Scotland: Edinburgh

After 3 rather relaxed days at Fort Augustus, it was time to move on to our final destination for the holiday: Airth Castle at Falkirk. Falkirk is situated near Stirling inbetween Glasgow and Edinburgh and is a good base for exploring the area. On our itinerary for the last 3 days of our holiday was to visit Edinburgh, the Falkirk Wheel, Stirling Castle, and St. Andrews.

It was another long day in the car driving from Fort Augustus to Falkirk. En route we passed through Fort William, a less rainy Glencoe, and the Trossach’s Woollen Mill in Kilmahog where we met Hamish the Highland Cow!

Hamish McKye Denovan was born in 1993 making him one of the oldest living Highland bulls at 20 years of age. When he was three years old, he joined the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum as part of an exhibition. He was saved from slaughter during the mad cow disease crisis by Friends of the Smith. He spent some years as the Smith’s External Relations Officer but has since retired to the fields of the Trossach’s Woollen Mill in Kilmahog. In 2010, Hamish married Heather and in March 2011 they had a beautiful little girl named Honey.

Hamish has to be the most well-known and most visited Highland cow in Scotland. Many tourist busses stop here daily for admirers of this coo. Hamish is incredibly friendly and gentle despite his size, and loves having his picture taken. We bought a pack of Hamish approved food from the mill shop and enjoyed feeding him his vegetables. His tongue is huge but he takes each piece so gently. It was really fun. He was quite greedy and even pushed Heather out of the way for more snacks and photos!

Bron feeding Hamish veggies

After meeting Hamish and Heather, we made our way to Airth Castle. We were quite disappointed that the hotel is actually next to the castle and not in it, our romantic idea of staying in a real Scottish castle evaporating. We expected more from the hotel in general but we were hardly there so we didn’t let it bother us.

The next day was ear-marked as our day for exploring Edinburgh! We headed out early and got a surprisingly good parking close to the castle considering the festival was in full swing. First on the agenda: Edinburgh Castle.

Located on the west end of Edinburgh’s Old Town and built on an extinct volcano, Castle Rock, Edinburgh Castle has a naturally defended position and commanding views over the Firth of Forth and Edinburgh City. The buildings represent the changing role of the castle from fortress, to royal palace, military garrison and state prison and were built between the 12^th and 20^th centuries. The oldest building in the castle, and in Edinburgh, is the tiny St Margeret’s Chapel dating from the 12^th century.

We arrived at the castle in time to join a free guided tour. Our guide was very funny and we learnt a lot more about the castle and its history than we would have just on our own. After the tour we leisurely explored the castle at our own pace. It really is a marvellous castle with amazing views over Edinburgh city. We loved the impressive Great Hall with its original hammerbeam roof, the Portcullis Gate and Argyle Tower, the Scottish National War Memorial, and St Margeret’s Chapel. We also saw the Honours of Scotland (the crown jewels) and the Stone of Destiny in the Royal Palace, heard the one o’clock gun being fired from the Mill’s Mount Battery and enjoyed soaking up the views of the city from the embattlements.

Entering the castle just after the Portcullis Gate 

Crown Square with the Royal Palace on the right and the Scottish National War Memorial on the left

The impressive Great Hall with hammerbeam roof

Inside the Great Hall

Features in the Great Hall

Boibs at the Edinburgh Castle

A fortress on Castle Rock

From the castle, we walked down the Royal Mile enjoying the antics of the Fringe Festival street performers. Approximately a mile long, the Royal Mile is made up of four streets linking the castle and Holyrood Palace at opposite ends of the town. The Old Town grew up and around this connecting street; there are many side alleys and closes leading off it which looks like a fish bone on a map with the Royal Mile as the backbone.

Walking down from the castle onto the Royal Mile

The Royal Mile

We wandered over one of the bridges down to the New Town. We found the Sir Walter Scott Monument and continued up Prince’s Street to Calton Hill, home of the Scottish Government. The Scottish Parliament Building is on the southern slope while many monuments, such as the National Monument and Nelson’s Monument, are on the top of the hill. Beautiful views over the Old Town with Edinburgh Castle can be enjoyed from the hill. Holyrood Palace lies at the foot of Calton Hill and we had a lovely stroll through the adjacent park. After a fun but long day of walking and exploring it was time to head back to Airth Castle.

