Our second week - in Scotland

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Saturday 9th we travelled by train via London to Edinburgh (about 6 hours) then by car from Edinburgh to Kinloch Rannoch for a one week stay. The train was a great way to see the countryside – a lot better than flying. It was all so green with villages dotted here and there. It was largely flat with lots of wheat, oats, rape seed crops etc and the occasional river/creek and canal. As we got closer to Edinburgh, the landscape became more undulating and we saw larger cities such as Duram and Newcastle, and the coastline.

We had our first Edinburgh experience at about 2 pm – a brief glimpse on the way to the airport to collect our car. The two hour (90 mile!) drive to Rannoch was a combination of highway and narrow country roads with stone fences as seen on some UK shows.

Kinloch Rannoch is a small and old village (church built mid 1800’s) on the shore of Loch Rannoch. We are staying in the Highland Club villas. The resort looked a bit run down from the outside but our villa is a lovely two bedroom two story building with a great view over the loch (lake that is).

Sunday we went to the local church – about 30 people there and the service went for 30 minutes. There was a large egg timer on the wall near the pulpit! We walked around the village in the afternoon then drove about 30 minutes to Rannoch train station at the end of the road – its only defining feature is that it is the remotest station in the UK! It was a lovely drive over the Rannoch Moor – and we saw a herd of deer!

Monday 11th we drove through Pitlochry to the highlands, Braemar, Balmoral Castle etc and back home. We drove through several snowfields (very little snow around), and numerous gates that can be closed when the snow is too heavy. The scenery was spectacular with rolling hills and mountains and streams and old farm houses scattered around. For some reason we had expected lots of rocky mountains etc, but I guess there had already been lots of erosion.

Balmoral Castle is just outside Braemar so we decided to have a quick look through the gates. However the Olympic torch arrived at the castle just after we arrived so we decided to buy an entry ticket and have a look around the castle. It was not as impressive as Arundel, but still worth looking at.

We experienced a wide range of accents, some of which were obviously Scottish but others we were not sure if they were Scottish or some other foreign language.

We arrived back home about 7.30 pm, thankful for a great day.

Tuesday 12th we drove to the Wallace Monument in Srirling to study Wallace's (our son-in-law) ancestry. We drove through the back roads and dropped in to see Europe's (and maybe the world's oldest) living thing - a yew tree. Rumor has it that Pontus Pilate played under the tree as a kid. We were also shown around a 120 year old pub managed by a Scotsman from New Zealand, and I managed to down a non-cold local beer.

We then drove to Stirling (about 90 min through mostly narrow country roads) and walked to the impressive Wallace Monument perched on a prominent hill overlooking the town. We took a short cut home via Perth and had a look around the tourist shops at Pitlochry on the way back.

Wednesday 13th we woke to a sunny morning with beautiful reflections in calm waters of the loch. About mid morning we drove north along the highway then west toward the mid west coast to Fort Williams, down the coast to Oban, and back to Kinloch Rannoch via the The Trossachs (includes Ben Lommond). We had some great sunshine, saw more lovely country and both towns we visited were very worth visiting - old style with lovely "High Street" main streets with shops selling typical Scottish products. Jilly bought some celtic earrings and I bougth scottish fudge - with a hint of whisky of course!

Thursday (today) we relaxed a bit then drove to Pitlochry again to buy some heathjewellery made from the low heath shrubs on the moors. Friday we drove around some of the local villages and had agreat pub lunch. We departed Saturday for Holland.

More to follow.

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Photos

In transit at Kings Cross
A caffeine fix while we wait for the Edinburgh train

Kings Cross Station
The famous sign - and Jill still hungry!

Duram
The Duram castle, going back centuries. Apologies for the picture - its challenging to get good piccies from a moving train.

Bridges and more bridges
Some of them over the river at Newcastle

Edinburgh
Our first glimpse of Edinburgh from the Waverley St train station before we alighted the bus to the airport

Our castle
Jill and I relaxing at our unit at Kinloch Rannoch, with a view over the loch

Jilly getting her hug
Jill and the minister of the church in Kinloch Rannoch

The old church at Kinloch Rannoch
Some of the gravestones surrounding the church dated back to the mid 1800's

Kinloch Rannoch
The view from the bridge in the middle of the village

Kinloch Rannoch
The view looking back into the village from the bridge

From our castle
The view in the morning when the sun was out and shining

Rannoch Station
A country river on the way to the station

Rannoch Station
Jilly standing at the only signpost. There was only one house, and it was a it wet and cold.

The local wildlife
A herd of deer on the hill in the distance - photographed through the drizzle

Comments

[hayesm]

Big sister says:
You have the most wonderful photos. I love the streams and rivers and the lake picture. You really did choose a good place to relax and enjoy. So much to take in. Have also seen some shots of Holland and couple of Israel. All the best you two! terrific experience!!!