From the highlands to the lowlands
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2009
1
12
44
Trip End
Feb 14, 2010
Where I stayed
Dunkeld, Scotland, United Kingdom
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
We headed down the A9 driving through Kingussie ( no photos as there was so much snow ;liled on the side of the road we coudn't actually pull over). This is where my GGGGmother came from so it was nice to see, it is a lovely place but can only imagine how hard life was back then.
We then headed to Blair Athol to have a look. We did manage to stop here and had a walk aorund, posted some postcards, had lunch at the Athol Arms Hotel which was really nice and quirly with lots of memoribillia in the walls ( Liz Peter would have liked this as they had lots of train pics).
After lunch we hit the road again and arrived at Dunkeld early afternoon , booked in to the hotel and went for a wander to see the cathedral. This is a mediaval one so the front if still used as a church and the rear is just ruins but it is quite beautiful.
After this we wandered along the main street and found a bakery so popped in for coffee and some local delicacies, Ron had a fudge donut ( it was more a cake with custard and carmel icing) and I had a Malteser Slice ( picture hedgehog slice with the biscuits replaced by maltesers) very decadent.
After the we got back in the car and headed to Birnam to see the Beatrix Poteer Garden, when she was young she used to holiday for the summer in the area and supposedly many of her characters are based on locals. Ron went on an adventure to uncover the statues from under snow so I could photograph them ...
Then we headed back to have a look at Dunkeld House this is where my GGGGfather worked so it was interesting to drive up and see it. It is now a Hilton Hotel so we didn;t venture in ( he worked in the grounds so probably never saw the inside anyway)
Back to the hotel to defrost, our room is really nice however there is no heating in the bathroom so you took your life into your hands when needing to tinkle or shower brrrr. We needed the spare blanket on the bed too for the first time since we arrived in Scotland. The hotel itslef used to be frequented by Royalty in the old days but I am sure Liz and Philip would not be there now. It is however very nice and the staff friendly as wel, it is even frequented by a little dog called Molly.
We later headed out for dinner to the Taybank which is a musician's pub sio thet have traditional music, tonight it was the a group of old blokes with a piano, pianoaccordian, banjjo type thing and guitar. Very lively music with a great beat. For dinner we had the local specialy 'stovies' it is sort of like baked potato with meat, gravy etc mixed in, very nice,warm and hearty food.Ron had the traditional one with corned beef and I had normal beef.
Then home to bed, we are heading to Perth tomorrow to find the house where my forebears lived so that should be fun,
Comments
did u sing , i'll take the high road if u take the low road and ill be in scotland before yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Oooh Michelle you make me want to go back to Scotland! Fabulous photos and i really enjoyed your travelogue and am looking forward to the next instalments! Wondering how you defrost your windscreens etc to get the car going in the mornings? LOL
I am really enjoying reading your travel log. I look forward to your updates every day.