Scotland 2022

  Epilogue- Return to the USA 10/05/2022 Posted on  October 10, 2022  by  Jerry This trip has come to an end. We are home now. It has been a great trip. We toured several castles, walked the Royal Mile, stood on Hadrian’s Wall, and had a flat tire on the Isle of Skye. I ate Haggis and Skink soup. No one else would. I believe you should embrace the culture of the country you are in, this includes their culinary tastes. We did not find the Loch Ness monster or see a unicorn. We did see the Highlander cows and a ton of sheep. The weather was good and the scenery was beautiful and then it was time to go home. We left Inverness and drove to Edinburgh. This was a 4 hour drive through the rain. We stopped in Perth for lunch at Effie’s Cafe and then continued on to Edinburgh. We had reservations at the Edinburgh Carlton. We dropped Linda and Amanda at the hotel and drove to the Enterprise car rental and turned in our car. We took one last walk around Edinburgh and later, we ...

  Urquhart Castle and the Loch Ness Monster 10/03/2022 Posted on  October 3, 2022  by  Jerry Rainy days and Mondays. If you come to Scotland bring your rain gear. The morning started off nice, the sun was shining and the temperature was comfortable. We left the cottage and drove along the Loch Ness for 20 miles to Urquhart Castle This location was also where the last reported sighting of the Loch Monster was recorded 1n 1998. A touring adventure, like no other, was awaiting us. The ruins of Urquhart, the largest medieval castle in Scotland, date from the 13th to the 16th century. Urquhart played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century.  It was largely abandoned in the middle of the 17th century and partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent the Jacobites from using it. The castle ruins are open to the public and is the 3rd most visited historic castle behind Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle. You may have read about this castle w...

  Inverness 10/02/2022 Posted on  October 2, 2022  by  Jerry We left Isle of Skye yesterday and drove to Inverness. When we left it was cold, wet, and rainy. Once we got inland aways, the sun was shining and the day was very pleasant, a convertible day. We had an uneventful trip and got to Inverness around 12:30. We found a car park, had lunch, and walked around Inverness until we could check into our cottage. It is a nice place, 3 B/R, 2 bath, two story, about 5 miles out of town. Tomorrow will be a wal through history as we go back in time to the 17th century and visit the Battle of Culloden battlefield, a castle from the 14th century, and back to the Bronze Age to the Clava Cairns. Today we started with the Battle of Culloden. This battle, fought on 16 April 1746, lasted less than one hour. The British army, numbering 7,000 soldiers met the Jacobite army, numbering 5,000 soldiers. The British were led by Prince William Agustus, the Duke of Cumberland, and the Jaco...

  Isle of Skye, Day Two, 09/30/2022 Posted on  September 30, 2022  by  Jerry On our way back to our cottage yesterday, we stopped to take pictures of the ruins of Knock Castle. A gentleman walked and asked Linda if she had her brolly. Linda asked, “what is a brolly?”. He indicated it was an umbrella. He told her “tomorrow will be rubbish”. He was correct. Sometime in the night a huge storm made its way onto the island. We awoke to torrential rains and 40 knot winds. Today was not a good day to get out. A tree had blown down and blocked our road. We found out later, the road to Portree was closed by a landslide and would not be open for several hours. We had power, we had coffee, and we were comfortable. Linda and Amanda washed clothes and I finished up my school work for South Alabama. All in all, a quiet morning. The rain abated around noon and our road was clear, so we ventured out. We drove about 5 miles down the road to the Torabhaig Cafe and Distillery. After a ...

  Isle of Skye 09/29/2022 Posted on  September 29, 2022  by  Jerry We arrived by ferryboat yesterday afternoon and checked into the Rhu House. It will be home for the next 4 days in Armadale. Last night we had dinner at a local pub, The Inn @ Aird a’ Bhasair. It was almost next door. I had trout and everyone else had sole. It was enjoyable after a long drive. Today we drove to the village of Dunvegan. The village sits on the shores of Loch Dunvegan. It is a well known village because Dunvegan Castle is located here. Dunvegan Castle is thought to be the oldest occupied castle in northern Scotland; it has stood on its rocky outcrop by the shore of Loch Dunvegan for over 800 years. Dunvegan has been continuously occupied by the chiefs of Clan MacLeod in an unbroken line stretching back for over 7 centuries and 30 generations. We did not have the opportunity to meet the current Chief of Clan MacLeod, we saw a video he made about the time line of Dunvegan Castle and the M...

  Road Trip Lake District to Isle of Skye 09/28/2022 Posted on  September 29, 2022  by  Jerry We left the Lake District on Tuesday and drove to Oban, Scotland for an overnight stay. We had fish and chips for lunch at the Cuan Mor Pub. We rented a beautiful home, the Cairnes in Connel, Scotland, right on the water. Wednesday morning we were on the road again. We stopped for a picnic lunch at the Glenfinnan Visitors Center. Two items of interest were here. This was the location that Bonnie Prince Charles raised the banner that started the 1745 Jacobite rising. The rising did not end well for the Scots. The British whipped them handily in 1746 at the Battle of Culloden near Inverness. The National Trust erected a statue to honor the Scottish soldiers who gave their lives fighting the British. We also had a great view of the train trestle that came to fame as the “Hogwarts Express” in the Harry Potter movies. A couple of hours later we crossed the Mallaig harbor on the C...