A trip through the UK & Ireland
Off to Northern Ireland!
The drive from Glasgow to the ferry terminal in Troon is a short one and our crossing of the Irish Sea to Larne (just north of Belfast) is pleasant. Our B&B in Belfast is the ‘Ravenstall Guest House’. It is quite nice and Olive, our hostess, is helpful with suggestions for dining and sightseeing. We headed into the city and visited the ‘Titanic Belfast’ museum and memorial. The ship was built in the Belfast shipyards. We walked from our B&B to dinner at the Errigle Inn.
Our last full day in Glasgow & Scotland. We hopped on one of the tour buses to get an overview of the city. Reminiscent of Pittsburgh in many ways – not the best of reputations, but very enjoyable with a cool vibe.
Lots of tourist stuff today – Tenement House, the Glasgow Cathedral, and Paisley Abbey. Unfortunately, Mackintosh’s masterpiece at the Glasgow School of Art is closed due to a tragic fire. Hopefully a restoration is possible. Quite by accident, we locate Glasgows’ first microbrewery, Drygate who’s head brewer is a woman. Mary was able to acquire some local material for a future quilting project. Through the center of town is a pedestrian street with a great street market. While on our walk, Mary spots Mackintoshs famous ‘Willow Tea Room’ so we stop in for a look. Quite interesting.
Dinner at the ‘Two Fat Ladies’ seafood restaurant in the West End. They advertise themselves as ‘seriously fishy’!
Today is ‘West End & Mackintosh‘ day. The Kelvingrove Art Museum has a special exhibit on the architect. The museum also has a very large pipe organ which we were fortunate enough to hear played. Just around the corner from the museum is Glasgow University which also has a series of exhibits on Mackintosh, including a reconstruction of his house in the city.
A few pubs are in the area including a Brew Dog bar and the classic ‘Three Judges’ – a ‘must do’ in the CAMRA book. We dined close by at the Pelican Restaurant – more great seafood.
Kareen, our hostess at Lios Mhore, is a hoot. She has a dog, cat, and chickens on the property and the ruling hierarchy is not what you’d expect: chickens rule and keep the cat in line, cat is in 2nd place and terrorizes the dog, who just stays out of the way! Kareen apologizes for using ‘yesterday’s’ egg for our breakfast.
We have a nice drive to Glasgow up through the Glencoe highlands and along a lovely, small river. We stopped along Loch Fyne at Loch Fyne Oysters for lunch. Oysters were first with a sampler of smoked salmon. Then over to Fyne Ayles, Dick allows himself one beer, but consoles himself with purchase of a shirt, tasting glasses and a couple of bottles for later. ‘Hill House’, a Rennie Mackintosh architectural masterpiece, is located on the way into Glasgow in Helensburgh and makes for a nice stop.
Our lodging in Glasgow, the Alamo Guest House, is across from Kelvingrove Park and Glasgow University in Glasgow’s West End. The building is a nicely restored 1880 Victorian home. The host, Steve, is a whiskey connoisseur, but is also quite knowledgeable with regard to Glasgow’s craft beer scene.
We left Applecross via the coastal road to Shieldaig. Another great drive with awesome views. Not as scary as the ‘Pass of the Cattle’, but a heck of a lot better. The road is single-track in a number of places with hairpin curves and large numbers of grazing cattle & sheep. The drive took us by the magnificent Eilean Dolan Castle (hardly looks real), onto the Skye Bridge to the island of Skye, then a 7 mile goat path road to the historic Skye Ferry. The ferry was great, even though I was yelled at by the tender for not listening to his instructions. It’s a small vessel – 4 cars max. The crossing to Glenelg was interesting – many seals & kayakers in the surprisingly strong currents.
We drove through Glenfinnan and stopped at the train station and rail bridge from the Harry Potter films, and Fort Willam to our lodging for the evening in Glencoe, another small village with a gorgeous setting. Our B&B is ‘Lios Mhoire’ which means ‘Large Garden’ in Gaelic. A short walk takes us to the Larouch Bar & Bistro for a nice dinner of ‘steak pie’.
Our hostess, Caroline, at the Drumbuie Farm is a great cook & conversationalist. From the breakfast room we can look down on the village and Loch Ness. Very nice setting.
