I’m an Honorary Hungarian

Today is our last full day in Iceland for this trip. Our pickup spot for today’s tour is much closer to our apartment. We all got ready, and crammed into our DACIA car (pronounced dashya - this will become relevant later), and drove to the bus station, where our tour bus would be picking us up.

When we got on the bus, 3 of the people from yesterday’s tour were already on. They had heard our plans to change the pickup spot so we wouldn’t be in the back of the bus, and when they saw us, they moved back to give us the first 2 rows.

We proceeded around Reykjavik, picking up the rest of the tour peeps, and headed out for our Golden Circle adventure. Our driver, Nico, was from Hungary. He was night and day different from yesterday’s guide. Kamil, our guide from yesterday, was very nice, but not very talkative. Nico gabbed practically the entire trip. He had lots of personality, and shared many many stories about the areas we were seeing.

We stopped for coffee and pastries (most of our team got caramel donuts and loved them), and hot chocolate. After we enjoyed them, we loaded back on the bus to head toward Kerid Crater. This is an amazing volcanic crater with a beautiful pond in the center. The clouds threatened a little rain, but gave up quickly. Here began our battle with the little annoying flies.

Back on the bus, we drove through Geysir to see Gullfoss Waterfall, through we would be coming back there. When we were here in 2017, we saw these falls, but now they have really developed the area with a cafe and gift shop. In fact, when we were here before, there were not many public restroooms out and about, and they were in the process of building tourist infrastructure. We are now paying that cost, as everything went from expensive to CRAZY expensive.

After Gulfoss, we drove back to Guysir to have lunch and see the namesake of our English word “geyser” - I don’t know of any other Icelandic words that have made it to English. Our lunch consisted of small chicken salads, a burger, and fish and chips. For Pat, Carrie and me, our 2 chicken salads, one burger and fries, 3 sodas, and a slice of cake came to $100. YOWZA!

After lunch, we walked across the street to see the geysers, and the other steam and bubbling water pits. I was all set to take a great slo-mo video of the eruption when Mr. Clueless came up to me to ask if this was the big geyser. I turned to answer him, and the geyser promptly erupted. I was astonished. I wanted to look around at all the people standing at the ropes that encircled this one specific geyser and say “what do you think?”We waited for the next round, but it was nowhere as spectacular as the one I missed.

We walked back to the shops for toilets and browsing, and went back to the bus. The next stop was Hingvellir National Park. This is a great place that we visited last time. Here you can see the fissure caused by the separation of the North American and European tectonic plates. It is also the home of the world’s first parliament, held over a thousand years ago by Vikings.

We got some awesome photos, and walked down the gully created by the fissure down to where the bus was waiting to pick us up. While we were waiting for everyone else, I told Nico that our rental car was Romanian, and so was our guide. He asked how I liked my DACA, and I got him to help me pronounce it again. I told him it was ok, but that I had to remember driving with a stick shift. He had sympathy for this poor tourist.

We loaded back up and started to drive back to the city. He stopped at a nice scenic viewpoint over the lake. Sometimes, he said, you can see the big volcano, but today, it was covered by clouds. Back on the bus, we headed back to Reykjavik. He announced the stops order, and we were first again! As we were getting off the bus, I told him we were heading to our dashya (pronouncing it right, of course), and he told me I was an honorary Hungarian, and would be welcome to lead a tour.

We left the lot, and stopped in at a gas station with a Subway inside for a quick dinner. Carrie found the Icelandic chocolates Nico gave us on the bus. We got a few bags to bring home. We ate our meal, then drove back to the apartment to finalize the blog and photos, and pack up for our morning flight. I know that we are all ready to be home, and we are especially ready for this flight to be over. I only wish I had shorts to wear, as Icelandair keeps their planes toasty warm. Goodnight!

A Ten Hour Tour (a ten hour tour)

We woke up and got ready for our 10 hour tour of the south coast of Iceland. For once, I got to be a passenger! We grabbed a quick breakfast, and loaded into the car. We only had to drive about 10 minutes to the tour meeting spot. It was a fuel station right off of the highway. It was pretty nondescript, except for the bronze statue of a child urinating on a rock. Ummm, Okay.

We were at the last pickup of the tour, so we were at the back of the tour bus. We had a very enjoyable trip out of Reykjavik, and it was very nice to be able to see the countryside, instead of being so focused on the road, and staying on the proper side. We were revisiting places we had seen on our last trip to Iceland, but it was all new for Walt and Rosanna.

We stopped at a fuel stop for coffee and restrooms, and Pat and Carrie found maple donuts! After our brief snack, we were back on the bus. Our first stop was at a beautiful waterfall - Skógafoss. It is a very tall waterfall, and really impressive. We saw several waterfalls in Scotland, and they all seem like little babies compared to Iceland’s falls.

After that, we drove to Vik, a very old fishing village. We stopped at the church on the hill overlooking the town, for some amazing shots. We then went into town for lunch. As we really didn’t have much for breakfast, I wanted something hot. Everyone else wanted the sandwich cafe, so we split up. Mine took a while, so I crammed it down before it was time to go to the bus.

We left there, and headed to Reynisfjara, the black sand beach. It has been used by lots of movies, like Rogue One, and Prometheus, among others. The waves there have claimed 2 lives this year alone, so it is no joke. We saw a whole flock of puffins out on the ocean, and several nesting on the cliffs.

Back on the bus, it was time to drive to the glacier, Sólheimajökull. We had a pretty good hike up to the view spot, and did get some great photos. After walking back, we got some coffee and hot chocolates.

Our last destination was a famous waterfall - Seljalandsfoss. This is a great waterfall that you can actually walk behind. Carrie, Pat, Les, and I did this walk the last time we were here, and you can only see the “back side of water” (thank you, jungle cruise) so many times. We weren’t in the mood to get drenched, so we just took photos from the front.

Then, it was time to head back to Reykjavik. Since we were the last ones on, we were the first ones off. The crew had decided they wanted KFC for dinner. So, I found one nearby, and we set to have some familiar food. And then, we went inside…

There were a couple of oddities - they had gravy, but no mashed potatoes. And, their soda machine had “regular” Pepsi, and non-diet orange soda. They both had fake sugar in them. PEPSI, I HATE YOU!!!. Their small fries were equivalent to our large, and their medium is like - “do you really want that many?” We enjoyed our dinner, and it was time to drive back to our apartment.

The photos crew sat around the dining table to import and select. Carrie discovered how awesome Cleanup in Photos has become, and was incredulous. I got caught up on the blog, which is good, because we only have one more full day in Iceland, and then we travel back home. I think we are all about ready to be home. Walt is pining for his shower. I miss my grandkids, my bed, and our river. Goodnight

The Land of Eternal Sunlight and Hot Dogs

Today, we got ready, and finished our travel pack before breakfast. We had a really nice breakfast on the shores of Loch Lomond, and packed the car. Carrie was incredulous that we had less room for the bags, but with the way things tend to grow over time, it was a tight fit.

We first stopped in town at Luss, right next to our hotel, to see the beautiful village, and try to spend our last few pounds (it was not difficult). As we parked, we realized that this hotel stay was the only non-prepaid one, so I needed to actually check out and pay. I went back to do just that while everyone else got a head start on shopping.

We met up, and walked back to the car. It was a pretty short ride to Glasgow airport, even though the initial destination was someone’s Maps addition, and was not the correct location for the airport. Once we finally made it to the right place, we checked in the car and went to the ticket counter to check our bags.

We made it to the gate after an epically long walk, and waited for our plane to arrive. Once it did, we got boarded, and squished together in the cheap seats. It was a pretty uneventful flight, and we were now in Iceland.

After the up, down, up, down, up, and down again escalator rides through the process, we got our bags and headed out to the arrival hall to be taken to our rental car. Many rental car companies in Iceland do not have a traditional shuttle to take you to pick up your car. This was the first time they told us that only the driver could come with them. They crammed us all into a van, and drive the 10 minutes to the car location.

I got the car quickly, and headed back to the airport to pick everyone else up. When I got in the car, I realized it was a manual. So, I not only had to readjust to driving on the correct side of the road, but I needed to call on my muscle memory to drive a stick shift. Things clicked quickly, and I raced back to the airport.

Signage here is poor, and after several loops, I found where I could meet my crew. We loaded up, and got going to our apartment, then an evening walking tour. Carrie had gotten an email from our tour guide that she was out of town, and was not scheduled for a tour. So we headed to our apartment, when some other guy called her, wondering if we were going to show at the tour. We told him we had had no communication from them except for our assigned guide telling us there was no tour.

There were several confused back and forths, but we eventually just said we would work out the refund issue with the company.

