Castles/Fortresses

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Horseback Riding Near Portree and Dunvegan Castle

12:59 pm

Today is expensive! First, a bus ride to Portree (£3…return), then a bus to Dunvegan castle (£5+£4.50 entry fee), then horseback riding (!) (£10). My rides to Portree and Dunvegan have allowed me to see a fair part of the bonnie Isle of Skye. Dunvegan is bonnie, also, but dry.

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I saw snails in their shells! I picked one up. Hate to say it, but they’re gross, worse than slugs, I think !

5:20 pm

What a terrific afternoon!!! It’s about 3 miles to the Portree stables from the town centre. About ½ mile on my way, a lady offered me a lift—she was the owner of the stable! On the way back, I’d walked about ¼ mile when two little old ladies and a not so little old man offered me a lift to the outskirts of town. Instead of walking 6 miles, I only walked about one!

Well… I didn’t get my canter through the moors. Instead, I got something more unexpected, more frightening, and more exhilarating than I could ever have imagined: my first real jump. The horse (a headstrong but manageable purebred silvery, Highland garron male named Toby) was supposed to pick his way across the stream. However, the horse in front decided to jump (luckily, the rider was very experienced) and mine followed suit before I could stop him. Obviously, I wasn’t prepared for the jump, so I was none too graceful but the experienced riders said I handled Toby very well. During the jump I didn’t have time to be frightened. The landing was something else! I did manage a fast trot through a heather moor.

So, another crazy dream almost realised. If I’ve any cash left in two weekends, I’ll go out again. Amazing how your legs stiffen up after only an hour of riding, it’s very much like getting off a boat after a day at sea, your legs get very wobbly! Considering that I’m ‘trained’ in Western saddle riding, I think I adapted rather well to English. That, combined with a year (at least!) out of the saddle, meant I wasn’t totally up to par, but once I got an understanding with Toby about who was boss everything was more or less okay.

I’m not too proud of my dismount, though! I got a foot caught in a stirrup, so I basically slid/tumbled off. But, I didn’t fall flat on my back or tookus, but rather on my own two feet, so I guess I still have some dignity left ! After, I gave Toby a bruised apple I’ve been lugging since Inverness. He was thrilled. So thrilled, in fact, he slobbered all over me and tried to get inside my pocket himself!

But, it was wonderful, riding through a heather moor perched on the back of a surefooted hill garron. There were so many sheep and rabbits, too. Road apples aren’t the only droppings to worry about in these parts!

The most bizarre thing was the weather. This morning, it was freezing and raining. It had been going on like this for hours when I stepped out of Dunvegan castle. I stepped into the loo (The Scots unabashedly use ‘toilet’. Don’t bother asking for the ‘restroom’ or ‘bathroom’. They’ll say the ‘toilet is right over there’!) for two whole minutes, came out, and the sun was shining!!!

So, I had incredible weather for my trail ride despite unimaginable windspeeds ! It was perfect: rolling moors, the occasional hill to climb, a few streams—and greenness, as far as the eye can see, an emerald greenness dotted by the woody-brown greenness of the heather held together by a cyan sky streaked with pure white cotton candy clouds. Heaven? No, Scotland. The land I dreamt about exists. I won’t go so far as to claim that I am ‘home’, but I could live here, and be happy. I have rarely seen a land as beautiful as Skye, a country as diverse in its landscapes as Scotland, and a dream in my waking state. For I have dreamed of this land, never imagining that something so near to perfection could actually exist.

Neither photographs nor words are sufficient in explaining how I feel about this land. Neither do justice to Alba. Two weeks from today, already, my trip will be over. For once, I am not bitterly disappointed about leaving. Why? 1) I’ll be back soon enough; 2) Scotland is coming home with me, in my heart and in my head. I’ll feel loneliness as I watch her lush greenness disappear from under me as I head west across the wide and mighty Atlantic. But, I won’t be leaving a part of me behind as I have in other places. You see, a part of me has always been here, though I never knew it. I’ve found it, am all the richer for it, and will leave it behind when I leave. I won’t be losing a part of who I was, rather a part of who I could be.

I’ll have so many stories to tell as I arrive in Montreal, but also so many secrets to keep. Scotia has made it clear that I must keep a part of her hidden in my heart. So, I’ll return with a knowing smile, a lighter heart, say ‘It was wonderful’ or ‘C’était merveilleux’ and leave it at that. There are a chosen few who will get to hear details and perhaps two who will get to read most of this journal. But I’ll be the only one to know what really happened here in Scotland.

6:40 pm.

