On the first of August, first thing in the morning, we caught the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh. We have a super special treat - our friend Lance is visiting form home!!!!
We arrived in Edinburgh a few hours ahead of Lance, and found him, after a wee delay caused by a late flight, waiting outside our hostel. We took him straight away to Auld Jock's for his first Scottish culinary treat - a haggis pie with mash and gravy!! If the smile is any indication, he loved the pie!
We also got him an Irn Bru, which he didn't love quite so much. Not all Scottish culinary delights are delightful, it turns out. Even if they do claim to be the (other) national beverage.
We walked up and down High Street (aka The Royal Mile) and saw this amazing "live sculpture" - a wizard who appears to be hovering!
boB dropped a coin in the bucket to activate the sculpture, and he waved his wand to cast a spell of great riches and prosperity to fall over boB. It worked!!
We set off with Lance to Holyrood Park to hike Aurthur's Seat, the towering remnants of a volcano that dominates the Edinburgh land scape.
First stop along the trail was at St. Anthony's Chapel.
The chapel may have been built in the 1300s, but surprisingly little is known about it or its relation to Holyrood Abbey which is just down the hill to the west.
Picture time!
We made the top of Aurthur's Seat and had a wonderful view of Edinburgh and Lothian. And we even had nice weather!
I ask you: does this fellow look like he's enjoying himself?
We hiked about Holyrood Park for a couple hours, taking in the sights and the fresh air, and having a grand time of it.
Picture time!!
With matching cameras!
Later that evening we treated ourselves and Lance to his second Scottish culinary treat:
Fish and Chips!!! (Which, funnily, is not Scottish. Or even British. Fried fish and chips was, well, discovered by an Italian family.) This was easily the best fish and chips we've had in Scotland since the last time we had fish and chips in Scotland! Yum!!
The next day we set off for Inchcolm Island, home of a beautiful and historic Abbey. We took a boat ride from South Queensferry, passing underneath the the beautiful Forth Rail Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Forth Rail Bridge when it was built in 1890 was revolutionary in many ways: it used steel, and the structural members were rolled into tubes. Aside from being a beautiful bridge, it's so vastly over designed that it should last for hundreds years more.
A short while later through slightly rough and windy seas we made Inchcolm Island. We had a couple hours to explore and tour the Abbey, and had a wonderful time of it.
The site became was founded as an Abbey in the 12th century, and was abandoned after the Reformation in 1560. The Abbey is in remarkable condition, with much work having gone into stabilization and maintenance.
We also walked the grounds around the island, avoiding the nesting areas of the plentiful sea birds, and looked up and down the Forth and at some of the other islands in the firth. During the World Wars Inchcolm was home to air defense stations, and the turrets are still present on the island.
On the way back to the ferry dock we passed under the under-construction New Forth Road Bridge, seen here through the rain-splashed windows of the ferry:
The new bridge is being built because the old bridge is found to be, well, falling apart. Some of the fine wire strands in the suspension cables of the old Forth Road Bridge (seen in the background above) are snapping. To monitor the status of the suspension cables, engineers placed microphones in the cables. Every so often a very slight "ping" is recorded, and it's believed each Ping is the sound of a wire strand snapping. Not something you want happening on a suspension bridge!!
Back in Edinburgh, one of the most interesting toilets we've come across...
We stayed in Edinburgh for just a couple of days - not nearly enough time to fully explore the place but just enough time to have a nice taster.
Lance explaining the operation of one of the gigantic mortars aimed out the front of the fort.
We picked up the rental car ... Which was an adventure in itself! boB went off to collect the car while Lance and Melinda finished packing. But at the rental agency boB was told that they would not, indeed, be renting a car to him. "Why ever not?" inquired our intrepid left-side driver. "Because, Sir, your driving license has expired and you are not legal to drive in Scotland." boB, glancing fearfully at his Montana drivers license, was shocked to find that, indeed, his license had expired just one week prior.
So boB raced back to the hostel, collected Melinda and Lance, explained the story, and it was decided that Melinda would hereafter be our intrepid left-side driver.
Once we had the car secured, and Melinda somewhat calmed down about the prospect of driving in Scotland, we headed North to Dunkeld-Birnham. It was about an hour drive on the A9, and then, all of a sudden, we felt like we were in the far remote country side.
