Two weeks in Scotland
Wednesday, August 14, 2002 - Depart Ottawa
Air Canada was smooth to Toronto and then the next leg was delayed for 20 minutes "due to a maintenence problem". We took off in the middle of a thunder storm and there was lightning all around us for 30 minutes. It was not until almost midnight that we got supper due to the turbulence. But supper was pretty good.
Thursday, August 15, 2002 - Arrive Glasgow
We arrived in Glasgow late also, sometime after 10 am. After checking into our hotel and having had no sleep at all, we decided on a full day of activities to reset our clocks.
Near our hotel was the Glasgow School of Art, designed by Charles Rennie Macintosh, a Famous Glasgow architect who designed a bookcase that was in Carol's family. We took a student led tour of one hour and it was facinating, particularly the library he had designed and the three story double windows that lit the room. The windows were actually a leaded window, round light pipe, three stories high. Later we went to the Willow Tea Room, also designed by Macintosh, for a light lunch.
We retired at 8 pm and slept through until 8 the next morning.
Friday, August 16, 2002 - Glasgow, Day 2
I just made it down to the "full Scottish breakast" before the 8:45 closing. Carol missed it altogether. Then we headed off on foot to the West End, the Park Circus, where Carol was born. It was near the Registry Ofice, where a couple were just leaving from the civil part of their marriage ceremony. The Nursing Home was no longer in existence, but we took photos nevertheless. Then, we went on to the Kelvingrove Park where, reportedly, Carol was taken regularly by pram before she was aware of where she was.
In Kelvingrove Park there are statues of Kelvin and Lister and a great view of the University of Glasgow with its Gothic towers. Also the Kelvin River flows through it and we crossed it by a footbridge. Soon we got to the area where Carol's mother and grandmother and two aunts all lived, the Croll sisters. It was called Falkland Mansions and is quite a set of what we would call brownstones in a nice leafy area. We stopped for lunch at a nice pub called The Rock, where we sampled the ales and had Salmon Bits, fresh salmon deep fried in batter, a little bigger than Timbits or Chicken Nuggets, very tasty!
Then we looked for Carol's mother's school, but could not find it. So we headed back to the city center, a little footsore and settled for a little tea at a tea shop. When we went on to George Square, we decided on a double decker tour of the city. This rested the feet and gave us a great overview of the entire town from the open top deck in the sunshine. We also passed by many of the places we had already seen on foot and new areas to explore another day.
We had some fresh Scottish haddock at a typical fish and chip shop for dinner and again early to bed, after dark this time. Caught some telly before bed, so we are changing our internal clocks.
Saturday, August 17, 2002 - Glasgow, Day 3
Saturday we went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, using up a few extra rides on our 24 hour tour ticket from the previous day. That evening we went to an Indian restaurant called Mr. Singh's India, which was not in any of the guide books, but turned out to belong to the Ashok chain that was in all the guide books. We went because they had Indian waiters, dressed in kilts, speaking with a perfect Scottish brogue. They are all second generation, born in Glasgow. There are over 200 Indian restaurants in Glasgow, the most of any city in Europe, and this was one of the best. Better than any we have visited in Ottawa or Toronto and claimed to be better than any in London.
Weather here was beautiful for the first three days, sunshine and about 20°C, unlike what they have had here most of the summer until minutes before we arrived, rain and cold. Today, the rain restarted, and it is also colder now, and that gave us the incentive to go inside to an internet place.
Sunday, August 18, 2002 - Glasgow, Day 4
Sunday we returned to the Falkland Mansions in the Hyndland area, and attended the Hyndland Parish Church, where Carol's parents were married and Carol was baptized. We chatted afterwards with some longterm parishioners, one of whom declared she had been there for ever, but she had not been there the 50+ years ago that we were looking for! We took some more photographs and some movies of the Fakland Mansions and vicinity.
We returned to the downtown area for lunch and toured the Princes Square, where we listened to a concert on the Irish pipes. We ended with supper at the Mussel Inn, which served primarily West Coast Scottish Mussels. It was good, but I remember France as better.
Monday, August 19, 2002 - Loch Lomond and Glencoe
We left Glasgow on Monday morning and headed north, first up to Helensburgh and then across to Loch Lomond, stopping at Luss. Then on north, stopping at various places, but stopping for the day at Glencoe, sight of the infamous Campbell/MacDonald massacre. The Inn we ate supper at said all were welcome except taxmen and Campbells.
We stayed at a very nice B&B.and walked through the old village of Glencoe as well as the Glencoe hills. We were surprised by tree-top, almost supersonic buzzing, of several Harrier jets. They came and went so fast you could almost not see them. I guess the RAF uses lightly populated Highland areas for their training exercises.
Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - Western Highlands
We went on Tuesday to Fort William and hopped on a steam train to Mallaig on the Atlantic coast. Lots of fishermen there and, of course, seafood. Then back on the train to return to Fort William. There, we took in a distilley at Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland and hence the source of the cleanest water for whiskey making! Had a sample. They make 10 and 12 year single malt (and a 26 year one which costs £56!). They also make blended whiskey with other single malts they buy or trade and also sell or trade their whiskey to other distilleries for their blended whiskeys. Their 12 year blended beat out Chivas Regal last year at a whiskey competition.
