A Highland Fling

After 14 months of travelling through seventeen countries we finally came to our lucky last ‘new place’, Scotland. It is a place that I have been very excited to visit for my entire life. My beloved Grandpop was born in Scotland and as a little girl I was told many stories of his life growing up there. It was completely different from my own childhood and I’d delight in hearing about his boyhood capers which included antagonising nasty nuns, being bitten and chased by wild (and probably provoked) Shetland ponies and trying to run through the snow wall that would build up outside the farm house door overnight during winter. In Canberra, he played in the Burns club pipe band for years and I used to enjoy hearing him practice in the kitchen where he lived with my Granny (I’m not sure if the neighbours would have felt the same way). I had always assumed I would visit Scotland and so I was happy the day had finally come.

Early Saturday morning, we flew into Edinburgh but rented a car and headed straight out to the countryside. Our first stop was Stirling Castle, which is placed high on Castle Hill overlooking the town. Historically it is considered to be one of the most important castles due to its position on the river Forth with the old saying going ‘whoever holds Stirling, holds Scotland’. It was definitely very impressive and we enjoyed stretching our legs and seeing the view.

The scenery changed dramatically as we headed northwest into the Highlands. Rolling hills gave way to snow-covered rocky crags and our breath was taken away as we passed Loch Lomond and entered Glen Coe. It was
absolutely beautiful and I wish that we had more time so we could have done some hiking there.

We continued north, passing the UK’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, before heading east to our destination for the day, Loch Ness. Although we missed out on seeing the monster of the Loch, Loch Ness was definitely beautiful. We drove the whole 70 miles around the Loch before arriving in Drumnadrochit to find a B&B to stay in for the night.

We hadn’t booked any accommodation as we weren’t sure where we’d end up at the end of the day. So, as we did in Asia, we looked around Drumnadrochit for one that looked good and simply knocked on the door. Marty asked the owner, Alistair, if he had a room available for the night and he considered it for a few seconds before somewhat begrudgingly saying ‘yes’. We had a quick look at the room and said we would like to stay. We were a little surprised that he wasn’t more enthusiastic. However, we quickly discovered the source of his discontent when he apologised and confessed to being quite stressed at watching the last 15 minutes of the Scotland vs. Italy rugby test match. He admitted that he usually gives a whole routine when a new guest arrives, but given the rugby was on, would we like (or mind) coming downstairs to his apartment to watch the end of the match. Marty answered strongly in the affirmative. The match was important because Scotland were winning and a win would see them avoid the embarrassment of the 6 Nations’ wooden spoon. Alistair was clearly very excited to see this happen.

After that it all went well, the place was really beautiful and looked out over a stream that flowed into Loch Ness.
Marty asked if there was a pub in town that he could watch the next rugby match over dinner and Alistair said there was and jumped on the phone to reserve us a table in front of the TV at the ‘Benleva’. We were very amused when we walked into the little local pub and saw only four patrons seated at the bar and a little ‘reserved’ sign sat on one of the many vacant tables. It was a beautiful pub and we had a great night. The food was great and they had a nice selection of ales and whiskies. We sat, ate, drank and joined in with the local Scots cheering on the Irish against the English.

After another huge delicious breakfast we decided to go for a walk in the nearby Glen Affric to try and burn off a couple of calories and see some of the countryside. Unfortunately, after a forty-minute drive through the snow all the walking tracks were closed. And proper closed at that (they were being dug up and repaired – low season travel at its best). We did go on a short walk up a hill to a viewpoint and then an annoying track to a waterfall that just followed the road we had just driven. That being said, the scenery was really pretty and it was nice to do something other than eating, drinking and driving (not necessarily in that order).

We then headed west to see the Eilean Donan castle. For those that have seen ‘Highlander’, this is the castle from the film. It was really impressive. There can be only one!

We spent the night in Inverness. It’s a really pretty city with another cool castle sitting on a hill above it. My favourite part of the city was the Ness Islands. It made for a really nice walk among the massive trees. We stayed at another lovely B&B had dinner at another great pub, near the castle with ok food and lots of cheap single malt whiskies. Marty loved it.

