Scotland

July 7-10 2013 Scotland:   After reading many recommendations on Trip Advisor and other sites about travel from Ireland to the UK we ignored most advice and opted for the ferry versus a short flight.  The ferry from Belfast to our port in Scotland would be @2-1/2 hours followed by a drive of about 125 miles from our port to Edinburgh, however, we all know those ‘short’ flights still involve all the waits for security and boarding.   Factor in the adventure of the ferry and the fact that we could utilize our exchange car while in Scotland versus the expense of a rental and it was an easy decision.

We had just a short drive from our hotel to catch the 11:30 ferry out of Belfast and it was a lovely day to be out on the water.  Our ferry was a big boy, 10 stories tall carrying passengers on foot, cars, 18 wheelers and surprisingly a group of Hell's Angels British Club.  The ship offered very comfortable seating choices, bars, cafes, duty free shopping and even a spa on the top floor where you could enjoy massages, saunas and a Jacuzzi.   My shoulders and back notoriously giving me problems were in true form so I opted for a 25 minute chair massage and although it wasn't like home it helped.  We were blessed with a sunny day so the views were brilliant on the 2+ hour ride.

Once landed we were in beautiful countryside right from the start but it didn't take long for us to detour from our planned route.   That is just how we roll!   We saw a sign for the town of Ayr and quickly read the trusty travel book to find it described as a quaint village on the sea (we were a bit inland).  And so we created our own detour and jogged over to Ayr.   Beautiful little seaside village and we thought we may love to stay there if we decided to spend a night in Scotland prior to crossing back to Ireland, something to be considered later in the week.   Either way we were happy we took the detour because we had the chance to see a bit of coastal Scotland.

Feeling good about this we continued on our way toward Edinburgh. Of course time was getting away from us after all of our side trips and to make things more of an adventure Tom Tom died again.  This thing just doesn't hold a charge all day and without the car plug it is very difficult.   Left to our own resources, signs, and John’s white knuckles we took a deep breath and headed into the city center of Edinburgh.  We honestly didn't think we would make it but thought we would try to get into the city as far as we could before stopping and calling for blow by blow directions.  Then I started to recognize some streets from the little map I had in my travel guide….and next there was The Caledonian, our hotel!  It was funny, we pulled up and nearly dove out of the car handing the keys to anyone that looked like official hotel staff.   This was a busy corner with no obvious indication of where to park.  Happily the staff took it from there. 

The Caledonian is a lovely Waldorf Astoria property by Hilton and once again we were using points for the stay.  What a beautiful old hotel with amazing staff.  Again Hilton came through with an upgrade to an over-sized room with a direct view of beautiful Edinburgh Castle, free breakfast and a cocktail for each of us!  

Had there been any doubt, we knew we were in Scotland when we observed a large University of Edinburgh graduation party going on in our hotel.  Although the girls could have been any coed in the US, many of the guys were decked out in Kilts versus tuxedos.   Yes, we were in Scotland!

Having spent one day of our Scotland time on our journey to Edinburgh we really just had one full day to tour and we surely made the best of it.  We have learned that when in a large city such as Edinburgh the most efficient and economical option is a hop on/off bus (usually open topped).   They are very reasonable here, far less than I remember in NYC, running about 13 British Pound and in Dublin about 15 Euro.  We don’t necessarily want to get into detail on every stop so may choose to just enjoy the drive by and listen to the educational commentary.  Often we use it simply as a means to get from point A to point B.   And so this day we jumped on the bus and headed right to the famous Edinburgh Castle.  

We have been blessed with the gift of travel and have feasted our eyes on many castles with this being one of the larger.   Although it can’t be compared to Neuschwanstein Castle in terms of the furnished rooms and opulence it is huge and much older dating back to the 12^th century.   One of the highlights for us was seeing the Crown Jewels.  We were told by a Scotsman these were the ‘real’ jewels and what they have in London are “cheap imitations”.   This crown was used to crown Mary Queen of Scots in 1543.  The age of the piece and the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of diamonds and gems made it really interesting to see.   The castle, as most that are still standing in Europe, was pretty commercialized with big crowds so we opted to simply hit the highlights and move on to our next adventure.   We rode the trusty bus for a bit and gathered some more insights into the city and then popped off at University of Edinburgh for just a bit of shopping.  Somewhere in here we fit in a bite of lunch in one of the hundreds of pubs in the area.  A very different thing here in Scotland in the ‘pubs’ is that although they serve food they don’t take your order and in most pubs in Edinburgh we experienced they didn't bother to tell the customer or post signs so after sitting for some time you (the tourist) are bound to go to the bar and ask and then you will get your order placed.  I must admit we found it a bit aggravating, especially when you see staff just standing around and seemingly not interested in helping you.  They do however take note of your table when you order and then deliver it to you.    

