Through the Cairngorms: Day 11

For our last full day in Scotland, we had to drive from Inverness back down south to Edinburgh, so that we could catch our flight home on Friday. We decided that to get back we'd take a different route than what we took north, so Thursday's path took us down through the Cairngorms National Park.

• Before we really got going too far down south, we decided to stop at Tomatin Distillery since visiting a distillery was the one thing left on our "to-see" list. Tomatin is single malt Scotch whisky distiller, and this was definitely a stop for Kevin. I, who know nothing about whisky or its process, was just along for the ride. Still, it was pretty cool though to see how the process works. Tomatin produces about 2.5 million liters a year of whisky with a variety of different tastes depending on what casks is used and how long it's stored, including a lightly peated malt called Cu Bocan. Here's a quick overview of how the whisky distilling process works:

The inside of a mash turn

However, before we even got to start our tour, I, being my usual graceful self, managed to fall down two concrete stair steps just as we were heading out to the malt barn. It was not my finest moment as I ended up with a scraped knee and leg and a huge bruise that was oddly in the shape of Scotland on my thigh (all while wearing jeans no less), and I'm sure everyone else was thinking that the stupid Americans were already tipsy even before the whisky tour had started! But I took it in stride, brushed myself off, and we headed out to check things out. Our first stop was the malt barn. Now, Tomatin outsources it's malting and bottling processes to other companies, but we got to see every other step along the way. So here we saw the huge bins where the malt was stored before becoming grist and making its way into the mash turns. They even had one of their retired mash turns opened so that you could walk in it and check it out. As we made our way through the distillery, we were constantly aware of a sweet smell coming from the process. This was especially true around the fermentation washbacks. One of the more hands on (or nose on) parts of our tour was checking out the different casks outside the cooperage. Our guide explained to us that they make use of different used casks to age their whisky in. That was something that came as a surprise to us as we just assumed they used new casks for everything - shows how much we know! At the end, we got to taste a few of the whiskys they produce. While not exactly my drink of choice, it was interesting to taste the subtle differences between them and know what it was about the process for each one that made it different. 

SatNav fail!

• Next up for the day was a stop at Cairn Gorm Mountain in the Cairngorms National Park. Set just outside the resort town of Aviemore, it was actually pretty easy to find, but our poor SatNav got a little bamboozled. So, she got benched for the time being seeing that there were plenty of signs to get us to our destination. Now, we weren't planning to hike up the mountain or anything, but there is the CairnGorm Funicular Railway that will nicely take you up the mountain, which seemed right up our alley for the day. Cairn Gorm, is the UK's 6th highest mountain, and the site of one of Scotland's ski resorts, which is why the funicular railway exists. The ski chairlift to the top of the mountain was just too sensitive to the strong winds in the area, so this was opened in 2001 as an alternative. At the base station, we were 635 meters above sea level (2,083 ft), and the top Ptarmigan station, we were 1,097 meters above sea level (3,599 ft). Although the route is only 2 km, that's a lot incline to have to hike up. Along the way, we saw some great views and even some reindeer lounging on the side of the mountain. Once we made it to the top, we ventured outside to the viewing platform, where it was just a tad bit windy. Oh, and it was also 0.8°C outside with snow still on the ground. No biggie. After our brisk visit outside, we stopped in at the restaurant at the top and ate some yummy salmon cakes for lunch before we headed back down and on our way.

• On our drive back down the mountain towards Aviemore, we decided to stop for a bit at the Cairngorm Reindeer Center. We had two choices to see the reindeer: the paddock or the hill visit. But since the hill visit required more time and some moderate hiking on the chilly mountain, we opted for the paddock this time around. The reindeer have a free range of over 7,000 acres in the Cairngorm mountain range, but they also have an enclosure of about 1,000 acres closer to the center from which they rotate in reindeer into the paddock every 2-3 weeks for those who cannot make the climb. Since it was technically in between spring and summer here in Scotland (but with the temps who could tell?), the reindeer were looking a little scruffy as they were molting their winter coats still. They were also growing their new antlers, which you can see are covered in velvet to protect the blood supply in them. The most surprising thing was to hear the clicking sound they make whenever they walk, which is caused by the tendons in the foot slipping over the bone. The clicking sound helps them hear the herd, especially in winter blizzard conditions.

Hello Texas!