Addresses in Iceland are a bit strange. When I pasted in the address for our apartment to Maps, it sent us to the wrong place. When we used the booking.com Maps link, it gave us the right location. We found it, and parked, and made it inside.

It is an old building, and Carrie and Pat were les than thrilled. Having stayed in most of the Motel 6s in Texas, my standards are much lower. We got unpacked, and went out to walk around the area. We went to a famous hot dog stand that Bill Clinton liked. If there’s someone who’s into low-brow things, he’s the man.

We came back, and got the car to drive around a bit. We saw the beautiful cathedral, and one of our favorite scupltures by the bay. We stopped at a grocery store for some things, and headed back to the apartment to unwind and have an early-ish night.

It’s Not Goodbye…

Since Today is our last full day in Scotland, and I’ve had a rant bubbling up, I figure today is as good as any for it.

<Rant Begins>

In the US, there are regional names for soft drinks. Some say “soda” and some say “pop”, some even say “soda pop” (or “sodee-pop” if you think Mountain Dew is high-class). In Texas, we say “coke”. You might frequently hear “you want a coke? What kind of coke do you want? We have Dr. Pepper, Big Red…”. I am learning more and more that there is a great reason for this. Coke is Coke.

In order to fight obesity in the UK, Jamie Oliver helped spearhead a tax on sugary beverages. While I’ll step around the general topic of taxation as control, I understand the impetus. The way soft drink companies have dealt with this is to take a regular soda, reduce the amount of real sugar, and add in some artificial sweetener, thus making their beverage not subject to the tax.

Not to mention the limitation of choice and personal responsibility, but there are people who cannot tolerate artificial sweeteners. Not only do I hate their taste, but they are a migraine trigger for me, and lots of others.

The first time we tried the official soft drink of Scotland, Irn Bru, I thought it tasted horrible. We found out the reason is, they had adulterated it with some artificial sweetener. Not the diet version, but the regular stuff. If you get a regular Pepsi here, its fake. If you even get a regular Dr. Pepper (the beloved elixir of my homeland), it is FAKE. But, if you get a regular Coke - IT.IS.Coke! They know that the real thing must be the real thing.

We should put Coca-Cola up there with Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Apple Pie as true Americana!

(Editors note: the reaction to IRN BRU was so negative, that the company released a limited edition 1901 original formula. The tagline was “Old and Unimproved”. The reaction to it was so positive, they have made it a permanent addition to their product line)

<Rant ends>

We woke up to another beautiful day. It was almost as if the day of endless rain was a bad memory. This was our last full day here, and we had another nice breakfast together. We cleaned up after ourselves and loaded the car to head to the ferry.

On the road, Walt said “This was Jared’s last meal”………”that he needs to cook for us”. The pregnant pause left me wondering if he had really forgiven me for the the whole “nearly hitting him with the car” thing. He was just adding a pinch of drama to our morning drive.

We made it to Craignure to wait for the ferry. We had some time, so we visited a few of the shops, and I was able to get a nice cappuccino. As the ferry approached, we were all in the car waiting to board.

The weather was nice, but Carrie, Pat, and I found comfy seats inside, and Walt and Rosanna shot some more photos. We disembarked and drove up to McCaig’s Tower - a landmark of Oban that we hadn’t seemed to visit in our previous trips there. We got amazing views of Oban, as the tower literally towered over the town.

We started making our way towards Loch Lomond, our stay for tonight. We stopped and toured Dunstaffnage Castle. This part of Scotland was actually governed by Norway back when it was built in the 12th century. It changed hands a few times, and became part of the Campbell Clan, mostly because they were loyal to Robert the Bruce.

We saw some old weaving techniques, and toured the castle. There were dramatic views of the countryside. We also walked down to a chapel ruin. The weather was great, but we started to head back out on the road to Loch Lomond. We ate up some of our various and sundry snacks on the road, and eventually made it to the Lodge at Loch Lomond.

Carrie, Pat and I are staying in the Jimmy Carter suite. When he came to Scotland, he would always stay in this room. I told Walt and Rosanna, they had the Billy Carter shack - full of all the Billy Beer they could drink. Though, since it was 45 years old, I wouldn’t recommend it.

They were actually in a nice room next to ours. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, and sat with stellar views of the loch. Then, it was time to retire to our rooms, and get our suitcases ready for flight travel tomorrow. We head to Iceland for a few days before flying home. Man, time flies.

This is not goodbye, it’s see you later, Scotland!

GiGi got run over by a Puegot (almost)

Unlike yesterday, the light leaking through our blinds and curtains was bright and sunny. As grey and wet as yesterday was, today was beautiful and bright. I headed downstairs to prepare breakfast, with the great assistance of Rosanna on Toast and Fruit Salad. We had bought real Parmesano Reggiano at the store yesterday, and it was actually much cheaper than the fake Parmesan we get in the US. So, I grated some into the eggs, and on the roasted tomatoes and bacon. It was a good breakfast.

Afterward, we jumped into the car to head to the ferry to take us to Iona. There were a few driving route options, and we chose a scenic view along the coast. We could actually see the Treshinish Islands that we visited yesterday, that had been clouded in rain and mist. We continued to stop and photograph every sheep we could track down. We started seeing waterfalls that had been enhanced by yesterdays monsoon. As we headed back inland, we started seeing lots of people stopped, using binoculars to see something.. We could never really tell what they were looking at.

As we rounded a turn, we saw a lovely old bridge with highland coos visible through the bridge arches. Carrie wanted me to stop so she could get out and take pics. Walt joined her. In my rearview mirror, I saw a car barreling towards us. I guess I thought everyone was fully out, so I moved forward to find a place to park while they took pictures. Unfortunately, Walt was just letting go of his seatbelt, and his open car door slammed shut by banging into Carrie. I saw them both in the mirror looking at me with shock. I was just glad they were both standing.

I think every trip has at least one event that I will never live down, and nearly running Carrie and Walt over will fit the bill for this one. At least they were both ok. Later, I did ask Walt if we were still friends. He was gracious in his forgiveness.

Eventually, we made it to Fionnphort, where we would take the short ferry to Iona. It ran regularly, so we just waited for it to arrive, so we could get on. The weather was amazing, so we sat up top to take whatever pictures we could in the short trip.

Once we docked, we walked up the hill to explore. First off, we went through the nunnery ruins. They were interesting, but small. We kept on towards the Abbey. When Carrie and I were here in 2006, I bought a silver Celtic ring at a handmade jewelry shop here. Pat wanted some silver jewelry, so we went up to check it out. Unfortunately, they were out of my ring, and that is what Carrie and Pat wanted as well. So, we got our fingers sized, and can order when their silversmith has them back in stock.

From there, we went to Iona’s Abbey. It has been in constant use as a place of worship since the 6th century, though this building has only been there since the 12th (sarcasm intended). It is awesome that it is still active as a worship community. We walked around, took photos in the museum, and found the gift shop.

We started our walk back, and just missed lunch at the St. Columba’s Hotel, and found a nice little cafe for lunch. Although, in normal fashion, Carrie got the last Pasty they had, which is what Walt and Rosanna wanted too. They settled for a yummy scone.

We started our walk back to the ferry, and rode back to get our car. We had a 2 hour drive back to our home, and decided to grab some extra food instead of going out for dinner. On the way back, we took the scenic route again, and with the beautiful weather, really enjoyed the drive.

Back at home, we are preparing simple dinner, and enjoying our last evening here on Mull. We are almost done with the Scotland leg, and will have a few days upcoming in Iceland. I know we are all enjoying it, but it is nice to rest here tonight.

Just another day in Puffin Paradise

We were descending the steep, muddy path down a rocky cliff.  The weather is dim and rainy, and our crew is in significant jepoardy of falling, and possibly worse.

6 hours earlier: (I know, I hate that dramatic device too, but so many TV shows use it)

We woke up in our beautiful lodging to the sound of pelting rain.  I got ready quickly, because I was the breakfast chef again.  Once I was dressed, I cooked the eggs and bacon, while Rosanna toasted the bread.

We sat down to eat, and Carrie was trying to call the boat tour people to find out if the tour was still on.  I think she would have been happy to reschedule, due to the blustery weather.  We were unable to correctly dial the number at that time, so we finished and loaded up.

We drove back through the cow path to Tobermory.  As we got closer, she was able to complete the call, and they told her that the “Seas are calm, bring a jacket”.  We found parking, and waited to load the boat.

Once aboard, we cruised first to Puffin Paradise.  This island has an immense colony of puffins, who are happy to have people around, because that means that the larger predatory birds stay away, so they feel safe enough to waddle around and pose for pictures.  To get there, we had to leave our boat, through the other boat, to a pontoon dock that wobbled around, and really made you feel like you were going overboard.

