Scotland Autumn Dispatch - Saturday, 18th October 2014

Dear Everyone, I left you on Wednesday as we headed out into a chilly but dry 4° to walk to Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the Royal Mile. We arrived just as visitors were being allowed in and managed to get ahead of all the bus tours and have a much more enjoyable visit than 4 years ago, when it was crowded everywhere. We enjoyed walking through the rooms the public are allowed into, although Wes feels, quite rightly, that we could be given more information, which would give us a better idea of how the various Kings & Queens lived here and how they managed in times of turmoil.

The view of the ruined Abbey from the Palace Gardens

We had decided to visit The Queen’s Gallery as well this time, and after a very refreshing Jasmine tea for me and extremely decadent hot chocolate with whisky fruit cake for Wes in the Palace Café, we headed that way.

And we were so pleased we did.

The display is called Poetry for the Palace and celebrates the Poets Laureate from Dryden to Duffy, with particular attention being paid to Carol Ann Duffy, the first Scot and the first female Poet Laureate. We were absolutely blown away by her poetry, which she reads in a slow, husky tone and if we could have bought a CD of her reading her poems we would have. Most of the featured poems by the other Poet Laureates were read by Timothy West and one was read by Judi Dench. Another highlight was hearing Tennyson read the first verse of The Charge of the Light Brigade, which he recorded and which has survived until today. Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry has been represented by the textural artist, Stephen Raw, in works created for this exhibition.

We were hungry by the time we emerged into the real world, so headed up the Royal Mile looking for a suitable lunch spot. We rejected the pubs which seemed to offer exactly the same food as each other, and appealed not a whit, and ended up in Howies, which had an interesting menu. We walked in the door to discover the bar immediately on our left – the barman made eye-contact, asked us to sit while he finished pouring drinks and then took us to our table, where we were greeted by a smiling waitress. We were most impressed and even more so when the food was very yummy indeed and the Shiraz which promised a taste of white pepper, delivered! I went to the loo to discover a vase of Asiatic lilies in pride of place.

After lunch, we walked back to visit Gladstone’s Land, which is a surviving, National Trust-run 17thC high-tenement house situated in the Old Town. In 6 rooms split across two levels, the authentically restored tenement shows how people from a variety of backgrounds went about their lives. 

We still had a little bit of energy, so popped back into the Edinburgh Museum before heading back home, stopping only to replenish the red wine stocks with a bottle of Spanish tempranillo.

We survived another night in our double bed, although Wes was up at 4am and working on the laptop. Just as it reached 6am & I decided to get up, he came back to bed and got a couple more hours sleep with the whole bed to himself. I stripped the bed to the mattress and discovered the mattress protector and the sheets are both too small for the bed, which is why everything is rucked up and not tucked in properly. I did my best to get it shipshape and when we arrived back that afternoon, we discovered the cleaners changing our sheets, so I had to start all over again.

I had a long chat with Leanne before we went out and discovered she was thrilled with the Scottish socks we had posted her.

We spent the day doing the Water of Leith walk, which we found when we ducked into the charming little village of Dean, just outside of Edinburgh. We did a walk through the cemetery first, which is very orderly and very beautiful. Then headed down by the river accompanied by various dogs and their owners for much of the time.

Wes on a Chinese Bridge admiring the waterfall

We ducked off the path and found the Royal Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, and after a refreshing cuppa, we walked around the Chinese section; the Wooded Garden, the Rock Garden and finally the Garden for Organ Donors & Recipients. Such a lovely idea and typical of Scottish thinking.

Interesting gravestone in the Dean Cemetery

We made our way back onto the path and around 1.30pm found ourselves at the Leith Docks where there were a range of interesting and recommended restaurants to choose from.

We couldn’t find the highly-recommended Roseleaf, so settled for The Ship on the Shore, and what a delight that turned out to be. We enjoyed very yummy grilled scallops followed by fish pie and green salad, accompanied by a Venetian pinot grigio.

Dining Room where we ate under the oars

 We wandered down to the water, then tried to find the Leith Town Square, gave up eventually and caught a taxi back home, where we gave our weary limbs a well-earned rest. I sat here at the laptop to put down some thoughts and then tried to check my emails, but to no avail. When Wes woke from his rest I asked him what I was doing wrong and he said nothing, so I collected our little portable modem (one of the plusses of our suite) and went up to reception. Yes, up – we are on level -2, because of the slopes of Edinburgh streets. The receptionist smiled, took the modem and explained that they had changed their system this afternoon and from now on we would be using Wi-Fi over bitbuzz.com and wouldn’t need the modem. Glad I asked!