Sir Walter Scott Monument

View of Edinburgh Castle from Calton Hill

The next morning we went off to see what the Falkirk Wheel was all about. Connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, the Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift replacing a series of 11 locks in the same area. We joined a boat tour to experience the lift for ourselves with commentary filling us in on the history and purpose of the boat lift: to regenerate the canals of central Scotland and reconnect Glasgow and Edinburgh. They have done well to make this project more than just about the boat lift. There are lovely woodland walks to be had in the area, bicycles are available for hire and there are various children’s activities. We were there on a Saturday and there was a falconry exhibition on with owls, eagles and falcons. It reminded us of our visit to the Bird of Prey Centre near Glasgow at the beginning of our holiday.

The Falkirk Wheel

View of the side of the canal and wheel

Little Scops Owl

Owl 

After the Falkirk Wheel, we headed off to Stirling Castle. Built on Castle Hill, a rocky crag of quartz-dolerite, Stirling Castle has a strong naturally defensive position owing to the steep cliffs on three sides of the castle. The Castle was the home of the Scottish royal family during the 15^th and 16^th centuries and all the current buildings date from this time. Once again we were in time for a free guided tour which was very worthwhile for piecing together the complicated history of the Scottish royals so closely linked with the buildings of this castle. Often called the Royal Nursery, many royal babies were born here and raised in the Prince’s Tower. I had to chuckle though when our guide described the heavily overcast sky as ‘clear’; he must have been referring to the lack of mist. We enjoyed the Forework at the entrance to the castle, the Chapel Royal, the Palace with the Stirling Heads, the small garden retreat next to the Prince’s Tower, the Great Hall also with a hammerbeam roof and the astounding views looking out from all the batteries.

The restored golden Great Hall at Stirling Castle

Hammerbeam roof in the Great Hall

All the beams slot in and support each other, no nails were used. 

They describe it as the upside down hull of a boat.

Detail at Stirling Castle

Statues adorning the Royal Palace

Statue of Robert the Bruce

Boibs at Stirling Castle

After Stirling Castle there was time to squeeze in the nearby National Wallace Monument before the end of the day. This site was chosen for the monument as it overlooks where William Wallace led the Scots in defeating the English at the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. Completed in 1869, the monument has three levels. The first level is The Wallace Story and gives the history behind the man with such strong feelings about Scotland’s independence. On display is his mighty broadsword, 1.63 m long and weighing almost 3 kg; he must have been a strong man to wield a sword like that! On the second level is the Hall of Heroes commemorating Scottish heroes and on the third level is the sometimes controversial story of the building of the monument. We climbed the 246 stairs to the top of the monument and were greeted with breath taking 360º views of the country side.

The National Wallace Monument

Views to be had from the monument

Sunday, and our last full day of holiday in Scotland, dawned bright and clear. This was our day for exploring St Andrews, the home of golf and the third oldest university in the English-speaking world, and a day full of walking it was! It was clear in Falkirk but seriously misty in St Andrews earning the town its nick name: ‘the auld grey toun’. We started with a walk on the East Pier followed by a walk around the ruins of the cathedral. Built in 1158, it was the largest church built in Scotland. We walked by the ruins of the castle and on into the city centre. There was time for a tea and scone break before heading down to the golf course. The Old Course is open to the public on Sundays and by the time we got there the mist had cleared into a beautiful sunny afternoon. We walked over the famous little Swilcan Bridge and enjoyed a long leisurely walk over about 6 holes of the Old Course, avoiding all the greens of course. We stopped for lunch at the Old Course Clubhouse and had uninterrupted views of the course over a lovely lunch. We ran out of time for a round on the Himalayas Putting Green and a walk on West Sands beach (opening scene in the movie Chariots of Fire), but they are on the list for next time!

View of St Andrews Cathedral from East Sands on a misty morning

St Andrews Cathedral

The Swilcan Bridge on the Old Course looking back into town

The Old Course

Then it was time to head back, pack up and get ready for a long journey the next day. Next destination: Brazil!

More about our epic travel journey and first weeks in Vitoria next time!

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Scotland: Isle of Skye and Loch Ness

Castles, whisky, highland cows, wind, rain, bagpipes, thistles, kilts, tartan, clans, lochs, rugged coastlines and breath taking views. This is Scotland. Where better to experience it than the Scottish Highlands.

Stalker castle

After a wonderful 3 nights in Oban, we travelled up to Portree on the Isle of Skye via Glencoe, Spean Bridge and Eilean Donan Castle. Glencoe is a dramatically beautiful glen formed by the activities of a now extinct volcano and a glacier. It takes its name from the river Coe running through it. The glen is narrow, majestic and peaceful. Shrouded in cloud, the mountains rise up steeply on either side. The glen is the site of the mass murder of the MacDonald clan in February 1692. The sadness of this event still lingers in the valley.

