Tag Archive | Scotland

Inverness-Aberdeen

Apr12

A Look at More Fairy-Tale Castles

 
 Outside Shakespeare’s Cawdor Castle

After breakfast in Inverness the next morning, we headed for Aberdeen but decided to stop en route to see some of the more interesting sites on the 106 mile journey.

Cawdor Castle–Setting of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’:
Our first stop was Cawdor Castle, popularized by Shakespeare’s Macbeth but bearing little or no historical accuracy with the real events that led to the grizzly happenings of the play. Paying £4 each to tour the grounds and the gardens (we chose to pass on the interiors for want of time), we spent about an hour just taking in the magnificence of it all.
The castle has been beautifully refurbished to keep up with the huge tourist interest in it. For the half price we paid, we saw the stone exterior which was very impressive indeed, crossed the grass-filled moat to the entrance and I even had a peep into the interior which was furnished rather opulently in typical English-country style.

Cawdor has a spacious maze and we had a peak at that as well before we made our way into the spectacular gardens  (left)that were just full of autumnal blooms and I saw my very first blooming thistle for the first time in Scotland. Lavender was everywhere as were Asiatic lilies and rows and rows of a dropping white flower that I couldn’t recognize. We took so many pictures with the castle in the background and I found it hard to believe that I was actually in the venue of which I had read when I was in my teens—Cawdor Castle. I actually saw a bubble hole and a cauldron at the very entrance to the castle that was reminiscent of the first lines of the play–Macbeth.
Double Double, Toil and Trouble
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble.

Over to Elgin:

Our drive took us further on to the seaside town of Nairn past a very small and very appealing country road—almost a bike pathway–before we caught the main roadway again and headed to the medieval town of Elgin which has a 13th century Town Center with cobbled streets and old stone cottages—just very beautiful. It also has a 13th century ruined cathedral which made some lovely pictures. We had a fantastically sunny day which was such a relief after all the clouds and drizzles we’ve passed through in the past week. But then my guidebook informed me that Elgin is the sunniest town in the entire UK and is known for its bright blue skies!


Well, just as we were about to leave the cathedral precincts, I spied a sign that announced Johnstons of Elgin Visitor Showroom and I told Llew that I wanted to visit it. This is because I am familiar with their products and love them dearly having used a 100% lambswool throw made by them which I bought over 10 years ago. Since we are decorating our new media room, it made sense for me to consider purchasing another throw for the new space. How delighted I was to explore the environs of this century-old showroom in the very place where the local sheep provide the wool that makes those luxurious items. Of course, we did find a throw that would suit the colors of our room and for a very affordable price –just £30 for a lambswool throw in a very bold plaid—in keeping with the plaid designs of Scotland–a very fitting souvenir indeed of a country that is filled with sheep at every turn!

Homeless in Aberdeen!
Back on the road, we drove through very gentle glens towards Aberdeen. There were very charming villages along the way, some no more than a single street with a few old stone cottages along the road, others complete with churches and greens and bridges. When we did arrive in Aberdeen, we tried to find ourselves accommodation for the night as this was the only place in which I did not succeed in finding a room before our departure from the US. Well, everything in Aberdeen was chocobloc and we could find nothing. We did walk the length of two streets for about an hour trying to find something but drew a blank. Finally, I suggested to Llew that we should start driving along the Royal Deeside (i.e. along the banks of the River Dee) and that we should keep our eyes open for any possibilities of B&Bs along the way.

To follow us on the next leg of our travels, please click on the link for the Royal Deeside Tour.

Glasgow

Apr12

Glasgow

Glasgow: A Complete Wash out

Glasgow was truly a washout—in very sense of the word. For one thing, it poured all day and I mean all day. The distance between Edinburgh and Glasgow can be covered in less than an hour but we took a while, once in the city, to find our B&B—The Victorian House—on Renfrew Street where we were placed high up on the third floor in a tall building that lacked a lift! I have made a mental note, in the future, to only book B&Bs and hotels that can guarantee placing us on the lowest floor.

Pollock Park and the Burrell Collection:
Since it was so wet, it made sense to go out to Pollock Park in search of the famed Burrell Collection, one of the wrold’s most acclaimed private art collections, and after taking the local train there and walking through terrible weather, we arrived at the famous park only to find that the place was closed as a result of “industrial action”. It turned out to be a strike of the Council workers that brought all civic services to a standstill.

