An Outing to Edinburgh and a Countdown Starts

 At last, a weekend to go to Edinburgh Castle! We booked our tickets a couple of weeks back. and come Saturday, we all hopped in th car for the hour and ten drive.

Parking was a hassle but we ended up lucking out, finding something in the Haymarket area, somewhere we've been meaning to have a bit more of a wander in. A ten minute power-walk later, we were wandering Edinburgh Castle. 

It was my third time there and Cameron's second, and by far the best visit either of us have had. The day was forecast for 100% chance of rain but somehow our luck held strong and we enjoyed a few hours of rain-free wandering. There were also no blustery winds, a little bit of sun... properly, surprisingly, lovely! And there were so few people out, it made for a very surreal experience.

Sadly, the Scottish Honours were not open - the space they're displayed in is too small to make social distancing possible, so we weren't able to see the sword, crown, sceptre the Stone of Destiny. 

After, we wandered back to the car past Victoria Street rumoured to have inspired Diagon Alley, and John Kays, a quirky shop which supposedly inspired Flourish & Blotts. The last major Harry Potter sight we walked past was The Elephant House, where some of the early books were penned. We also saw Greyfriars Bobby, a pub named after a Skye Terrier who was renowned for guarding the grave of his owner for 14 years, until he died himself on 14 January 1872.

It's now also a month until Sarah and Daniel head home. It's both super sad...and super exciting. Not only because with their home-date approaching, but because it means ours is as well. And THAT means we can see our dog soon, our friends, our family. We're all so ready for that. 

We are sad, it means we're leaving behind this different, great life, of being within walking distance to so many coffee shops, grocery stores, friends...but we're ready. Christmas first though ;)

Hitting the Highlands

This weekend, the four of us travelled up to the Scottish Highlands to spend the weekend in the Cairngorms National Park and surrounds. Despite the end of our four days away ending in 36 hours of non-stop rain, it was a brilliant trip.

Scone Palace

First stop on Friday was Scone (pronounced Scoon) Palace, originally the capital of the Picts 1500 years ago which later became the seat of parliament and the crowning place for Scottish kings (including Robert the Bruce and Charles II). It is still a residential palace for the Mansfield heirs so only a few rooms are available for visiting, but the rooms we did see were gorgeous - full of ivory statues, amazing porcelain dinner sets, mammoth skulls and tea chests from China. Plus in the grounds they had a white peacock! And 13 normal ones.

And of course there were scones, so we all got one. How could we not??! 

Balmoral Castle

This was such a surprisingly wonderful tour - not only were we accommodated despite being 10 minutes late, but the guide was really friendly and knowledgeable, we saw 7 red squirrels within the first 5 minutes AND it was just a lovely castle and grounds. 

Our guide was as happy to talk about deer management as he was about the royal family, so we had a well-rounded overview of the estate. He pointed out where the original Balmoral Castle had once stood, told us how Prince Albert used to stand in front of the castle while the gameskeepers would rustle up the deer and make them run across the grass for him to 'hunt', and how he and the other staff have a right laugh at tourists who think the Queen is in residence when this flag is flying:

Then it was on to our extremely cosy and delightful accommodation, complete with wood-burning hot tub. 

Saturday we had intended to go to Strathisla and Glenlivet for some tastings, but with the circut breaker in effect, the tastings were cancelled. We instead had a wander around the area we were staying, found an amazing cafe (Goodbrand & Ross Tea Room, cannot recommend enough PLUS they had the loveliest gift store), drove up to the Whiskey Castle (deceptively not a castle), and Glenlivet. We found some gorgeous bridges, saw some lovely countryside, drove past Tamnavulin Distillery, and thoroughly exhausted ourselves in the process. Making a fire was the icing on the cake to a lovely day. 

Cairngorms Reindeer Centre

Sunday morning, we left our lovely accommodation to go and see the only wild-but-still-quite-tame reindeer herd in the UK, living in the single sub-arctic region within the country. I never realised that the deer grow their antlers anew each season - they drop off every winter. Nor did we realise that they could live in temperatures as low as -70C. 

We walked for 20 minutes from the public car park to reach their enclosure, at which point we were told that they enjoyed using the boardwalks too and if they stopped, we were to hop off and walk around them o.O I was already a little nervy at that, but then when I had one hop on the boardwalk right behind me, I was definitely waiting to get an antler in the back. Turns out I *hugely* underestimated how spatially aware they are of them. Not once did I get an antler nudge. 

It was an expensive experience but honestly to be so close to them, to see them in their natural habitat (and not be in Sweden, which is where this particular herd originated back in 1952), and to be able to just watch them interact with one another and the two herders - priceless. 

