Touring London: Rock, Plays and the Queen

After returning from Wales we had four days to explore London, not nearly enough time to do the city justice but, just enough time for us, since I feel we were ready to go home by Monday. We started Saturday off by just relaxing and doing some retail therapy that took us from Oxford Street down to Trafalgar Square and back up around to Covenant Garden where we stopped for the best fish and chips in London, according to my friend Ashley, at Rock and Sole, I have to say it was some of the best fish and chips I’ve had but my mom thinks she had better at Loch Ness (you guys will have to argue that one out yourselves). I was also shocked to order the Budvair or Chezh version of Budweiser, tasted just like regular Bud. After our shopping we wondered down to the Themes, Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben, since I’ve seen them as a kid we just looked at them from outside as neither one of us really wanted to stand in the long lines to enter. Then we walked from Westminster to Victoria and hopped on the tube out to Seven Sisters area and out to Yum Yum, a terrific Thai restaurant in an old Georgian house or Hospital (we heard both tales, but couldn’t decipher which one from the outside).

Sunday was all about reliving the birth, life and death (of many rockers) on a rock tour through London. The guide was good (he was an American from Chicago who wished he had lived in the 60’s to experience the scene) but was very knowledgeable and entertaining. I didn’t realize so much of the Rock originated in London and so many of the key players also died in London, hard times playing music, drinking and doing drugs. We started off at Trident Studios on Abbey Court, then headed to Denmark Street, also known as Tin pan Alley or publishing row back in the day, we drove through Camden, where the music scene is now, stopped by Britannia Row where Pink Floyd has office across from the school where they borrowed the children for the song ‘Brick in the Wall’, headed up one of the only hills in London to the Alexandra Palace where Pink Floyd held the 14 hour Technicolor dream concert (the building is vacant now but, there are plans to turn it back into a concert hall), next it was off to tea at the Clissoled Arms, the restaurant across the street from the original house of the Kinks and the first place they ever played, next it was off to Abbey Road to recreate a Beetles album cover and see Abbey Recording Studios, and finally 34 Montagu Street home to Ringo Starr (or used to be), all before pausing for lunch, whew! I think we learned about 5 deaths before lunch and there were more to follow after, I really don’t understand the drug use of the 60’s and 70’s.

After lunch it was back on the Rock bus and off to American Disaster, now called the Hard Rock Café, the only place in London in 1971 that served burgers and beer together, the tale goes that American Disaster became the Hard Rock as we know it today because Eric Clapton loved the place so much he wanted to save a table so he donated a guitar to be hung above his table and then Pete Townsend did the same and now you have restaurants all over the world with rock memorabilia. Next we saw the pub Horse and Groom on Beetley, a back alley pub so obscure it’s not open on the weekends, and a frequent watering hole of the Beetles. Next it was off to Chelsea and King’s Road, famous in the 60’s and 70’s for small boutiques and the place where Live Aid started and the story of the Sex Pistols (who only lasted 18months) as a band Vivian Westwood’s husband set up because he didn’t like the rock scene and said any band would be popular even if they couldn’t play a note, I guess he was kind of right. After King’s Road it was a drive up along the river Themes to see the Battersea Power Station, the main art in Pink Floyd’s Animals album cover, supposedly the photographer didn’t like photo shop so they made a balloon pig and tied it to the stacks for the shot, well sometime during photographing the pig got loose and floated up into Heathrow’s airspace, the air traffic control though the reports from their pilots about a flying pig were bogus but, it was the first air traffic alert for a floating pig; I guess hell froze over that day, since the pig was flying, wish I could have been there to ski (okay, okay, bad joke). We also stopped at Bill Wyman’s Sticky Fingers Restaurant and Bar, he is a Rolling Stone, saw the location of Island Records, the location of the Beetle’s last concert which happened on a roof on Savile Road, and we saw the death place of Jimi Hendrix, who actually died on his way to hospital because the paramedics sat the stretcher upright and left him unattended and unconscious on a 2 minute ride to the hospital, he was dead on arrival from chocking on vomit, sad negligence, or so the story goes. It was very tragic to lose Jimi, he was such a talented artist, in fact so talented that the London National Heritage committee has a plaque outside his old home commemorating him, he is the only singer/artist to have a plaque and he’s American, crazy. They are hoping to get a George Harrison plaque soon, but that’s under petition now. So much information on a tour, I couldn’t jot it all down, so this was just a quick synopsis.

Monday it was back on the ground attacking the other London tourist sites. We started out walking past the Tower of London down to the Tower Bridge and across the other side of the Themes up to the London Bridge and finally taking the tube to King’s Cross station where we promptly headed to the rail lines to get a photo of platform 9 ¾ from the Harry Potter films, dorky, I know, but I just had to get a photo running with my trolley at the wall. That night we headed to Covenant Gardens again to have a great pre-theatre meal at an Indonesian restaurant before heading out to see the musical Chicago. The musical was good, but a bit of a letdown, since the Roxy on our night was brunette and she is supposed to be blonde! Oh well, still a great musical and a fun night.

