Scotland Highlands, brooding and full of lore

(Typical Highland picture of castle ruins and a few visitors)

There is a Scottish saying, that Scotland has two seasons, June and winter.

We visited the highlands in September for a month and found the weather added mystique to the lonesome places we visited. We were prepared for cold weather and infrequent rain, but the low clouds hovering over mountain ranges and driving through areas where 1.9 person lived within a square mile on roads that were narrow and winding, added a sense of forlornness to the trip.

(Our commodore suite for the overnight ferry to New Castle UK)

(IJmuiden our departure Harbor not too far from Amsterdam)

Let’s start at the beginning:

Sept 5, a taxi dropped us off in the Dutch harbor of IJmuiden, where we boarded the ferry to Newcastle upon Tyne, an overnight affair in a spacious cabin with reservations for dinner away from the buffet elsewhere, where most passengers seem to flock.

Next morning we found our car rental agency downtown and started our first day in a Skoda Octavia, a car that served us well during this trip, but often seemed to big for the roads we travelled on. About that much later in this blog.

(This is one of the much maligned single track Scottish highland roads mentioned in the blog)

(sometimes driving in slippery wet conditions, praying not to have oncoming traffic)

Personally, my attraction to Scotland like many other visitors, is based on tv series and movies about the centuries before when Scots were pitted against each other by warring clans or against the English as long ago as when the Romans controlled England. On our way up from Newcastle we passed the famous Hadrian Wall and hikers, who follow the remnants of the Wall while learning all about the skirmishes with the barbarians in “skirts” from the North.

(Remnants of the Hadrian Wall, the Roman way to keep the barbarian Scotts out of their empire)

As a devotee of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series I was especially interested in finding places where characters of her books roamed and castles that bring those stories to life. Our first day was a long ride to get straight into Cairngorms National Park, to the town of Banchory not too far from Balmoral Castle where Queen Elizabeth was in residence as she did every September month. We spent 2 nights there and were at Her Majesty’s Castle 2 hours before her death with a handful of other visitors lurking around the gated area. The only difference was a camera crew who for some reason was waiting for something that “might”, “could” happen.

(Royal Gates at Balmoral, closed to people like us)

(Guard house at Balmoral)

That day we saw several castles and enjoyed the rolling landscape at an easy pace, as it was our first day in the Highlands. Let the pictures do the talking.

(A few of the Neighborhood Castles to Balmoral)

Sept 8: The next day we packed our belongings and drove toward the coast just below Aberdeen, where we lingered around, visiting the imposing 13th century ruins of Dunnottar Castle, impregnable in its time, with first found remnants of Pict artifacts, who seem to have been protecting themselves there between 5000BC and 700AD. Vikings stormed it in 900 and killed the residing king Donald.

(Dunnottar Castle-in Gaelic meaning: fort on the shelving slope)

Famous Scottish William Wallace took the castle from the English forces, leaving no survivors in 1297, only to lose it to English forces again in 1336.

The Scottish King James II bestowed in 1458 Sir William Keith the hereditary title of First Earl of Marischal and the Dunnottar Castle. Mary Queen of Scots visited, and the 5th Earl of Marischal founded Marischal College in Aberdeen, the second university in Scotland. When Cromwell’s army tried to take the Castle all Scottish crown jewels were hidden in the castle. Luckily he did not succeed. There are many more stories. Today it is one of the most visited castles in Scotland.

(Kirkwall main drag before the cruiseschip unloads)

(View from our hotel balcony towards the north)

(View Eastwards)

Early evening we took the ferry to Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney Islands, arriving there around midnight, finding our way in a town already asleep.

If it wasn’t for 2 half drunken girls on their way home we would not have found our lodging, where a young lady sitting behind the reception desk was happy to provide us with the key and directions to the elevator, while closing up to go to bed herself, as she had been sitting there for several hours solely waiting for us knowing when the ferry would arrive.

(Orkney is in general flat and grassy with sheep and cattle farms)

(But with a high bluff overlooking the North Sea direction Faroe Islands)

(In the distance the lone Lord Kitchener Memorial on the highest part of the bluff.

More about him further down in this blog)

Sept 9: we are in Orkney 4 nights as these islands are unique in so many ways.