This is the Dunkeld Bridge, built by our man Thomas Telford and finished in 1809. (Curiously, this bridge would appear again in boB's life about one month later. Stay tuned.)
We stayed at a fantastic hostel called Jessie Mac's, which had some of the most comfortable hostel beds ever. The place is super quiet, very nicely appointed, and the staff are fantastic. If you're ever in the area and need a place to stay, Jessie Mac's is it.
Also near Dunkeld is the Dunkeld Hermitage, along the River Braan. The Hermitage is home to some of the most magnificent trees in Scotland, including massive Douglas firs. We walked along the river to the beautiful falls that are seen best from Ossian's Hall.
There is also the Hermit's Cave, built around 1760 for the third Earl of Breadalbane. The Earl actually advertised for a full-time profession hermit to occupy the cave, but there were no takers. Until recently...
Aaaiiieeee!! Here's the hermit himself! Looking a wee ogre-ish, but there you are.
We drove north to Blair Castle, home of the Duke of Atholl.
The castle is just a wee north of Pitlochry, where we stayed on our second night With Car (WC).
Housed in the great hall is the iconic portrait of Niel Gow, and there is also a case containing one of Niel Gow's fiddles. This fiddle is playable, and is played by local fiddler Pete Clark on special occasions.
Later, just outside Pitlochry, we stopped at ... A distillery!
Needless to say, Lance was THRILLED with his first tour of a Scottish whisky distillery, the Blair Athol.
We had a fine tour and tasting, and managed to liberate a bottle or two from the shop! Cuz, you know, road tripping across Scotland is hard work and the stresses of hard-core sight-seeing are relieved with the help of a dram of The Malt.
While in Pitlochry, we visited and played a tune at grave of Gordon Duncan, a piper who died in 2005.
Gordon Duncan was a revolutionary piper in his short time. Not only was he outstandingly skilled at the pipes, but he was a genius composer who "broke the rules" of pipe composing. He penned dozens of tunes that are now considered "classics" in the new Scottish repertoire - tunes that are favored not only by pipers but by fiddlers and other session musicians as well. Some traditional pipers (aka "old school") don't care for his compositions, and he dealt with much grief from the traditional piping community throughout his career. Sadly, he suffered from depression and alcoholism, and it got the better of him. His legacy lives on and continues to grow over the years, and inspires musicians of all sorts, young and old.
On Thursday night we tripped back down the road to Dunkeld and the Taybank pub for the session!
If you can recognize Lance in the dark you can see him in the picture above (he's sitting under the black guitar hanging on the wall). We had a grand time playing tunes at a really fast tempo, and we even led one or two sets with tunes that the other musicians knew.
On day 3WC we left Pitlochry and headed east and north into the heart of the Cairngorm National Park. Truly an awe-inspiring landscape!
And it looks like Lance is happy to be here!
We were just as happy to be here. Traveling with a such a good friend is a pleasure and a treat, and we enjoyed every minute of our time together.
Cruising through the Cairngorms we came across the Corgarff Castle and popped in for a wee visit. Can never get enough castles, you know?
The castle was built in the 16th century, and, as all castles do, it has a chequered past. In 1571 it was burned in a battle, killing Lady Forbes and her children who were trapped inside. After the Jacobite rebellions in the 18th century, it was rebuilt and used as a barracks for English troops. It well positioned along an old military road which can still be seen tracking across the hills.
The castle currently depicts it's condition as a barracks, and it's interesting to see how the British soldiers lived in the late 1700's. It's not exactly rustic. But it's not posh, either, and winters in the Cairngorms must have been brutal.
After a picnic lunch at the Lecht Ski Area, and a coffee and cake inside to warm up, we carried on along the route we bicycled at the end of July last year.
We journeyed along the A939 to our next objective:
A distillery! This is Lance's second distillery, and a new one for us as well. On our bike journey we missed Cragganmore by about eleven miles - a long way on a loaded bike, but no big deal in a car. We toured and tasted - except for Melinda who took her taster in a wee plastic pot to enjoy later, after the day's driving was done.
On our night 3 WC we stayed in Tomintoul, the highest village in Scotland. We stayed at the Smugglers Hostel, so named in honor of the whisky smugglers who once ranged through the Cairngorms to distribute their illicit goods.
