Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Patti and Mackenzie Days 3, 4, and 5: A Wee Highland Tour

Fear not, we are alive and well!  My apologies for the lack of communication for all of you family members living vicariously through Patti and Kenzie.  After beating them at Great-Grandma-Geneva-Style Gin Rummy and finally getting to bed as the clock strikes twelve each night, I haven’t had the mental capacity to relate our daily adventures to you inquiring souls.  Now that they are completing the final day of their journey and we have many a Scottish mile behind us, I figure I better catch you all up on their overseas adventures. 

We return to last Friday, day three of their Scotland tour.  Having collected the car the day previous and made our way throughout the East Neuk of Fife, we loaded up on Friday morning and headed north.  By this time, I was an expert-level other-side-of-the-road driver.  Our first stop was in Aberfeldy to inquire about the process of making booze, properly known here as whisky.  While Kenzie and I explored the nearby village of Aberfeldy, Patti took a tour of a famous distillery and tasted the local brew. 

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After a quick bite to eat at a local café, where Kenzie had her fourth cup of hot chocolate for the trip, we continued north into the highlands.  It had been a beautiful morning, but unfortunately the weather turned for the worse the further north we drove.  So, rather than going up to Inverness to check on the whereabouts of Nessie, we drove along the southern end of Loch Ness and looked for her from the car.  At one point Mackenzie said, ‘If we see it, I’m running!’  I in laughter and tears kindly asked her if she’d like for me to pull over first so she can get her bags, but when she realized the lack of logic in her statement she changed her mind and decided it would probably be more beneficial to stay inside the vehicle at that point.  What a kid!  As it happened, there was no need for such difficult decision making.

Unfortunately, the low clouds and rain continued throughout the day, making our drive to Loch Duich less than glorious; nevertheless, it was a beautiful drive through the stereotypical eerie Scottish highland hills.

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We arrived at our B & B in Inverinate on Loch Duich exactly on schedule and settled in to our ‘Wee Cabin’ for the night. 

On Saturday we awoke to the same dreich drizzle as had accompanied us the afternoon previous.  Och weel!  It is Scotland, after all.  That morning we made our way to the Isle of Skye, but not before stopping at the most photographed castle in all of Scotland, the Eilean Donan Castle built by the Mackenzie Clan way back when! 

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On Skye we drove as far north as Sligachan before turning back, having already not seen much due to the low clouds.  Lucky for us, the weather turned as we headed back south and the sun shined brightly once again.  In fact, it was a truly spectacular afternoon of sun and golden scenery that will probably be etched on our minds for years to come.

At Ardvasar in SE Skye we boarded the ferry that returned us to the mainland at Mallaig.  B.e.a.utiful!   Patti loved driving the car onto the ferry and Kenzie loved having another first! 

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At this point in the trip, Kenzie has had her first trans-Atlantic flight, first train ride, first double-decker bus ride, first other-side of the road ride and drive!, first taxi ride, and now her first ferry ride! 

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Once back on the mainland, we headed east toward Fort William, going through Glenfinnan and seeing the well-known viaduct featured in the Harry Potter movies.  The old steam train wasn’t running that day, but we could imagine it chugging its way across the viaduct. 

Along the way we drove through Glencoe, a beautiful valley/gorge which reminds me of many places in Wyoming.  Feuding highland clans once occupied the valley, but now all that remains are the stone walls separating village from village and the same waterfalls that poured from the hills many years ago. 

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It was a gorgeous drive, capped off by a stunning rainbow on the plateau  at the eastern end. 

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We stayed that Saturday night on the outskirts of a tiny village called Crianlarich in another B & B, this one with stunning views not of a loch but of the surrounding mountains, even complete with sheep grazing in the pasture below the house. 

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Before finishing the day at the B & B however, we toured the nearby ‘Wellie Stop’, what we deemed ‘the local truck stop’, and ate another wonderful meal at a local pub, replete with a wild football match and a few slightly-too-friendly inebriated Scotsmen.  Good times.

On Sunday morning we awoke to a wonderful home cooked traditional Scottish breakfast.  Despite its looks, we convinced Kenzie to try the black pudding, but she decided she wasn’t a fan—and that was without her knowing what it actually is.  One of you can be the one to tell her the truth behind ‘black pudding’.  After breakfast we packed up the car and headed south along the famous ‘bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond’ to Gourock, a small industrial and shipping town on the coast west of Glasgow.  We were headed to Scotland’s first highland games of the season!  Unfortunately, we drove all the way there just to discover that it was cancelled due to rain.  Rain, rain, rain!  One concession was made in that they moved the highland dancing competition to the town hall, which we watched for about an hour.  The wee bairns were absolutely adorable, especially the boy.

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With our afternoon newly opened before us, we decided that the best way to make use of the day and the location was to head to Sterling in central Scotland.  When one door closes, another opens!  In Sterling we toured the castle that overlooks the city and which had defended the passageway to the highlands for hundreds of years.  We had a fabulous tour guide, whose words Mackenzie could only understand about half of, and a great time exploring the 800 year old castle.  We were saddened to not be able to watch the highland games, but the castle was a wonderful addition to the unexpectedly open day. 

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After arriving back in St Andrews on Sunday night and grabbing a bite to eat at a local pub, we returned to Gowrie Cottage and enjoyed once again the luxuries of home.  It was a great road trip and, despite the rain at times, was filled with fabulously picturesque scenes of munroes, glens, forths, and braes!  Oh, and many ‘hairy heeland coos’!

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