These islands have been inhabited for at least 8500 years by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes followed by PICTs and Annexed by the Kingdom of Norway in 875. The name Orkney is an Old Norse word for Seal Islands.

Nowadays 22000 residents call it home, 9000 of them live in Kirkwall and many spend their days farming, (cattle and pork as well as sheep) or fishing. Almost everyday in the season one or two cruise ships unload their passengers on the main island, crowding the few streets downtown with a thousand plus gawking people, destroying the true atmosphere of a very small ancient cobblestoned township.

(St Magnus Cathedral and it’s surrounding Graveyard)

(The Cathedral is more impressive than it seems from the outside)

Most people visit the St. Magnus Cathedral, surrounded by the traditional very full graveyard you cannot be buried in anymore. Offshore oil drilling is serviced from Kirkwall too. And the islands produce 130% of their energy needs the green way, working on a plan to export that growing excess to the mainland.

(Stromness is not only a ferry port but also a main fishing village)

We toured that first day for several hours the main island where 17000 people live. (Orkney Archipelago counts 71 islands, but only 21 are inhabited) and organized a guide for the next day to get more details and visit the main historic sites.

(Aerial view copied from internet)

(Being at the Ring of Bodgar at sunset was a solemn but also almost religious experience, realizing that more than 5000 years ago the same sun was setting on Mesolithic people, who worshipped here)

Sandee and I made a special trip to the Ring of Brodgar late afternoon to get sunset pictures of these holy grounds for people living here more than 5000 years ago (older than Stonehenge)

There is an eerie feeling when at dusk against the setting Sun you walk an ancient temple like environment, where the stillness brings feelings of fire and offerings to mind.

(The people who build the Ring of Bodgar, built this village, underground to be protected against the cold windy conditions)

(This Neolithic settlement is older than the Pyramids, inhabited for more than 600 years by 50 to 100 people living as equals as all home are identical in size and structure)

(Each stone house had similar layout, a single room, a central hearth,

a dresser, built-in storage area and beds)

The other top sights we visited in Orkney were Skara Brea Prehistoric Village and the farm on which land this village was discovered. (Actually by the farmer himself, who according to archeologists did more damage than good, until they got involved.) A seawall now protects this 5000 plus year Neolithic UNESCO Heritage site, from disappearing in the sea.

(550 Italian prisoners of war were allowed to built the chapel as per the request of the camp priest.)

(2 Nissen huts joined together were transformed into this beautiful chapel)

The Italian chapel has a nice historic charm: the British prisoners of war were sent here to create sea barriers to stop German U boats from entering Scapa Flow, where the British fleet was anchored when not on a mission.

(Most barriers are below the surface of Scapa Flow, as many scuttled

wrecks are the the object of scuba diver tourism)

Well German Captain Prien did exactly that in the early months of World War II, before Winston Churchill sent in his Italian prisoners of war to plug the possible entrances to Scapa Flow with boulders, sinking the HMS Royal Oak with a loss of 834 lives.

A nice read is here:

https://uboat.net/ops/scapa_flow.htm

The Italians were allowed to build their own Catholic chapel in their “free time” and apparently had among them able craftsmen as the chapel turned out to be a beauty. By the way as good prisoners of war always should do, they planned an escape, that was very successful. They had however not preplanned a way to get of the British isles. So all of them were recaptured.

(The Marwick Cliffs with the Kitchener Memorial, nesting side for seabirds)

A nice walk uphill through green farmland where numerous rabbits were hopping around (I was told that their capacity to procreate is becoming a problem) we reached the cliffs of Marwick Head, where in season the puffins would house by the thousands, now we saw a few skuas who nest there yearround. A lonesome tower dominates the view here: Lord Kitchener Memorial. Lord Kitchener was in 1916’s World War I the British minister of war, and on Monday June 5, he set off from Scapa Flow on HMS Hampshire for Russia to have secret negotiations with the Tsar. The ship sank under mysterious circumstances in the waters we were scanning high up there on the cliffs besides the Memorial Tower.

(Typical view of undulating farmland on Orkney main island)

(Sun setting in Orkney)

We left via Stromness by ferry these beautiful, during our stay “sunny”, islands back to the mainland, to drive the wildest part of the Scottish Highlands, the northwest part where the population denseness is 8 people per sq km or 21 people per sq mile. The road meanders through valleys and mountains, dotted with little lakes or streams, while the vegetation is gradually changing colors.