Tuesday we got up early and headed to the opening day of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace, when the Queen is away, the common folk get to pay to see her digs, and pretend to be a royal guest. I have to say for all the castles, abbeys, palaces that I’ve seen on this trip, and there were many, Buckingham Palace was worth it, they had a phenomenal audio guide tour through the state rooms and gorgeous furnishings inside. We even got to have tea and scones on the back lawn of the Palace, such royalty indeed. As a note the state rooms are only open one month each summer when the Queen is away at her summer house in Scotland, so not many people even get the chance to see them, but if you are ever in London in August I highly recommend, we got lucky, because the Queen left a week early so we were fortunate to see them in July. After the Palace we walked through St. James’ Park to the Horse Guards, the funny suited guards you can take photos with and try to make them laugh or smile (they’re not supposed to, looks like a horrible position having to stand still for so long while people poke fun at you to get you to  falter). That evening we met up with family for a wonderful English dinner complete with Pimm’s, Banger’s and Mash and Plum Pie Crumble. It was fun to catch up with family that lives so far away who you haven’t seen in years, and yet feel like you could catch up quickly on everything. It was the perfect ending to our month long trip around the UK, ending with family and delicious traditional food.

Haggis: Welsh Spooning Dragon Explorer

Our Wales tour started out in a claustrophobic mining elevator descending 300meters into a coal mine shaft, what a way to get to know your tour group. The tour of Big Pitt coal mine in Blaenavon was a bit scary but also very funny (with everyone banging their heads on the ceiling) and educational, I could never work in a mine, I would go insane in the dark under the earth. Our next stop was a picnic lunch at a Norman Castle in Cheapstow, yes we were very cheap, but Chepstow means marketplace not cheap as in price. After our lovely picnic it was off to Tintern Abbey in the Wye Valley, an old ruin of an abbey that was made famous from a Wordsworth poem, the best part of that stop was the Welsh cakes our guide Greta bought for us to try. Last stop on day one was Abergavenny at the Black Sheep Backpackers and some karaoke! Since they didn’t have Journey “Don’t Stop Believing” I opted for the second best Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire.” We had many Tom Jones signers as our team competition for the Wales trip was to have one member karaoke a Tom Jones song; it was a classic first night with a new group and definitely helped with the bonding.

 Day two started off with some middle school boy humor by stopping to take photos of the town sign for Three Cocks and Three Cocks Coaching Station, we just never grow up, do we? Then it was off to be academic in Hay-on-Wye, the largest book town in the UK, since I have gotten addicted to the Outlander (or Cross Stitch) series by Diana Gabaldon, I was in no need of a book but enjoyed walking around town. Next stop was Builth Wells to take a photo of the Llewellyn the Last mural, the best part of this was he shoed his horses backwards to confuse the British, unfortunately his horse-shoer was a drunkard and gave his secret away and he lost the battle and his life. The next part of the day was my favorite on the whole trip, we hiked up to Llangollen to see the Dinas Bran Castle ruins and valley below. On the hike up I specifically stated I would fall coming down this hill, since it was rather muddy, and sure enough the rain came out on our decent and I took the short cut fully knowing it was wrong and went down on my butt half way down the hill, it was a more graceful fall according to the viewers, and quite fun in my opinion, felt just like being on a slide. It was so inspirational that one of the tour members wrote her competition Limerick about it:

Ode to Katie, by Robyn

We climbed up the hill to castle ruins – so steep

Saw the town of Llangollen, aqueduct, cows, and sheep

To beat misty rains going down we did run

Katie slipped on smooth grass and slid on her bum

But fortunately for her did not fall in a heap!

Ahh, thanks Robyn, I’ve never had a poem written about me. Our last stop was the middle of nowhere in Cefn Brith at Tyddyn Bychan (little farm in the middle of nowhere) for a BBQ dinner and sleeping. We had a phenomenal BBQ  in the most amazing BBQ hut I have ever seen, I think it could even double as a sauna and steam room because it sure felt like one, but kept the rain out so that’s all that mattered.

