The Lass Goes to Scotland

This post is by Sue Tindell.

    When it was announced that the 2015 Travel Leaders International Summit would be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, I was intrigued. I'd been to England, but never to the northernmost country of the United Kingdom. Along with several friends from other Travel Leaders agencies in the upper Midwest, we flew from Minneapolis on April 22nd to begin our Scottish adventure. None of us had ever been there, and we were excited. We would wind up finding a country even more amazing than we anticipated.



Wednesday-Thursday, April 22-23 -- Minneapolis to Edinburgh, via Amsterdam


   

   
   We departed Minneapolis on the evening of Saturday, April 18th, and flew overnight to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the fifth busiest airport in Europe. We were processed through customs with the usual efficiency practiced by the Dutch and soon we were on our flight to Edinburgh, arriving late in the morning of Saturday the 19th, local time. 
    Scotland is one of four separate countries in the United Kingdom, and it recently voted to remain in the UK, to which it was formally joined in 1707, rather than becoming fully independent. The capital, Edinburgh, is the center of a metro area that has a population of nearly 800,000. We would quickly discover that Edinburgh, while a modern metropolis, also retains its own unique charm, dating back to its official founding in the 12th century. Our hotel was the Balmoral, and after checking in we enjoyed a relaxing visit to the hotel spa.

The Balmoral was originally the North British Hotel, opening in 1902. It was here that author JK Rowling finished the Harry Potter series with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The suite where she worked in 2007 can be yours for only about $1,500 per night.

    Refreshed by our spa experience, we set out to explore the downtown area and find a nice restaurant, and we were successful on both counts. Spring had arrived in southern Scotland and the flowers were beautiful.

   We were excited to be in Edinburgh, but we were sure tired, too. One of the first rules you learn for international travel is that you should adjust your internal clock to your destination's time as soon as you arrive. If you go to Europe, that means retiring after sunset local time even though the fatigue of the flight is pushing you to hit the hay earlier. So it was that it was a tired bunch of women who finally turned out the lights in their Balmoral rooms. We would have one more day to explore the city before our meetings would begin.

After a long day of travel, the Balmoral's comfortable beds awaited us...

...but not before we capped the evening with a drink. Much to my companions' amazement, I proved once again I can find a carrot anywhere with this 'ginger carrot' non-alcoholic drink. 

Our first day in Scotland was a good one, but there was much more to come. 

Friday, April 24 -- Edinburgh, Scotland

   Arriving a day early had its advantages. Rested after a good night's sleep, we had another day on our own while many of our U.S. colleagues were arriving in Edinburgh. Excellent weather greeted us this morning as we ventured out to see the city.
   It is said that no spot within the U.K. is more than 75 miles or so from the sea. Edinburgh is on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. To an American, that sounds bewildering, but we found out that a "firth" is like a Norwegian fjord. This particular firth is connected to the River Forth, which flows eastward to the North Sea, about 20 miles away. Although it sits at about the same latitude as Moscow, Edinburgh's winters are relatively mild and its average high temps in April are about 55 degrees F. In fact, its record cold temp is only about 4 degrees above zero, which is almost tropical compared to Wisconsin winters.
   Edinburgh must have been saving up its nice spring days for our arrival, because today was beautiful.

In Princes Street Gardens, near our hotel, is the Scott Monument, dedicated to the author Sir Walter Scott. At over 200' high it is the biggest monument to a writer in the world. Scott wrote classics like Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, becoming the first novelist to gain international acclaim in his own lifetime. 

Near the Scott Monument with Cindy Tyo, from North Dakota.

With my roommate, Laurie Glomstad Passard from Minnesota. 

Cindy and I flank Kim Gores from New Richmond, Wisconsin, with the Balmoral behind us. 

This pigeon doesn't think much of the statue of Scottish explorer David Livingstone, who was the first European to see Victoria Falls in Africa, around 1855. 

Beautiful flowers spruce up the statue of Allan Ramsay, the 18th century Scottish poet. 

A springtime stroll through West Princes Street Gardens really impresses the visitor with the beauty of Edinburgh. 

