Week #4 Oban, Isle of Arran, and Edinburgh Scotland

This week saw a welcomed change in transportation, as we were off the buses and rails and into a car.  We met up with brother-in-law Ken, best wrong side of the road driver ever! 

This arrangement enabled us to see parts of Scotland we would have otherwise missed. 

We selected a location just outside of town of Oban in the very small village of Kilmelford as our central base of operation for the week. Staying at the the Cuilfail a traditional, small scale hotel with 12 rooms built in the 19th-century. Please find photo below. It has a bar and small lounge area were traditional pub grub is served. I don't want to be negative here because it was a lovely retreat it was simply unfortunate that their policy of $20.00 minimum visa transaction puts them in a league with the small time operators. Yes they took away my fun in having a quick beer with my brother-in-law and relaxing after a hectic days activity. 

A visit to Kilmartin Glen provided us with an amazing introduction into Scotland's past. We're told 800 significant archaeological sites lie within a six mile radius of this village so we simply took them at their word. Though we can certainly attest to attending several of the more than 150 prehistoric monuments as identified in the picture below. 

We made our way to the Mull of Kintyre in southwest Scotland. Luckily it was a beautiful clear day and we were able to see the coast of Northern Ireland. Though the song "Mull of Kintyre" was never a hit in North America this area seems to has been immortalized by the song. Twenty years ago Sue and I had front row seats when attended a "Wings Concert" at the Toronto Sky Dome so now we know what Paul McCartney was actually singing about. 

Off to Arran or the Isle of Arran - it's culturally and physically similar to the Hebrides, but is separated from them by the Kintyre peninsula. It's divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault and it to is described as a "geologist's paradise" inhabited since the 6th century. Photo below shows Sue keeping visual over horizon looking for Vikings and other distant family members.

A beautiful sunset as we close the week down saying goodbye to Ken and Mer as we make our final preparations for Edinburgh and our last week in Scotland.

Cheers,

Bill and Sue

Week #3 Kyle of Lochalsh, Isle of Skye, Fort William,

We started our third week off in Kyle of Lochalsh noted for its castles, hills and lakes as well as the main entrances into the Isle of Skye and to the north west coast.

There's a large collection of white-washed buildings in the main commercial centre of Kyle with a wide range of accommodations to suit most budgets. Though in the peak of tourist season it's very tough to find a room of any description.This point is of particular interest when discovering our Guest House host double booked our reservation.  So the scramble began and as luck would have it we stumbled upon quite an exceptional lodging at Rock View Guest House - yes completed as a seasoned travellers all in good stride without missing a step. Whew!

The Isle of Skye claims to be the best of Scotland and what with likes of Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald who can argue the point. We certainly enjoyed all the climbing and walking, listening to the piping and the fiddle, visiting the castles and of course getting to know the friendly people. The Isle of Skye is certainly at the very least a quite a magical place.

If you use your imagination the cliffs in the above photo will appear to have a Kilt like appearace - okay concentrate and try squinting harder then:) Oh! There are some amazing Cliff top views across the sea to mainland Scotland.

 We discovered a small crofting village where it was possible to see the individual crofts (small farms) marked out by the fence lines. The fenced areas contain the better ground for planting crops or temporarily holding animals. The rough hill ground outside the fence areas is shared or given to common grazing.

It was then was off to Armadale to catch the Mallaig ferry (Mallaig being a small fishing village) and then the train to our final destination to end the remaining part of the week in Fort William. FYI The hamlet of Armadale is on the Sleat Peninsula, at the south end of the Isle of Skye. 

Mallaig to Fort William is described as one of the great railway journeys of the world this 42 mile trip takes you past a list of impressive extremes. Starting near the highest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis, (which we will soon plan on to take a bit of)

Fort William is the outdoor capital of the UK and also the largest town in the Highlands. This area is a mecca for hill walkers and mountaineers and our selected base for the next 3 days to discover these West Highlands. Sue and I both felt years younger when hanging with this group of enthusiastic hikers pictured below.

Our walks steamed from easy family strolls, through longer, wilder hikes to ascents of the rugged mountain range.

Okay guys hope you've enjoyed this segment of our trip we've certainly had a blast. Next week promises to be even better -as if that's possible as we prepare for travels into the town of Oban, village of Kilmarti and trips to the outer Hebrides.

Week #2 Sterling, Pitlochry, Aviemore, Nethy Bridge, Inverness, Scotland

VA visit to Stirling Castle is an essential part of any visit to central Scotland. 

