The hotel at St. Andrews was certainly luxurious. We awoke and took a walk into town, walking past the golf course in daylight, and seeing the famous bridge again. Weather was dreary again. It dried up some as we got into town, and saw the old churches, some of which were old Catholic cathedrals that were destroyed I the Reformation of the 1500s and not only not rebuilt, but left in ruins now for >350 years. Talk about holding long grudges. There was one working church on the campus of the College, with some pretty stained glass windows. As we were walking around the campus, we ran into an American student here for a seminar in Ethics and Computers and Education(I think). Conor, our guide, was entirely smitten by her, and talked to her for about 15 minutes, and then about her for the next few hours!!!
Lunch at a local restaurant, and back onto the bus for the short (1 1/2 hour) drive into Edinburgh. We got here about 3:00, but had to walk a block or so to our hotel because of the closed streets or the Fringe Festival and the upcoming Book Festival. Since we were planning to stay an extra day for the Fringe, Ann had previously reserved an extra day for us. Of course, they had no record of it. Ann whipped out her iPad, and showed the manager the email chain from last November of the emails she had with him making the reservation. They found us a room for Friday after that!
Edinburgh is a real city, with streetlights and everything. The population quadruples for the Fringe, and there are zillions of people here. We'll do touring of the city in the next few days, and I'll describe that when we do it. There is a Portrait Gallery here, so that is one sure destination for our free time.
Dinner was at an Italian restaurant, Contini, which was quite good.
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Monday, August 6, 2018
Aug 6
We left our hotel in Brora early in the morning. Just as we were pulling out of the driveway, I discovered. I didn't have my iPad in my backpack. I jumped out of the bus, and ran back to go to our room. There was no one behind the desk, so I ha to go around and pick my key myself. Luckily, it was on the nightstand where I had left it. I returned to the bus to a round of applause. Luckily, I discovered it before we had gotten too far away!! Brora is way in the north of Scotland, and had been a center of industrial activity in the past: coal mining, steel, and farming. It didn't seem so mighty now, just a sleepy town. We had stopped in yesterday to the Brora Industrial Museum, all of 3 rooms, to see some of the artifacts.
We drove south and crossed Dornoch Firth and Cromerty Firth and Beauly Firth to get back to Inverness. There was a lovey rainbow, but I wasn't able to get a picture. You'll have to take my word for it.
We came to a little town called Carrbridge which had an ancient bridge (for wagons and people, not cars). Picturesque.
We proceeded to a small farm where we had a dog and sheep show. There were Border Collies who were unbelievably well trained to follow the master's spoken and whistle commands. They brought the sheep in, and we got a shearing demonstration.
Trying to get to our next destination, the Blair Athol Distillery, became a chore. There was an accident on the highway, and the main road was almost at a standstill. We were stuck for about an hour, and we weren't sure we were going to make our 2:45 appointment. We stopped in a little town for lunch, and had 30 minutes. We all got fish and chips, and ate it in the parking lot. Then we got to the distillery on time.
We had a little tour, showing us how Scotch Whiskey is made from the grains, fermented and aged in barrels from Kentucky Bourbon! Aging must be for at least 3 years, but mostly they age 12 years. We saw some barrels dating to 1968! Actually the vast majority of their output goes into blending of other whiskeys, such as Johnie Walker and others. They wouldn't let us take any pictures of the process or the barrels.
Then down to St. Andrews, where we are spending the night. We are right on the Old Course, overlooking the famous 18th hole. We went into town for dinner (Fish curry, actually very good) and walked back by way of the 18th hole. We crossed over the famous stone bridge going up to the 18th green. Amazing to think of the golfing greats who have also walked there.
We walk the town tomorrow, then down to Edinborough.
We drove south and crossed Dornoch Firth and Cromerty Firth and Beauly Firth to get back to Inverness. There was a lovey rainbow, but I wasn't able to get a picture. You'll have to take my word for it.
We came to a little town called Carrbridge which had an ancient bridge (for wagons and people, not cars). Picturesque.
We proceeded to a small farm where we had a dog and sheep show. There were Border Collies who were unbelievably well trained to follow the master's spoken and whistle commands. They brought the sheep in, and we got a shearing demonstration.
Trying to get to our next destination, the Blair Athol Distillery, became a chore. There was an accident on the highway, and the main road was almost at a standstill. We were stuck for about an hour, and we weren't sure we were going to make our 2:45 appointment. We stopped in a little town for lunch, and had 30 minutes. We all got fish and chips, and ate it in the parking lot. Then we got to the distillery on time.
We had a little tour, showing us how Scotch Whiskey is made from the grains, fermented and aged in barrels from Kentucky Bourbon! Aging must be for at least 3 years, but mostly they age 12 years. We saw some barrels dating to 1968! Actually the vast majority of their output goes into blending of other whiskeys, such as Johnie Walker and others. They wouldn't let us take any pictures of the process or the barrels.
Then down to St. Andrews, where we are spending the night. We are right on the Old Course, overlooking the famous 18th hole. We went into town for dinner (Fish curry, actually very good) and walked back by way of the 18th hole. We crossed over the famous stone bridge going up to the 18th green. Amazing to think of the golfing greats who have also walked there.