Boibs at a cloudy Glencoe

The next stop on the way to Skye was Eilean Donan Castle. Once the stronghold of the MacKenzies, this castle is home to the chiefs of the MacRae clan and is probably one of the most famous and well-known of Scotland’s castles. The castle was badly damaged during the Jacobite uprisings of the 17^th and 18^th centuries and lay abandoned and in ruins for nearly 200 years. In 1911 Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island and the castle and over the next 20 years, had the castle reconstructed and restored to its former splendour. We had a wonderful afternoon exploring the castle and soaking up the beautiful views of the castle over the lake.

Eilean Donan Castle

From Eilean Donan Castle we made our way to Portree on the Isle of Skye to our awaiting accommodation. Portree is the main town on the island and a good base for exploring from. A small town set around a natural harbour, it is popular with tourists in the Summer. We got the feeling that life is very slow on the island and the locals brace themselves for the influx of visitors in the Summer months and look forward to having their quiet peaceful island back to themselves come Autumn.

The colourful waterfront at Portree harbour

Boats in Portree harbour

Portree harbour

We saw a quote stating that one had to be waterproof, have a good sense of humour and not mind the cold too much to live on Skye. From our short stay on the island, we can confirm that this is good advice! It was a chilly 12ºC with constant outbursts of rain showers and super windy the entire time we were on Skye! It’s a pity the weather wasn’t better, even for some of the time, but we didn’t let it stop us exploring.

Views to be had on Skye

Our first day on Skye we headed West to Dunvegan Castle. Home to the chiefs of Clan MacLeod for 800 years, Dunvegan Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland. It is built on a rocky outcrop of Loch Dunvegan and was once entirely surrounded by the sea. We took advantage of a gap in the weather when we arrived at the castle for exploring the 5 acres of beautiful garden. We loved the lush water garden with waterfalls and a stream, the formal round garden full of colour and the walled garden, previously the vegetable garden. The castle itself has many fine oil paintings and clan treasures on display including the Fairy Flag, the wooden ceremonial Dunvegan Cup, Sir Rory Mor’s Horn, and the MacCrimmon bagpipes. Sir Rory Mor’s Horn is an ox drinking horn and MacLeod tradition is for each successive clan chief to drink a full horn, 1.1 L, of claret in one draught upon coming of age. Hold fast MacLeod!

Most of the castles we visited are still family homes for at least part of the year and are filled with family photos and family trees. It is lovely that the castles have more purpose and are still used as homes and not only for tourist visits. The staff are also friendly and answered all our questions about the castle and clan history.

Dunvegan Castle

View out over the sea from Dunvegan Castle

The Castle gardens

After Dunvegan we went to look for Neist Point Lighthouse. On the map it looked simple enough but beware the small Scottish side roads! Once off the main road, the road is little more than a path; narrow enough for only single file traffic, not exactly well kept and makes for slow going. It is truly beautiful though and with breathtaking views over the valley and bay. Upon reaching our destination we discovered that it was still a long walk down a treacherous looking path out onto a skinny peninsula down to the lighthouse. Guess it’s a good place for a lighthouse! Usually we love this but in the unpredictable on/off rain and epic wind we decided to give it a skip which was a real shame. But we had an appointment to keep! So it was off back down the narrow winding road to the Talisker distillery!

Neist Point. 

The only distillery on the Isle of Skye, Talisker is set on the shores of Loch Harport with amazing views of the rocky Cuillin mountain range. There has been a distillery on this site in various forms since 1830. We enjoyed the tour of this distillery and it was interesting comparing the difference between the Talisker and Oban distilleries and whiskies. The basic ingredients and procedure are the same so it’s really interesting and amazing how the two products can be so different. The orange undertones of Oban whisky are missing in Talsiker and Talisker is much more smoky than Oban; Talisker is well known for its smoky peaty flavour and after taste. Needless to say we left with more than just one bottle….

Sunday dawned just as windy and rainy as the day before and with the promise of a traditional Sunday roast for lunch, we headed off to see what the Trotternish Ridge and Quiraing is all about. The Trotternish ridge stretches from Storr to Quiraing and was formed by a series of landslides exposing a volcanic plateau and a terrain of spikes and towers. The Old Man of Storr is such a spike. Also to be seen in this area is Kilt Rock, a sheer basalt rock face with a waterfall tumbling over the edge, and beautiful views of the Sound of the Isle of Rona and the Wester Ross. The Quiraing is the only stretch of the Trotternish Ridge landslide still moving. We had a lovely walk along the easy path and enjoyed the spectacular views of the folded earth and valleys below. After our Sunday roast it was time for a nap and some R&R at our guesthouse.

