July 10: The Road to Edinburgh

Sad to leave Skye so soon after arriving, but happy to have added it in at all, we enjoyed another hearty, Scottish breakfast and hit the road, bound for Edinburgh.  We pulled over shortly after starting our drive, along with a host of other tourists, to photograph a long and skinny waterfall, then again just down the road when we crossed a beautiful stone bridge that stretched over a glistening creek.



Goodbye beautiful Isle of Skye.

Further along the way we pulled over, seeing a hand-painted sign for local pottery.  We found a small shop selling locally made crafts, and while we appreciated them all, we left having only purchased some of the tastiest cheese scones we've ever had.  Apparently the ones we had were that day's special, loaded up with extra goodness like basil, onions, feta, and paprika.

Slightly, though not much farther down the road, we decided that the day's sunshine warranted another stop at Eilean Donan.  Such a difference a little sun can make.  The young bagpiper was a nice addition to the atmosphere, as well.

Now I used to have no trouble staying awake in my younger days, as old and decrepit as that saying makes me feel.  I was a night owl all through my school age years, studying or writing until the sun was nearly ready to rise again, which often meant sleeping until 2 the next day, to my father's disappointment (he didn't agree with such wasteful use of time).  I could road trip with friends all day and all night, throwing back coffee or Diet Coke to keep my reflexes in check, and staying up to keep another driver company was just as easy.

It's only been within the last couple of years that, especially if I'm not the one driving, given more than a thirty minute car ride I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.  It's the strangest thing, because when it happened, it happened as suddenly as I often conk out on the road, poor Chris.  It doesn't get much better when I'm the one driving, either, I'm afraid.  I'm turning the air down, the volume up, and shaking my head to perk up.  What are the ravages of age doing to me?!

Hence, I quickly arrived to the city of Edinburgh, though I'm certain it was a longer trip for Chris, who drove. We arrived to the A-Haven in Leith, a small but gorgeous hotel run more like a Bed&Breakfast, we'd soon find out, and met our host, David Kay.  After settling into our room up the beautiful wooden staircase on the uppermost floor, we called Johanna, the sister of a friend from our time living in Italy.  We'd met Jo on one of her visits to Elise and generally saw her every visit after that; once even for Thanksgiving.  Jo had moved to Edinburgh roughly nine months prior from Georgia - the country, not the state.  This girl has always amazed me; she lived in Georgia for a couple of years with the Peace Corps right out of college, working with the oppressed women in one region to educate and better care for themselves.  She had an apartment and a cat there, and that's where she met her current partner, Daniel.  Daniel was the Scottish businessman, oozing capitalism who came through on business, surprise, and (with some resistance) swept this strong, intelligent, feminist woman off her feet.  Now living together in one of the coolest cities I've visited, Jo is working at the university there to create and maintain international partnerships (right, Jo?) or something equally as interesting and stimulating as she pursues life on yet another continent.  Over drinks and catch-up conversation later that evening, she joked that he's trying to win her over with his capitalist ways, and she's trying to save his soul.

Back in our room, we made plans to meet up for drinks and dinner with Jo downtown, then promptly flopped down and took a post-drive nap.

A couple hours later we were making our way down the Royal Mile, the High Street stretch connecting Edinburgh Castle to the Queen's royal residence in town, Holyrood Palace.  We took in the shops, the mounds of deals on 'real' Scottish kilts and tartans lining the street, making mental note of things to revisit by camera the next day.  By the time we even made it a third of the way down the Mile to the appointed meeting place, a pub near Jo's flat, it was nearly time to stop.  So we did.  We ordered a couple ciders and found some seats, enjoying one of the final games of the FIFA World Cup games between Uruguay and Germany.  When Jo arrived it was hugs all around and more drinks while we caught up for a bit before dinner.

