As well as giving a day-by-day account of our trip, I decided to intersperse the significant happenings and persons with general impressions of Scotland . We flew into London Heathrow on May 22nd, picked up our rental car, and traveled up the west coast, staying with my three cousins on the way, crossed Scotland and came back down the east coast, flying back to Boston from Heathrow on June 11th.
When we stayed with my cousins, Brian and Elaine, we ate at a 400 year old pub, caught up on family happenings and walked by a boat lock on the Thames and into a lovely park that even had artificial rapids for canoers and kayakers to go through.
From there we traveled north to Alan and Barbara's home on a small peninsula south of Liverpool . We walked down to the water- where two rivers meet to enter the ocean- and then through a park that included a lovely pond with many birds (great for Dick to photograph) and a bowling green . We walked back along a horse trail to their house. One afternoon we went to see their daughter Thelma, her husband Safdar and their three children, James, Charlotte, and Alexander. By luck, Julia, the daughter of Lorna (Alan and Barbara's other daughter), was there though the rest of the family was in Oman where Julia's dad is ambassador from Britain . We enjoyed meeting everyone, drinking wine and eating great hors d'oeuvres in the sunny garden while the children played.
We stopped just inside the Scottish border at Gretna Green, where, in the old days, couples who ran away to get wed were married at the blacksmith's anvil. We saw our first kilted person there, doubtless a member of a wedding party. Dick scoured the woods for birds while I surreptitiously picked up a couple of pieces of confetti for souvenirs.
Then we continued north to Ayr where we stayed with Tezma and John for several days. While we were there we walked along the seaside, visited Robert Burns' Cottage, went to Culzean Castle, walked around Saltcoats (home town of my mother and father) for an afternoon, and took the train to Glasgow on our only really rainy day seeing an art museum- an amazing collection of art by a local benefactor. In Saltcoats we walked through the Northern Ayrshire Museum and offered them photos of my grandfather's buildings, now long gone. But occasionally I smelled the smoke from a coal fire which brought back memories from fifty years earlier. We got to see Tez and John's daughter Gillian, her husband Stuart and their three daughters- Jennifer, Carolyn, and Allison. We also met with their daughter Aileen and her daughter Nicole, who brought us two lovely shells on one of her morning visits to be taken to school by her grandpa.
When we left Ayr we drove up the coast stopping at several beaches as we went. Just north of Saltcoats I met a man walking his dog who told me that a ship carrying Delft pottery had been wrecked off the coast and he often found shards as he walked. That gave me new incentive to beachcomb but, unless the piece of pottery I found at a beach further north was from the same cargo, I didn't find any. But I did find a lovely flat scallop, hidden under seaweed that will now find a place on the bookshelves down south. Just important a find was that the people we met on the beaches, and even on the streets smiled at us and often started conversations. The accents varied, as did our understanding of them, but they were always in the soft Scottish cadence. Store clerks were unfailingly helpful, often walking us over to the products we were looking for. Parents showed obvious pride in their children and smiled when you noticed them. The attitude toward their dogs was much the same. People were unfailingly open and good humored with us. Those human touches added a lot to our trip!
After crossing the River Clyde we stopped by the shores of Loch Lomond at several places. At the junction of the A83 and A819, we drove through the lovely classic-looking town of Inveraray with its majestic buildings and old jail. On another trip I would love to explore it more, but we were on a mission to arrive at our hostel in good time, so had to journey on. Oban was our destination and we spent the night in a hostel there. We found it by asking directions from a young woman who was playing a CD of the band that was to perform in their nightclub that night- after 10 unfortunately for us travel-tired fogies. The town had a lovely harbor and lots of ways to amuse yourself - boat tours, castles and shopping, but the summer season wasn't underway yet. So we enjoyed the town in peace, watching people feeding swans and walking along the docks. The hostel was interesting, converted from the housing for staff at a local restaurant, now closed. We had one of three bedrooms which were served by two bathrooms, so it was almost as good as having your own. The morning's breakfast consisted of cereals and great homemade bread with a variety of jams and jellies made of fruits from their gardens out back.