   It had been a glorious day in Edinburgh, and it led to a wonderful evening as Travel Leaders officially welcomed us to the International Summit with a gala dinner at the Caledonian, a beautiful hotel operated by Hilton as part of its Waldorf Astoria line of luxury hotels. From the same period as the Balmoral, the Caledonian lived up to its reputation this evening.

We were welcomed to the Caledonian by a traditional Scottish bagpiper. Denise Hanson Petricka from Eau Claire is to Kim's right, with Cindy, me and Laurie to the bagpiper's left. 

This picture from the Caledonian's website really showcases the hotel's beauty.

Laurie and I descend the grand staircase. 

The menu doesn't show our appetizers, which included haggis, a savory pudding that by tradition is encased in the stomach of a sheep. Modern Scottish haggis has an artificial casing. Or so we were told. 

The Caledonian's ballroom, from the hotel website, where we dined to conclude a wonderful day. 

     After the dinner we spent some time socializing and then headed back to our hotel. The following morning would be our first meeting of the trip, and then more sightseeing throughout Edinburgh. 


Saturday, April 25 -- Edinburgh, and the Royal Yacht

    Our meeting this morning went well, and afterwards we were anxious to continue our exploration of Edinburgh. After lunch we met our tour guide and proceeded to our first stop of the afternoon, Kinloch Anderson, a maker of men's and women's clothing and accessories with Scottish themes. Founded in 1868, the company specializes in Highland dress, especially kilts and tartans. The kilt, such as the one worn by the bagpiper in yesterday's photo, originated in the 16th century and is Gaelic in origin. The Gaels were the ethnic group that settled Ireland and Scotland, and their language is still spoken today in some parts of those countries. Tartan refers to the style of the pattern in the cloth. In America we often think of it as plaid, but in Scotland, "plaid" refers to a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder as an accessory, or even a plain blanket. In the mid-18th century the English, in their attempt to subdue Scotland, had banned tartan, but those laws were later repealed. By the mid-19th century, many Scottish clans had adopted their own unique tartan designs, as had many military units. Kinloch Anderson will even design your own personal tartan. 

The Kinloch Anderson deluxe kilt, from the company website. Hand-stitched and made to order, and only about $1,200.

We were more interested in the women's accessories, like their lovely handbags. Average price, around  $190. 

  
   From our visit to Kinloch Anderson, we went---some of us laden with recently-purchased goods---to visit our next Edinburgh landmark, the Royal Yacht Brittania. TripAdvisor ranks it the top landmark in the U.K., and we quickly found out why.
   Her Majesty's Yacht Brittania was the 83rd yacht used by British monarchs, dating back to the reign of King Charles II in the mid-17th century. Built by a Scottish company and commissioned in 1954, she served Queen Elizabeth II and her royal family until 1997, when the yacht was decommissioned and moved to a permanent berth at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh. During her service, Brittania sailed over a million miles around the world. With a length of 412 feet and beam (width) of 55 feet, the yacht was designed to accommodate up to 250 guests. When the royal family was aboard, security was provided by a company of Royal Marines and an escorting Royal Navy warship. The queen was present at Brittania's decommissioning ceremony and she wept at the sight. It was also reported during the Cold War that the yacht was to serve as the queen's refuge in the event of nuclear war, hiding in the sea lochs on the coast of Scotland. 

This shot from the Daily Mail shows Brittania sailing underneath the Tower Bridge on the Thames.

From Brittania's website, part of the drawing room, where the royal family entertained guests. 

 
   Our afternoon tour was wonderful, and for our dinner we were on our own and hit the jackpot with Clouds & Soil, a lovely restaurant on Picardy Place near Regent Gardens, not too far from the port.

   We returned to the Balmoral later in the evening, excited about our day in Edinburgh and eagerly anticipating the next one, when our tour would take us to our first Scottish castle. 

Sunday, April 26 -- Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond

   This would be our first day of touring outside Edinburgh. We boarded a bus this morning and headed west and north about 40 miles to Stirling Castle, one of the biggest and most important in Scotland. The first historical references of buildings on the site date back to the early 12th century, and most of the surviving structures are from the 15th and 16th centuries. Several members of Scottish royalty were crowned here, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542. Stirling was the site of many battles over the years as the Scots fought for their independence from England; the last one was in 1746. 