Day three it was off to Betws-y-Coed falls then the Ugly House, which was rather cute in many opinions, just a bit odd because it was built with such large and mismatched stones. Next was Snowdonia National Park to hike a bit of Mt. Snowden on the Llybwr Mines Track from Pen y Pass. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny afternoon on our hour long hike to a lake and back, under the shadow of eerie mist covered Mt. Snowden in the distance. For lunch we stopped in Conwy a great river port town built inside the Conwy Castle walls. Here we walked the Castle wall around town, had some fish and chips, ice cream and saw the smallest house, which was pretty damn small, I again would get claustrophobic in there. After Conwy it was off to the Isle of Anglesey to visit Llanfairpwllbwyngyllgogerychwyrnbrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, or The church of Mary in the hollow of the while hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave, or the town with the third longest name in the world, whew. Not much there, except to take photos of the train station sign. After Llan…., you get the picture, it was off to view the Menai Suspension Bridge and Ynys Gored Goch Island, beautiful and then finally to our night destination of the Royal City of Caernarfon, where we got to sleep in a hostel that is inside the castle walls, not inside like a city but that the wall of the castle was one wall of the hostel, exciting, I know. Castle Caerfarfon is the Castle for the Prince of Wales, which is now Prince Charles, but it’s not livable. Now this is the part where some get offended but the British or the Welsh don’t understand American PC rules and think we are crazy but the best pub in town, according to locals was the Black Boy Inn, and they actually had a painting of a Black Boy on the sign, highly offensive to Americans but not so at all to the Brits. And it was the most popular place in town, it’s where most of us got our photos with elderly people and Cecil phone numbers (more tour contest stuff) and it was where some people tried Faggots or Welsh pork meat balls (offensive again, I know, I’m sorry, but just relaying some culture). It was also the place where the group got a nice Welsh boy to write a Welsh saying to me (I guess I was very inspirational to writers on this trip), anyways, I have no idea what it meant in Welch, he translated, but didn’t write it down, so here’s the Welsh version and if you are keen you can translate it yourself, or not, as it might just mean something like I look like a dog! Here goes:

Katie,

Rhy’n hiraethv amdanat am gweddill ry oes, mae ry nghalon yn wag heb y ti yn fy mywyd!

Carind Mawr,

Oddiwrth Guyn

It was the second highlight to the night with laughter, second to the Welsh boy calling our French tour companion Tiger Woods, after that the night was downhill with Tiger jokes and explanations for our French friend (his English was good but not that good, so the explanations, like charades, helped add to the hilarity).

Day four it was up and off to another castle, maybe I should have titled this blog castles? First stop was llyn Padarn Castle and slate quarry, then off to an overlook of Mt. Snowdon because there was a beautiful unobstructed view of the beast on Thursday, followed by a walk in Beddgelert to view Llewellyn’s dog Gelert’s grave, not a Hollywood ending story, so I’m leaving it out. We played a bit of rounders at Harlech Beach, where we saw another castle (overlooking the golf course and beach) and off to Dolgellay for lunch and a birthday cake for a tour member. After lunch we walked off the calories at The Devil’s Bridge and waterfalls near Aberystwyth and finally to the capitol of Wales, Cardiff, for the night.

Friday was a long driving day, we got up to tour Cardiff Castle then it was off to Caerleon to view a Roman amphitheatre and barracks and finally back into England to see a Cotswolds town of Castle Combe and back to London town. I won’t leave you hanging on our competition, my group did not win, our Cecil number didn’t go through, but all was good, everyone still had a great time participating. Ah and if you are wondering about my title, Wales is known for Dragons, and the spoons, well I have a funny story about a fellow trip mate, but the Welsh are known to express their love to another through beautifully carved loves spoons, so romantic.

Exploring Harrod’s, a Palace, and the Cotswolds

We took Saturday easy, slept in then headed to Harrod’s to get lost in. I have never seen such a prettier mall. I actually liked getting lost in it, and I hate malls with a passion, but the elevator areas were all different and elegantly decorated and the first floor had beautiful ceilings. I personally loved the first floor with all the food stalls. We ate the most expensive lunch at one of the lunch counters but, it was cool to sit there. I have to say the fashion was a bit drab though, all black and grey and very ugly, I don’t know what the designers were thinking this season, but I was unimpressed, I hope American stores don’t have those clothes when I get home, I love color. That evening we made our way across town to Brick Lane, home of the best Bangladesh food in London.  You felt a bit like you were in  Bangladesh with all the restaurants on the street trying to get you to eat at their place with drink and meals discounts, it was kind of fun to bargain for the best deal. We ended up eating at one of the Spicy joints on a corner (I didn’t even think to notice the name) because the people who had just exited said it was amazing and amazing it was, I didn’t know really what to expect but I loved the whole meal. On our way home I ran into the taxi that had an advertisement for Newport Beach California on the side, my friend Kristi said she had seen it earlier in the day and I was so excited to spot it dropping off people in front of my hotel, the Spanish customers and taxi driver thought I was crazy wanting to take a photo of it, but I was so excited I couldn’t explain in Spanish. About Spanish I have been fortunate to speak quite a bit of it here, the guy at my hotel front desk is from Spain and many people here speak it or are visiting from Spanish countries, so it’s been exciting to use it a bit and listen to conversations and understand.