We found another B&B, even nicer, and a supper of salmon en croute at a very good country restaurant with a simple name of Smiddy's in Spean. Stopped at an ATM and received bills made by the Clydesdale Bank, which seemed even more strange than the Bank of Scotland bills we got in Glasgow, which are accepted all over Scotland, but not in England. However, so far everyone has accepted them.
Wednesday, August 21, 2002 - Glen Bogle and Speyside
On Wednesday, we had an excellent full Scottish breakfast at our B&B and told our hosts that we intended to find Loch Laggan, which is where the romantic Scottish soap opera, Monarch of the Glen, takes place, at the fictional Glen Bogle estate. The host knew the owner and had been ther for several grand parties. He told us that the fourth season was now being filmed and to look out for cryptic "MOG4" signs.
We were not the only ones to have found it. After a few photographs of the castle, which Queen Victoria almost bought instead of Balmoral, we went on to the gatehouse for some more pictures.
We then continued north-east toward whiskey country. We just stopped in a public library in Grantown on Spey to check e-mails, and then continued up the Spey river until we got to Craigellachie, also on the Spey. By the way, Craigellachie is stressed on the second syllable, not the third as we first thought until corrected by a local. We had passed the GlenLivet distillery on the way here and decided on the Highland Inn, a pub/hotel/B&B right on a turn in the Spey. This is right in the heart of single malt territory and after checking in we went in search of a place to eat. We discovered in one direction the GlenGrant distillery, in another (Keith) the StrathIsla distillery (which makes the single malt that forms the core of the Chivas Regal blended whisky) and to the south in Dufftown, on the Fiddich river, the GlenFiddich distillery. In the end we found no suitable restaurant, so we headed back to the Highland Inn and had a very good pub meal.
Thursday, August 22, 2002 - East to Aberdeen
The next day we had our standard full Scottish breakfast and headed to the Speyside Cooperage to watch them make the barrels required for aging the whiskey. Fascinating, most of the barrels are bought from the US, from the Bourbon distilleries, who by law can only use their barrels once. Here they are checked for leaks and repaired by replacing staves and/or pieces of the tops or bottoms with new oak from the US, re-hooped and tested for leaks again. Some US barrells are taken apart to make larger size barrels, reusing the staves with larger tops and bottoms and hoops. A real craft and our guide had been a guide for the last 10 years and, for the 22 years before that, a cooper on the floor, as we had been watching.
Then on to Dufftown to tour the GlenFiddich distillery, going through all the malting, yeasting, rising, distilling and redistilling stages, then aging for at least 12 years in oak and finally bottling and shipping, 75% for export. Of course they gave us a generous dram each to taste, and the guide in this case was a young very attractive Scottish lassie who "had been doing this for years". When pressed she admitted that she had been doing it for 3 years.
Finally out of the Highlands into the rolling Grampions and toward the east coast city of Aberdeen, now a rich oil town, from the North Sea fields. We paused for getting our laundry done while we went shopping in this first city since Glasgow. Then on down the stark coast to Stonehaven, where we spent the night.
Friday, August 23, 2002 - Arbroath and Dundee
The next day, again after one of their great breakfasts, we went further down the coast to check out Dunnottar Castle, an old ruin of a castle built on a naturally moated outcropping overhanging the North Sea. Quite barren there.
Then we went on down the coast to Arbroath, where Carol talked about the Arbroath Smokie, a must eat delicacy. We went down to the harbour to watch them smoking the fresh halibut over wood and we bought two, not in a restaurant but from the "smoker" fish shop and carried them down to a rampart overlooking the port and ate them with our fingers. Excellent, but it took more then 7 handwashings the rest of the day to get rid of the smell on our fingers.
Then on to Broughty Ferry, a very trendy (now) suburb of Dundee, where we had been recommended a place to stay on the port, but we did not feel it met up with our standards, so we went on into Dundee and got an outstanding B&B. For supper, we found the TayView Hotel restaurant to be a nice posh restaurant with excellent food.
Saturday, August 24, 2002 - Perth Day 1
The next day, we were expected for lunch at Carol's cousin in Perth, so after breakfast we spent a little time back in Broughty Ferry doing some souvenir shopping and then on to follow our instructions to Ann and Graham's house in Perth. We did not make a single mistake; the directions were excellent.
Needless to say, arriving in Perth just before lunch time turned into a family affair for Carol and Ann. Being first borns of close sisters, they immediately started comparing notes on various family members. Meanwhile Graham and I found some common interests in retirement, buying retirement homes, investments, high tech toys and cars.
We had a good lunch at their home, a four bedroom, very roomy bungalow in the Perth suburbs. Did I mention that in Scotland it is pronounced Pairth, not Purth as in Ontario? After lunch, they had planned a tour of local interest for us, so we piled into his nice British racing green Jaguar with white leather upholstery and ran up to Dunkeld, to a Hilton timeshare in the woods by the river Tay. They own some time there and Ann goes swimming in their pool at least 3 times per week.