Our next stop was the Isle of Skye . We called the hostel ahead of time because it was the weekend and we didn't want to drive all the way there to find it full. Loch Ness was a ‘must see' so we went the long way around so we could drive along the lower part of the loch. Though we didn't see the monster, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the views. We crossed the bridge to Skye in late afternoon- not as romantic as taking the ferry, but efficient if you want to get to your somewhat remote hostel in good time to enjoy it. The road to Portnalong was very narrow with passing places if you chanced to encounter a car coming the other way, a commonplace economy in road building in the Highlands . And the hostel itself consisted of what they referred to as “crofts bunkhouse, bothies (attached cottages) and wigwams (modified A-frames). We had a bunk bed room off the main building sharing a good sized kitchen, a nice lounge with TV, and men's and women's bathrooms with the people in the large bunkroom. We brought our suitcases in, ate, then went for a hike down along the shore and through farm fields back to the hostel. We passed many small houses, one with its pile of peat to burn in colder weather. The sun set around 9:45 there, so we had lots of time to make the hike around. Then we sat with the others in the hostel, young hikers and an American family who had spent the last three years working in Edinburgh .
We were up early and off to see Dunvegan Castle the next day. It wasn't open for tours until 10, but the side gate was open so we walked around and enjoyed the gardens. Dick looked for birds along the path and we enjoyed the atmosphere, feeling a little like we were trespassing, but being quiet enough not to intrude since the castle was inhabited. From there we circled around to the east coast of Skye, stopping when we wanted to photograph Highland Castle or walk along a stream. At one particularly lovely place we walked along the river, crossing at times by rocks leading to stone strewn islands in the middle of the stream. I built a cairn by the stream in the middle of lovely wildflowers, as a remembrance of my parents. But when I tried to show it to Dick, I couldn't find it again, even though I had photographed it both with my camera and in my mind. Somehow that seemed very fitting- very Brigadoon-like. At another place we walked on what was almost surely spongy peat.
The scenery everywhere was lovely and the golden gorse in bloom helped to light up even the most overcast day. Wild flowers covered river banks and fields. And the gardens everywhere with their blossoming poppies, roses and rhododendrons added beauty to the cityscapes.
After we crossed back over the bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh we bought groceries, then headed across to the east coast and Balintraid where we hoped to spend the night in a hostel that looked like a Victorian mansion. We drove through Strathpeffer walking along past the old railroad station that they had turned into a childhood museum. Then we drove along the Cromarty Firth and found the hostel after a while. Unfortunately the only things there to greet us were cats and peacocks in a pen out back. We left a phone message for the owners to meet us back there at 6, then checked out B & B's in Saltburn as an alternative. I beachcombed and found more beach glass than I had seen in many years. With no one showing up at the hostel at 6, we gave up and stayed at an amazing B & B. Dick sat in the little front jungle room with a cheetah for company, working on his bird pictures on the computer while I hunted beach glass all along the waterfront. Then we went up to our room and the five dolls on the dresser watched as we made tuna fish sandwiches for dinner and watched TV to try to keep current on US politics. Their bathroom had a Jacuzzi with an alligator on the edge, and swans around it, while Big Mouth Billy Bass was atop the toilet, ready to serenade the china dogs below if called on to do so. But the people were very nice, collectors who loved to display their findings.
The next morning we got up at 6:30 and after tomatoes and mushrooms for Dick and cereal for both, we headed up for the most accessible northerly point in Scotland , John O'Groats . I searched the beach for cowrie shells and agates to no avail, while Dick wandered in search of birds. Then we headed along the cliffs, where thousands of birds were nesting, swooping around in their quests for food. On the first cliff I spotted one puffin, so helped Dick clamber over the barbed wire-topped fence, where his fascination with the scene overcame his worries about being so close to the cliff edge. I left him there happily trying to get birds to pose, and walked further along the cliffs. I didn't spot any more puffins but did get as far as the Stacks of Duncansby , triangular rocks jutting out of the sea. Dick caught up with me on the way back and we carried on a conversation with a couple from Stratford-Upon-Avon who were searching out puffins too.
