Stirling and the Trossachs

Day 7: Edinburgh to Oban
Km driven: I forgot to note
Explorer Pass: Stirling Castle

We valiantly left Edinburgh, its ferret and our gracious host to visit Stirling Castle. The castle is situated on a hilltop with a stunning view of the valley. The castle is geared towards a family experience,  with reconstructions and staff in historical costumes, ready with explanations... but sadly lacking in authenticity for adults.

Our next destination was Aberfoyle and its walking path between lochs; we took the Three Lochs Drive, a cousin to the Raider's Road but without the Otter's Pool. We stopped on a first viewpoint in grove of firs for lunch then drove to the next stop for a short walk along Loch Drunchie. We decided to forgo Loch Lomond in favor of an earlier arrival in Oban.

The road went through the Trossachs, a fabulous region of lochs and glens, with greenness everywhere, rivers and waterfalls, a rugged scenery that took our breath away.

Our Youth Hostel in Oban was on the waterfront. (If you followed, we left the eastern coast of Scotland with Edinburgh, crossed the country in an almost horizontal direction to arrive slightly more to the North in Oban on the western coast.)

An overview from Edinburgh

Day 5 and 6: Edinburgh
Km driven: 91
Explorer Pass: Edinburgh Castle, Linlithgow Palace, Blackness Castle

We spent three nights in Edinburgh.  Our host very nicely let us live in her flat under the close supervision of her pet ferret. This enabled us to enjoy the city at every time of the day.

The first morning,  we gathered our courage and walked to Holyroodhouse Palace, the royal family's residence when they are in town. We visited the dining room (with a menu and list of the toasts), the rooms of Mary Stuart and other royal apartments. I (Solene is writing) could very well picture myself living there... I also learnt about the existence of the Commonwealth Games.

We then walked through the city, stopping at every souvenir shop (where I incidentally found a kilt), had lunch at the Elephant House (the café where Harry Potter was written) and went to the Museum of Scotland, expecting an insight on the lives of Scottish people through time. Even though the pieces we saw were very interesting, we were disappointed by the museum, which didn't offer visitors a thread to follow.

As we had some time left, we  climbed up the hill to Edinburgh castle, where our Explorer Pass allowed us to avoid the queue. Notably, the Honors of Scotland were displayed, and so we learnt about the crown, the sword and the scepter used in the coronation of the kings and queens of Scotland.

That evening, we had diner at a Malaysian restaurant with our host and her boyfriend, then stayed at the pub until it closed, at 1 am. We had a wonderful time but the morning after that found us eager to sleep in. We cooked an english breakfast, with eggs and bacon, a scone, some local cheese... Comfort food after several days of intense visiting.

Finally, we detached ourselves from our books, and drove to Linlithgow Palace, an impressive ruin full of  side corridors, alcoves, and stairs. We tried climbing up one tower before discovering the only one with an access to the top was the opposite one. We had fun playing hide and seek, and had breathtaking views on the country around.

Next stop was Blackness Castle, where there wasn't much to see (compared to what we are getting used to), except for a viewpoint over the Forth Rail Bridge. On the other side of Edinburgh,  we went to Rosslyn Chapel, expensive but definitely worth it. The whole building is exquisitely decorated, with precise and intricate sculptures all over the walls, arches and ceiling.  We were explained about Green Men, masculine figures with leaves coming out of their mouth, thought to represent abundance and fertility of the soils.

Back at the flat, we focused on getting ready for an early start the next day, finally spending one night in the city sithout going to the pub.

Of castles, abbey and ferret.

Day 4 : New Lanark to Edinburgh
Km driven : 226
Explorer Pass : Melrose Abbey, Tantallon Castle, Dirleton Castle and Gardens

Snobbing New Lanark, we drove straight to Selkirk, in the Tweed Valley... to a factory outlet of high-end tartans. We spent an outrageous amount of time and money there.

Our next stop was Melrose Abbey where the ruins were of yellow stone (or a very yellowish pink if you insist). One of the highpoints is a gargoyle representing a bagpipes-playing pig. In order to see it, we had to climb a tower (three towers a day keep the doctor far away).

We moved on to the castles of Tantallon and Dirleton,  both well-kept ruins. Lilly insisted on climbing every tower we found. Tantallon we remember for its location (on top of a wind-swept cliff), and Dirleton for its magnificent gardens.