Sunday we got up early and headed out on an Evans Evans tour of Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds, gorgeous. Blenheim Palace or the home of the current Duke of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill was enormous and absolutely stunning, or at least the exterior and gardens, I am never really impressed with the insides of buildings, I normally like the exteriors more, we had a lovely walk inside and a better walk outside in the gardens. Our next stop was Burford in the Cotswolds for lunch; Burford was a quaint old stone town. Then it was off to Bourton-On-The-Water, which was also a small stone town with a river running through and much more charming and full of life. It looked like the perfect place to bring a picnic, put your feet in the river or just play (at least for kids). Our last stop was Bibury and Arlington Row which has the most picturesque row of Cotswold stone houses along a river bank. All the British rich want to move to the Cotswolds but, I don’t get it, you pay half a million pounds for a tiny stone home that you can’t change and some you can’t even hang a picture on the inside, I would rather have a home I can paint and do whatever I wanted to for much less money and more room. I guess I just don’t understand status and the rich. An interesting fact about the Cotswolds is that it literally means sheep grazing on the hills and they are known all over the world for the best wool, however; the Cotswold Lions (sheep) that create the finest wool came from the Romans and it was Italy and France who bought all the wool from England way back when, ironic. Another odd fact, Britain outlawed Blood Sports recently (hunting for fun, not for food) and they went so far to make a law that says if you kill an animal with your car it is illegal for you to pick it up and take home for dinner but they guy behind you can (odd).

Okay enough with the random facts, we had the most amazing Thai curry at The Churchill Arms Pub in Notting Hill, it was super spicy and awesome. The pub is famous for having the most flowers, the outside is covered with them and the entire ceiling and walls and floor space have potted plants, it was some the freshest air I’ve breathed in a long time. We felt the day complete by eating at the Churchill Arms after visiting his birthplace today and driving past his burial place.

I can say that I am having a great time over here with my mom, I am very glad we had the opportunity to do this trip, it’s been good for the both of us, and I am learning to relax and slow down and rubbing a bit off on her. After spending a whole day on tour with older American’s I felt so foreign and it was good, I felt like I enjoyed life more than just schedules and lists and titles. Off to Wales this week.

Haggis; Cornwall Crusader Tour

Sorry it has been so long since I’ve posted but, we were just having too much fun on our last tour to stop and write, so this one is going to be a LONG one but I will try to keep it short and interesting. We arrived last Sunday in sunny, yes I said sunny (I know it’s normally foggy London town, but we got lucky) London town. After taking 3 different tubes and then getting lost on the streets, we finally got to our hotel by the end of the day. I was really hoping to spend some time in the sun but we just had a wasted travel day (sad face) and some rest.

Monday kicked off our five day Haggis Cornwall Explorer tour, brilliant tour (our guide kept using the term and I only felt it important to repeat), I highly recommend the tour and our guide and driver, Greta and Tony. First stop was beautiful and mysterious Stonehenge, still glorious today, even though you can’t walk up and touch the stones. After Stonehenge it was off to Salisbury to see the Salisbury Cathedral, a piece of the Magna Carta which is inside the Cathedral also known as the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Thomas Becket Church. According to legend the Cathedral site where it is because an archer went up to the highest point in town and shot an arrow, where the arrow laid was to be the site of the Cathedral but it hit a deer who ran and ran and finally fell a bit away in the new Salisbury. I thought this was the most interesting part of the area, Salisbury was beautiful but the cathedral lacked the beautiful stained glass (only had a bit) and a better version of the Magna Carta is in London (the one in Salisbury was only a small piece of one of four copies, where London has a full copy). Next it was off to Cheddar (yes this is where the cheese originated) for the night. We drove through the stunning Cheddar Gorge and saw the native Cheddar goats, little grey sheep like things. Cheddar was a lovely little town. The whole Haggis group at dinner at a local pub with some of the most amazing food I’ve eaten.

Tuesday we drove from Cheddar to the surf town of Newquay, on the way we stopped in Devon at the Canonteign Falls, the highest waterfall in Britain, the walk was brilliant but the waterfalls disappointing. Guess they didn’t have theaming, or the art of making fake rocks and trees and stuff, back in early 1900’s when the Third Lady of Exmouth made her husband install the waterfall, they didn’t even hide that it was fake. We tried clotted cream and scones here, I thought it was delicious, but others begged to differ. Next stop was Bovey Tracey for lunch then it was off to Dartmore and Haytor on Dartmore for a walk in the misty rain. Made for a mysterious moor and helped your imagination picture Sherlock Holmes walking in the mist trying to solve the Hound of the Baskervilles mystery. After a spooky drive out of the moor we stopped at a postbridge that still stands in useable condition and then into Cornwall and Newquay for the night where I got no sleep due to 2 people snoring in my room (ugh), I decided I should have stayed out with most of the group at the bar because I really didn’t get sleep until about 3 am when they all came home.

