WebliminalBlog

We arrived in Edinburgh after many days of staying in rooms (in different towns) on the top floor at the end of several flights of stairs, showers that were difficult to work out get into, and not washing clothes for about 2 weeks. We were very, very happy to be staying in a modern, studio apartment at Eden Locke, https://www.lockeliving.com/en/edinburgh/eden-locke. Best of all it included a walk-in shower and a washing machine/dryer. Check-in was through a nice, modern cafe. Also in a very nice part of the city.

After settling in and a little lunch at the cafe we went to the Scottish National Gallery. It houses an astoundingly wonderful collection of works. Going through the valley was one of the highlights of being in Scotland.

That night we walked to Henderson’s, www.hendersonsrestaurant.com/, a vegetarian restaurant recommended by staff at Eden Locke. It was super! We each had vegan dishes; Lynn the Henderson Haggis and Chermula Aubergine for me. On the way home we passed the University and also got a good view of the illuminated castle.

The next day was spent going to Calton Hill to get a view of the city and it’s surroundings and,

Starting at the Scottish Parliament building we walked the Royal Mile to the castle. The Parliament building with its modern design is a striking difference to Holyrood Palace across the street. The Royal Mile was jammed with tourists and businesses competing for their attention. We made a quick stop in Giles cathedral, beautiful but too many people to make the visitor anything but a herded mass of people. We did manage to get a table a Makar’s Mash just off the Royal Mile. After putting ‘Ernie’ on a waiting list and coming back after a short while. We asked for a drink of water. Hung around some in the restaurant and they gave us a table sooner than was our turn. It helped using my first name for the list and hanging around, talking with the staff.

After a long walk back to our studio apartment we decided to go to an Indian restaurant for dinner. We never made it to the one picked and went to Mowgli Street Food Edinburgh, https://www.mowglistreetfood.com/restaurants/edinburgh/, instead. What a treat! We loved the food and the restaurant was filled with lights on strings giving it a festive atmosphere, a fun place to eat. The food was great – chat bombs topping the list and a gin and tonic with a ginger slice in it. We also remembered that we had borrowed the cookbook from our local library. We picked it up when we got home and are looking forward to trying recipes from it.

The next morning we packed up, had breakfast at the cafe on the ground floor, got a cab to the rain station and eventually found the plat form for our train. The Edinburgh train station was a lot larger than the others we’d used with two levels and a walking bridge across the tracks. On to the next stop, Sterling.

We arrived in Pitlochry after an uneventful train ride from Kingussie to be driven by taxi a short distance up to the guesthouse we would stay in, Tigh Na Cloich https://www.tighnacloich.com/. The town is on the two banks of the river Tummel with a good party of the town up from the trail station. The guesthouse was very nice with congenial and helpful hosts. Our room looked out over a garden and the Tummel valley. As has become common, our room was on the top floor. We’ve had this in Thurso, Kingussie, Pitlochry, and now in St Andrews.

We took our host’s suggestion and took a walk down to the hydro damn and fish ladder. Past the rail station and down the hill through some nice scenery. You get a nice view of the river from the damn along with an informative display about how salmon bed and live in the river.

After crossing the river we walked a ways past the theatre to a suspension bridge that crossed across the river again. We ate dinner at The Fern Cottage, a popular but unremarkable middle eastern restaurant. Then walls back through the main street of the town, which must have close to 100 shops and back to our room. After a bit in our room we went to the pub down the hill the Auld Smiddy, http://auldsmiddy.com/. A nice place got a dessert, dinner, our a pint. We had dinner there the following evening.

There are a number of trails around Pitlochry. We decided to try the trail to Moulin because it went through the woods and fields and a chance for lunch at the Moulin Hotel, https://www.moulinhotel.co.uk/

The path was a few miles long and of course it took us most of the day. Very enjoyable views and walls through woods. Just before we got to the path there was an interesting sign. Maybe they knew we were coming!

After we returned from the hike we eventually took a walk into a part of the town away from the shops. Slightly up the hill and more residual. It was late in the afternoon, early evening so the sun was setting lighting up the windows in a church and providing done dramatic lighting for a picture of Lynn.

we ended the day going to the Auld Smiddy for dinner. A really nice day with lots of walking and getting a good introduction to the area.

It is a beautiful day in Thurso, the northern most town on mainland Scotland, on September 18 . The temperature is about 70F and Lynn and I are walking on a street near the ocean front. Two women, close to our ages, are walking towards us without jackets and one smiles and says in her local accent, ” The long anticipated summer has arrived at last.”

We had a nice morning walking around town and headed back to where a taxi was to take us to the train station for a 1:05 train to Inverness and then on to Kingussie arriving about 6:30. At the station we find out train is cancelled and we won’t be leaving until 4:30 and arriving at Kingussie about 9:30, after the kitchen closes at the hotel! We called McKinlay Kidd to see what they could do. They called the hotel to let them know about our situation. After a while they reported back that the hotel would have some snacks for us. There are several people going to that hotel. We’ll see what happens.

Still a very pretty day.

We spent three days on the isle of Skye.

Our accommodations at Taransay House, https://www.taransayhouse.co.uk/, were excellent! A very helpful host and some of the best meals, breakfast and dinner. The chef, Scott, took the time each day to discuss what we might have for dinner. Always making sure we would like it and getting the ingredients that day in amounts so there would be no waste.

Our room looked out over the water.

On our second day we were taken on an excellent day long your of the many wonderful sites on the island.

Such a beautiful place. invigorating to be there with short hikes.

The next day was blustery. Rain with high winds.

We did walk into the village, Portree, but came back to our room in the afternoon amid the difficult weather. Our host checked on us to see if we were too soaked and a place to dry our clothes.

This has been a great place to stay and have to thank McKinlay Kidd for making the arrangements.