November 14-19
Beautiful Pitlochry Scotland
On the afternoon of November 14th we drove over the border from England to Scotland. We had never been to Scotland before and we were both very excited for this part of the trip. First stop was Edinburgh. In Edinburgh we once again went with a B&B. Most of the B&Bs we had stayed at were inexpensive and comfy and included a nice hot breakfast and the Grouse House was no exception. It was owned by a young man named Dean who was so young looking we thought maybe he was just a hired hand. Apparently his parents are in the business as well so when Dean graduated from college they bought an old Victorian and turned it into this B&B that Dean would run. He and his parents did the whole reconstruction themselves and the place is just beautiful. It has a lot of the original woodwork still in tact like the crown molding and the wainscoting and some of the hardwood floors. There are only two guest rooms in the Grouse House so its perfect for someone just getting started in the trade.
Dean was a great host. When we arrived in Edinburgh it was cold and rainy so he brought us both a glass of wine to help take the chill off. My kind of host! After chatting with him for a while we decided to head into the city and just get a little taste of what Edinburgh had to offer. We bundled up and walked into town where we had a bite to eat and got our first taste of Edinburgh. That first night was freezing cold and we were tired from our travel day so we walked around for a while checking out the sights until it was just too cold to stay out any longer. We found a little pub with a warm fire and had a beer before heading back to the Grouse House for bed.
The next day was packed full of adventure. First up was Edinburgh Castle. It is situated up on the top of a hill overlooking the city. We thought that this would be a half hour stop but we explored the castle for close to two hours! It is a beautiful place and very well done as far as the signage and maps to help you get around. We explored almost every nook and cranny. My only regret is that we waited until the end to do the Crown Jewel exhibition. The crown jewels have an interesting history and that part of the tour could have taken 45 minutes alone if we weren't so beat. The crown jewels are called "The Honours" and the ones we saw were used for coronations as far back as 1543. A number of times in their history they were either hidden or locked away for safe keeping for long periods of time. Sir Walter Scott was famous for the last recovery of The Honours after they had been locked away in an oak chest in the recesses of the castle from 1707 to 1818. That's the same Sir Walter Scott who wrote Ivanhoe, Rob Roy and Waverly, to name just a few of his novels. He is quite beloved in this city.
The entrance to Edinburgh Castle
There are a million things to see inside the Castle. It's like a little city in there
Next up was lunch at a place called The Elephant House. The name may not ring a bell with you but my niece and nephew Amber and Teddy were pretty excited when I told them about it. The Elephant House is a self serve cafe on a busy street in Edinburgh. You order out front and then bring your coffee or your sandwiches out back to the family style tables where there are huge picture windows that look up to Edinburgh Castle on the hill. It was at these tables where JK Rowling spent much of her time writing the first Harry Potter novels. Those of you who know me can imagine what a thrill this was for me. Whether or not you like the books you have to understand the impact of JK Rowling. A whole generation of children became voracious readers because of her amazing stories. She is one of my heroes and it was so cool to sit in this cafe and see where she got some of her inspiration for these stories.
The windows are fogged up from the cold but Edinburgh castle is up a big hill outside these windows
Hogwarts...I mean Edinburgh Castle at night
Not my finest photo but I was very excited to be there. Beauty be damned!
After our little literary field trip it was time for something on the lighter side- Whisky! The Scotch Whisky experience is an excellent tour. You start out in an amusement park type ride learning how Scotch Whisky is made. After the tutorial you go into a big U shaped classroom where they give you scratch and sniff cards and teach you about the different Scotch making areas and how their flavors differ. Then you pick a sample of a region and the guide pours you a little taste. But before you can drink it, he brings you into their "museum" for the right atmosphere. The museum is incredible. A Brazilian man named Claive Vidiz collected almost 3400 bottles of Scotch Whisky over 35 years and he donated the whole collection. None of the bottles have been opened and they date back as far as 1897. We had our little taste of Scotch in this museum among the thousands of bottles. Shaun wasn't content with a single sample though so we did the Gold Tasting as well, which includes a sample from each of the areas so you can really taste the difference. It was quite fun!
