Arrival in Edinburgh was straight forward although no duty free on arrival so probably should have purchased the bottle of gin before we left Sweden!
We left our gear at the hotel and headed out to explore the city on foot as the hotel we are staying in is only a short walk to the city centre. After a good walk around the new town area (actually it looks like the old town) we then decided to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia. According to Lonely planet you should walk down from the city (Leith Walk) and then bus home so we trusted them and 3 miles later we were onboard with some tired feet. No doubt about it, it is a beautiful boat, tastefully decorated and an interesting insight into what life on board must have been like.
After a rest and allowing the feet to breath we decided to head out for some Scottish music at Au Bar and therefore a later night than we had anticipated particularly given the 5.45 start to catch the flight.
Day two and we were off reasonably early to take in Edinburgh Castle for our 9.30 booking. BLOODY GOOGLE MAPS..... yep once again we trusted google only to find ourselves under the walls of the castle and in need of some serious raiding ladders if we were going to scale the walls. This thing was built on this site because of the difficulty in penetrating the walls so nothing for it but back track and head around to the right entrance albeit 30 minutes behind schedule. We had a great look around, loved the history and continue to get confused by the complexity of the royal lineages- James the V1 and 1st...... Ah that’s right James the 6th of Scotland and 1st of England.After the castle - a walk down the Royal Mile so named because it was the route taken by the king from Holyrood Palace to the castle. Lots of fabulous old buildings with wonderful cobbled lanes heading off to the side, a bit of shopping along the way, a look at Parliament House from the outside because it wasn’t open - very interesting architecture. Finishing with a tour of Holyrood Palace. Still currently used including much of the original furniture. A quite understated palace as palaces go. But still impressive. The day was cold and the afternoon was wet so it was nice to get back to the hotel and rest some very weary legs!
Day 3 began with a 7am fire alarm whereby we pulled on some jeans and a jumper and headed out of the building. Many of our fellow guests appeared in dressing gowns and pj’s and thankfully we were able to wait in another hotel over the road but alas, no coffee. It is at this time you actually start to think about what you didn’t have with you if there was actually a fire including passports and photos- thankfully a false alarm..... the rest of the day was highlighted by a visit to Rosslyn Chapel https://www.rosslynchapel.com/
This was right up there as far as visits were concerned and reminded us of the Jayne Temple we experienced in India. Magnificent stonework that has been well preserved and made famous by Dan Brown in the Da Vinci code. The trust looking after the Chapel have not looked back since the release of the book and the ten-fold increase in visitor numbers. The chapel is unique because it not only depicts religious scenes and icons but also scientific ideas and nature references. This is due to the interests of the person who designed and built the chapel. And yes there were also links to the stonemasons lodge. A perfect choice for Dan Brown.
Another night and another Scottish music experience- this time a traditional Jam session at Sandy Bells and a new friend Paddy who had a very doubtful past that we decided to avoid as he had some significant links to the IRA (if he was to be believed) and he had also had a significant amount of alcohol on board and we were there for the music after all. Minor problem trying to get a bus after midnight so back to walking and more tired legs.
Next day Aberdeen via the Argyll Coastal Tourist Route and a visit to Arbroath Abbey ruins.
Doesn’t look like much in this photo but it was an impressive building. You can certainly imagine what it must have been like when fully operational.
We have a great little 2 bedroom flat close to the city in Aberdeen so it was nice to chill out for a couple of nights.
We spent the morning at Dunotar Castle. Yes another ruin but once again very impressive. A stunning location on a cliff headland and whilst it has been left in ruins there are still significant buildings and you can not help but be impressed by the sheer scale of the site.
Back in Aberdeen and time to wander around the city centre. Rather underwhelming in most parts and the majority of buildings are constructed from a dull grey granite (that “sparkles” in the sunshine). There were however a few impressive buildings including a citadel and the university building right in the heart of the town.
