the Trossachs

Well, our fancy hotel on Loch Lomond turned out to be a godsend as the rain was just torrential, all day Thursday.  We took advantage of not having to be anywhere at anytime to sleep in as late as we'd liked, then we waddled down to the enormous breakfast buffet at 10:30am to feast on eggs and haggis and black pudding (ha ha! not really, just a mouthful of each); then sit by the window with our cups of tea watching the world melt away.  We puttered around the hotel at our leisure, going for a nice swim & sauna, watching TV and reading our books until I could stand it no longer and dragged mum out for a late-afternoon walk around the resort in the rain.  We suffered only wet toes from our not-so-waterproof boots but were refreshed by the woodsy fresh air, enough to make dinner reservations at the sister golf club down the road.  We ventured out for dinner!  Quite a feat for us who are more prone to kick off our shoes and pour our evening drinks at 5pm and call it a day...

I think Fall happened during the night...  We woke to a gloriously sunny day and as we departed the Cameron House we couldn't help but notice that the air seemed crisper than before; that the leaves on the trees seemed just a little bit more colorful, as if overnight their inherent greens had finally acquiesced to the yellows and reds of Autumn.   We also noticed that the south here had a greater 'tamed' feel to it, more like the contained pastoral farmlands of England with hedgerows and stone fences than the wild hinterland of the Highlands that we were used to.


Anyway, we had only a lite day of sightseeing planned - just Inchmahome Priory and Stirling Castle, before ending in Callander, the 'gateway to the Trossachs National Park' .  The first is a ruin of an old monastery on a tiny island in the Lake of Menteith.  Active as a religious center for about 300 years from the mid-1200's, it's popularly known now as one place of refuge used by Mary Queen of Scots when she was just a young girl.  Being on an island, and a rather small tourist sight, there's the charming method of calling the ferry by turning over a sign on the dock so the white face is showing, and a few minutes later a little boat comes alongside to pick up any passengers.  It could be a wonderful place for a picnic, as some hardier tourists were doing, but not for these two wimpy Canadians who were already shivering in the cold wind...

Off to Stirling Castle, one of the great tourist sites in Scotland.  Occupied for at least a 1000 years, the present castle dates mostly back to the 1500-1600's and thanks to a very recent restoration, the Royal Palace looks like just King James V could come strolling through at any moment!  It may be a bit too tarted up for some people, but I enjoyed seeing at least one place as it would have looked originally, not always threadbare and colourless as most castles are...

"Off with their heads!"

James V bedroom

gotta love a castle with guides in tights!

Then, to Callander and the Annfield B&B, our home-away-from-home for 2 nights.  We fell in love as soon as we saw it.  Both the B&B and the town, actually.  It was a lovely Victorian-style inn with very gracious hosts - immediately on arrival we were offered tea in the drawing room, served on a shining sterling silver tea service and delicate petit fours, no less!

 

the town was our favorite

very quaint

we each found something ...

that we both loved to do

Not really being in the mood to visit any more tourist sites, we kept the car parked on Saturday and just spent the day wandering around town.  Our first venture was out on the new long-distance cycle path, recently converted from a disused railway line.  It paralleled a small river which we strolled beside at times, and then only glimpsed occasionally as the birch & larch trees grew thicker along the path.  We probably walked about about 2 miles before turning back to have a simple take-away lunch in our B&B room. 

A little read, a little nap, then out again to walk to Bracklinn Falls at the end of town.  Then, as I have a training program to follow for my upcoming mini-triathalon, I hit the cycle path again for an hour's jog.  I had the best intentions of getting this out of the way in the morning but as it was bone-chilling 38 degrees at 8am I put it off till late afternoon!  Hungry upon my return, we headed down to the local pub for some filling grub and spent the meal being entertained people-watching a local birthday party complete with toasts, balloons and birthday cake.

Heading South...

We had an early start from Portree on the Isle of Skye in order to make the 10:10am ferry from Armadale at the bottom of the island over to Mallaig on the mainland.  It was a beautiful clear day and we whipped down the island with time to spare.  I had carefully timed our trip so that we would have just enough time once the ferry landed to quickly traverse the scenic Road to The Isles and arrive at Glenfinnan just at the moment the Harry Potter steam train crossed the viaduct.  Well, unfortunately the website info was wrong and the train passed by 30 mins previous! 

just imagine a puffing steam train passing by...

As important as the Harry Potter movies are, Glenfinnan is historically known as the place where Bonnie Prince Charlie started the 1745 Jacobite uprising trying to take the British thrones.  There's a small tourist info center and a large monument marking this occasion as well as some splendid scenery...

can't resist in a man in a kilt

We continued driving south, thru Fort William which now felt like our 2nd home, and down to Benderloch (7mi north of Oban) to Barcaldine Castle which was to be our accommodation for the night.  We were absolutely thrilled to be staying in a real castle, built circa 1600 no less; so much that we didn't even go out for dinner as we wanted to spend as much time as possible soaking up the atmosphere!

