I told Kate at one point during our trip, "I've been cold and wet ever since we got on that bus. Under any other circumstances, I would be miserable, but I am having the time of my life." That, in essence, sums up my 3-day weekend in the Highlands.
We boarded the bus on the Royal Mile on Saturday morning at 8:15, after Kate and I had a quick stop at Starbucks to wake up and warm up. It was a slightly chilly day, but we were sure that as soon as we got on the bus we'd be alright. Not so. Kate, Ricky, and I took the seats in the very back of the bus, and if you didn't sit in one of the two middle seats, you would be absolutely freezing. The windows made you cold, and there wasn't a strong enough heater on the 16-seater to adequately warm the entire bus. We made the best of it, though, squeezing together and watching out the windows as the Scottish Highlands rolled out in front of us.
The first stop was the William Wallace memorial, where we climbed up a hill that felt like it rivaled Arthur's Seat. It has historical significance, but the monument itself is nothing really special unless you're looking at it from afar. Down below the monument, there is a more recent statue of William Wallace, based heavily on Mel Gibson. The locals hate it so much that they have to lock it up at night or it'll get majorly vandalized.
Back on the bus, and our tour guide, Marti (he only told us at the end that it's spelled with an I) does a quick head count and realizes that we, as 13, are one less than we should be. Did we leave someone behind in Edinburgh? Three of the people up front assured them that number 14 was their friend and had to cancel. Crisis averted.
A quick stop to see Hamish, the Heilan' Coo, and grab a cup of tea, and we were ready for another hour in the bus. We were off to Glencoe, a beautiful valley with bloody history: When William of Orange took over, he wanted all the clan chiefs to swear their allegiance to him. The MacDonalds were stubborn, and waited till the last minute. This is important later. One winter, a group of Campbells arrived in MacDonald territory. They were cold and sick. The MacDonalds honoured the long-standing tradition of Highland Hospitality, in which you show hospitality even to your enemies if they need it, and fed them and gave them beds for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, the Campbells started going through the village and killing MacDonalds. 38 were dead before other people heard the screams and escaped to the valley at Glencoe. About a hundred more died in the cold winter, without shelter.
You see, William ordered the Campbells to go and kill the MacDonalds because they had gone beyond the deadline to swear allegiance. Because the Campbells took advantage of Highland Hospitality like this (nobody had ever done that before, because most respect Highland Hospitality), there are still places in the area surrounding Glencoe who will refuse to serve you if they know you are a Campbell.
Off to Fort William for lunch (it's just called The Fort in Gallic because so many hated William), and we could see the Atlantic. We stopped only long enough to grab a bite to eat. Most of us had soup, because we were cold to the bone.
We passed Ben Nevis, the highest point in Britain at 4,406 feet above sea level. It was shrouded in clouds, and we were told that it is all but about 30 days of the year. As the sun set, we made our way toward the Isle of Skye, stopping for a view of the Eilean Donan castle at night. This castle is frequently used in movies, including one of the more recent Bond movies. It was raining, so we jumped out, took a picture, and jumped right back in the bus.
On the Isle of Skye, we were told a story about Saucy Mary, a Nordic woman who has a pub named after her. She would take a toll from anyone who passed her castle by sea. She would send out a bucket on a chain for the passers to pay, and if she thought that her customers were generous when she got the money back, she would flash them from her castle window. We thought it was 8:00 and way past dinner time, because the sun had set so long before, but a look at our watches told us that it was only 6. Just a little bit crazy.
We went to Saucy Mary for dinner (I had a venison burger, which was very good) and a few drinks. Kate made friends with a few of the locals while Ricky, Julia, and a couple of Aussies from our tour, Ross and Drew, played pool. Marti made an appearance and played a bit with us. It was time to go back to the hostel, though (right next door) when Carolyn was nodding off where she sat. She and I went back, had a cup of hot chocolate, and crawled into bed, only to be woken up when Ross got back to the room, followed quickly by the rest of our group. We had the seven of us (five Edinburgh students and the two Aussies, though Graylin stayed in a B&B with her boyfriend) in a room to ourselves, and good thing too, because we were pretty noisy.