Wednesday was a walking day. We started by going to Minack Theatre, a small but exquisite theatre carved out of a cliff overlooking the ocean created by the imagination of Rowena Cade. It was phenomenal, the views were stunning, the stone work amazing, the only thing we needed was a play to be on, although I might get distracted with the views instead of watching the play, which they still put on today. Next was an hour long walk from Land’s End, the most southwesterly point in Britain, to Sennen Cove, then a quick ride over to Pendeen Lighthouse for a picnic lunch with views of the tin mines and ocean. Cornwall used to be a tin mining area until the price of tin fell and all the miners moved, so they have hundreds of old tin mines dotting the countryside. We took a walk to see a tin mine up close and on our way passed through Mên-An-Tol a mysterious rock formation with a center stone where you can pass through and if you do you are to be cured of your disease, the rock does have high levels of radiation, so I guess you would call it the first cancer treatment machine. The next set of mysterious rocks were Lanyon Quoit or a small henge that looked like a large table, our guides told us if we held hands and circled the stones three times then kissed the rock we would become more beautiful, and it worked, or at least we felt better looking, but maybe we just decided our guides were crazy but participated anyways. We hit a rain storm while viewing St. Michaels Mount and beach and headed back to Newquay for a surf, unfortunately it was late in the day and high tide was coming in. It was nice to get in the water but as for surfing it was pretty impossible, we had those large ship-like foam boards and about 20 minutes in the waves started lapping off the wall and back at us. Everyone had a blast but it was more like being in a washing machine on ship then surfing.

Thursday we saw the birthplace of King Arthur, he really was only a fairy tale but if he was real he would have been born at Tintagel Castle. Here we also tried Cornish pasties, delicious large pastries filled with meat and potatoes, ummmm. Then it was off to Glastonbury and the burial place of King Arthur, again he was a myth so there is no tomb, but we had a great walk up the Glastonbury Tor and a few reenacted a sword fight, since it was a steep walk a few people went into town and checked out the Abby. After our two days of walking/hiking (Tintagel Castle was like walking on a stair master) it was off to Bath and the Therma Baths and Spa for some R and R, brilliant! For 39P we got to use the roof deck pool, the four steam rooms and waterfall, and the lower pool, as well as have an amazing dinner and glass of wine. Everyone who participated in this was thoroughly content and rested, and just in time too for it was our last night and we were having a pirate party at the hostel bar. Arrrrrrrrrghhh Mateeeey! We might have had a bit too much fun, but I won’t give details.

Friday it was up and early with the birds to be the first to check out the old Roman Baths and Bath Abby. The Baths were stunning and they have excavated more of the site to include the old steam rooms and changing areas. We had some time to walk through town so we strolled down the River Avon which had great view of the Putney Bridge. They have a pained lion exhibit in town right now, which made our stroll through town interesting trying to spot our favorite lion; mine was the Michael Jackson lion, complete with studded white glove in a music shop. Next was Lacock Village a quaint old village that has been the setting for a few movies like Harry Potter. Our last stop before heading back to London was the Avebury standing stones, the largest standing stone circle, but also the most ruined. The remaining rocks were huge and impressive however. It was a bit sad departing at the end of the tour because everyone was amazing and got along so well, but we were off to different travels and I had to meet an American friend for dinner across town. We had a fun night catching up and checking out a traditional British pub.

Whew! That was a long one. Well I am off to explore London for a few days then it’s off to Wales with Haggis again, I will try for a mid week post but no promises. Cheers for now.

Haggis: Scottish Tales and Battles

The atmospheric (rainy) Scottish summer just won’t let up, one minute it’s glorious the next atmospheric and on day 6 we experienced at bit of the dramatic (lots of rain). At least we were doing a bit of driving that day and could jump out of the bus, take our photos, and hop right back on, no lollygagging around. We started the day driving from the Isle of Lewis down to the Isle of Harris, which didn’t require a bridge since they are both the same island but both called islands, oh the Scotts, they decided that the two parts of the large island were vastly different so they should have two separate island names even though they are the same island, confusing, I know. But they are right, while Lewis is full of rolling hills and fertile farm land; Harris is mountainous and rocky with poor soil. Our first stop on Harris was Luskentyre beach, were our very free-spirited Aussie friend decided she needed to go for a swim in the freezing water, while the rest of us stood there stunned that anyone would want to swim in the wind and rain and the COLD Scottish sea. She assured us the water was fine, but I’m skeptical and a big cold water wimp. Next we took the Tarbert ferry to Uig on the Isle of Skye and promptly off to Cuith Ruing viewpoint for some viewing of sexy Scottish scenery. On the bus we heard the Scottish version of the Giant’s Causeway (I heard the Irish version in Ireland, both very different) and saw the Kilt Rock (looked like a miniature Cliff’s of Moher but less spectacular, well the waterfall was beautiful). Then we heard the tale of the old man and woman of Storr and saw where they have been sitting for hundreds of years. Lunch was at Portree a quaint and beautiful little harbor town, then off the Culligan Mountians; one half of the range has been dated as some of the earliest mountains, the Red mountains and the Black are much younger, you can tell the difference because the Red mountains are very worn down and gentile while the Black look gnarly and sinister. Dividing the Culligan Mountians is the river Sligachan, where the tale goes that if you stick your face in the river you will be forever beautiful, I tried and I managed to look more hideous with running mascara! Damn Irish luck. Our journey on day 6 also took us to our overnight stop in Kyleakin, were we stayed at Saucy Mary’s. Interesting story, Mary was a queen of some sort and made a living my lining her boats up across the narrow waterway that separates Isle of Skye from the mainland Scotland, well the shipmen got tired of paying her fees to pass so they started sailing around the island to avoid her, she realized she needed them to come through the inlet and pay her fees for her income so she started the world’s first strip show, where she showed her boobs to the sailors after paying the fee, it worked and they returned to using her route. Men.