With disappointment, we returned to Glasgow to find overflowing dustbins everywhere (a result of the strike) and people who were most disinclined to help tourists. Our next attempt was to find Kelvingrove Park where we hoped to see the Glasgow Art School and, of course, that was closed too, making it impossible for us to take in the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh which heralded the arrival of Art Nouveau in Scotland. Fortunately, I ran into a man called Peter at this point, who volunteered to drive us in his car to the Hunterian Gallery at the University of Glasgow—a set of imposing red brick buildings set in a sea of green. It took Peter a while to find the place but when we did, we were treated to the largest collection of James McNeil Whistler’s works outside Europe. Overall, it was a small collection and we saw it all rather quickly.
Afternoon Tea at the Historic Willow Tea Rooms:
Back on the underground again (which they call the Subway in this city), we arrived again at St. Enoch Station, where we walked quickly up Sauchiehall Street to the famous Willow Tea Rooms designed and created by Mackintosh at the turn of the 20th century. His work, characterized by grids, straight lines, checks, etc (reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s in the USA) is a contrast to the work produced by someone like Alfons Mucha in Prague whose curlicues and curvy motifs characterize Art Deco. In the tearooms which he created for Kate Cranston, Mackintosh’s work can be seen in the décor, the printed aprons worn by the waitresses, the china, etc. Llew and I had a pot of the Willow House’s special house blend and a scone each—easily the fluffiest scone I have ever eaten in my entire life–it melted like a cloud in my mouth when spread with clotted cream—and a slice of Chocolate Fudge Cake which we split. This was probably the brightest moment in our stay in Glasgow and I honestly feel as if I need to return to visit the city as we saw nothing on this trip.

To follow us on the next leg of our travels, please click on

Loch Lomond & Loch Katrine.

Edinburgh

Apr12

Outside Edinburgh Castle

We crossed the border, a little later, entering Scotland and passing through the evocative town of Gretna Green known for the many marriages that took place at the blacksmith’s shop following the many scandalous elopements of the era. By then, darkness had fallen and we were around Lockerbie, site of the infamous Pan Am disaster. We called Kathleen at our B&B for directions. She led us through unmarked country roads which gave us several hairy moments as Llew battled fading light and then pitch darkness, very narrow roads many of which were under construction and driving rain.

In the midst of those rather stressful conditions, we reached the village of Carnoch and found Carneil Farm B&B (bed and Breakfast–left), a real working farm house attached to barns filled with 200 black and white cows—real beauties—and barns full of hay where we finally met Kathleen who registered us, took our order for a full Scottish breakfast and showed us to our room on the first floor—a very cozy, very charming room beautifully decorated. We fell asleep resolving to get back to our homes wherever these may be early enough and without having to battle such bad driving conditions. Both of us have realized that our eyesight is not what it used to be and we need to work around our limitations.

Ancient History in Edinburgh:
We showered in a very tiny but very cute bathroom and went down to an enormous breakfast that included Scotland’s most infamous delicacy–haggis (very peppery, very strongly flavored sausage made with minced liver and kidney and stuffed into a sheep’s stomach!) and porridge (very unusual texture and served with honey—lovely!) and Highland oatcakes—tasteless biscuits, like dry toast that we ate with Dundee marmalade. We also ate scrambled eggs and pork sausages, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes and brown toast with preserves and cheese spread and decaff coffee—on top of pineapple juice! This, as you can imagine, kept me going till 5 in the evening as we went about covering the most important tourist sites in Edinburgh—pronounced ‘Edin-bra’.
Across the Firth of Forth:
I loved the sound of that tongue-twister—The Firth of Forth. Forth is the name of the river and a firth is a small estuary. Hence, we had to cross the estuary of the river to get to Edinburgh from Dunfermline where our B&B was located (because Edinburgh was chocobloc and we simply could not find any accommodation there).

On Kathleen’s advice, we decided to leave our car at a ferry car park near the Forth Bridge and took a public bus to get into Edinburgh which we reached in about a half hour after getting to the ferry park via rural country roads and tiny villages. I slept on the bus, and when I awoke, I was in the capital city of Scotland at St. Andrew’s Square where the bus station was located.
Festival Time in Edinburgh:
Edinburgh was simply crawling with tourists and culture-vultures as the famous annual summer Edinburgh Festival was on as was the Fringe. We paused for a while at the Scott Monument to listen to a few bagpipers play for the tourists.

The Heights of Edinburgh Castle:
A quick stroll through Princes Gardens, full of flowering hydrangeas, took us towards the Castle which is one of the most important tourist sights. There a steady climb took us to the Ticket Booth where for £12 we had a guided tour that included the Honors of Scotland, i.e. the Crown Jewels, the oldest in Europe—a crown, a scepter and a sword lie on a satin coverlet enclosed in a glass case right besides the notorious Stone of Scone which was returned to Scotland in 1996—I had last seen it under the famous throne in Westminster Abbey 22 years ago. We also saw the two memorials to fallen Scottish soldiers from the American War of Independence onwards as well as the magnificent Great Hall, its walls covered with arms and armor, where so many royal banquets were held—rather similar to the many castles we have seen all over Eastern Europe. We also visited St. Margaret’s Chapel, one of the oldest buildings in Edinburgh and the smallest—able to seat only 25 people—and admired its exquisite stained glass windows!