• Once we finally left the mountains, we continued our drive back down south towards Edinburgh to our hotel at the airport. While we were definitely sad about having to go back to "real life," two weeks of traveling was definitely our limit. When we checked into the hotel at the airport, they must have been reading our minds because they had both the double bed and the sofa bed turned down for the evening. There was no way the two of were going to sleep comfortably in a double bed the night before our flight, so this was definitely a sign in our favor. We grabbed dinner in the hotel restaurant that night and then tackled the onerous task of packing and repacking our luggage to make it under the weight limit. Luckily, we had plenty of room in our carry-on luggage this time around since we weren't packing a change of clothes! 

Our flight back started with a plane from Edinburgh to London-Heathrow, then a 2.5 hour layover, and a 10 hour flight from London to Houston. All during the daytime hours this time! We learned our lesson on our flight from Houston to London though and had called British Airways earlier in the week to upgrade our seat class for the flights home. When your husband is over 6 foot and you have restless legs, paying a little extra for a good deal more space is worth it. Not only did we get tons more legroom in World Traveller Plus, we only had to sit two people across. Like on our flight over, we spent a good deal of our time watching new releases that we never got to the theaters to see, but this time I even managed to snag a comfy 3 hour nap thanks to my complimentary eye mask and ear plugs. I didn't even realize I had been asleep that long! By the time we arrived in Houston at 6:30 pm (12:30 am UK time), we were ready to call it a day. But not before stopping to get some Mexican food for dinner! Priorities, people. Since Emma and Lizzy were spending one more night at my parents' house, we took our time at dinner and even unpacked when we got home before crashing into our lovely bed for the next 12 hours. Emma was definitely glad to have us home the next day, and I think, Lizzy was even more excited to see us. Emma's been glued to Kevin's side ever since, and Mommy is an okay substitute while he's at work, but she had a really great time at all her grandparents' houses, so no crazy separation anxiety issues! We are truly blessed that our parents were able to watch her for us so we could travel abroad.

Reunited at last!

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Eilean Donan and the Isle of Skye: Day 10

Originally for this day, we had planned to stay closer to Inverness and explore the surrounding towns, but every time we told someone that we were planning to travel up to Inverness, they asked us if we were planning on heading out to the Isle of Skye as part of our trip. The more and more we were asked this, the more I wanted to go. So, we did our fair share of googling and decided that we could make a day of it and at least see part of Skye as well as some other spots along the way to the island. 

Urquhart Castle

• Our first stop for the day was at the ruins of Urquhart Castle (pronounced ur-kurt), which was just 30 minutes south of Inverness on the shores of Loch Ness. We were told that some sort of fortification had stood on this spot since medieval times, but Urquhart Castle itself didn't come into existence until the 13th century. Subsequent fighting over its position between the English and the Scots and the different Scottish clans themselves formed the history of this castle. But ultimately in the 1690s, the garrison of soldiers held the castle against a force of Jacobites, but as the soldiers left, they blew up the gatehouse to prevent any reoccupation by the Jacobites. Since then it was plundered for the stonework and subject to the whims of the weather, leaving it to be the ruins that exist today. Even though there isn't a whole lot left to see, it is one of Scotland's most visited castles. Being situated on the shores of Loch Ness makes it a very picturesque place for photogs (myself included), and we were able to climb up to the top of what remains of the Grant Tower for a pretty spectacular view. Although you can't see it very well from the pictures here, the hills surrounding the castle were covered in big yellow flowering bushes of ulex (aka, gorse or whin). They were everywhere in the Highlands and really the first signs of spring/summer that we were able to see.

Eilean Donan Castle at low tide

• After leaving Urquhart Castle, we turned our pathway west and headed towards Kyle of Lochalsh to visit Eilean Donan Castle and then make our way across the bridge to the Isle of Skye. We had a really nice drive, saw some deer along the way, and just enjoyed all the scenery. Now, Eilean Donan may be one of the most photographed castles in the world, but what those photos don't tell you is that this castle isn't even a hundred years old yet! Located where three sea lochs meet, the island has always been a strategic location for defense. The original castle was started in the 13th and 14th centuries and continually built and rebuilt to fortify it. It changed hands and purposes a number of times until in 1719 a small garrison of Spanish soldiers held it for the Jacobites who were hoping to restore Bonnie Prince Charles to the throne. Government ships bombarded the castle forcing the Spanish soldiers to surrender, and the British were sent ashore to blow up what remained of the castle, including the 343 barrels of gunpowder. (Why people keep blowing up casltes, I don't know...). Fast forward 200 years, and Lt. Col John MacRae-Gilstrap and Farquhar MacRae spent 20 years rebuildling the castle using materials from the surrounding areas of Scotland to restore the castle for the MacRae family. It was said to cost them a quarter of a million pounds to complete. After touring the outside grounds, you can go into the castle itself for a tour (sorry, no pictures allowed). The castle boasts a banqueting hall which houses many family items and Jacobite artifacts, bedrooms on the third floor to tour, the kitchen, and many hidden walks and rooms. We really enjoyed visiting this castle and seeing the family pride built into it.