Yesterday we set out to Clarinda’s Tearooms in the Royal Mile and have a cooked breakfast as we weren’t planning on eating lunch. This place is a delight and we were first in at 8.45am. Our poached eggs on toast with tomatoes (me) and bacon (him) were perfect, but it was the tea from proper teapots drunken from fine china that really had us smiling. Each table has a lace cloth and a small vase of fresh rose buds and carnations. We ordered second pots of tea and were given the first scone of the day to try!

We decided to go to the Scottish Parliament to see when their first tour was on, but it took Wes approximately 10 minutes to get dressed again after we went through the security at the front door, so we thought we would take whatever was on offer. Tour 1 set off at 10.30am with a very knowledgeable, interesting and amusing Scottish woman, Barbara, as our guide. She interacted well with us all and especially the two young girls, who were the only children on the tour. We were amazed that the 10-year-old knew so much about Parliament and her father assured us that she had learnt it all at school – most impressive. The least impressive thing about the Scottish system is the thing that the Scots fought for when they came to Australia – one man, one vote. We really value universal suffrage, but voting is not compulsory here and it seems such a shame.

The new Scottish Parliament building is an architectural wonder and like the Sydney Opera House, will be admired for years to come, as its design is so imaginative and exciting. This is the view from the top where the roof looks like leaves or upturned boats. Our tour lasted over an hour and took us into the House, as Parliament isn’t sitting at present. It is a very modern and light-filled area with lots of public gallery space, which visitors are encouraged to come and use. You can even watch the politicians going into the Chamber through glass hallways, which gives such a feeling of accessibility.

Afterwards we walked part of the way up the hill to view Parliament from above, wandered back down to the Science Museum, which was crawling with excited children on school holidays, and about-turned out of there and into the Edinburgh Museum, which contains some wonderful historical artefacts including an amazing collection of silverware made by Scottish artisans. It also houses Greyfriars Bobby’s collar and water bowl and shows photos of him aged 16 being nursed by the Neill family, who looked after him in his old age.

We tried unsuccessfully to find the Police Museum, but on our way passed an empty hairdresser, so I popped in on the off-chance and had a cheap, good fringe trim from a smiling Polish girl. Wes immersed himself in beautiful prints in a shop across the road, and when we reunited we turned left (because it is always worth making a turn in Scotland) and found ourselves at the Museum on the Mound, the home of Lloyds with a fascinating history of banking from earliest times.

After that we decided it was time to come back home, and have a rest before Wes cooked a yummy pasta dinner with mushrooms and broccoli. We had washing to drape over the heaters, food to finish off and packing to think about so we could make an early get-away today. Wes managed to get chili in his eye, so with my pair of bloodshot eyes, we are a very attractive couple.

We are very relieved to be saying goodbye to our accommodation – sick to death of tossing and turning and disturbing each other in this amazingly uncomfortable and tiny bed, sick of having the temperature at 30° so we can dry clothes and completely over being in the gloom in spite of all the lights. So off to The Black Isle we go….

Scotland Autumn Dispatch - Wednesday, 15th October 2014

 

Dear Everyone, when I last wrote on our Sunday morning, we were heading off to explore Edinburgh and what a great time we had. We walked along the Royal Mile and booked into the 12.45pm show of The Real Mary King’s Close, which was a 1 hour guided tour under the street and through the remains of an old warren of streets that has remained frozen in time since the 17thC. We really got a feel for how these people lived, worked and died and would both recommend this experience very much. Like all paid tours we get a handy Seniors’ discount and our cards are never very far from view. Added to our memberships of the Australian National Trust and the National Gallery of Victoria, we find we are able to enjoy free or heavily discounted entry to many sights. Of course much in Scotland is free – and the Museum was our starting point this morning.

Wes by the statue of Greyfriars Bobby – we went to the church and visited his grave as well as finding a Lt Col John Munro who served in the East India Co

We were so impressed with the design and layout of the Museum. It is very easy to access, lots of lifts, stairs, toilets, signage and explanations. As well as signs asking you not to touch, there are plenty you can feel or operate. The highlight for us was the wonderful dissertation on Scotland’s history, including an old jug containing 197 groats that was found after 500 years. Someone’s nest egg that was lost when they unexpectedly died or forgot to tell anyone where they had buried it. There were also some beautiful Catholic chalices etc that had been hidden for many years when Catholicism was banned.