We headed straight to our favorite shop in Tomintoul, The Whisky Castle. Last year we stopped here on boB's birthday (before spending the night in the sheep-poop covered floor of the old Lecht Mine Building) and were treated to a grand tasting and tour of the shop.
Here's "poor" Lance looking a bit overwhelmed by the choices!
We enjoyed another fantastic tasting, and managed to liberate just two or three small or large bottles.
After we left the Whisky Castle we stopped at a local restaurant for absolutely delicious food, and were entertained by the antics of the barman who was from Canada. Also, while we were dining, the owner of the Whisky Castle came in with his young son, and we had a wonderful time learning about life in Tomintoul from them. Hearing about local life adds a great deal of color to our experiences, and we're always grateful when the locals share their stories with us.
On Day 4WC we arose to brilliant weather and set off northward.
We reached the Ardclach Bell tower. Built in1655, this wee fortified structure stands perched over the hill above the parish church of Ardclach:
We made our way to Fort George, just 11 miles NE of Inverness.
Built in 1770's after the battle of Culloden,this giant military base houses a regular infantry battalion of the British Army as well as the Highlander's museum and other exhibits. Ft George has seen nearly 250 years of active military service! It is protected by a mile or so of massive walls and is strategically positioned along the Moray Firth. The Highlander's museum tells the story of the various Scottish regiments and had many historic sets of bagpipes on display. (Can you sense a bagpipe obsession here?)
Our intrepid trooper saluting from his station in one of the "pepper pot" guard booths that dot the exterior of the fort:
Sir Lancelot.
The rain came down in torrents as we headed over the Black Isle to Cromarty, where we paused for a while to look out towards Nigg and the remnants of the giant oil rigs:
Ready for action!
You figure out this one...
We couldn't!
We loaded up headed westwards towards Muir of Ord, where a certain whisky distillery was waiting. We stopped first at Clava Cairns:
Clava cairns is a Bronze Age cemetery complex that contains cairns, passage graves as well as standing stones.
You could sense the deep history of the place while strolling though the cairns in the misty rain.
We then made our way to Muir of Ord where we took a tour of the Glen Ord distillery and subsequently earned our quaiches for our dedicated efforts to taste all of the Friends Of The Malt whiskies throughout Scotland.
A quaich is a special Scottish drinking vessel consisting of a shallow cup with two handles. Its origins are traced to the Scottish highlands, where they originally were made of wood.
The quaich is the traditional vessel from which to drink your malt whisky, and indeed, we plan to put ours to good use!
It was too rainy and miserable to consider pulling out our instruments, we were content to hum and sing 'Farewell to Nigg', a bagpipe retreat march in 3/4 time. The tune was written by Duncan Johnstone in response to the College of Piping's 1971 competition for a tune to commemorate the departure of the first North Sea oil rig from the yards in Nigg. He said tune came to him on the wee ferry from Nigg to Cromarty and he penned the first four bars on the inside of a cigarette box. A humble beginning for a fantastic tune.
While on the Black Isle, we visited the ruins of the Fontrose cathedral:
This gorgeous red sandstone structure was built in the 13th century. Sadly, Cromwell dismantled much of it and transported the stone to Inverness to build a fort.
We ended day 4WC in Inverness, and found a Thai curry place for supper. After a night of rest (well, kind of) in possibly the second-worst hostel known to humanity (thanks to Melinda for finding that gem!), we left Inverness and headed south towards Loch Ness:
Day 5WC started as a gloriously sunny - but windy - day. The wind stirred up pretty large white caps on Loch Ness!
Driving south along the western shores of Loch Ness, we caught views of Urquhart Castle.
The castle is built on the site of an ancient fort that was reportedly visited by St. Columba, who converted the clan chieftan to Christianity just as he was dying. Construction of the castle was started in the 13th century, and continued over the following three centuries as the conflicts with competing clans, and later the English, intensified.
Castle Urquhart is still impressive in its size and, and the ruins can only hint at what the place might have been like in its day. The castle changed hands many times, and it was dealt the death blow in 1692 by the English so that Jacobites couldn't use it as a fortress.
We left Loch Ness and drove down through Invermoriston, where we visited the beautiful Telford Bridge and walked brought the woods along the a River Moriston for a short ways. Then we made Ft. Augustus for a fish-and-chip lunch and a walk up the locks that drop the Caledonian Canal into the south end of Loch Ness.