Ready for the next amazing meal?  We dined at a restaurant called The Dogs, where an old apartment, or several of them had been adorned with dog art and the necessities of an excellent eatery.  Chris and Jo went with the trusty pork belly, something I didn't expect to like but craved as soon as I tasted.  I ordered a braised pork and tomato pie with mash ... mmmmmmm.  Why don't we make more meat pies?  They're delicious!  The food was amazing, the wine, even better, and the time spent with Jo topping it all.  It's fun to listen to someone's slowly changing accent, especially when that someone is incapable of pretension.  Knowing someone in a foreign place makes visiting that place so much more enjoyable and personal, and Jo would be the first of two get-togethers planned for this trip.  As a gradually-becoming-local, herself, she made us feel more welcome, though the Scottish are already pretty good at that.  It was a nice way to begin our time in this great city, and we eagerly looked forward to our first full day of discovering Edinburgh.

July 9: Isle of Skye

After a short farewell to Sarah Tree and her charming B&B at Loch Ness, we were on the road heading toward the Isle of Skye, a last-minute addition to the trip.  Although Scotland isn't an enormous country, there seem to be endless things to see, particular land and seascapes over which to marvel, and towns to appreciate.  Upon our new friend Bernie's suggestion, we shuffled around the last few days of the trip in order to make a stop along the west coast before heading south to Edinburgh.  Enter Isle of Skye.

But before we reached this beautiful isle, we stopped to see Eilean Donan Castle, a place known for its cinematic cameos in movies such as Highlander, The World is Not Enough, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and kind of surprisingly, Made of Honor.  None of these are why we wanted to see it, but it's interesting how popular this particular castle is in the media.  We pulled into the parking lot and feasted our eyes on the place, a simple castle at the end of a stone bridge, parked on a tiny island in Loch Duich.  The fact that the water level in the loch was so low took away from the expected beauty, as we'd seen it in pictures before setting out on this trip, and the pouring rain didn't particularly help.  With hood up and umbrella out, we walked around and tried to ignore the weather.  Rain or not, Eilean Donan was pretty cool to see in person.

On to Skye, the rain wasn't letting up, but we checked into our B&B in Portree, the capital of Skye, and set out to see what we could anyway.  The Isle of Skye boasts some amazing prehistoric landforms and great hiking, so we decided to attempt to combine those two elements by making what we thought to be a short hike to see Man of Storr, a particular rock formation near the east coast of Skye's Trotternish Peninsula.  Sticking our noses up at the rain, we trekked up the path into the heavy wood, slipping here and there on wet and muddy rocks and pine needles along the path.  We'd hike through a section of forest and then come to a small clearing, giving way to views of little more than a tiny rabbit and the heaviness of the air hanging above us, before creeping back into the trees.  Every once in a while we's swear this must it, this climb just ahead , as there were no signs to indicate how far this hike was.  Every once in while, we were disappointed to see the path stretch onward and upward as we panted and grumbled in the rain, completely unprepared for anything more than a mild walk a few meters from the road.

Eventually we came to a gate at the base of some beautiful mountains, over which our little trail climbed and disappeared.  Exhausted, thirsty, and pretty wet, we embraced our defeat and turned back.  Upon our return to the parking lot we got a look at this Man of Storr, and that would have to do for today.

Continuing our drive we decided to leave the Trotternish and cross over to the Waternish Peninsula, the stretch known less for its landforms and more for its appeal to artists.  As I'm a sucker for handmade pottery, we made a couple stops at some pottery shops to find some local flavor to bring back home.

 Ian Williams was one artist whose shop we found, a sculptor, painter, sketch artist, and writer originally from Wales, having moved to Skye after a career in London as a police officer.  Ian's taste in pottery may not have matched our own, but I had an enormous appreciation for his picture work.  Ian hand drew images from his new home, the beautiful Isle of Skye, and alongside many images were hand-scrawled notes, moments felt upon looking at the bird he sketched, thoughts or memories induced by them.  We talked for an hour about personal expression and how he came to this particular medium, and I told him about my own desire to mix mediums in a similar way.  This meeting reminded me of Kamil Vojnar in Saint-Remy, as I experienced another jolt of creative energy and need to create.  It was pretty cool.  We ended up buying a copy of Ian's book, a collection of his artwork inspired by Skye, and two small prints of my favorite images and comments.  Ian signed my book, and I admit I got a little thrill out of it.  He has, after all, managed to do something with his art and even has his own small gallery.

