Market Street Hotel - Edinburgh, Scotland

 

Royal Botanical Garden

Tomorrow is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  Today is a free day.  After loosing our bags in Fife, I thought it might be worth it to get some AirTags (okay, it might have been a sort of geeky excuse).  I hope doesn’t forebode the loss of fifty pounds of laundry! (That’s pretty much all that’s left.). After a few moments of reminiscing about the development of the Apple Store, we were on our way.

The owner of the Honey Pot House in Crail (somewhere in the way back times) suggested we visit Stockbridge, a suburb of Edinburgh, to avoid the crowds.  It was a charming little village with cobblestone streets lined with mews houses (I have no idea what a mews house is, but apparently Google does).  We found the Water of Leith Walkway and followed it to the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was originally founded to grow medicinal plants for the Royals.  It has moved a few times but has been around for 350 years.  Lunch on the terrace at the gardens.  A walk back to the hotel, drinks on the seventh floor, and dinner in a Scottish Pub.

We did a dress rehearsal of queueing for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo at 8:30.  They suggest getting there an hour early and we could see why.  We are ready for the real show tomorrow.

Market Street Hotel - Edinburgh, Scotland

Loch Lomond 

 A pure and simple travel day.  We are completing our circumnavigation of Scotland.  It’s an all day event, so we picked up some sandwiches and some chili Doritos for the trip.  The train is full with little luggage space, but most of the riders are hikers, so it’s tons of backpacks which go in the overhead racks, sort of.  Of course, the train is on time, and has dozens of stops (some seemed very very remote).  

The scenery was usual Scottish highland with mountains and valleys, waterfalls and Loch Lomond. The weather was usual Scottish weather with clouds and drizzle, and some mist.

Table in our room

Deb was concerned that I booked the second leg of the trip between Glasgow and Edinburgh with only ten minutes connect time.   “It’s ScotRail, it will probably be okay.”  It was! (There is a train every 30 minutes and we have an all-day pass - expect the best, plan for the worst!)

Dinner, Kentucky BBQ tender, an interesting choice!?!  Followed by a very peaty whisky, neat. (Aah!)

6 Caberfeidh - Fort William, Scotland

Our B&B Lovely!

I originally planned to take a ferry from Skye to Mallaig then a train to Fort William but it was a Saturday and the Skye bus wasn’t running. So today, we took the train from Fort William to Mallaig and back.  There is a Jacobite Train tour that I had wanted to take, but it sold out the first day tickets went on sale.  So we took the regular ScotRail train, same tracks, just a few more people. What makes this a popular trip is the ten seconds (out of the two hour trip) crossing the famous Harry Potter Viaduct.  But you get to see it again on the way back, too!

Mallaig is a nice little town.  We walked around, ate some fish and chips, played some cards.

Glenfinnan Viaduct

Dinner was much better planned than last night.  We opted for the Tuk-Tuk Indian restaurant. We arrived early enough to get a table.  It was BYOB, so we stopped at the mega grocery store next to the Train Station and picked up two small bottles of wine.  

Tomorrow we leave for Edinburgh. This morning we had gone out for a coffee before the train, but all the coffee shops were full!  Maybe tomorrow, we’ll have a better plan for that, but I doubt it!

Malleag Harbor

6 Caberfeidh - Fort William, Scotland

High St. Fort William

 Today was a travel day with benefits.  We have been travelling by bus recently.  Last year, the Scottish government started a bus fare cap of £2 (less than $3) on any trip in the Highlands to increase bus usage and decrease cars. So our three hour bus ride cost the two of us about $5.  The views from the bus were spectacular (we probably should have taken a picture, but we can always just take one off the web!)

We dropped our bags and sought out lunch around 2:00.  This, of course, is problematic.  We will not be particularly hungry by dinner time.  Fort William is a smallish town with a population of 6,000 but is the base for all sorts of highland activities including sightseeing and hiking.  The main street is pedestrian only. By 7:00 when we were finally hungry enough, all of the restaurants had long lines.  We found a table at a fast food bar (you have a table number, order at the bar, and they bring you the food).  

We have scoped out tomorrow’s dinner place, and should be better prepared for it.  We have a little train trip planned.  We’ll see how it works out.

Royal Hotel - Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Fairy pools

 Today was our nine hour tour day.  As you might expect, nine hours in a van bus with a dozen other strangers could cause a little angst.  Our little entourage had a family of four Germans (the eldest son slept the entire way), four Americans of unknown origin, three Chinese and us. The driver was a four rosette chef before becoming  driver/tour-guide. These could be the ingredients for a B-rated movie.

Our first stop was the “Fairy Pools.”  There were three or four other tour operators with exactly the same route.  We all had 90 minutes here, to hike down a trail bespeckled with waterfalls. The waterfalls were voluminous due to previous rains,

Kilt Rock

Apparently they dry up once or twice a year when the sun comes out!  At this point, we get the obligatory chase scene where the deranged driver goes sixty miles an hour down a one lane road with lots of oncoming traffic. Back to the 90 minutes to tour Dunvegan  Castle and Gardens, the home of the beloved or dreaded MacLeod clan.  More chase scenes. A brief scene with Highland Coos, followed by a graveyard scene. A few scenic vistas, a few more scary moments and we’re back in Portree for dinner.

We got to see parts of Skye, we would not have been able to see.  We might choose a different driver/tour-guide.

Tomorrow, we take the bus to Fort William.

Royal Hotel - Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland

 

Breakfast is included. The Scottish Breakfast has Bacon, Ham, Sausage, Black Pudding, Bean, Pancakes, Fried Tomato’s, Mushrooms, and an Egg. I thought some of those would be either/or’s but they were all ands!  I’m just a little ill.  Smart Deb had fruit!

According to some official internet source, we have had 8.72 mm of rain in the past 72 hours, so if you go hiking expect some muddy conditions!  Yup, we had muddy conditions, wet bushes, and slippery rocks. Then we had drizzle, and then real rain.  It did not make our hike that enjoyable, but we did climb to the top of Ben Chracaig which had some spectacular views.  Deb was a trooper, but was not her favorite day in Scotland.

Even with our rain gear, we got pretty wet, including our waterproof boots.  Once we got back to the room, we changed into some dry clothes and waited for the rain to stop. It didn’t, we found some soup for lunch, went to the hotel pub and played cards, went out for a drink, ate dinner.  And then the rain finally stopped for awhile.  

Since our boots are wet, and the trails are even muddier, tomorrow we are going on a tour of Skye.  The only one I could find lasts 9 hours!  

Royal Hotel - Portree, Skye, Scotland

 

Bridge to the Isle of Skye

Today, we travelled from Inverness to Portree, on the Isle of Skye.  You can either go by train to Kyle of Lochalsh and take Citylink bus to Portree, or you could just get on the same bus in Inverness instead. The train was much more scenic than the bus, and we had a two-hour layover in Kyle for lunch.  We were looking for a light lunch, but the meals were MASSIVE! Soooo, no dinner.

At the hotel, the receptionist plopped out some laminated instructions.  If you want your room tidied, you must put a towel outside your door!  Suitcases are not to be put on the beds.  Okay then!  The room has a nice view of the harbor.

Portree

pint of Guinness at the West Highland was my dinner.  Deb finally ate her tangerine sometime during the day (she got the tangerine as part of a packaged lunch over a week ago).

Tomorrow we’ll probably do a hike, if it’s not raining.