Old Man of Storr

Kilt Rock

Views across the Sound from Kilt Rock

Views across Wester Ross from Kilt Rock

The Quiraing

Windy road leading up to the Quiraing

Our three nights on Skye were up and it was time to move onto our next stop: Fort Augustus. We decided to take the long route to Inverness and then down the West shore of Loch Ness to Fort Augustus on the Southern corner of the lake. It was a long drive of more narrow roads and mostly sheltered views of the lake owing to the tall trees. Next time we would probably take the short route!

Lovely little waterfall somewhere between Glencoe and Fort Augustus,
complete with a stepped rock ladder to help salmon swim up the river during breeding season.

 Inverness Castle (now used as a court house) and Flora MacDonald statue 

The one highlight of the day was our first sighting of highland cows! Leaving Skye, there were a whole group close to the side of the road. We pulled off and enjoyed watching them roam and munch on grass. They are huge (adults weigh about 1 ton) with long shaggy coats, but are very chilled and docile. They were not worried at all by all the human activity around them. We were to see many more shaggy herds over the next few days.

Shaggy Highland Cow

The next day was spent exploring the shores of the lake. On the West bank we visited Urquhart castle. Now in ruins but once a mighty stronghold, Urquhart castle features prominently in Scottish history and was often central in the fight for control between Scotland and England. The castle changed hands many times over the centuries and stewards included the noble families of Durward, MacDonald and Grant and it was also a royal castle at one point. The short but informative video at the visitor’s center outlines the history of the castle and its place in Scottish history. The castle grounds are quite large and we enjoyed wandering around the ruins imagining what it must have been like in its prime. It was a windy day but the sun was shining for the first time since before Oban!

Grant Tower at Urquhart Castle

Views across the castle grounds

Trebuchet at Urquhart 

(giant sling shot for hurling boulders at castle defenses)

Boibs at Urquhart

We continued up the Western shore, passing Inverness and then heading down the Eastern Shore. We discovered that there isn’t much on the Eastern side and most of the small towns and things to do were on the West bank. We did however find Foyers Falls, a beautiful waterfall a short walk in a forest area from the main road. We were hoping to see red squirrels in this area but none were obliging.

Foyers Falls

We were really keen to do the Road to the Isles Tour but after several long days in the car already and not wanting to brave anymore narrow windy roads, we gave the tour a skip and spent a quieter day around the Fort Augustus area. The main attraction in this area is walking and boating on the lake. We passed a pleasant morning in the sun walking around the small town that is Fort Augustus, admiring the mist on tranquil Loch Ness and watching boats traverse up the locks of the Caledonian Canal. The Caledonian Canal is 60 miles (97 km) long with a total of 28 locks connecting Fort William and Inverness. The canal is one third man made and the rest is made up of the Lochs Dochfour, Ness, Oich and Lochy in the Great Glen. Neptune’s Staircase near Fort William with 8 locks is the longest staircase lock in Britain. We were satisfied with the 5 in Fort Augustus. It is possible to rent boats and spend a week going up the Caledonian Canal and back.

Mist over tranquil Loch Ness

Locks on the Caledonian Canal at Fort Augustus 

Boats in a lock with Loch Ness in the background

On our tour of Loch Ness the previous day we discovered the small town of Invermoriston 10 minutes drive away. We headed out to explore this small but cosy village. We enjoyed a short 30 minute walk to the Invermoriston Falls, the Thomas Telford bridge built in 1813, St Columba’s well and the group of shaggy haired Highland Cattle in the field behind the car park. Invermoriston is also a good stop over point on the Great Glen Way, a 127 km path for walking or cycling between Fort William and Inverness. We joined the Great Glen Way for a 90 min walk through the forest before heading back to Fort Augustus just in time to avoid a sudden heavy downpour!

Boibs walking at Invermoriston

White water rafters at Invermoriston 

The afternoon was spent drinking hot chocolate and playing scrabble in the hotel drawing room. And then it was time for what we (read Bron) had been looking forward to the whole holiday: a Ceilidh at the local town hall! Ceilidh is a Gaelic word meaning ‘a visit’ but in modern times has come to mean a party with traditional Gaelic music and dancing. The dances, or reels, are extremely energetic and have fantastic names like the Dashing White Sergeant, the Gay Gordon’s and Strip the Willow. We were introduced to Ceilidh dancing at Dan and Sam’s wedding earlier in the year and were looking forward to repeating the fun. The dances require a lot of energy but are good fun. Generally the dances involve changing partners frequently and it is a great way to move around the room meeting different people. No previous experience is required as all the dances are explained and demonstrated by the ‘caller’. We had a great evening out, would definitely do it again and highly recommend it to anyone with the opportunity.

Our three nights in Fort Augustus were up and it was time to move onto our final destination for this holiday: Airth Castle at Falkirk. More about that next time!

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