Vacation in Scotland

[RichardtheLarge]

You are welcome, and I hope you recognise that opinions are opinions and today's perspectives are relative. I recall when Urquhart Castle was a wonderful wander-about and one just stopped along the road and walked down. Graffiti scratched into ancient harling fifteen feet up, rubble under foot. And no entry charge. There were still stories to be heard about the times when the Macleans were governors.

But west from Drum to Loch Urquhart and on to Cannich is so very beautiful. A side trip to to the Corrimony Cairns, a Clava-type burial probably of about 2,000bce should be visited by those seeking connections with the distant past. At Cannich the superbly beautiful Glen Affric is accessible to the left. A single-track road through the glen can be a challenge for the driver, but an absolute delight for the passengers.

From Cannich to the right, Strathglass and roads through Beauly and back to Inverness.

Thank you for this suggestion—if we take the Northern route to Skye tomorrow morning, we should have time to make this detour in the afternoon on the way back as we’ll be driving up the Western side of Loch Ness.

[RichardtheLarge]

Richard doesn't seem to have been on the forum since shortly after he posted his request, but I agree with Jock that Fort George at Ardersier is worth a bundle of time. Built after Culloden it is still an active barracks, has a superb museum and its star-shaped ramparts are the most impressive in Europe.

Culloden Battlefield is also worth a lot of time and its Centre displays tell the story from both sides.

Nearby are the Balnuarin of Clava bronze-age burial cairns, a place for quiet thoughts about our past.

Inverness City is simply another city, but it has some super places to visit: the islands in the river, Leakey's bookshop on Church Street, Chisholms where most in Inverness and its surroundings shop for fine traditional Highland civilian dress, and more if Richards asks.

Added: if you have a car and are at Inverness the weekend of August 5 and 6, I suggest a good taste of contemporary Highland country life can be found at the Highland Field Sports Fair at Moy (now called the Moy Country Fair): shooting, gun dog trials, falconry, terrier racing, 200+ vendors offering everything from heavy equipment, fishing/shooting/stalking gear, conservation interests, Highland crafts, local foods, and much more -- all on the banks of Loch Moy on the Moy Estate.

I'm always about, so ask for 'Rex' at the tent nearest Moy Hall and they will tell you where to find me.

Rex, I’m glad that I’ve been able to stumble upon some of the places you described despite missing this post. My friends and I did indeed find both Chisholms and Leakey’s bookshop a few days ago. I arrived on the 8th and missed the Moy Country Fair but would love to make it on my next visit.

[Tomo]

We plan to drive to Skye tomorrow (starting early!) to see the island and visit Talisker (a must see for one of my friends here with me).

I think you might just have dropped lucky with this - Talisker has been closed for a major refurbishment, but I understand they have just reopened in the last week or so.

If not - I ran three trips to Skye last month and the two new distilleries at Raasay and Torabhaig are well worth a visit.

[Lallans]

My outsider advice is to avoid any tours guided by Craig here. (Her name is actually Eleanor Morton and she's deadpan funny. I won't try to embed these sample videos because she tends to include the F word at least once in all of her videos.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HDBSm2s18s&t=10s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnK2njn2iF0

[LoE]

I have a dumb question. What does "hire a car" mean in Europe?

I see it referenced time and again. I suspect it means "rent a vehicle". As opposed to hire a person who has a vehicle, who will drive a customer around in the vehicle.

I live in USA. The last time I was in UK, I didn't understand 50% of the language used. And I still don't.

[Ivor]

Two nations divided by a common language is the answer I think.

[Father Bill]

I have a dumb question. What does "hire a car" mean in Europe?

I see it referenced time and again. I suspect it means "rent a vehicle". As opposed to hire a person who has a vehicle, who will drive a customer around in the vehicle.

I live in USA. The last time I was in UK, I didn't understand 50% of the language used. And I still don't.

You have it right. We don't rent, we hire.

[LoE]

I'm just as confused now as I was in Birmingham 2007. I didn't understand a word.

We are indeed separated by a common language.

[Jock Scot]

These international differences of understanding of various turns of phrases are really no big deal, they mean the same thing even if the words used are different. Experience of the world does help no end in this circumstance.

The one that locally here confuses visitors majorly from England and further afield is the, "where do you stay?"question. This question is these days rather mischievously asked. Meaning, "where are you from?"The answer expected might be, England, or, Texas, or, Poland or some such, but the confused answer often might be, "the Holiday Inn" or the local pub " the Dog and Duck." This conversation could well continue with the "where do you stay?"
Question being asked many times before the visitor understands the question.

[LoE]

Truly.

I was in England for a number of months, working a job that paid me to fly out. So I did so.

I didn't understand a word the entire time I was there. It's truly an isolating feeling to have everyone around oneself speaking one's native language - but still not understand a word of it.

The slang is different. The terms used are different, accent is different, inflection is different. I may as well have been in China or Japan.