Getting up the next morning was difficult. The room was cold, and we hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep, but we got out in time for Marti to pick us up with the bus. We toured around the Isle of Skye for a while, seeing some of the most breathtaking views that the Highlands has to offer. We then headed to Eilean Donan castle, which wasn't as impressive as we thought it would be. Most of it was rebuilt in the 1800s, and a woman lives there now. Our tour guide for the castle was wearing a kilt, and when I asked him if he was going true, he mooned us. He was great, though, letting us do a whole lot we wouldn't normally be able to do (like taking pictures with a sword and shield) just because we were the last tour of the day.
One quick nap against the cold window later, we were at Loch Ness. We stopped to see the ruins of Castle Urquhart from afar, then Marti dropped us off at our hostel and took the three people staying in B&Bs away with him. The owner of our hostel told us it was great to go to Castle Urquhart at night, even though it's technically closed, so we walked a mile to a take-away for dinner and a convenience store for some drinks. Kate got whiskey, thinking that since she was in the Highlands, that would be the only thing appropriate to do. The rest of us got cheap champagne, wine, or beer.
All bundled up and laden with drinks, we began our walk to the castle, soon finding out that it was a mile away in just about the darkest fields ever. We felt safe, though, traveling in a group of nine (six Edinburgh students, Graylin's boyfriend, and the Aussies) and eventually found the place. We stormed the castle, which was lit up with floodlights, and had the coolest party I'd ever been to. Parties in castles are good times, and this one overlooked Loch Ness - even though we couldn't see it. Our ceiling was an impressive expanse of stars, and our entertainment was exploring the ruins. Cool stuff.
We got back safe, but didn't take off any of our clothes to go to bed, because it was SO COLD in the hostel. I woke up the next morning wearing two pairs of pants, four shirts, and a scarf. I also woke up to the first frost I've seen in Scotland, but I'm pretty sure Edinburgh still hasn't seen a frost yet. That morning, everyone was a bit iffy about going outside to get on the bus, and especially about getting a window seat on the bus.
We drove to the main street in Inverness to take a couple of pictures, stopping at Castle Inverness for five minutes, which was built in the Victorian era. We then hopped right back on the bus to go to Loch Ness.
We spent about 20 minutes at Loch Ness, throwing stones into the water and wishing that the "Ness-esary Research" man was around so that we could talk to him or buy a Nessie figurine from him. This man gave up his entire life to live on the banks of Loch Ness and be a full-time Nessie spotter. It's a little odd, but apparently he is completely sane, despite having lived in a little trailer just off of the most famous loch in the world for 30 years.
And no, unfortunately we did not see Nessie.
Back on the bus, and we went to Culloden battle field, the site of a devastating battle between the Jacobites (the Highlanders) and the English. While the Jacobites were following Bonny Prince Charlie and restoring the Stuart clan to royalty, the English got really angry. Battles were fought for a year, mostly in the highland hills where the Jacobites were used to fighting. This final battle, however, Charlie wanted to fight on the flat field at Culloden, but I forget why. It was a total massacre. The Jacobites were trying to use the same techniques they used in the hills to win battles, but their tactics didn't work in a muddy flat land. The English absolutely slaughtered them, and for days after the battle, they went through the dead bodies and bashed their faces in, stripping them of any item that would make anyone recognize them. No, this doesn't mean that they took off their kilts, because the idea that each clan should have its own tartan actually came about in the early 19th century, over 50 years after this battle.
After Culloden, we spent about a half hour at a park that was full of stone cairns. It was noon, but my pictures look like an autumn morning in Ohio, except that the shadows all point north instead of west. The sun was low in the southern sky, but there wasn't a single cloud, so walking around this ancient burial ground was absolutely breathtaking. I wanted to sit there with a thermos of hot chocolate for a few hours, just taking in the scenery of it all. Trees and leaves everywhere, and not an item of modern culture to be seen this place looked like it belonged in ancient times, and we were just intruders into some sort of time warp. True, the cairns looked much different back when they were first built (rather than open tops, they were actually domed shelters), but even so, all of us were touched by the ancient beauty we experienced at this park.
On the way back, we had a half-hour stop at Pitlochry, where a lot of us bought little Nessie dolls that say "Drunken-Ness" on their bellies to commemorate our party at Castle Urquhart. We then headed back to Edinburgh just as the rain started pouring down. We arrived at Waverly Bridge at 6:00 and went straight back to the flat, where I had a big bowl of hot porridge and almonds to warm my cold bones.
Basically one of the best weekends of my life, this Highlands trip was well worth the money I spent on it - and the class I missed for it - because I got to see this country in a way I'm not able to sitting here in urban Edinburgh. And tomorrow morning, I hop on a plane to go to Germany and Switzerland, so keep an eye out for more pictures and another blog post.