That evening we went on a brief walk about town to see Castle Moyle and the Skye Bridge and finished off the evening in the pub chatting with the locals and playing pool. Day 7 found us driving across the Skye Bridge and back to mainland Scotland on our way back to Edinburgh. The rain was still with us. We saw Eilean Donan Castle, Glengamy Mountians and Loch, the Spean Bridge and Mill in Inverness-shire, Glencoe and the three sisters mountains (or what we could through the rain and haze), in Glencoe we learned that anyone with the surname Campbell is not welcome and it is legal to refuse service to anyone with that last name in the area, due to the massacre of the MacDonald clan by the Campbells; only Scottish law would make it legal to discriminate against a surname, even 200 years after the massacre; although the Campbells were ruthless and horrible people. The story goes that the king of England at that time (I forget when but related to the Campbells) wanted all the Clan chiefs to sign a document swearing loyalty to him, well the MacDonald head heard about this document very late and went off to sign but was mislead and then held up by weather, he eventually signed it 4 days late, but signed it none-the-less, well the king thought this was an act of spite and sent his men up to Glencoe to kill the MacDonalds, after getting pampered by the hospitality of the MacDonalds for a week, the Campbells received orders to kill everyone, so they awoke early one morning and, well, killed many before the MacDonalds realized what was going on. Horrible story and if you’re a Campbell I suggest you steer clear of hiking in the area or someone might not rescue you and they definitely won’t give you food or shelter at the hotel. 

On to happier tales, we stopped at Tyndrum and the Green Welly Stop (I love this name) for lunch and then it was off to Kilmahog to meet Hamish and Heather, Hairy Coooos (Highland Cows). They were adorable and fun to feed. I also learned where Scottish black mail came from. There was this Scottsman Rob Roy MacGregor who was a great Highland Cow thief (the cows back then were mostly black, not red like the ones today and they called them blacks) and he had the brilliant idea one day to sell himself as a thief watcher to the local farmers for a small rent (mail was the word for rent back then), the farmers weren’t dumb and told him he was the cow thief, why should they pay him? He told them he wouldn’t steel his cows (black) if they paid (mail) him. Oh good Scotts. Our last stop was Stirling and the Wallace Monument, the tallest monument built for a man that was not Jesus, and basically William Wallace fits right up there next to Jesus to the Scotts (not the Braveheart version, since the movie was off on many ways, but he was a true leader and protector of Scotland). We reached Edinburgh for some sun, a nice walk, some of the best lobster ever and laundry.

Our last day in Scotland was spent trying to stay out of the rain that seemed to follow us from the Highlands and Islands. We checked out the National Gallery, St. Giles Cathedral and the highlight, the Lewis Chessman at the Museum of Edinburgh. They are these awesome Scandinavian intricately carved whalebone chess pieces. The funny faces were the best part. We then walked around town poking our heads into shops in the rain and then back to the hostel to relax and have some hot tea. It was off to a lovely dinner and catching the end of the Uruguay and Germany game before bed. I do hope England is much warmer, but the weatherman says the rain will follow us for the next few days, boooo.

*as noted if you want the facebook photo link please email me as I won't be including it in my blogs anymore, thanks!

Haggis: Searching for Nessie, Stone Circles and Windy Places

Day 3 finds us still at Fort Agustus with a free day to search for Nessie. After a quick breakfast we were off, well we did get a bit side tracked by the mezmorising loch system to get from Loch Ness to Loch Oich, then we got distracted by the walking path around town, next our books and a hot tea were calling our names, after that we got hungry for dinner (a nice lamb stew if you must ask topped off with a local beer), and FINALLY the boat ride at dusk (well not really dusk because 8pm is still light out in Scotland in the summer, but in real life it should have been dusk) to search for Nessie on the Loch, we got an amazing view and a crazy boat captain along with some delicious local made Nessie Monster Ale, but no Nessie sightings, guess someone else will win the 1mil pounds for finding her (damn Irish luck).

