This should be the one of the last of the Scotland travel log posts, I hope you have enjoyed the pics!!! Before I get on with it be sure and check out Truly’s version of the Adventure to McKinnon’s cave over at “The Loch Ness Blog“. She can spin a powerful yarn that woman can!!!!
A couple of answers to questions are in order; to Mr. Anderson who asked if I ate Haggis. The answer is, of course, black pudding as well. They’re both good but not as easy to find as you might think. In Glasgow you can find all kinds of restaurants from Indian food to Italian or Chinese but finding traditional Scottish food in Scotland is a dicey proposition (imagine trying to find a restaurant that serves chittlins in most US eateries). One other thing that freaked us out is the fact that every pub we went into served Bud Light on tap. I mean like.. why? What self respecting Scot bellies up to the bar and orders Bud friggin Light? Anyway…
After Loch Ness we made our way up to Inverness located along the banks of the River Ness (hence the name). We rolled into town and had dinner at an oh so trendy eatery by the river after dumping our bags off at the B&B. The next day was another down day for the Young Master; Shaun spent the day hunting down an internet cafe to get some work done. I joined Truly and Dawn for a hike along the river and we ended up at the Inverness Castle. We decided not to tour it since we had already done the 19th century on the Isle of Bute. We did gaze out over the city as we rested on the grassy knoll in front of the castle and spent the rest of the day strolling around town taking in the city. We left that afternoon for our next stop in Pitlochry as we made our way down the east side of Scotland
The stop in Pitlochry was designed to set the stage for a hike in the pass of Killiecrankie, which would have been a redux for Truly (read about that exciting adventure here). Alas, the weather did not seem to cooperate. It was rainy, crappy, and so typically Scottish that we decided to call of the hike. But what to do, that was the big question at the breakfast table. As luck would have it the B&B was stocked with all kinds of tourist information literature, so we started having a look at that and came across a notice for the Scottish Crannog center, a reconstruction of an iron age dwelling found throughout Ireland and Scotland. Since we have already done the 19th century, the middle ages and the 16th century, we though the iron age would be a good show and it was.
We saw the reconstruction of the Crannog which is an artificial island built out on the lochs(lakes) for protection and saw a demonstration of what Iron Age technology might be like. I also lost a pound to Julian in an archery match (he was sandbagging me). And I also made fire (thus cementing my reputation as an Iron age Stud muffin). We had a lovely picnic in the hot, not so Scottishesq, sun and then when off looking for the Acharn Falls and the hermit cave near the banks of Loch Tay. There seems to be a lot of Hermits in Scotland. The falls were great, the hermit cave was a blast and we got some great pics.
The rest of the trip consisted of getting lost in Carnoustie on our way to Dundee and spending some time on beach on the east coast of Scotland near Dundee. We returned to Glasgow exhausted but with enough energy to spend our last night dining on haggis, experimenting with our new found knowledge of Scottish single malt whiskey and experiencing the bedlam of a typical Thursday night in the pub center of downtown Glasgow.
As always there are pics below the fold!
The River Ness in Inverness
The Inverness castle
A cute little cottage with Dawn and Truly
Apparently jumping over cars on a motorcycle in Inverness is prohibited
Welcome to our Crannog!
The bridge to the Crannog
I am king of the crannog
Whipping up some Iron age treats!
I am Firemaster!!!
Julian Archery hustler, takes me for a pound
A picnic!!!!
Heading up to the falls and hermit cave on the shores of Loch Tay
Julian and Mom in the Hermit cave.
The falls
Julian and Truly being hermits (Herman’s?)
A lovely Dinner in Dundee
The kids on the beach in Dundee.
These trip posts not only make for a rich experience for your blog guests, but should be a wonderful family keepsake if you archive them. Thanks for sharing the memories.