We spent a bit of time shopping for traditional Scottish goods, most of which was wool or more specifically Cashmere.   I found it to be ridiculously expensive and couldn't bring myself to buy a sweater especially living in Temecula!  But that is my personal bias.  I did learn that Cashmere is made from Goat not Sheep!    Although you hear so much about Scottish wool, we actually saw far more wool of different grades and quality in the shops in Ireland than we saw while shopping Scotland but we didn't spend much time in the Highlands so that may be the difference.

When in Scotland, famous for its Whiskey you have to spend a bit of time tasting.  Scotch I’m told is obviously all Whiskey in Scotland and it is not something I have ever been interested in drinking but “when in Rome” as they say.  And so I sat down with John to give it a go in a shop that was sampling all types and willing to spend time educating the tasters. I learned really quickly what I liked and did not like.  There are four quadrants with the smoky on the top, delicate on the bottom and on each side light or rich.  One of the types uses more Peat during the process.  This is the thing I remembered about having tasted Scotch years ago, the smoky.   And so I stayed over in the lighter/delicate quadrant of choices and actually did ok (no shivering or gagging), and I began to acquire a taste for it.  Of course we got acquainted with a young couple from California, perhaps in their late 20s who had been tasting up in the Highlands for a few days as well as getting engaged.  He, a trained Engineer but currently a Navy Pilot, had quite an educated palate coming from his family of Whiskey drinkers and she happily in the same place as I, trying to develop a palate. 

Our last stop on our tour was the Palace of Holyroodhouse.   This is a place the Queen uses for a “wee summer holiday", and as a matter of fact she had been there the week before.  Had we arrived then we would not have been able to visit.  I have to admit it was interesting to see a palace that royals actively, however, minimally use.  The grand reception rooms, the chamber and anti-chamber (whatever that is supposed to mean), the dining room with silver serving pieces numbering to 3000!  And then of course every palace must have a throne room, but I learned the throne is not used.  This Queen doesn't like thrones it seems too much like wielding power over people and she is much more down to earth I was told.  Funny thing about the thrones though, one had a much higher cushion on the seat.  It was the seat of the Queens Grandfather and he was shorter than his wife so the special cushion was made to ‘bring him up to her level’ so to speak.  We learned that that Kings bedchamber really hadn't been used much, all those jewels were more for show and usually they slept in another more comfortable room.   We walked through Mary Queen of Scots bed chamber where she delivered her son and learned about the start of her demise.  Makes me want to go home and learn more about her but right now from the little I have learned she has my sympathy. We left wondering in these tough times how does the public feel about maintaining a palace for the Queen for a mere one week a year.  Seemed a bit of waste to us but I guess it maintains history.

We got off at one more stop and then began our walk back to our hotel.   John was starving so looking for the best spot to stop for dinner we opted for a great authentic Spanish Tapas place.   We were ready for a change from the Scottish options anyway. 

That brings me to comments about the food on this trip.   It sure hasn't been the healthiest and certainly will call for some serious dieting (life style changes) when we get home but I enjoyed much of the Irish fare and that hasn't been the case in Scotland.   Of course there are lots of fish options but I’m a very finicky fish eater.   Scotland versus Ireland has far more menu items that I had to look up such as: Haggis…sheep hearts/lungs/liver and Neeps which are Turnips or Swedes (I get both answers) and Tatties which are Potatoes, and Cullen Skink which is a fish stew.   The whole ‘parts’ thing is quite common here.   Although there are a lot of sausages on menus, especially at breakfast, neither John or I have been fond of them because they are ground extremely fine.  The breads here in Scotland can’t compete with Ireland either so that is a very good thing for me!  I have always of tea and Crumpets but didn't know what they were so finally ordered for my breakfast and after a couple of bites the closest thing I could compare it to would be our English Muffins. 

Another comparison to Ireland we notice the lack of Garda on the roads here as well.  As a matter of fact they just don’t exist, and cameras appear to be their sole tool for controlling speeding.  Here in Scotland tipping is far more ‘accepted’ without discomfort whereas in Ireland there seemed to be a real shyness about that.  As a matter of fact when a young man brought something to our room in Belfast and John tipped him he backed away saying “Oh no sir, this is my duty.” 

