The Kelpies and airline issues, September 30, 2026

 We've decided that on any further travel, we'd prefer to stay at B&Bs. It is great to be able to chat with other people and the proprietors. Hotels don't give you that opportunity. The people who run the Spindrift, our accommodations for last night,  are trying to sell it, and move to the States, specifically near Penn Yan, NY, about an hour from Rochester. I thoroughly enjoyed our short stay in this Victorian era home. 

The day started out as expected, rainy, windy, and foggy. But the weather forecasters got it right today, and as we headed toward our first stop, the rain stopped and the clouds

The Kelpies

lifted. We're heading for the Kelpies in Falkirk, 98 foot high steel horse heads to honor Scotland's horse-powered industrial heritage. They're set in a lovely park by a canal.

Today we drop the car back at the rental place. After way too many roundabouts, Ray was happy to do so. We took an Uber from the car rental to our hotel in Edinburgh.

When we got settled in our hotel room, I checked email, to find an ominous one from KLM, our carrier (through Delta). Our flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on Friday (2 days away) had been canceled. They would try to rebook us. Try?? For 2 hours, I phoned and chatted online with KLM and Delta to resolve this. I was really surprised that Delta, which normally has fabulous customer service,  said they couldn't do anything to help, even though  the original booking had been made with them. Their suggestion was to speak with KLM. After 2+ hours, I did get an email from KLM with arrangements to fly into London on British Airways, then back to Toronto (from which we had originally flown) on Virgin Atlantic. We're not happy with seat assignments. On the transatlantic flight, we sit in the 2 middle seats of a row of 4. Delta will hear from me. And I want a refund for the premium seats we originally had.

With that situation addressed, we walked down to the Grassmarket, an area of old town Edinburgh filled with shops and restaurants, and had dinner at a brewhouse situated in a former church.

Photos here

Another day that beat expectations

St. Andrews Cathedral 

 I had expected that our walking tour of St Andrews would be golf related. After meeting our genial guide, I realized this would be much more than that. 

St. Andrews is, in fact, the birthplace of golf, but it is so much more. He explained we'd be learning about golf, religion, and education, not necessarily in that order. We started at the Old Course at St. Andrews, the place where the game of golf began. Our guide talked about how it started, some important people in the game, how rules were made, and golf's impact in Scotland. He pointed out the road that traverses the 1st and 18th holes. It was really fascinating hearing the stories and information.  

We moved from there up the hill to a monument that memorializes 4 men who were murdered for their support of Martin Luther. The places where each man was hanged in town are marked on the street with their initials. He explained how the Reformation changed the face of Scotland. 

From there we headed over to the University of St. Andrews, the 3rd oldest university in the English speaking world (after Oxford and Cambridge), founded in the 15th century.  We visited the chapel, and moved among the students (who all looked sooo young!) St Andrews has a normal population of 6,000. When the student are in session it's 16,000.

From there we moved to the cathedral,  built in the 12th century,  that fell into ruin after the Reformation when the Catholic mass was outlawed. Mobs attacked the church and and the interior was destroyed. Townspeople used the remains of the cathedral for building materials. Even in the current state, the ruins are imposing. The original building was 390 feet long.

The Castle, now in ruin, sits at the edge of the North Sea. Our guide told us that the bishop who lived there had one of the 4 Reformation martyrs hanged in a place convenient for him to watch from his window. Not long after, the Protestants came for the bishop and hanged him from his window from one leg and one arm, forming St Andrews cross. (The X-shaped diagonal cross represents the apostle Saint Andrew, who was murdered by crucifixion. According to tradition, Andrew requested to be crucified on an X-shaped

Flag of Scotland 

cross because he felt unworthy to die on the same shape of cross as Jesus Christ.) Legend is that a Scottish king saw an x formation in the clouds before a victorious battle, and he took it as a sign. St Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland and the x (called a saltire) it's emblem.

Great day today! We really enjoyed our walk, even with the wind howling!

Lastly, we headed for our stay tonight at a b and b in Anstruther , a short distance from St Andrews. We were greeted by the proprietors, Jenny and Mark. In conversation,  we discovered that their sons live not far from Rochester, and they spend winters with them. Talk about a small world!

Photos here

An unexpected high point for us

Sun!! All day!! (Mostly) 

Today we headed to Blair Castle in Atholl, south of Pitlochry where we are staying. Blair has 30 of it's 60 rooms open to the public, and sits on 145,700 acres (about 228 square miles). It is an unusual castle, in that all the furnishings, collections, artifacts, decor, is original to the castle. When you see a chair covered with gorgeous needlepoint, the handwork was done by a family member. Furniture is all original, not period pieces or reproductions . The castle itself is the ancestral home of the Murray family, and has been since 1269. Over more than 750 years, the castle has passed through 12 Dukes, and many Marquesses and Earls, all of the Murray clan.