We walk the town tomorrow, then down to Edinborough.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Aug 5
More history. We stopped at the Tarbat Museum and Church in Portmahomack. This is a small museum dedicated to the ancient history of the Picts. These were people who were here when the Romans came. They painted their faces while at war, thus the "pictus" from Latin, meaning pictured or painted. They were quite warlike, and greatly resisted the onslaught of the Romans. They eventually merged with people of Caledonia to become the Kingdom of Alba(700's). After the Vikings conquered, it became Northumbria(850). Later, the Gaels came from the west in Ireland, and they became known as Scots(900s and later into the 1100s). The term Scot comes from the Latin term for Gaelic, Scoti.
Excavations around the museum produced stones with ornamental pictures of animals and people. The Picts had no known written language, so this is all we have.
We drove into the town of Dornoch, the largest town in the Sutherland area. We had lunch in the old Courthouse, next to the old Jail(now converted to shops).
On our way to our next stop at Dunrobin Castle, we took a detour to the shore to see a few sea lions lounging on the beach.
We proceeded to Dunrobin, the Castle of the Sutherland Clan. This area got its name from the Norse who had conquered from further north, and this was the "southern land". The Sutherlands were mostly Protestant and loyalist in the various uprisings, and never really supported the Jacobites. Thus their lands and castles were not destroyed or plundered. The castle now is mostly of Victorian vintage, with many beautiful rooms, lots of wood and Oriental rugs. Before we toured the castle, we watched a falcon demonstration, which showed the capabilities of these birds.
Pix in an adjoining post. It seems that I am limited using Apple's Notes to uploading large files.
Excavations around the museum produced stones with ornamental pictures of animals and people. The Picts had no known written language, so this is all we have.
We drove into the town of Dornoch, the largest town in the Sutherland area. We had lunch in the old Courthouse, next to the old Jail(now converted to shops).
On our way to our next stop at Dunrobin Castle, we took a detour to the shore to see a few sea lions lounging on the beach.
We proceeded to Dunrobin, the Castle of the Sutherland Clan. This area got its name from the Norse who had conquered from further north, and this was the "southern land". The Sutherlands were mostly Protestant and loyalist in the various uprisings, and never really supported the Jacobites. Thus their lands and castles were not destroyed or plundered. The castle now is mostly of Victorian vintage, with many beautiful rooms, lots of wood and Oriental rugs. Before we toured the castle, we watched a falcon demonstration, which showed the capabilities of these birds.
Pix in an adjoining post. It seems that I am limited using Apple's Notes to uploading large files.
Aug 4
One can see a depiction of Nesie, the famous creature from Loch Ness. One can also see the water on the sidewalk from the ubiquitous rainfall! We drove the length of Loch Ness, the longest and second deepest loch. Most of these lochs are glacial remnants, so the are very deep. Along the way, we stopped at Urquhart Castle, first built in 945, and greatly expanded over the years. In the 1100s, a king gave this land to the Grant clan, as a way of thwarting the MacDonald's power. It was destroyed in 1690 by the Grants themselves as they were abandoning it. The loyalist Grants were being overrun by the Jacobites and they didn't want it to fall into the "wrong" hands.
We went to the Culloden battlefield and museum. As I have alluded, this was the last hurrah of the Catholic Jacobites trying to restore a descendant of the last Stuart ruler, James II and VII, who had been deposed in 1688 by William of Orange. Jacobite refers to the Latin name for James, Jacobus. The Scottish Highlanders, who were Catholic, never liked the Protestants who had become the Kings. Prince Charles, who reportedly was very good looking, or "Bonnie", had been exiled in France and returned in 1745 with a small army to try to regain the throne. He was joined by the Catholic clans. They met in battle on April 16, 1746 with the regular Redcoats after marching all night. They were outmanned and outgunned, and it was a slaughter. Thousands of the clansmen were killed in a short but fierce battle, lasting only a few hours. Think of the battle scenes from Game of Thrones. The French reinforcements never arrived, and Charles retreated back to France. This was the last battle on English soil. The Scots remember and venerate this battle, and there was accurate depictions of the battle on a minute to minute basis. There was also a museum here to further explain all the particulars of the battle.
We proceeded to an ancient Circle of stones. These have been popularized recently via the Outlander series of books (which half the group is reading or has read - Ann in in book 1; I'm in book 4). The basic story is that a woman, Claire Randall, is transports via the magic stones to 1745, and gets involved in the uprising with Jamie Fraser, one of the Scotsmen. As far as I could tell, none of our group left us. These stones date back 2-4000 years, and, like Stonehenge, align with the sun on Solstice.
We headed further north, through Inverness (the "mouth" of the River Ness) and across the Firth or Bay of Moray. We came to Brora, a little town on the Northeast coast and settled into our quaint hotel. Billiard table, dark wood, very Victorian. After dinner, we went into town (all of 3 streets) to a little pub for some brews with the locals.
Friday, August 3, 2018
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