A highly anticipated trip, Scotland was one of our big bucket list trips. It was planned months in advance and I cannot believe it's already come and gone... Oh how time flies! Mike loves the William Wallace/Rob Roy history and he's a big fan of good Scotch too so Scotland was the pick over Ireland. You think you'll come here for three years and see it all but that's a fairytale fallacy. You would need unlimited leave and money. Mike started a new and demanding job on Monday so this was likely our last big European hurrah so it really came at a perfect time.
Scotland was by far, the most difficult trip I've planned because it was a 612 mile driving journey around the country and much goes into finding a realistic itinerary that hits the areas we were most interested to see. We started in Edinburgh because it was the most logical and financially feasible for flights. Although I'm usually a bigger fan of smaller towns, Edinburgh is a really great city. It wasn't overwhelming and felt very welcoming with the friendly people and little pubs everywhere. I do love that Scottish accent. It was also very clean for a city.
Fursty Ferret!
I accidentally had my camera on a poo-poo mode for the first few days so some of my pictures are poo.
Gilmerton Cove: A really interesting and completely hand carved cavern a couple miles outside of Edinburgh. This cave is still a mystery and not fully excavated. There is much speculation to why this cavern was created but with little evidence so, theories abound!
This was the most bizarre part of the cavern. It looks like either a medical facility or maybe even a sacrificial area. This picture was taken from the seating area clearly carved for onlookers. Creepy!
Edinburgh Castle
We arrived at the castle and were immediately told the Queen's plane would be landing in Edinburgh today so the castle would have a formal procession and 21-gun salute. How lucky since I'm guessing she doesn't fly in every day!
THESE CARS MAKE ME SMILE!
They're not just in the movies! They're everywhere!
Boxer alert! Yep, I can spot them a mile away. Two smushy faced muffins sitting in the cab of this van. The nice fella let me hug them.
Rose Street - Full of pubs and street music. Fortunately for us, right around the corner from our hotel
After a few days in Edinburgh the time had come. The time to pick up our rental car and begin our trek around Scotland--on the other side of the road. I'm not gonna lie, there was a bit of apprehension..
Stirling Castle
They have really done a great job preserving this castle and the rain even made it feel more like stepping back in time. Don't visit Scotland if you don't want rain. We did have rain but never all day.
Oh yeah, we did this.
And, this
Cambuskenneth Abbey
Out of sheer curiosity before we left, I Googled "Where was William Wallace buried?" I am very familiar with the story and we even watched all the Scottish movies we could think of before we left. So yes, I understand there were only pieces of him left but interestingly enough, I found several references to Scottish legend that a few of those pieces were actually retrieved and buried. Legend has it, the monks who William Wallace's Uncle was closely connected to, pulled down the quartered piece hanging on Stirling castle in the middle of the night and gave him a proper Christian burial here, at Cambuskenneth Abbey. The legend also claims he was buried pointed at the site of his greatest triumph which is where the Wallace National Monument now stands. There is a small gravestone with "WW" scratched on it but nobody knows if it was added later to give the legend more substance. It is just a legend but it really makes sense and we chose to visit and believe.
What is left of the Abbey- This is not a tourist attraction and is actually in a field behind a residential area. We took the rental off-roading and parked in a grassy area to visit.
We followed the legend's directions and are pretty sure this is the stone they are referring to. In the distance, you can see the Wallace National Monument.
Next stop, the Wallace National Monument of course! This was one of my favorites although, not necessarily the 246 steps to the top in a tiny, spiral staircase. The monument was built in 1869 and houses the Wallace sword.
On top. The winds were so strong, I could barely stand.
Rob Roy's Grave
Another favorite stop. It's a 1 lane country road to get here and another great off-the-beaten-path place to visit.
Rob Roy was buried with his wife and two of their sons. There are coins tossed on their graves. We added one but I still have yet to find an explanation for the coins. The headstone reads:
"MacGregor Despite Them"
After morning/afternoon in Stirling and its vicinity, we started our two hour trek to Oban. We had a bit of a time schedule this day because we wanted to make it to Oban in time to take the distillery's last tour. This was a stop for a quick lunch where a sweet older Scottish lady kindly microwaved our lunch. Scotland is not known for fine fare. The food was hit or miss but mostly miss. I read this quite a bit before we left but for some reason, it still surprised me!
Oban Distillery Boom.
Oban itself is a fishing town. It wasn't super impressive and really needs no more than a night, if that.
On the drive from Oban to Fort William
Fort William- The home of the Jacobite Steam Train AKA: the Harry Potter train. Yep, same one used in the movies with the actual carriages. I wasn't sure if we would be able to tell a discernible difference between a steam train and a regular train but you absolutely can! We really enjoyed this day. We booked the famous round trip journey from Fort William to Mallaig. I originally saw this trip on the Travel channel a few years ago and when Mike told me he always wanted to ride a steam train, I knew this was perfect! You can feel it chugging along, smell and see the steam coming in the windows and outside the train. There were people photographing and filming the train at every turn on the route. There were also people lined randomly on the 2 hour route, waving! They announce Glenfinnan--not that you could miss it. It's absolutely gorgeous. Pictures really didn't capture how beautiful it was.