After the tour underground it was time for a late lunch, so we made our way to Wildfire Steak & Seafood Restaurant in Rose Street, where we ate the best Cullen Skink we’ve ever tasted and Wes enjoyed a shoulder of lamb, while I munched my way through seafood gratin. We ordered a lovely bottle of Heathcote Shiraz, which turned out to be twice as lovely as we thought – I ordered a £17 bottle, but we drank a £37 bottle and thought it was amazing value. The names of the two bottles were very similar and I hadn’t gone far enough into the wine list to realise there was a trap for the unwary! Bread and water went on the menu for dinner that night.

We had been out and about for 7 hours so decided to come home and see if our washing had dried (no), but the heated towel rack was hot, so I draped underwear over it and hoped for the best.

Pitlochry – beautiful greenery on the start of our walk to Ben-Y-Vrackie

The next morning, Monday, Wes rang Barbara and I spoke with Leanne and we caught up on their news. We have officially given up on the drying element of the washing machine and are getting around in precious little with the room temperature up to 30°, as that is the only way to make the heated towel rack in the bathroom work. Clothing is draped artistically around our unit and it is all drying so much faster than in the washing machine/dryer.

We headed off after our very healthy muesli breakfast for Edinburgh Castle, which we had last toured in pouring rain in March 2010. This time it was only cold, which I imagine it always is at that place. We loved going back, looking at things we remembered well such as the Scottish National War Memorial, the Dog Cemetery and St Margaret’s Chapel, which is the oldest building in Scotland. There weren’t hordes of people yet, so we had a leisurely walk through the The Honours of Scotland – The Scottish Crown Jewels, and were able to read all the information along the way as well as listen to our audio guides.

On our way to lunch we stopped at the Museum of Childhood, on the Royal Mile, which is the first Museum in the world dedicated to the history of childhood. It displays toys and games from across the generations and explores aspects of growing up from schooldays and clubs to clothing, health and holidays. We loved it.

Wes had booked us into a French restaurant for lunch – La Garrigue, which has been open for 13 years and offers beautiful French food and wine at very affordable prices – at lunchtime anyway! We both started with the grilled sardines and Wes followed with pork belly on cassoulet and I had coley (or coalfish, similar to cod) on rice pilaf. Both meals were very yummy and we had a glass of French white wine – not sure what it was, but it was just what we felt like.

We emerged to discover the Scottish mist had descended with a vengeance so spent some time in the Old St Paul’s Scottish Episcopal Church nearby, which has some beautiful stained glass windows and looks as if it might have started life as a Catholic Church. Up the stairs beside it we climbed, until we reached North Bridge and headed off to find the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which we had promised Gillie we would visit.

By the time we got there we were rather damp, but completely warmed by the exciting displays in this beautiful old building. We loved an exhibition by painter, John Byrne, who is the father of Tilda Swinton’s twins. Another good exhibition was called Remembering The Great War, which celebrates the roles both men and women played in portraits and sculpture. We moved on to a small area devoted to women moving out of the shadow of men in 19thC Scotland, and a large room dedicated to Playing for Scotland – a celebration of Scottish sports.

After a stop for a hot drink, we decided to come home as the mist was showing no sign of abating, and our heads were full with all we had learnt and seen during the day. Wes is always keen to come home for a couple of fingers of Edradour Whisky, and I make a big mug of Jasmine tea until it is time for red wine and a total unwind.

Yesterday it was another chilly morning but we headed off for the Old Calton Cemetery which is just at the end of Waterloo Street (the extension of Princes Street), where we are staying. There are some amazing monuments and Wes was particularly taken with the one dedicated to Thomas Muir & friends, who were all sent to Australia as punishment for their political beliefs and contributed to the freedoms we enjoy as our rights these days.

Then onto Calton Hill, which we circumnavigated and admired the various views of Edinburgh, as well as the National Monument of Scotland, which is a memorial to all the Scottish Soldiers & sailors who died fighting the Napoleonic Wars.

We looked at some very modern art at the Collective Gallery also on top of the hill, before finally deciding we absolutely had to climb to the top of Nelson’s Monument and enjoy the stunning views from there. It was only 143 steps, a doddle as far as we intrepid climbers were concerned and we were the first visitors for the day.