On the way back down the coast we stopped at several places. Dick had a good day for birds and I found some ‘maybe' cowries and agates. We had a bit of trouble finding the hostel even though we knew it was at the foot of the castle in Inverness , but helpful people once again gave us directions and we found it. The girl at reception was very nice and took us around to the back entrance for the upper floors and showed us our room. We gathered our laundry up and took it to our friendly receptionist who promised to do it that night. Our car was parked in a lot which was for paying customers in daytime, but legal for other use at night. So with everything safely put away for the evening, we walked down the street in search of a restaurant and ate at the very reasonable Castle Restaurant, just down the street from the hostel. After salmon and baked potatoes, we headed back to the hostel and used their WiFi connection to check on email. I sat up in bed trying to plan the next few days and ended up mapping out the whole rest of the trip.
The next morning we got up early so we could move the car out of the parking lot and into the Pay and Display spaces nearby. Instead of parking meters we often found central pay machines which spit out a time-stamped ticket for you to put on your dashboard. We went looking for the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery which I had seen the night before, but ended up having a nice walk along the river in the mist. We crossed a suspension walking bridge which moved a good deal under us in the breezes. Using the castle as a landmark we circled back and walked through the Victorian Shopping Center , a covered arcade with lots of interesting little shops including a butcher that sold rabbits and hares and fish of every shape and size.
We found the Museum just behind the castle and feed the meter again while we waited for it to open at 10. The art was mostly quite modern- a collar made of artichoke seeds sewn together with nylon thread, prints made with objects like shoe insoles and hot water bags, and fairyland-like scenes made with tons of glitter. But the artifact section was very interesting- weapons, bagpipes, costumes, ancient stone carvings and lots about Celtic history.
By 11 we were ready to leave Inverness for Braemar . On the way we stopped at Culloden where Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Highland clansmen were crushed by the English army with its superior weapons. We stood in a theater with screens surrounding us and saw the carnage reenacted. Then we took our state-of-the-art electronic guides out to the battlefield and did a mildly rainy walk through, being traced by GPS so that we heard about each point along the way as we reached it.
On the road again, we stopped at various points along the River Dee, reaching Braemar around 3:30 . Once again we needed to ask people to find the hostel which was really just off the town center. Kate, who ran it, took us through the gate and into the garden which was surrounded by the various units. We were the only people in our unit so had the run of the kitchen and bathroom. We took a walk along the Dee and I went into a church with lovely stained glass windows. The tourist bureau gave us a sheet that told about various restaurants and their current hours, but we struck out. One of the places listed was closed and in another a young girl told us the kitchen was closed at 5 despite the sheet saying it was open until 8:30 . One rather grand hotel might have had service in the pub, but we were very informally dressed, so we opted for buying fish fillets, veggies, and rolls in a market and broiled the fish and had a lovely dinner back at the hostel. Dick worked on photos at the kitchen table while I wrote postcards, then went out to mail them and walked around the charming little town.
Kate never turned on the heat, but we had thick covers so didn't suffer at all. We found recycling and conservation of resources to be very important in Scotland- from the smaller sized cars, to the showers that only made hot water on demand, to the recycling bins by the houses. The next morning Dick went out looking for birds, then we showered, and had cereal in the kitchen. We took photos of Braemar Castle on our way out, climbed a stile just for the experience, and found a place where we could get down to the river. A deer was trapped by fences there and gave us a good photo op as it wildly tried to find a way out of the field. I rock hunted while Dick looked for birds. We arrived at Balmoral Castle at 10 when it was opening. I got a pot of tea and a scone and we sat outside pretending we were having tea with the Queen. We walked through the ballroom, the only room open to visitors, and saw a charming video of the Queen at Balmoral , dancing country dances and walking beside her grandchildren as they rode ponies down by the River Dee. Works of art and gowns worn by the Queen and Queen Mother were displayed there. We walked down along the river, then through the gardens and greenhouses. I took some photos of Crathie Church which the Queen attends in summer, and of purple and white heather which the local school had somehow coaxed to bloom out of season.