As we left Ian's the sun came out and it was like a different world.  We drove up the Waternish toward its farthest reaching point and saw the sea on both sides of the peninsula.  With the bright blue now stretched overhead, accented by the clouds and beauty beneath, it suddenly became quite clear how this place's name may have come about.  We pulled over often and took loads of pictures, but nothing could compare to being there in the sun's embrace on the deep green hills, looking out across the shimmering water and letting the air rush into our lungs.  I tried, anyway.

Finding the Dunvegan Castle closed for the day, we weren't too disappointed; it'd been an amazingly beautiful afternoon.  Our stomachs notified us that it was time for dinner, so we headed back to Portree to walk around town a bit and find a place to eat.

Portree's harbor




The Rosdale Hotel down at the harbor fit us in without a reservation, and it was time for yet another phenomenal meal.  Neither Chris nor I could resist the sound of local wild Skye venison with thyme mash, and it was heavenly.  Every bite was deeply savory and I could've eaten this all night.  Then came dessert.  Since Chris had yet to order some Sticky Toffee Pudding, that was his choice, while I went with what our server described as a very Scottish choice, fresh strawberries with a whiskey cream.  I'm not a whiskey fan, but it was fantastic.  Plopped over a deep dessert glass of beautiful strawberries was a thick cream swirled with sugar and oats, and I imagine whiskey.  I died a little in that dessert, in a lovely ecstasy of taste.  I realize I may be coming across slightly nuts or food crazy here, but it really was that good.  Oh, and Chris lapped up his pudding with equal vigor.

Back at the Bed&Breakfast we eagerly made use of the free internet connection and hit the hay.  The trip was already half over, but it felt like we'd only just arrived.  

July 8: Loch Ness

After another filling breakfast, courtesy of our host, Sarah Tree, we set out to take in the area surrounding this beautiful lake.  Seeing as we were at the very site of some of the most famous tales of mystery, we had to start it off at the Loch Ness Exhibition Center to learn about the history of Loch Ness and her most famous, albeit fictional inhabitant, Nessie.

I really wanted to buy into the story, despite my overly logical and skeptical sidekick's rolling eyes.  The center offered a tour that walked us through several rooms set up to tell pieces of history surrounding Loch Ness, explaining the sightings of Nessie, the proved hoaxes and genuine (to the people who reported them) sightings of the beast.  The expo was surprisingly rooted in fact and I left it feeling a little more educated, though a little less enchanted, as well.

After that we took a drive around the borders of the 24mile lake, looking for a few sets of falls we'd read about prior.  The fog was pretty stubborn in this area, we were finding, but at least the rain wasn't constant.

Unable to find Morriston Falls, we settled for a short hike to the upper Falls of Foyers.  Along the path were pieces of a poem, guiding the way, and even in the rain it was a beautiful hike.

As the sun began to peek out we made our way back up to Inverness to explore the city.  With River Ness cutting through it, Inverness was a pretty place about which to roam for the afternoon, though we did little more than take pictures and people watch.

Inverness Castle

River Ness cutting down the center of town

At dinner time, we decided to take the plunge and try haggis for the first time.  It was in a large pub with a nice menu and we both eyed the appetizer selection we were both excited and a little scared to try.  When it arrived, our traditional haggis with tatties an neeps, we both leaned forward and inhaled the warm aroma.  If you're not already familiar with this Scottish fare, haggis is a mixture of sheep liver, heart, and lungs combined with a special list of herbs, spices, and grains, which is sealed up inside a sheep's stomach and cooked.  The result is a kind of crumbled meat, which is traditionally paired with mashed potatoes (tatties) and mashed turnips (neeps).  Sounds awful, I know, but let me tell you, it was wonderful.  The meat, itself, is actually quite fragrant with all the herbs mingling therein, and the sweetness of the turnip mash along with the smoothness of the mashed potato really rounds out this amazingly delicious event going on in your mouth.  (Seriously, I've been home over a month now from this trip and I'm dying for some haggis.)  