We successfully found our way to our host's, who was eager to imtroduce us to her ferret, with whom we shared the flat (he is an old, in-bred, incontinent, smelly animal with a very sweet disposition). We had our first experience of a Scottish pub, ale and cider.

Edinburgh

Nous sommes bien arrivées! L'accès internet est limité, aussi la suite de nos aventures attendra de trouver un cyber café...

First brush with the Scottish weather

Day 3: Newton Stewart to New Lanark
Km driven: 234
Explorer Pass day 1: Threave Castle, Sweetheart Abbey and New Abbey Corn Mill.

Driving on the left is logical... if you start on the right (ah ah!) side of the road. We haven't yet have an accident. Thank God there is a copilot to remind the driver of that little fact.

We started the morning with an early visit to Cairn Holy, which is actually a dual site with megalithic burial chambers and their standing stones. I had my thermos of coffee and between the view, the grazing sheep and the stones, my morning was very pleasant.

Cairn Holy I

Cairn Holy II

Cairn Holy II

Our next step was to drive back to Galloway Forest, where Solene dragged me on a short walk above a loch, before taking off to follow the Raider's Road... we stopped half-way at the Otter's Pool to have lunch, without the otters (does the statue count?).

Lunch at the Otter's Pool

Otter's Pool

Otter's Pool

Otter's Statue

 

Next was Threave Castle. That's when the Scottish weather woke up and we walked to the ferry under a pouring rain. The castle is on an island, and visitors ring a bell to call the ferryman (or, for us, a bonnie Scottish lass).

Threave Castle

Threave Castle

The castle itself is only a shell, open to the winds. It was built by Archibald the Grim, and with the rain, it was very grim indeed. Of course, it stopped raining as soon as we came back to the car.

Inside Threave Castle

We drove then to Sweetheart Abbey, a ruin of pink stones on a carpet of immaculate green grass. (We were to learn later that the lawn came in rolls). Very romantic ! We visited an old mill in the same town. Our (white-bearded) guide was a cheerful Scott, with a Monty Python-like sense of humour, which made the visit much more lively (somehow a mariage proposal came up at the time where we discussed the merits of a miller's son).

Sweetheart Abbey

Sweetheart Abbey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweetheart Abbey

New Abbey Mill

On the other side of the border...

Day 2: Oxford to Newton Stewart.
Km driven that day: 713

We left Oxford later than we intended and braved the motorway towards Scotland. After a few (mistakenly taken) detours, we arrived finally in the right place. We abandoned the idea of visiting Culzean Castle, too far and expensive, and went instead to the Mull of Galloway (what's a mull?), trying on the way to find Kirkmadrine's Stones (which, having driven around the land where the signs assured us they were, we didn't find).

We did find a phone booth, though.

Scotland is full of sunshine, the region where we are looks like Brittany (with a ratio of 3 sheep for a cow), and the houses are charming. We have taken of course way too many pictures which we will have to sort at home.

In the Youth Hostel, our Scottish host was (white-bearded) charming and helpful, and indicated a short walk to take, down to the burn and back.

We found a small church and its cemetery

  

Detail of a Celtic cross

We were few at the hostel,  which was lucky for us as we had decided for this trip to cook our meal, taking advantage of the self-catering option of Youth Hostels.

Scotland! (Ou l'histoire de 6 gourdes dans une voiture)

Day 1: Paris to Oxford
Km driven: 539

First night. Destination Scotland, which is why we are in Oxford.
Uneventful trip -we incidentally passed a spaceship (picture later, when we get a computer) on our arrival to the ferry in Calais.

Driving on the left: fingers in the nose, especially in queues. We had a few of those.

Oxford is a beautiful city, full of people dressed in strange robes with funny flat black hats (graduation day in most of the colleges, obviously). We arrived too late to visit something, especially since we left an arm and a leg in payment for the parking.

Tomorrow, we leave at dawn direction Gretna Green: we are secretly eloping.

Note de la petite soeur : nous nous habituons à la vie dans la voiture. Par exemple, on lui a appris à faire le café.  Utile quand on part à 6h... Et celle à la place du passager apprend à s'occuper. Lilly joue avec son GPS tout neuf et moi je fais des haltères avec des bouteilles d'eau !