low_delta

It would have been nice to get an early start, but that never happens. We packed up and left Skye. Not too soon after was Eilean Donan Castle. Very picturesque, and highly photographed. Unfortunately, we didn't have good light. After a while, a patch of sun appeared, but it never made its way to the castle. I wanted to hang around and wait for things to clear up, but we had to keep moving. Of course, five minutes after we drove off, as I looked over my shoulder as we rounded the bend at the other end of the loch, there was sun on the castle.



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From there, it wasn't far to the hotel.

My original hope was to get up at dawn and see the Quiraing mountains. I say "hope" and not "intention" because getting up early is always a struggle. But then I was sick, so that put an end to any illusion I had of an early departure.

Also, breakfast was scheduled. It was very good - cereal and milk, fruit, yogurt, cheese, scones, muffins and... more.

But we left. To get to the car park, it was only a mile back down the road, then a mile up the mountainside. And a few pounds to park there.

And we set out. This is the first view everybody gets:


The trail is kinda dug into the side of the hill. Occasionally it cuts back into a gully, which were the only tricky parts, requiring a climb up or down some rocks.



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This was the view from our hotel room in Fort William on Monday morning.


Ben Nevis is up there somewhere. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK. The summit is 4000 feet above sea level, and 4 miles from the shore. The last time I was there, there was snow on it. Fortunately, the weather was much nicer this time.

The object for this morning was to see The Jacobite steam train. That's one thing I was disappointed to have missed on the last trip - a steam train. I found a guide to photographers who wanted to photograph it on Glenfinnan Viaduct, from a couple of years ago. They recommended you be there before the train leaves Fort William, so you can find a place to park and walk up the hills. I'm not sure, but we might have gotten there by then, but the parking lot was full, and the overflow parking lot was full, and everyplace else was full, including the places that said you couldn't park there. We stopped in one of them anyway.


Church of St. Mary and St Finnan overlooking Loch Shiel

( many pictures this day )



This is the view from our bedroom window. When we first got into the room, the setting sun was still on the mountains across the sound, but by the time I could get a picture, it was gone.

Breakfast in Edignburgh


After breakfast we got advice from the desk clerk at the hotel. She sent us downstairs to the EE phone store to get SIM cards so we could use our phones. The price was reasonable, and this would allow us to use our phones outside of wi-fi. This was pretty much only for data, though, or emergency local calls. And Cyn's didn't work anyway.

Then we walked around town a bit. I stopped in a bookstore to get a map of Scotland. We caught a glimpse of the filming of a TV show or movie. A black muscle car making noise in an alley. I decided we should go around the castle.



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Thursday, left for Scotland. Arrived in Edinburgh Friday morning.

Friday, took the bus to Edinburgh and dropped the bags off at the hotel. Went back there after 3:00, and took a break before going back out until evening. Toured Edinburgh Castle, walked the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace on the other end. Saw about 20,000 people march for the Global Climate Strike. Long, long day.

Saturday, went out and found a bookstore, bought a map of Scotland, just in case. Looked around the city a bit, didn't see much new, should have left town sooner. Stopped at an EE Limited store and got SIM cards so we'd be able to access data outside of WI-FI networks. Took the bus back to the airport, picked up the rental car (a Skoda Octavia), drove a little way to Linlithgow Castle, walked around for a while, then drove to Glasgow. Had dinner at the whisky bar, Bon Accord. Suddenly realized it was late and we barely had time to make to the B&B by check-in time. Drove up to Alexandria. Was feeling a little unwell by the end of the day.

Sunday, was definitely ill when I woke up. Stopped at an EE, because we didn't get Cyn's phone to work (it never did work 100%). I spent a while resetting the PIN on my credit card, so I could get cash (I was starting to get worried). Drove up and stopped on the banks of bonny Loch Lomond. Then up through Glencoe (the valley), to Glencoe (the town), for lunch. Then back through the valley. We stopped a couple of places for photos. Then up to Fort William. Checked into the hotel then walked into town for dinner.

Monday, drove to Glenfinnan. I wanted to see the steam train on the old stone viaduct, but there was no place to park. We drove farther up and pulled over by the side of the road. I hiked in a bit and got a good photo. Lunch in Airisaig, then stopped at a beach for a little walk around. Then the ferry to Skye. On Skye, we stopped at an overlook, had dinner, then checked in at the B&B.

Tuesday, left as early as we could for a hike in the Quiraing mountains. Walked maybe five miles? Went back to the B&B for lunch. Napped. Then drove around the top of the island. Picked up a hitchiker for a bit. Went over to Dunvegan. Wanted to see the castle, but it was late. Saw an old cemetery. No place was open for dinner, drove back home to the local cafe.

Wednesday, left as early as we could for a hike in the Storr mountains. Very strenuous climb. Went back to the B&B for lunch. Napped. Went out again. Wanted to stop at the Fairly Glen, but realized there was no time. Drove to Talisker and bought a distillery-exclusive whisky. Tried to find a place to eat. There may have been something in Portree, but there was no place to park. Went back home, Tried to find a different local cafe, but ate at the same cafe again.

Thursday, left as early as we could and drove south off the island. Stopped at Eilean Donan castle for a quick photo, then on down. A wrong turn turned a rush into a scramble - we got to Doune caste with not a minute to spare. We rushed around, taking a few photos. Then went to see The Kelpies, large sculptures. Then to the hotel.

