roads in the city are very narrow, some are cobblestones, with high walls right next to the road. Because of the narrowness of the streets, Christy was driving very close to the left curb and it was pretty scary: for her because of cars coming at her from the "wrong" direction and for us on the left side of the car because it felt like she was going to hit the curb or wall. We found a place to eat our lunch, and had our first meal in Scotland - fish and chips. 

After eating, we drove out of the city toward Dornie where we stayed the first half of the week.

On our way, we got stopped behind a line of traffic. Cars were at a complete standstill. When we got out to investigate, there had been an accident. The scenery at that spot was a bonus, though.

Those lavender rhododendrons and yellow flowered bushes were growing along the roads all over Scotland, helping to make the drive a little less stressful. After a helicopter arrived to airlift casualties, we were on our way again. We hope the victims were not too badly hurt.

This first day was tiring, considering we didn't sleep much on the plane, then most of the day was spent getting used to driving and being in completely unfamiliar surroundings. We arrived in Dornie, settled into our cozy cottage and slept long and well.

What we saw when we looked out our windows!

Sunday, June 10
We all slept a little late but felt rested and ready to begin our sightseeing. First on the agenda was a trip to Loch Ness. There are ruins of the Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness. It was a lovely spot with a lot of history. Many battles were fought during the years to gain possession of the castle. The last Highlanders who gained control took all the gunpowder and blew up the main gate house. It was never rebuilt or restored. According to the brochure we received, this is "one of Scotland's mightiest strongholds." "With 1,500 years of history, Urquhart Castle was fought over by medieval armies, played host to lavish royal banquets and inspired generations of poets and artists. Today, scarred by warfare and the passing of time, this great fortress remains a magnificent sight."

We did get a glimpse of the Loch Ness monster. Unfortunately, none of us had our cameras out when he surfaced so we are unable to prove it. You'll just have to take our word for it.

Our cottage was less than a mile down the road from another castle, the Eilean Donan Castle (pronounced Ay-len). This one is privately owned and the owners still return several times a year for family reunions and functions. There are parts of the castle that are open to the public and it is pretty impressive. The guides posted throughout were fun and provided interesting tidbits. This castle also had a delightful cafe next to the visitor center that we were happy to frequent for tea/mocha/coffee and shortbread/scones.

We were delighted to hear this fellow play the bagpipes one of the times we stopped in.

Monday, June 11 

We drove over to the Isle of Skye. This was a short distance from where we were staying in Dornie, crossing a bridge that separated the Isle from the mainland. This is an amazing island, with more highlands and breathtaking views of the sea around every bend of the road. We hiked up a mountain to see Old Man Storr at the top. The brochure said it was a strenuous hike. You're never quite sure if their definition of "strenuous" is the same as yours, but this one was accurately labeled. According to my phone, we hiked 4 miles, 10,767 steps and climbed 72 floors! The view as we climbed was spectacular. It was a bonus that the skies were blue with fluffy white clouds. It was pretty windy at the top, but quite bearable. 

 

There he is - Old Man Storr - behind us

Unfortunately, all that walking produced some significant blisters on the backs of both my feet. By the time I got to the bottom again, they were bleeding and pretty painful. What a start to our vacation. 


After the hike, we found a hotel restaurant in Portree, Skye, and had our one meal out for the day. I ordered cullen skink soup. If you google that, you'll find it's "just a strange Scottish name for Smoked Haddock Chowder. Cullen Skink may sound like an animal, but it's actually an incredibly flavorful, chowder-type soup originating in Scotland." It was very tasty and I would like to find a recipe I could try at home.

Tuesday, June 12
We packed a lot into this day between driving and hiking and exploring. First things first: we stopped at a cafe to buy our morning coffee and indulge in a scone or shortbread. (When in Scotland, do as the Scottish do!) We also bought a pair of flip flops for me since my feet couldn't walk in my shoes. Those flip flops enabled me to enjoy the rest of the week, to keep up with the younger ones without hobbling.

We drove back over to the Isle of Sky and spent our second day there. We first drove to the Fairy Pools, but when we got there, we saw there were no toilet facilities. Well, that would not do...there was no way we could do any hiking with all that coffee backed up in 4 bladders. So we decided we would visit a castle first and come back to the Fairy Pools later in the day. On the way to the Dunvegan Castle, we saw a Highland cow (pronounced by the Scots: "hay-len coo." He was happy to pose for us. Is he used to tourists stopping to snap a picture of him?

Dunvegan Castle is privately owned so it was not in ruins. Parts of it are open to the public so we walked around inside and ate our lunch outside on the terrace overlooking the water. 
 

The castle gardens were spectacular, such variety and unusual specimens. We couldn't stop taking pictures.

Did you ever see blue pine cones??? Or a blue poppy?

We could have spent a whole day in this lovely setting, but then we would have missed other treasures. It was hard to break away, but we wanted to see the beach with white sands. It wasn't far from the castle, so we drove about five minutes away, then hiked into the beach, through fields with cows and sheep. A lot of Scotland's coast is rocky so it was surprising to see a beach with sand. The water was so clear you could see to the bottom. There were no waves to stir up the sand.
 

 

Such a beautiful spot...it was hard to leave, but we wanted to fit in the Fairy Pools before calling it a day. And we're glad we did. No one's sure how this stream got its name except that the water cascades over rocks from high in the hills, sometimes settling into pools before continuing its way down. We hiked along the stream and up into the hills. By the time we got back to our car, it was 8:00 pm but the sun was still fairly high in the sky. According to my phone, that day we logged 16,000 steps and 4 miles again. My flip flops worked fine for me, allowing my blisters to begin healing.

That was a lot to fit into 4 days. And we still had another 5 days of adventures ahead. What fun to spend it with Christy, Grace and Anna. I enjoyed the company of Christy and the enthusiasm and giggles of the girls.

I will post a part 2 as I have time this week.