Argyles 17th Century Townhouse built by first Earl of Sterling

Pitlochry Power Station and Dam has a very unusual attraction of a salmon ladder, which helps the fish bypass the dam and get into Loch Faskally. Downstream is the nationally renowned Pitlochry Festival Theatre please avoid comedy " Lady In The Van" as it's not a funny performance at all. Most importantly was our visit to  the Edradour Distillery, for $20.00 Dollars Canadian you receive 4 ounce's or rather 4 wee drams of some very fine Whiskey.

Meeting sheepdogs is truly an experience not to be missed, giving all in attendance a chance to enjoy in the traditional working day of a Highland Shepherd.

Located on the doorstep of the Cairngorms National Park, Aviemore is a major holiday resort surrounded by stunning scenery including the elusive lady in red:)

Our last 3 nights were spent at the Family Honeymoon, Grey House in Nethy Bridge. We were responsible for a dinner and chose haggis, neeps and tatties (turnip and potatoes) with whiskey sauce. Thankfully, it was a success! Left the MacLeod clan this morning and are now in Kyle of Lochalsh, right beside Isle of Skye.

Glasgow, Scotland: Week #1

Glasgow, is Scotland's biggest city and we understand to be now one of Europe's "go to" places for fun. The neighbourhoods, with beautiful Victorian architecture, cool cafés and a picturesque riverfront are all memorable and have become very hard for Sue and I to say goodbye to.

The photo below is our very cool and affordable residence for the last 6 nights. Bookings are available though Airbnb /described as Rough Luxe Victorian Villa, Broompark Circus - 

It’s hard to keep track of the number of bars and restaurants in the city centre but we've attached a photo or two in the areas within Ashton Lane that we visited. (Glasgow's equivalent to Dublin's Temple Bar area)

We took in several outstanding art galleries, but with time running out we had to skip a must see being Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum postponing until our return at the end of the month.  Meanwhile, one of Glasgow’s oldest districts, George Square is bustling with boutique hotels, restaurants, shops and galleries as pictured below.

Glasgow has some of Scotland’s most stunning landscapes with parks and the great outdoors not far away with scenic walks and bike routes.

Botanic Gardens are an oasis of calm with a blend of formal gardens and woodlands.

The highlight this week was attending a true Scottish Wedding Reception. The event was held at The Trades Hall one of the most historic buildings in Glasgow and located within Merchant City area.  Naturally this called for full dress attire for most Scottish gents though once the music started and the dancing began there was no telling us apart from those born and breed here. photo of Trades Hall below

Iceland July 2015

Iceland is a small dot in the Atlantic between Scandinavia and America; Sue and I like so many other tourists came to “the land of fire and ice” to see wilderness parks and dramatic landscapes as well as to take advantage of the discount fairs on a stop over to our Scotland adventure.

The fire of course, comes from Iceland’s volcanoes, which burst periodically into life, with forces just below the surface heating the water in taps and swimming pools. Thermal springs in fact surface everywhere, and we happily gave way to early morning outings to soak and revitalize  .. happily staying clear of the iconic Blue Lagoon, a popular tourist destination in open-air swimming.

Ice is Iceland’s other big draw or more specifically, the dramatic glaciers. So we jumped on Bus #3 and kicked off a glacier and a volcano on a single trip and got down to visiting some bars and meeting the locals or rather unearthing the quirky nature of the Icelandic people. Eccentric, creative or not the Icelanders are simply a lot of fun to be around, and certainly in Reykjavik, the island’s miniature capital city - with area population of around 200,000, it is the home to two-thirds of Iceland's population. The city centre, however, is a very small area characterised by eclectic and colourful houses, with good shopping, dining and drinking.

The Icelandic Phallological Museum houses the world's largest display of penises and penile parts and in my mind the number one tourist attraction.  The collection of 280 specimens from 93 species including Huldufólk (Icelandic elves) and trolls. The museum obtained its first human penis just recently from one of four promised by would-be donors. Its detachment from the donor's body did not go according to plan and it was reduced to a greyish-brown shrivelled mass pickled in a jar of formalin. The museum however continues to search for "a younger and a bigger and better one." Allegedly 60 percent of the women in Iceland have volunteered for this vital project.

After the Museum we headed straight to the Hallgrimskirkja Luthearan Church (Church of Iceland) that was designed to resemble the basalt lava flows of Iceland's landscape.The church is also used as an observation tower to view Reykjavík and the surrounding mountains.

In summary we loved all Iceland had to offer - in fact to ensure our happiness all government facilities installed Satisfaction Indicators allowing all who wished to record their satisfaction rating be it happy face, frown or somewhere in between. 

The locals advise us that this week has been the best weather in the past two years hovering between 13c and 17c. Though the Northern Lights are only available in the winter it provides us with very reasonable rational to schedule a return visit.