Storming Scottish Castles

 

Scotland is famous for its castles, in part because there are A LOT of them. An estimated 1,500 are scattered across the rugged landscape, with the earliest dating to the 12th century. Many of them are in a state of ruin or disrepair, while others have been restored (perhaps only in part), transformed, or are still in use by the British royal family, clan family legacy holders, historical preservation societies, etc.

We started at Edinburgh Castle, where we purchased a Historic Scotland annual membership because it was the best fiscal option for our extended visit. We finished at Stirling Castle, another biggie, which we’ll discuss separately. Due to the generally poor weather, we certainly got our money’s worth from our membership privileges at covered (literally and figuratively) sites.

We enjoyed storming castles – many had places to climb up and explore and they certainly make the history more vivid than a museum. Most castles were clan properties, that served as the center of the local feudal system and bear witness to Scotland’s violent history. We skipped Balmoral Castle, the Scottish summer home of the current Royal family, as the opportunity to really “visit” is quite limited.

Overlooking the Firth of Lorn, on the drive from Oban to Skye, sits Dunstaffnage Castle, the former stronghold of the "Kings of the Isles," built by clan MacDougall around 1220. At one point it was besieged and captured by Robert the Bruce, an early King of Scotland.

Eilean Donan Castle is strategically located on its own little island, overlooking the Isle of Skye. It is incredibly iconic. We didn’t enter, but only stopped for the photo opportunity of the fourth version of the castle, reconstructed in the early 1900s after its 1719 destruction.

Outside Inverness, overlooking the famous Loch Ness, are the remains of Urquhart Castle, the greatest castle in the Highlands. It came under the control of Robert the Bruce after he became King of Scots in 1306 and witnessed many historic events before and after. The views to the loch were stunning, but we didn’t waste any time looking for Nessie.

On the way from Inverness to Aberdeen we stopped at Huntly Castle, built by the Gordon family in the 16th century. We enjoyed walking through the multiple levels of the building that remains and imagining the guests they hosted.

Dunnotar Castle was one of the most impressive, even though we didn’t go inside. It is located south of Aberdeen surrounded by the North Sea. This medieval fortress on a cliff top belonged to the Earls of Marischal, a powerful family. It is famous for keeping the Scottish crown jewels safe from Oliver Cromwell’s army in the 1650s.

Outside of Dundee on the River Tay is Broughty Castle, erected in 1490 to defend against the English navy. The strategic outpost became a submarine depot in the late 19th century.

Huntingtower Castle in Perth was owned by the Ruthven family who held the young James VI (before he became king) captive there for 10 months. It was a perfect stop on a rainy day, with a full roof and two intact towers to climb.

Finally, Doune Castle is now most famous as a film location, having been used for Monty Python and The Holy Grail and Outlander, among others. Getting the actors to do parts of the audio guide was a nice touch! The amount of special effects and creative filming tactics used is fascinating to consider.

Stopping at these various castles, many of which were much less busy than more popular sights, gave us the opportunity to enjoy Scotland’s history without throngs of people. Wandering through the (mostly) ruins lets one appreciate the comforts of modern life. You have to watch your head – people weren’t so tall back then – and you can't be overly claustrophobic as there are many steep and narrow circular staircases!

And it wasn’t just castles, there were abbeys, cathedrals, forts and battlefields! That’s the next post.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

Glencoe and the Isle of Skye

Leaving Oban, we drove north and then west heading for a ferry that would take us to the beautiful Isle of Skye. On the way, we stopped in the Valley of Glencoe, which is known as "The Weeping Glen" due to the 1692 Glencoe Massacre where British soldiers, after being hosted for 12 days by the MacDonald Clan, woke up on the 13th day and (under orders) massacred 38 men while hundreds more fled through a blizzard where another 40 (mostly women and children) died of exposure. Remember, we told you that Scottish history is quite violent.

Despite this sad history, Glencoe is absolutely beautiful. Even though we were there on a less-than-lovely day, you can see how impressive the views are. We missed out on doing a real hike due to the winds and rain and had to settle with quick jaunts out of the car to take in the various viewpoints.  

The picture of the highland cows (pronounced "coos") was our first and only sighting of the furry animals, which are ubiquitous in many forms in souvenir shops throughout Scotland. Later in the trip, outside Inverness, we stayed in a rural guesthouse that was supposed to have two highland cows, but we missed our chance for a "close encounter" when the owners sent the cows to a farm as part of their preparation to sell their property. As you can imagine, Shana was very disappointed.

On Skye, we learned that while the island only has 12,000 residents, it expects 1 million visitors in 2024! Let's just say that the infrastructure is not really ready for that level of tourism, especially the roads. The main town (really the only town) on Skye, Portree, is overcrowded with heavy traffic and limited parking. We spent very little time there although Shana did get this shot of the town's colorful seaside buildings (and a bonus rainbow).

The place we stayed on Skye was a small house on a cliff overlooking green hills and the ocean, with a path that allowed us to greet the local sheep and walk down to the water. It was gorgeous.

The main thing we did on Skye was drive around and enjoy the scenery, but we did manage to hike the Quiraing on the Trotternish Ridge in between rain storms.

We also had a lovely lunch at The Three Chimneys, a very nice and remote restaurant. Unfortunately, when we left the restaurant our car had a flat tire (apparently a very common event for tourists on Skye), so we had to wait for a truck to take us to town for a replacement. Just another reason we prefer living without a car.

More from lovely Scotland soon.