We arrived at an auspicious time, a piper played outside the entrance for 15 minutes, setting the tone for the rest of our self-guided tour. Every one of the 30 rooms open to the public had something fascinating, gorgeous, or wonderful to look at. Docents walked the house, and you could ask questions to get more information. In one room, there was a canopy bed with elaborately embroidered decoration on the canopy and bed covering. The docents pointed out to us that the lady in the painting over the doorway had done the embroidery in 1650.

A hallway was lined on both sides with stag antlers taken by members of the family, with the name of the person and the date taken. We asked about the

Glove storage

function of a particular table, and were shown that the lid lifts up to reveal pockets inside for storing gloves. (Doesn't everyone need lots of glove storage?)

Room ceilings were remarkable, with intricate plaster designs.

The entrance to the castle is surprisingly small, and the entrance hall shows a collection of shields, muskets and swords, some of which were used in the battle of Culloden.

he cabinets in the dining room were made from larch on the estate property.

Views out the windows of the Highlands are spectacular.

The castle's contents tell its story over 750 years, and it was a fascinating one to see. After the tour of the house, we ventured out to explore the grounds. There is a walled garden, the ruins of a church whose site dates back to 1275, the building to the 16th century. An area called Diana's Grove is home to some of the tallest trees in Scotland. A fir tree there is the second largest in Scotland. 

We greatly enjoyed this visit.

We're staying in the village of Pitlochry, population about 2700. It is really charming and clean, and I love the floral displays around town. Most homes and businesses have huge colorful flower baskets out front. I'm not sure if I  like this village because it's beautiful,  or just because I saw it in the sun!

Photos here

Hairy Coos and History , September 27, 2026

We visited an estate in the Highlands yesterday that has been in the same family for almost 500 years. It is located in Cairngorms National Park, where the owners raise Highland cattle, also affectionately known as Hairy coos. The cattle are distinctive for their long shaggy coats and huge horns. We had the opportunity to learn more about their estate, and the cattle themselves, that are prized for the quality of their beef. At retail, Highland cattle beef fetch 20-50% more than, say, Angus beef. Interesting stop. 

 Our next stop was the Highland Folk Museum, with recreations of Highland buildings from the 1700s to the early 1900s. Similar to Sturbridge Village, there are costumed interpreters who explain and demonstrate life in the 1700s.

I asked why the 1700 era houses were thatch, sticks and stone, when wood was used in the US in the same time period. It's because the English took all the timber. They had exhausted their own local wood supplies by the 17th century. and turned to Highland forests to produce charcoal to melt iron ore. Lumber was also constantly required to build and maintain ships for the Royal Navy and the expanding British Empire. Combined with the Jacobite cause, I asked if the Scots had any lingering bad feelings about England, and was told that especially in the Highlands that definitely is the case.

This entire day was spent in the rain, so our rain jackets and umbrellas came in handy. Actually, it's rained nearly every day, some days more than others, but usually in bouts of 20-30 minutes. Yesterday was pretty much an all day event, with occasional downpours. Temps are in the constant 50s. Somewhere along the way, I picked up a cold. That seems to be getting better. Looking forward to a sunny day tomorrow!

Photos here

Culloden

 Our day began at the Culloden battlefield south of Inverness.

The Jacobites (supporters of King James) staged a series of rebellions in Scotland in the 18th century, attempting to overthrow the ruling House of Hanover and restore the Catholic House of Stuart to the British throne. They were encouraged and assisted by Britain’s enemies, who saw their cause as a way of distracting Britain from its military campaigns overseas. Over the years from 1689 to 1746, the Jacobites (which included Scottish Highlanders, Episcopalians, Catholics, and those angry over the 1707 Act of Union joining Scotland and England) fought the British. 

Culloden was the final battle that ended the hopes of Jacobites forever. Around 1,000 to 1,500 Jacobites were killed during the battle itself, with additional hundreds dying of wounds or summary executions in the days and weeks that followed.  Around 50 British forces were killed and roughly 250 to 300 were wounded. The battle itself only took less than an hour, but it changed the course of Scottish history.

We toured the visitor center that laid out the events that led to the battle, and then walked to the place where the Jacobite mass burial took place.

Small monument to clan members that fell here.