Then, we found ourselves passing through the main courtyard of the Castle where the stands were all set for the famous Military Tattoo (for which, unfortunately, we were unable to obtain tickets as they were sold out months ago) and found ourselves walking along the famous Royal Mile which is lined with souvenir stores, shops selling superb Scottish woolen products and restaurants–not to mention places where you can buy a kilt (as I had done 22 years ago).
We saw some stupendous old churches along the way including the Church of St. Giles. Everywhere, there were performers galore giving street shows and dressed in costume—part of the many festivals going on simultaneously including the famous Fringe.
Scotland’s Colorful History at Holyrood House:

About twenty minutes later, at the end of the Royal Mile, we arrived at the famous Palace of Holyrood House which is still used as a royal residence by the Queen during her visits to Scotland. I took a picture with Llew on the same bench on which I had posed 22 years ago with Hyun-Sook Jeong from Oxford. Paying £8, we were given audio guides as part of our tickets that allowed us to guide ourselves through the splendid palace which was rather similar in style to the Wren-designed courtyard at Hampton Court Palace. Then, we were walking through the superbly decorated rooms still used by the Queen to host royal banquets today.
Eventually, we entered the most ancient part of the palace including the area associated with the ill-fated life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. What was most evocative was seeing her own bed chamber and the adjoining tiny dining room where she was at a meal with her ladies when three men broke in and, in her presence, stabbed her Italian secretary Rizzio 59 times. Her own husband, Robert Darnley is said to have been behind this murder being maddened by jealousy and suspecting his wife of having an affair with Rizzio—Darnley himself was killed a year later. We were actually shown the spot at which Rizzio fell as the Queen screamed in terror.

Also very interesting was the Long Portrait Gallery with 89 portraits of all of Scotland’s kings who ruled the country since the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. Then, with the light fading, it was time for us to get back to our B&B by a reverse journey on the public bus—but not after eating a lousy Italian dinner at a restaurant called Montrane where I had the first bad lasagne of my life (and Llew’s prawn sandwich was pathetic).Despite my doubts that we’d find our way back to Carnoch to our Carneil Farm B&B, we did get back rather easily and settled down for the night.

To follow us on the next leg of our travels, please click on the Glasgow link.

Scotland

Apr12

Scotland: Our Highland Fling

At Loch Duich en route to the beautiful Isle of Skye

In Fiction and Film, Scotland has been portrayed as a heartbreakingly beautiful country. Traveling through it, as we did in August 2008, we  saw its  splendor for ourselves. A travel writer in the New York Times once wrote that in Scotland, the most redundant question is: “Which is the scenic route?” Indeed, all of Scotland is picture-perfect. A land of countless lochs (lakes) and gently rolling glens (valleys), of amerthyst heather-covered mountain slopes and emerald-green pasture, driving throught it, no matter which route one takes, brings nothing but gasps to one’s lips.

Tourist brochures present rather cliched images of the country–tartan kilts, shortbread, drams of whiskey, grouse hunting. But, of course, there is more to the country than these well-known concepts. Yes, it was built on the strength of its rival clans, many of whom lived high up on the Mountains slopes–known as the Highlands. They did test their strength against one another in competitions that came to be called the Highland Games. They did use the waters of their local rivers (the Spey and the Dee) to distill into whiskey using malt to give it a distinctive smokey flavor. They did mince the livers and kidneys of their sheep, flavor them generously with pepper and stuff them into sheeps’ stomachs to create the well-known delicacy called ‘haggis’ which is the subject of so many jokes. Few people, however, make fun of the sublime smoked salmon which is also fished out of Scotland’s rivers or of the succulence of the steaks that are cut from Aberdeen Angus beef.

On our travels through Scotland, we found scenery that enchanted us but also history that fascinated and intrigued us. Behind every ruined castle that clings to a hill top or juts out into a lake, there is a story of bravery or treachery, of loyalty and love. No wonder Shakespeare’s Macbeth still haunts and Braveheart, the story of William Wallace, stole away all the honors at the Oscars. It is a land of stories–some fanciful such as that of Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, others real, such as the murder of Mary Queen of Scott’s secretary Darnley in her very presence–and of storytellers– some of the greatest literary masters of all time, Sir Walter Scott , Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and J. K. Rowling who created Harry Potter and his friends, were all Scots!

Llew and I had a lovely time in Scotland. We stayed in modest Bed and Breakfast establishments almost everywhere, choosing farms and fields filled with cows and hay barns, and cottages overlooking the mistiest mountains in order to experience a lifestyle that is still lived and still authentic and completely different from our own. We awoke to “full Scottish breakfasts” that included kippers and oatcakes, porridge sweetened with heather honey and Dundee marmalade that we spread on wonderful home-baked bread. Yes, we did try ‘haggis’ and found it palatable if not delectable and we did enjoy the hospitality of a people that were eager to share their culture with us. We became aware of a fierce Anglo-Scots rivality even in this day and age and of the pride of the Scots’ people particularly in light of the great victories in the Beijing Olympics of Chris Hoy.

Come with us now on our travels to the country across the English border and experience with us some of the most incredible episodes of our lives–such as coming face-to-face with the entire Royal Family at Balmoral, their summer residence. And that, I promsie, is only the beginning!

To follow us on our travels, plesase click on the Edinburgh link.