See the steam at the top? This was taken from our window. If you're doing a round trip journey, they switch your seats on the way back so you have the other view. They serve drinks and snacks and they even have a food/bar and gift shop carriage.
Glenfinnan- Although, this picture does not do it justice. There were plenty of people with fancy pants cameras that hung out the window to get shots that probably did do it justice.
After the train, we headed to the car ferry to Isle of Skye. Quite by accident I might add because our planned route from home showed us taking the ground trek but we did not "avoid ferries" on our GPS so ended up back at Mallaig to board the ferry. I am so grateful there was a ferry within 20 minutes because to backtrack would've taken us over 2.5 hours out of our way! Lucky.
Taken from the car ferry
Driving around the Isle of Skye- A truly magical place
It really is unspoiled land. You can drive for miles without seeing any homes or ...anything. And it's just as beautiful as the pictures or movie references.
The Tallisker Distillery
It's a rural drive on a tiny 1-lane road to find the this lovely place.
Isle of Skye is also referred to as the Misty Isle... Yep. Makes sense now.
See Mike's jacket? It was wiiiiindy..
I was semi-terrified on these cliffs without railings in hurricane winds. At one point, I was crawling. True statement.
I'm not dancing here, I'm bracing myself.
I'm not dancing here, I'm bracing myself.
Kilt Rock
Love all of the sheep. There were sheep everywhere...on the side of the roads, IN the roads...
And, hanging out at the bus stop. A very rare bus stop. We stopped so I could take a picture of this fella but unfortunately I spooked him and he ran in the road and blocked all the traffic. We were parked on the other side of him and after I pretended for a moment to take a picture of the water, we left. He was still standing there. A really embarrassing moment. Mike was chiding me "Say you're sorry to those people!" But, I was too embarrassed. You know, because I chased a sheep in the middle of a 1-lane road and held up all traffic. Who does that?
Hey, it's raining again. Don't go to Scotland if you can't handle rain. It really wasn't that bad though. It never really lasted. See the sheep?
One of my favorite pictures
See the rainbow?
Eilean Donan Castle- The most photographed castle in Scotland. This castle was heavily damaged in the Jacobite rebellion and remained in ruins until 1911 when Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the castle and used its old plans to rebuild it. Pretty amazing! This was our favorite castle stop by far. It has been used in several movies including James Bond- The World is Not Enough, Highlander, and Loch Ness.
A few driving pictures ..
Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness
This castle is very much in ruins and our least favorite of all we visited. But, the busiest because it's on Loch Ness and there are Nessie adventure boats leaving from here. They really do the Loch Ness thing up right with boats equipped with "Nessie tracking" for kids. We did not take a search for Nessie tour but it looked really fun for people with children.
One really neat part of this castle is the visitors' center who had a museum of everything recovered from the castle during excavation. Lots of really interesting things! Even, this thing below which I cannot spell and can't even get close enough to Google find the correct spelling.
So, here is a "Tray-Boo-Shay" Boom.
Ha!
Mistake: Driving through Inverness during the Scottish Open
It's hard enough driving on the other side of the road without heading to downtown Inverness during a big event. Oops.
Scottish Wildlife Conservation Fair
http://www.scottishfair.com/
Perth, Scotland at the Scone Palace
This annual festival reminds me of a county fair--Only, Scottish-style. It is a huge event and one I was really excited about! There were dogs everywhere. There were competitions and events of every sort: Bird dogs, agility, sheep herding, terrier racing, archery, 4x4, falconry, helicopter rides, bagpipe bands, clay pigeon and air rifle shooting, fly casting..Oh, the list goes on. Tons of food and craft stands.
A really fun, non-touristy event.
My first time!
Happy Birthday with bagpipes. It was the festival's silver 25th Anniversary. The weather was perfect! I say this because last year the entire 3-day festival was rained out. How insanely disappointing!
Mike really wanted to win me one of those sheep although, I'm unsure how logistically we would've brought it home.
Dunfermline, Scotland
We were headed back to Edinburgh for an early flight the next morning. We needed coffee. On our Costa coffee goose-chase, we stopped in Dunfermline. After the coffee rage had subsided, we walked around this fun little town and mall only to eventually stumble upon this: Dunfermline Abbey- The burial ground of King Robert the Bruce. We had no idea this was here so we were really excited! Although his body is buried here inside this church, his heart is buried elsewhere. On his deathbed, he requested his heart be carried to battle against the Moors in Spain. The heart was later buried at Melrose Abbey.
This was a really great find!
See his name at the top of the church?
We did this trip in 7 nights but, you could easily spend 2-3 weeks in Scotland. There is so much to see. Unfortunately, you would need quite a bit of money to spend that long here. It is expensive + the Pound conversion rate is brutal. This was one of our big bucket list trips though and sometimes you just close your eyes and go. No regrets. Scotland was fantastic and every bit as beautiful as we anticipated. Scotland is full of great people with an enviable pride in their traditions and history. They just need a few cooking lessons....
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