After dinner we milled around a while longer, then satisfied we'd seen what we cared to see here and eying the once again darkening clouds, headed back toward the B&B, though bypassing it for another drive around the lake before turning in.

Moo :)

July 7: The Highlands

This morning's breakfast was as lovely as before, and as we enjoyed a soundtrack of chatting and opera, we knew, given the chance, that we'd be back to this place in a heartbeat.  Alan and his mum held the doors as we shuffled down the stairs and out the front to load up the car, and with a final round of hugs and well-wishes, we were back on the road.  Leaving Stonehaven was a little tough, but our Scottish adventure had just begun and it was time to roll on.  Let me just say that if the obvious shift in beauty from northern England to Scotland was a nudge, that between Stonehaven and The Highlands knocked us over.

Today we would be making our way to Loch Ness for the next two nights, and though I'll always deny it out loud, there was a tiny part deep down that secretly hoped we spot something strange out there.  The car coasted over the amazing hills and it felt like we were on top of the world.  Scotland's beauty is severe, its rocky hills blanketed by deep green and speckled with sheep.  Up and over each hill we kept catching ourselves in tiny gasps at the sight of it, and this was just the countryside.  We had yet to set our eyes on the mountains and lakes of this obviously enchanted place.

We drove through the city of Inverness, the growing capital of the Highlands, which rests at the northern tip of long and narrow Loch Ness.  After finding and checking into our quaint Bed & Breakfast in a small town on Loch Ness' western side, we decided not to cram the rest of the day full of rushing about, trying to fit every possible thing in.  Just up the road and around the bend from where we stayed was Urquhart Castle, a beautiful set of ruins perched on a cliff over the loch.

It was really windy.

This bagpiper created a superb soundtrack for all the people crawling around the castle ruins.

After Urquhart we decided to make it an early night in order to organize the next day's activities.

A ten minute walk through some farm-like land and woods brought us to a small guest house known for its great Aberdeen burgers, so that's where we headed.  In Stonehaven I learned that Black Angus in the States is a hybrid cow of the Aberdeen cow from Scotland (for its richness of taste and tenderness) and an Argentinian cow (for its ability to stave off sickness).  Now I'm not a burger connoisseur, I can't taste the grain the cow on my plate munched on in his final days, but these burgers were good, and we were satisfied.  

After dinner we walked around a bit to avoid going to bed later with still full stomachs, finding a trail through the woods nearby.  The hope was to wind or way to the loch's edge and enjoy some moments of quiet solitude together by the water.  When it started getting darker and we began feeling loster (yeah, I know it's not a word), we headed back the way we came and spent the rest of the evening planning out the next day.

Waiting in the Wings

Just in case someone pops by this particular day and is on the verge of writing me off for good, please don't.

It's been WEEKS since I've been around, but not for lack of desire.  My very best friend, Kelly has been here for the past three weeks, and my time on the computer has been nearly non-existent.  It's been fun and refreshing and tomorrow morning will bring a tearful goodbye, but it's time to return to normal life.  For Kelly that means going back to Florida to a beautiful little girl named Addison (among others), and for me it's back to lists, stressful phone calls, planning and writing.  With summer almost over and a host of projects left untouched, I'm feeling a little antsy, but all in good time.

Tomorrow I'll be back in Scotland with regards to the blog, and my adventures with Kelly will follow closely behind.  But for tonight, we'll be enjoying Chris' home-made croquets, maybe a movie, and talking and laughing likely too late into the night before a very long day tomorrow.