The drive from Drumnadrochit to our next stop on the northern Applecross Peninsula is one of the most interesting adventures we’ve had. The road is known as ‘Bealach na Ba’ which is Gaelic for ‘Pass of the Cattle’ and is considered one of the most scenic drives in the world. The road is a historic and quite famous pass through the mountains of the Applecross peninsula. Bealach na Ba was used in earlier days to drive cattle from Applecross and surrounding settlements to other parts of the Highlands. Crossing the Bealach na Ba is an adventure for several reasons. This single-track road has some scary Alpine-like hairpin bends and steep gradients – some over 20%. The biggest challenge is keeping one’s eyes focused on the road and not on the breathtaking scenery. There is a warning sign that says that this road is not suitable for learner drivers, caravans and very large vehicles and is closed in winter. Adding to the fun, we were stuck behind a large group of cyclists peddling up the road with no way to pass them for miles. Our driver (Dick) never got past 2nd gear and probably stalled the manual shift vehicle a dozen times or so. Whew. Absolutely incredible views, especially of the island of Skye once we reached the crest of the pass.
The proprietor of the Applecross Inn (in Applecross – where do they come up with these names?) is Judith Fish, a good friend of Caroline’s from Drumbuie Farm! The inn is a well-respected craft beer and dining establishment that sits on the bay with views of Skye. Our weather is quite nice and a local motorcycle group is taking advantage of the sun and outdoor seating to spend the afternoon at the tables along the bay. A nice trail through a Birch forest is a few blocks from the inn. Our room is quite nice and dinner lives up to its reputation.
Our drive north took us along small ‘roads’ through beautiful, massive Cairngorms National Park. It’s early fall in the Highlands and the scenery and colors are fantastic.
The route takes us through busy Inverness and along the northern shore of Loch Ness to our B&B, the ‘Drumbuie Farm’ in the hills above Drumnadrochit. The Nessie Center & Museum in town are a must-do and surprisingly entertaining for a tourist trap. Beautiful Urquhart Castle is another mandatory visit.
A short walk from our lodging is the Benleva Hotel which is hosting the Loch Ness Beer Festival. V ery interesting festival – colorful locals, good band, better beer! A Hairy cow & calf grazed in a field along our walking route.
We bid a fair goodbye to Graham & Edna at the Honeypot – great B&B and hosts.
Our drive north is on a series of ‘B’ roads to Perth, then on to the Pitlochry area (2-1/2 hours or so). This is voting day on secession from the UK. Lines are incredibly long outside voting locations and conversation is lively wherever we stop. Near Strathtay, the roads get quite small. There are many signs of caution about, but not evidence of, the endangered red squirrels of Scotland. As a break, we have a nice walk & soup lunch in Aberfidy and have our first exposure to an incomprehensible Scotch dialect. I hope they weren’t talking about us.
A few kilometers down the road and we’re in ‘Dull’ Scotland – sister city of ‘Boring’ Oregon. Really. And, true to name, it was really dull (and ‘Boring’ Oregon is really boring – we’ve been there). Close by was Castle Menzies, home of the Menzies clan who hosted Bonnie Prince Charlie on his way to Culloden (and doom).
Our lodging is at the Riverview B&B in Strathtay, Anne is our hostess. Absolutely gorgeous place, especially with our room upgrade. A short walk across the Tay River is Grandtully where we dine at the ‘Inn on the Tay’. Nice views of the river and kayakers navigation slalom gates.
Big day! Off to St. Andrews early in the morning. We played the ‘New Course’ (built in 1895) as a two-some. Our caddy was kind with his commentary, but we actually played pretty well.
Lunch on the course, then back to Crail. Birthday dinner in St. Andrews at the ‘Adamson’ restaurant was excellent.
We finished the evening at the ‘Golf Inn’ where the regulars sang me ‘Happy Birthday’ with a Gaelic tint and bought a dram of fine Scotch whiskey in celebration.
The day starts with a great breakfast at the B&B – omelets, local pastries & meats.
We ditched the car and took the local bus to Elie, a small village along the Fife coast noted for its’ early Tom Morris golf course. The Fife Coastal Path runs through here and we from Elie, through St. Morans, Puttenweem, to Anstruther (about 4 hours of special views). The trail follows the coast with castle ruins and spectacular landscape the entire route. Mary got to use the Silver Award winner in Scotland’s 2014 ‘Loo of the Year’ competition!
Back to the Golf Inn for nightcaps. Same group of locals. They know our names now.