I don’t care what anyone says: a man in a kilt is a man in a skirt!

 

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In Which I Discover Pubs — Inverness to Kyleakin (Isle of Skye)

10:16 AM

From where I’m sitting, Inverness is rather bonnie! Actually, I’m on a bench on the bank of the river Ness, in a green, ‘parked’ area. ‘Downtown’ is only a few minutes away, but you’d never guess it. I can’t believe how clean the river seems. Parents allow their children to play in the water, so it can’t be that dirty. To get here, I had to cross the suspension bridge again. They’re fun!

I can’t believe the number of Australians and New-= Zealanders I’ve met! I usually have at least one in my room. Last night, we were two in the room, and she was Australian. Haven’t met many Canadians since Glasgow and Edinburgh ; there was an Albertan in Aviemore.

I can’t get over how young the Scots marry and start their families! I’ve seen couples barely out of their teens with wedding bands and the stroller. Since there are many such couples, I assume it’s the norm. Personally, I’d rather live first!

I’m going to keep exploring until about a quarter of 2. Haggis should be picking me up at 2:30. It looks like a long bus ride to Skye (arrival time estimated at 6 o’clock). No worse than yesterday, I guess!

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8:46 p.m.

On the way to Kyleakin, we made an hour long stop at Eilean Donan castle! It’s very beautiful. Unfortunately, the guides are cold and unfriendly. They lack the passion required by the job. There was a cool ‘recreated’ kitchen complete with mannequins. It was creepy but well done!

Speaking of creepy, this youth hostel is almost terrifying! I’m just getting this bad vibe about this place. At first, I thought I might just be homesick and lonely, but I met up with some very nice people and the feeling didn’t go away. I’ll spend a night here and if I still feel weird in the morning I might ask for a refund and go elsewhere. There are lots of cheap places around here. What I hate is not being able to pinpoint the origin of my ‘bad feeling’. I can’t tell if it’s about things coming or things that have already happened. Anyhoo, I feel creepy.

I hiked up to the ruins of an old (13th century, destroyed late Middle Ages) Scandinavian fortress. The hike up is unbelievable, there’s no real path. You really have to play ‘mountain goat’ to get up and down. (This was when I discovered that I am essentially immune to the greatest deterrent to Scottish tourism: the midge. I’m told I could market my blood and make an easy fortune! Those bugs are worse than mosquitoes, which love my blood. I’ll never know why the midges left me alone, but bit the people with me to pieces, but I’m glad!)

I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow. I don’t think there’s a tourist information centre here. I would like to go on a trail ride; I’ve seen several advertised, only they’re further ‘inland’, I think. I’ll see how complicated and expensive it is to get out there for day trip.

10:46

I’ve just spent the last hour at a pub with a Swedish girl I met and about 7 strangers! This was the first time I’ve been to a pub. It helps that I can actually drink now, not just a few sips but a whole beer and actually enjoy it (I had a Guinness. Boy is it good !). The only thing is I’ll stink of cigarettes tomorrow. The music was a little loud, but nothing like school dances. Considering the wallflower I am, I rather had a good time. I guess the beer helped! Now, I know what a pub’s like. Imagine going back to North America and telling everyone I never even set foot in one!?

 

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Day Trip to Orkney

8:07 am

I’m on my way to the Orkneys!!! The Eastern coast of the Highlands is lush and green, very fertile, I’m told. This area is known the ‘Black Isle’, only it’s a peninsula, not an island. The guide says that, being so close to the sea, it snows very little, if at all, here.

It’s the North Sea…

8:34

I’ve just left Ross for Sutherland

8:40

Dunrobin Castle. Early 14th century, longest continually inhabited castle in all of Britain.

So many sheep!

11:38

Orkney is so beautiful!!! She looks a lot like Scotland, but even more rugged. There’s no heather as far as I can see. The North Sea is deep blue, but near the shore she’s pure turquoise. The voyage here (by ferry) took exactly 45 min, the water was relatively calm and it was freezing. Luckily, I was appropriately dressed!

The water is patchy, some turquoise, some dark blue. Several beaches look like they should be in the Caribbean! They are pure white sand leading to turquoise infinity!

12:17 pm.

Skara Brae. Lots of heather here. Still, it’s obvious somehow that we’re no longer on the ‘main land’. The islands are for the most part uninhabited, but you do get the occasional fair sized village. In Kirkwall, for example, there is a cinema and a fancy car dealership (why ‘dealership’ and not ‘car store’?)