After that we walked to the Edinburgh Art Gallery, and stopped in their café for a refreshing hot drink, before getting lost and eventually finding our way into the Gallery, where we were again lost, this time in admiration, not just over the art, but the way it is displayed, the great variety of artists and the huge time span it covers. We especially loved the Dutch rooms and I particularly loved this painting by of The Flight into Egypt by Guillaume Dubuffe 1894.

Wes had chosen a Scottish restaurant for lunch, but when we found it, it was closed for holidays, so we decided to look for the Cantonese one he had sourced, called Karen’s Unicorn. We enjoyed a wonderful meal – shared some lightly battered prawns & calamari to start, then he tucked into duck, while I ate monkfish. The service and the food were both faultless and we were so thankful once again for Trip Advisor, as we would never have found this place otherwise.

Amazingly we still had some energy left, so decided to visit The Georgian House in Charlotte Square and we were so pleased we did. It was sold to the National Trust some years ago and they have restored it to look as it would have in 1796 when the Lamont family lived there. We started in the basement with a 15-minute video, which gave us a real feel for the family life, then walked through the kitchen & pantry; the dining room; the main bedroom; the drawing room, and finally the children’s bedrooms. Each room had a very knowledgeable, interesting guide and we enjoyed asking questions and learning even more from them. This is one of the best house tours we have ever done and recommend it highly if you are ever in Edinburgh.

On our way back home we were unable to resist this delightful dog with cap in mouth begging on behalf of himself and his owner. In the minute or so we were there, very few passers-by could resist putting some coins in the cap.

Back home we settled in for a quiet night, with a glass of Edradour for Wes, a red wine for me and some Scottish Stilton when we got peckish!

This morning we were up early and decided to make Holyrood Palace our first destination. It looks like another pleasant day of 4°-12° – we have been very lucky, as we have only been soaked twice, which isn’t bad, and without the rain Scotland would not be as absolutely green and beautiful as it is!

Scotland Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 12th October 2014

Dear Everyone, when I left you on Thursday morning we were planning a walk to Killiecrankie, site of a famous battle won by King James II, and walk it we did. It had rained overnight, but the sun was out as we set off on what was to be a 3 mile walk. We think we walked 6 miles in total, and certainly it took us 2¼ hours to find the Visitor Centre, passing Soldier’s Leap, a burial spot and an old viaduct on the way. We met quite a few people on this walk, but most only said hello and went on their way. Although we had planned to walk back to Pitlochry, we had to abandon that idea and ring for a taxi, as there wasn’t enough time to get us back to our 2pm Matinee of Mr Bolfry.

White swans, such a treat, on the way from the Golf Course

We popped into home, Claymore B&B, to change clothes, down a cuppa & biscuit and relax very briefly before walking back to the Pitlochry Festival Theatre along the dam and by the fish ladder. The play was quite different from the others we have seen, and although it seemed somewhat dated to begin with, we felt that its premise – it’s as easy to follow the Devil as it is to follow God, is quite relevant in today’s world. Dougal Lee, the actor playing the Devil, Mr Bolfry, is the most accomplished of the troupe here and he played this role with aplomb. When we came outside at the end, it was raining heavily, so we rang for a taxi again, and discovered a 94-year-old man waiting for one as well. We persuaded our driver to take him with us and deliver him to the Green Hotel, and were thrilled when the driver not only opened the cab door for him, but escorted him to the front of the hotel and opened that door as well.

Our driver then took us to the Pitlochry Golf Club, where we settled down to a lovely two course meal of tomato & lentil soup, followed by grilled Shetland salmon, both accompanied by our waiter’s favourite wine, a French cabernet sauvignon, which was very smooth, not quite as flavoursome as our Australian palates crave, but enjoyable. We watched golfers carrying their bags up and down dale and decided this was a much prettier golf course than the famous St Andrew’s and probably much more affordable.

