Mull-ing about

OK, starting to realize that my thinking I could blog this trip in three parts may have been a bit ambitious. But we're getting there! Hopefully you are enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

Moving on. When last we were with our intrepid explorers they had made landfall on the Isle of Mull and made their way to Tobermory and the Western Isles Hotel. This was my kind of hotel. Fireplace in the lobby, only 26 bedrooms, late Victorian (1882), sitting rooms and a bar and restaurant. We checked in and headed to the bar. :-) This being Scotland we had to try the local whisky. In this case Tobermory and their upscale version Ledaig. Enjoyed them both very much. The Ledaig was a bit cleaner than the Tobermory. Unfortunately the distillery was closed for the season so we couldn't tour it. One of the things I love about Scotland is how different areas have vastly different whiskies.

We met up with our friends on the island and had a wonderful dinner at their home followed of course by whisky or tea. In my case a dram of Jura. Which I loved. While there we made plans for some sightseeing the next day. We decided to go see Duart Castle and a stone circle. Ever since reading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander novels we've been intrigued by standing stones and stone circles. More on those in a bit.

Duart Castle, or Caisteal Dhubhairt in Scottish Gaelic, is the ancestral home of Clan Maclean. We could only walk the grounds since it was closed for the winter but it is a spectacular site. For some of the history of the place follow the link above. It's one of a chain of castles. For the Jubilee beacons were lit making a chain of these castles. That would have been done ages ago as a warning system. Picture the signal fires being lit in Lord of the Rings or Mulan. It was cold and rainy so after walking around the grounds and watching a seal swimming around we hopped back in the cars. When we left we were held up by a flock of sheep!

Hanging out in the sitting room at the Western Isles Hotel

The view from our room

More single track driving!

Duart Castle

Obligatory sheep flock traffic jam!

Off we went down more single track roads till we came to a field beside a stream with a gate. As we got out of the car we saw a herd of deer run across the bottom of the nearby hills. They blended in so well with the heather I can't imagine trying to hunt the things. The path to the standing stones was marked out across the field by white blazes on stones. Unfortunately the rain had turned the field into a boggy mess. Our daughter Natalie was hobbling about on a bum knee but she was a real trooper and we all tromped off through the mud and over streams. If you go, bring extra shoes just in case you happen on an adventure like this. 

Stone circles are monuments of standing stones, generally Neolithic, laid out in a circle. Stonehenge is the most famous of course but there are numerous sites scattered throughout the British Isles. Some believe there are supernatural powers attached to the circles. A stone circle is a key plot device in the Outlander novels. I have to admit it was eerily quiet as we approached and a compass app on a cell phone we had didn't work inside the circle. Coincidence? I hope not! This particular circle also had two additional stones laid out at due East and due North some distance from the circle. You could imagine some ancient ceremony taking place as the sun rose over the nearby hills to strike the stones. 

After taking a gazillion pictures we headed back. (spoiler alert! there may be a Christmas card photo in the bunch) Elizabeth was wearing her Hunter boots and may have been a bit overconfident because she nearly lost a boot in the mud! It took us several minutes to dig her boot out. This mud is nothing like the red Georgia clay we have back home. This mud is alive and attempts to suck you down into the earth. Eventually we made it back to the cars and headed back, exhausted. More after the pictures. 

Deer on the Isle of Mull

Off to the stone circle!

We didn't want to impose on our friends and we got back to town having not eaten anything since breakfast. It was too early for dinner but we hoped to find someplace to grab a quick bite. No such luck. But that was ok and this is where being flexible pays off. On the main street in town we stopped by a chocolate shop and grabbed some gifts and some chocolates for us. We then walked down to the food co-op. Think smaller Whole Foods, Scottish version, and you get the idea. We grabbed some drinks, some crackers, some cheese, some nuts and some cookies and we were all set for a hotel room floor picnic. That turned out to be one of my favorite memories, just recounting the day with my family, snacking on foreign foods and comparing notes. Sometimes the unexpected brings the most joy, in travel and in life. 
Slainte!

Crossing Scotland

We had originally rented a Nissan SUV but when we got to the rental place they offered us a free upgrade to an Audi A6 Estate Wagon. Yeah, it was tough but I decided to suffer through with the Audi. :-) It was quite the car. Diesel but you wouldn't know it. Paddle shifters, SATNAV, power everything, heated everything. It was such a burden I had to bear!

Some people worry about driving in the UK. Personally, I love it. Don't worry about the left hand drive thing, everything is designed to work that way. And there are things that make their traffic flow much more smoothly. I love roundabouts. Beats the heck out of a stop sign or stop light. And speaking of stop lights, there is a second yellow that comes just before green so you can start pulling away. That's particularly handy when driving a stick, which most vehicles are. Another terrific thing, and I don't know why we can't do this, is the ability to just put a 6 character post code in to the GPS and be directed to the location. We loved this. It made using the GPS a cinch. The car we rented also flashed up the speed limit on the GPS and above the speedometer. One less thing to have to look for and worry about.