Aberdeen was next on our list and we drove straight through. We went through the Aberdeen Art Museum , seeing portraits and French Impressionists and Scottish silver. Our night's destination was Stonehaven , only 15 or 20 miles away so we made that in good time. We walked along the lovely harbor which was just as I remembered it from 40 years earlier, and just a street off the harbor found a lovely B & B with ensuite bathroom and tea and biscuits on a small table. We turned on the TV and found that Barack had gotten the requisite number of delegates in last night's elections. The harbor called to us again so we went for a walk and eventually followed the boardwalk back into the main part of town looking for a restaurant. A long waterfront had sculptures of a seal and dolphin and beautiful gardens fronted the houses. At Market Square we spotted Sandy 's Fish and Chips- had to eat there! A very cute waitress took our orders and we enjoyed a nice meal. I tried to call Karen but the phone disconnected each time after about 20 seconds. I was able to let her know when we were coming to visit and then gave up. We walked back along the waterfront to the harbor and shared a lager and lime sitting on the wall overlooking the harbor. We watched TV a bit, then called it a day.
Stone was a theme of the trip, from stone used in many of the impressive city buildings and monuments, to the rocky shelf of beaches, to the cairn I built on Skye, to the walls that divided up the farmland, to the granite cobblestones on city streets, to the skeleton buildings of ancient churches and castles, to the rocky cliffs with birds soaring, to Hadrian's Wall made by the Romans, to the rocky beaches we walked, me always with eyes down, looking for the perfect stone. The country seemed to reflect the sturdy nature of the stones on which it was built.
The next morning our very nice elderly hostess tried to prevail upon us to choose more food for her to cook. But we settled for a plate of bacon for me and mushrooms for Dick, plus grapefruit, cereal, and toast. We drove to the ruin of the amazing castle complex overlooking Stonehaven , Dunnottar Castle , but it wasn't open for visitors yet. I had read in a Stonehaven tourist brochure about a nature area called Fowlsheugh , so we took a road in toward the coast and found it on the first try. The cliffs were every bit as picturesque and bird inhabited as the ones near John O'Groats , but not as heavily visited. We walked along amidst the wildflowers marveling at the ledges so crowded with birds that they couldn't have been nesting there- not enough room for them all to lie down at once. Along the way we met the lone other visitor, a local man off work due to an accident, who had ridden his bike down there as physical therapy. Dick took loads of photos of the birds and I took scenery, wildflowers and birds among the wildflowers.
We stopped in Montrose, my dad's birthplace, to take photos of the town, then stopped beside the Montrose Basin- at low tide- and Dick birded while I found what was probably the only true agate of the trip .
We drove through Dundee , then it was on to Edinburgh . We knew we couldn't stay at a hostel there because of problems finding a place to park the car. But I had found a reasonable B & B in my guidebook and, after several stops to get directions, we found it. Unfortunately it was filled up, but we drove a little around the area and found a great place, Cherrytree Villa B & B. They had a nice room at a reasonable price (just over $100 for the night) so we booked it for two nights. The manager directed us through very narrow gates and around the back where we parked the car for the following two days. We were given a card with all the bus numbers to get us into Edinburgh and back, and with the B & B's address and phone number in case of problems. So off we went, watching landmarks to know when to get off on our way back.
We walked past the Scott Monument where a piper was playing, then onto the Scottish National Gallery. In the distance we could see Edinburgh Castle looming over the town.
The gallery had an impressive collection of French Impressionist paintings and Scottish artists. Their portrait galleries had portraits done in an amazing variety of styles and mediums. We ate at an Indian restaurant called Zest- seated in the window to encourage other customers. We got the right bus back, got off in the right location, and got back to the B & B easily.
Dick tried again to get the computer to work. He had fashioned a Rube Goldberg combination of plug adaptors and Q-tips to get it plugged in, but eventually that no longer worked. But we were able to watch what had become our favorite TV program, Spring Watch, where naturalists showed the changes in spring with a specialty of putting small cameras in bird nests and watching the eggs hatch, babies grow and fly off.
