Advertisement
Published: November 23rd 2008
Photo 1
LOOK at the Scottish sunshine!!!As promised, the sun was out and shining brightly the morning we departed Kyleakin. I took a couple of minutes to myself and some pictures before we bussed out. I was sad to leave the island, but eager to see what the day would bring.
First stop was Eilan Donan Castle, back on the mainland. For anyone who's talked to me about my trip here last year, I'll be brief; the castle is one of the most photographed in the world, and also the seat of Clan MacRae. It's beautiful, it's lovely, it has a cool bridge leading up to it. It's got a crazy history including something to do with german submarines during WWII. The reason I love it is the fact that there's a plaque on one side that is a tribute to all the MacRaes who have fought and died in the wars. Underneath all the Scottish ones are the CANADIANS. By PROVINCE. Ugh. I saw it last year and was so moved I couldn't even take a picture. This year was different. I knew it was there, I was emotionally prepared...sort of. It's still a shock to see something so familiar as the name of your
country in the middle of the highlands on a random castle. There's also a special mention to Cpt. John MacRae, and a line from "In Flander's Fields" on the bottom....I still felt funny about taking pictures, but I wanted to remember those names. I left my poppy (that Mark had given me from home) as a token of my thoughts and appreciation.
We continued down the Great Glen, stopping off at yet another war memorial, smack in the middle of nowhere. Just behind it was a memorial garden for anyone to honour their friends or family. There were tributes to men who had died in WWI, as well as ones from Afghanistan this year. That was another time I just couldn't take pictures.
Off to Glencoe, a very beautiful and thought-provoking place. Last year I was only here for about 10 minutes, enough to get a few pictures. This year we had about half an hour, and it was great. Mark and I managed to scramble sideways around the overhang to the river which was a unique challenge in itself. The weather was unbelievable, and at the end of it I wished that I'd been wearing my shorts!
(That and I fell in the mud and got my knees/shins covered)
We left Glencoe and headed back into the lowlands. I knew the amazing scenery and space was rapidly departing behind us, and I couldn't help but be a little sad. Being out in the highlands is a part of me that I'll never really understand, but must always bend to. I kind of dozed off as we approached Stirling, and missed most of the William Wallace story Graham was telling. We had 20 minutes at the monument. 20. At this moment let me tell you something; Braveheart was the first movie Mark and I really watched together, and we're both crazy about it. I know that it's historically a massacre, but I get caught up in the scenery and romance regardless. I'm not joking when I say that Mark sprinted up to the top of the hill (no easy feat, with legs still so sore from Skye) just as they closing the doors to inside the monument. Momentary setback, we could still take pictures outside. I got some good ones of him on his camera.
Stirling was our final stop, and all too soon we were
back in Edinburgh. We were staying at the hostel the tour ended at for simplicity's sake. The fact that the heating didn't come on that night was not simplicity at all. Ah well, such is travel. We headed out to meet the rest of the tour a few hours later at a pub named The Royal Mile. Guess where it was, just guess. Great music, great Guinness, great end to a weekend.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.299s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0709s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Gill
non-member comment
MacRae Memorial
Just under a year ago, I brought my friend Peter up from Toronto to Ottawa. He's a former soldier, having served overseas with the JTF (joint task force). While in Afghanistan he was shot by a sniper, and his military career subsequently was ended. I brought him to the war museum, which is incredible, and one of the displays was the Pistol of John McCrae. Seeing it, and reading the words he wrote, brought me to tears. I'm pretty teary eyed right now after having seen your photos of the plaque. Thank you for sharing them, I never would have known it was there.