Scotland Spring 2016: The Best of the Rest

     This post contains what I believe to be the Best of the Rest of the spring trip to Scotland.   Either they represent the Best Photos from the rest of the trip, or they relate to the Best of the Stories from the rest of the trip.  I hope you enjoy.
     The two photos below represent the best and the worst culinary experience of the trip.  First, the best, a wonderful lamb shank dinner at Anderson's in Boat of Garten (Highlands).  Next there is an absolutely awful cider at a seaside bar in Nairn--tasted like watered-down dishwater.

     We also had some pleasant visits to castles and abbeys.  At Arbroath Abbey in Arbroath (where the Declaration of Arbroath was signed by Robert the Bruce declaring Scotland an independent nation, www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/.../features_independence_arbroath.shtml) we watched bunches of bunnies playing amounts the graves.

On a rainy day we discovered that Duone Castle near Sterling was one of the main sites used for the filming of the Outlander TV series, as well as Falkland Palace, Aberlour Castle, and Blackness Castle.

Blair Castle in the foothills of the Highlands has Europe's only private standing army.  A piper plays in front of the castle every couple of hours.  The castle also has a lovely walled garden, and although the flowers weren't plentiful when we were there, the birdlife was.

Oyster catcher and chick.

Swan and cygnets.

Another garden which was very much in bloom was the two acre Branklin Garden in the middle of Perth.  It's a place we often visit and it has never disappointed us.

Himalayan Blue Poppy

     The small villages of Scotland are a main draws for me.  It's like stepping back 50 years to a much more simple lifestyle.

Comrie is about seven miles from our home in Crieff.

Crail's harbour is one of several along the edge of the Kingdom of Fife, the county of St Andrews.

Most of the villages host Highland Games--traditional sporting events with a county fair type atmosphere.  The Blackford Games (about 15 miles from our home base in Crieff) are held on the last weekend of May, usually just before we come home from our spring trip.

Girls and boys of all ages compete in traditional Highland dances.

One of the main "heavy" events is the caber toss where the competitor attempts to throw a 140 pound pole end over end.   Distance isn't a factor, but the toss is judged on how close to straight the toss is--a straight up 12:00 toss is perfect.

The people in the villages are a big reason for our travels.  They are now family and friends.  The Scots are genuinely friendly and we find very few remain strangers long.

Jacky Clifford (our Scottish sister) opening a birthday present from America.

Our friend, confidant, and whisky guru, Andrew Cuthbert at J.L. Gill Whisky Shop in Crieff.

Yannick Grospellier, chef and owner of Yann's, the best restaurant in Crieff.

Met this gentleman on the streets of Nairn on the Moray coast.  He started a conversation as I was photographing village scenes.  We chatted about village life, and of course, he asked if Donald Trump were for real.

     One of the biggest draws to Scotland is the land itself--it has some of the most beautiful and dramatic geography of any place on earth.  Moors and mountains grab our attention every trip.

Lone tree growing out of a rock on the edge of Rannoch Moor.

Two views of Rannoch Moor and Black Mount.

Glen Etive.

The mountains of Glencoe. Glancoe is know as the Glen of Weeping because of tragedy which befell the McDonalds of Glencoe at the hands of the Campbells and British.  For more information about the Glencoe Massacre see  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Glencoe

     Ancient sites as well as modern sculpture are intriguing and provide great photo opportunities.

The Dupplin Cross in St Serf's Church in Dunning is a Pictish carved cross from about the 9th century.

The Croft Moraig stone circle between Kenmore and Aberfeldy is an example of the type of stone circle found throughout Scotland.

The Loch Earn Mirror Man is a sculpture by Rob Mulholland set in the loch. The sculpture represent one of the seasons of the loch.

     While we spend most of our time in the villages and small towns, we enjoy some time in Edinburgh at the end of every trip.

Stairs going up to the Royal Mile.

Anne at the end of a close (pedestrian alley).

The park, Princess Street Gardens, between Princes Street and the Royal Mile, is always full if the weather is nice. 

A tradition for us to have our last meal in Scotland at the Mussel Inn on Rose Street in Edinburgh--a fish stew that is outstanding.