The next morning we got up at 7 and ate at 8, passing on haggis and blood pudding which was offered, but eating the best breakfast yet, including porridge for Dick. We took the bus to the center again and set off on foot for the National Gallery's Modern Art Museum which was a good way from the center of town. We followed our tourist map and got in the general area. I wanted to walk through an area called Dean Village , an 800 year old grain milling town, on the way there. Dick saw a sign that said “ Modern Art Museum ¼ mile, so he decided to take the short cut, while I persisted in trying to see the village. But as I walked along, I saw I got no closer to the little stream I was supposed to be walking along, and finally gave up and cut through a cemetery to the museum, missing all the picturesque parts. I got to the museum, expecting to find Dick waiting for me but he was nowhere in sight. I waited outside for a while, then went in and asked the guide if they had seen a single man walking through the galleries- there were only a few rooms. I knew that an extension of the museum was across the street, so went there, walked around, asked again and went back across the street- worrying by this time because Dick had taken the short way and wasn't there yet. Then I saw him walking up in the opposite direction. Every time he had walked a quarter mile, there was a sign saying it was another quarter mile and so on. He had actually taken the way alongside the stream, so enjoyed the walk more even if it was longer. We walked through the galleries and I went through the museum on the other side of the street while he lay on the grass in the sun. Then we caught a bus back to the city center.
We found a nice Chinese restaurant- downstairs which made it seem very European to me. Then we caught the bus out to the Ocean Terminal where the Royal Yacht Britannia is moored. In the shopping center there we found the right electrical adapter for our portable computer in a Boots the Chemist's shop. We toured the ship using a recorder that told about each of the rooms along the way, seeing the Queen's and the Duke's bedrooms, drawing rooms, Prince Charles and Diana's honeymoon bedroom, the state dining room and crew's quarters, as well as the engine room and Royal Barge that took them onshore. ‘ Twas lovely.
We took the bus back into the center, then another bus back towards our B & B. I got off the bus before the B&B so I could investigate a row of thrift shops I had spotted earlier. They abound in Scotland and England , dedicated to medical causes and to helping the poor. I found some very interesting things, even new souvenirs sold in one shop. The saleswoman was very nice and we got into a conversation about the states, since she'd been there to Minnesota three different times. It turned out that she was part of the Twin Study which I'd taught about in psych for 17 years. She and her fraternal twin sister had been separated for 41 years when they finally got together. I was fascinated by her experiences and we for about a half hour. She loved being part of the research, loved knowing her sister and finding that they had so many mannerisms and personality characteristics in common.
Dick was in the room when I got back and we had a cup of tea there before heading out again, to try to find the ponds below Arthur's Seat, not far from the B & B. We walked down the streets in the right direction, but finally asked two women who were walking there. They were great and we talked for quite a while. One of the women actually had emigrated to the states but was back to take care of her ailing mother. They gave us directions, but told us of a very posh hotel, just a little further down the road where the Queen often stayed when she was in town. Although their grounds were technically private, there were no Keep Out signs and the women had seen peacocks there, walking around the grounds. So we walked down there and Dick photographed the peacocks and pheasants. Then we retraced our steps and found the golf course close to the ponds, but there was no access from there. So we called it a night, went back to our room and ‘lunched' on peanuts, bread, bananas, and Chocolate Digestive Biscuits since we had had our big meal in the afternoon. Dick found the new electric plug worked well, so happily worked on bird photos for the evening while I read.
On our last day in Edinburgh we drove toward Arthur's Seat and did find the pond where the requisite swans and many geese swam. We tried to find the road up to where we had seen people parked but never did, so went on our way. We stopped at a pub for lunch and had a good conversation with people who had their friendly old dog with them and were waiting for their B & B to allow them in. While there we found out that it was a nesting area for some of the few Harrier Hens still in existence, so we had to try to go find them. Following the pub keeper's description, we drove into the countryside and found where we thought the path would lead to the forrester's cabin, but walked for over a mile, being passed by one car that must have held an official since the road had a barrier gate. Dick got photos of some small birds in the trees, but eventually we gave up and hiked back out.
