Our expeditions today were within 1/2 hour of Inverness. We began at the Culloden Battlefield. This is the site where thousands of Highlanders lost their lives in a bloody battle. As a result, the Scottish clans were broken up, and it was forbidden to wear kilts and tartans. This museum is excellent - a wonderful history lesson.......
We stopped at Clava Cairns - a prehistoric burial ground featuring burial mounds and rock formations similar to Stonehenge.
At lunch time we stopped at Cawdor Castle. We had a tour of the castle and the beautiful gardens, plus some homemade soup and scones in the cafe.
Our group got back to Inverness in time to shop at Marks and Spencer and all the fun town shops.
Thursday, May 31
May 30th Inverness
The weather in Scotland is just like Oregon in the spring. Sunny, cloudy, misty, light rain, sprinkling and back to partly cloudy. Of course, that is just the morning. The weather is going back to partly cloudy for the next few days.
After a hearty breakfast we rolled down the road about a mile to one of Scotland's Crannog Interpretive Centers. Very interesting look into life in Scotland 2500 years ago.
We traveled to Pitlochry, a little village near Balmoral Castle, for a couple of meat pies and a stroll around the village. Pitlochry marks the boundary of the Scottish Highlands.
We proceeded north to a sheep ranch near Kingussie and watched Neil Ross, a professional shepherd, use his 7 dogs to herd sheep. It was pretty amazing to watch Neil manage the dogs with body movements, whistles and voice commands. He would use one, two or all of the dogs to retrieve, herd and corral the sheep. It was amazing to watch the shepherd and dogs work as a team.
We'll stay two days in Inverness, located on the River Ness. We're enjoying all the fresh seafood and lamb that Scotland is famous for.
After a hearty breakfast we rolled down the road about a mile to one of Scotland's Crannog Interpretive Centers. Very interesting look into life in Scotland 2500 years ago.
We traveled to Pitlochry, a little village near Balmoral Castle, for a couple of meat pies and a stroll around the village. Pitlochry marks the boundary of the Scottish Highlands.
We proceeded north to a sheep ranch near Kingussie and watched Neil Ross, a professional shepherd, use his 7 dogs to herd sheep. It was pretty amazing to watch Neil manage the dogs with body movements, whistles and voice commands. He would use one, two or all of the dogs to retrieve, herd and corral the sheep. It was amazing to watch the shepherd and dogs work as a team.
We'll stay two days in Inverness, located on the River Ness. We're enjoying all the fresh seafood and lamb that Scotland is famous for.
Wednesday, May 30
May 29 On the road to Kenmore
We left Edinburgh and drove over the Firth of Forth (firth means estuary) on our way to the quaint little village of Culross. At Culross we toured the home of the coal and salt baron who built an empire there.
Then it was on to St. Andrews. We toured the ruins of the cathedral, castle, and churchyard before we headed for the golf course. It was great to watch the golfers - bright golf attire never goes out of style!
We stopped at Black Linn Falls at the Hermitage in Birnham Woods on our way to the hotel. This was close to the spot where Beatrix Potter spent her childhood summers. We didn't see any of Shakespeare's witches, and none of Miss Potter's famous rabbits.
Our group spent the night in Scotland's oldest inn in Kenmore.
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| The original owner (Sir George Bruce of Carnock) started making salt by mining coal, then started mining coal and invented a method to pump water out of the coal mine and made even more money. |
Then it was on to St. Andrews. We toured the ruins of the cathedral, castle, and churchyard before we headed for the golf course. It was great to watch the golfers - bright golf attire never goes out of style!
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| The Ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral. The sea is just on the other side of the outer wall. |
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| The Swilken Bridge at St. Andrews Golf course. Picture for golfers. |
We stopped at Black Linn Falls at the Hermitage in Birnham Woods on our way to the hotel. This was close to the spot where Beatrix Potter spent her childhood summers. We didn't see any of Shakespeare's witches, and none of Miss Potter's famous rabbits.