       A final adventure for me on this trip was celebrating newly found Scottish ancestory by getting fitted for my McAllister Clan kilt at McNaughton's in Pitlochry.  The kilt is being shipped this week.  It will have an honored place with my Welsh National and Jones of Wales kilts.

The tartan on the right is my Ancient McAllister tartan.

      We are already well into our planning for our fall trip.  Hopefully there will be many more adventures and many more photos.

Got a good view of the mountains of Greenland on the flight home.

Scotland's Gardens, Part 1

In our recent travels in Scotland and England we’ve sought out gardens, both private and national trust, not because I fancy myself as a gardner but because I love to take photos of the flowers and plants.  Sometimes I even remember to find out and write down what the flowers are.  Most of the time, though, I take the picture and try to identify the flower later.  Our favorite gardens are Branklyn Garden in Perth (a small 2 acre plot in town) and the National Garden of Wales (a large outdoor garden with a huge controlled environment indoor facility).  On this fall’s trip we visited neither of our favorites, but we did manage to spend significant time in some major and less than major Scottish gardens.  

Kailzie Garden.  The first garden to mention is one we’d visited a couple of times before, Kailzie (kay-lee) Garden 

in the Tweed valley of the Scottish Borders about 2.5 miles from Peebles on B7062.  Originally known as West Kelloch (meaning wooded glen), King David II granted the land to James of Tweedie in 1326.  The land remained in the Tweedie family for several centuries.  In 1638 the land belonged to the Earls of Traquair and it was around this time that much of the planting took place.  

The land then passed through several families until acquired in 1914 by William Cree who was responsible for the current garden arrangement. One of the features of Kailzie is the restaurant 

converted from the old stables which serves nice snacks, lunches, afternoon teas, and special Saturday evening dinners.  The Walled Garden, 

established in 1811, is several acres large and is surrounded by 18 foot tall stone walls.  Several greenhouses within the Walled Garden specialize in tropical plants and flowers.  

Besides the Walled Garden, Kailzie has a Wild Garden, a Burnside Walk (in an area that was part of the garden of old manor house), and the Majors Walk which leads to the Duck Pond (the site of the old manor house). 

Kailzie is a pleasant stop and has several other activities (especially for kids)--fishing, osprey watch, putting green.

Blair Castle Garden and Grounds.  Up the A9 from Perth is one of Scotland’s premier tourist attractions, Blair Castle and Estate.  

The home of the current Duke of Atholl, who legally maintains the only private army in Europe, Blair Castle has over thirty rooms available to tour, the Tullibardine Restaurant, and a full gift shop.  More to the point of this blog entry, the castle is also noted for its nine acre walled garden, 

Path to Hercules Garden

named the Hercules Garden after a statue at the top of the garden.  Established in the 18th century, the Hercules garden contains within its fifteen foot tall stone walls landscape ponds, 

a folly, a Chinese bridge, a 100 tree orchard, 

as well as the usual plantings and herbaceous border.  

The beautiful gardens have been fully restored to the original Georgian design.  If you plan to take in the gardens, forested grounds, and the castle tour, you’ll have a quite full day.

Riverside Garden Centre.  Of course, not all Scotland’s gardens are historic or under a trust’s care.  You can find commercial gardens of various sizes throughout Scotland.  One of our favorites (which we didn't visit on this trip) is the Speyside Heather Centre near Aviemore in Cairngorm National Park.  Famous for its Clootie Dumplings (a boiled pudding containing a variety of dried and fresh fruits), the garden is a great place to learn about planting and maintaining heathers.  

On this trip we stopped for coffee and a sweet at the Tullybannocher Cafe on A85 about a half mile west of Comrie in Perthshire.  The Riverside Garden Centre consists of the cafe, the Handy Shop which sells fruits and veg, and the Woodlands Garden Centre and Gift Shop.  The Garden Centre is small and sells a variety of trees, plants, and flowers.  Even the commercial gardens can be fun to wander and yield some interesting                  photos.

Part 2--Two Gardens in the South of Scotland (Coming Soon)