Once ashore, we navigated slippery lava boulders, and a path of smaller rocks, that were still very unstable.  We did not make it off of the lava rocks without both Walt and Rosanna taking little spills, though they powered on.

After the rocks, we had a brief respite of nice grass path, before the treacherous, muddy, cliff path ascent.  As we started up the path, Carrie had both her feet slip under her, and she face planted on the muddy path.  Luckily, she was escorting Pat, and Pat stayed on 2 feet.

We slowly, precariously, made our way up to Puffin Paradise.  Once atop the cliff, we took loads of photos of the awesome Puffins.  It was still raining, and we were getting wetter and wetter.  Once our time was expiring, we decided to head back down the cliff, since we needed extra time.

We started down the path.  We were in a similar train as you might see on a preschool field trip, only lacking the guide ropes.  We all held hands, and led the way down.  Slowly, surely, we descended.  The outcome, never certain, but we did end up making it all the way down to the rocky beach, then back on the pontoon dock, and then to our ship.

We saw whales and dolphins, and got some more photos, but we were all cold and wet, and ready to call it a day.

Once we finally made it back to shore, we loaded up, drove to the grocery store, and bought some soup and stuff for dinner.  None of us felt like sitting in a restaurant, wet and muddy.

Back at home we showered, got in dry clothes, and had a nice warm dinner.  Photos were picked, and words were typed.  It is still raining, and I am glad we don’t have an early morning.  Good Night

The Quest for Food

This morning, our guesthouse did not provide breakfast, but we had found some breakfast-y items at Tesco last night, so we at least had something.  Our ferry schedule had moved up an hour or so, it we just loaded down into the car, and got in line to board the ferry.  We were front-row-joe!

As we sat in the car, we shared “donuts” along with some bottled water.  When it was time to board, we drove all the way through the ferry, and were going to be first off of the boat when we docked.  We got out of the car, and headed upstairs.

The weather was great, and we all sat on the top deck to watch and take photos.  I got some coffee, and brought Carrie some hot chocolate.  We had a great crossing, and got some great photos.

Once we docked, we parked in Craigmure, and walked around the small town.  Since it was Sunday, and early, not a lot was open.  We found some travel maps of Mull, and got back in the car.  We drove to Duart castle, the current home of the chief of Clan McLean.  It was an amazing tour, and a beautiful castle home.

Back in the car, we headed up to tour Mull.  Since we were early, we couldn’t check in to our home yet, we decided to drive around the coastal road.  We stopped to see Eas Fors Waterfall, and saw some amazing sights.  We continued up, looking to stop at a cafe that was open, and even displayed “walk ins welcome” on their sign.  When we walked in, they told us they only had enough food for their reserved guests.  We did make a reservation for Tuesday night, though, since it was very close to our home.  Our next opportunity for food was “closed due to illness”, so on we went - in search of food.

We drove by our home, and drove up the steep road to ensure which one we were staying at.  Once we found it (it looked really cool), we continued back on the quest for food.

We drove what looked like a cow path to Tobermory, a beautiful coastal town.  We passed a few closed eating places, and found a former church that was now a cafe and art gallery.  We had a great lunch, and decided to explore the town.  There is a whole line of brightly colored buildings, and really enjoyed the walk.  We stopped in the grocery store to buy dinner and breakfast stuff, and then went to the local ice cream shop.  We had some amazing treats, then headed on another coastal road on the way to our home.  While some maps made it look like this coastal road was a main route,  neither Apple Maps nor Google maps really wanted us to go this way.  They both kept trying to get us to turn around and go back through the cow path.  Eventually, we found out why.

We did see some amazing coastal views, but the road was precarious at best.  We did survive the trip, and ended up at our home for the next 3 nights.  It is a beautiful home, with spectacular views.

We had some snacks for dinner, and went up to call it an early night.

“You almost cut off his fingers!!”

Today was our final breakfast at the Dunvegan Castle Keepers Cottage. Our original plan entailed a very early rise-time, as we were going to go on a hike, along with our sightseeing. However, when we woke up, the weather had turned harsh. High winds would make both the hike and the ferry ride undesirable. So, we called an audible and cancelled the hike, so we could sleep in a little longer. As the breakfast cook, I endorsed this plan.

After we ate, we did all the required cleaning tasks to depart the cottage. We really enjoyed the stay, and would heartily endorse it. Since you can drive off of the island without taking a ferry, we were able to easily change our plans. Carrie’s initial reaction was that it would be longer to drive directly. When I did the maths, it turned out to be a shorter path, which would take us into some new territory, well Carrie and I have driven the road, but for everyone else, it is new.

We drove past the Highlander Castle, though it was raining pretty hard, so we didn’t want to keep the windows open for too long. Pat and Carrie found some cool stops on the way - an old suspension bridge provided some great photos. It was right on the Caledonian Canal, which led to Loch Ness, then Inverness, then the sea.

We made a pit stop at a petrol station to use the facilities and top up our tank. We continued our trek, and stopped off in Port William to see the Old Inverlochy Castle. We could only see it from the outside, but it is a very important place in Scottish History. It originally dated back to the 13th century, and played a strategic role in several battles. Once we got some photos, we went to the Highland Soap Company factory store.

They had a neat cafe inside, so we got some lunch. After a brief snafu with missing tater tots, we really enjoyed our meal. I had one of the best cappuccinos I’ve ever had (it was certainly the prettiest). We found some great gifts, and were back on the road.

We made a few quick stops for photos, and ended up in Oban at our guesthouse. We rested a bit, then went to show Walt and Rosanna the awesomeness of Tesco. Side note: it is not really that awesome, but is the biggest store we’ve been in in Scotland. We did find some of those amazing tea cakes, and stocked up. Hopefully, some will make it home.

We then went to find a quick takeaway fish and chips shop. Unfortunately, it was in the busy harbor area, and parking is at a premium. I took a stab at a small alley parking area, but they were all full. Doubly unfortunate, someone followed me in, so I had no easy exit. They honked at a person in a parking place who looked like he was leaving, to give him some extra encouragement to leave. I think the honking irritated an obviously inebriated pedestrian nearby. He came up to my window to tell me not to let people push me around, and I was in the right. I told him “thanks” then started to roll up the window. He grabbed the top of the window, and I continued rolling it up, hoping he would take a hint. He didn’t. So, I rolled it back down, and waited for him to remove his hands. When he did, I quickly closed the window, and escaped the encounter. Carrie said she was convinced I was going to amputate his digits.

We found a space, and I, expertly may I add, parallel parked. Carrie, Walt, and I headed out on foot to obtain some fish and chips. When we came to Scotland in 2006, I had fried pizza at a shop here in Oban. I was determined to replay that experience. This shop had fried pizza. So, that was my order. Carrie and Walt got Haddock and chips. This shop was even endorsed by Gordon Ramsay, so we were hoping it was good. One of the best things about my last fried pizza, was that the crust was super thin. This shop used very bread-y pizza, and it totally didn’t work. It was still ok, but the chips were the star of my dinner.

We took the food back to our guesthouse, and sat at tables on the ground floor and enjoyed our dinner. Since the ferry changed our sailing time tomorrow, we have an early call time. So, I just tried to get caught up on the blog, and we’ll upload photos tomorrow. Good night, and good luck.

Just Imagine The Views

We woke up after a wonderful night in the cottage. We had gotten supplies to make breakfast, especially since the “breakfast” places in the nearby village opened at 11am. I cooked our traditional vacation breakfast of scrambled eggs with bell pepper (red, of course…I’m not an animal) and onion. The protein changes with the location - trying to get a flavor of wherever we are. In Scotland, it is bacon. Not US bacon, which they call “streaky bacon”, but good old back bacon. We also had toast, that Rosanna graciously prepared, along with some yummy jams.

After we ate and cleaned up, we headed out to see what we could see. Our initial impressions were “not much”. We headed toward Portree, and stopped off to see some standing stones. There was only one we could get to without walking through cow patty-infested marshland, so we called it good and moved on.

We made it into Portree, and we could see the ferry had recently unloaded a fresh batch of tourists - some who having their initial experience with island driving, and were displaying their sheer terror, and backing everyone else up.

After we got out of town, we stopped at Bride’s Veil Falls. We got some pics from the car, but Carrie was convinced there was more to see, so she and Walt got out to investigate. They were able to get much better photos, but that entailed standing in some muddy water. Carrie did have to stabilize Walt to ensure he got his shot.

Back in the car, we headed toward the Old Man of Storr. Not me, but a stone formation. With the low cloud ceiling, and the amount of hiking required, we decided to skip it. We saw Lealt Falls, and Kilt Rock Falls as well. The wind was starting to kick up, and when the crew got back in the car at Kilt Rock, they said that was the wettest they had gotten.

