Scottish Highlands

Saturday, the 25th, we drove around the very remote peninsula where we stayed for one more night. We took our time getting down to the next biggest (using the word big loosely here) town enjoying the drive and view as we went. The next town was Applecross. We stopped at the only Bed and Breakfast/pub (which had previously won Best Restaurant in the UK) for some lunch and then went for a nice walk down the short main road. After, we headed over to an old walled garden that has been slowly restored to its former Victorian glory since 2001. On the drive over to the garden, we came across a herd of very shaggy cows! Called the Highland Cattle, this breed is originally from Scotland. Their long coats allow them to withstand the harsh winters. They are bred for their beef and apparently do not need shearing. After we took a few pictures, we entered the garden. We picked our way around, admiring the various plant life and the twists and turns from the path. I felt like I was in the Secret Garden.

Our hostess suggested we take a little hike down from the main road to a very tiny village only accessible by foot to see a beautiful coral beach. We were intrigued and passed through Applecross to head there next. We’ve noticed while driving around the Highlands, there are not very many trees anywhere. The ground is mostly covered in grasses and flowers, or moss and water. The hike was really very pretty and not too strenuous. It took us no time to reach the three houses sitting on the bluff overlooking the ocean. A large herd of sheep was grazing in the walled pasture nearby. We spent some time picking among the sand, finding lots of whole, unbroken, sea shells. A couple from Inverness had followed us along the path and we spent some time talking with them about the scenery and weather. We parted ways and headed back to the car, driving back up the road to look for a grocery so we could purchase some food for dinner. Unfortunately, the only store we could find was a very tiny convenience store connected to a house in a small town north of Applecross. We went in and found two cans of soup and rice to make for dinner.

All I can say is, I thought Cambria was remote. Boy was I wrong! We got back to our very comfortable BnB, made dinner and hung out with the hostess’ sweet puppy dog.

Sunday, the 26th, was the day we ventured into Glasgow. We took a detour and decided to checkout the Isle of Skye briefly just so we could take the ferry out from the southern point of the isle and onto a road that led us to one of the bridges shown in Harry Potter! We got to the ferry just a little bit after it had left so we journaled and drank coffee in the cold on a bench outside in the wind while waiting for the next ferry. Also on our path down to Glasgow was Glen Coe, a gorgeous valley that some people consider the most beautiful place in Scotland, and we stopped there for some photos and a short hike up the mountain.

In Glasgow, we decided to splurge a little and booked some nights at the Hilton. It’s really nice to have so much room! Unfortunately, the whole 21 floor building was awakened at 6:45am when a fire alarm went off and told us to exit the building. I was hoping it was a joke and that they would shortly stop it. But it persisted and we walked 9 stories of stairs down. As soon as we got outside, people were walking back into the Reception area and we were told we could go back to our rooms. It took almost 15 minutes to get back to our room at that point because there were so many people waiting in line to use the elevator. Well, Good Morning to you too Hilton!

Monday, the 27th, we drove into Crieff to do a distillery tour at the Glenturret distillery, the oldest working distillery in Scotland. The Famous Grouse company set up “The Famous Grouse Experience” tour there and we did one of the upgraded tours that included more tastings. Woooo! We’re not big drinkers of scotch whisky but we had a good time. Obviously, distilling whiskey has a lot in common with brewing beer and wine but it was cool to see the differences. They distill the spirits twice and only take a portion of the end product. If my memory serves me correctly, 15,000 liters of water is used in the start of the process which produces about 4,000 liters of spirit and then it’s distilled to later yield about 400 bottles of whisky. By the time we left, it was POURING down rain. We drove to Glasgow, returned our rental car and taxi’d back to the hotel.

Today, Tuesday the 28th, was a chill day. We’ve spent all day inside our room so far except for a gym visit. We’ve been going over our finances and planning for our next stops.