A Stirling effort, well rewarded.

 Awoke this morning to a blanket of white outside our bedroom window.  A light snowfall overnight brought the temperature right down but created a “winter wonderland”.  After a hearty breakfast (John over-indulged in the full Scottish breakfast again!) we set off into Dunfermline “city” as it has recently been declared, promoted from its earlier status as merely a “town”.  First stop the Dunfermline Abbey.  This Church of Scotland church and palace include the remains of a great Benedictine abbey founded by Queen Margaret in the 11^th century.  It is the final resting place of King Robert (the) Bruce – minus his heart – along with seven other Scottish kings.  The abbey complex includes the impressive ruins of a palace built by King James VI in the 16^th century.  It was also the birthplace of Charles 1, the last monarch born in Scotland.

From there, a short walk down the hill to the birthplace and museum of Andrew Carnegie, a most amazing rags-to-riches Scottish success story.  Born in 1835 to hardworking but impoverished weaver parents, he benefitted from their genuine interest in providing Andrew and his brother education opportunities and exposure to literature, politics and ideas.  The family emigrated to America in 1848 and, after finishing his rudimentary education, Andrew quickly established himself as a brilliant morse code operator, an essential skill in the burgeoning railroad industry.  His unique talent was soon sought-after and he came under the wing of a supervisor in the railroad company he had been head-hunted for.  On his mentor’s advice he invested in a promising railroad company and when this reaped a bonanza he embarked on a lifetime of shrewd investments (with some failures) and eventually became the richest man in the world.  He was a genuine philanthropist throughout his life, a pacifist and the author of many books.

We continued on our way to Stirling and, after a delicious soup and panini lunch, took the long walk up a steep hill to Stirling Castle, past the Church of the Holy Rood which was closed for the winter (a bit rude, we thought).  Stirling Castle is situated on the very top of a hill and surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs – the ideal location for a medieval castle.  The castle dates from the early 12^th century, although the present buildings were mostly constructed between 1490 and 1600.  It was the seat of the Scottish kings and suffered occupations by the then-enemy British during the Wars of Independence (1296-1357) and sieges in 1651 and in 1746 (when Bonnie Prince Charlie tried to take back the castle).  Several Scottish kings and queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary Queen of Scots in 1542, and others were born or died there.

Then on to Falkirk and our delightful digs for the next two nights, a fully self-contained cottage in a quiet street.  Did a bit of shopping, caught up with our washing, and now for a well-earned early night.

Good Crieff!

 

We started the day well with a hearty Scottish breakfast (including haggis and black pudding for John), then headed out into a cold, rainy day.  First stop was the Crieff Visitor Centre to visit the “Drovers Exhibition” that highlighted the rugged, dangerous life of the cattle drovers over the centuries (Crieff has always been a prominent centre for the cattle trade).  Then over the Crieff bridge, crossing the River Earn, and out of town to the small village of Fowlis Wester and its 13^th century church, with  a “lepers’ squint”, a small slit for lepers to watch the service.  It also contains two of the large carved stones (one more than three metres tall) that formed part of a circle some twelve hundred years ago.  Both display Pictish symbols which helps to date them at about 800CE.  Through their carvings of rural and religious figures and symbols they provide a representation of life in that bygone age.

Back on the road to Perth, where we wandered the city centre (in the light rain) and stopped for late lunch. Unfortunately we could only view the grand St John the Baptist Kirk (1448) from the outside.

We arrived in Dunfermline, after driving through heavier rain and light snow, to our modern hotel for the night and had an uninspiring dinner in the attached pub.  Tomorrow we will spend some time in Dunfermline before making our way to Sterling and Falkirk.

The Big Bash, then off to explore the Scottish countryside

 Saturday saw the family gathering of eighteen at Creggan’s Inn to celebrate Aunt Betty’s 90^th birthday. The first time all the cousins had been together in a number of years. So much excitement. So much to catch up on. We were piped into the dining room. A special treat for us organized by Aunt Betty. There followed delicious food and not so delicious (Haggis), the wine flowed and hilarious speeches were next. Such a fun day in a room full of love and connectedness. Aunt Betty adored by everyone. We returned later in the day for more celebratory drinks at Aunt’s home before retiring to our digs.

Teary farewells this morning (Sunday)and then we were on the road to Pitlochry. The countryside was snow covered and spectacular. A winter wonderland.

Our first stop of the day was at Aberfeldy to view the Blackwatch monument and the old stone Tay Bridge. We ventured on to Pitlochry, stopping for lunch and doing the walk around the Dam and fish ladder. The fish ladder, some 311m long allows some 5,000 salmon to pass upstream each year. A clever invention.  A delicious meal at our hotel and a relatively early night.

On the way – and keeping up our tradition of something going wrong!

 

Thursday morning, caught the 10.30am train from Broadmeadow to Central, then the airport, for our 4.10pm flight to Singapore.  Arrived there about 9.30pm, then whiled away the time in the Business Class lounge before boarding our 11.55pm flight and taking our business class seats (thanks to a FF points upgrade) for the 15 hour flight to Amsterdam. Such a treat for us. The comfort and the services were wonderful so surely luck was on our side this trip. Unfortunately that luck ran out; we were an hour and a half late taking off, which meant that we were an hour and a half late arriving in Amsterdam, resulting in a mad dash the length of the huge airport to make our flight to Glasgow. Our haste in making the flight wasn’t matched in getting our luggage transferred, so we arrived in Glasgow sans suitcases .  After reporting this and being assured that they would be delivered to Strachur, our destination, later in the day we collected our Skoda SUV and set off for Strachur, arriving about noon (after several frustrating to-and-fro phone calls our luggage was delivered to our accommodation at 1am, waking our delightful host Sylvia, who had already provided us with spare clothing and toiletries to tie us over).  Our digs are a delightful studio on the outskirts of the tiny village of Strachur, with panoramic views of the surrounding hills. Zero degrees in temperature and a light fall of snow really was a striking difference to the 38 degrees we had left behind in Newcastle but the sun was shining which was more than we had expected.

We spent the afternoon, then the evening, with almost-90 Aunt Betty and husband Norman – two of the loveliest people you could ever meet – at their home overlooking Loch Fyne.  We caught up on all the happenings within the extensive Scottish family, reminisced, and generally had great afternoon and evening.  Back to our digs about 10pm for a much-needed sleep, interrupted only by the gentle tap on the door by Sylvia, who had been woken by the courier delivering our luggage in the middle of the night.

Tomorrow is the big day: lunch to celebrate Aunt Betty’s 90^th birthday, with all the family coming from all round Scotland to be with her and to welcome us.