Snapshots of Scotland
Heading east from my short visit with my mother in Maine, I headed to Scotland. My friend Niki from LA, who now lives in Portugal was working at the very popular Fringe festival in Edinburgh. She generously offered her couch for me to stay on — an offer that was too sweet to pass up.
View of Edinburgh from the castle
Scotland is beautiful, but as I found out, expensive. At least this time of year. Maybe all year. It’s also packed with visitors from everywhere. Lots of Brits. But I met people from all over. I think everyone is trying to pack a lot in during their visit. Summer is short. Kids are off from school. I think many folks are driven to see as much of the country as they can. And there is a lot to see. I, on the contrary, like to go slow. And wing it as I go. Somehow, we met in the middle.
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The Royal Mile
Starting in 1947, The Fringe festival has grown to its current size, with over 3500 different performances happening over most of the month of August. I was thrilled to be around to discover it. But I don’t think I was ready for it. It was overwhelming. The crowds were bumper to bumper. There were bagpipes and street performers jostling for position. But how many times do I need to see someone juggling fire sticks? Then trying to find a performace to watch — how do you choose? I went to one event that a woman (from LA) acted out her relationships with her cats. It was hard not to fall asleep. Another one was two guys playing traditional Scottish folk music. I liked that one.
I quickly realized that I was here to experience Edinburgh, so my focus on the festival started to fade. I looked elsewhere.
I took a lovely tour of the magnificent castle that overlooks the city. Also splurged on seeing the Military Tattoo performance, which is not what you think it is. It’s more of a half time show at a NFL game, with men and women in costume marching to drums and bagpipes, with a few musical number in between. I enjoyed the pagentry of it, but wasn’t blown away. Others may disagree.
Edinburgh Castle
You can’t stay in Edinburgh without looking up and seeing the iconic castle. It dominates the skyline. Impressive. It’s best to buy your ticket in advance. I did and walked quickly through the growing line.
I wasn’t sure how much Scottish history I knew. But I got a good dose of it here. You can pick up an audio tour (which I highly recommend). I stayed for almost three hours engrossed in the story telling. What really hit me was how violent Scotland was back in history. The Scots seemed to have fought everyone — the Vikings, the English and especially each other. Clans hated other Clans, on and on.
I started thinking about current times and how the violence has lingered. No wonder, I thought, with a past like this, it will take some time for us to move away to a more peaceful world.
Scottish Food and Ale (or vise-versa)
I wasn’t sure what to expect of Scottish food. As a foodie, I like to research what I’m getting myself into. I saw a lot of fattening food and not a lot of veggies.
I easily found haggis, meat pie and fish and chips. Some versions were great, others, not so much. These were some good ones…
At the same time, by digging a bit deeper, you can find good restaurants and a nice variety of dishes. I particularly liked the Indian and Mediterranean restaurants.
And as you drove north, the seafood was abundant and wonderful.
This amazing seafood assortment was caught fresh that day!
A wee dram of happiness.
If you think of Scotland, what comes to your mind? Of course Scotch. Single malt (not blended) tops my list and you’ll find it everywhere. I loved it. You go into most any pub and will find an huge choice of malts to pick from. For anywhere between $6 and $9 you’ll get nice shot to accompany your pint. Of course you can spend a lot more for something with age, but I rarely had to.
Glasgow
After a week battling the crowds, I headed to Glasgow — a short, easy train ride away.
Known as more of a working class city, Glasgow has seen a resurgence over the years and has become a destination all to itself. I really enjoyed my time there. More low key, nice museums and less tourists, even though it is the largest city in Scotland.
The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
I spent a nice afternoon here. Not the most exciting museum I’ve been to, but the building itself was worth it.
Banksy Exibition
If I could sum up my time in Scotland, I’d say that happening upon the Banksy Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art pretty much topped my list. It was his first solo show in 14 years and featured 25 years of stencil graffiti from his career.
I was blown away by it.
They lock up your cell phone when you enter so unfortunately I couldn’t take photos. But how it was curated, and commentary by Banksy himself all added up to an enlightening event. I’ve always been a fan, but even more so now. I wish my friends from LA could have seen it.
They did offer to take low quality polaroids of you interacting with his art. Very fun.
The Scottish Highlands
Stalker Castle near Oban
I was ready to get out of the cities and head into the mountainous northern region — the Highlands. It is the largest region in Scotland covering almost 10,000 square miles (though I would focus and a small, but beautiful part). They are often described as one of the most scenic regions in Europe.
This is where nature takes over and steals your soul.
Its also lacks much accomodation. Most visitors plan a long time in advance, so the popular places book up. Of course that isn’t always how I fly, so finding something affordable was next to impossible. Unhappily I had to bust open my budget and splurge. Oh well, sometimes you eat the bear and other times it eats you.
It was worth it.
Oban
This first stop on my northern journey was the lovely seaside town of Oban. It is also home of one of my favorite distilleries.
Ahhh… Scottish weather. You can read about it, but until you experience it…
But bad weather makes for beautiful photographics
The Insane Roads of the Highlands
The roads that filter into the Highlands are tricky. There are miles and miles of one-lane roads. No railings. No lane markers. If you need to pass someone has to pull into the myriad of “Passing Places” to let the other car(s) through. It was bad enough on the straights, but on the curvy, mountain passes it gets damn scary. Especially when you’re passing a motorhome, a bus or a truck. Time to pucker up.
If you ever visit and rent a car, my suggestion is to rent the smallest you can. My car wasn’t, so and I was always stressing out.
One miscue, like when I hit a pothole, and you may suffer the consequences.
This one cost me $350.
One last thing to share. I was surprised at the number of bike-packers on these narrow roads. There were no shoulders. They competed with us cars. Not to mention how cold and rainy it was. I love to bike, but this was not my cup on tea. Respect to all of them.
Applecross and Ullapool
My next week would be spent in the small villages of Applecross and Ullapool. Both are nestled on the rugged western coast where inlets and islands jut in and out of the heather covered hills. At every turn you are drawn into it’s expanse and beauty.
The towns themselves pull you back in time. A simpler time perhaps, where the pace is slow, the pubs are full and laughter fills the air.
Midges
Nobody told me about the Midges. I didn’t even know there was such a beast. But if you come here in the summer be prepared (if you can).
Midges and these very small, very irritating little flying fuckers. They bite, or so I’m told. But they didn’t seem to munch on me much. But when the wind is quiet they surround and suffocate you. They fly into your mouth and eyes. There is no way to get away from them unless you run full speed… or get a net to cover your face.
Without question, the Highlands of Scotland are some of the most beautiful visitas on earth with hiking galore. You come here and are constantly blown away in awe. And history at every turn.
Hiking with Neil
Forty-nine years after we met (1974), it was my infinite pleasure to spend time with my old pal and roommate Neil. We both attended University of Sussex in Brighton England at the same time. Me for my junior year abroad. It was a pivotal moment of my life. I was a biology major heading towards medical school. After living with my crazy English roommates, traveling through Europe on my holidays, and indulging in a few tabs of LSD at appropriate times, I made a u-turn and quit university all together. It was a radical decision for me — ending what I called at the time “studying about life” and to start finally “living my life”.
It was a decision I never regretted.
Neil is the only person I am still in contact with who was there at the time. We caught up, past and present. We shared stories. We hiked the local hills. He told me about Scotland.
It was a joy for me. Certainly a highlight of my visit.
After three full weeks it was time to move on. I said good-bye to a cool, somewhat wet visit — filled with wonderful thoughts and experiences and more than a few drams of malt.
See you again. But maybe in June (I hear the weather is better).
Enjoying one of the better weather days
As always, thank you for reading.