The Jacobite train

Monday we went to Hogwarts! Well. We never got onto the right platform so this train only took us as far as Mallaig and back, BUT it was a joyful trip nonetheless. But just in case Dementors came along, we made sure to have some chocolate frogs to keep our spirits up. 

This was one of those bucket list things Sarah and I had been wanting to do from the start of the year and seriously doubted if it would ever happen with Covid. We had rescheduled it three times but this third time was definitely the charm! 

Visiting Will and Kate's old stomping ground: St Andrews

 We have been wanting to visit St Andrews for a while now, ever since hearing how lovely a town it was - and everything we heard proved true. 

It was an hour forty drive from us in Glasgow and we timed it so that Sarah and Daniel were planning to go on the same day - their last day away before coming back. 

We arrived at 11:30 and met the errant travellers in front of North Point Cafe - where Will and Kate would meet for coffee, according to their window.

We wandered down the opposite lane and visited the St Andrews castle, a ruin on the coast with stunning views and some interesting mining history. In 1546, Protestants took refuge in the castle and a siege was ordered by the Scottish regent. A mine was begun by the attackers but was successfully counter-mined by the defenders, both cutting through solid rock in the process. This was rediscovered in 1879 and can still be accessed today - though the entrance the attackers used has now been built over. 

We meandered through the university, checked out the quad, and then went across the road to the Rav for lunch (interior pictured below). 

We rescued a bee (I took it outside, Cameron fed it honey water) and then we found a truly glorious bookstore that is the stuff of dreams. They had ladders you could slide along and climb up (which I regret not doing - what was I thinking???), a cosy little fireplace, loads of nooks, signed copies, first editions, floor to ceiling shelves....it was joyous. We obviously bought a few things...

We meandered through the town, ducking in and out of shops as they took our fancy, picked up a coffee, and then ended up at the cathedral. Thanks to all our wanderings, we did miss the chance to go in but we peered over the fence, took a couple of arm-stretched-over-our-head shots, and carried on down a few more streets. Turns out we love a good nosey about the place, looking at homes, the architecture, peering in windows, admiring a life that's just that little bit different to our own. 

And that was the day! By the time we'd had our fill of wanders, it was nearly 5, the perfect time to drive west towards Glasgow into the setting sun. 

Skye: the isle 'n me

Thursday

We drove 3 hours to Oban where we spent the night. It's nearly halfway to Skye and since everyone worked that day, it just made sense to stop here. Especially as Sarah and Daniel had already been here and wanted us to see the place too. 

It was stunning. Just a lovely little seaside town with all the charm you could hope for. The streets were clean, the buildings interesting, the food fresh and delicious - be it seafood, coffee, pastries, or chocolate :D

Friday

We went to the coffee shop Sarah and Daniel had already scouted out on their previous trip, had delicious pastries and cakes with our coffee for breakfast, wandered the sea front, got seafood to takeaway for our lunch, and then hopped into the car to drive the next leg of our trip. End point? Eilean Donan Castle. (Side note: this is where we had the worst coffee of our lives. We barely got 6 sips in before needing to throw it out.)

The castle was a beaut little thing sitting out in the water, accesible by pedestrian bridge. Full of history, family photos, narrow spaces, windows that let in the freezing wind, it was sooooo Scottish. We walked up and down and all around the outside.

On to Skye!

Saturday

The fullest of days where we ticked off four of the big sights - the Old Man of Storr, Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock, the Quiraing and the Fairy Glen. 

But first, a stop in at Portree for coffee and a visit to the post office. 

At the start of the year, we had come across a tale of a dog that would lick your stamps at the local post office, so it was immediately added to our itinerary if/when we got there. 

We specificaly got a coffee in town that morning so that we could see the dog. WE WERE JIPPED. Turns out the dog was an urban myth. He had come in for maybe one day, licked one or two stamps MAYBE, and from there, it got blown all out of proportion. SUCH. SADNESS. See below for the location of our burst hopes and dreams.

By chance, we did the hardest of the four sights first and come 10am, we were climbing towards the Old Man of Storr, a vertical ascent of 719m which was along both a path and a scramble at the very top. EXHAUSTING. This year has not been strong on the exercise front for me, so this was a challenge but so bloody satisfying when we reached the top!

It didn't hurt that the views were gorgeous and there were enough people around us to make us feel comfortable, but not so many that we were worried about overcrowding.

A little spot of rain tickled us not long after reaching the top, so we didn't linger - the downhill journey was just steep enough that we didn't want to tackle it while slick with water - but it was cruisy journey down and back to the car.

