My Scotland Trip!

Well I know I have a few months of blogging to catch up on and I did have all the best intentions to get caught up but well that hasn't happened. Anyway I just got back from Scotland and decided to blog some of those pictures and a few memories as well. We had a FABULOUS time- everyone agrees. There are so many stories and funny memories but I probably won't share them all here. Instead of blogging a day to day journal I have decided to group a few of my favorite things and talk about those.

1) My Posse!
When I announced my plan in this blog post two years ago I was hoping I wasn't just blowing smoke but that I would actually follow through. Luckily I have a few friends that kept me honest and also really wanted to go as well. I thought it would be SO COOL if we could get 3 or 4 people to go. I never dreamed that we could get 9 of us. Everyone followed the rules and read the first book of the series (well one person didn't quite finish)- Mom quickly read all 7 by the trip and I believe is now further along than anyone else that went on the trip.

Starting from the Man in the kilt, Steve, (I will introduce him later) and working clockwise- Amy, Jill, Kelly, Sara, ME, Dee, Mom, Kim and Becky. When people would ask us where we were from we would say, "Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Ohio and Idaho"- and we would get a bit of a look.

To say we had fun is a bit of an understatement. I laughed until I cried and my ribs hurt more than once. Every day at least one of us would say, "This is so fun!" Here are a few of our group shots.

This was taken at the Ruthven Barracks.

This one was taken later in the day at the Clava Cairns.

Taken on the second night in Oban. Kim staged the pic, Dee came up with the "Jazz hands" idea (note: Mom and Sara aren't quite sure what this entails)- I set up the auto timer and ran down the hill and jumped in the pic.

2) Steve!
Once we made the decision to NOT go on an organized Outlander Tour due to the expense (and a concern it might involve more role playing than we thought we could handle)- we had the dilemma of just how we would get around to all the locals we wanted to visit. Quickly putting aside the idea of renting a vehicle and driving on the left side of the road- and realizing that 9 women without a plan would only lead to ugly chaos and most likely doing nothing- Becky was on a mission. Becky found Highland Experience Tours- which offers 2, 3, and 5 day tours of various Scottish sights. Then she saw that they offer private tours. Ohhhhh ding ding ding a winner! So Becky and a person from the office designed a 3 day private tour that would hit the sights we wanted see as well as some they suggested. [um we didn't pay a lot of attention to how much we were fitting in to such a short time period- we had 3 VERY full days but we got to see A LOT].

So this means that we would have a tour guide/ driver with us for the three days. We told them that we were Outlander fans and that was a big focus of our trip. A few weeks before the trip HET notified us that our guide, a man, was "swatting" up on all things Outlander. Kim asked if he was a) cute or b) funny or preferably c) both. I don't think Becky passed on this question. Imagine our delight when this guy showed up to pick us up at 8:30 on Monday morning!

A Scotsman, in a kilt, in front of a crumbling castle- perfect!
Steve was so knowledgable- he talked non stop the first day. Filling us with all sorts of information. He did spend a good amount of time breaking down all the inaccuracies in Braveheart "load of tosh"- mind you all I want to do now is watch that movie. Knowing we were Outlander fans he would say things like,"In Jamie's time...." or "when Claire and Jamie were here...." loved that! In addition since the first few books take place during the last Jacobite rising and Jamie and his clan fell on the side of the rebels Steve got us all riled up as rebels. We would talk treason and treachery and give a war cry. Admittedly since much of Scottish History involves great animosity with the English- we all had a bit of a negative attitude towards the English by the end. Jill, who was heading to London after we all left, was heard mumbling- "I don't really like the English anymore" {Steve was seen smirking after these statements}. I could go on and on about how much we all loved Steve. He MADE that trip so fun. He had a great attitude and a great sense of humor. We believe he loved us as much as we loved him. After much badgering I think Becky might have even gotten him to admit that he did love us - at least that is what I remember him saying.


I have no idea if this link will work- but this is a video that Kim took of Steve giving his toast to Haggis- the first part is in Gaelic- at the end he is speaking English. If you are on Facebook I can post the video to my profile and you can see. Anyway- we loved Steve and he was certainly a highlight of our trip. We were all a little sad on Thursday morning when he did not arrive to pick us up for the day.