Leaving Aberdeen we head to Inverness via another of Scotlands tourist drives. This time via the Craigorm National Park. Another stunning drive with beautiful autumnal scenes and winding roads. We decided to push on in order to get to the Culloden Battlefield and the Clava Cairns and standing stones burial site. If you have been watching Outander on Netflix you will appreciate why we wanted to go to both of these sites. The stones were the first stop and well worth the detour to be immersed in a small but significant site that includes a number of stone circles (not as big as Stone Henge but nowhere near the crowds and it was free!) The burial sites were large mounds of stone piles or cairns with an alleyway up the middle and into the centre aligned to the Summer Solstice. The CLAVA cairns were the inspiration for Craig Na Dun (the standing stones that transported Clare) in Outlander.
Culloden is the site of the largest battle ever held on British soil and was where the English took on the Scottish Jacobite rebels led by Bonnie Prince Charles who was trying to restore his father James, a Stewart, to the throne. Bouyed by their previous successes Bonnie Prince Charles decided to ignore advice from his advisors, clan leaders etc to return to Inverness where they could rest the men and reprovision before rengaging in battle. Bonnie Prince Charles, believing he could not be defeated, ignored this advice and after an ill fated march trough the night to try and mount a surprise attack the men returned to camp tired and hungry to receive the order to stand and fight. The battle was fought in difficult terrain and they were outmanned and outfought not being able to properly draw up battle formations. The battle was over within an hour with 1500 Jacobites dead and 300 English. Bonnie Prince Charles was whisked away to safety, later smuggled to France as a hero for his efforts. Another 1500 Scotts and Jacobite supporters were murdered in following months by Lord Cumberland who earned himself the title of Cumberland the Butcher for his ruthless attacks. The wearing of plaid and Scottish dress and the speaking of Scottish Gaelic was outlawed as the final assault to crush any future uprisings. The skill of the Scottish highlander fighters was embraced and used to their own advantage not many years later!!!
We had to do the drive to Loch Ness, you really can’t not come to Inverness and not go on a monster hunt! It was windy and cold so decided against the cruise/ hunt and opted for the visitor centre and then a circumnavigation around the Loch via Fort Augustus. An enjoyable day and great scenery.
We finished the day with a visit to Munlochy and Clootie Well just out of Inverness. A crazy tradition of tying strips of cloth (clooties) to branches in the forest.. for many this is a memorial to a lost loved one but I suspect some tourists get a bit caught up in the moment given the number of bras and nickers that had also been added
Headed out for some live nusic and were treated to a great night out with some young lads going by the name of Tolqunon. High energy and great entertainment with traditional Scottish Folk. We have the CD to prove it.
What do you do on another wet and windy day in Northern Scotland? Go for a drive and see what you can see. We headed off back to the Craigorm National park with the intention of going on the funicular but too wet and too much cloud to be able to see anything. So a browse of the outdoor shops filled a bit of time then more sightseeing by car! We enjoyed the day. but it was really to wet to go walking (the locals didn’t seem to care but they were probably better prepared and used to the conditions) we just didn’t want to deal with wet jeans and shoes. We did however come across a paddock of these guys
I convinced Robyn to come into the paddock so we could get closer and managed to get a few good shots until the head bull decided to come our way so back on the other side of the fence we were given a serve by a rather angry mob that seemed to be far braver in numbers.
Clootie Well
We were going to go out again but it really was too wet so we settled in for a night and put some washing on. Thankfully we stayed home as when Robyn got up to investigate the strange noises the washing machine was making she was confronted with a room full of smoke and I suspect another couple of minutes and there would have been flames...... the smoke alarm didn’t work but we managed to get our clothes out and put them in front of the heater to dry. Scary really when you consider that we always put the washing on at home and then leave it without giving a second thought.
After leaving Inverness we headed to the West Coast at Ullapool to catch the ferry over to the Isle of Lewes. Our road trip today was another of their great tourist routes and instead of the 1 hour direct route we embarked on 7 hours of excitement. Narrow winding roads and spectacular scenery through Forrest, along Lochs, over mountains and around Fiords. The route is part of the 500 route named because it is 500 miles of coastline to do the full circuit. The lady at the Tourist Information Centre described it correctly as “Norway in Wide screen”
And right now we are on the ferry and approaching land after a two and a half hour trip.
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