The accent is a bit more difficult to understand, of course depending on the individual.  One thing for sure you hear a lot of “Hey-a” (hello), “youse” (you), and far too many to write about.  I have read that the accent changes by regions so much like we have in the states with regional accents.

My funny comment for Edinburgh once again had to do with people.  We were sitting in the hotel restaurant in Scotland having breakfast and were being served by a Polish waiter.  That wasn't so funny but later I was tickled watching him talking to a young Chinese couple trying to explain a Smoothie.  He had to result to demonstrating the blender spinning with sounds effects and all.  She got it though and was happy to order one for her breakfast.

After two nights in the city we had reservations for a Marriott just outside the city for two nights.  The hotel was situated on a golf course and John was going to have his chance to golf in the Motherland of golf, probably something every golfer would dream of.  We had recognized we were not going to have time to spend a night up in the Highlands and although disappointed we took our move day to take a drive up to the edge of this area for a taste.   Speaking of tastes there were also two Distilleries on our way and we stopped for more tastes of whiskey more about that later. 

The drive was lovely beginning with the famous Bridge of Forth over the Firth.  It had been billed as an 8^th wonder of the world by more than one travel guide but we didn't see it.  As far as bridges go it was pretty I guess (railroad) and maybe to an engineer it would be a marvel but we come from the land of the Golden Gate so it just was not all that impressive.  The countryside, however, was breathtaking with high and dramatically rolling hillside and crop land with bright green, blue/green, and light greens and then bright fields of mustard.  Most of the houses and barns were brick and the fences either hedgerow or rock.  Pretty much what we have all seen in pictures and post cards, that was the view mile after mile.

As we moved a bit further north the countryside soon moved from rolling hills to steeper, rougher hills and then very little crop land and mostly livestock .  We traveled as far as the village, Pitlochry, a lovely quaint destination in itself.  From there it was just 6 miles on a very narrow road to what is termed Queen’s View.   This was our taste of the Highlands and really whetted our appetite.   It was rough country, covered with trees and when you reached the short climb you had a panoramic view of Loch Rannoch.  The lake stretched beyond what we could see (10 miles).   This was our final stop on this adventure and we had to begin our drive back to Edinburgh and get checked into our hotel.  I do have to say once again, however, how much I admire John and his willingness to brave the driving.  On this road we met a bus at one point and a large utility truck at another point.  Both times John had to back up to a wider spot in the road. Then there were the moments that some idiot came flying around the corner right in the middle of the road and our hearts stopped for a minute as John adjusted for this crazy driving.  Keep in mind this is all while driving on the wrong side of the road to begin with.  I know a lot of much younger guys than he may be hesitant to take on these challenges.  He is my hero!

Now as to the whiskey tasting, we made two stops.  One at a distillery named Glenkinchie where we had the opportunity to walk through a great display area explaining the distilling process and then test whiskeys, again with a tutor helping and educating us.  It was great stuff really and we ended up with one bottle to take home.  I have to say my Dad was on my mind so much during that adventure.  He liked his whiskey and I couldn't help but think he would have surely enjoyed this experience.  Our second stop was for the ‘Grouse Experience’, obviously this distillery was The Grouse.   The facility was quite large and offered a café so we grabbed a bite and tasted.  Another unique part of this stop was that they offered tastings of other whiskeys from the area, sort of a one stop shop.   In the end we learned that whiskey tasting is very much like wine tasting.  It is all about the aromas, the front flavors and the finish, and just as wine we heard the comparisons to fruit, tobacco, chocolate, nuts, earthy and of course smoke.  Many of these whiskeys are what is called single malt meaning whatever is in the barrel is that whiskey.  The other type is called a blend which takes what is in the barrel and mixes other single malts to make a specific blend.  We heard of a man who works with the famous Grouse whose nose is insured for 2 million pounds with Lords of London.  This guy can sniff and determine what needs to be adjusted in the blend, and makes a bunch of money doing it!

At the end of our mini Highland tour and a bit of whiskey tasting we headed back south to our hotel just outside of Edinburgh to be set up for John’s adventure in the morning.  I got a kick out of him because, although he is a quiet guy, you could feel the excitement.  He had his clothes planned, his reservations made, and an arrangement for a wake-up call.  I slept in and he golfed returning in early afternoon grinning from ear to ear and very tired.   He was matched with a local, Andy, who he said was a nice guy and a good golfer.   A different kind of golf he said and so another thing off the bucket list.

Next stop the North of Ireland…….

Post Script:  In this land of Brave Heart, we braved a taste of the Haggis this morning at breakfast, just had to do it before leaving Scotland.   Verdict, not a big deal but we wouldn't repeat it.