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.

The Battle of Culloden

The Battle of Culloden took place in April 1746 on Culloden Moor, a quick 15-minute drive from Inverness. I love this picture, because it's the ONE that the heather actually looks properly purple and not kind of sickish and brown. Anyway, the Battle of Culloden is majorly important in Scottish history. It was here that the Jacobite Uprising collapsed after the British troops decimated the Jacobites. And I do mean decimated- ~2000 dead/wounded and ~375 captured vs. ~350 dead/wounded on the British side. So who were the Jacobites? Let me tell you (briefly, I promise).

Basically, it all broils down to the House of Stuart. Now, keep in mind that English dynastic politics are crazy.
The Stewart/Stuart family started out as the royal line of Scotland and eventually took over the throne of England as well, when the last of the Tudors, Elizabeth I, died without heir. Her cousin, James VI of Scotland and son of Mary, Queen of Scots, succeeded to the throne of England and Ireland following Elizabeth's death. The term "Jacobite" comes from James; James is an English version of the name Jacob. During the reign of Charles I & Charles II, civil war raged across England.

After the Civil War ends, Charles II is restored to the throne. He and his wife never manage to produce an heir, making his younger brother, another James, the heir presumptive. One problem: James is Catholic. And England has been officially and solidly _not_ Catholic since Elizabeth I's reign. Still, he succeeds his brother in 1685, and at first, everything is fine. But James subscribed to a growing belief amongst European monarchies- the idea of absolute monarchy, and his high-handed, dictatorial, and (perhaps worst of all for English Protestants) decidedly pro-Catholic attitudes created a feeling of crisis, brought to a head by James' orders to arrest Protestant clergy, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, England's highest religious office, and the birth of James' son, a viable (and Catholic!) heir to the throne. But all was not lost! James had two daughters by his first wife, a good English Protestant lass. The eldest, Mary, was married to William, Prince of Orange. The English turned to them to defend the English/Protestant way of life. William agrees and arrives in England with an army in 1688, and James was forced to flee to France in exile after much of his own army defects to William's side. Parliament rules James' escape to France as an abdication of the throne and installs Mary and her husband as co-rulers. Thus the "Glorious Revolution" reclaimed the English throne for the Protestants without any bloodshed, and a college in Virginia had monarchs to name itself after.

After William and Mary die without heir (anyone noticing a pattern here?), James II's younger daughter, Anne, takes the throne. She, (you guessed it) also dies without heir, and the throne passes to George I, the descendant of a distant cousin, thus introducing the House of Hanover to the British throne. Meanwhile, back in France, James II's son proclaims himself King James III after II's death, and is recognized by the governments of France, Spain, & the Pope. He tries to retake his throne in 1708 & 1715, but is unsuccessful. He winds up seeking amnesty from the Pope, who grants him a villa and life annuity, and he sets up a court-in-exile at the Papal States, earning himself the nickname "the Pretender." His son, Charles Stuart (aka Bonny Prince Charlie or "the Young Pretender") follows in his father's footsteps with another failed attempt to retake the throne in 1745-6 in another Jacobite uprising. Charles is somewhat more successful than his father, managing to gather some degree of support among the Scottish Highland clans, who viewed the Stuarts as their own rightful kings. He had some early successes, but the Battle of Culloden proved disasterous for his cause and virtually wiped out his support base. Bonny Prince Charlie fled to the Isle of Skye with the help of a Highland lass by name of Flora MacDonald, and from there escaped back to the continent in exile.

The battle took place on Culloden Moor, a flat, marshy, wet area not terribly well-suited for the fighting tactics used by the Highlanders. The "Highland charge," one of the most feared battle tactics of the day proved deadly at Culloden. Soldiers using the tactic would literally charge their opponents while screaming bloody murder and firing muskets until they got within range to do deadly damage in hand-to-hand combat. The English in particular, relying heavily on guns and artillery, found themselves vulnerable to sword and knife-wielding Scotsmen. But the element of surprise was crucial to the Highland charge, and it proved especially effective in the mountains of the Highlands, where a band of screaming clansmen in kilts charging down the mountains could be deadly for the English. Many of the Highlanders were killed in the opening gambits of the battle when they attempted an ill-advised charge with untrained men straight at the royal army. Today, Culloden stands not only as a memorial for the battle, but as a war-grave.

A memorial cairn was erected in 1881 to honor the dead, who were buried in mass graves on the battlefield.

A series of tombstones mark where the various clan units were buried, at least, as near as can be determined.

A series of red (for the Royalists) and blue (for the Jacobites) flags mark the front lines of the respective armies at the battle's commencement, and a brand new Visitors' Centre is located adjacent to the field, with a number of exhibits that are supposed to be worth a look. There's a small fee to get in, but worth checking out. Word to the wise, make sure you've got proper footwear when visiting, especially because it is Scotland and has a tendency to rain rain rain. And the field has a tendency to collect water in giant puddles.

I'm far and away the last person to urge anyone to visit a battlefield; I'm just generally indifferent to them. I think its important to recognize the history of the site, the sacrifices and deaths that occurred there, but really, its a field of grass. Not a whole lot to see & do. I know, I'm from Virginia. I practically live on a Civil War battlefield. But if you happen to be in the area, go check it out. The visitors centre has rave reviews, and the battlefield itself is pretty well marked out so you can sort of get a sense of how the battle played out. And if you've got any Scottish in you, you very well might have relatives buried there. And if nothing else, the moor is quite pretty, although I'd probably have appreciated that fact more if it hadn't been raining and my feet weren't soaking wet! 

