Hadrian's Wall, Part 3

After our stop in Stirling, we made a quick stop in Edinburgh to pick up some tartan for Ellen and then headed back home. On the return trip to York, we decided to approach from the west so that we could stop off along Hadrian's Wall from the other side and hopefully actually find some wall that still stands. Mission Accomplished!



Roman ruins, check. It only took us three trips to Hadrian's Wall Country, but we finally found some of the wall actually still standing. Below is probably one of my all-time favorite pictures. We're a little goofy :)

 

We hiked along the wall for awhile and made friends with some sheep. That's actually a pretty common occurrence for me in the UK/Ireland.

 

Past the train tracks, we eventually came to  this:

Poltross Burn, Milecastle 48. When the Romans built the wall, they equipped it with "castles" to fortify the wall against the "barbarians" from the North. Of course, since we were there, we took turns invading and defending the wall. I can't remember the final score, but if history is any example, the Celts won eventually. Poltross Burn is one of the best preserved milecastles left. It was built by the the Sixth Legion and was occupied until the fourth century by Roman auxiliary forces- locals recruited into serving with the army in return for Roman citizenship once they retired. While there isn't a whole lot of it left, there's enough to get a general sense of the floor plan, and considering this thing is over 1500 years old, that's pretty remarkable. You can even tell where the staircases once were, since there are still a few steps leading up to nowhere.

After we'd had our fill of Roman masonry, we decided it was dinner time. I don't remember if I mentioned this in the Illuminating Hadrian's Wall post or not, but when we were here for that, we caught the train in Haltwhistle. On our way back to the train station, we passed a Chinese takeaway place that looked pretty tasty. We had an hour or so before our train was going to come, so we could have stopped, but we were overly optimistic and thought we might be able to catch an earlier train home, so instead we rushed down to the station. Of course there was no earlier train, but by the time we found that out, we didn't have time to go back for Chinese food. We decided to remedy that on this visit. We weren't too far from Haltwhistle, and it was getting to be dinner time, so we decided we might as well make for a place we knew had food. And it was far and away the best Chinese I had in England. So if you're in Hadrian's Wall country, I definitely recommend hitting up Haltwhistle and the Chinese place right on the main street.

So that's it for the epic road trip of awesomeness. After dinner, we made our very slow way home via all kinds of twisty narrow roads, but eventually we did make it home. It was a truly unforgettable experience, and huge thanks to Rachel, Max, and Ellen for the excellent company, and Ellen did a great job driving a stick shift on the wrong side of the road!

Stirling

It seems kind of strange to be updating my blog about my adventures in the UK when I'm now pretty well settled in at Boston College, but I'm stubborn and I do want to end up with a fairly complete record of my time at York.  So bear with me as I get through the vast backlog of entries.

I know I said at the end of my last post that I'd write about the Ben Nevis distillery next, but... well, it's a distillery. If you've seen one, you've basically seen them all. And odds are, you're really just there to drink, not to actually see anything. So here's two quick pictures and then I'm going to move right along to Stirling.

 

Stirling was one of my favorite stops. Well, all of our stops were among my favorite stops, so that doesn't really tell you anything. As medievalists, we loved the history there. Stirling is near the border between the Highlands and the Lowlands and once served as the capital of Scotland and has a fantastic medieval castle. Stirling's Church of the Holy Rude was where the infant James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots, was crowned king.

Even if you are not a history nerd, Stirling is a pleasure to walk around. They have done a fantastic job making the city, which is admittedly tiny, clean and inviting, with lots of flowers and great shops to poke around in. And prices here are definitely better than in Edinburgh and I think were actually the best we saw in Scotland for touristy stuff. I bought my vaguely Celtic-inspired amethyst earrings here and absolutely love them, so I would save shopping for here and not one of the bigger cities.

Oh, and we can't forget William Wallace and Robert the Bruce of course.

A couple of significant battles in the Wars of Scottish Independence took place near Stirling- first at Stirling Bridge in 1297 and then at Bannockburn in 1314. William Wallace (Braveheart for us ignorant Americans) was one of the key players at Stirling Bridge and the picture above shows the view of the Wallace Monument just outside of town as seen from Stirling Castle. There's even a giant statue of Mel Gibson at the monument. Apparently visitors would have been confused if it actually looked like William Wallace instead of the movie character. Here's Stirling Bridge today:

It is a bit of a hike up to the Castle from the town. This is true of most castles, since you want them up on high cliffs to be defensible, but Stirling's is particularly high up there. This makes for some great views though. Near an odd little cemetery, there is what's called the Ladies' View, which is helpfully marked with this map so that you can identify what you're seeing.

 

And of course Robert the Bruce still watches out from the castle today.