We were on the move again on day 4, first stop Invermoriston and the Summer Hoes and falls that helped inspire J.M. Barrie to write Peter Pan, or so the Scottish say. Our next stop was Glen Affric national forest with dog falls, which is one of the last remaining Caledonian forests left in Scotland, gorgeous, we hiked for about 30 minutes up to a viewpoint to take in the breathtaking forest. We stopped in the quaint town of Bealy for lunch and a quick visit to the Priory (some type of religious house, but I really don’t know why). I need to mention now that this was a day of waterfall touring, after lunch it was off to Rogie Falls, then Corrieshalloch (swing) Bridge and Falls; stunning beauty. We ended our day taking the ferry from Ullapool on the mainland to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. They ferry crossing was fairly smooth and we were sent off by a large group of dolphins, I guess that was a good omen because no one got seasick and like I said the passage was smooth (unlike today, when the new people at the hostel came in looking sicker then dogs because the sea was so rough), glad we traveled the day before. We finished the night with a pint at a local pub, the only problem was the pub closed at 11pm, I think it should be a sin to close a pub before it gets dark, but I only really needed the one cider anyways.

Windy, windy, atmospheric, and windy, is how I would describe day 5 on the Isle of Lewis. First we were off to the Callanish Standing Stones, very similar to Stonehenge (or so I was told, I will be seeing those stones in a week or so, so I can report back then, or you can comment here), these were beautiful and you could walk right up and touch them (something I hear you can’t do at Stonehenge). While many of the other stone circles in Scotland were made to worship the sun, these were for the lunar cycle, or so the tale goes. Our next windy stop was Carloway Broch and Dun, I am not quite convinced that people would want to live up on that blustery hill but, you could see for miles and it was beautiful if you didn’t get blown off first. It was quite surprising that after a few thousand years the inside was still intact and a great shelter from the wind. We got a quick demonstration on how they make Harris Tweed at the Garenin Blackhouse Village, and a view of life back in traditional rock and heather thatched roof homes of the early Scotts. Plus a great view of Scottish scenery and the ocean on a super windy cliff walk, I am pretty sure if I had had a kite I could have flown all the way home, or at least Ireland. Final gusty stop was the Butt of Lewis, and no I am not making that name up. It’s the most northern part of the Isle of Lewis and has the only brick building on the Island, the lighthouse, which I guess can be seen from 25 miles out at sea; another breathtaking spot. Finished the day walking around the town of Stornoway and hiding inside from the wind with a nice cup of tea, now it’s off to the pub for some dinner, live music and a bit of world cup watching.

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Haggis: Touring the Highlands

On Saturday we started our 7 day Haggis tour of Scotland. After a quick tour though new and old Edinburgh it was off to Dunkeld Cathedral and Town to have a quick glance at the cathedral, then it was off to the town of Kingussie for lunch. We went to Culloden Battlefield where the Bonnie Prince Charley of Scotland was defeated by the Brits, a battle which changed Scotland and clan life forever. The Scot’s lost horribly and the British decided that it was then illegal to wear the kilt, carry weapons, and harbor Scottish Jacobites, this forced a mass emigration from Scotland over to Ireland and America, because the Highland Clansmen could no longer live their normal way of life without weapons to hunt for food. I have to say that the prince was insane and picked the worst, flattest area to fight, which was detrimental because the Highlanders had heavy weapons and only knew how to attack by ambush and by propelling themselves down the mountain sides. We also visited Clava Cairns, a druid Stonehenge like place. This one is famous because it contains the split rock which the book series by Diana Gabaldon, “The Outlander”, was based off of to propel the protagonist from the 20^th century back into the 1740’s. I have to say, I highly recommend the book, I’m only 100 pages in and in love, plus it’s amazing to read about a place and then visit it, it’s like I am living in the book. We drove through Inverness onward to Carbisdale Castle for our overnight. Nothing like sleeping in a haunted castle overnight, I am not sure if the children’s giggles I head in the restroom were the ghosts or the German schoolgirls sleeping in the room across from it, but according to Scottish tales it’s haunted by murdered children ghosts, the Duchess of Southerland, and a man.