Shaun in the middle of the Scotch collection. Can you believe the guy didn't open any of these?
The tasting tray.
After that you would think we went home to bed, but we weren't done yet! First was dinner at a place called the White Hart Inn, which has been around since 1516. Shaun was dying to try Haggis, so we decided this would be the place to do it. They had a starter on the menu called a "Wee taste of Haggis, Tatties and Neeps" that sounded perfect. The bartender said it was great for a beginner. Haggis is basically the trimmings or leftovers from a sheep that are cooked with onions, oatmeal and lots of spices. Sounds gross right? It was delicious. It had tons of flavour and a nice texture and went great with the Neeps and Tatties (mashed turnip and potatoes). We're really trying to eat locally when we eat and this was yet another delicious local meal.
Haggis with Neeps and Tatties. Delicious, hot, tasty innards!!
After our dinner at the White Hart, we went next door to the Beehive Comedy Club. On this night the Beehive had their New-Bee show where both old and new comedians try out their acts. This night was a mixed bag of really funny acts and roll-your-eyes-bad acts. Either way, it was a perfect end to a very busy fun day.
The next morning was another travel day. Originally we had planned to do two nights in Edinburgh, two nights in the Isle of Skye and then two nights in Glasgow. What we hadn't realized at the time was that the drive from Edinburgh to Skye was over 6 hours. We are smart enough at this point to know that that is a terrible travel schedule so we had started looking for other options. The first morning at the Grouse House the guys who had the other room were at breakfast at the same time so we started talking. We asked them for suggestions and they really talked up a place called Pitlochry, which was less than two hours away. Over the course of the next 24 hours every time we mentioned Pitlochry people got really excited (Oh! We LOVE Pitlochry!) so we decided that would be our next destination.
The drive up was lovely. Just mile after mile of sheep and cows and rolling hills and green grass and streams and lakes. It was just how I had always pictured Scotland. We arrived in Pitlochry in the afternoon and took a drive around to check it out. They have a hydro electric plant on the outskirts of town where they have fish ladders. They are basically used to make sure the salmon can swim upstream even though there is a dam. The area around the plant is beautiful and they made sure that it is walkable and environmentally sound. They even have an electronic "fish counter" that they use to check the numbers of fish that go through the ladders every season.
The Pitlochry Hydro Electric Plant and Fish Ladders. The Fish Ladders are on the sides, the fish swim under them. Very cool.
After checking out the dam we headed back to town and checked into our B&B, a little place called the Claymore. It had everything we love in a B&B. It was inexpensive, the room was big and comfy, the owners were hospitable and the breakfast was included. The Claymore was also just outside the center of town, which was great. For our afternoon activity we had one more Whisky related item on the agenda (or so we thought). The Edradour Distillery is the smallest Whisky Distillery in Scotland and it was just up the road. We asked John, the B&B owner if we could walk there and he said sure and gave us directions. He said it was probably about two miles. Unfortunately it was about three miles and it was all uphill. By the time we got to the distillery we were exhausted and starving. To add insult to injury, they had finished doing tours for the day! We broke our cardinal trip rule and asked them to call us a taxi back into town. Even though we missed the tour that day, we were both glad we did the walk at least once; it was quite beautiful. The Edradour would just have to wait until the next afternoon, the morning was set aside for walking.
The beautiful Claymore B&B
Our first view of Edradour. Too bad it was closed!
Pitlochry is famous for their walks. They have miles and miles of walking trails that go along the sides of rivers, lochs and woods. Every trail is well marked and the TI has walking maps for 1 Euro as well. The walks all start and end in town so there's no need to even get into a car. Shaun went for an early morning run and then the two of us did one of the more popular walks from town. It was just gorgeous out there in the woods and we only saw two other couples in the whole time we walked.
Pitlochry is famous for their walks
One of the views along the walk
Another view from the walk. Nothing but beauty.