Our group spent the night in Scotland's oldest inn in Kenmore.
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| Our room was in the upper right gable |
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| View across from our hotel. The store front on the far left is the post office, store and telegraph office |
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| View from the back of the Kenmore Hotel looking over Loch Tay. |
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| Room at the Kenmore |
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| Street in St. Andrews. Wonder why the sign gets stolen? |
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| Nancy introducing the Queen. |
Monday, May 28
May 28 Edinburgh - The Royal Miles
Walk, Walk, Walk. About 6 miles plus miles today.
The highlights are: the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle, the new Scottish Parliament building, St. Giles' Cathedral, a trip down the Royal Mile and the Queen's Palace of Holyroodhouse. We had a great quiche lunch at St. Giles' outdoor cafe, mussels and fish & chips at the Mussel Inn and a pint at Dirty Dick's. Just short of 12 hours of sight seeing, eating and drinking.
The Elephant House is the coffee house where J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book.
The highlights are: the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle, the new Scottish Parliament building, St. Giles' Cathedral, a trip down the Royal Mile and the Queen's Palace of Holyroodhouse. We had a great quiche lunch at St. Giles' outdoor cafe, mussels and fish & chips at the Mussel Inn and a pint at Dirty Dick's. Just short of 12 hours of sight seeing, eating and drinking.
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| A picture is worth a thousand words, maybe. |
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| Phone Home |
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| This is the "backyard" of Holyroodhouse. The extinct volcano in the background is called Arthur's Seat. It's a short hike that offers a beautiful view of Edinburgh. See if you can see the hikers. |
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| A pint before we headed to the hotel. |
Sunday, May 27
May 27 Edinburgh
The flight to Amsterdam was long, with lots of seat time. We got two side seats by ourselves and that was better than being in the four middle seats. We flew so far north (over Hudson's Bay, southern Greenland and Iceland) and so high (35,000 feet) that the sun never set. Everyone shut their window screens so we could nap.
Arrived in Amsterdam 11:20 PM, Saturday - our time. Local time is 8:20 AM, Sunday. Yes, a long day. Waiting for the Edinburgh flight. This flight will be quick. Of course, we'll sleep most of the way.
We spent our first hour in the UK entertaining ourselves at customs, waiting for bags, determining the right bus, getting off at the right stop, wandering toward our hotel with one moment of indecision. We solved our direction problem by asking a very dignified gentleman with a cane, coat and vest the name of a street. He corrected me, ever so gently, as he said the street name with a lyrical Scottish brogue. We made it to the first hotel on our tour and it is great! After a bit of freshening up, it looks like lunch at a nearby pub. We need a beer and a short nap before we meet our tour partners. Right now, excluding some cat naps, we have been up about 20 hours.
Bedroom The Bonham in Edinburgh.
Arrived in Amsterdam 11:20 PM, Saturday - our time. Local time is 8:20 AM, Sunday. Yes, a long day. Waiting for the Edinburgh flight. This flight will be quick. Of course, we'll sleep most of the way.
We spent our first hour in the UK entertaining ourselves at customs, waiting for bags, determining the right bus, getting off at the right stop, wandering toward our hotel with one moment of indecision. We solved our direction problem by asking a very dignified gentleman with a cane, coat and vest the name of a street. He corrected me, ever so gently, as he said the street name with a lyrical Scottish brogue. We made it to the first hotel on our tour and it is great! After a bit of freshening up, it looks like lunch at a nearby pub. We need a beer and a short nap before we meet our tour partners. Right now, excluding some cat naps, we have been up about 20 hours.
Edinburgh Castle
Howies. Place for the first group dinner together.
Friday, May 25
The trip begins May 26
We are in the final stage of packing. The prep seems pretty thorough, but we can buy anything we forgot. We start at 1:30 pm from Portland to Amsterdam, then a short hop to Edinburgh, Scotland. We have been looking forward to this trip for several years. Look for new updates of our adventure.
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