We boarded the bus on the Royal Mile on Saturday morning at 8:15, after Kate and I had a quick stop at Starbucks to wake up and warm up. It was a slightly chilly day, but we were sure that as soon as we got on the bus we'd be alright. Not so. Kate, Ricky, and I took the seats in the very back of the bus, and if you didn't sit in one of the two middle seats, you would be absolutely freezing. The windows made you cold, and there wasn't a strong enough heater on the 16-seater to adequately warm the entire bus. We made the best of it, though, squeezing together and watching out the windows as the Scottish Highlands rolled out in front of us.
The first stop was the William Wallace memorial, where we climbed up a hill that felt like it rivaled Arthur's Seat. It has historical significance, but the monument itself is nothing really special unless you're looking at it from afar. Down below the monument, there is a more recent statue of William Wallace, based heavily on Mel Gibson. The locals hate it so much that they have to lock it up at night or it'll get majorly vandalized.
Back on the bus, and our tour guide, Marti (he only told us at the end that it's spelled with an I) does a quick head count and realizes that we, as 13, are one less than we should be. Did we leave someone behind in Edinburgh? Three of the people up front assured them that number 14 was their friend and had to cancel. Crisis averted.
A quick stop to see Hamish, the Heilan' Coo, and grab a cup of tea, and we were ready for another hour in the bus. We were off to Glencoe, a beautiful valley with bloody history: When William of Orange took over, he wanted all the clan chiefs to swear their allegiance to him. The MacDonalds were stubborn, and waited till the last minute. This is important later. One winter, a group of Campbells arrived in MacDonald territory. They were cold and sick. The MacDonalds honoured the long-standing tradition of Highland Hospitality, in which you show hospitality even to your enemies if they need it, and fed them and gave them beds for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, the Campbells started going through the village and killing MacDonalds. 38 were dead before other people heard the screams and escaped to the valley at Glencoe. About a hundred more died in the cold winter, without shelter.
You see, William ordered the Campbells to go and kill the MacDonalds because they had gone beyond the deadline to swear allegiance. Because the Campbells took advantage of Highland Hospitality like this (nobody had ever done that before, because most respect Highland Hospitality), there are still places in the area surrounding Glencoe who will refuse to serve you if they know you are a Campbell.
Off to Fort William for lunch (it's just called The Fort in Gallic because so many hated William), and we could see the Atlantic. We stopped only long enough to grab a bite to eat. Most of us had soup, because we were cold to the bone.
We passed Ben Nevis, the highest point in Britain at 4,406 feet above sea level. It was shrouded in clouds, and we were told that it is all but about 30 days of the year. As the sun set, we made our way toward the Isle of Skye, stopping for a view of the Eilean Donan castle at night. This castle is frequently used in movies, including one of the more recent Bond movies. It was raining, so we jumped out, took a picture, and jumped right back in the bus.
On the Isle of Skye, we were told a story about Saucy Mary, a Nordic woman who has a pub named after her. She would take a toll from anyone who passed her castle by sea. She would send out a bucket on a chain for the passers to pay, and if she thought that her customers were generous when she got the money back, she would flash them from her castle window. We thought it was 8:00 and way past dinner time, because the sun had set so long before, but a look at our watches told us that it was only 6. Just a little bit crazy.
We went to Saucy Mary for dinner (I had a venison burger, which was very good) and a few drinks. Kate made friends with a few of the locals while Ricky, Julia, and a couple of Aussies from our tour, Ross and Drew, played pool. Marti made an appearance and played a bit with us. It was time to go back to the hostel, though (right next door) when Carolyn was nodding off where she sat. She and I went back, had a cup of hot chocolate, and crawled into bed, only to be woken up when Ross got back to the room, followed quickly by the rest of our group. We had the seven of us (five Edinburgh students and the two Aussies, though Graylin stayed in a B&B with her boyfriend) in a room to ourselves, and good thing too, because we were pretty noisy.
Getting up the next morning was difficult. The room was cold, and we hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep, but we got out in time for Marti to pick us up with the bus. We toured around the Isle of Skye for a while, seeing some of the most breathtaking views that the Highlands has to offer. We then headed to Eilean Donan castle, which wasn't as impressive as we thought it would be. Most of it was rebuilt in the 1800s, and a woman lives there now. Our tour guide for the castle was wearing a kilt, and when I asked him if he was going true, he mooned us. He was great, though, letting us do a whole lot we wouldn't normally be able to do (like taking pictures with a sword and shield) just because we were the last tour of the day.