The area surrounding Stirling Castle, which is on Castle Hill. 

\

Good thing they have signs, it would be easy to get lost in here. 

The Scottish kings James IV and his son, James V, were instrumental in building the royal palace structures in the early 16th century. It is said the first James kept an alchemist at work here, searching for the mythical "fifth element." Early poems also described an attempt at human-powered flight launched from the walls.

The artillery fortifications were built by the English in the 18th century to defend the castle against rebellious Jacobites. We would learn more about those guys in a few days as we traveled north. 

Part of the Great Hall, the largest of its kind in the country. 

Historic Scotland, which now operates the castle, commissioned these replicas of "The Hunt of the Unicorn" tapestries. The original series of seven tapestries, probably woven in Belgium around 1500, now are in The Cloisters, an art museum in New York City.

   From Stirling Castle we headed to Loch Lomond National Park for lunch and a tour of a nearby distillery. Glengoyne Distillery has been in continuous operation since 1833 and straddles the Highland Line, which separates the Scottish Lowlands from the Highlands. Thus, the distillery can boast that it is the only one in Scotland that produces Highland single malt whisky that is distilled in the Highlands and matured in casks in the Lowlands. Glengoyne produces over a million liters of spirits per year, which are made into a number of different whiskys. Scotch whisky, typically just called Scotch, is a malt or grain whisky made only in Scotland and in a manner prescribed by law. It is said that Scotch whisky evolved from a native Scottish drink called uisge beatha, "water of life." And what is the correct spelling, anyway? Scottish, Canadian and Australian whiskys do not use the "e" while those made in Ireland or America spell it "whiskey."
   However it is spelled, it's good!

As we prepared to take our tour, we were greeted by some decorative Glengoyne casks.

From Glengoyne's website, the distillery from the road. 

The site describes the distilling process...

...which produces world-renowned Glengoyne whiskys. 

   After our tour---and no, we didn't have to pour ourselves back into the bus---we returned to Edinburgh and prepared for our evening gala event at Edinburgh Castle. Two castles in one day! 
    This one is located atop Castle Rock, which is the plug of an ancient volcano and quite likely the longest continually-inhabited location in Scotland. The first recorded reference to an actual castle on the site goes back to the 11th century. It has served many functions over the centuries, including the home of Scotland's royal family. It's truly a magnificent place, and we had a wonderful time closing out the Summit with a grand dinner. 

The ladies were decked out in their finest....

...while the gents went native. 

   


Monday, April 27 -- Into the Highlands to Plockton

   With our official International Summit activities concluded, several of us contracted with Rabbie's Small Group Tours to take us into the Scottish Highlands. Rabbie's has won many awards since its founding in 1993, and we'd heard that if you want to see the British Isles, go Rabbie's. We would not be disappointed.
    We departed in our small bus---Rabbie's tours take no more than 16 passengers---and headed into the Highlands. Scotland is divided roughly in two by region, with the Lowlands in the south and the Highlands in the north, although the dividing line, the Highland Boundary Fault, runs diagonally across the land from southwest to northeast. Scottish Gaelic is the native language in the Highlands, which are very mountainous. Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles at 4,409 feet, is here. There aren't a lot of people in the Highlands, about 232,000. In terms of population density, it is less than 1/7 of the Lowlands and about equal to our state of Nevada. 
   But if the Highlands has a low human population, there is certainly no shortage of beauty.  

We departed Edinburgh over the Queensferry Bridge.

In the town of Dunkeld, we stopped for coffee and a visit to Dunkeld Cathedral. The first Christian church in this area was founded by St. Columba, an Irish missionary, in the 6th century. 

Bridge over the River Braan. 

We explored the Hermitage, a "pleasure ground" featuring several natural attractions, like the Black Linn Falls..

...and this mighty Douglas fir, nearly 200 feet tall.

   Another great part of the Hermitage was Ossian's Hall of Mirrors, which dates back to 1757. Ossian was supposedly a blind poet in 3rd century Scotland, whose series of epic poems were gathered and published by the Scottish poet William Macpherson in 1760. But the poems were controversial almost from the day of their publication, and modern scholars have concluded that Macpherson was a fraud. Nevertheless, the Hall of Mirrors is designed to give visitors a unique view of Black Linn Falls, utilizing mirrors to create the illusion of the viewer being surrounded by the falls themselves.

