| Mickie |
Oct 28th, 2002 07:34 AM |
Scotland Trip Report With Many Thanks
Have recently returned from a delightful holiday and wish to thank those who helped make it so by responding to my questions. I offer the following for anyone who may be interested in a rather easy paced trip. <BR>We began our stay in Dundonald, South Ayrshire at what is to our minds the most wonderful bed and breakfast, Glenfoot House. We have been there before and chose to base ourselves there on and off throughout our journey. I simply cannot say enough about how wonderful the hosts are and the house itself is lovely.<BR>We spent a couple of days there during which time we took a driving lesson just to refresh our memory. This was time and money well spent as it helped regain comfort on the road, allowed us to spend time with the very pleasant gentleman whom we had met on our previous trip, and it gave us a great guided tour of the coast up to Greenock. We then picked up a hire car at Prestwick Airport which is a really easy in and out. Spent a day touring Alloway and Burns sites and especially enjoyed wandering the church yard of the Auld Kirk. Dinner that evening at MacCallan's in Troon. Nice, informal seafood place right on the harbor which was filled with gulls and seals. Perfect views, good food, great company, full bellies, just enough whisky and a quick taxi ride home.<BR>The next day we took the train from Troon to Edinburgh. Incredibly easy! The trains are comfortable and relaxing and changing stations in Glasgow is a walk in the park. As is often mentioned here, people are so wonderfully friendly and train travel is a nice way to get to chat with folk. Stayed at The Witchery for three nights and loved it. Peter Irvine describes it as camp, theatrical and very sexy. We chose it just for something fun and different and it was. The location,of course,put us right in the middle of everything and walking up to the castle in the evening before bedtime was a joy. The service was outstandingly good and the two evenings that we had dinner at the Secret Garden were excellent in terms of both quality and service, the latter of which was very friendly and yet very professional. Sheila is right about the wine list. Fabulous! <BR>Another plus was that we spent a good bit of time chatting with the pastry chef the following day and he was good enough to share some recipes.<BR>We walked our feet off and loved Edinburgh in the rain. What a beautiful city. Also visited the Falkirk Wheel which was most impressive. Stopped by Culross and found that charming even though everything was closed. It was still a pretty place to wander about (still pouring). Stopped at Fishers in Leith for some great mussels. By the way, Tim Bell who runs a guide service called Leith Walks drove us about and was really pleasant and informative.<BR>Another day of walking about in the rain we had a light lunch at Tower which was pleasant with its views of the city. Dinner that evening at Rogue. I loved the menu and dinner was very good. The acoustics are a work of magic! The resturant was very crowded, very noisy and tables are fairly close together but not uncomfortably so. However, my husband and I could hear each other clearly withour having to raise our voices and no other conversations intruded.<BR>On leaving Edinburgh we returned to Dundonald for dinner and overnight at Glenfoot where we felt much like pampered house guests.<BR>The following day we drove to Glenluce where we had taken a Landmark Trust property for a week of self catering. We drove down the A714 rather than the coast and the scenery was beautiful. I fully agree with Danna. Galloway is spectacular and doesn't get nearly enough press. Maybe that's a good thing. Keep it quiet and peaceful! Will write more at another point.
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