Scotland trip, part 2

Wednesday, June 13
Our lovely weather didn't last. It rained all day on Wednesday. Fortunately, most of our day consisted of driving. First stop was Glenfinnan to see the railroad trestle used for a steam engine that still runs. This scene was used in the Harry Potter movies and is a popular stop for tourists. We had to hike up a hill to see the train come along the viaduct. It would have been lovely except for the cold and wet and midges. I had my umbrella with me so I was somewhat protected from the rain, but the midges liked being under the umbrella with me. I got to the top of the hill but decided not to stay, even though the train was due momentarily. So I went back to the car and waited, then "stole" Christy's picture.

On the other side of the hill we climbed, looking the opposite direction was a monument erected to the battle that had taken place in this valley in support of Bonnie Prince Charles.

I couldn't help thinking as we experienced all these beautiful spots: "How sad that in all this beauty, so much bloodshed, unrest and strife had taken place."

Thursday, June 14
We woke in the morning to gale force winds and rain. We left our cozy cottage and were on our way in spite of the storm. All that rain produced some significant waterfalls down all the high hills.

We were in the car for quite a while, but eventually came to Loch Lomand...stopped to take some pictures then drove on to Stirling Castle. Loch Lomand is long (24 miles long) and narrow, so it felt like we were driving beside it for a very long way. We finally found a spot to park and get out to take pictures and explore.

The bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomand

We spent a lot of time at Stirling Castle because it was so huge and rich in history.

"Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, …and is surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position. Its strategic location, guarding what was, until the 1890s, the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth, has made it an important fortification in the region from the earliest times.

Most of the principal buildings of the castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A few structures of the fourteenth century remain, while the outer defenses fronting the town date from the early eighteenth century.

Before the union with England, Stirling Castle was also one of the most used of the many Scottish royal residences, very much a palace as well as a fortress. Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542, and others were born or died there."

Scotland loves using the red lion and lots of unicorns in their tapestries and art work.

The Queen's bed

The Queen's desk

We had a delightful guide at Stirling Castle who explained the history and functions of the different parts of the castle. It was fun listening to her thick accent.

Robert the Bruce with Christy and me!

Two of Scotland's most famous battles took place at Stirling. In 1314, Robert the Bruce led the Scots to victory over the English. He was greatly outnumbered by the English, but was successful because of his military genius.

Friday, June 15
We arrived back in Edinburgh Thursday evening so Friday was spent exploring the city. Driving the streets is a nerve wracking experience: they're narrow, some are cobblestoned and there are lots of roundabouts. Narrow streets don't stop 2-way traffic or huge sight seeing buses. In the earlier part of the week, driving through the country, there was less traffic and the people were generally gracious with our touristy driving. The city was a different matter and was more like driving in Philadelphia or any large city with lots of traffic and people in a hurry. Being honked at, though, does not help you drive better. In my opinion, it only exacerbates the problem, because now, you're not only doing the wrong thing (according to the one who honked), but you're adding anxiety to the mix.

Edinburgh is a very old city, even what they call the "new town" was constructed in the mid-late 1700's. The buildings reminded us of down town Philadelphia, built in rows right against the sidewalks (no front lawns), made of stone, 3-4 stories high.

And above the town is the imposing castle. The day we were there, it was mobbed with tourists.

The castle was impressive and awesome but harder to enjoy because there were so many people...long lines to see everything. We did persevere, though, and stood in line to see the crown jewels. (no pictures allowed)

Holyroodhouse was next on our agenda. This is England's royal (currently Queen Elizabeth II) residence when they visit Scotland on official duties. I didn't take a lot of pictures of these buildings because it was raining but this hedge was so impressive. We determined it was made of beech trees, trimmed to perfection.
 

the tree trunks were so thick - obviously ancient

The castle gardens and greenhouses were fun to explore.

And to top it all off, they had a cafe there so we could sit in out of the rain and enjoy a "cuppa" tea/coffee with some Scottish shortbread. The girls enjoyed testing various flavors of tea, but I loved a "cuppa" mocha.

All the castles have so much history and are interesting in their own right. You would think that seeing so many of them, you'd eventually get bored of visiting one more. But that was not the case. At the Holyroodhouse, there were buildings that were built as early as the 1,000's. That's hard to fathom for us who come from such a "young" country.

ruins of the Abbey

Saturday, June 16
It rained all day which didn't stop us from walking all over town. I was still wearing flip flops and my feet were cold and wet all day. The sidewalks were slippery and I had to be very careful not to slip and fall, but at least my blisters weren't hurting.

Our first stop was the royal yacht, Brittania. Most of that tour was inside the yacht, although we did walk outside on the decks at several spots. The living space of the royals was quite nice - fit for a queen.

From the yacht we hopped on a bus to go to the botanical gardens. Some of the gardens were inside under roof, but we still had a lot of walking around outside.

Back in the city, we ran into a gay pride parade, but it was a peaceful mob so we popped into and out of shops continuing our hunt for souvenirs to buy. We happened upon a street magician and watched his show. Then we had our dinner at a pig roast restaurant called, "Oink, Oink!" To finish out our Scottish food experience, we went looking for a place that would provide us with the deep fried Mars bar. Yes, it's Scottish and believe me...it's decadently delicious. I'm sure it's right up there with Turkish Delight!

By the time we decided to call it a day, the buses had stopped running for the day. It was still raining, and since it was a very long walk back to our flat, we hailed a taxi. The price wasn't that bad, and we had an interesting conversation with the driver. He was asking us all kinds of questions about America which we didn't mind answering. But when he started talking about politics, I decided it was time to change the subject and asked him about England's royals. Fortunately, he took the bait until we arrived at our destination.

It was so good to get out of my wet flip flops, soak my feet in a hot tub, then get into slippers for the rest of the evening. After we arrived "home," the sun came out.

Sunday, June 17
Since our plane wasn't leaving till 5:00pm, we were able to fit in one more sight seeing adventure by going to the Tantallon Castle. This castle is mostly in ruins, thanks to Oliver Cromwell, sitting high on a promontory opposite from Bass Rock. This rock is the nesting site for 150,000 gannets every summer. We could see the tiny white dots flying over the rock and ocean but they didn't show up in the picture.

As always the castle was impressive, even in its ruins. We were able to climb to the top, but being so high gave me butterflies in the pit of my stomach. I can understand why they built those castle so high... you're able to see for miles around up there. I guess the builders weren't afraid of heights!

And so ended our Scotland trip. It was such a nice break for me, away from the routine and stress of my life and all I deal with every day. I also immensely enjoyed being with Christy and the girls. We had such a good time together, and I came home relaxed and at peace with my situation.

It's hard to believe it's already two weeks in the past, but I have a lot of pictures and memories that will keep me going for a long time. It was kind of the Lord to give me this gift.

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.