Week #5 Edinburgh

It's very hard to believe this is our last week in Scotland clearly five weeks has come and gone all too quickly. Nevertheless, we did very well in saving the City of Edinburgh for last as it proved to be an amazing place to visit. This week was even further highlighted by all activities surrounding the "Fringe Festival". As you might imagine, we soon immersed ourselves in as many activities as time would allow. 

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been going since 1947 and is the largest arts festival in the world and takes place each year during the last three weeks of August. Thousands of performers (big names and the unknown) take to hundreds of stages situated all over the city to present shows for every taste (comedy, dance, circus, cabaret musicals, etc). Listed below is a short sampling of a number of our highlights. 

#1 "Close Up" Sitting in the front row and watching these four acrobatic artists perform with such beauty and physical intensity  was a performance no one should miss. 

#2 "Gobsmacked" Featuring world class voices, and amazing harmonies using sounds that embrace all forms of a cappella. 

#3 "Comedy" Starring Fred MacAulay, a regular at the Fringe for 27 years, with humourous dialogue of his life since leaving BBC Radio Scotland, why he left after all those years and the various punches thrown.

As we can all agree a city needs greenspace and here you'll find dozens of small parks all within a short waking distance from the center of the old city. ( note: too funny, the new city was built in 1885). Naturally a must visit was the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens covering 70 acres. These gardens play a very important role in a worldwide network of institutions seeking to ensure all good things in the form of biodiversity and sustainability.  They claim 273,000 individual plants 13,300 different species that are grown here or in combination with three other smaller satellite gardens located in other parts of Scotland. Please find a few photo's below ... Center shows cloning of little garden helpers (I managed to get some seeds for friends back home)

A pub or formally a public house is in many places a focal point of the community. Since the history of these pubs can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon-alehouse where windows were made of frosted glass to obscure the clientele from the street, we thought it was of significant importance to check a few of them out and have a pint or two.

Sandy Bell's pub is truly a real Scottish pub with a sign out front that says it all: Purveyors of fine ales and spirits "Home of world renowned folk music". We stopped in for a wee pint and immersed ourselves in the fun and relaxing environment. 

Conan Doyle pub is across the road from Picardy Place, the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is a veritable shrine to the author and his famous fictional creation with loads of information about Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. Being the perfect slueths ourselves we took time to suss out the veggie burgers.

Here is my eager travelling companion and I'm glad she wore that orange jacket every day so I wouldn't lose her in the crowds!

All in all a wonderful adventure and we would encourage anyone who visits the UK to take advantage of the beauty of Scotland and the Scottish people.

Cheers,

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 and Scotland

Our journey starts tomorrow. All packed and ready to go!