Scotland, mid-visit

[Dangerdean]

No pictures at the moment, as I didn't travel with my kilt, and thus they might not be germane to the board. :P

That said, we've wanted to stay an extra week at everywhere we've been. So far that's been Stirling, Iona and Mull. There's something mythic about standing on top of Dun I on Iona, having climbed there with my child on my back, and seeing the entire island, and the Hebrides beyond.

Currently we're in Fort William. Spent the day at museums, first the West Highland Museum, then to Newtonmore for the Clan MacPherson Museum. Followed that with cultural exploration: Scottish pub Tex-Mex food.

I have to say, Jock Scot, you live in an incredibly beautiful part of the world.

One more day in Fort William, then off to Lewis and Harris. I'm sure I'll post pictures at some point, but I won't be in a kilt.

[Jock Scot]

Well I am a tad biased, but yes I do! I shall be in FW tomorrow, keep your eyes open for some old fellow clad in the kilt wandering down the High St. at about 10.30 tomorrow! I am delighted that you are having a super time and go on, post some pictures!

[RunTheWorldOnMac]

I'll be in FW 3 weeks tommorow...Honeymoon...trip on the Jacobite!

[Dangerdean]

Unfortunately nap schedules meant I was unable to get to the High Street until the evening, but we got everywhere else. A visit to the Glenfinnan Viaduct and Bonnie Prince Charlie memorial was followed by Inverlochy Castle and a trek part way up Ben Nevis. With the baby on my back we only went up to the bench (about an hour) but would like to return some day and "bag" the munro.

Also, we chatted with the first person I'd ever met who used "Och, aye" in conversation in a natural and appropriate fashion.

Tomorrow we're off early to Lewis and Harris via Skye. I will post pictures when we have reliable internet access. That's the one thing about this bed and breakfast: It's a beautiful building, with immaculate rooms and outstanding service, but the wifi is the pits. If that's the worst problem we encounter on this trip, then I'll be pretty happy.

[creagdhubh]

Enjoy the Clan Macpherson Museum and House in Newtonmore, cousin! If you have time, be sure to pop in for lunch and a pint at The Glen Hotel, just across the street from the museum. The best fish n' chips and ice-cold bitter in the central Highlands!

Enjoy your homeland...Badenoch...from whence us Macphersons, "Sons of the Parson," came.

Creag Dhubh Clann Chatain!

[Dangerdean]

Just got into Elgin after three amazing internet-free days on Lewis and Harris.
Keeping things somewhat relevant, here is a count of the number of kilts I've seen (on people, not in shop windows) since we got to Scotland.
Glasgow Airport (which smells either like broccoli, or poop): 3, 2 of whom where on my flight and not Scottish.
Stirling: 1, in Stirling Castle. Didn't catch what tartan, but he had a nice tweed Argyll jacket.
Iona: 5 or 6. There were weddings going on both days we were there so there were a few kilts, but there was also one guy wearing a traditional kilt casually on the tour of the Abbey.
Mull: 0
Fort William: 0, though if I'd made it out to the High Street early enough I may have run into Jock Scot in his.
Skye (Uig Ferry Terminal) 1, though he was Spanish, not Scottish.
Lewis and Harris: oddly, none.
Though here's the cool thing: One of the few things I really wanted to get in Scotland (apart from ex-MOD brogues) was a pair of hand-knit hose...something nice that didn't come from the same place everyone else got their nice hose. We had just spent a couple of hours walking through fields and beaches in Northton, South Harris (and ending up checking out a medieval chapel built on an Iron Age broch) and we found this tiny shack where a woman had started an artisan tweed and knitwear business. In the corner, surrounded by the bags and scarves and such, were four pairs of kilt hose. They were all the same colour: undyed...not white, but barely. One pair had rampant lions knitted on the cuffs, much like ones available commercially, but knitted by a lady from Borve with wool from her own Cheviot sheep. They fit my short legs and monster calves perfectly, so of course I bought them.

If Photobucket behaves, here are a few photos.

This is my daughter and I at the top of Dun I (dun ee), the highest point on Iona, which is not very high at all.


These sheep get the best view of Glengorm Castle, on Mull.



This is Dun Carloway, an Iron Age broch on the west coast of Lewis. On this particular day it was raining sideways with a wind so wicked that my wife didn't want to go up, with or without the baby. It didn't get difficult until near the top of the hill, when I needed to literally fight my way to the door of the broch. It felt like something off the North Sea was saying "Get off my hill!" and was, frankly, kind of scary. Not scary enough to not keep going, of course, because when else will I have the chance to fight my way into a 2,000 year old hill fortress. Never, that's when.