Loch Ness, Glencoe, Oban, Iona

From Scotland

On the road again, leaving Inverness driving along Loch Ness.

From Scotland

From Scotland

From Scotland

This was a bit of a rainy day. We visited the Glencoe visitor center, but the grounds were too wet to take any of the paths. Friends had suggested stopping at the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe Valley. After a few wrong turns (which took us to spectacular valley views) we did indeed find our destination.

Glencoe Valley

From Scotland

Clachaig Inn

From Scotland

coffee and blackberry crumble with hot custard, yum!

From Scotland

leaving the inn, heading back to road to Oban

From Scotland

From Scotland

Glenlockhart, our Oban b&b

From Scotland

On ferry from Oban to Mull and Iona.

From Scotland

From Scotland

From Scotland

From Scotland

From Scotland

Return trip to Oban, it's been a rainy day, rough seas

From Scotland

From Scotland

From Scotland

Inverness, 2nd day of "Outlander" tour

Perhaps not everyone has read the "Outlander" series, but as it is a history of Scotland from the mid 1700's forward, the tour could be enjoyed by all. Today we had as our guide Hugh Allison, not only a native of the area, but extremely versed in Scottish history. He has written several books, one "Roots of Stone" is of his family 'tree' reaching back through Irish royalty, the Picts, and the 'mist' of time.
Clootie Well, ancient holy healing well

From Scotland

Hugh first takes us the the 'Black Isle' just to the north of Inverness and the "Munlochy Clootie Well." Clootie Well finds its beginning in ancient traditions, a 'healing' well to which pilgrims would come and make offerings usually in hope of having an illness cured. Many still come and tie 'remnants' of themselves to the trees and bushes and the site is covered from ground to the tops of trees with pieces of cloth, shoes, clothing, .... looks like a rag shop!

Rowan trees loaded with bright red berries

From Scotland - young Rowan trees

Walking on the path to the Clootie Well Hugh points out 'brambles.' Me being a city gal didn't realize these were blackberry bushes. We all stopped and sampled the sweetest blackberries I'd ever had. We asked Hugh about a tree covered with red berries that we'd been admiring throughout our travels and he identified it as a "Rowan" tree. Very beautiful and colorful.

Susan & Mark, the other two on our tour, black floor door leading to caskets

From Scotland

Lord Lovat's crypt

We visited the "Wardlaw" mausoleum built in 1634, now closed to the public, the burial site of at least four Lovat or Fraser clan chiefs. The church no longer remains, only the mausoleum. Inside in the stone floor is a large, heavy, black metal cover that, lifted, leads down to a crypt containing about 6-7 metals caskets. This was burial site of Lord Lovat, "Old Fox" ('Jamie's' grandpa).

Our guide took us to "Ord House" .... a lovely home that approximates the type of home Jamie's family would have had at Lallybroch. Hugh served us 'tea' and demonstrated real Jacobite weaponry.

Ord House (found by Hugh and okay'ed by Diane Gabaldon)

From Scotland

Hugh, showing real Jacobite weapons

From Scotland

From Scotland

Leaving Ord House, we drove to a car park close to Rogie Falls. Walking along a wooded path about 3/4's of a mile we came to the falls where we saw salmon trying to leap up the falls. "trying" was all we saw; Hugh said that after each try, the salmon would have to wait several hours before having the strength for another go. There was a 'man-made' ladder to the far side, but I never saw a salmon take the easy way.

Rogie Falls

From Scotland

Castle McLeon

From Scotland

Castle Leod - Home of the Chief of the Clan Mackenzie, one of the few castles in Scotland to be still occupied by the original family.

This was a terrific day. Helen and I both tired when we were returned to our lodging in Inverness. Had a nice dinner at the Castle Restaurant, got back early to prepare for our departure to Oban the next morning.

Lights out.

Heading to Inverness

Sadly time to leave Monarch country and we pack the car to head toward Inverness. We take a slight detour to make a stop in Carrbridge, luckily the beautiful bridge was on the main street.


We talked with a man running the store next to the bridge and he said we just missed the 'carving' contest. He said artists from all around the country came with their chainsaws to carve huge tree trunks into delicate dragonflies or fierce monsters. Chainsaws!