There are, however, a few things to know. They have speed cameras that simply take your picture if you're speeding and you get mailed a ticket. There are usually signs pointing out the presence of speed cameras. Single track roads are another thing to be wary of. A single track road is just that, a road with one lane. There are spots to pull over for oncoming traffic and you get a feel for them pretty quickly. 

Back to our travels. After packing up we headed over to the Elephant House where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. Emmie had never been so we dropped off the kids and searched for parking. None was to be had so I just pulled over and Elizabeth ran in to get some food and tell the kids to get their orders to go. Then we headed out of Edinburgh for Stirling. We had visited Stirling before on a previous visit when Natalie had been at the University there so we swung through and stopped at a Tesco to grab some lunch. We didn't stop there but Stirling Castle looked as beautiful as ever and we saw the Wallace Monument in the distance. 

The kids at the Elephant House, birthplace of Harry Potter.

We then headed north and west to the southern Highlands. It is beautiful country. It snowed on us most of the way across so I didn't get to see much. We did stop at a Loch along the way for a picture, I think it was Loch Lubnaig. As we headed up into the mountains the snow got worse. We actually passed the Glencoe visitors center without even knowing it. There was one section that looked like a winterized version of the Dead Marshes from The Return of the King. We'll have to go back in the summer some time.

Our mighty steed

Waiting for the Corran ferry

Loch Lubnaig (I think)

We made a pit stop in Tyndrum before heading on. Our friend's in Mull had been kind enough to provide us directions. We had a couple of ferries we had to catch or we'd be stuck. It was beautiful country. Our first ferry was from Corran to Ardgour. We crossed with no problem and then turned southwest along the Morvern coast by Loch Linnhe. As we turned on to a single track road it was suddenly a Grand Prix race with everyone just flying down this one lane. We couldn't understand why. There was plenty of time to catch one of the last three ferries. Welllll, not exactly. We didn't know it but we had the times wrong and there were only 2 ferries left. As we pulled in to the landing at Lochaline a ferry was leaving. We checked the schedule and there was only one left! It was getting dark as we boarded the ferry from Lochaline to Fishnish. We made the crossing to Mull with no trouble and then headed to Tobermory where we were booked at the Western Isles Hotel.  

Tobermory as we pulled into town

Scotland in three parts

New Year's resolution underway here. I've resolved to actually start blogging after fits and starts. And what better for a first post than our recent trip to Scotland. (I'll actually be breaking this up into 3 posts so as not to bore anyone.) Natalie has been there since August and we decided to take the rest of the family to see her and Aidan. Emmie has a good friend who's from Tobermory on the Isle of Mull and soon we had a full itinerary. So off we went after having a brief Christmas here in the states. We left on the night of the 23rd, changed planes in Amsterdam and landed in Edinburgh on Christmas Eve where we met Natalie and Aidan.

The view from our apartment

Elizabeth found us a great hotel apartment in Edinburgh right on a canal. It was terrific. Full kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, washing machine, good location. We ordered 2 breakfasts that were stocked in the fridge and pantry waiting for us. The only trouble we had was not being able to operate the oven. 

Matching PJ's and Christmas cracker hats

Christmas day we spent with Christmas crackers, mimosas, presents and just enjoying Natalie and Aidan. We then went to one of my favorite pubs, The World's End, for Christmas dinner. We had ordered this prior to our arrival since so many places were closed on Christmas. The World's End has been in the same spot for God knows how long. The name comes from the location. Located on the Royal Mile, the Flodden Wall (Goodle it for the history of the wall) ran through here and the pub uses part of the wall's foundation. This was where the world ended and Edinburgh began. There are brass markings outside the pub where the wall and gate stood.

After dinner Conrad escorted the girls in a cab while Aidan and I walked back. Edinburgh Castle at night is lit and quite beautiful.

Boxing Day was bright and cold. Aidan left us to head back to Glasgow for work and we headed off to the Royal Yacht Brittania,one of the few attractions open on Boxing Day. To get there we took one of the ever present double decker buses. They are great for sightseers, just head upstairs for a great view. I'm always amazed at how the drivers can whip the buses around the small streets. 

The tower holds an elevator used to get between decks on the tour.

Brittania is a fun thing to tour. The audio tour is easy to use and informative and they provided Elizabeth with a script because of her hearing impairment. Some of my favorite parts were the binnacle, the Queen and Duke's bedrooms and of course the bars.

My kinda people. I found the bar.

Good seats, good soccer, but freezing!

 After a lunch of fish and chips we took a cab to Easter Road to watch Hibernian FC take on Ross County. Aside from the cold it was a terrific match even though Hibs lost 1-0. We had ordered the tickets ahead of time and had great seats, so close I had to deflect an errant clearance before it hit me in the head! The cold took a toll on us though and we left early taking another cab back to the apartment. Cabs are a good way to get around town if you don't want to wait for buses. Since we were there on holidays the buses were running a reduced schedule and with the number of us it was almost as cheap to take the cabs. I wouldn't recommend cars in the cities simply because of parking issues. 

The next day we packed up, picked up the rental car and headed out across Scotland on our way to the Isle of Mull. But that will be part 2.