Day 9 – Castle, Links and Forth
Reluctantly leaving the Laggan Hotel, we
set out through Cairngorms National Park again for our first destination, Blair
Castle. This was the ancestral seat of the Duke of Athol as well as Clan
Murray. It was an impressive home and I loved learning about the long history of
the place, including several sieges. The most important involving the benighted
Bonny Prince Charlie. One of the dukes took up collecting old weapons as a
hobby and they were liberally displayed throughout the building, especially in
the entry hall. A young bagpiper came out near the end of our visit and it was
easy to imagine one of his forbears doing likewise hundreds of years ago.
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| Wife and I Posing as the Duke and Duchess of Athol |
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| First View of Blair Castle |
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| Scenes from Inside the Castle |
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| Family Portraits |
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| The Entry Hall |
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| Remnants of the Moat |
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| The Lone Piper |
We finished up the tour and then headed
out of the Highlands towards Edinburgh. I’m still trying to figure out why it’s
pronounced Edinborough but written Edinburgh.
I’m, however, easily confused. We passed through the city of Dundee
where we saw a tall ship that was used for Shackelton’s expedition to Antarctica.
Crossing the River Tay we headed for St Andrews which I wasn’t too excited
about, not being an avid golfer. This is supposedly where that frustrating game
was invented. We pulled in directly across the street from the Royal and
Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and saw the iconic 18
th fairway on
the Old Course, so prominent when tournaments are played there. Strangely the
public is allowed to wander over the course and there were throngs of people without
golf clubs walking across the fairway. The tour director pointed out the nearby
beach where the opening scene from Chariots of Fire was filmed. We had two
hours in town so we walked into town in search of a pub from lunch. We saw the
pub where, according to the sign in the window, where Prince William and Kate
met while attending school there. We found a pub to eat and several other
couples from our tour group happened into the same place. That led to a very
fun lunch while storm clouds gathered outside which got my wife fuming as she
had already sized up the many shopping opportunities we passed while searching for
the pub. She got her shopping in and I got wet chasing after her.
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| Shackelton's Ship |
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| Crossing the River Tay |
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| The Old Course |
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| 18th Fairway |
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| Pub Where Will and Kate Met |
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| 18th Fairway |
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| Chariots of Fire Beach |
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| St Andrews |
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| Wife and I Near the Final Hole |
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| Streets of St Andrew |
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| Pub Lunch |
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| Shopping District |
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| Our Pub |
Then it was on to Edinburgh, crossing
over the Firth of Forth on a massive bridge. I’d like to take a minute to
comment on the nearly omnipresent roundabouts (traffic circles) that are used
in both Great Britain and Ireland. They are literally everywhere and it was
fascinating to watch Raymond maneuver through these despite having to drive on
the wrong side of the road. They seemed to reduce the need for traffic lights
but it was scary to think of their widespread use over here with our less
genteel brand of driving. Anyways, we arrived at our final hotel and geared up
for an evening in the city. We drove in, through seemingly a hundred roundabouts
and I got my first glimpse of Edinburgh Castle sitting majestically overlooking
the city. Our destination was a club in the center of the city called Ghilli
Dhu, which I’m sure means something awesome in Gaelic.
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| First Sighting of Edinburgh Castle |
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| City Center |
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| Wife Grabbing the Bull by, Well, You Know |
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| Our Faithful Bus Unloading |
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| The Ghilli Dhu |
At this point I feel compelled to find
out what it meant:
The Ghillie Dhu, or
Gille Dubh, is a legendary being from Scottish folklore, often described as a
solitary and elusive forest spirit or faerie. It is said to inhabit the dense
forests and wild landscapes of the Scottish Highlands around Loch Gairloch. The
name ‘Ghillie Dhu’ is derived from Scots Gaelic, with ‘ghillie’ meaning
‘servant’ or ‘attendant’, and ‘dhu’ meaning ‘dark’ or ‘black’. The Ghillie Dhu
is typically described as a tall and lean figure covered head to toe in leaves,
moss, and other natural foliage, which serves as camouflage in the forest. Its
appearance allows it to blend seamlessly into the woodland environment, making it
difficult to spot by unsuspecting travelers. Some legends portray the Ghillie
Dhu as having wild, unkempt hair and piercing eyes. According to folklore, the
Ghillie Dhu is a benevolent guardian of the forest, possessing a deep affinity
for nature and wildlife who watches over the forest and its inhabitants,
protecting animals and plants from harm. So now we know.
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| Inside the Ghilli Dhu |
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| Wife and I Ready to Eat |
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| The Piper Takes the Stage |
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| Now We Know What This Means |
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| Dancers Join Him |
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| Doing the Haggis Thing |
Back to our regularly scheduled post. We
were attending an evening of Scottish traditional music and dance while also
having dinner. The dinner, including some more haggis, of course, was awesome
as we were entertained by first, a bagpiper attended by a couple Scottish
dancing girls. It was a fun crowd of tourists from many lands including a large
contingent of Turks, many of whom wearing newly acquired kilts. It bordered on surreal.
The bagpiper was followed by two musicians who were incredibly entertaining.
They culminated the night by having us move the tables apart and starting a
long traditional Scottish line dance. You know the Favorite Panamanian dragged
me out for that and we had a lot of fun. We returned to the hotel around 11pm,
just as the sun was beginning to set. I joined another guy from our group in
the hotel bar just in time for last call which was weird since it was still
light out. |
| Haggis! |
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| Ate Two Whole Servings of Haggis! |
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| Dancers Perform |
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| Final Two Singers |
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| Scottish Line Dancing |
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| Nearly Midnight Sunset |
Day 10, Castles and Grails
This marked our last full day in
Scotland and we made the most of it. The first activity was a driving tour of
what is called he “new city” since it only dates to the 1700s. We saw the childhood
home of Robert Louis Stevenson, across from a park with an island in a small
lake visible from his bedroom. That island became the inspiration for Treasure Island.