Day two was off to explore the highlands, we stopped at Clottie Well, where people tie a piece of a sick loved one’s clothing to a tree and as the clothing disintegrates so does the sickness. By the looks of the mostly intact clothing, I am not sure it works but who knows. Then it was off to Loch Ness to hunt for Nessie. A little blurb about Loch Ness; it’s the biggest body of fresh water in the UK; used to be connected to the sea until a glacier cut it off in the ice age; it contains a type of arctic char that has adapted to a fresh water fish; they have ferrox a type of cannibalistic trout; it’s a perma-dark lake due to peat; and its 4 degrees Celsius year round. We also saw Urquhart Castle and Fort William which had St. Andrew’s Church. We drove through the Glen Nevis region and saw beautiful waterfalls due to the liquid sunshine, the mountain Ben Nevis, and the mound used in the film Braveheart, where Mel Gibson yelled for a free Scotland. On our way to Fort Agustus to sleep we stopped in at a floating pub in the Laggen Lochs. In fact on the drive we saw all four lochs (lakes) in the Glen Nevis region, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, Loch Lochey, and the sea Loch Lenny. That night at the hostel in Fort Agustus we participated in an overly long and drawn out pub quiz that most of us ended up dropping out of just because it was taking too long, but the local Black Isle Beer was delicious (and it’s organic).

 On the bus we learned about the Scottish weather; it’s either glorious, atmospheric, or dramatic, and it’s liquid sunshine, not rain, as others would call it. In two days we have had much liquid sunshine. I’m hoping once we exit the highlands in a few days we will get a bit more sun and not the liquid kind. I also wouldn’t mind trying more Uskabey or Whisky or The Water of Life, mmmmm….

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Welcome to Majestic Scotland, The Tour Starts With Edinburgh

We decided to fly Virgin Atlantic hoping the  seats would be more comfortable, the staff friendlier and the food better, well the food was better than most American airline companies, but since it was an air bus, the staff was way too busy to really care about the passengers and the seats cramped and uncomfortable. The personal video and tv in the seats were nice, but I was hoping for more space…oh well, someday I will be able to afford business or first class.  At least the flight was non-stop to London, then a short hop over to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Edinburgh is a beautiful city, no wonder my friend Alicia is coming to vet school here, it’s green and full of castles and beautiful buildings, plus I’m sure the accents help a bit, for her. My mom and I can’t believe how HOT it is here, well hot is a relative term but it’s warm and sunny here, I hope it lasts; haven’t needed a sweatshirt at all, even at night. Thursday was our first day here, and we got in around 5pm, so we walked a bit of the city then headed to dinner and a pint of Magners cider, then an early sleep, since it was impossible to sleep on the flight.

Friday we were full-fledged tourist, we paid the extra two pounds to have access to all four tourist busses in town, we only used two of the busses, the first the Edinburgh Tour had a live crotchety old Scotsman as the guide, he was full of knowledge but a bit irritable. Was a nice tour of town though; Edinburgh Castle, The palace of Holyroodhouse, Our Dynamic Earth, The Royle Mile, and Scottish Parliament were on route, as well as other hot spots around town, including a view of the original Hogwarts, or at least the school that the Harry Potter books were born from and Arthur’s seat, Nelson Monument and Scott Monument. The second bus was the Majestic Tour that takes you through new town, past the botanical gardens and out to Port Leith and back to Waverly Bridge. Both were informed and educational, but the best part of the day was walking through the city and checking out all the spots shown on tour.

First was Edinburgh Castle, great views but that’s about it. Second was a Textiles factory, too bad our clan was exiled/very small so they don’t have the tartan on hand, you have to special order it, darn. But I did learn that that Hannah’s didn’t know how to spell and there is Hanna, and Hannay as other options, no wonder I can’t spell, it’s in my genes. After the disappointing tartan experience we headed over to the fun, a Scotch Whisky Experience and tour. The tour was a bit Kitschy, you got in a plastic whisky barrel ride, that kind of reminded me of the Haunted House ride at Santa Cruz, but the whisky lesson was wonderful. They put 4 bottles with distinct smells from the 4 main whisky regions in Scotland; the Lowlands, the Highlands, Speyside, and Islay, in front of you to smell, then you decide which you want to taste, since they were all malt whisky’s I opted for the blended whisky “Famous Grouse”, it’s the most sold whisky in Scotland, smooth but, I’m not a big scotch whisky drinker. After the main tour I opted for the extra whisky tasting where I got to try a single malt from each whisky region; the Lowland “Glenkinchie 12yr” had a refreshing mouth with citrus in the finish, the Highland “Old Pultney 12yr” was my personal favorite with a fresh nose, full-bodied taste of light salt and malt, the Speyside “Glenlivet 12yr” was actually appealing as well, I think Nick likes it more aged but I could actually enjoy this one with its peachy and floral nose and well balanced sherry and vanilla sweetness; and finally the Islay “Caol lla 12yr” very peaty and smoky. We topped off the tasting with a taste of a chocolaty scotch and a piece of chocolate, but at 120 pounds a bottle, I deliberately decided to forget the name. Sorry. After the scotch whisky tour it was off to see the Queen’s Scotland summer home, Palace of Holyroodhouse, very historic, and educating audio tour. We wrapped up the day having dinner at the Elephant Bar on George IV Bridge, the place where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter, a very mystical evening full of witches and wizards, pumpkin juice and butterbeer, I wish, it was a normal café restaurant but delicious.