And we walked out a wee pier that is at the southern most point of the Loch. Here's Lance looking for Nessie....
Alas, no luck today...
The weather was a bit iffy, as it usually is, so we trundled back into the car and down the A82 to Fort William. Just before we got there, we stopped at ... A distillery! The Ben Nevis distillery is a popular stop for tourist coaches, and we arrived just after the last tour of the day was ending. The rain was coming down in buckets, so we made a mad dash for the door. To be fair, we didn't take this photo. (The sky is blue- of course it must be photoshopped!) It's off the interwebs:
We didn't take a tour, but we did get to see their marketing video. You can watch it here. And we highly recommend you do because it's a very accurate depiction of how whisky is made...
We left the distillery laughing our way down the A82 to Ballachulish, then the rain began to come down harder and we nearly hydroplaned into the hostel at Glen Coe. To recover and warm up, we had a wee dram.....
(After completing our distillery tour at Glen Ord the day before, we realized we had amassed quite a collection of malt delight, and it was time to experience some it.) As you see, we had much research ahead. It's hard work educating oneself on the fine qualities of whisky! We had a wee music session in the cozy hostel living room with a warming dram of whisky.
Day 6WC we woke up and packed the car for another touring day, starting with Glen Coe.
Glen Coe is infamously known for the horrible massacre of the MacDonalds by the Campbells. The massacre may have been triggered by bad timing and bad weather - the chief of the clan MacDonald was unable to deliver his oath of loyalty by the deadline that was set by the new Monarchs, King William and Queen Mary. The monarchy enlisted the aid of the Campbells to exact the punishment.
What makes the massacre even more horrific is that the Campbells welcomed the MacDonalds and a number of British soldiers into their houses and sheltered them for nearly two weeks through a harsh winter. On the pre-determined night, the Campbells and the soldiers murdered their hosts, and even though a number of MacDonalds escaped the murderous night they later died of exposure in the frigid weather.
We found one of the original MacDonald homes, of course now in ruins. It's sad to think of what happened here on that awful night.
Glen Coe is a magnificent place...
Here's our man Lance in the beauty of Glen Coe:
We went for a wee trek, dodging raindrops and getting blown about a bit by the unsettled weather.
This image barely portrays the massiveness of Glen Coe, and doesn't really do the place justice ... Pictures never do!
The weather was pretty wild, and light danced fantastically across the mountainsides through the puffy clouds...
We left Glen Coe and carried on Southward through the highlands and fantastic scenery to our next destination: Loch Lomond!!
Lance being a whistler and owner of a wonderful singing voice meant that a stop on the shores for a sing of the famous song was in order on the Bonny, Bonny Banks Of Loch Lomond.
Finally, late on day 6WC, we made Stirling.
The next morning, day 7WC, We took a tour of the grounds around the Holy Rude church, with its expansive graveyard and headstones dating back nearly 300 years.
And a tour of the massive Stirling Castle. This is definitely one of our favorite castles in Scotland!
Sir Lancelot has been promoted!!
We visited the Wallace Monument, resplendent in its Scottish Baronial style. The roundish feature on the corner facing the camera is the spiral staircase that starts at the bottom and goes ...
... aaalllll the way to the top!!
Beware the Lance Bear!
Here we are at the top, overlooking the River Forth (site of Wallace's famous defeat of the English at the Battle of Stirling Brig in 1297) and the Stirling Castle, which can be seen on the top of the hill over Lance's left shoulder.
We stopped at the Cambuskenneth Abbey, now largely in ruin, and burial site of King James the IV.
This is the tower of the Abbey and he only building still standing. The rest of the Abbey is identifiable from the foundations, and it was a massive place.
And of course we visited the Stirling Brig!
Lance had his second performance for the day, singing Stirling Brig while hammering out a fantastic drum line on his bodhran.
Here you can see the Old Stirling Brig, built in about 1500 to replace the wooden one that spanned the River Forth, and you can see the road bridge and the rail bridge behind it.
At the end of Tueaday, day 7WC, we headed south - to Glasgow! It had been a long week with much ground covered, but now it was time to "settle down" (as much as we ever do). We arrived at our apartment on Albert Drive after a quick blitz of the Morrison's for groceries (and beer), unpacked our dirty laundry, and had a wee show-and-tell of souvenirs collected over the last week.