We passed by St Andrews Park which anchors the road network in the new city before
heading into the center of town and the ultimate prize, Edinburgh Castle. The
castle is built upon a hopefully extinct volcano and can be seen from anywhere in
the city below. Enroute to the castle we passed by a school that served as the inspiration
for Hogwarts for JK Rowling, a resident of Edinburgh. Driving through the ancient
streets of the city, I felt I was in a Harry Potter movie and its easy to see
the role the city’s landscape played in her imagining of those books.
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| Stevenson's Home |
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| St Andrews Park |
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| Edinburgh Castle from a Distance |
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| School that Inspired Hogwarts |
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| Entry to the School |
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| The Royal Mile |
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| Getting Closer to the Castle |
Approaching the castle, we were blessed
with the best weather day of the entire trip, there is sun in Scotland
(occasionally) although the Loch Lomond skipper had joked they were experiencing
a drought since it had been 24 hours since the last rainfall. We entered the
castle through the grounds where they hold the annual Royal Military Tattoo (still
on my bucket list). I was seriously moved since I’d seen this location so many
times while watching the tattoos over the years. The castle itself is huge and
still serves as an active duty Army base. I was totally in my element as we walked
around the castle grounds experiencing the history laden place. There were
spectacular views of the city from each side. We made our way into the center
of castle where we saw the Scottish royal jewels and the Scottish War Memorial commemorating
World War 1 casualties. Scotland lost a full third of their military age men in
that conflict.
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| Royal Mile from Castle Entry Point |
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| Into the Castle |
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| Royal Tattoo Grounds |
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| Main (Only) Entry to Castle |
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| Finally Made it! |
My Favorite Panamanian was a good sport
as she watched me acting like a kid in a candy shoppe as we cruised the
grounds. I took pity on her and we also visited the oldest active chapel in
Scotland, first used in 1100. Just outside the chapel there is a small
graveyard that contains the remains of the deceased mascots of the regiments stationed
in the castle which I thought was kind of neat. There was also a prison section
that included an area with graffiti from Americans held prisoner during the Revolutionary
War (some things never change). I took further pity on my wife as we left the
castle as I afforded her enough time to tackle shopping on the Royal Mile. That
is the length of the road that runs from the Castle to Holyrood, one of the
homes of the current British monarch. She was up to the task while I wandered
around continuing to be amazed by where I was. We scored lunch in an
underground pub off of a tunnel through the wall of the street.
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| More Scenes from Inside the Castle |
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| The Ancient Chapel |
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| The Royal Quarters |
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| Scottish War Museum |
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| Inside Royal Quarters |
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| Inside Ancient Chapel |
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| The Pet Cemetery |
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| Active Duty Troops in Front of their Barracks |
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| Out onto the Royal Mile |
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| St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile |
After lunch we were summoned back to the
bus for our next event which was a trip to nearby Rosslyn Chapel. This is small
church associated with the Sinclair family and said to have connections with the
Knights Templar. Those connections turned out to be the key for its current
fame as Dan Brown used this place as the final clue in his hugely successful
novel The Da Vinci Code. We didn’t run across any Holy Grails while we were
there and the tour guide said nothing in the book outside of its location was
accurate. Go figure. There was one interesting aspect. There was a beautifully carved
pillar within the chapel. It was carved by an apprentice mason while his master
was away. When the master returned, he killed the apprentice in a fit of rage
since his own pillar was much less ornate. The mason was executed and in a
final jibe, the remaining masons carved his likeness into the church looking
directly at the pillar carved by the apprentice. This visit was kind of a yawn
after hearing Brown made everything up.
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| Outside Rosslyn Chapel |
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| Photos Inside Not Allowed |
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| She Finally Took that Parka Off |
Our final event of the day was a farewell
dinner at a posh Edinburgh establishment., The Scotsman, hosted by the tour director.
(we were approaching tip time). The waiters were appropriately snooty, especially
when confronted by Americans (egads!). When we were entering I spotted a huge castle
just down the road along with a friend. We were wondering what it was all
through dinner. The tour director took all the wind out of our sails by
revealing the building in question was a defunct school that had been boarded up
for decades. Damn! We returned to the hotel for one last night in Scotland. My
wife was upstairs trying to figure out how to pack all our souvenir purchases
in the overloaded suitcases. I was back in the hotel bar one last time where I got
to play Wingman for a single friend from the group when a bonny young lass
wandered over to talk with us.
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| Edinburgh Pub Located Where Public Hangings Used to Take Place |
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| Mystery Castle I asked About |
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| Inside the Scotsman |
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| Our Intrepid Tour Director, Matt |
So, there it is. Thanks for hanging out
with me through my Gaelic adventures. It really was a dream realized. I’m
hoping I can return some day, maybe for the Tattoo! I’ll have to find another
travel partner though as I couldn’t drag my wife back there after she experienced
the weather. Everything went almost too smoothly on our return flight. American
airports could take lessons from the Edinburgh Airport security team with a huge
crowd moved through efficiently and quickly. Instead of a van for our drive
home from Boston, the car service provided a Lincoln navigator which was very
cool. We were home a little after noon, having left Scotland a little after 10am.
It was truly strange for me as I drove to the grocery store (back on the right
side of the road) that I had woken up that morning in Scotland. Again, thanks
for sharing this with me, hope it wasn’t too boring.
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RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; PanaGals – female relatives
/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor
Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger
sister; Wingman
– my son in law; Wingmom –
Wingman’s mom, of course