A 20 minute drive (the beauty of this day was that everything we wanted to do was each a 20 minute drive to the next place) and we arrived at Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock. A little bit windy and a very short walk made this a nice place to stop and have lunch - in the car. There were no picnic seats and it was too chilly to stay outside, so we scoffed our packed rolls whilst sitting and admiring the ....carpark.

Had a quick search for a toilet and instead got stuck behind a convoy of 7 tractors and subsequently pointed and laughed at by an old fella. We were glad we made someone's day :P 

Then to the Quiraing! The next big hike of the day. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the carpark was on the ridge so it was more of a walk - thank the heavens. We were also blessed with some stunning weather so we had the loveliest afternoon clambering around, crossing relatively dry waterfalls, finding sheep, and enjoying a snack with a view. 

The clouds were coming back in when we left and headed to our final stop - the Fairy Glen. The most underwhelming, disappointing stop of the lot, not helped by the fact we were all knackered. But we went, we saw, we left.

Getting home was a joy - not least for the hot showers, the comfy couches, and the whiskey (for everyone but me). 

We realised properly that night that there was no point going to Ireland since all travellers from the UK were required to quarantine for 14 days. As we were only planning to be there for 5, we made the quick decision to extend our trip by a night and travel to Inverness, where we could then see a bit of a Loch Ness, visit Uruquhart Castle with Sarah and Daniel, and see the much-anticipated Dunrobin Castle the following day. So we quickly found an available Airbnb in the area, snapped up some tickets for the same time slot with Sarah and Daniel at Urquhart, and then called it a night. 

Sunday

Two final stops before we left the island that shares my name - Talisker Distillery and the Fairy Pools. 

While Talisker had smaller tastings than a few of the other distilleries we'd visited, the venue was lovely, our guide fantastic, and the shopping experience pretty special - they cleared the shop for us :D Bahahahaha. Fun times. 

Then to the Fairy Pools! Possibly the most underrated excursion we went on and the busiest o.O HOARDS of people were all around and getting photos without another soul was tricky business. Truly magical though, and we only wished we had a bit longer to see more - you could do a 2 hour hike to see everything but we barely had an hour so if any of you reading plan to go, take heed. 

And then we legged it, to Urquhart Castle, located about two thirds of the way up Loch Ness.

One thing to note about the Isle of Skye, right before we leave it in the blog, is that public toilets DO NOT EXIST. At least not at this stage. It looked like visitor centres and toilet blocks were being built both at the base of the Old Man and at the Fairy Pools, but if/until they're finished, be prepared to either use the great outdoors, or work on that bladder control. We found most cafes/shops didn't even have them, though for the most part that seems to be due to Covid. 

Okay back to Urquhart, which was a 2 1/2 hour journey away. First, it was a ruin of a castle. Second, it had an EPIC view of Loch Ness. Better than any of us had seen before. 

Built in the 1300's, it played a large part in the Wars of Scottish Independence, but was abandoned in the 17th century. Currently, it is one of the most visited castles in Scotland. 

After we finished having a gander at rooms-that-once-were, the four of us split - Sarah and Daniel had planned to see a bit more of Scotland while we had, well, planned to be in Ireland-now-Inverness. 

We trundled a half hour down the road, found our Airbnb and did not leave again for the rest of the night. Well. Cameron did to pick up the Indian takeaway I ordered. But that was it! 

Monday

We got up early, packed the car, and parked in the town centre's Morrisons (Coles equivalent) carpark. With a plan to be at Dunrobin Castle (an hour and a half drive away) for their 10:30 open, we figured we'd get coffee and brekkie to-go whilst wandering the streets of Inverness and get a feel for the town. 

The feel was lovely. It had a bit of an Adelaide vibe, especially when we came across the Victorian Markets, which so strongly reminded me of Adelaide Arcarde. 

We walked along the river Ness, past the Inverness Castle, around the Inverness Cathedral, and through the Old High Church cemetary. We walked past Leaky's Bookshop (I was gutted we left before they opened), up the main street, and back to our car. Inverness is considered the capital of the Highlands, with a quarter of the Highland population living in or around it, and is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe (apparently).

But on to Dunrobin Castle! And just so you don't feel like you missed out on that drive, here's an idea of what we drove past:

We drove north to Dunrobin Castle, located just outside of Golspie, home to the house of the Sutherlands. With gardens inspired by those of Versaille, a falconry exhibit running daily, and a beautifully preserved and inhabited house, it was pretty cool to be able to step back in time and have a wander. The earliest part of the building dates back to 1275, and it's one of the oldest, continuously inhabited houses in Britain dating back to the 1300's. 

On our way home to Glasgow - a giant day of driving - we popped in to Aviemore to see their stone circle:

And had planned to snap a shot of Scone Palace in Perth, but all we could see were their cows:

10 out of 10, would recommend  this trip ;)