   From Dunkeld we headed west to our luncheon stop, Spean Bridge Mill. It was a timely stop, because it was starting to snow and some of the girls hadn't brought any winter gear from home. Woolen caps and gloves were big sellers during our stop. 

Loch Garry. In Gaelic, "loch" can be translated as "lake," although a loch can also be a fjord or bay. 

   
   The highlight of our afternoon was a visit to Eilean Donan Castle. The castle dates back to the 12th century and was destroyed in the Jacobite uprising of 1719. It lay in ruins for 200 years until being purchased and rebuilt in the early 20th century. Since 1932 it has been open to the public and is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Highlands. 

Eilean Donan Castle. 

The view was as spectacular as the castle itself. 

I never dreamed I'd walk over a bridge to a Scottish castle, but here I was! 

    We had already heard about the Jacobites, and some of us were familiar with the TV series Outlander, based on the series of novels by American author Diana Gabaldon. The first novel in the series was published in 1991, but the TV series is more recent, premiering last year on the Starz premium cable channel. The story centers around Claire Randall, a British Army nurse who serves in World War II and is reunited with her husband Frank when the war ends in Europe. The Randalls drive to the Highlands for a belated honeymoon. While staying in Inverness, Frank investigates his family history, which features a British Army officer nicknamed "Black Jack" in the early 18th century. One night, the Randalls secretly observe a coven of local witches performing a rite amid some Stonehenge-like ruins. The next day, Claire goes back alone and is drawn into one of the stones, emerging on the other side in 1743. She soon encounters Black Jack himself, who is not nearly the gentleman his descendant will be. Claire is rescued by some Scots, including young James Fraser. Over the course of the first season (spoiler alert!) Claire falls in love with Jamie and marries him, all the while trying to steer clear of the rebellious Jacobites within the ranks of the Scots, not to mention Black Jack and his troops.

   
   And just who were the Jacobites? The story goes back to 1688, when James II, the last Catholic king of England and Scotland (where he was known as James VII), was overthrown during what became known as the Glorious Revolution. Many Scots and Irish, along with some Englishmen, never gave up on the hope that James, or his successor, would return and restore the House of Stuart to the throne. The Jacobites took their name from Jacobus, which is related to the original Latin form of James. The movement was strongest in the Scottish Highlands and parts of Ireland, but  also included many Lowland Scots, along with some northern Englishmen and Welsh. Over the course of some 60 years the Jacobites clashed with the English government, often erupting into open armed rebellion. They believed in the "divine right of kings" and did not recognize the Acts of Union of 1707, which united England and Scotland as Great Britain. The Jacobites hung on until 24-year-old Charles Edward Stuart, the grandson of James II and known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, arrived from France and led a Jacobite army against the English. He advanced to within 125 miles of London before retreating. The Jacobites were finally defeated for good at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. The English Parliament passed laws to reduce the power of the Scottish clans and kept order by stationing troops throughout Scotland. The Scots would wait another 268 years before fighting for their independence, this time through the ballot box, but the referendum of 2014 failed 55.3%-44.7%. 

The Jacobite banner.

The only portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie known to have been created in Britain, painted by the Scottish painter Allan Ramsay in Edinburgh in 1745. After Culloden, Charlie fled back to France and died in 1788 at the age of  67.

   
   We finished our fine day in Plockton, a picturesque village of under 400 on the shores of Loch Carron. The delightful Plockton Inn would be our home for the next two nights as we continued to explore the Highlands. Tomorrow would go to the Isle of Skye.

It had been a wonderful day in the Highlands, but we were ready for bed. 

Tuesday, April 28 -- The Isle of Skye

   The Hebrides are two chains of islands off the northwestern coast of Scotland, and today we would visit the largest of the Inner Hebrides, which is comprised of dozens of islands, 35 of which are inhabited. The Isle of Skye is the largest of these and has a current population of 10,000, only half of what it was before the Jacobite uprisings that led to the forced relocation of many residents. Today the island's main economic activities are tourism, fishing and forestry. Skye has long been celebrated in literature and art, and we soon found out why.
   The first bridge from the mainland, the Skye Bridge, was finished only 20 years ago. We traversed it in our Rabbie's bus and began our exploration of this wildly beautiful island. 

