The Kilt's were everywhere: Scotland Defined
Sep 13th, 2007, 07:55 AM
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The Kilt's were everywhere: Scotland Defined
We returned from Scotland on Tues, and have been recovering...tried yesterday to write a few thoughts and thought I had it pretty good, but then hit the 'delete' button. When I tried to fix dinner and caught myself staring at an onion and trying to decide what it was, I decided I had near terminal jet lag and went to bed. Will try again, just for you, jetset.
Trip over was okay, although BA has lost whatever edge it had in the industry...seats were old and funky, service was bad, shagging thru Heathrow was worse than I had remembered, and then they lost 4 of our bags. (thanks to my brilliant suggestion that we attach the name of guest house in Edinburgh to the bags, they eventually surfaced, bag at a time, in the next 5 days.).
Edinburgh: Wonderful city, old and historic. Looks a lot like it did when my Grandfather lived there as a child and sent post cards home. The military Tatoo was spectacular...the third time I have seen it in a lifetime and I was, as I expected, stunned, simply stunned, as were the others in our party. It is a 'pagent' with no equal, in my opinion. We were crammed into small seats in the bleachers, on the field before Edinburgh castle, where Mary, Queen of scots lived and loved so unwisely.
The royal mile leading up to the castle was crowded with folks from every corner of the world, and we saw lots of kilts...the Scots are very proud of their national costume and look very nice when they get the socks with ribbon, the 'durk' (dagger) in the sock bank and the purse in front, etc. I took the time to look up our family tartan but didn't buy much due to the failing dollar.
We ate mostly in "Pubs" and got pretty darn tired of the ale and heavy food offered there, lots of 'mystery' meat in 'pies', very few fresh veggies or fruits, and lots of pies, cakes, puddings, etc., in 'clotted' cream. Scottish coffee is terrible, tea is good, streets are cobbled and uneven, sky was blue and cool, streets are wide and congested, cars are small, busses are everywhere and crowded,...bikes everywhere. (one of our friends in our party got hit by a biker going really fast round a corner...nothing but a few bruises, fortunately).
Stayed in a lovely guest house, rooms were nice, breakfasts (in all the accomodations for the entire 3 weeks) were the same...eggs, tomatos, sausages, bacon, and something fried that they said was potatoes. One day we were actually offered hot cakes, which 'floored' me and I gobbled them up fast.
We left Edinburgh and headed, with van and driver for Isle of Skye, on to the Isle of Mull, then up to the Highlands...as far north as Lock Shin, and back down the east costs. We had arranged a tour guide, who was conctracted to provide us an itinerary, auto and guidance. He turned out to be young, very nice, had a black Ford van for 8 that was very uncomfortable, and he had no mike, so those in back could not hear what he said.. also, getting in an out the back seat, when it became your turn, was tricky and uncomfortable. While he was very knowledgeable and agreeable, he never washed the windows for 20 days, inspite of our repeated requests...guess it was not important to him.
Castles: We bought a 'heritage' voucher which gave us 10 sights for the price of five, so we saw 10 castles (all very interesting, but with lots of similarity) during our soujourn....believe me, I will never do another castle in my life.
Countryside: Incredibly beautiful...mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, heather all in bloom, unspoiled and green, fresh air, very rural, little villages of sandstone that date back to the dark ages, cobbled streets, tiny shops, people with such a heavy 'brogue' that you can barely understand them, streets that are narrow, roadways that are one lane (must pull into a wide space if there is someone coming the other way). Our driver/guide was very skillful and dodged and parried with a frightening abandon, which made me glad some days that I was sitting in the back seat and couldn't fully see what was going on.
Accomodations: Mostly B&B's, small rooms, tiny furniture, narrow staircases, flowered carpets, funny bathrooms (pretty narrow and try not to get 'wedged' in the shower), a little short on hot water, staircases steep and winding, etc., but the families were uniformly kind and friendly and glad to help us in any way we needed. As a footnote: Reminder to all of us: DON'T TAKE SO MUCH LUGGAGE NEXT TIME. It was painful to watch DH struggle up the spiral staircases with our huge trunks.
Country sides: Rhododendrens are a weed in Scotland, ever threatening to take over the roads and byways. They cut them back vigorously with chain saws...lots of cattle, the long haired russet colored variety in the roads, shocking lack of fences, single lane roads that require the the auto going up must 'reverse' to a wide spot should they need to pass. Mountains and forests that astound us with their beauty, walking paths everywhere. (they have a 'right to access' privilage for walkers who want to cross private property, etc.
Trip over was okay, although BA has lost whatever edge it had in the industry...seats were old and funky, service was bad, shagging thru Heathrow was worse than I had remembered, and then they lost 4 of our bags. (thanks to my brilliant suggestion that we attach the name of guest house in Edinburgh to the bags, they eventually surfaced, bag at a time, in the next 5 days.).