On our way again, we backtrack a few miles and head out for the pretty little town of Grantown-on-Spey and then north to Forres. We stop there for a while, do a little shopping and go through a small museum. Heading further down the street we see a sign for a crafts sale. Turns out to be mostly a rummage sale, but several vendors there with enticing homemade sweets and desserts. Of course we can't pass that up and bring several sweets back to the car.

Tried to used my google map to find our new B&B in Inverness, but, again had to ask directions. We looped around several times before finding the correct street and I was pleased to see a parking space open. We settled ourselves into the Kinloch Lodge and took off down the street for 'old town' - just half a block but had to go down about 100 steps (meaning we'd be climbing them to get back!). Helen had another 'internet' friend who told her about live music at Hootenanny's and that's where we headed. The music didn't start til 9:30; so we went to "One" restaurant and I had a delicious salmon fillet dinner. Didn't think I'd stay awake for the music, but was energized by the young crowd at Hoots!



I think you can tell from the photo that they were loud and raucous! (is that a word?) They were great fun and the place was standing room only. Several tables (not ours) were removed so more people could get in. Another late evening for us, but we had to get back and prepare for an early morning departure with the "Outlander" tour.

Sunday
Our guide, Alastair Cunnington of "Clans and Castles" tours picks us up at 9am and we meet the other couple, Susan and Mark, on the tour. Can you believe only four of us with a personal guide! This guy is terrific and we'd recommend him to anyone looking for a more personal tour (usually his small tours are around six to nine). We head out first to Clava Cairns. The pictures I'd seen in the guide books don't do this place justice. It's between 3-4 thousand years old and Alastair gives us a good background on what is known about the site. And then we see the split standing stones. Is this where "Claire" steps into the past to meet her Jamie?



Then we head to Culloden battlegrounds and the new visitors center. I was totally blown away by the new center. All the exhibits, the letters, the visual 'experience' that takes you almost into the battle itself; I highly recommend seeing it.



The battlefield. As you walk along the path and see the various clan's cairns, see the flags showing where the English were and the Jacobites stood, it's hard not to feel the pain and suffering endured so long ago. Flowers for the lost are still brought in remembrance.


This is the house where the injured were treated. Back in '04 I was able to go inside and see how it might have looked, now it's closed and one can only look through the windows.

Off to visit Cawdor Castle, mentioned by Shakespeare several times, but not actually built til after "Macbeth's" time. There is a legend about the castle that one day the Thane of Cawdor set a donkey laden with gold to roam the countryside, saying that wherever it chose to rest for the night would become the site of his castle. The donkey lay down by a tree and the castle was built around it. We walked down the narrow stone stairwell to the dungeon and saw the ancient tree. It died in the 14th century but the trunk remains.

Alastair then takes us to several sites with "Pictish" stones. The Picts were a prehistoric race who have left little of their history, except for the stones. Most of their carvings were destroyed, or had Christian symbols or crosses carved on the over side. One stone we saw must have been almost two stories high, but it was encased by a larger glass/plastic box, and hard to get a good picture of.


Alastair describing the meanings of the symbols; a Celtic cross on the reverse side.

Time for a quick trip out to Ft George sited by the Moray Bay. We didn't go inside the fort, but did walk down to the gates and then walked up on the battlemounts. All coats and scarves were on as it had turned cold and blustery! Walked back to our car, by the shore we saw numerous brave souls having fun in the freezing waters.... brrrr




A quick zip back to our lodging and times set for tomorrow's jaunt! Dinner tonight at another lively pub. Good thing we don't drink!

til tomorrow.....

Linda

Scotland, second day in Monarch Country

After another delicious 'full Scottish breakfast' (lasts all day!) and visiting with our terrific hosts, Helen and I are late off for our last full day in Monarch country. We stopped at the local craft store and were sad to see that David Fellows, artist, was no longer there, and even more tragic, none of his paintings were on the wall. Sadly, we went to our car and started out. We wanted to visit the Ruthven Barracks ruins outside the small town of Kingussie (prounced kin'ussie) just a few miles away.