3) Architecture
I loved all the different architecture. One of my favorite things about Europe is the history that is so present all around you. The minute we set foot in Edinburgh we felt like we had stepped back in time. We were staying just off the Royal Mile- this is in Old Town and the Royal Mile stretches from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace. Sunday we just wandered up and down the Royal Mile- knowing we had two full days at the end of the week to really explore. I have uploaded some pictures- not in any particular order or various buildings.

This is Inverary Castle. The Clan Campbell- grrrrrr.
Dunstaffnage Castle- so many of the castles and forts were built right on top of old volcanos or massive rock outcroppings. It was so cool the way they sort of grew out of the rock.
McCraig's Tower above Oban

Inverary Castle- same name as the first one- very different castle.


Ruthven Barracks
Dunkheld Cathedral

Looking down the Royal Mile.
View from the Edinburgh Castle- see that tower in the distance? On the last day Dee and I climbed up to the top of it to enjoy the views.
Tollbooth Tavern- mmm good food.
Edinburgh Castle.

Holyrood Palace (taken from top of that tower).
Holyrood Palace



The old architecture of the Palace with the very modern parliament building in the background.
Here is the tower that Dee and I climbed up- all 170 steps- and we have a certificate to prove it.
We got to the top and panicked that we couldn't get out to see the view- and then we noticed this very skinny door next to us- we hiked those steps, we were getting out there!
It was VERY WINDY!
But the views were AMAZING and totally worth it! That is the Edinburgh Castle in the distance.

There were so many "green" roofs it was very cool and Jill was quite psyched.
Old town on the left side and New Town (built during the Victorian period) on the right.
The shame of Edinburgh...

4) The Food
I did not have a bad meal in Scotland. We loved all the food. Yes, even the haggis. Since it is a coastal country the seafood was wonderful. Kelly had been assigned the job of eating the first bite of Haggis- here it is, Sunday morning.


Whiskey is huge in Scotland. While I am not a big fan- I certainly partook since you can't go to Scotland and not try any whiskey! Here I am having a wee dram at the Kelvin.

Oh and drink beer too.
Fish and Chips! Oh it was SO GOOD. I admit to craving it in the last few days.
Jill's dinner of Haggis neeps and tatties- she practically licked the plate clean.
Banoffee pie- bananas and toffee- yummo!
My seafood bounty plate at the Loch Ness Inn.
STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING- BEST STUFF EVER!!!
With some research we knew that you can get almost anything fried. Specifically we had heard that Deep Fried Mars Bars are a must.
A few went in to investigate and place our order.

Mmmmm. It was really sweet and rich- no one ate more than half a bar.
Jacket Potatoes (stuffed baked potatoes) were a must as well. Not sure what it was but they seemed creamier than the ones we get here- best potato I ever ate.

On the last day Dee and I went to go see the Royal Yacht Brittania. We decided to have tea on the royal yacht of course!


Then there was the fabulous salmon I had in Oban at the Waterfront Restaurant- mmmmm.

After sharing dessert the first night many of us decided we wanted a sticky toffee pudding for ourselves this time. Of course this crowd decided on no dessert that night.

No worries- we all licked our plates and enjoyed every bite!
My last night meal- beef stew with dumplings and sticky toffee pudding of course.

5) The Landscape
My last entry for now is about the Landscape. Having read a few books that are located in the Highlands as well as seen movies and pictures I was very excited to see it in person. I expected it to be beautiful but I had no idea. It was GLORIOUS and unspoiled. Even with overcast skies and drizzly weather it was so beautiful to look at every day. This was the view out of the van on Wednesday.

Oban
Castle Stalker

Glen Coe
The banks of Loch Ness
The view out of the train from Fort William to Mallaig.

On our way to Soldier's Leap at Killiecrankie (not Kelly Cranky as one member of our group believed).
There is still PLENTY more to share- but that is all for now. I was so blessed to be able to enjoy this wonderful vacation with some of my best friends- trip of a lifetime and hopefully not the last one.