One quick nap against the cold window later, we were at Loch Ness. We stopped to see the ruins of Castle Urquhart from afar, then Marti dropped us off at our hostel and took the three people staying in B&Bs away with him. The owner of our hostel told us it was great to go to Castle Urquhart at night, even though it's technically closed, so we walked a mile to a take-away for dinner and a convenience store for some drinks. Kate got whiskey, thinking that since she was in the Highlands, that would be the only thing appropriate to do. The rest of us got cheap champagne, wine, or beer.
All bundled up and laden with drinks, we began our walk to the castle, soon finding out that it was a mile away in just about the darkest fields ever. We felt safe, though, traveling in a group of nine (six Edinburgh students, Graylin's boyfriend, and the Aussies) and eventually found the place. We stormed the castle, which was lit up with floodlights, and had the coolest party I'd ever been to. Parties in castles are good times, and this one overlooked Loch Ness - even though we couldn't see it. Our ceiling was an impressive expanse of stars, and our entertainment was exploring the ruins. Cool stuff.
We got back safe, but didn't take off any of our clothes to go to bed, because it was SO COLD in the hostel. I woke up the next morning wearing two pairs of pants, four shirts, and a scarf. I also woke up to the first frost I've seen in Scotland, but I'm pretty sure Edinburgh still hasn't seen a frost yet. That morning, everyone was a bit iffy about going outside to get on the bus, and especially about getting a window seat on the bus.
We drove to the main street in Inverness to take a couple of pictures, stopping at Castle Inverness for five minutes, which was built in the Victorian era. We then hopped right back on the bus to go to Loch Ness.
We spent about 20 minutes at Loch Ness, throwing stones into the water and wishing that the "Ness-esary Research" man was around so that we could talk to him or buy a Nessie figurine from him. This man gave up his entire life to live on the banks of Loch Ness and be a full-time Nessie spotter. It's a little odd, but apparently he is completely sane, despite having lived in a little trailer just off of the most famous loch in the world for 30 years.
And no, unfortunately we did not see Nessie.
Back on the bus, and we went to Culloden battle field, the site of a devastating battle between the Jacobites (the Highlanders) and the English. While the Jacobites were following Bonny Prince Charlie and restoring the Stuart clan to royalty, the English got really angry. Battles were fought for a year, mostly in the highland hills where the Jacobites were used to fighting. This final battle, however, Charlie wanted to fight on the flat field at Culloden, but I forget why. It was a total massacre. The Jacobites were trying to use the same techniques they used in the hills to win battles, but their tactics didn't work in a muddy flat land. The English absolutely slaughtered them, and for days after the battle, they went through the dead bodies and bashed their faces in, stripping them of any item that would make anyone recognize them. No, this doesn't mean that they took off their kilts, because the idea that each clan should have its own tartan actually came about in the early 19th century, over 50 years after this battle.
After Culloden, we spent about a half hour at a park that was full of stone cairns. It was noon, but my pictures look like an autumn morning in Ohio, except that the shadows all point north instead of west. The sun was low in the southern sky, but there wasn't a single cloud, so walking around this ancient burial ground was absolutely breathtaking. I wanted to sit there with a thermos of hot chocolate for a few hours, just taking in the scenery of it all. Trees and leaves everywhere, and not an item of modern culture to be seen this place looked like it belonged in ancient times, and we were just intruders into some sort of time warp. True, the cairns looked much different back when they were first built (rather than open tops, they were actually domed shelters), but even so, all of us were touched by the ancient beauty we experienced at this park.
On the way back, we had a half-hour stop at Pitlochry, where a lot of us bought little Nessie dolls that say "Drunken-Ness" on their bellies to commemorate our party at Castle Urquhart. We then headed back to Edinburgh just as the rain started pouring down. We arrived at Waverly Bridge at 6:00 and went straight back to the flat, where I had a big bowl of hot porridge and almonds to warm my cold bones.
Basically one of the best weekends of my life, this Highlands trip was well worth the money I spent on it - and the class I missed for it - because I got to see this country in a way I'm not able to sitting here in urban Edinburgh. And tomorrow morning, I hop on a plane to go to Germany and Switzerland, so keep an eye out for more pictures and another blog post.
0 comments:
Post a Comment