Friday, left as early as we could. Got petrol, then turned the car in and walked into the airport. I had about £45 in cash left. Petrol cost £42 and change. In the airport I bought a bottle of water for £1.75 and had 1p left over for the tip jar! Long flight home. Got to watch the first five episodes of Star Trek Discovery. Frustrating time trying to get hold of the shuttle to take us home.

Saturday, need to restock the fridge, do a little yard work, and start going through pictures.

Illness had gotten a little better on Thursday, and better again on Friday. It's still holding on today. I'm sure I would have been in better shape by now if I hadn't been overextending myself on the trip. Particularly hiking, but just driving takes a lot of energy.

The weather was great. Sunny with temps in the low 70's in Edinburgh - quite warm for all that walking around. Temps mostly in the upper 60's elsewhere, which was usually perfect for what we were doing. Often windy, which could make things chilly. We only occasionally had rain, and it seldom rained when we were out in it. I didn't wear my raincoat once. Thursday was the first chilly day. When we got home, the weather was about the same as it was there - upper 60's and rainy.

I made a calendar on Shutterfly, of my photos of Scotland. I got half off with a promo code, and then got free shipping, so they're only about ten or twelve dollars each. I should have bought more than five. I got one for me, one for my dad, and one to sell at the upcoming St. Andrew's auction.

Cover:

( See all twelve months )

After dinner in Glasgow, we went to our B&B, somewhere in the vicinity of Edinburgh's airport. The recommended place to eat in the little town was not much of a recommendation (admitted by the B&B proprietor), but we didn't have too much choice. We were out of cash, at this point, and the bar's credit card machine refused to function, so I had to get cash from the ATM outside. I get twenty pounds, and the fee for that was ten pounds, so the bar food (for both our meals) cost about $45.

Our flight was very early, so the B&B arranged a breakfast for us, in the room. We left when the sky was just turning light.



We had enough time there to sample some whisky at the duty free shop. It was a Balvenie I'd never had before, and it was surprisingly un-good. Unfortunately, the saleslady was one of the less friendly I'd run across. She asked why I wasn't interested in buying it. I told her because my luggage was already full of whisky, but I'd already told her I didn't much care for it. In retrospect, I wouldn't have been able to take it with me, since I'd already checked my luggage, and couldn't carry it onto the plane with me at the next airport.

At the official booth at Heathrow, in the midst of the duty free mall, I was able to get reimbursed for the VAT tax, on what I was taking home. I answered the guy's questions honestly, admitting that one of the bottles was gone, but he gave it to me anyway. But it evened out, because I had another bottle, which I wasn't claiming the refund for.

After about three hours in the airport lounge, we got word on our flight's gate, and hopped a bus for the terminal. It was kind of odd, since they just drove us through the places that people aren't allowed to go.






Not the kind of thing you really want to see...


And here was our boarding gate lounge, which didn't even hold everyone who was supposed to be on our plane.

At the first security checkpoint of the day, my bag prompted a manual check. I guess it was because I had a bottle of hand sanitizer in it, that I didn't bring to anybody's attention. Apparently that put a mark on my documents, because I was singled out for some sort of many security check at every possible checkpoint for the rest of the trip, including the one inside this waiting area. When going through customs, we were even sent through different lines than most people. It would have annoyed me, but it didn't really cost us anything. We still always made it to where we needed to go on time.

Our flight attendant wanted to seat a couple together so asked for a volunteer to switch places. I volunteered to move. This got me an aisle seat, and I didn't really feel the need to spend another six hours with my dad, after the previous two weeks. The attendant was very grateful, and promised us goodie bags and whatever we wanted. We got liquor. The flight attendant felt a little bad at separating us, when my dad told her I was his son. :-)

We had four planes, Chicago to London, London to Edinburgh, then back. They were all British Airway, except the last - American. Not horrible, but definitely not as pleasant. And then we had to wait an hour for our shuttle back home from O'Hare.

Our hotel was near to Falkirk, we set off grey and early to see the Falkirk Wheel. On the way there, we passed this very long row house. About 100 apartments.



Then, the wheel!



The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift. A lock, effectively. Above it is the terminus of Union Canal, which leads to downtown Edinburgh. Below is midway along the Firth & Clyde Canal, which connects the Firth of Forth by Edinburgh, with the Firth of Clyde by Glasgow. The whole time I was there watching the Wheel, it never occurred to me to take any video. So here's YouTube, to show us how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k27gOmrDgpo

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Then we went to Glasgow.

To be honest, I started to lose interest in posting the rest of my Scotland pics. After the last set, it was down to the last couple of days, and I was just trying to plow through the pics, hoping to be done. And then it took me a while to post them on Flickr. That was June 10 through the 17th. Since then I've been kinda busy, and kinda over it. :-( But I want to post abut it, to put down my memories while I still have any, these nine months later.

After the ferry from Orkney landed on the mainland, we drove south to Inverness. It was a long drive, mostly after dark. We were staying at a B&B outside of town. It was not the best place we stayed. The food was... not the best. But it was adequate.

The next morning was grey and rainy, as befits a visit to a battlefield. Culloden. In 1746, a battle was fought between the Scottish Jacobites and the English Government forces. 1500 to 2000 Jacobites dead or wounded, and less than 300 of the Government troops killed. This was the last gasp of Scottish independence.







( Then we went into whisky country. )

I had a really good (and large) breakfast at our B&B in Kirkwall (mentioned earlier). Then we went down to Scapa distillery, just to the south of town (the second most northerly distillery in Scotland).



And then we went in. ( Sort of... )