taconictraveler

Thoroughly delightful report! Thanks for all the detail, and how fun you got to do it all together!

indy_dad

Well done -- glad you had a good trip.

Gordon_R

"It’s the highest latitude distillery in the world"

Actually no, there are several distilleries on the Scottish mainland and in the Orkneys at a higher latitude. Glenmorangie and Highland Park to name but two.

Gordon_R

Great to hear you found the Glenelg ferry - isn't it amazing? And the road from there up and over to Shiel Bridge has some jaw-dropping scenery.

janisj

Maybe they said the farthest west longitude?? But even that probably isn't right since Islay would be a close thing . . .

Culloden, Clava Cairns, and Dunnottar all on the same day - you made good time.

I have family connections to the Broughty Ferry/Montrose area too (as well as from around Lake of Menteith/Drymen)

Terrific report - Your daughter actually manage to stay out till midnight the day you got back home ? Stouter stuff than I'm made of

willowjane

What a great trip report! I will be making use of the information from this report. Awesome! Isn't it nice to have special times/memories with Mom and daughters?

rmmom

Well, I stand corrected on Talisker. I'm pretty sure that's what they said in the tour and they sell tshirts with the latitude/longitude on them, I assumed for a reason And, yes, the ferry is really special.I highly recommend it, but be prepared for the gnarly drive into or out of Kylerhea! Also an idea I got from Fodors and pretty perfect that it turned out we had a connection to Glenelg

Thanks for the suggestion of Dunnottar, janisj. I googled it because of your TR. It truly is spectacular. That's why I felt compelled to post a TR. I got so many great ideas from others and wanted everyone to know that their help is truly appreciated.

latedaytraveler

Rmmom, great report - I love your spirit. Thanks for sharing.

bilboburgler

While Highland park in Orkney is pretty far north it is still low down compared to the distillery above the artic circle near Yllas which we visited on skidoo a few years back ;-)

scotlib

<i>Who orders nachos in Scotland?</i>

LOL, I did!

I saw Haggis Nachos as the special at the Tartan Weaving Mill, in the little cafe upstairs past the gift shop area up there. It sounded so extraordinary, I had to try it. Loved it!

Were yours with fresh fried potato chips, too? It wasn't corn chips as I'd thought (expected? assumed? it's dangerous for a traveler to assume

I can buy Stahly canned haggis when a local British foods store has it in stock. I like to serve it as haggis nachos and it's a good party platter.

rmmom

scotlib

<i>haggis nachos?!!!!</i>
I can't imagine that. These nachos were made with cool ranch doritos of all things. And topped with some sort of tasteless melted cheese substance. And I <i>paid</i> for this travesty!

Canned haggis huh? I'll have to buy some at the Scottish Games we go to in Sept. here. They have a huge selection of British foods for sale (now we'll recognize some of them!).

janisj

rmmom: Which Scottish Games? Pleasanton or Dixon? I <i>might</i> be going to one of them (Not definite but probably 50% chance) Possible GTG??

Hopefully not Fresno

Hooameye

"While we were in England there was some discussion on this and the impression we got was the English don’t want it to happen."

I think you probably got that impression as that is the stance of the British government (Camermoron and his chums), I personally don't know anyone who doesn't think it's a great idea.

Hooameye

I'll hasten to add, probably not for the reasons you think.

PatrickLondon

>>There are many more stones for the Scots than the English. There is still a sense of desolation here. It is clear talking to them that many Scots still think of this battle and still want their independence back.<

Glad you had such a good time in general.

But - just to nitpick, one of the reasons for so many more Scottish stones at Culloden is that there were Scots on both sides. It was as much a Scottish civil war, as to whether the country should be run by Protestants or Catholics, with a great deal of suspicion as to the Stuarts' intentions, bearing in mind their history and long period under the protection of Louis XIV, as it was about Scottish independence (about which, IIRC, the Pretender was remarkably vague).

twk

Enjoyed your trip report. We kind of like to try one "Mexican" food restaurant on each European trip, so I can relate to that part. We ate at one in Versailles that looked the part, but had no clue on the food, we had a passable one in Edinburgh (they also had a location in Aberdeen, which made me think there was an oil field and possible Texas connection), and then a surprisingly decent one in the Marais in Paris. Wondering what I'll find on my next trip, to Switzerland.

I would like to see Beating Retreat. We saw the dress rehearsal for Trooping the Colour, which was great.

Gordon_R

Patrick is quie right - the Jacobite up-risings were much more complex than a simple Scots vs English conflict (which I'll admit was how I had first been told the story as a child). It's a shame you took some ill-informed advice from the people in the youth hostel and skipped the excellent National Trust for Scotland Visitor Centre at Culloden, which does a good job of explaining all this.

azzure

This is a GREAT trip report. Thanks. I had "Mexican food" in Edinburgh once; Californians do start to crave it after awhile. But it was a bit odd...sort of like an Indian/Spanish/Mexican pastiche.

schnauzer

Great trip report, well done. It sounds like you have some amazing memories, a wonderful way to spend time with the girls. I enjoyed it all, as I said before I felt like you were following my own itinerary of nearly 30 years ago!

Schnauzer

rmmom

janisj
We go to the one in Pleasanton every year. My friend and I and our DDs make a weekend of it and get a hotel. A GTG sounds great- I would love to meet you finally!

PatrickLondon- nitpick away! I do know the history fairly well as I studied it in college, but I didn't want to make my TR boring by adding too many details. Not that anyone should take a fictional novel and assume any historical accuracy, but I felt that Diana Gabaldon did a pretty good job of researching the subject in the Outlander series. She covered the Catholic/Protestant aspect without really "taking sides", but Bonnie Prince Charlie doesn't come off well! She doesn't romanticize him at all