Edinburgh: Wonderful city, old and historic. Looks a lot like it did when my Grandfather lived there as a child and sent post cards home. The military Tatoo was spectacular...the third time I have seen it in a lifetime and I was, as I expected, stunned, simply stunned, as were the others in our party. It is a 'pagent' with no equal, in my opinion. We were crammed into small seats in the bleachers, on the field before Edinburgh castle, where Mary, Queen of scots lived and loved so unwisely.
The royal mile leading up to the castle was crowded with folks from every corner of the world, and we saw lots of kilts...the Scots are very proud of their national costume and look very nice when they get the socks with ribbon, the 'durk' (dagger) in the sock bank and the purse in front, etc. I took the time to look up our family tartan but didn't buy much due to the failing dollar.
We ate mostly in "Pubs" and got pretty darn tired of the ale and heavy food offered there, lots of 'mystery' meat in 'pies', very few fresh veggies or fruits, and lots of pies, cakes, puddings, etc., in 'clotted' cream. Scottish coffee is terrible, tea is good, streets are cobbled and uneven, sky was blue and cool, streets are wide and congested, cars are small, busses are everywhere and crowded,...bikes everywhere. (one of our friends in our party got hit by a biker going really fast round a corner...nothing but a few bruises, fortunately).
Stayed in a lovely guest house, rooms were nice, breakfasts (in all the accomodations for the entire 3 weeks) were the same...eggs, tomatos, sausages, bacon, and something fried that they said was potatoes. One day we were actually offered hot cakes, which 'floored' me and I gobbled them up fast.
We left Edinburgh and headed, with van and driver for Isle of Skye, on to the Isle of Mull, then up to the Highlands...as far north as Lock Shin, and back down the east costs. We had arranged a tour guide, who was conctracted to provide us an itinerary, auto and guidance. He turned out to be young, very nice, had a black Ford van for 8 that was very uncomfortable, and he had no mike, so those in back could not hear what he said.. also, getting in an out the back seat, when it became your turn, was tricky and uncomfortable. While he was very knowledgeable and agreeable, he never washed the windows for 20 days, inspite of our repeated requests...guess it was not important to him.
Castles: We bought a 'heritage' voucher which gave us 10 sights for the price of five, so we saw 10 castles (all very interesting, but with lots of similarity) during our soujourn....believe me, I will never do another castle in my life.
Countryside: Incredibly beautiful...mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, heather all in bloom, unspoiled and green, fresh air, very rural, little villages of sandstone that date back to the dark ages, cobbled streets, tiny shops, people with such a heavy 'brogue' that you can barely understand them, streets that are narrow, roadways that are one lane (must pull into a wide space if there is someone coming the other way). Our driver/guide was very skillful and dodged and parried with a frightening abandon, which made me glad some days that I was sitting in the back seat and couldn't fully see what was going on.
Accomodations: Mostly B&B's, small rooms, tiny furniture, narrow staircases, flowered carpets, funny bathrooms (pretty narrow and try not to get 'wedged' in the shower), a little short on hot water, staircases steep and winding, etc., but the families were uniformly kind and friendly and glad to help us in any way we needed. As a footnote: Reminder to all of us: DON'T TAKE SO MUCH LUGGAGE NEXT TIME. It was painful to watch DH struggle up the spiral staircases with our huge trunks.
Country sides: Rhododendrens are a weed in Scotland, ever threatening to take over the roads and byways. They cut them back vigorously with chain saws...lots of cattle, the long haired russet colored variety in the roads, shocking lack of fences, single lane roads that require the the auto going up must 'reverse' to a wide spot should they need to pass. Mountains and forests that astound us with their beauty, walking paths everywhere. (they have a 'right to access' privilage for walkers who want to cross private property, etc.
Sep 13th, 2007, 08:19 AM
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Don't know what happened to the rest of my post...so, anyway, we got back to Edinburg, reconnected with a young couple we met on a tour of Portugal two years ago, and they were so glad to see us, wined and dined us and promised to visit us some time soon. Then pack up and come home. Again, British Air dissapointed us, with delayed flight, messed us seat assignment, bad service, electronic devices that didn't work, surly attendant, etc. Still, we had a wonderful time, and hope that many of you will be able to go to Scotland some day. It is such an unspoiled area and very historic..got a full feeling that they still are not to 'fond' of the English after 8 centuries of turmoil, and they are a race of sturdy people with wonderful survival skills. Oh yeah, we went to Iona where Christanity first began in Scotland, and where the "Book of Kells" was written (for the history buffs among us). The buildings and little churches are standing since the 7th century..
Note: there are only 5 million people in the entire country, and most of them live in the cities, so if you want to get away from it all, go to Scotland. We were glad we did. And go with friends you know you can travel with...we did, and were glad, as there were moments of stress which we handled. There were 3 couples, all good friends.
more later, with details of our itinery, if anyone is interested.
love to all
Clara
Note: there are only 5 million people in the entire country, and most of them live in the cities, so if you want to get away from it all, go to Scotland. We were glad we did. And go with friends you know you can travel with...we did, and were glad, as there were moments of stress which we handled. There were 3 couples, all good friends.
more later, with details of our itinery, if anyone is interested.
love to all
Clara
