Scotland

I have often heard people compare Scotland, well the UK in general, to Canadian landscape. When we drove across the border into Scotland and the rolling hills popped up on either side of the road, B.C. terrain was certainly brought to mind. In fact we joked that it was a whimsical version of our former home, with its decades old stone walls dividing plots of land, the fields of sheep and somewhat unfamiliar foliage it was like our past views had been made up for a film. However once you drive through even one small town you are reminded how different Scotland is to any place I lived while in Canada. Castles dot hillsides in almost every direction, even the smallest of villages appear to have a qualified kilt maker, and of course boast houses older than Canada itself. We stayed in an estate cottage about an hour south of Edinburgh and used this as our home base for the whole time we were in the country. Although we were very happy with our little dwelling it was not all that conveniently located for us to reasonably visit lots of the places we would have liked to and so much of what the country offered had to be missed. We had a cosy three bedroom place that more than comfortably fit our family of four, but perhaps that is because it was so much larger than the flat we currently call home. The grounds it was on offered many walking trails, a pond, a spectacular view of the ocean and an ancient church that can still be booked for events.

We did spend our first full day in Scotland exploring the property we were on. We also did a quick visit to the ocean but as we got caught in our first of many rain showers, did not stay long. Rested and ready to explore we made a trip into Edinburgh, home of the first Fringe festival, which happened to be taking place the same time we were there. For those of you who are fans of Edmonton's version this would have swept you away in enthusiasm, the streets were lined with show schedules, performers rushing around, and throngs of people there to take it all in. For those who feel the Fringe is a crowded, noisy, and bothersome event, you have nothing to complain about. One friendly Scotsman we talked to told us that Edinburgh was home to about a million people but the with the fringe on it was about eight million and I for one believed him. Although I believe that this city is beautiful with many amazing things to offer, it was difficult to enjoy it the way we would have liked with queues running all through the city and the crush of people all around you. Not one to be generally put off by large crowds, I rather enjoy the anonymity they allow, we still followed through with our planned outings but even I was more than done with them by supper time. We stopped first at Arthur's seat, Edinburgh's very own extinct volcano. Much to the chagrin of our kids we took the challenge to hike to the very peak where we could enjoy a panoramic view of the entire city. Despite the initial complaints I think both the kids felt a sense of accomplishment to have reached the summit and collect some volcanic rock to bring home. After lunch we then headed to Edinburgh Castle, a rather impressive structure that as far as I could tell you would be hard pressed to miss if you are pretty much anywhere in the city. You could easily spent a whole day exploring the place and marvelling in the history told in every section. This is also where you go to see the crown jewels of Scotland and although you were unable to photograph them, rest assured they were pretty marvellous and did a good job of reminding the mass of people just how unroyal we all are.

Having been told much of its beauty we decided to take in Loch Lamond just past Glasgow. In truth it was pretty, worth the more than two hour drive - maybe not. It had some lovely walks, the lake was sparkling, and the kids excitedly played on its little playground but honestly it was a lake. We had a picnic lunch and then moved on feeling that the hour or so that we spent there was more than enough time to feel we had seen it. Which I suppose speaks to the fact that I have been spoiled by the lakes of the Okanagan where I called home for so long. 

I have a good friend who told me that he found Glasgow to be a bit dull and grey, and as I have a lot of respect for him I expected to be a bit disappointed by the city. I will say that as you drive into the outskirts of Glasgow there is not very much nice to look at, in fact I laughed that maybe he meant that there were many actual grey buildings, however once we parked and came out into it's down town core I was taken aback by the life of the whole place. I fell in love with the history, architecture, museums, art galleries, and of course it's shopping. As we were unsure what there was to see and do here we opted to take one the guided tour buses that took us all over city and had a live commentary of interesting historical facts and tips of what was worth stopping at. The tour gave us two days of on and off privileges and so we rode all the way around the first day and did a little transit hopping the next. We visited a transportation museum, the botanical gardens and explored the shopping district that is apparently second only to London in all of the UK. The whole time we were there I heard people talk about the things we would do next time we were there and so I although I would never try to change his mind I do hope that my friend might consider giving Glasgow another chance to impress him.

We are tourists, that has to be our excuse, but we madly decided to make the four plus hour drive across Scotland to visit Loch Ness. The kids were anxious to visit this famous landmark and I admit to having a mild curiosity to see the place as well. We parked the car at the Loch Ness exhibition centre that has a hotel, restaurant, several gift shops and a interactive museum all dedicated to the mystery of the monster in the lake. So to truly enjoy the experience, we ate at the cafe, did the two mile hike to get the best view of the lake and overlooking castle, spent money in the gift shop and toured the museum. I in no way came away convinced that the creature exists but did enjoy the hype around the whole thing. Would I make an eight hour drive to spend four hours caught up in the mystery and hype again, as a die hard romantic, absolutely. The lake itself had a very Okanagan feel to it, except for the depth and temperature that is. The Loch holds more water than all of the rest of the UK and Wales combined and apparently could cover the worlds population with water three times. As you can imagine that kind of depth makes the water fairly frigid in the summer and makes it unlikely to ever freeze in the winter, it also makes it quite easy to hide a massive sea creature so one can see how the myth survives.

By the dawn of our last day in Scotland our previous exploring had left its toll on us and we opted to have a much more sedate day. We chose to use some of the day to drive to Dalkieth however as this is where my husbands family came to Canada from. Despite our best efforts we were unable to locate even one tartan type item that actually bore his family name so visiting this place gave us a moment to really feel connected to our ancestry. We found a pretty little park to wander around and speculate if our long passed family had walked the same paths.

True to its reputation we enjoyed plenty of rain while in Scotland and despite it being August the weather seem to think it was April. I know I end these blogs often by saying that I would of course go back and see more and perhaps you think I can't not like a place. Maybe that is true, I do fall in love with pretty much all the places we visit and I have been to very few that I wouldn't happily go back to. Perhaps like the Mumford and Sons, I too am a Hopeless Wanderer doomed to ache to see the next place and the next. I did love Scotland and I would go back but know this, I also am in love "with the sky I'm under".