After a nice lunch it was finally time for our Edradour tour. It was quite interesting. The tour was given by a very large Scottish man in full Scottish regalia, right down to his Kilt. We started with a tasting and then learned more about the making of Scotch Whisky by taking a tour all around the grounds of Edradour, including the distillery and the place where the barrels are stored. We even met one of the brewers there. (Edradour is so small they only employ three master brewers.) It was a great tour and it felt very personal. The Scotch was also quite good. These are the times we wish we weren't backpacking! We would have loved to take some home. Oh well, some other time I suppose!
Shaun among the barrels of Scotch at Edradour
From Pitlochry it was on to Glascow where we would be doing our first foreign home stay! Our friend Vanda's family is from Scotland and her Aunt and Uncle live in Loch Lomand, about half hour from Glasgow. Shaun had met them years ago so when Vanda heard we were going to Scotland she got in touch with them and they offered their spare bedroom for our visit. We were really excited about this part of the trip and even more so when we got there! John and Aileen are absolutely lovely people and so hospitable!! Our very first night Aileen made a big roast chicken dinner with tons of vegetables and potatoes and bread and gravy! You can imagine how nice that was after our many weeks on the road. We stayed up late talking and getting to know each other until Shaun and I were too tired to speak anymore!
The next morning Shaun got up at the crack of dawn to drive into Glasgow by himself. There was a CrossFit there and he had been in touch with the owner who invited him for a visit. The class was early so I had a nice breakfast with John and Aileen and then Aileen and I headed into Glasgow on the train. The plan was to meet Shaun when we got into town and go for a Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour of Glasgow, but Shaun got held up at CrossFit and then trying to find parking so Aileen and I set out on the tour ourselves. We made a plan to meet Shaun at the halfway point.
One of the views of Glasgow on the tour. Aileen and I were having fun taking so I didn't get many pics!
They were putting up the Christmas lights in St George's square!
The bus tour was a good way to see Glasgow on a cold rainy November day! We started in George's Square and saw the Cathedral. We went up to the People's Palace and the Glasgow Green. We went out to the new Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center and the Science Center, where we picked up Shaun. We went by the University and the Botanical Gardens, both of which were on gorgeous grounds! It was a fun way to see everything in a short amount of time. After the bus tour the three of us sat down for some sandwiches and coffees and then headed back to Loch Lomand.
For dinner that night John drove us to a great Pub for dinner. The Balloch House is a beautiful old Pub overlooking the Loch. We had a table for 4 with a window looking out at the twinkling lights of the houses on the loch. Dinner was lovely, Salmon for me, Burger for Shaun, Fish and Chips for John, Fishcakes for Aileen. By this time we were like old friends, telling stories and laughing away the night. When we got back to the house John broke out the good Scotch and we all had a drink and talked some more. It was our last night with John and Aileen and I think we all wanted it to last.
Our new Best Buddies in Scotland!
The next morning Shaun and I woke up to delicious smells in the air. We were flying to Belfast that day, but our flight wasn't until later so John and Aileen had told us they were going to take us on a little tour of Loch Lomand in the morning. Aileen had also decided that we couldn't go to the airport without some food so she had gotten up early and was baking Scones and Shortbread! While the Scones and Shortbread cooled we drove up through the beautiful coast of Loch Lomand. We pulled over and took some pictures along the way, but I don't think the pictures can do justice to the beauty of this place. Shaun and I were both quite taken with this part of Scotland.
It was so beautiful on Loch Lomand, even under overcast skies
John and Aileen at the Loch, we will always remember their hospitality!
After our wonderful tour of Loch Lomand, we arrived back at the house to pack up our things. While we were busy packing our backpacks, Aileen was packing up a sack of warm scones with butter and jam, ham sandwiches, apples and shortbread cookies. John gifted us with some Scotch from his collection as well! I must say, I was a little choked up leaving their house that day. It was cold and rainy in Glasgow, but John and Aileen's hospitality made it a warm and cozy visit for Shaun and I. We hope we can repay their hospitality someday when they are visiting the States!
The view out the plane window on the way to Belfast
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