We stopped in Jedburgh , trying to find souvenir T-shirts before we crossed out of Scotland , but there seem to be a dearth of such things in Scotland . We walked around and photographed Mary, Queen of Scots House and the Abbey. I wandered the town on a T-shirt search and got a couple of things in thrift shops there, but no shirts. We stopped at the border and took photos, then feeling sad, we left Scotland . We tried to find Hadrian's wall , but only found a spot where hiker's told us it was several hours along the trail before they'd see it. So we drove on and found Karen and Joe's easily by following their directions. Their friend, Maida, greeted us and gave us a cup of tea and we waited for Karen and Joe to come back from a party. They came back and took us to the 65 th birthday party of a friend and we ate and sat and talked there. We met Karen and Joe's friend, Ray from Australia , who stays with them when he spends the summers in the Old Country, sees his old friends and travels around in his VW camper. Back at the house, we looked at photos, talked and watched Hillary's withdrawal speech on TV. Then we headed across to the bedroom in Karen's studio for the night.
After breakfast, we took a hike along the old trails that followed the lead mining paths in the area. They had brought lead down from the countryside by mules and smelted it there, so ruins of old buildings were along the way. Karen and I had plenty of time to talk and Ray helped Dick identify birds along the way, even by song when they couldn't be seen. When we got back, we hand washed a bunch of clothes and hung them on Karen's lines. Then Celina and Adam came over, fresh from their trip to Spain , and we got to see Emil and the triplets- Oscar, Theo and Isaac. The boys played very nicely together. We ate sandwiches out in the garden. Karen and Joe obviously love being grandparents. Chuck Farley, Karen's 90 year old dad, came over and seemed to really enjoy being around everyone. He's remarkable and still pays Bridge three nights a week. It was very nice to see him again. Dick and I used their WiFi to do email before dinner. Then we went out and walked the moors from 9-10- watching the sun set as we walked among the heather and sheep. As we walked through the woods on our way back to the car, we heard a cuckoo- a neat finish to the day.
On the next-to-the-last day of our trip, we got up, showered and packed up our things before going to breakfast. We said goodbye to Joe, Ray and Maida, then followed Karen to a great spot to see Hadrian's Wall . We walked along the wall and saw it stretching far into the distance from the top of a hill. It was amazing to see all the flat faced stones they had made to construct their defensive wall. When we left, we still followed along the wall for many miles, then took the ring road around Newcastle and headed south on the M1. After an uneventful trip for many miles south, we stopped at one of the hotels that accompanied rest stops along the major motorways. We walked across the bridge to the food area of the rest stop and I had KFC chicken strips while Dick got a salad with salmon from a refrigerated case in another area. Then we walked through a nice housing area in hopes of finding a pond that we had seen from the highway when we drove in. But once again we couldn't find our way there, so settled for another nice evening walk. We read the complimentary newspaper, did sudokus and watched Spring Watch. Dick took some bird shots from the hotel window and worked on photos. And so ended our last night in the UK .
We had cereal in our room and left the boxes for the cleaners, if they so wished. Then we left, making the mistake of not entering the highway through the rest stop on the far side of the highway from the hotel. We landed in stall-and-crawl traffic for the next hour, traveling through the town and along to the next entry to the M1. In London we had a little trouble getting on the right airport ring road in the right direction to find the hotel where we'd gotten the rental car, but eventually got the gas tank filled, and left the car off. We got the bus to Heathrow and checked in through a kiosk very easily. I got some chicken soup and read until it was time for the flight. We've decided we love Virgin Atlantic. We got good dinners, ice cream bars, and brownies at other times and had individualized TV sets with at least eighty different choices of movies and TV shows to choose from. I watched Fool's Gold and Persepolis . They even give you a goody bag with slipper socks, mask, pen and toothbrush and paste. We arrived in Boston a little early, but our bags were among the last to be unloaded. Even so we got the Concord Coach Bus in good time, got groceries and were home before 10, trying to forget that it was really about 3AM UK time.
While the dollar fared poorly against the pound, our trip remained rather economical. While gas (petrol) was about twice the very high current prices in the US , our gracious hosts and hostel stays made accommodations very reasonable. We carried our own cereal and dried milk for breakfast when it wasn't provided and often had a picnic for lunch or ate our large meal then, when restaurant prices were more reasonable. Art museums were free as were walks along rivers and bird cliffs. In no way did our economizing take anything away from the fun of the trip. In fact it made us think we were beating the high cost of European travel right now, a bonus smarty pants feeling.
Great trip, good to be back in our own bed!