The stillness is only broken by the few passing vehicles during the four hours we travelled to the town Kylesku, our first finding of a town population in these parts of the world. To be truthful we lunched in a reasonably populated coastal village called Bettyhill early on, before turning inland where an occasional farm indicated unseen human presence.

(View from the ferry toward the mainland)

(The first hotel driving southwards on the western side of the Highlands)

(Typical 5pm view in the highlands from our Kylesku hotel room)

The overnight in the Kylesku hotel outside of town overlooking a connecting water between 2 lochs, where in the past the ferry would have brought us across, being the sole reason for the hotel’s location, but now being sidelined as half a mile away a new bridge replaced the ferry. The hotel was pleasant and the food was excellent. Nowadays signs direct you off the main road downhill to the hotel.

(Somewhere in nowhere land we are warned for crossing frogs)

(We stopped at the edge of one of many lochs at this little church)

(finding it in a state of repair)

(But with a beautiful ceiling, finding it was shipped a hundred years ago from Inverness to this side of the western wild lonesome highlands coast in pieces by boat - a months trip by sail)

(We are getting closer to our next destination discovering below sign)

(As well a bit further down the road a detour to the coastal former lighthouse)

(And after the westward views from the lighthouse the remains of a croft farm)

(Crofting is an agricultural landholding system unique to Scotland since a law in 1886 - worth reading about)

Our next stay was planned at the edge of this wild northwest highland area for 4 nights to allow us to explore this Wild West part of Scotland: Summer Isles Achiltibuie, a very isolated 4 star hotel with breakfast lunch and dinner, because there is nothing else around to feed us. It is said Queen Elizabeth in her younger days specifically liked the Summer Isles to visit by boat and have a picnic ashore of one of those islands on a regular basis while in Scotland.

(Summer Isles Hotel)

Well, arriving at the hotel around lunchtime we were told that because the season was over and staffing problems besieged them as so many other establishments there was no lunch service anymore. The village store sold sandwiches we were told. The route towards this part of Scotland exposed Sandee our “preferred driver” for the first time to single lane two way traffic. (She had to study, using Google, the driving etiquette of these narrow often in disrepair routes). Her driving style changed from precise to overhyped, a headache creating mode.

(Our first night welcome sign at Summer Isles Hotel)

(The next night it is back to usual again)

So at last arriving at the hotel and denied the relaxing luncheon she had looked forward to did not improve her mood. As we now had 4 such days to look forward to and the days turning into rainy ones, the only highlight of the day was hibernating in our room where there was a real well wood stocked fireplace to read by. The evening cocktails with other guests (and every night there were quite a few) and very well prepared dinners made the stay during those hours pleasant.

(Maybe no lunch, but dinner is always a nice affair and it is good resting with a cocktail or scotch at the fireplace)

(This was maybe why Queen Elisabeth came here for a picnic)

(We took a three hour cruise with this little boat to see the seals and isles)

(These isles dot the open waters leading to the ocean)

(The never ceasing wonders that nature provides)

The second day we were told by the staff that about 30 minutes driving from our place a bar, Fuaran Bar, served nice luncheons, thus that became our daily trip, rain or shine. We took a 3 hour boat trip around the Summer Isles on a day that the sun shone, but had to race to the Fuaran Bar to be there 5 minutes after lunch closed. The chef was kind enough since we were almost regulars to allow us to choose from his leftover options for that day.

(Tanera Mor Island in a state of rebuilding)

(It’s a work in progress)

During our boat trip we learned about one island Tanera Mor, that had been bought by a London private fund manager, Ian Wace and was being built up not only for his friends and clients to visit for fundraising purposes, but also to rehabilitate soldiers with PTSD.

(Applecross Pass daring single track road with stunning views- for the passenger only)

(The driver sees only this while hoping no one is coming toward you)

Our, or should I say my, next destination was Scotland's scariest single lane road across a mountain range to the isolated village of Applecross, another seaside village eyeing the Isle of Skye on a good day. We had reasonable weather so Sandee survived the trip, constantly gripping the steering wheel as if it needed pulverizing. We waited about 20 minutes looking at a caravan and an SUV trying to pass each other in a bend where they seemed to become one vehicle in their efforts to pass each other. Passengers of both vehicles alighted and shouted controversial instructions. It did not improve her mood, but I had fun watching the scene.