Jeff and Shana

The Scottish Highlands: Oban, Gateway to the Isles

We started our counterclockwise circuit of Scotland heading north from Glasgow. It didn’t take long for the scenery to turn rural and green, and for the roads to change from highway to one-lane in each direction.

We stopped at Loch Lomond to take an hour-long cruise. It was gray and misty, but this mini-tour was an excellent introduction to the geology and history of the area – from the boat we could see the effect of the Highland Boundary Fault, where the landscape changes from flat Lowlands to rugged Highlands. The Loch is the biggest lake by surface area in Great Britain and has many islands and fancy homes and castles along the shore.

The drive to Oban (pronounced “Obin”) was stunning, following the mountains, and passing several lochs and small towns. We arrived in Oban and were pleased we had selected a small guesthouse on the hill. Known as the Gateway to the Isles (the Hebrides), we were impressed with the views of the small bay (the meaning of the Gaelic word oban).

We had a celebratory anniversary dinner (28 years!) at a fabulous fish restaurant. And we enjoyed the stroll back up the hill. Being in Scotland in late May/early June meant lots of daylight. There was barely 6 hours of darkness during our stay, making blackout curtains a necessity!

We chose to spend our day in Oban on an island boat tour that took us to see the Isles of Kerrera, Mull, and Lismore, which are located in the Firth of Lorn. We saw seals and dolphins, along with lighthouses and several medieval castles.

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The views of Oban’s shoreline were fantastic. We were lucky to have a beautiful, sunny day (one of the last of the trip, unfortunately). The tour was informative, and another highlight was Archie, the captain’s pup.

Our afternoon activity was a tour of the Oban Distillery, established in 1794 and one of the smallest in Scotland. It predates the town and hasn’t changed the way it makes whisky in over 200 years. We enjoyed the tour (with tastings) but quickly figured out that we wouldn’t need to do another whisky tour. First, because the process is straightforward, and most tours would likely be very similar. Second, because tours and tastings won’t change the “whiskey face” I make when drinking it. We’ll stick to wine! (Note: we encountered very few quality wine glasses in restaurants throughout Scotland. They clearly prioritize whiskey and beer consumption.) Jeff doesn’t make “whiskey face,” but still isn’t much of a fan. Here’s a bonus picture of Archie since I only took one photo at the distillery.

You could easily spend more time in the area, with lots of island hopping by ferry from Oban available. We elected to move on to the Isle of Skye, the largest of the Hebrides Islands.

More to come soon,

Shana & Jeff

Scotland: Edinburg and Glasgow

We have returned from our 18-night trip to Scotland, and are finally starting to post about it -- we were busy while on the road. We started the trip with a three night stay in Edinburgh (Edin-burra) and two nights in Glasgow (Glas-goh), Scotland's two largest cities. We enjoyed them both.

Edinburg is clearly the historical and cultural center of Scotland. It is a lovely place with a charming old city and a well-designed new city with a good mix of restaurants, theater, etc. Below you can see some of the city's newer museums, but on the left is the old city, topped by Edinburg Castle at the rear.

Scotland has a very interesting (and bloody) history, which we will be discussing in future posts, but it also has a very strong intellectual history. Edinburg was the home of many famous thinkers during the Industrial Revolution including philosopher David Hume, inventor James Watt and economist Adam Smith, often considered the father of capitalism.

Perhaps the most famous Scot of this time, who is credited with reviving the traditional culture of Scotland after the 1707 Act of Union merging Scotland and England, which would ultimately lead to the English destruction of the Scottish way of life, is the author Sir Walter Scott. His monument in Edinburg, at a height of 60 meters, is believed to be the largest to a literary figure in the world, and was begun only 8 years after his death, a testament to how influential he was even during his lifetime.

Two other local authors, Robert Lewis Stevenson and the poet Robert Burns are also very much reverved in Edinburg, with a small museum dedicated to the three located in the old city. We spent one evening on a Literary Tour and Pub Crawl learning much about their influence. 

A much later Scottish author supposedly based her Diagon Alley on this cool street in the city. There is even a store that claims to be the basis for Olivander's Wand Shop.

Of course, Scotland would not be a European country if religion did not play a big part in its history. Ultimately, the country went through a Protestant Reformation, but adopted a different form of Protestentism than in England (of course). St. Giles' Cathedral is lovely and has a statue of John Knox, one of the leaders of Scotland's Reformation.

The primary site in Edinburg, which looms over the entire city, is Edinburg Castle.

The castle is huge, and its commanding presence on a volcanic plug overlooking the city made it a wonderful defensive position for almost 1000 years -- the first castle was built in that location during the reign of Malcom III in the 11th century. The British military still has a post there.

Before leaving Edinburg, we want to mention one more famous Scot -- Dolly the Sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal. Dolly now resides in the National Museum of Scotland.

From Edinburg, we took the train to Glasgow, which is a much more working-class city. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our day walking around the city and seeing the various sites including the Royal Concert Hall showing the city's coat of arms, which represents the life and legends of the city's patron saint, Saint Mungo; and the ubiquitous war memorial (much more on Scotland's role in the "defense" of the UK later).

We were also really amused by this beautiful old building, the Charing Cross Mansions, one of the oldest and grandest residences built in 1891, which, of course, now has a Burger King at street level.  

After five days in the major cities of Scotland, we collected a rental car and headed for the beautiful west coast. More about that soon.

Hasta pronto.

Jeff and Shana