The intrepid travelers: Denise, Laurie, me and Kim. 

Kilmuir Cemetery, where some Jacobite heroes are buried.

Scottish Blackface sheep, the most common breed of sheep
in the UK. Their wool is used for carpets all over the world.

Laurie at Bride's Veil Waterfall. 

Castle Ewen, part of the magical Faerie Glen.

    
   Before visiting the Faerie Glen, we lunched in Uig, a village of about 250 people on the scenic Trotternish Peninsula. From the Glen we went back to the mainland via the village of Portree and spent our second and final night in Plockton. Although it had been chilly on Skye, it was truly a magical place.


Wednesday, April 29 -- The Five Sisters and historic Fort William

   Leaving quaint little Plockton, we headed inland this morning to take in more of the stunning scenery of the Scottish Highlands. The Kintail area of mountains contains the fabled Five Sisters, five separate summits on a ridge, each with its own name. The highest is at 3,500 feet. The mountains technically are known as "Munros," which are Scottish peaks in excess of 3,000 feet. The ones slightly smaller than that are known as "subsidiary tops." The name comes from Sir Hugh Munro, who produced the first list of these hills in 1891. They are quite popular with hikers, and in fact a popular practice among British hikers is "Munro bagging," in which the hiker scales all 282 Munros. The fastest "bagging" on record took just under 40 days in 2010. 

   

The Five Sisters, in this photo from Wikipedia, in all their glory.



Ready for another great day of Rabbie's touring!

   

Some of our travels today would be by ferry over lochs. 

The Glenfinnan Monument, in the village of the same name,
commemorates the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his banner in 1745, beginning the ill-fated Jacobite Rising. 

We saw several of these ancient stone buildings,
known as a "broch." Dating to the time of Christ,
they may have been castles or perhaps warehouses.
Quite probably they had multiple uses over the centuries. 

Laurie was about to celebrate a birthday, and she modeled her new hat for us.

 

   We ended our day by returning to the Isle of Skye, by ferry across the Sound of Sleat to the village of Armadale to Hotel Eilean Iarmain. After another wonderful day, we were ready for bed. Tomorrow would be our final full day in Scotland. We were already starting to miss her. 

Thursday, April 30 -- Back to Edinburgh

   Today we visited Fort William, which is the site of much of the action in Outlander. Today it is a town of about 10,000 residents, and lies near the head of Loch Linnhe, one of Scotland's largest sea lochs. There was an actual fort here and it was besieged by the Jacobites during the Rising, but the English held out for two weeks and the siege was broken, a critical defeat for the rebels. 

   We also visited Inverlochy Castle, which dates back to the 13th century. It is thought that the original castle was built on the ruins of fortifications much older, constructed by the Picts, who inhabited this part of Scotland. The castle was purchased by an English baron in the 19th century, and on land nearby he built an estate that is now the Inverlochy Castle Hotel. 

   Our travels took us through the Great Glen, a 62-mile-long valley that runs from Inverness to Fort William. Not only is it a primary means of road transportation through the Highlands, it is extremely popular for its hiking and biking trails and canals suitable for canoeing. 

The birthday girl gets a special treat at lunch. 

    Alas, our time in Scotland was coming to a close. We returned to Edinburgh following our day in the Highlands and checked into the Balmoral. It was like reuniting with an old friend. We found ourselves in the elevator together with time for one more group selfie.

Friday, May 1 -- Edinburgh to home

    After a few hours sleep, we were up and headed to the airport, beginning our long journey home. Once again the technological marvel of air travel would deliver us halfway around the world in a matter of hours, and by the time we arrived at our respective homes in the Upper Midwest, we were already starting to wonder if our trip to Scotland had really happened. It was my first visit to this marvelous country and it certainly won't be the last. 

    I began to see what Claire, the heroine in Outlander, saw in this rugged, wildly beautiful land. It was a place where someone could get easily lost in time, wondering if it really was still the 21st century, or perhaps we'd somehow found ourselves to the other side of the stone. 

                                                     Beidh me ar ais chuig Albain someday.