(The recurring scene from our room is the reason gives this trip a B minus at best)

(But I never cease to be fascinated)

On Sunday we found a Presbyterian church with 12 worshippers and a traveling minister in the next village past Applecross, who had a decent sermon. The announced invitation for tea afterwards must have been elsewhere because everybody left.

(We were early getting a front row seat)

(The minister does 3 services on Sundays in churches 50 plus miles apart)

(On the way back my turn driving, less expansive views for Sandee)

As you must have gleamed by now from this epistle, this part of our month in Scotland had mixed reviews from my beloved, who for the first time during our decades of travel, had some critical opinions about my travel planning skills hereto. I therefore will write a second Scotland blog about the part of the trip she chose to include: the barge trip of a week on the Caledonian Canal.

(Am I boring you with single track roads pictures? This one leads to our next destination on the Isle of Skye)

(Greshornish House in Edinbane - never saw that village)

(Beautiful Dinners)

(Wonderful place to relax)

As I was privileged to drive the treacherous crossover trip back from Applecross, where she tried, unsuccessfully, to not give me driving lessons, we ventured onto the Isle of Skye, mentioned in the opening song of every Outlander series episode, and drove to the other end of the isle, where we lodged for 4 nights at the Greshornish House in Edinbane, a former country home of clearly wealthy Scots, nicely hidden at the end of a lane frequented by wandering sheep above a wide Loch. Places like these offer breakfast lunch and dinner, as there is nothing in the vicinity to be found, unless you wanted to dine at a 2 star Michelin restaurant 40 minutes away in a 20 home one street fishing village, from where we undertook at 6.30 am a full day boat trip to the Island of St Kilda. Another adventure that Sandee invited me to do on my own if such an opportunity comes up in future trips. But about that a few paragraphs below this one.

(On our way to the tour boat to St Kilda we found the Michelin Star restaurant)

(Dunvegan Castle, Hugh Macleod lives upstairs)

(Views from 2nd floor)

This area belongs to the Macleod Clan a famous clan in Scotland, who did not partake in the battle of Culloden but sided politically with the English government. Their castle Dunvegan is stil inhabited by the 30th chief of the clan, Hugh Magnus MacCleod. We took the tour of the castle and watched a video spoken by Hugh Magnus, who at that moment had most likely lunch at the top floor in his private quarters.

(First view of the stacks surrounding the the main island of St Kilda)

(Receding sight of Isle of Skye islets as we travel 4 hours towards St Kilda)

(Arrived at long last)

That same Hugh is owner of the Island of St Kilda, the remotest part of the British Isles, some 41 miles/66 kilometers west of the Outer Hebrides, all alone in the Atlantic Ocean.

(landing shortly)

(It is beyond amazing to wonder beyond unchanged history frozen in time)

(There is a research team keeping daily records for each other)

Its islands have exceptional cliffs and sea stacs, the most important seabird breeding station in northwest Europe, with a famous story of a 1930 evacuation of its native population, bringing to a close an extraordinary story of human survival who inhabited these isles for over 2000 years.

(Stone built “Cleits” ventilated well and were used to store eggs and seabirds)

Here is the Wikipedia story for those who are wanting to know why I needed to go:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Kilda,_Scotland

(Rocks were the building material on the island till better imported housing was provided mid 1800)

I cherished that Wikipedia story even more after I visited and roamed the main island now “scarred” with an ugly research building. The resident scientists live in the original homes of the islanders, so many are not accessible to us tourists.

Our boat had 11 tourist who undertook the 8 hour round trip, allowing us 3 hours to roam the main island. I have pictures galore. During the castle visit my eye caught a picture with thousands of dead birds on the beach of St Kilda. The Chief of the MacCleod clan sent each year his steward to collect the taxes due, most often paid by the thousands of fulmar birds known for their high oil content. I relished this visit roaming between the silent remains of a lost culture. But as I mentioned Sandee* afterwards and during the boat trip told me to please enjoy during any of our future trips certain destinations by myself, allowing her a day of relaxation in reading a book. *Editors Privilege - It was 8 hours of a very rough sea crossing in cold wet weather with 3 hours ashore to see an Island that was easily toured in one.