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| Standing Stones on Machrie Moor, Isle of Arran |
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| A Croft in St Fillans |
New Travel Arrangements
We had a trip to Scotland planned and booked for spring of 2020; then came Covid-19 and put an end to that plan. We got lucky and moved the trip to the fall (who knew the reality at the time) without much trouble. In fact, we got money back on our tickets because prices were so low—$200 on each ticket. All I need to say is Covid. We cancelled that trip and thought we’d be okay to book for the spring of 2021. Covid. In the middle of the summer we could see the writing on the wall, “C-o-v-i-d.” We waited as long as we could with a September 5 trip date. Although we saw some signs of opening up, the reality of things in America was really much worse. Finally, we cancelled our lodging bookings in Scotland, picked some new dates for the spring of 2022, and started to change our flights for the umpteenth time.
This is where this trip gets involved. First, I tried to change our flight dates but Delta wouldn’t let me make changes online. I could though cancel my trip online. I called their help number and was told that “due to the high number of calls, your wait time will be 4 hours and 42 minutes.” No way! I decided to cancel and rebook myself, except that by cancelling my flights I might get my credit in two or three business cycles (months). So I called at a different time, stupidly thinking it might make a difference. This time I got two options: wait online for an hour for the next agent or register for a call back within an hour without losing my place in line. I opted for number two and got a call back 8-1/2 hours later in the middle of the night when the phone was on silent and we were asleep. Next day the wait was to be two hours. I stayed on for three hours and got an agent. But by then my phone had frozen and although the agent was shouting, “Mr Jones, can you hear me?” And I was shouting to the frozen phone, “Don’t hang up, I’m here.” She eventually hung up. Anne stopped me from throwing the phone in the toilet. The next day I tried again. After four hours and making sure my phone was working, I got the connection. The agent quickly cancelled our flights, rebooked our tickets to the new flights we wanted (April 2022), and charged us each $200 because prices were now up.
The two agents were both nice, especially the one we could talk to, but Delta needs to do something about their communication system. In a way though, this is a travel story, after all booking a trip is part of traveling—the bad part.
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| Anne at Balmoral Castle, the Queen's Scottish Home |
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| St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands |
The Rest
The rest of this post highlights my travel/photo book, Scotland in Black and White. The book is a signed and numbered limited edition of 100 books each with 90 black and white photos depicting varied aspects of Scotland. Each photo is accompanied by a commentary (story, description, poem, or history related to the photo). The limited edition book comes with an additional photo mounted in the book (each book has a different mounted photo). I’m highlighting the book because I still have few available. If you’re interested, check the information at the end of this post. What I present here are three sample pages—photo, technical details, and commentary—from the book.
(7) The Three Fishermen of Comarty
Nikon D5500, Sigma 18-300mm at 300mm, 1/400, f/9, ISO 640
Commercial fishing has been a major industry in Scotland for hundreds of years. Although the country only holds a little over eight percent of the UK’s population, it lands 60% of the total commercial fish catch. In recent times fishing restrictions by the European Union have affected all EU fishing fleets, but Scotland has been hit most severely in the cod, herring, and whiting boats. Demersal fleets (cod, haddock) have declined from 800 vessels to just over 400. The nephrons fleet (scampi or langoustines) is building slightly. The pelagic sector (herring) has been almost completely terminated. Fraserbugh and Peterhead on the North Sea coast, once prominent fishing towns, are now depressed villages with rows of closed shops and half empty harbours.
At Cromarty in the north of Scotland at the edge of the Cromarty Firth we saw these three fishermen whose body postures tell the story of the local fishing industry.
(11) Crieff (Craoibh) Village
Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 30-110mm at 30mm, 1/250, f/4, ISO 560
Our home base in Scotland is Crieff (Craoibh meaning “tree”) Village centrally located between Perth and Stirling which are located between Edinburgh and Glasgow. We can be in the Highlands within minutes, at St Andrews in an hour, and both the east and west coasts are easily accessible. Crieff is the second largest town in Perthshire (after Perth), and has all the amenities a tourist needs. It is rapidly becoming known for fine dining in the area.
At one time Crieff was an active “drover’s town,” meaning it was a major gathering place for cattle being driven to market. It was Scotland’s rendition of the wild west, including an active hanging tree for wrong doers. The outlaw Rob Roy McGregor often visited Crieff.
There’s more to Crieff, though, than its wild history. Crieff is home to nearby Innerpeffray Library, Scotland’s oldest lending library and today home of much genealogical research. The village also hosts Scotland’s oldest “legal” distillery, Glenturret licensed in 1775, now Famous Grouse. Almost as famous as the whisky at Glenturret is Towser the Mouser (1963-87) who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for dispatching 28,899 mice in his lifetime.
We may be partial to Crieff, but I really believe it’s one of the best examples of traditional Scottish villages.
(27) Amulree Locals
Nikon D100, no lens info at 58mm, 1/350, f/10, ISO 800
There are more sheep in Scotland than people. In 2013 the human population was about four and a half million, but the sheep population was almost seven million. In fact, the first cloned mammal to be created from an adult cell was a Scottish sheep. Dolly was born July 5, 1996 and died February 14, 2003. It might be a tad morbid, but the stuffed Dolly is now on display at the University of Edinburgh medical school.
At Amulree—a small Highland hamlet with a ruined hotel, a closed tearoom, a couple of houses, and a small church—the church is the main visitor attraction. Whenever we visit the church the only locals about are the neighboring sheep. It’s always fun to stop and say “Hi” to the locals who usually don’t mind posing for a picture.
The book, Scotland in Black and White, is available from Amazon at more than $35, but I still have a few of the limid edition signed and numbered books available from me for $25 plus $4 shipping if I can’t deliver. If interested, email me at bajones97013@yahoo.com.
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| Highland Coos |
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| Edinburgh Tourists |
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