Next, we went to An Corran Beach, where there are some fossilized dinosaur footprints. It was down one of those glorious one-track roads. I enjoyed a little eye-rest in the car while everyone else got out for photos.

Next, we drove by Duntulum castle, a ruin right on the ocean, and continued our wet, misty, coastal route. We stopped at the Skye Museum of Coastal Life, and decided to grab lunch at the adjoining cafe. They had the most amazing savory pies. Carrie, Pat, Walt and Rosanna all got the Ham and Chicken pies, and I totally scored lunch victory with the Steak and Ale pie. We decided to skip the museum, and headed on.

There was an Iron Age Souterrain, a stone-lined partially underground building, often used for living, storage, defense, or other purposes. Walt had seen a sign for a craft fair back a ways, so we thought we would check it out. Unfortunately, it was probably an old sign, as there was a fundraiser feed going on. We awkwardly bowed out, and went back to our car.

We decided to call it an early day, and head back to the cottage. On the way we stopped at a market and got some items for a simple dinner, and some more bacon for breakfast. After a wet and misty day, we made it back to the cottage.

Carrie and the crew worked on photos, and I worked on my napping skills. We ate grilled cheese sandwiches, and some other leftovers, and Pat and Carrie painted. Then, it was time for bed.

There Can Only Be One

We had a great night of sleep last night in the castle keepers cottage.  As this was a self-catering stay, we did not have breakfast provided.  The town apparently didn’t really open up until 10 or 11, as the “breakfast” places didn’t open until 11.  So, we went to what was described as a “supermarket” to get some breakfast-y items.  They did have canned iced coffee…I guess that counts as breakfast.  We got some bites and drinks, and headed back to Dunvegan Castle.

First up was a boat tour to see seals.  We were treated to several newly-born pups, with protective mamas at their sides.  We had a great time on the boat, and the weather was great, if windy.  As soon as we got off the boat, the rain came, and we waited it out a bit in the registration shop.

After a brief break, we toured the castle walled gardens.  It was beautiful, and had lots of exotic plants.  Next, we toured the castle, and it was pretty amazing.  This was the home of Clan Macleod.  While on the boat tour, we saw the sea door, which was the oldest part of the castle.  Originally, it was the only entrance to the castle.

Afterward, we had a quick lunch in the cafe, and headed out to see more of Skye.  If you have seen Carrie’s desktop photo, you have seen our first stop of the day.  The Sligachan Old Bridge.  We loved that stop when we were here in 2018, and it didn’t disappoint today.  The clouds were low, and constantly changing.  Carrie was super happy she was able to get a photo with no annoying people on it.

After we were all securely in the car, we headed south to briefly leave Skye for Eilean Donan, more commonly known as the castle from the epic The HIghlander movie - there can only be one!  We got some great shots and enjoyed the gift shop.

Next up, we got some groceries for the next few days and headed across the Skye Bridge back to our island home.

After one final stop for some ice cream for dessert, we came back to our cabin.  Carrie started working on photos, Walt and Rosanna went for a jaunt to find some photo spots, and we got some laundry started.  The driver took full advantage of the nice cool breeze, and stretched out to relax a bit.  Beautiful Day!

The name is Beaches…Sandy Beaches

Today was our last day on Harris.  Katie outdid herself with a lovely breakfast and chat.  Everything was delicious, and leisurely.  We had already loaded the car up, so we just had final departure things, and then headed out for our day’s adventure

First, we took the small road out to Hushinish Beach.  There are free-roaming highland coos in the area, and are often found on the beach.  We had another day of incredible views on the way.

There was a Beware! Sheep sign, and shortly after, we came upon a sheep with one horn missing.  My mental conversation went something like this…”did you see the Beware! Sign?  Yeah, I used to have 2 horns, but the last man to face me used to have 2 legs as well”….the things I do to amuse myself…

There were several hills where once at the top, you physically could not see the road descending in front of you.  Not a problem if it goes straight, but most of these curved.  I think I do still have some remaining brown hairs in my beard - not all white yet.

Once we made it to the beach, there were no cows to be found.  There was, however, a spotless, almost white sandy beach.  The three elders went for a walk on the beach (Pat got a little too close to the raging surf for Carrie’s comfort), and Carie and I walked inland in search of cows.  I did find a few birds with meals in their mouths, flying past me, though.

We got back in the car to drive the 12 miles back through that same country to continue our trek.  Next, we headed to the Alpaca farm Carrie and I visited in 2018.  It has transmogrified into a very full animal rescue and rehabilitation center.  The alpacas are as cute as ever, and were just shorn last week.  They have that 8 year old boy who just got his hair cut by his mom, poorly, look right after she tells him that he’s such a handsome boy.

We saw some 4 horned sheep, native to the island, some massive hogs, some house chickens - yes, they live in the house as pets, goats, peacock, and lots of ducks.  They have a repeat visit from a wild duck who brings her newly hatched chicks there every year (6 years running) to have a safe place for them to grow.  She does have a white chick every year that they keep, because they have no natural camoflauge, and are easy pickings for predatory birds.

We got some coffee and snacks and continued.

We went back to the Broch we stopped at 2 days ago, as it wasn’t quite as windy, though pretty windy, and Pat wanted to visit the gift shop.  Walt was the solo photographer to hike up the hill, and I’m sure he got some great pics.

We started to head back to Tarbert to board the ferry, but stopped at a standing circle on the way.  Carrie and Walt took the short walk up, and got some great shots, as well as a cloud of midges.

Next we drove all the way back down south to Tarbert for the ferry.  We got loaded on, and they directed us next to the hull.  No one could get out of the car on the passenger side.  Do you remember when cars had front bench seats, when it was easy to slide from one side to the other?   Well, those days have been gone for some time.  Now, cars like to have cockpits.  The backseat folks were able to migrate to the drivers side to exit.  Carrie, however, had to wriggle and climb out of her co-pilot seat, to exit the car.  Fun was not had, at least not by her.

On the ferry, we waited for them to open the cafe, as we were all pretty hungry.  We all ate, and relaxed as the boat completed its short journey to Uig, on the island of Skye.

We have a very interesting accomodation tonight - the Castle Keeper’s Cottage at Dunvegan Castle.  It was one of our favorite castle experiences of our last tour, and this time, we actually get to stay on the castle grounds.  We are excited to get unpacked and down for the night.  Since our ferry trip schedule had changed to a later time, it is pretty late for Scottish island life, so we will just call it a night.

The Golden Road

We started off this morning with another amazing meal prepared by Katie. Breakfast included some amazing fruit, juices, cereals, and whatever we cared to order from her menu. Her eggs were local and fresh, and sooooo yellow. I was very satisfied, and ready to start the day.

Katie had dropped some hints that she preferred cash, so first on our list today was finding an ATM to obtain it. We had gotten the total required from her, and she gave us a reduced total if we paid cash. The atm would only provide a fraction of the total, so it did require several withdrawals, but eventually we had enough. We decided to go back to the B&B and pay her, so that we didn’t have that much cash on us while we traveled. She was very appreciative, and gave us some good hints about our travels today.

We went back to Tarbert to inspect the Harris Tweed shops. Carrie found some cool items, and we loaded back up to head out for our Golden Road trip, after a brief restroom pit stop.

The Golden Road is a one-lane road coastal loop around the bulk of the Isle of Harris. There were innumerable photo stops, and I would be surprised if any sheep on the entire route escaped unphotographed. We first looked for an art gallery that we had visited in 2018, where older husband and wife artists specialized in the sheep with orange paint on their butts. Apparently, the gallery is no longer open, so we were a little sad.

We did find chickens, sheep, horses, cows, seals, sheep, old buildings, churches, sheep, lakes, and more sheep. Luckily, an art gallery cafe we had visited previously was still open. The driver needed a coffee, and the most of the rest of the crew got hot chocolates, with Walt also getting a coffee, not to mention scones, shortbread, and a brownie and ice cream sundae.

Back on the road, we made it to an old church, where all the passengers exited to tour, and the driver took a little snooze. This entire area is pretty remote, so there are not a lot of dining options. So, near our B&B there is a “Grocery” store. It was pretty slim pickings, but we were able to assemble a very unique dinner menu - ice cream, crisps, tuna pasta salad, crackers, instant noodles, sandwiches and crisps. It actually turned out nicely.

After we ate, Carrie and the crew tried to get caught back up on photos, and I got cot up with the blog. We are still in a difficult upload area, so I will add in photos when I can.

The Michelin Star

We enjoyed the blackout curtains last night, as our room was still dark when it was time to get up, even though it only really gets dark for a few hours this time of year. Once we got ready, we went downstairs and had a lovely breakfast. The room was hopping with a big tour group, but breakfast was really tasty.