I'm rapidly coming to the close of the Epic Road Trip of Awesomeness. After Stirling we swung back into Edinburgh to pick up some tartan that we could not find ANYWHERE ELSE in Scotland for Ellen, so unfortunately we missed Glasgow, which was supposed to close out our Scottish adventures. I know I was really disappointed that we managed to drive through most of Scotland and didn't get any fried Mars bars, but such is life. From there we swung down to hit the other end of Hadrian's Wall, where we actually got to climb on some wall and pretend to defend it from the invading barbarians. And then we switched sides and attacked those smug Roman invaders. Then a quick stop for Chinese food in Haltwhistle (see Illuminating Hadrian's Wall post) and back to York we went. So I'll be working on getting a Hadrian's Wall post together and then it will be time for Family Style Adventures, featuring my crazy family invading the UK for a week.

Unplanned Detour #2: Neptune's Staircase

I can't recall if I mentioned this earlier, but I played navigator for our Epic Road Trip of Awesomeness. Hence, I had a big ole book of road maps. And as I was look at various routes we could take, I noticed a little "place of interest" icon marking off Neptune's Staircase. I had no idea what it was, but I figured if we ended up going that way, we should check it out. Well, we ended up going that way. And this mysterious "Neptune's Staircase" was only about five minutes out of the way. So we went. And this is what we found near the carpark.



A short walk from the car put us at the staircase itself. Ta da!



That right there is one of 8 locks in a big staircase lock on the Caledonian Canal. Also the longest staircase lock in the United Kingdom. Originally hand-powered, but now hydraulic-powered. Aerial photographs of all the locks are kind of neat, but sadly this did not turn out to be some kind of awesome waterfall like I was kind of hoping. Oh well. It was a nice warm day and I got to take a walk. And say I saw Neptune's Staircase.



Then we got back in the car to hit up a Scottish Whisky distillery. Off to Ben Nevis!

Glenfinnan

When I last left off, we were driving through the Highlands towards Fort William along the Road to the Isles. One of the better-known villages along this route is the picturesque Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel. The town is particularly known for the Glenfinnan Viaduct and the Glenfinnan Monument, as well as its natural setting in the gorgeousness that is the Highlands. I feel like I've spent half of my blog gushing about how much I love and adore the Highlands...

Have I mentioned I love the Highlands? 

Anyway... Glenfinnan! 

Here we have the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Assuming you don't live under a rock, you are probably already familiar with it. How you ask? Have you seen Harry Potter (the movies, not the books)? If your answer was yes, you have seen the Glenfinnan Viaduct 3 times in Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire. The Hogwarts Express is showing travelling over the Viaduct. There are plenty of really nice pictures of the Viaduct out there, so I was looking forward to a prime photo op, but alas, they fence it off and you can't get anywhere _near_ the viaduct from the tourist carpark. I don't know why I expected anything else; the UK has a particular knack for putting hedges or trees or fences between you and what you want to see. But I digress.

If you can recall several posts back when I gave you a longer lecture than usual on the Battle of Culloden, you can find another piece of Jacobite history here in Glenfinnan. Above is the Glenfinnan Monument, built in 1815 to commemorate those who died in the Jacobite rebellion and to mark the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie first raised his standard in 1745, plunging Scotland into war, ending eight months later at Culloden. So that's Charlie up on top of the tower. 

The area is definitely pretty and a nice spot for a pit stop and a snack bar/concessions area to grab something to eat. The tourist centre carpark is conveniently located next to the Viaduct and the Monument (which, btw, you can pay a pretty penny to go into if you are so inclined). The town proper is a bit further up the road if you want to take a walk. We found this little church to poke around in and then from there walked down to the Loch.

So go forth! See Scotland! Up next, Unplanned Detour #2 to find out just what the heck "Neptune's Staircase" is.

Road to the Isles

The problem with writing up posts almost a year after the events they describe is that you forget where exactly all of your photos were taken. Whoops. But better late than never~!

For this post, I'm going to focus on scenes from the Road to the Isles, an absolute must-see part of Scotland. The Road itself refers to the A830, which connects Mallaig, where the ferry docked and deposited us back on the mainland (can I say that since Britain itself is an island?) and a major port town for continuing on to the Hebrides, to Fort William, a large-ish Highland town. More on Fort William later.

The reason you should really travel this route is because of this:



and also this:



maybe this?



You may not believe me, but I am being really selective with my pictures here. It's just so pretty there and we had such a nice day to drive it. See?



I know, if none of those swayed you, this ought to:



That's our little blue Ford for the trip. It was a good little car. Anyway, as you may have surmised from the open car door, we took the opportunity to get out and hike around a bit, mostly to go check out a baby waterfall we saw about halfway up the hillside. The whole Highlands area is big with hikers for hopefully obvious reasons. I would love to get back and actually do some thorough exploring.

Along the route are several little villages that can be fun to poke around in. Perhaps the best known is Glenfinnan, and that shall take centre stage in the next post, which hopefully will not take six months to write!

A Ferry Ride from Skye to the Mainland

 

As promised, here's some photos from the 30 minute ferry ride from Armadale on the Isle of Skye (this is where the Clan Donald Heritage Centre is located) to Mallaig back on the mainland. We opted for the ferry because it was a much quicker option than going back across the bridge and driving all the way back down the coast. Also, like my nifty tartan scarf? :)

With views like that, the ferry is totally worth the five pounds per person plus however much we paid to take the car. 