Then up to Loch Tummel for a "Queen's View" of the Loch. Unfortunately, just as we got there it started to rain. That evening after supper at their house, we chatted until after midnight.
Sunday, August 25, 2002 - Perth, Day 2
The next day, Sunday, we went to the local kirk, where Graham is an elder and sings in the choir. A very interesting church that was originally three separate churches, joined together a few hundred years ago. Then, after a brief stop at home we went off toward Glasgow, to visit one of their daughters, who had just moved apartments and we had missed the week before. On the way we passed the GlenEagles golf course where play was underway in some big tournament with lots of TV vans in sight. Then over to GlenDevon for a great pub lunch.
We arrived at Joanne's new apartment around 3 pm and were suitably impressed by her view of the river and the space of the two bedroom apartment. She was still unpacking, but she provided us with drinks, which we sat on her balcony drinking. At about 6 we headed back to Perth and another supper. After supper we showed our digital photographs on their new 32 inch 16x9 Toshiba TV set. They were fascinated by our trip and by the ease of showing digital photographs. I was surprised at his TV set, because Carol and I had just been looking at the same 16x9 Toshiba set, 34 inch, in Ottawa. Old TVs use the 4x3 format, which is 12x9 as opposed to 16x9. Graham was complaining that while there are many 16x9 programs, BBC shows 14x9 programs, which are a compromise to satisfy people with both kinds of sets.
I think Graham is going to buy a digital camera now and I am getting serious about a 16x9 HDTV set, maybe next spring. In Britain and France there are now quite a few 16x9 programs broadcast and in the shops they seem to only sell 16x9 sets. In the US, all the networks broadcast in 16x9 HDTV during primetime, but in Canada we have nothing yet. ExpressVu braodcasts one of the 3 US networks at a time, rotating amongst them. I hear Global has signed up with the CRTC to start within 6 months, and I am sure CTV will quickly follow. CBC will stay behind for lack of money. This evening went on until 1:30 am before we got to bed!
Monday, August 26, 2002 - Edinburgh
On the Monday, we had to bid our farewells and set off on the same route as Graham took the previous day, to get the rental car back to Glasgow. It was a Toyota Yaris, not available in Canada or the US, but like a hatchback version of the Toyota Echo. It had a 1 liter engine and five speed manual transmission. It served us beautifully, no complaints whatsoever and I never forgot which side of the road to drive on.
After getting rid of the car we took the train to Edinburgh (every 15 minutes and the ride took 50 minutes). After taxiing to our B&B and depositing our luggage, we headed off to the Royal Mile and walked it from Edinburgh Castle all the way down to HolyRood Palace at the other end. We saw also the gigantic construction site that would become the new Parliament of Scotland.
For supper, we went for Chinese this time, and although it was a hole in the wall that we had to bring our own wine to, the meal was better than most Chinese meals at home. The Scots seem to attract the best of these ethnic cuisines.
Tuesday, August 27, 2002 - Edinburgh, Day 2
The next day, after another Scottish breakfast, we did the shopping thing along Princes Street, Rose Street and George Street. We lunched at a small restaurant/pub called Garfunkle's for the second day (a different branch this time). We had a very light supper, wine and dessert at Brown's on George Street. This was not in any of our guide books, but had been recommended by Graham and Anne, so we went. Very elegant, very refined. We must have a proper meal there next time.
We came to the conclusion after much discussion that we were now going to leave Scotland, so we checked the railway station and found the train ticket to London was £83 one way and £86 return. Interesting. Then we went off to an internet place and checked on EasyJet flights. £40 to London and another £40 to Nice. What a comparison, and there were £30 flights too, but not convenient to us. So we booked and paid by Visa, online.
Wednesday, August 28, 2002 - Goodbye Scotland
The next morning, we taxied to the airport, took EasyJet to London (Luton) and then on to Nice. No ticket, no food, no peanuts, no drinks, just smooth flying. We recommend it!
Goodbye to Scotland.
Miscellaneous Details
Some little details that were left out about the trip in general.
That little Yaris was well equipped. It came with a radio that was an RDS radio. This kind of radio allows you to tune to a "network" such as CBC Radio One and then it tunes in the best station that sends out that ID and when the signal deteriorates it scans for the next station of the same ID that has a better signal. We could really use something like that in Canada or the US (for NPR), but our broadcasters never adopted that service.
In Europe now, the car adverts specify the CO2 emmision as well as gas mileage, for example, the 2.5 liter Jaguar V-6 puts out 229 grams/kilometer. The Mercedes-Benz CLK-180 puts out 183 grams/kilometer. Makes you think.
The price of gas (petrol) in the UK was 72p (about Cdn$2.10) per litre while in France it is 1 Euro (about Cdn$1.55) per litre. Internet access in Scotland tended to be about 1 pound per hour (Cdn$2.55), while in Nice, the lowest we found was €5 per hour (Cdn$8.00), outrageous!
Weather in Scotland was amazingly good, about 18°C during the day and 10°C at night. We only had rain three days out of the 2 weeks and even that was light and intermittent.