Afterward, we packed the car, and headed to check in for the ferry. I went to the gas station (sorry, petrol station), but there was a backlog due to tour vans and buses taking their sweet time inside the store while they had the entire station blocked, not that I’m bitter or anything. Once we had fueled up, we went to queue at the ferry station. We sat in the car for over an hour, but eventually, we were loaded on, and headed upstairs to find a table. Due to the fact that they put all the small cars on first, so they could be stored on the elevated platform in the ferry, most of the window-seat tables were taken. We found a suitable place, and Walt and Rosanna left to go upstairs and find a good viewing spot. Pat joined them, and Carrie and I sat downstairs and worked on photos and blogs. This part of Scotland can be rather difficult for internet speeds, and I’ve still not been able to upload photos for a few days. Hopefullly on Skye…

We had some snacks and worked away, and before you know it, it was time to head down to our car. We got back on dry land, and headed for the north most part of Lewis. As we had many discussions about the fact that there is the Isle of Lewis, and the Isle of Harris, but they are on the same landmass, we did ask a direct question about how they are different. Apparently, until recently, they were governed by different councils. That’s it, the only difference.

Our first stop was the Butt of Lewis lighthouse. It is the most northerly point of the Isle of Lewis. It was very windy, and we got some amazing shots. The waves crashing on the shore was impressive. There were also very windy toilets there. I wont go into too much detail, but it was an interesting sensation.

Next up was the Port of Ness. Since we had decided to skip lunch on the ferry, and I hadn’t snacked up like the back seat, while everyone was out snapping photos, I headed into a cafe and got a nice toastie to go, to share with Carrie - yum!

Next, we headed to the Arnol Blackhouse, a great example of how people lived from the late 1800’s all the way up to the 1960s. it was a long rectangular stone house with a thatched roof. Their animals lived alongside them, and they used a peat fire for warmth. It was very smoky inside, and that provided some extra benefits - the smoke kept insects out, and when it was time to re-thatch the roof, the smoke-soaked thatch was great fertilizer.

Across the street was an example of the type of home that replace the black houses in the 1960s. It was comparitively modern, but still very primitive.

Next up was the Dun Carloway Broch. Carrie and I had been here before, on a much nicer weather day. It is a great example of a tower house built around 200 BC. Since the wind was so high, they decided to only walk up a short way, take photos and leave.

Our next stop is our favorite example of standing stones. It inspired the stone circle from Outlander. It is the Calanais Standing Stones. The visitors center is being remodeled, so it looked like we had to park on the street and walk up to the stones. This walk is up a steep hill, and not a short jaunt. Luckily, some people were leaving, and told Walt, Rosanna, and Pat that there was a car park right next to the stones, so we got back in the car and drove up - Thanks, random strangers! This is a truly amazing site. It was definitely designed with an eye for the cycles of the moon. We enjoyed the walk around the site, and the photos we got.

Back in the car, we drove to one of our favorite B&B’s in all of Scotland. It is run by an amazing chef, Katie and her dog Ruby. Katie has been a chef at Michelin starred restaurants. She came back to help her family and run the family B&B. She has turned it to an amazing experience, and it is tough to get a table at her dinners. We arrived, loaded in, and she prepared us for her chef’s table dinner.

It starts with a cocktail hour in the lounge, where we receive the custom menu she will be cooking for us. Since Pat is not a fan of seafood, Katie had prepared a Chicken Supreme for her. The rest of us got halibut, sea scallops and langustine in a gooseberry reduction sauce, with lovely mashed potatoes and vegetables on the side. I did forget the salad course, which was a roasted pear, arugula salad. For dessert, we had a rice pudding brûlée with a poached plum sauce. AMAZING!

After dinner, instead of working on photos, Carrie and I went straight to bed. We were exhausted. What a day!

A long, long, long, time

We had another lovely breakfast this morning.  Since it was self-service, it was no problem to have an early departure, as we have a ferry to catch.  Our wonderful host had everything ready for us, and even came out to see us off.  I got the suitcases downstairs and we loaded up the family truckster to drive to Stromness.

It was a quick jaunt, and before you know it, we were lined up to wait to board.  When you have ferry travel included in your travel plans, it is important not to miss them.  This usually means we have a bit of time waiting in the car for our turn to board.

Once on board, we quickly headed upstairs to claim some tables to occupy.  There was a large group of boys on some sort of school or team trip.  They all lined up to have their breakfast, and were as chittery as you might think.  While the sound of joyful kids has its own charm, we were glad that they had tables to eat at in another area of the boat.

Rosanna and Pat are both fighting coughs, and Rosanna made use of our table as a makeshift pillow to rest her eyes a bit.  I fought the blog (and the blog won).  Carrie and Walt tried to get some photos, but it was rainy and windy, so that wasn’t much fun.

Once we approached the dock, we started the process of descending to the auto deck to load up.  We drove off the boat, and headed to our long driving day to Ullapool.

Our first stop was Dunnethead lighthouse.  This is the most northern point of the island of Great Britain.  We walked around a bit, and Carrie was excited to capture her first real puffins of the trip, though they were a bit far away.  After a brief walkabout, we headed to our next stop - Castle Mey and gardens.

We hit a bit of fortuitous timing, as right after we bought tickets, the sky looked like it was about to rain.  We were going to visit the gardens first to avoid the rain, but decided we would have lunch in the cafe first.

Just as we sat down to eat, the skies opened and the rain came in sheets.  By the time we finished, it was drying up, and we were able to tour the gardens, then the castle, as well as returning to the car before it started to rain again.

Castle Mey was purchased by the Queen Mother shortly after the death of her husband, the king.  It was in dire shape, and she had it refurbished nicely, and she spent every August and September there for the rest of her life.  Many royals have spent time there, from Lady Diana to Harry and Megan (all right, you royalists, put down your pitchforks, I know that Megan is not “Royal”).  It was a very nice tour, with guides in each room spinning tales about the life of the home.

Once back in our car, we stopped off at John O’Groats.  There were some cool buildings, as well as some shops, and a very grumpy Scotsman.  The area is particularly windy, and when Pat opened her door, the wind caught it, and it bumped the car next to us.  Unfortunately, there was a Scottish man and his wife eating ice cream in their car.  He got out to confront me for denting his car.  I apologized,  (and did tell him that I didn’t hit is car).  He groused and went to the front of the car to take a photo of our license plate.  Carrie and I went over to his side to chat, and, I’m guessing, his wife had calmed him down.  After Carrie offered to pay for any damage, he told us “don’t you mind at all, there’s no lasting damage”.  Quite a change from the initial confrontation.

Next up was another lighthouse, Duncansby lighthouse.  There was also supposed to be a sea stack formation nearby, but we discovered that it would take quite a hike in the rain and marsh to get it, so we drove on.

We looked at the time, and realized that we were getting a bit tight on time, as we still had 3 hours to drive, and an 8:00 dinner reservation (well, 20:00 over here).  So, we resolved to drive straight through, and only stop briefly for photos from the car.  That edict was not followed, as I’m sure you can imagine.

We drove through Wick, home of John, and met back up with the road we came from Inverness on.  We continued down that coastal road, until our cut-off came up.  We’ve driven on some narrow roads in Scotland.  When they take the time to actually put a sign up saying “One Track Road”, you KNOW it is going to be narrow.  There are pull-outs regularly to allow for passing.  The speed limit on this road is 60 mph.  I don’t think I ever got close to 50.  We saw some amazing countryside that Carrie and I have never seen before.  There were farms, a few small towns, and a lovely Loch.  What there weren’t, was open convenience stores.  Carrie was in the mood for a cold beverage, and to her disappointment, today is Sunday, and it is after 4pm, which means, in these small towns, nothing is open.  So, she had to wait until our destination.

We saw some truly amazing landscapes, and stopped regularly for photos.  Eventually, we made it to Ullapool, and our hotel for the night.  It overlooked the firth, and was beautiful.  We got our luggage upstairs, and freshened up a bit before dinner.  Dinner was good, though a little spicy for Rosanna.  We finished the day upstairs, thankful for the blackout curtains in our room.  It was another beautiful day.

Fall Weather

Well, not here, but it sure feels like fall - cold, windy, and wet.  But, it’s a perfect Scottish summer day for exploring.  We had a nice self-serve breakfast, which was a nice change.  While I am all down for a Scottish hot breakfast, it was nice to be able to just have what what we wanted to eat.

Once we had finished, we left to start our days adventure with a very important first stop - Laundry.  While some places have access to laundry facilities, we’ve had a run of several that haven’t.  Since we didn’t want to carry three weeks worth of clothes, we planned on doing laundry during our trip.  Luckily, there was a nice laundrette here in Kirkwall.  We dropped off bags of clothes as soon as they opened, and would pick up cleaned and folded clothes in the afternoon.  Easiest laundry day ever!