On Wednesday morning Melinda and Lance dropped off the car and Melinda was finally rid of the driving responsibilities! She did a stellar job of it, delivering us safely each day to the myriad destinations, often through narrow and winding and unfamiliar roads. She's earned serious kudos!!
Then we switched mode of transportation:
Jennifer let us use a spare bicycle, and Lance had thought to bring his helmet from home. Alright then, time for Lance to enjoy the experience of riding on the 'wrong' side of the road!!
First stop:
George Square for a piping concert! We timed our adventure with Lance so that we'd be in Glasgow for most of the 'Piping Live!' Festival and the World Pipe Band Championships, and we were all itching for bagpipes! We didn't overbook ourselves for Wednesday, rightly figuring we'd need an easy day after the week of highland touring.
First thing on Thursday morning we headed to our favorite place in Glasgow (well, we have quite a few "favorite places," and here's one of them...)
Lance has wanted to learn to play bagpipes for many years, so we set up a lesson for him. The first lessons are quite hard and the learning curve is steep, but with a strong foundation from The College of Piping, and plenty of hard work to follow it up, Lance will certainly make good progress.
At George Square we met a pipe maker, Blue MacMurchie, and he had quite a display of vintage pipes for sale. He was also making a set of pipes on the lathe:
It was neat to see the wood chips flying!
'Piping Live!' isn't only about Scottish pipes. We enjoyed hearing these Slovakian pipes:
It's a completely different sound than the highland pipes, and we quite liked it.
Walking about the city we came across some of the massive murals that decorate the place...
And Lance had a big ol' bite of mushroom!
We rode through Kelvingrove Park on our way to (or from) a piping event, and stopped between the showers for a quick picnic lunch...
Melinda and boB pass by this fountain nearly every day pedaling to The College of Piping - it was nice to stop for once and look around while enjoying a leisurely lunch.
We toured the Tennents brewery, too.
That's an impressive stack of kegs. After we left the brewery we walked our bikes to The Merchant Chippy, one of our favorite chippys in Glasgow, and enjoyed another steaming plate of Scottish/Italian culinary delight.
As the week went on we saw more of this...
Pipe bands playing in just about every corner of Glasgow. They were all rehearsing for the competition on Friday and Saturday, The World Pipe Band Championships. And what a spectacle that was.
The weather of Friday was utterly atrocious, and we stayed at Glasgow Green for a few miserable hours, mostly sheltering in one of the two tiny beer tents. We stuck to coffee or tea because it was too cold for beer. Just before hypothermia set in we trundled up to the The National Piping Centre for a wee concert in the big outdoor tent. At least it was dry and out of the wind!!
On Saturday the weather improved markedly, and we were able to enjoy the Worlds in all its sonorous glory.
There are dozens upon dozens of pipe bands from all over the world, competing in different Grades depending on their skill level. We thought the Grade IV and Grade III bands sounded quite good, but the Grade I bands were absolutely superb. For novice pipes like ourselves it's inspiring to hear such skill and talent, and it certainly gives us somethings strive for.
And hover they do!
The highland dancing was competitive, and the dancers are amazing to watch. The highly skilled dancers make it look easy, but, honestly, our ankles started to hurt just from watching them.
Unbeknownst to us, Lance had been pondering something all week. Something that he'd seen at MacMurchie's on George Square. Finally, late in the afternoon on Saturday, Lance decided to go for the Ultimate Scottish Souvenir...
Bagpipes! He settled on a beautiful set of vintage Glens of Edinburgh pipes, made in the early 1950s. They're elegant in their simplicity, with smooth-turned drones and artfully shaped bells on the ends. An excellent choice, and we look forward to hearing Lance on his pipes!
Alas, our fantastic fun-filled two weeks with Lance was drawing to a close. We dragged ourselves away from The Worlds on Glasgow Green late on Saturday afternoon, and on the way out of the park saw the perfect picture opportunity...
Indeed, people make Glasgow!
With great reluctance we delivered Lance to the airport early on Sunday morning, the 14th of August, and wished him a safe journey back to Montana. It's going to be a while before we get to see him again, and we'll miss him in the meanwhile.
It sure was nice to see a friend from home!
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