So there you go. There's some similar shots of sea & mountains up on flickr as always. Next up, shots from Glenfinnan & the Road to the Isles.

The Isle of Skye

Skye Bridge

Are you ready to see my new favorite place? Follow the A87 out to the west and hit Skye Bridge, connecting mainland Scotland with the Isle of Skye. It's one of those places that just sounds gorgeous and kind of mystical. And it's even more beautiful than you can imagine. This is totally a hiker/nature-enthusiast's paradise, and deserves a couple of days to explore- just keep your fingers crossed that the weather cooperates. We lucked out and got some clouds but no rain. Skye is one of the Hebrides Islands off the western coast of Scotland, all known for their picturesque natural beauty.

 

Check out our hostel! We only kind of picked it for the name- it had really good reviews and it did turn out to be the  nicest of the hostels we stayed at. Saucy Mary's is located in Kyleakin on the eastern coast of Skye, just over the Skye Bridge. And at maybe 5 square blocks is actually NOT the smallest town we stayed in. It isn't a youth hostel, which means older folks can stay too, and they have some double/family rooms that aren't the traditional bunk beds if that's something you're interested in. Those obviously cost more than a standard bunk, but can still be cheaper than a proper B&B. They also have a good hot breakfast that costs a few pounds extra, do live music in the bar area in the evenings and have a convenience store attached. The guy who runs/owns the place is fantastic, and lives at the B&B next door, Plus, don't you just want to say you've stayed at a place called Saucy Mary's? Alright, moving on.

I've got a whole ton of pictures from Skye, so I'm attempting to be selective, but if you want to see more, head on over to my flickr page and check 'em out. 

Like I said, Skye is an outdoor wonderland. You'll probably want to have a car to get around the Isle, because it is pretty big, but you'll also want to pull over and hike around. There's any number of guides to hiking on Skye, so it's not a bad idea to invest in one. But the immediate impression you get of Skye is mountains, sky and sea. 

There are some neat geological formations and Neolithic and Iron Age sites. Skye is also the seat of Clans MacLeod, MacDonald and MacKinnon. The seat of clan chief of the MacLeods is Dunvegan Castle on Skye and is still in use today, making it the oldest continually-inhabited castle in Scotland (800+ years!). Dunvegan is the home to the Fairy Flag, a yellowy-brown scrap of silk originally from the Orient, and how it got to Dunvegan is a bit of a mystery. Theories have included that it was a prized relic of a now unidentified saint, it was brought back during the Crusades, etc., but the traditional stories hold that it was a gift to a MacLeod from the fairies. The flag is said to assist the clan in warfare and to provide various other sorts of blessings and luck. I wanted to see it, but Dunvegan is way up at the northern edge of Skye, and we were way down at the southern edge, and we didn't have time to drive all the way up there before catching our ferry to move on. There's always next time. We did get to check out the headquarters of the MacLeods' bitter rivals, the MacDonalds.

Armadale Castle is much newer than Dunvegan, built in the 1800s (and it shows.) The interior is entirely gone, overgrown by plant life. Today, Armadale and the surrounding land serves as the Clan Donald Heritage Centre. There's a small fee to go in (6 pounds I think), which includes admission to a really well-done museum on the clan's history. The Donalds were quite the important bunch in the medieval period and their chief held the title of Lord of the Isles. They held sway over the Hebrides and parts of western Scotland, and maintained a large degree of independence of the Scottish monarchy; they were essentially the most powerful Scottish noble after the king. The title ended up being forfeit to the king of Scotland in 1493, and ever since, the eldest son of the Scottish (later British) monarch has held the title Lord of the Isles. So Prince Charles holds the title Lord of the Isles as well as Prince of Wales and all his other assorted titles. Now for some pretty pictures!

 

 

Skye still has an active fishing fleet (fishing is one of the Island's main sources of income) and there are a number of pretty harbors. Kyleakin's (above) isn't really one of them. But it's what I had a picture of. Portree, Skye's largest town, has a prettier one, and if I can make a recommendation there's a restaurant right off of the town square whose name I now forget, but they had AWESOME macaroni and cheese and great seafood. Another major industry is whisky distilling- if you are a whisky afficionado, you may be familiar with Talisker, a major Scottish distillery located on Skye. Lots of really pretty on Skye. But below is a visual explanation why Skye's name makes perfect sense.

 

It is almost hard to tell where the sea ends and the mountains begin, and where the mountains end and the sky begins. There's a lot of sky on Skye.

Isn't it pretty? It had rained earlier that day, so we had quite a few clouds still lingering around, but as dusk fell, the clouds came out to play with the mountains.

 

 

Unfortunately we had to leave the next day, but I would love love love to go back. Instead of going over the bridge though, we took a ferry back to the mainland, so I'll share some pics from the ferry next time.