Claymore – we were in the bay window room

We walked home in the mist afterwards and spent a quiet evening reading with cups of tea and biscuits to keep us going. Our room here is very spacious and comfortable with an excellent bed and a pair of very inviting chairs in the bay window. Like most places, it doesn’t offer nearly enough hanging space or drawers and nowhere near enough power points. Our guest bedroom at home has 14 power points; there are 4 in the bathroom, and 2 in the passage outside the room, which should be enough for the most electronic minded guest. Here we have 4 power points in total and are forever plugging and unplugging things to charge our phones or the laptop or to use the hairdryer or iron. The bathroom is the size of 1.5 toilets and has been inserted into this lovely old room, as is often the case. The shower is right-angled in design and quite tiny, and it takes forever for the water to heat up. We still fill buckets at home with the cold water while we wait for our shower to get warm, and here we could easily fill three bucket loads each morning. The light switch which activates the tiny exhaust fan is outside the room and there is a small fluorescent light over the mirror once you are inside. We do have heated towel racks, which are operated from a switch on the floor outside the bathroom and quite tricky to work, but a godsend for drying underwear and socks. All this we can cope with, but we are very frustrated with the inadequate reading lights, which are dull, too low and too shaded to offer much in the way of illumination.

However, our hosts, Graeme & Dianne, are excellent and rarely could you stay in a B&B for eight days straight and not get sick of the breakfasts. We wanted to book a self-contained cottage, but could only have one for 7 days – Saturday to Saturday and we needed the extra Friday beforehand, which no-one was prepared to do for us. The Claymore is voted no 1 on Trip Advisor, so I think we have done well.

Wes had planned for us to walk Ben-y-Vrackie on Friday, and I had gone along with that, not really knowing what we were letting ourselves in for. We had our usually yummy breakfast and set off to walk along the West Moulin Road in search of the start of the walk, which was at a little car park, about 20 minutes from our B&B.

Now that it is over, we think it is probably the hardest thing we have ever done in our lives – climbing the rock at Sigiriya, Sri Lanka, in 1979 & again in 2011, is the most dangerous thing we have ever done, but climbing a Munro that reaches 841 metres at its summit is pretty hairy. Most of the path is rocks in haphazard fashion, with very occasional straight patches. It wasn’t easy and we were tempted to give up but Wes really wanted to do it, so we soldiered on. I took Cliff Young as my hero and adapted my walk to his shuffle. By halving the size of my steps I conserved energy and was never breathless. Wes preferred to walk 100 steps then rest, so we were always close to each other on the path. Getting there was such a thrill!

A Canadian couple took this photo in return for us taking theirs

Getting down again was not so good – we decided to come down the path on the other side, which we had trouble finding, but it didn’t have any rocks and I wasn’t sure that we would be able to negotiate the rocks as neither of us had sticks to help us. So off we trotted and eventually realised we were going further and further away from Pitlochry, so plunged into the heather, down the side of the outcrops and eventually found a 4-wheel drive path, and even more eventually ended up at Killiecrankie Visitor Centre. I rang a taxi but they were all doing the school run, as were the buses, so we walked the 4 miles home to Pitlochry and arrived back at 4.45pm, 7 hours after we set out that morning.

We were exhausted but exhilarated, and after a short rest and showers and a change of clothing from top to toe, we set off for the Festival Theatre for our final play – The Yellow on the Broom. We had decided to grab a sandwich and drink at the café there rather than try and eat a full meal, and that was perfect, as we managed to chat with two of the actors on their way past the bar. They were thrilled with our compliments, delighted we had come all the way from Australia and were looking forward to short breaks after the season finishes at the end of next weekend.

We didn’t much enjoy the play, which is about Scottish travellers, so at interval we decided to go home as we felt an extra hour’s sleep was more necessary than seeing the end of the show. We fell into bed and slept soundly, before waking yesterday morning in plenty of time for breakfast, packing, and a walk to the Catholic Church, a final check on the Fish Ladder, and then the two hour train trip to Edinburgh. We were lucky enough to get seats with a table attached and not too many other travellers fighting over it.

We booked into the Princes Street Suites, which are in Princes Street within walking distance of absolutely everything. First thing we did was unpack, and then while I mastered the washing machine/dryer combination, Wes made the wifi work and then went foraging for food. We had already decided we would spend the afternoon and evening relaxing as our tired limbs didn’t need any more walking.

Wes climbing a ladder over a dry stone wall

We didn’t sleep as well as we would have liked – back in a double bed, after the luxury of an excellent King Size and the dryer is yet to actually dry anything, so we have had that noise to content with during the night as we both need underwear and socks in preference to wearing yesterday’s stuff. However, the shower works well and after a small breakfast we are going to head off into Edinburgh and see where we find ourselves. As it is Sunday, we will avoid the most popular places and wait to do them during the week. 

Beautiful views of Pitlochry that we will miss – the Loch with the trees turning colour and the stunning vine growing up over the house