Loch Ness & Urquhart Castle

Sadly, this is as close to Nessie as we were able to get. I'm also really proud of this picture because the woman who took it for us got 2 shots: one with Max blinking and the other with Ellen blinking. And you totally can't even tell that I had to edit in Ellen's eyes from the other picture so we all have smiles & open eyes. Of course, now you all know that and will scrutinize the picture, but I'm still proud of myself. So yes, moving on.

Loch Ness!

There it is. A great big lake under misty, rainy, Scottish skies. At this point we are officially near-ish the middle of the Highlands, which I'm going to maintain are absolutely the most gorgeous place on earth until proven otherwise. Just wait until we get further west- Skye and Glencoe are to die for. But then I like mountains.

Apparently the best views of Loch Ness can be seen from the tower at Urquhart Castle (below), which overlooks the loch.

I'm sure it is very nice, but they charge you something like 13 pounds to get onto the grounds (eww) and we were here during the one afternoon that it just poured down rain on us. So we skipped the castle and just snapped shots from the castle parking lot, which is actually not a bad place to see the castle from because it is on a cliff overlooking the castle and the loch. Or at least it wouldn't be if there weren't a pretty solid line of trees blocking your view. But there are breaks in the trees, you just have to find 'em.

At this point I should probably toss out there that Urquhart was once one of Scotland's largest castles, and that most Nessie sightings occur near the castle. There are also a number of boats you can ride in the area to get some great views of the loch and the castle (see? There's one right there!). But save it for a day less miserable than the one we had. Urquhart was transformed into the ruin you see today in 1692, when the Royalists destroyed the castle rather than let it fall into the hands of the Jacobites. But for that story, you'll have to wait for the next post highlighting the battle of Culloden.

Inverness

The city of Inverness or Inbhir Nis in the Scottish Gaelic straddles the River Ness not far from Scotland's most famous landmark, the Loch Ness. Inverness is one of the largest towns in the highlands and serves as the capital for the region. It has a bit of an industrial feel to it due to the presence of a lot of big farm supply centres on the outskirts of town, and there's not really a whole lot to see and do in Inverness itself. But the centre of town is lovely and has plenty of little shops to peruse, and Inverness is a convenient stopping point with lots of B&Bs in the centre of the Highlands, and there are lots of things to see and do just a short drive away, including Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, and Culloden Battlefield.

But what Inverness _does_ have is a totally awesome traditional pub by the name of Hootananny.

Hootananny has been listed as one of the best pubs in Scotland for traditional music- and the musicians are there every night, with locals and tourists alike packing the place. We were there on a Tuesday night and it was pretty much standing room only.

Not only were the musicians good, they were set up at the table in the middle of the pub, drinking, playing and talking to the crowd. Most "traditional music bars" treat the music as sort of a gimmick, with the musicians trundled off into a corner, but here, they were very much the centre of the show, with more people showing up to play as the night went on. It was a great time- highly recommended. Also highly recommended- Sammy's Indian cuisine, just down the road from Hootananny. There are also a number of kiltmakers and gift shops in the area, typically with better prices than Edinburgh. I was totally kicking myself because I found the exact same scarf I'd bought in Edinburgh for a fair bit less. If you're really interested in kilts, check out the Highland House of Fraser.

They have a large showroom/gift shop, but they also house the Scottish Kiltmaker Visitor Centre, where for a small fee you can learn all about the history of kilts, how to wear one properly, and how they are made in a little museum.

So that's Inverness. Stay tuned for the aforementioned more exciting things to do in the area.

The Firth of Forth and Unplanned Detour with Suprising Results #1

Heading north from Edinburgh, you quickly come to the crossing for the Firth of Forth, an estuary of the River Forth. The Firth of Forth is a fjord carved out by glacier activity during an Ice Age, and is kind of fun to say five times fast. Confession: I've renamed Colin Firth in my head. His new name is Colin Firth-of-Forth. Ok, I should stop rambling. Just over the Firth we came across the first of several intriguing signs that prompted us to detour from our planned route. As you can see by the irksome railing, it's difficult to get good pictures of the Firth from the bridge. But just past the bridge, there was a road marked "Coastal Scenic Route." So we figured, what the heck? Let's go see the coast!

Problem: The Coastal Scenic Route, while plenty scenic, does not actually run past the coast, at least not in the half hour we drove down it. But, a hidden surprise totally made it worth while...

The Tuilyies standing stones consist of one large stone almost 8' tall, and a cluster of three smaller ones. Local lore holds that the group are located on the site of an ancient battle and mark the burial sites of chiefs who died in the fighting. The name Tuilyies itself is thought to be a corruption of the word "tulzie," meaning a fight or battle. There's no advance warning- no signs proclaiming "pull over here cuz there's going to be awesome standing stones in 30 seconds!" so we drove past, gasped, and turned around. The stones are located on private property, and barbed wire is up to discourage people from wandering on the grounds, so one has to content themselves with photos taken from a ways away, unless you're prepared to hop barbed wire and trespass where you are clearly unwelcome. Your choice.

And hey look- you can almost see the water! There's also some really adorable little villages along the route, so while the lack of coast was somewhat disappointing, the little detour certainly was not.