1:33 pm

I’m so far from ‘home’! (As I walked through the wind and ocean swept cobblestone streets of Stromness, Orkney, the incessant buzz of a ‘strange’ accent in my ears, I came to the realisation of how far away I was from Canada.) Yet, not so far away. I mean, I found a shop that had ‘Backstreet Boys’ memorabilia on the window ! I enjoyed a delicious vegetable broth (90p) at a tiny café. I figure that any place where the soup is ‘always suitable for vegetarians’ is worth encouraging! (and I discovered another use for barley!) I had some kind of delicious chocolate iced cake for dessert (35p). For dinner tonight, I’ve ordered sandwiches offered by the tour. (£2) Stromness is beautiful, all stone and cobblestone. You wouldn’t know driving streets are driving streets until you saw a car carefully inching its way down past pedestrians. The accent here is almost incomprehensible. It took me a while to get lunch ordered!

2:15 Ring of Brodgar

Older than Stonehenge. Nice pile of rocks. Tried to tip a few over. Didn’t work! Up there, it feels like the top of the world. I can easily imagine thousands of half-clad men performing some ritual over 5,000 years ago. Very beautiful ring with a mat of heather in the centre.

Swans!

Orkney—a self-contained world?

A house with a boat as a roof! (The hull of the ship was used to roof the house. Supposedly, it’s rather common in fishing communities in the islands.)

Honest to goodness street sign: ‘otters crossing’!!!

2:48 pm.

Highland Park Distillery—northernmost in Britain. I prefer their whisky to that of Edradour. Here, it’s actually kind of smokey. Sure warms up the insides! I think that last big sip went right to my head, which explains the worse than usual writing!

4:07 pm

My wildest medieval related dream/fantasy has come true!!! I have walked freely through the ruins of a mostly early 12th century castle!!! By freely, I mean I had access to every part of the castle/palace that wasn’t a public danger. I climbed the equivalent of 4 flights of narrow, twisting, flagstone stairs to the top of a watch tower. But, that’s not all!!! I also wandered even more freely through the ruins of an early 16th century palace/castle. This one had plaques indicating the purpose of each room, one room was tiny and unlit, but I could see a plaque. ‘It’s probably the latrine closet’ I thought gleefully as I pulled out my handy flashlight. I was right! It was so cool wandering through ante-chambers, kitchens, dining halls, great halls, bedrooms, latrine closets, narrow winding turret stairs, etc. And it only cost £1.50 pound for both. Oh, and I also wandered through an early 12th century cathedral!!!!!!! As a medievalist, this made my whole Orkney tour ‘worth it’ !

7:11 pm

I’ll never regret this day, but I don’t know if I’d do it again, it’s a hell of a lot of travel ! I mean 2 ½-3 hours to John O’Groats, exactly 45 min ferry ride, then the grand tour of Orkney for the trip home. Whew ! ! However, I think this trip was an excellent compromise between getting to Orkney on my own and missing out on other ‘stuff’ in the south and not going to Orkney at all. I could live there, it’s not the barren isle I thought it would be. The Orkney archipelago has several bustling towns and all the modern conveniences on several of her islands. My favourite quote of the day by our guide: ‘To the left, the North Atlantic. Next stop: America.’!!!

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Tomorrow: Skye.

(This entry conveniently leaves out the part where I almost got seasick from too much whisky on an empty stomach while crossing a choppy North Sea!)

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Culloden Battlefield and Cawdor Castle

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10:16 AM

Culloden Moor, 1746. Cannons are booming. Armies are marching forward. The heather is stained with blood. Sleet is blowing in our faces.

Culloden Moor, 1998. There is an occasional gentle rumble in the sky and the soft chirping of blackbirds. The Moor is beautiful and peaceful, what with the sun bearing down on it from an almost cloudless cyan sky. Closing my eyes, I can see quite clearly the battle, hear the cannons and the roaring of the dying. How can such a beautiful place, such a peaceful place be remembered for such evil?

12:34 pm.

Oh, Bonnie, bonnie Cawdor! The original tower dates back to the 14th century, but most of what I saw was 17th century onward. I did descend some of those narrow flagstone circular stairs I’ve written about. Boy are they scary ! Imagine, people have been using these stairs for over 600 years. The castle is inhabited from October to April and it really does feel lived in. There are books and magazines lying about, a modern telephone sits on a Victorian dresser, a canister holds a handful of ‘Bic’ pens. Yet, the ‘old’ atmosphere remains, preserved almost intact. There are signs which comment on each room and every now and then, the author has inserted a little bit of humour. The grounds are lovely; unfortunately the maze has been closed to the public because the public damaged it.