After our laundry stop, we walked down to a craft fair we spotted while driving in, and there were some really cool artisans there.  Carrie picked up a few beauties, and we walked back to the car to leave town before the docked cruise ship flooded Kirkwall with passengers.

First on the agenda was the Broch of Gurness.  The Broch is a very old tower home, probably the center of a small community.  It was probably built somewhere between 500-200 BC.  Over the years much of the stonework has been repurposed across the area, but when it was built it was probably around 30 feet tall.  It was extremely windy, and we were careful as we traversed the cliff line.  We really enjoyed watching seabirds dive into the water, fishing.

Back in the car, we left for the Earl’s Palace in Bursay.  This is the ruined palace of a not-so-nice “nobleman” who really loved money.  I mean, REALLY - so much he engaged in theft, bribery, torture and murder to achieve his ends.  His descendents didn’t do much better and they all had blood on their hands.  As such people find out, these violent delights have violent ends. And, you’re welcome for the timely WestWorld reference.

When Oliver Cromwell was blustering over the country, he inhabited the castle, and made copious notes about the status of the palace, and its contents.  His description of the kitchens were that they were “filled with muck and mud”.

Nearby, there was a lighthouse on an Island that is walkable to during low tide.  We didn’t take the hike, but got some good photos.

Next, we headed to Yesnaby Cliffs.  By the time we got to the top, the winds were so strong, it was hard to open the car doors.  Carrie was the brave one who headed out for pictures.  She came right back in, as the winds were strongly pushing her toward the cliffs, and she had no desire to test the power of her coat as a sail.

We chose to reshuffle our agenda, as our next destination was crawling with tourbuses.  It was getting close to our reservation for Skara Brae, so we went there early.  They ended up letting us go on in, so that worked out well.

Skara Brae is one of the best preserved Neolithic settlements in the world.  For thousands of years, it lay covered under the dirt and coastal plants that cover the area.  During a particularly bad storm in the 19th century, the nearby Laird discovered the settlement in the ground.  It was excavated and preserved, and is truly amazing.  The next part of the tour was the Laird’s home nearby, where we got a great look at 19th century posh life.

We grabbed a wee snack in the cafe and headed back out on the road.  By this time, we were able to get a more unobstructed view of the Ring of Brodgar, a large set of standing stones.  We just took pictures from the road, but got some nice shots.

Immediately next, was the Watchstone, one of Orkney’s most impressive standing stones.  It is not clear when it was erected, or its exact meaning, but it is TALL.  Visible nearby, is the Standing Stones of Stromness.  We popped by for a quick photo shoot.

The weather was turning, and there were going to be some traffic interruptions do to the Gala that is happening, so we went back into town for our clean laundry, then a stop off at LIDL for some food to cook for a laidback evening.

While in town, we kept seeing trucks, filmed with men or women covered in muck,, screaming, hooting and hollering. This apparently is a Scottish pre-wedding tradition called the blackening. They even tied a couple of guys to the cross next to the Cathedral. If you couldn’t hear them coming, you could definitely smell them coming - rank! We watched an amazing and then made our way to the grocery store.

It was very nice, watching the fog roll in, hear the rain, and relax.  Carrie worked on photos, then we ate dinner.  Afterward, she and Pat finally got to paint, and both of their works was awesome.  I got to enjoy some stretched-out relaxation in our beautiful room, and we called it a day.

Note: after repeated attempts to upload today’s photos, I have decided to upload it as is, and try to upload the rest of the photos when we have internet speeds faster than those of 1995.

Sailing…takes me away

And, please don’t refer to that song as Yacht Rock, or Donald Fagen might curse at you.  Today we are to take the ferry to the Orkney Islands.  As we had a firm sailing time reservation, and the terminal was about a 3 hours drive from our B&B, we had an abbreviated breakfast, which they were wonderful to accommodate.  Carrie kept us on schedule, and as we had already loaded up the car, we were able to leave right after breakfast.

The drive went really well, so smoothly, in fact, that for a significant part of it, I was either the only one awake, or it was just Carrie and me (I guess it is rather important that I am always in the “conscious” group).  We did pass by several spots we want to see, but we will be driving back this way once we leave Orkney, so we will stop then.

We got to the ferry plenty early, so we hung out in the terminal, and relaxed in the car until it was time to load the boat.  We got the car loaded on the boat, and went upstairs to claim some seating.  Luckily, there were some good tables near the cafe.  We were also a bit peckish, so that was fortunate.

We got a light lunch, and sat to enjoy the trip.  Carrie and Pat went out to the aft sun deck to get fresh air, and take pictures.  As we got close to the Old Man of Hoy, Walt went out to a viewing deck to join in the picture fiesta.

As we approached the dock, we lumbered downstairs to get in our car.  There was a lift available, and a lady was waiting for it.  Pat, Walt and Rosanna joined the queue.  The ferry locks down the car park stairs and lift while at sea, as you can’t be down with the cars while it travels.  The lift light came on, so they thought it was open for business.  It was a small lift, so Carrie and I went down to wait for the stairway door to open.  We looked over at the lift on our level, and saw that the lift was there, with the doors closed.  We saw it go back up to the higher floor, and heard Pats voice from above.  Apparently, they jumped the gun a bit, and the elevator would only bounce between those two floors.  We all waited together to go down the stairs, and get in our car.

We drove off the ferry and to our B&B.  It is AWESOME.  After last nights hotbox, ours had windows (that actually opened) up to a beautiful sea view.  I purposely left the windows open while we were going to be out seeing the island and having dinner, so when we ended up returning, the room was beautifully cool with crisp sea air.

Our first stop after dropping off our stuff at the B&B was St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, a mere 5 minute drive from our lodging.  It is a super-historic church that was started in 1137, and took hundreds of years to complete.  It is beautiful, and still in use.  We got an extra blessing when we entered, there was a string quartet practicing for a performance that evening.  We sat and listened, and were all impressed at the pianist - awesome!

We left there and went to visit the Italian Chapel, a place Carrie and I weren’t able to visit last time, because we got there after it closed.  It is the last remaining building of a POW camp from World War II.  This particular camp housed Italian POWs, most of which came from the North Africa campaign.  While imprisoned, they were allowed to decorate the generic building provided for a church.  What came from that was a beautiful, hand-painted homage to Italian cathedrals.  In 1960, the artist who painted all the murals was invited back to refresh the art and restore some parts.  It was pretty spectacular what people can accomplish, even in desperate times.

We drove around a little more before heading back to Kirkwall to have dinner.  Earlier in the day, Carrie had called to make reservations, as is often required in tourist destinations.  They were supposed to call her back to confirm, but never did.  She did follow up, and the told here that they were fully booked, but if we wanted to drop by, they might be able to accommodate us.  I dropped Carrie and Pat off at the restaurant to see if we could get a table, or if we would just order takeaway, and eat back at our B&B.  They were able to squeeze us in, and we had a very nice dinner of pizza and pasta, with some nice appetizers.

Walt and Rosanna had seen something they wanted to check out while I was circling, waiting for word from Carrie, so we walked there to see if it was picture worthy.  They said it wasn’t worth the walk, but it was probably good to burn off some of that Italian dinner.

Back in the car, we went back to Aultnagar, our B&B.  It has been another great, sunny day in Scotland.  I think our run of weather is about to change….stay tuned.

More or Ness

The morning went smoothly. Most of the crew was thrilled to have French Toast as a breakfast option. I was happy to have my Scottish full breakfast (minus the haggis and baked beans). As we were finishing up our breakfast, Carrie was able to feed the cows again. Her giggly smile lit up the pasture. I overloaded her phone with pictures, to make sure we got “the right one”.

We left to go to Culloden, the place of a deadly battle between the Jacobites with Bonnie Prince Charlie, and the government forces trying to retain the throne. It is often mischaracterized as a battle between England and Scotland, but there were Scots and English on both sides. It was the last-ditch effort to restore the Stuart dynasty to the English throne. If you are a fan of Outlander, you are somewhat familiar with the battle.

We toured the visitor’s center and museum, and met up for our guided tour. The last time Carrie and I were there, we just took the audio tour and walked around on our own. We much prefer an actual human tour guide, and ours today was great. We had a nice walk-about in the battlefield, and headed to our next stop.

Nearby, there is a very old historic site - Clava Cairns. There are 4,000 year old passage tombs here, and probably another that has been lost to time. It is very easy to think of this area having old ruins, but these are OLD. Due to the small number of remains found, these were likely only used for very important people, like Chiefs, or whatever they were called back then. Nearby, there is a really cool viaduct that brings the train into Inverness. We got some nice pics there before moving on.

