Monthly Archives: July 2011

Jul 29 2011
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Scotland

Isle of Arran

Arran is often called Scotland in miniature. A friend even told me that before I came over.

A few weeks back, we made the journey from Ardrossan to celebrate my 27th birthday. My first Scottish ferry journey.  We wasted no time in checking out Brodick Castle and getting a start up Goat’s Fell (the hill that looks down over the harbour).

Cloudy ain't it

The weather was pretty crummy, and I got extremely wet before starting to head back. I was strolling up in the clouds, and didn’t make it to the summit because the rain was making me cold and the rocks slippery. We probably started too late in the day, and were in dire need of hot chocolate and a change of clothes.

The next day, we were determined to go kayaking. However, we weren’t up there in time for the morning trip so we rented a couple of bikes and took  the road from Brodick up to Sannox. Around Sannox, there was a pretty good size hill and I lost Aarti for a little while. We decided to head back, and a good thing too because it started to rain very hard about ten minutes later. We sought refuge in a pub in Corrie until the rain calmed down.

On our way back, we stopped at a local cheese shop for some arran cheese and fudge.

I don’t remember any of my previous kayaking trips requiring a wet suit but they gave us wet suits this time. We made roughly the same trip by kayak that we had just made by bike, but it was still really fun.

My arms were getting really tired by the end (we either did a lot that day or I’m really out of shape), and my legs were getting a bit sore too. The adjustable handles where you put your feet kept sliding down so I don’t think I was ever sitting right for very long.

We even had a curious onlooker following us a while. This little sea otter was quite interested in us for about ten minutes.  Speaking of sea life, there were also a lot of jellyfish so probably not a good swimming area.

We didn’t make it up to the north coast at Lochranza or down south to Kildonan or Lamlash so we may need to make a trip back where we can cover a bit more ground. The buses were really good if you wanted to meet up with the ferry, but lousy otherwise.  I think you could easily spend four or five days on Arran, so I thought we did pretty well for a day and a half.

Jul 29 2011
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Scotland, Travel

Elgin Cathedral

While in Inverness, Aarti and I made a day trip over to Elgin in Moray. Its pretty famous because of the whiskey distilleries in the area.

We spent most of our time here exploring the cathedral ruins.  It was built in the 13th century, and the you can tell that the decoration was extremely detailed.

The cathedral was burned by the Wolf of Badenoch, Alexander Stewart, who had a reputation for exceptional cruelty even by the standards of the time. The 14th and 15th centuries saw substantial rebuilding, but the cathedral fell into disuse after the reformation.

From the top of the tower, you get views over the whole city. Its not especially unique, but an old college and large park are located right next to the cathedral so its definitely worth climbing the narrow stairs.

The gargoyles and some of the memorial statues are also very worth seeing.

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Jul 29 2011
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Scotland, Travel

Inverness and Fort George

Wow, I feel really behind. My Inverness trip was like a month ago.

Inverness is 4 to 5 hours on the train from Edinburgh, and is considered the capital of the highlands. To prove it, there were lots of shaggy highland cows to be seen on the train ride up.

This photo was actually taken on Arran, but the coos are the same.

Inverness is small, but its also considered one of the fastest growing towns in the UK. There is a really good mix of modern and historical buildings. There is also some shipping and manufacturing going on, so its not an unchanging tourist hub. Instead, it is a living city.

There is plenty for a tourist to do, but we soon found out that most of the attractions were a bus ride away.

We camped out at a caravan park near the river, and a short walk away from town. Every year, they have a big Highland Games not very far from where we were at.

The high street was pretty active, but we didn’t manage to spend a lot of time there on the first night. Above the high street, Inverness Castle looks down on the river but it didn’t hold our attention as much because it was built more recently and was more styled as a large home than a fortress. It does give you some amazing views of the river Ness and the cathedral spires across the water. Walking along the river, you get a proper tranquil holiday feel. Fishermen were even standing out in the river in waders, which I haven’t seen very often in Scotland (but I’m told its very common up in Moray Speyside).

The next morning, we managed to take a bus out to Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness.
Urquhart Castle has seen a lot of battles and I was really impressed by the video they put on in the presentation centre showing its history. The castle changed hands  many times over the centuries but was most recently held by the clan Grant. Prior to that the castle was a held by the MacDonalds. When the Lord of the Isles and the Black Douglas conspired with the English against James IV, the castle fell back to the Scottish crown who then gave it to the clan Grant.

The castle saw many years of war. Viking attacks and attacks from other clans were pretty constant up until the Jacobite period. Its destruction was to prevent it from becoming a stronghold for the Jacobites. It is also very likely that there was an earlier wooden fort on the same location.

After getting back to Inverness, Aarti and I checked out Leakey’s Book Shop for about 40 minutes. I would highly recommend it. Its just what a used book shop should be. Leatherbound covers mixing with modern paperbacks on two floors connected by an old wooden staircase. Boxes of unstacked books scattered throughout.

After that we caught a bus out to Fort George for the afternoon.

There was a lot of walking that afternoon. A lot more than either of us expected. We had to walk about 40 minutes from where the bus dropped us in order to get to the Fort. On  the plus side, we were able to get some tasty local ice cream when we finally arrived.

Its still an active army barracks, but was never used as intended. It was built as a stronghold to defend against further highland uprisings. On our way back, we saw a few guys kite surfing. Not sure if they were army guys, but very cool all the same.

We had some pretty serious issues with the buses on that afternoon. Due to a accident, the bus didn’t stop where it was supposed to and we had to walk along a rural road for about an hour just to find out that it would be another hour to get a bus from the Inverness airport. We grabbed a cab back to the town centre feeling very tired and hungry.

 

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