7:54

I suppose that my visit to Culloden would have been even more powerful had the rain been blowing in. However, the layout of the field was sufficient to get a taste of what happened. Cairns marked the location of each clan, of each leader, of the government troops, etc. I unfortunately did not have time to see the video presentation about the battle, but I did see a great 5-7 minute play about the surgeons and ‘baggage’ (the ladies allowed to go campaigning with their husbands. It’s no fun being baggage;I got a very minute taste of it when I visited Inverness castle yesterafternoon).

So tomorrow, the Orkneys.

I went to almost the other end of Inverness today in order to send e-mails. It cost me £3 for 37 min. It sounds like an okay deal. It was weird to type, but I realise that I’ve missed it. Typing is so much quicker and neater and more convenient!

Gotta be up at 6 tomorrow (!) so I’m off.

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Aviemore to Inverness

10:02 AM

20 days to go… boohoo. I’m really settling into this routine of packing and unpacking, settling in and moving on! At this time tomorrow, I’ll have been gone a week. That’s a QUARTER of my trip over, zip, done. I’m glad I’m getting into the ‘stuff’ I’ve really wanted to see. I think it really makes a lot of sense to get through Skye to Fort William, climb the Ben ,and go into Edinburgh for a day. Loch Lomond is supposed to be so beautiful.

… (more rambling about plans!)

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Inverness: 7:05 pm

I decided to go to Orkney on a day trip which will delay my schedule by one measly day (the Ben will be Wednesday). My Orkney day will be expensive; I’ll be ‘blowing’ the extra cash I’ve got. Once I get that out of the way, I’ll still be on my budget, but I won’t be ahead anymore. Who cares? I’ll only be here once! Besides two whole days of exploring Skye appeals to me. Now, if I could only get through to book the hostel! (I would have been ‘stuck’ on Skye Monday, anyways, since Haggis doesn’t do the southern ‘Skye-Edinburgh’ circuit on Mondays. Neither does it do the northern ‘Edinburgh-Skye’ circuit on Sundays.)

8:07 pm.

Well… I’ve got my accommodation booked straight through to next Thursday morning! It’s really nerve wracking, spending all this cash so quickly. At least Skye and Fort William are only £8.50 (no breakfast, of course). I figure that if I get some serious non-perishable food shopping going, I’ll be able to make up for my little folly of going up to Orkney.

I had a very lovely afternoon here in Inverness. I went up to the castle (blech!) and ended up this awesome tour about the ’45. (that’s the Jacobite rebellion of 1745.) I was smart and asked if there was a student price. There was and I save a whole 30p ! Well, that’s a chocolate bar here! (Speaking of chocolate, I don’t recommend chocolate ice cream in Scotland. Every time I ordered it, I was disappointed. It didn’t taste at all like chocolate. ‘Wall’s’ ice cream, the kind on a stick, has good chocolate, though.)

Anyhoo, the group was treated both congenially and as a troop enlisting in the army would have been treated. It was very interesting, the setting of the tour alone was worth the money (it began with a descent into a creepy cellar down damp stone steps and along candlelit walls!). Inverness itself has charming places, but it’s not great. It’s one place where I knew I’d be disappointed, but hoped I wouldn’t be. Still, from certain angles, the castle is stunning, and the bridges spanning the River Ness are pretty; one’s a suspension bridge and it literally rocks as people walk across it. Back on the ‘mainland,’ one feels that one has been on a boat!

This trip is unlike any other I’ve taken and this journal reflects this. I mean, I’ve got bad stuff in here like disappointment and discouragement! But there’s triumph here, too. I want to remember all of this trip.

 

This hostel is unbelievable. It looks and feels like a 5-star hotel. Everything’s carpeted and brand spanking new but… empty, I guess. The top bunks are high up! I don’t know whether to be claustrophobic and sleep up there or whether to be ‘heightaphobic’ and sleep down there! (During my stay, I only slept on a bottom bunk once and I didn’t sleep too well! The best bunks were the ones without ladders, believe it or not! They were easy to crawl onto and get off of and had the best mattresses! Offhand, I remember them being in Perth and Kyleakin, but there might have been a few other places.) There aren’t any keys, either. Instead we have those new-fangled magnetic card things. I hate ‘em. (My first time in Glasgow I had keys. When I returned, they had *just* changed to magnetic cards!) We need them to go almost everywhere in this hostel (into our rooms and into the lounge/laundry/ common room area). And I think that both here and Glasgow got a special on really ugly tartan carpeting! (although, like Glasgow itself, this carpet is growing on me, and I’m becoming rather fond of it!)