Our next stop led us back to Loch Ness for our cruise. We didn’t see any monsters, but we did stop at Urquhart Castle. This is the remains of a very important castle that protected royal interests on Loch Ness from the often hostile locals, who didn’t appreciate the interlopers. As we got off the boat, there was a piper allowing tourists to take photos with him, as well as playing a few tunes. We walked up the hill, and the others in our crew toured the castle. I wanted some pictures of the piper, so I stayed put, and eventually walked down to our queuing spot for the return cruise. The piper came down to my area to play off a group of tourists, and I got to chat a bit with him as he was leaving the area.

He had joined the British Military at 17, and went right into Pipes and Drum school. He’d never played them before. After a 6 month intensive course, he joined the corps and has piped around the world. He recently left the military, and now pipes around Great Britain for tourists, weddings, and the like. His military background might have accounted for a gruff encounter we witnessed when getting photos with him.

We got back on the boat, and this time claimed an indoor table, as it was getting cold and windy. We enjoyed a hot beverage and some snacks on our return cruise. After disembarking we drove a few miles down the road to the Loch Ness Center, for their adventure tour. This was a multimedia exploration of the Loch Ness history, myths, and exploration. It was very well done, and we all enjoyed it.

After that, we were all ready for dinner, and we went down to the village of Drumnadrochit to the fish and chips vendor outside the restaurant we ate at last night. I think we all enjoyed ourselves, and they even gave us glasses of ice(meager amount that it was) with our cans of soda. We were excited to see tea cakes (our new favorite) at the counter when paying, so we all got one as well.

After dinner, we drove back to our Coo Farm, to rest and peruse the day’s photos. Today was very warm for Scotland, in the high 70’s, so our room was warm. We opened the windows (if you can call it “open”), to get a bit of air inside. Since our internet coverage was pretty sparse there, I decided to just go to bed, and work on the blog in the morning, waiting for the ferry. That is still the middle of the night in Cali, so I felt justified.

…another great day.

The Gift of Aberdeen

Much to Pat’s enjoyment, breakfast this morning was buffet-style, so she got to pick out every element of her morning repast. We all enjoyed the meal (well, most of the meal - Rosanna said her muffin was dry - Pat tried it and said iit wasn’t dry, just weird).

After I retrieved the car, and we loaded up the suitcases, we headed out for an abbreviated tour of Aberdeen. This was where Walt’s ancestors came from, so it was meaningful to him to see some of his origins. “If it weren’t for Aberdeen, I wouldn’t be here.”

When we stopped to take some quick pictures at King’s College, there wasn’t a great spot to park, so I stayed in the car, and the rest of the crew got out to see the surroundings and take pictures. The “quick photo stop”, as Carrie described it, turned into a long exploration of Kings College. Unfortunately for me, the spot I had found to wait was smack-dab in the middle of the zone the bus drivers claimed as their personal fiefdom. After waiting there unmolested for quite a while, apparently one of the bus drivers had had enough of the foreign interloper. He came up to my window, informed me that I could get a £100 fine for being in the area, and I was interfering with the buses. I told him I was happy to leave, and he just stood there at my door. I repeated my willingness to leave, and he continued to stare at me. After I was about to say “if you move, I will move” and he finally went back to his bus, and I was able to pull away from my trespassing spot.

As soon as I pulled away from the curb, one of the buses ahead of me let loose a flow of passengers previously unseen in human history. Eventually, their tour guide told his people to wait, and motioned me forward so that I could exit the area. I found some parking spots that said “Parking with Permit Only” and figured I could retreat before before a ticket could be written.

After another pregnant pause, I finally got a response from my text to Carrie that I had moved. Once my crew made it back to the car, we tried to pull away, but that same tour guide’s gaggle of tourists (what do you call a group of tourists? I think it should be a Hive, as they swarm with no seeming mindfulness, and frequently sting) surrounded our vehicle. They continued streaming down both sidewalks and the street. Once there was enough of a gap, I slowly pulled out. If I had been driving my car, I would have excused the zombie-like ignoring of the car, as it is very quiet. However, It was quite clear to anyone nearby, that a motorized vehicle was very close behind them. Once the final obstacle , er…human, stepped out of the road, I was able to exit the area, and return to glorious, car-centric streets.

Next stop was a super historic bridge with an insane name - Brig o' Balgownie. Though the builder of the bridge is disputed, it was completed around 1320, around the time of the Scottish War of Independence.

We left there to start our long drive towards Inverness. We stopped at Pennan, a small old fishing village. We walked along the scenic pier, and stopped at a cool little coffee stand. The proprietor was warm and welcoming. We had hot chocolates, and I got a coffee, and some freshly baked goods - Scones with clotted cream and jam, and Pat got a coconut, lime cake. We got some awesome photos, and enjoyed the cool breeze. As we were prepping to leave, one of our seagull models dive bombed our car. Since my window was open, the door, steering wheel, and my jeans received collateral damage. Luckily, Pat was there to save the day with some handy wet wipes.

We loaded back up to visit another seaside fishing village - Crovie. To visit there, you have to walk down a pretty steep, so we got some photos from the overlook. After some photos, we loaded back up to continue on. Findlater Castle was closed. Even the road was closed, so we couldn’t even get photos.

We headed on to Bow Fiddle Rock. We hiked a bit down to see the rock formation, as well as the seagulls. I stopped and chatted with a nice Scotsman with a beautiful dog. I complimented him on the dog’s training, and he said - “She’s only doing that because I have a biscuit in my hand.” I got permission to pet her, and she was super sweet and friendly. He asked about our trip, and was fun to talk to.

After everyone was done, we headed off to our next stop - the Scottish Dolphin Center…which was closed. We stopped in the parking lot to take some pictures, and maybe see dolphins. Carrie got an awesome shot of an osprey with a fish in its talons.

We were all getting a bit tired (especially the driver), so we began the 2 hour trek to our B&B on the shores of Loch Ness. We drove through Inverness, and though it is not as big as the cities we have left behind, it was still a bit hectic, and my stress level greatly reduced upon exiting the city limits.

We found our B&B, and once we determined we were actually in the right spot, Carrie and I went inside to check in. While giving us the nickel tour, our host saw that the farm’s Highland Coos were up close, so he let us get a preview of our Highland Coo Experience. Carrie was the brave one to feed the very friendly and cute animals, who also have prodigious tongues.

After sanitizing herself, we saw our rooms, and unloaded the car. We had some rest time before our dinner reservation, so the chauffeur was happy to partake. Once it was time to leave, we went to have dinner. While some were a bit hesitant at the few choices, the dinner was very good, and we were filled.

Back at the farm, we worked the pictures, and I wrote the blog. While today’s content wasn’t as epic as other days, due to the long drives, It adequately represents our adventure. Good Night, Johnboy.

Just a little Puff(in)

Due to the ever-changing ruleset for our photo contest, I need to clarify that there will only be one photo of the day (whew!), and it will be shown at the top of the daily blog. It won’t necessarily be called out, but if its a big photo, it is the winner. And now, something completely different….

We awakened to the sound of Carrie’s alarm…and then again, 9 minutes later. We gradually drug ourselves from our beds and began the morning rituals. At least the shower was good. We had been told that breakfast began at 8, but apparently, that was pushed to more of an half-eight (ish), so we went ahead and packed everything up first.

Breakfast was an adventure. It started off poorly for Pat, when her fruit salad was filled with little cubes of watermelon, infesting all of the other fruits with its watermeloniness. I had ordered toast and jam to go with my hot tea, but I switched with her, and was happy to, since I ended up with some toast as well. Once the mains came, Pat was nonplussed at the look of her fried eggs - way too underdone for her. She switched with Carrie, and found the scrambled eggs were also rather soft. She had relearned a valuable lesson - she prefers the pancakes and such when she has a choice.

Walt got to taste haggis on his full Scottish breakfast. I also got a full Scottish, minus the haggis, beans, and mushrooms. I was soundly mocked, but was probably the happiest with their breakfast. Duely sated, we fit ourselves in the car to head off on our journey.

First stop was petrol. As the diesel and Unleaded pumps have different colors than we do in the states (totally reversed), I had to endure the reminders of the time in Iceland where I pumped unleaded into the diesel car, and we had to have the tank pumped when it “randomly” stopped working.

From there, we left to go to Arbroath Abbey. This is an extremely historic site that gave us the Declaration of Arbroath, probably the most famous document in Scottish history. In a nutshell, it was a letter to the pope from the nobles of Scotland, requesting his support of Scottish sovereignty, under Robert the Bruce, who had been excommunicated. Its most famous lines are: “It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

We enjoyed the visitors center, and Pat, Rosanna, and Walt even donned costumes for a photo shoot. Just to clarify, Pat’s costume is a monk, not the dark lord of the sith. After enjoying the center, we toured the abbey grounds to talke pictures. Much of the abbey was off limits, due to restoration and safety work that was under way.

