We spent the first 3.5 days in London, under cloudy, then sunny skies.
We walked a great deal, saw all the sights, shopped, and saw a play that
was incredibly bizarre. It was a fringe theater near Hampstead, showing
"70 scenes about Halloween". Very strange stuff. We then took a day trip
by car through Oxford and the Cotswolds, which everyone really enjoyed.
That evening we went to Stratford-upon-Avon for "Much Ado about Nothing"
at the Royal Shakespeare Theater, which was a highlight of the whole
trip.
So after that brief bit about England, on to Scotland.
We had an afternoon flight from Luton to Inverness via easyJet.
We arrived in Inverness and picked up a rental
car. We had read and heard Inverness wasn't that exciting as Scotland goes,
but after 4 days in London, it was like Paradise. We stayed at the
Felstead Guest House,
which you recommended from someone who wrote you, and Anne Troup,
the host, was the most charming person we met on the whole trip. I must
strongly recommend her place to you and hope you spread the word. She is a
delight, and her B&B is right on the river, across from the Cathedral and a block
away from the Castle. Food and lodging were very nice as well, she makes a
mean black pudding (which I won't miss too much). We went wild with Scottish
stuff and had haggis (with tatties and neeps), Scotch broth, and seafood at a
local restaurant that night.
The next morning we set off along the west coast of Loch Ness, and
stopped in Drumnadrochit at Borlum Farms. We each got a horse, and rode along
the hilltops looking down on Urquhart castle, nice and sunny. It was a
lovely experience. The Borlum Farms people were a little cold at first, but
they livened up a bit as they saw we were nice friendly folk.
We left Loch Ness and headed west for the Kyle of Lochalsh, along a very
scenic drive. But here is the most disappointing part of the trip for
me, it started to cloud up and rain. It didn't really clear up until 2 days later in
Edinburgh. So our drive to the Kyle, Eilean Donan Castle, and around Skye, although
incredibly scenic, left us wondering what it would be like green and under sunny
skies. Oh well. Skye was marvelous, with its one-track roads, rocky cliffs, and sheep.
Driving was adventurous, at least. The misty, gray weather gave it a gloomy,
other-worldly feel. We drove around the north end, to see the Old Man of Storr
and the Quirang, neither of which we could see due to clouds. We stayed
near Uig, in Kilmuir House. We were the only people in a Uig hotel/pub
for dinner, but managed to enjoy ourselves. We went to another pub later,
and were again the only people around. With the wind howling near the
cliffs, the white Kilmuir House was like a scene out of "The Shining".
We left early the next morning and drove down to Mallaig, which took 1.5
hours. The scenery wasn't very good as the clouds hung low. The ferry
was uneventful, but the drive from Mallaig to Stirling - through Ft.
William, Glencoe, etc. was wonderful. It hurts though, to imagine what we missed
with the poor weather, because it still was still marvelous even cloudy.
We shopped a little in Ft. William, and took a quick Ben Nevis Distillery tour
(which I enjoyed since I make my own beer).
Stirling castle was ok, but as we left there and
drove toward the Wallace Monument, the clouds broke over the Monument
on the hill, and a rainbow appeared growing along side the Monument's
hill. It was a spectacular sight, and our pictures don't do it justice.
After visiting these places, we went on to Edinburgh. We had a hard time finding the Dorstan
Private Hotel, our B&B (very hotelesque), and had no heat in our room
that night, but Edinburgh was everyone's favorite part of the trip. We really
enjoyed the city, the food, and the people. The castle tour was great,
with a hilarious guide named Brian (with his large belly, he proclaimed he
was built for comfort, not for speed). His insight made the castle
really come alive, and I loved it's history. After just visiting and touring
Westminster Abbey in London, it was cool to see the Stone of Destiny (Scone) with the
Scottish Crown Jewels in Edinburgh castle. The weather improved, we had great
afternoon tea and cheese shopping, and went out for mussels that night.
After dinner, we hit the 'Ghosts and Ghouls' tour of Edinburgh, which at the
end took us down to some 17-18th century vaults beneath the city. The family
really enjoyed that.
Someday I'd like to see Scotland again, for longer, and especially in
the sun. It was a memorable time.