Yesterday was an easy day of driving.  South into Oban to find a large-ish grocery store so we could buy some ice to stock up our insulated bar bag, then on to have a look at Inveraray Castle, home to the Campbell Clan.

a relatively modern 1745 castle, it was always been a 'home', not a defensive structure

a lovely entrance.  No pics allowed inside unfortunately

Thursday:  Rain, rain, go away....  It's absolutely bucketing down outside so I guess it's fortunate that we're booked into our hotel for 2 nights and today was designated our Rest From Sightseeing Day anyway.  The Cameron House Hotel has a lovely library with a cozy fire, a wonderful pool/spa/fitness center complex, and we've enjoyed a humungous breakfast buffet that will carry us thru to dinner so we're quite happy to stay inside ensconced in luxury while the elements continue to rage on outside.

A 2nd Day in Skye

The master plan was for the weather to be better today as yesterday was more the sightseeing day and today the hiking day.  Unfortunately, the one thing you can't plan is the weather...

Today we circumnavigated the Trotternish Peninsula with an ambitious schedule of 3 walks, 2 ruins, and a couple of monuments to visit.  Already behind schedule due to our inability to say 'no' to a large English cooked breakfast, we didn't get on the trail to The Old Man of Storr until just after 10 am.

It was lovely driving up to The Storr (the Old Man is the pointy bit sticking up in front of the cliff face)

But it soon starting raining, then hailing, and was muddy, windy, and cold.  But what else is new?

Very atmospheric but as visibility was reducing caution triumphed and we turned around and headed back

Kilt Rock

We shed our layers and piled back into the car for a couple of drive by photo-ops before stopping in a warm cozy island house turned tea shop/art gallery (a popular idea on the island).  We sat at a window table watching a ferocious rain storm blow over the Storr while our little cafe remained basking in sunshine - who can predict the weather?


Ready for hike 2 we continued north to the Quiraing, a magical craggy escarpment reached by driving up to the high moors where the walk begins as a pleasant stroll thru the heather before becoming a thin vertiginous path just barely squeezed onto the side of the cliff.

The Quiraing

Off we go...

The view behind, across the way...

And the view ahead

As the drop became steeper, Sheila became more of a leaner ("keep to the inside!")

Better for goats than people, I was quite proud of Mom who has a fear of heights

but the beautiful views made it all worthwhile

After the Quiraing our day was getting short so we flew up and around the top of the peninsula, blowing by the ruined castles (these were very ruined castles and so we didn't feel we were missing much) and made one last stop at the Fairy Glen.  A magical place of tiny hillocks and ponds that could easily double for Hobbit-land.  One had the urge to run up every mound just to see the view from the next but time was ticking and dinnertime approaching so we called it a day and wound back down to Portree and our welcoming B&B.

check out those horns!

A Day in Skye

Skye was a wonder.  Steep sharp mountains in the south, hills and crags in the north.  Heather and moors galore and everywhere you look is water.  We spent all of our time in the northern half of the island and so we'll have plenty left to see on our next visit!

The first day we drove a big circle route west on the Duirinish/Waternish Peninsula out to Neist Point to take a walk out to the lighthouse.  It's in a stunning location, as lighthouses often are, and the weather cooperated fully with our trek down the 3/4 mile path to the buildings at the end.

The lighthouse is hiding in back of this promontory

"Nice little lighthouse"

And this is the long, very steep path back to the car

Can I have a lift?

After a lovely lunch in a restored old crofter's cabin turned cafe/art gallery, we drove down to Dunvegan Castle, home to the MacLeod Clan for over 800 years.  It was actually a warm & inviting castle, not large but still an interesting tour.  Despite some dark threatening clouds we took a quick walk thru the castle gardens, thinking not much would be out this time of year but we were pleasantly surprised at how colorful and diverse the gardens were.  Well recommended to anyone traveling this way...

We hit the magical hour of 3:30, which meant we could then head for our B&B in Portree and arrive just after the opening time of 4pm.  Not that we were in any particular rush but it's nice to go 'home' at the end of the day and put one's feet up.  We booked into the Ben Tianavaig B&B right on Portree's waterfront and our attic room had the most marvelous view of the harbour...

Tired of eating 3-courses meals every night, we opted to stay in for a simple picnic dinner of pate, yummy Wensleydale cheese and fresh french bread and stayed up to watch the first episode of the new season of Downton Abbey!!  A perfect evening.  And no, we're not going to give out any hints of what's going to happen, you'll just have to wait...  :-)