Leaving there, we headed to the Red Castle, a ruined dwelling that, until the 1950’s, was among the oldest inhabited houses in Scotland. We couldn’t really get close, as the grounds are private, but we did get some good photos.

Next, we drove to a beach Carrie and I had visited previously. We got some great photos, and chatted with some locals who were out with their cute dog.

Back in the car, we drove to the Boddin Lime Kilns. Carrie and Walt got out to take some quick pictures, but ended up walking all the way down, and even further, for some awesome shots. Once they made it back, we tried to drive to Scurdie Ness Lighthouse, but the road to it was private, and long. So, we decided to head on to our next stop.

On our way to our scheduled stop, Pat’s eagle vision spotted a sign for another lighthouse, the Todhead Lighthouse. To get there we needed to drive a few miles on VERY narrow roads, weaving through farmland. Rosanna was playing “name the crop”, and Carrie was scanning the horizon for sheep. We happened across a field of ewes and lambs who weren’t scared of us at all. The lambs were very curious, and dang cute. Walt even got out of the car to take some pics. We were stopped on the road for a while, then continued toward the lighthouse. The next serendipity was a field of cows who weren’t scared really curious as well. We got some great photos, and drove up to the lighthouse. It was clear it had been converted into a residence, so we turned around to head to our waterfall hike.

On the way back, we were met by a few cars that had to do the whole “back up until you find a wider spot in the road” thing that is a reality in rural Scotland. Once we made it to our hike, we parked and headed off to see what we could see. Crowton Waterfall is a small coastal waterfall found on a short looped hike. Farther on down the trail is a cave where puffins nest. While we were viewing the waterfall, we saw lots of puffins beating their cute, stubby little wings flying to and fro. Since we are going to be able to see puffins in a much better environment in a week or so, we decided to head on to the next location, as we were all getting tired.

Next up was Dunnottar Castle, a cool coastal castle. Carrie and I had been there before, and I decided to sit this one out in the cool, shaded car. The rest of them headed down to see and shoot some photos. I think they really enjoyed it.

Next up, was heading into Aberdeen city center for our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express. Unfortunately, they have limited parking that requires reservations. They only notified Carrie to make a reservation a few days ago. She called them back within minutes of the text, and there were no reservations to be had. Luckily there was a parking garage just down the street. We unloaded all the suitcases, and I went to park the car. This left the “seasoned” citizens and Carrie to lug everything to our rooms. Another lucky thing was they had a lift (not universal in Europe), so it wasn’t too crazy to get stuff upstairs. Though, there was a problem with 2 of the keys, so Carrie had to run back down to the desk to get them re-keyed.

We relaxed for a while in our rooms, before heading downstairs for dinner. “Dinner” was pretty generous when we looked at the menu, so we walked across the street to have dinner. Boy, are we glad we did! We had a great meal, and came back to blog and do pictures.

As I am finishing this entry, the votes have been tallied, and we have a winner for photo of the day. I will attach it and get the rest of the days pictures uploaded. Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, we head to Inverness, home of Nessie.

History of the World, Part One

I was told that my posts should have more history content in them, as people were wanting to learn the history we are experiencing. So, in honor of mine and my father’s history professor, Doug Skeen (Dad, from Decatur Baptist College, me from Dallas Baptist University), here’s my best shot.

When a mama planet and a daddy planet love each other very much, they have a baby planet. This baby planet was called Earth. As it grew and grew, many people lived and died and enjoyed breakfast sandwiches. As to why they had such affection for breakfast sandwiches, the answer is lost to time.

With deepest apologies, those responsible for the previous paragraph have been sacked. Let’s continue…

We started our day rather early, as we had to pack up and leave this lovely place. As we were just about to leave, Carrie noticed some highland coos near the fence, so,, of course, she had to get a few more pictures. Once we were all in the car, we added our destinations to the navigation, along with a stop for coffee, and headed out.

First on our agenda were the Kelpies statues. These are representations of Scottish mythical creatures who can take on many forms. One such form is the horse made from water. In legend, it was to lure people to the rivers, to their deaths. These particular statues also represent the agriculture of the area.

The consensus for a quick breakfast/coffee stop was a nearby McDonalds. This was partially a nod to Nana, as when she was with us in Scotland, she insisted we visit at least one Mickey-Dee’s, so, of course, we acquiesced. In this particular case, I made the mistake of using an American credit card to pay. As bitter a pill is it would be for the Ron Swansons of the world to admit, there are some things that Europe has over the US. One thing is the chip and pin credit card. We recently got the first part, but signing a receipt is so foreign to Scots that the poor cashier in the drive thru was practically speechless.

This process ended up taking forever, and I’m sure some Gaelic curses were being thrown about in cars behind us. Eventually, they figured out how to cancel the transcaction so that I could use Apple Pay, which didn’t require a signature, and we were able to receive our food and leave.

We headed off to Linlithgow Palace. When Carrie and I were here in 2018, the tours were led by high school students, who got special credit for doing this. Unfortunately, Covid killed another wonderful thing, and the tour was self-guided by poor technology.

Linlithgow Palace was the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots. It is a beautiful example of Renaissance architecture. As an adult, she came back to visit (she hadn’t been there since her childhood), and sent trumpeters in advance to proclaim her arrival. Even though it has seen better days, you can really get a feel of life back then. It also has a still-active church right next to the palace.

Carrie and Pat were in hyperdrive mode, and I hung back to make sure Walt and Rosanna survived the roughly-hewn stairs. We figured that Carrie and Pat had headed over to the church, so we went that way. Actually they had hiked up to the top of the palace, waaay up the crazy spiral stairs.

We eventually made contact, and let them know we were waiting in the car. The weather was nice and cool, and I actually enjoyed sitting in the breeze while they finished their tour. Then, we headed to Culross for the Abbey and Palace. After some tense moments of barely-single-lane roads and oncoming cars, we made it to the abbey. After a quick visit we went down the hill to see the palace.

Culross is a stuck-in-time town. It is so historically frozen, that it was heavily used in filming Outlander. We stopped in an art studio where we had previously visited, met the photographer, and bought my awesome Eliean Donan print. This time, there was a sad memorial to the photographer, Graham Harris Graham. He was such a nice guy to talk to. Apparently he had been out hiking and photographing, and was found dead by the highlands rescue teams. RIP Graham.

We then walked over to Culross Palace. It is a beautifully preserved historic mansion. The insides are a slice of history. Outlander used many rooms in its production, and you can really see why. It is so authentic and real. I must say people in the past lived in such dark environments. My favorite room is the painted chamber, with its intricately painted walls and ceilings.

At the rear of the palace are the exquisite gardens. There were lots of beautiful flowers, and many many happy pollinators. Carrie had a blast taking pictures of the bees and flowers. Afterward, we stopped at the cafe takeaway, and got some coffee, hot chocolate, scones, and a wonderful caramel shortbread. As we drove off, Pat divvied up the goodies, and we all shared a little snack.

Next on our list was Dunfermline Abbey. This is another very historic site. Robert the Bruce’s tomb is here, and his presence is inscribed in the top of the central tower. Inside the still-active church, we saw some beautiful stained glass, and an amazing pipe organ. They had a cast of Robert’s skull on display. We also found some great gifts for the kids there.

As we walked outside, Carrie was struck by the view. In one of her painting sessions, she had painted THIS view! It was really cool. We met back at the car to try and make it to our next stop, ST. Andrew’s castle and cathedral before the last entry at 4:45. We didn’t make it in time, so we walked around the outside and took some great pictures of the ruins, as well as the castle and nearby coast.

Back in the car, our next stop was our lodging for the night, Taypark House, in Dundee. We made it there, checked in, and the nice clerk brought our luggage up the stairs to us. We settled into our rooms, and Carrie and Pat explored a mysterious staircase leading up from the bathroom.

Apparently, we have a turret room. I guess it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise, as our room is called “turret room”. There is a spiral staircase leading up to a turret, with windows all around, with nice views. There is, oddly, a big tub not in the bathroom, but right behind the sofa bed Pat is going to be sleeping on tonight. Walt asked if she was going to have to leave the room when Carrie and I take a bath (there is actually a shower in the bathroom), and she said, “They’re going to lock me in the turret.” (We made no such threats, at least publicly)

After relaxing a bit, we left for our dinner reservations at The Giddy Goose, a quirky restaurant. Tonight was £2 tacos. We all made our dinner choices, and when it came to me, I asked for the taco menu. Then, we all started adding tacos to our existing order. We had a feast. Everyone was pleased with their food tonight, and several of us stated how we should have eaten less.

We went back to our hotel, and got ready for photo importing and judging. I wrote the blog, and hope that the history content of today’s writing passes muster. Goodnight, and good luck.