The next day we headed east and after a brief stop in Elgin we headed to Keith where my Grandpop grew up. To be honest, it really isn’t a very exciting town and we couldn’t visit the farm where he grew up as it has been turned into a quarry. But it was nice to be in the same place he spent his formative years.

After Keith we headed for a few more castles. The highlight was a small and very strange and very pink castle called ‘Craigievar Castle’. If you are in the area you should check it out, but if not I wouldn’t go out of your way. As far as castles go it is very pretty, but it is strange given its size and location.

Being in Scotland, we figured we ought to do a whisky tour. We chose one near our stop for the night, the Royal Lochnagar distillery in Ballater. This is a good whisky tour because it still does most of the processes itself (all except malting the barley and storing the barrels). It was smelly but still interesting (as far as whisky distilleries can be) and set in a very pretty area. And the scotch was apparently quite nice (I did taste it but it all tastes the same to me, terrible). It is right near Balmoral Castle and when the castle was built the distiller sent Queen Victoria a letter inviting her to visit the distillery. Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, being pissheads, arrived the very next day with their 3 children. The Queen suitably impressed awards the place a Royal Warrant of Appointment as a supplier to the Queen. Her taste probably cannot be too talked up as Vicky apparently used to enjoy hers as a shot into some red wine. Seems like a waste of wine to me!

We spent the next day working our way south out of the highlands to Edinburgh, passing the very famous and very beautiful town of St Andrews. We came mostly for Marty to get a look at the home of golf, the Old Course. It really doesn’t look like much, a big football pitch with the occasional flag sticking out of it. But the town of St Andrews is really beautiful. It has a lovely ruined castle on a cliff, a very pretty town centre, and a really gorgeous beach. I recommend a visit to anyone, it is much more than an old golf course.

After St Andrews, we were arrived in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a great city. Yes it has another castle on a hill overlooking the town – but what a castle! It’s absolutely huge and you can’t help but stare at it. Our timing was perfect as it was covered with blooming daffodils.

Something that wasn’t huge was our hotel room. When easyHotel Edinburgh says ‘small room, no window’, they really really mean it. It was so small only one of us could stand in it at a time, the other person would have to sit on the bed. We had to climb over our meager luggage to get to the toilet or out the front door. That being said, at GBP25 a night for a great spot on Prince Street we couldn’t really complain too much. Still – be warned!

The next day we decided to go on a ‘free’ walking tour of the city. The idea is that you don’t have to pay for the tour, but if you enjoy yourself you should tip the guide at the end. Because the guide is working for tips, they try harder to give a god tour. It works, and I can thoroughly recommend this one. He told us lots of little stories about the city that you just wouldn’t learn about reading a guidebook. Plus, every tradie you pass working on a building site yells out ‘Freedom!’ at the group, which is hilarious.

My favourite story was about the ‘Heart of Midlothian’. It is a paved mosaic heart on the pavement of the royal mile and it marks the place where the tollbooth used to sit. Amongst other things the tollbooth used to collect taxes and was a popular place for public executions. So, not surprisingly the people of Edinburgh didn’t like it very much. And to this day, to show their dislike of the old tollbooth, Edinburgians spit on the pavement heart. They also spit on it if they go for the football team, the Hibernians because the ‘Harts’ are their enemies. And the Harts fans also spit on it for luck. So pretty much everyone in the town spits on the heart. It was awesome if not a little gross.

Edinburgh was a really nice city and I could have easily spent more time there. We enjoyed walking around the city and were sad to leave. It is a great city with beautiful old buildings, lovely parks, pubs and restaurants and a great history. The people are some of the friendliest of any capital city we have been to and so it really shouldn’t be missed.

Scotland was really beautiful and we really enjoyed our time there immensely. The landscape is gorgeous and I’d love to go back to do some walking and perhaps ‘bag a munroe’ (climb to the peak of a Scottish mountain – a hill really). It was really fantastic to see somewhere I had heard of all my life and a great ‘last place’ to see on our Europe trip.

Next stop London, and then home (oh no!).

Love,

Sarah

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