No individual monuments were placed at the time, but small inscribed memorial stones were placed around the graves in 1881 by Duncan Forbes to mark where specific clans fell and rest. As a result of the fall of the Jacobites here, the British government dismantled the traditional clan system, banned tartan and Highland dress, and outlawed bagpipes as instruments of war. 

The Gaelic language was pushed out of schools, hundreds of rebels were executed or exiled, and harsh occupying measures reshaped Scottish society.

This was a critical juncture for Scotland.

Nearby, there are 4000 year old cairns, a bronze age cemetery each of which is surrounded by standing stones (thought to be inspiration for Outlander).

Right down the road from that was the Culloden viaduct.  Opened in 1889 and still used today as the main rail link into the Highlands, it has 29 arches.

Lastly on our day's visits was the Catholic church, St Mary's, right on the Ness River. The stained glass is particularly bright and lovely.

Beastie Boat on Loch Ness

The drive from Portree to Inverness was about 3 hours to go 106 miles. The last miles were on single track roads along the east side of Loch Ness. Those single track roads are OK until a bus comes from the opposite direction. All you can do is squeeze as far left as you possibly can, and pray as the bus comes within inches of your car. The added bonus is that the speed limit is 60 mph, and the locals do drive that speed.

Beastie Boats are speed boats that hold 10-12 passengers. It turns out that we were the only people on this excursion. Our driver, Kate, fitted us with life vests, and we came prepared with parkas and rain jackets. Good thing we did. It was cold and the boat went fast. We motored across the Lake to Urquhart Castle, ruins near Inverness. Kate explained a few points about the castle, and on a previous stop, told us more about Loch Ness. It's 22.5 miles long, 1.7 miles wide, the average depth is 433 feet, it's maximum depth is 754 feet. It's very cold.  Kate told us that winter is cold and gray and  the days short, which can be a depressing time. She was shocked when we told her that you won't find peas on an American restaurant menu. They're everywhere here. Apparently, it's a vegetable that grows well in Scotland and they're inexpensive. She explained that there are few, if any, houses around the Loch. The land is government owned. It was wonderful having our own private guide, so we had nice conversations when the boat wasn't speeding along at 30 mph.

It did sprinkle a bit on our trip, but it was mostly cloudy with some sun. It was unusual that we could actually see from one end to the other. Usually clouds and mist obscure the view.

Inverness was our next stop. We walked the city a bit, and stopped to have a cup of tea to warm us up. We were still cold from our speedboat encounter! Finally we checked into our room, a bit on the cold side. It didn't look like the heater was working. So we mentioned it at the front desk, and they brought up a portable heater. 

Out of desperation to have a meal that didn't include french fries (chips) or PEAS, we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. 

Photos here

Dunvegan Castle, September 24, 2026

Scotland was back to its more recognizable face today: rain.

We had a lovely breakfast where we had a conversation with a woman from Perth who told us she was on a 2 week tour of Scotland with her son. She was a MacLeod and had visited Dunvegan, the ancestral home of the MacLeods and a castle we would be seeing today. She mentioned how significant the castle was to her, and outlined her trip for us. 

Dunvegan Castle

Unfortunately, the rain increased as we approached the castle. But we came prepared with rain jackets, so no big deal. The castle was wonderful, and presented us with so many interesting stories of early Scotland and how Dunvegan fit into it. We learned that the MacLeods originated with the Vikings, that beggars were licensed in early Scotland, that the dungeon was placed near the kitchen so the prisoners would smell the cooking food, that men who wanted to marry had to make a rope and use it to rappel down the cliffs to catch birds to prove they could support a family, and ...so much more. This was a fascinating look at the only Highland fortress to have been continuously occupied by the same family for 800 years. It consists of 41,000 acres!

After our tour, we headed toward Kilt Rock and Meallt Falls, north of Portree along the coast. Kilt Rock is a sheer cliff in the distance from the viewpoint, and Meallt falls tumbles to the sea from the top of another cliff. It was very windy, and pouring rain, so we didn't spend much time there. 

Northern Skye

We decided to tour the northern coast of Skye, the Trotternish Peninsula. It was very scenic, remote, and sparsely populated, and the road was built for one car width, although it accommodates 2 way traffic. That made driving interesting. If a car or truck comes from the opposite direction, one of you has to pull over as far as possible to the left to accommodate the other vehicle. Avoiding the many potholes was part of the drive as well. But it was a beautiful drive. Ray did great!

Back at our hotel later in the day, we had a cup of tea, then went to dinner at a Portree restaurant. It was still raining.

Photos here