These were built by the English to quell Highland unrest after the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. In 1746 it was captured by Bonnie Prince Charlie's army, but blown up when they learned of the Jacobite defeat at Culloden.

Our hosts had said that the road we were on would lead to our next stop, Loch An Eilein on the Rothiemurchus Estate; we went a few miles north, but it looked like a dead end to us, so we reversed and found the main road north. Thankfully the Rothiemurchus Estate was well signed, and we found the car park by the loch.

As we walked down the path to the loch, we ran into a young couple by the waters. Turns out they had gone swimming earlier in the morning. Perhaps it wasn't 'cold' outdoors, but Helen and I had on light jackets. Seems the young lady had wanted the adventure and her lovely boyfriend had wanted to make her happy. Young love, sweet. So we exchanged pictures and finally Helen and I are together in a photo.


We walked along the shore through the wooded path and quickly came upon the castle ruins on the small island. Later Helen asked an attendant how such a small castle on the island could be of use. Ah, the guy said, a good place to hide the women and children during an uprising, or perhaps a good place for cattle thieves to hide their stolen herd.


I could have spent several hours here, walking along the shores, thinking of the lives of the Scottish who had made this their home for so many years, enjoying the peace, the bird's songs, but no, Helen said we must keep to a schedule so off to find Glenbogle Station.

An aside for my non 'Monarch of the Glen' friends, 'Glenbogle rail station' was a part of the Scottish tv series and many of us "boglies" love to find the little station. It's proper name is Broomhill, but the signage for the series remains today (and the series ended many years ago). Broomhill is one of the stops for the steam engine that now mostly contains tourists, and is a popular Christmas outting. As we came to the station I was lucky enough to catch a photo of the train coming in.





A lovely couple serve as volunteers in the small station and we were lucky to find them there. The gentleman sold us a "Glenbogle" train ticket! and his wife brought out some sweets she had made. Helen was glad to see that she had 'tablet' unknown to me, sorta a sugar and cream candy. Helen got her recipe and we each bought a 'tablet.'

After visiting with them a bit, we started back to our 'home.' Only a few stops made today, but each enjoyable. We decide to dine on some cheese and crackers that Helen bought in Newtonmore and try to get to bed early. No more fun at the pub!

Helen's several nights of no sleep turned out lucky for us, as she learned of a small "Outlander" tour that we could join for our two days in Inverness. As much as I was glad we had a car for these two days I looked forwarded to having someone else do the driving!

Both "Monarch of the Glen" and the "Outlander" series (now seven books, historical fiction of Scotland) bring tourists from all over the world.

Scotland

Linda & Helen
September 15- 28, 2009
Scotland: Newtonmore, Inverness, Oban, Edinburgh

For those who read this blog and are not 'boglies' a number of the pictures at the beginning of this blog have to do with a wonderful Scottish tv series, Monarch of the Glen. A marvelous treat that has brought together many lovers of the shows from around the world. We gathered first online to talk about the show, but over the years have continued to stay in touch and have made friendships that surpass the tv series, but we all share a love of Scotland. When others learned of the trip Helen and I were planning, we received great support in our endeavor, for which we are truly grateful.

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First things first, we rented a car (a Merc ... mercedes-benz!), and my first concern was getting out of the airport and going north. I had made some 'google maps' - Mary said that Bruce made maps for entering and exiting the cities and towns they were going to visit. Hope his were better than mine, cause google just didn't 'name' the routes like the Scots did! Thankfully a gentleman that lived in Edinburgh was sitting with us on our last leg of flight, Amsterdam to Edinburgh, and he suggested that I just follow the signs for "Forth Bridge Street" ... praise be, his directions got us going in correct direction and after that it was fairly easy. Driving on 'wrong' side: not so hard to stay in correct lane, problem was me knowing how to stay in center of my lane - poor Helen, I kept erring to the left and going over the "turtles" (you know, those little round things that let you know you're getting out of your lane) or worst, running up against a curb.

But we made it to our first B&B, Clune House, Newtonmore. By far the nicest one we stayed in. Couple running it, Bruce and Mary (hmmm, sound familiar?) were terrific and took an interest in us and our trip, plus served great food, most of it locally made.

