Scotland Trip Diary - continued
Added 27 July 2005. Pictures and stories from our trip to Scotland, the week of June 25–July 2, 2005. Page 1 | 2
Day 4: More Highland fun
After a pleasant breakfast, we decided to head toward Oban (though we later learned we should probably have visited the Old Inverary Jail first). On the way we stopped at an old Ironworks preserve, which turned out to be pretty interesting. Then we visited the ruins of a castle near Oban.
For a change of pace, we then stopped at a Seal Preservation park. It actually featured many different types of sea creatures, not just seals (although they were very cute). There were sharks, schools of herring, flash fish, star fish, sea horses, and a couple of very cute and friendly Canadian otters.
We then had lunch at a little cafe that offered a view of a castle on an island. (I swear, all those people did was build castles. :-) The day was starting to cloud over at this point.
We stopped at an Art Gallery on the way and did end up purchasing an original water color (which featured a scene of Italy rather than Scotland). Then more picturesque driving back to the Crow Wood.
We had dinner at the nearby town of Cumbernauld, which we figured incorrectly would be easy to get around in. Good thing the Scottish people are so good about giving directions...
Food highlight du jour: None really, as it turned out to be a mistake not to order seafood. Not that the duck and steak was actually bad; it just wasn't as good.
Day 5: Art in galleries and in castles
We hadn't yet seen the Burrell Collection gathered in a park in the outskirts of Glasgow, so we headed there first. After our usual getting slightly lost, we arrived just in time for a guided tour. Burrell was rich guys who enjoyed art. Though completely self-taught in art appreciation, he managed to accumulate a nice collection of Roman, Egyptian, Chinese, Arab, and Impressionist works. Among them were one of Rodin's "Thinker" sculptors (Rodin made more than one version), some lovely pieces by Dégas, and many fine tapestries.
After a spot of lunch, we drove down to the Argyle region where we saw the most impressive castle of the trip, Culzean. While others were shorn of furnishing, this one was lavishly decorated inside. And again, we arrived just in time for the only tour of the day (so getting slightly lost first, of course, was beneficial), which was quite interesting. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but we got a couple shots before we realized that.
The day had been rainy, but it cleared up at this point, so we walked around the beautiful Culzean Park—much bigger than we had expected. We saw beautiful gardens, swans, ducks, the shoreline, and various views of the castle.
We decided to drive to Troon for dinner, looking for an Oyster Bar on the harbour that I had read about. Amazingly, we didn't get very lost looking for Troon, and we didn't have trouble parking our car. We did have a few challenges locating the restaurant, since the only thing we had to go on was that it was on the harbour. It sort of seemed like a long walk past an industrial area. But just as we were starting to despair of the restaurant's existence, it came into view. And was really great.
Food highlights du jour: In case you're tired of hearing about the wonderful seafood (oysters, tuna belly, and halibut with truffles in this case), I'll mention that the sticky pudding was really yummy also.
Day 6: Edinburgh under siege!
After accidentally sleeping in and missing our breakfast window, we scrambled to get ourselves on the road and off the Edinburgh. Driving into Edinburgh wasn't exactly fun but, unlike Glasgow, we did actually succeed in parking the car. Food was first item of business, then we took in the town, which had a very different look from Glasgow—more grand, with cobblestone streets, and a castle overlooking it.
We headed to the castle first, only to meet by the longest line of the whole vacation. The reason, we found out from the disarmingly gorgeous castle worker we talked to, was that they were searching everyone's bags in response to the upcoming G8 summit. But eventually, we did get in. And it is quite an interesting castle, with a lot of excellent exhibits on various periods Scottish history. It's like a little city inside there.
Next stop was the Royal Museum / Museum of Scotland, which is half history of Scotland, half nature and science. Quite well-done, and an interesting building as well. You can go right up to the roof for a view of the city.
Thirsty at this point, we decided to walk to a pub. We saw a lot of signs of the imminent summit and accompanying rallies—“Make Poverty History” posters, stores boarding up their windows, and a lot of police about. At one point we saw a caravan of protestors drive through town. Would have been a good picture, but we weren't fast enough.
At the pub, we decided that cider was still good, and still inebriating.
Walking it off afterward, we did a little shopping, but no real purchasing. I did get a wristband and special “Make Poverty History” magazine from a man selling them on the street.
We had dinner at an incredibly lively little Wine Cellar—the sort of place we normally would have found far too noisy, but which suited our mood this day. Our waitress was very friendly.
Food highlights du jour: Sorry, but, it was the seafood platter, this time featuring clams, mussels, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, scallops, and shrimp.
Day 7: Scotland to Toronto
Having a very early flight out, we are able to confirm that the sun does come up around 4:30 in the morning at that time of year, though it doesn't set until about 11:30 pm. We were on the road at 5:30 am, and had a pretty uneventful trip back. Got back home in time to spend much of the day lounging about and watching the Live 8 concerts.
See also: Some more Scotland photos at Jean's web site