Scotland
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Scotland |
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Scotland - May 1985 Vicky Blitz We left England on a tour bus and crossed into Scotland
and the first thing of note was Gretna Green, where the blacksmith used to
marry eloping couples. Then, in Moffat we Back on
the road and on to Ayr, which is Wallace country and the tour guide gave
us a run At Ayr we dropped off those who wanted to do some shopping and the rest of us went on to visit the Culzeau Castle, home of the Kennedy Clan (from whence cometh our late president, John Kennedy). A delightful and feisty old lady showed us the castle and was a show in herself and well worth the price of admission. In Glasgow, we stayed in the elegant Hotel Albany and
toured the city the next day.
We passed through Ft. William where the clans met to sign
their allegiance to the King of England. We bid farewell to the Loch Leven,
where the salt water salmon have adapted to the fresh water of the lake.
We passed the 4,000 foot Ben Nevis, which is often too enveloped in cloud
and fog to see (we were lucky) and left the Great Glen. This is such
picturesque country, one wished to be in a private car to stop often for
pictures. Our tour guide did his best to accommodate our desire for those
stops. We drove along Loch Ness and passed Urquart Castle which was built on the site of Iron Age camp dating back to 200 B.C. The Urquarts unwisely supported Bonnie Prince Charlie and when the British won, they destroyed the castle so it could not be used again. I might add here that we did not see the Loch Ness Monster. We stayed overnight at the Hotel Caledonian in Inverness. Our room was a bit shabby, but never mind, it was clean and had a wonderful view, overlooking the river, Ness. During dinner in a neighborhood bar we watched a little floor show with an accordion player and a Scottish folk singer, which really made one feel one was in Scotland and that we were part of the scene. Comfortable. We had a wee bit of rain and fog, leaving Inverness the next morning. We passed the road to Findhorn, crossed the River Spey, saw a prehistoric stone circle (1800 B.C.) in the distance, a Scottish Castle, and a Celtic Cross. Coming through the Grampian Mountain Range, we were in fog and cloud so bad that our bus driver, Colin, later told us he could only see five or six feet ahead of the bus. The fog was thick like that for at least two hours as he skillfully maneuvered our bus around narrow hairpin turns, with cliffs on one side of the road and a drop-off on the other. We were dismayed that we were probably passing through the most scenic part of the trip and unable to see it.
In route to Edinburgh, we came through Braemar, where they have been having the Highland Games for nine hundred years. Then, thru Perth, on the Firth of Tay, where John Knox preached such a rousing sermon against other religions, the people went right out and burned all the churches in town. And, on across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh. In Edinburgh, we had a free night but Bob and I opted to
dine in our own hotel, Hotel Mount Royal, and we were glad we did. We had
the best meal of the entire trip. I had roast The following day we found ourselves back on the bus for a city tour of Edinburgh led by a local guide, dressed in his Scottish kilts. We went past the beautiful memorial and statue of Sir Walter Scott and the houses of Robert Lewis Stevenson where he was inspired to write the Lamp Lighter and where he got the idea for Long John Silver and Treasure Island. We also drove past the houses of Simpson (inventor of forceps and chloroform), Sir Walter Scott Lister (antiseptics and Listerine mouthwash), Alexander Graham Bell and the on the Edinburgh Castle which dates back to the seventh century. Edinburgh Castle was a particular delight for me because there was a statue of Wallace, and maiden name is Wallace. The plaque reads:
Memorial to Wallace Pretty cool, eh? And then we were turned over to another guide or docent, in kilts, of course, who took us through the castle and made it's history come alive.
Back on the road again the next morning and on to Melrose Abby. As the story goes, Robert the Bruce wanted his heart to be buried in Jerusalem but the man who tried to take it there got caught up in a war and was killed. So the heart was buried in the walls of Melrose Abby. The Abby, built in 1190, was eventually destroyed in 1542 by Henry VIII when he was trying to force Mary Queen of Scots (a little girl at the time) to marry his son and unite Scotland and England. On to the stately Floors Castle (1721), the ruins of the twelfth century Jedburgh Abby, through the Northumberland National Park and Hadrian's Wall before crossing into England.
A
solitary piper on a lonely hill. V. Blitz
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stopped and, my maiden name
being Wallace, I was able to purchase some Wallace-plaid material and a
couple coat of arms plaques at the local Tweed Shop. In the next block was
the Wallace Butcher Shop where I also purchased some sandwich meat and
made the owner stand in front of his shop for a picture. Needless to say,
this was a very big moment for me. I felt I had come home and this was my
kin. Mr. Wallace was kindly and accommodating; bless his heart. 
down on the history of William Wallace and his connection to
William the Bruce and Edward I. We had a stop at the birth place of Robert
Burns and walked through the very humble dwelling, and got a picture of
the real Briga Doon, which means "Doon Bridge".
Leaving Glasgow, we drove to Loch Loman, took a boat and
sailed north for about an hour, getting pictures all the way, including
one of the lovely honeymooner's island. Back on land and following lunch,
we passed through the infamous Glen Coe
where the Campbells slaughtered
the MacDonalds after accepting their hospitality for three
days. This disaster was the unfortunate result of a misunderstanding
due to a communication problem and had the truth been known, it would have
never happened. At least, that is my understanding of this dreadful
event. 
One interesting note, when were going through the loch
area, our tour guide mentioned that we were in the area where the
continental plates were rubbing against each other. And, in the past
thousand years the northwest part of Scotland has risen six feet and the
London, England area has dropped two feet, and when it drops one more
foot, the sluice gates on the Themes River will no longer work, to hold
back the sea.
During hunting season, the Queen resides in Balmoral
Castle but hunting season isn't until after July 31, so we were able to
tour the castle. We were there during the lunch hour so we had lunch in
the cafeteria, where I had an eighty-five cent venison burger from out of
the Queen's own Forest. It was delicious, but then venison is my favorite
of all meat.
duckling with cherries and
it was so delicious, I can taste it to this day. After dinner, Bob went
jogging and one of our group, Julie, who was traveling by herself, invited
me up to her room to see her magnificent view of the city and Edinburgh
Castle. With all the lights on, it was quite a site.
We
attended a Scottish night out that evening, along with about four to five
hundred other tourists. But as much as I detest crowds, I wouldn't
have missed it. The M.C. was wonderful, performing with love and
true concern blending into his humor. The singer was a real joy and
a gorgeous lady. The dancers, a young lad and two darling lassies,
were adorable and were accompanied by a piper, a drummer and an orchestra
of three in the background. Every time they came back on stage they
were wearing different costumes and each was more beautiful than the preceding.
The floor show was followed by the traditional Scottish Ceremony of the
Haggis, which was rather cute, and the Haggis itself was very good.
However, they wouldn't tell us what was in it, nor how it was prepared,
but it looked and tasted like a glorified hot dog or sausage.