Bruce, Mary and 'molly'

After getting settled in, we made our way down Main Street and found a nice pub/hotel, Glen House. We rejected the staid dining room for the pub, which seemed to be 'rocking.' Since all tables were taken the owner asked an older couple if we could join them, They were Scots who had moved to England, but came up on holiday for a week or so each year. Helen says we must, of course, eat traditional Scottish food. So first meal was Cullen Skink (haddock and potato soup - a very traditional dish) and a 'child's order' of fish 'n chips. The soup was terrific (wasn't so sure about ordering it) and enjoyed the fish - too full to eat the chips.

The second day we start out on our first adventure, many things on the agenda, but getting to the "sandy beach" was at the top of our list. Of course everyone had told us there was no way we'd get to see the 'big house,' but we knew we had to walk on the beach at least.

Loch Laggan (sandy beach)

From Scotland

Well, Helen told you the story of how we got a ride up (were our B&B couple surprised!). Talking with several different people we learned that the current owner was coming up that weekend with friends for a stalking; plus we learned that the back part of Ardverikie had been gutted (too much damp, for one thing) and there was a lot of scaffolding and many workers.

Our first look at Ardverikie

From Scotland

So we got to walk all around the grounds, taking pictures (I even took a couple of quick shots through the window).

From Scotland

From Scotland

After we had been there nosing around for about 20 minutes, a young lass (so reminded me of Iona, slim, long dark hair pulled back), came to the door (and we thought no one was about!!), but when we told her that "Mark" had brought us up, she allowed that since the 'office' knew about it, then she'd let us be. (If I had thought the house was occupied I'd surely not have taken the photos! Shouldn't have in any account.)



view from front door


Molly's retreat, in ruins

And then Helen and I got to walk the three miles back. It was a lovely walk, saw some dark 'peaty' streams, reforesting in progress. And I picked some heather and fern from along the road, finding a blue string to tie it together. It's dried now and sits above my computer as I write.

We got back to the Gatehouse Lodge and our car, and headed down road to find Cille Choirill. Along the way we saw the path that would take us to the 'marriage hill', but since we'd just walked 3 miles thought we'd save that for a later time. Not too far further we saw the sign for the cemetery. Up a very small road, no, perhaps a large path(!), we rounded up the hill to the very lovely church and cemetery.


Cille Choirill


looking up, from church


oldest stone marker, 1600 - deer hunter and bar
pointed out to us by caretaker

This place has to be the highlight of my trip. A secluded site, atop a small hill, amidst larger hills (mountains). A few sheep, a lone cemetery gardener. What a setting. It was like being halfway to heaven!

Alas, we must leave. Our hosts had recommended we head to Ft William, and mentioned the "Commando Memorial." What a superb site. She hadn't mentioned the beautiful panoramic view. The memorial itself was immense and powerful. I took pictures, but they fall short of my experience.


views from "Commando Memorial"

Then off to Ft Williams, walking around the small town, doing a bit of shopping. Yes, we did do a bit of shopping.

Time to head home. Not enough time to do all the things we had on our list, but what we did we loved.

Again, to the Glen House for dinner. Tonight we try the traditional Neeps, Haggis & ???. (Mary, our Clune hostess saw my blog and wrote the the meal was: Haggis, Neeps, & Tatties!) I do remember is was good; And again we sat with our new friends, Helen & Terry, and formed a team for the Thursday nite 'games.' Each team had to answer sets of questions, some sets containing 8 - 10 questions. Short breaks in between. Having Scots and Americans on one team should have made it a clear win for us. One set of questions was musical, they played tunes from tv shows and we had to guess the name of the series. Helen and I almost died laughing when we heard the theme for MOTG!

No win, but great fun. Then time to return 'home.' The one thing I haven't mentioned is that Helen was getting NO sleep. Too keyed up? Don't know, but I don't know how she kept going. The third night, I think, finally a bit of rest for her.

I'm ending for now. Hope the pictures come through. If you only knew the problems I've had with the pictures.....

Linda