Driving around the Isle of Skye

• Most of the islands off the coast of Scotland are only accessible by ferry, but in 1995, they opened a bridge up that connects the Isle of Skye to the mainland and saving us some time in getting there. Once we filled up at the last gas station before the bridge and had a nice chat with the operator, we were ready to embark on our next driving adventure. There were definitely no motorways on Skye. In fact, when I asked the gas station operator what the closet city was to the Fairy Pools so I could put it in the SatNav, she just laughed and said Skye has no cities. What I should've said was towns or villages because that's mainly what we drove by every so often. Little clusters of maybe 10 to 20 houses at a time - mostly fishing villages along the coasts. I was able to finally get a cell signal though once across the bridge and pull up instructions on how to get to the Fairy Pools. The road there took us in and out of the coastline and then farther and farther up into the mountain ranges. We passed plenty of livestock, mostly sheep, and we even happened upon a herd of Highland Coos (cows), who were very kindly posing on top of a hill for passersby to snap photos. Once we got to right outside the village of Carbost, we had to turn onto a B road to go further up into the Black Cuillin hills where the Fairy Pools were located. Fun fact about driving on B roads - they're not fun. They're one lane roads with "passing places" for oncoming traffic to pull off and wait for others to go by. They're even more unnerving when you're driving one up a hillside and really can't see the oncoming traffic. Luckily, we weren't on a heavily traveled road. We even had to cross a couple of cattle guards on our way, which was odd because here in Texas if you're crossing a cattle guard, you're on someone's private property. But not in Scotland!

The hike out to the Fairy Pools

• Now, we hadn't had the clearest of days on Wednesday, but that did not deter us or the dozens of other hikers we encountered upon arrival at the Fairy Pools. While we picked to go here on a whim, it's apparently a particularly high traveled spot on the island and is crazy busy during the summer season. On the day we visited, it was cloudy, windy, and in the 50s, so spring hadn't exactly come to this part of Scotland yet. I imagine that if we had gone a few weeks later, we'd have seen something completely different as more snow from the mountains would have melted filling the pools even more and more flowers would have started blooming on the moors. And if it had be sunny, the pools would've been a crystal blue. Still, these wonders of nature did not disappoint. It was roughly a 1.5 mile hike through the moors out to the Fairy Pools with varying inclines and water crossings to jump over (ok, jump for me; step for Kevin...oh, to have longer legs). The pools are formed by the melting snow coming down from the Black Cuillin hills into the River Brittle that flows through the moor. While suitable for swimming, the pools range from cold to absolutely freezing, and we weren't about to jump in. But the views were gorgeous and that's what we had come to see.

Inverness Castle

• The hike back ended with a long uphill climb, and my short little legs were pretty much tired out by the time we got back to the car. We stopped by the food truck that was camped out in the car park, grabbed some chicken wraps, and took a minute to warm up before we headed back to Inverness for the night. Seeing that the sun didn't set til almost 10, by the time we got back to Inverness, we still had some time to walk around down by the River Ness that flows through the center of town. It was a nice way to end the day. While it seems like we spent a good part of our day in the car, we ended up walking just over 7.24 miles, or 17,637 steps. We even saw Inverness Castle, which is now a government building, that was built in the 1830s and 40s on top of the hill on which previous castles defenses stood. It may not have been quite like seeing Macbeth's castle, but it still had an air of stateliness to it. The River Ness was only about 5 feet deep, but it moved a pretty good clip and was quite chilly.

• Along the walk by the River Ness, we took a moment and stopped by the town's WWI monument and memorial park. Every town and village of note that we visited had its own WWI monument with its red poppy memorial wreaths. The red poppy was found on the battlefield of Flanders and inspired Canadian doctor, Lt. Col. John McCrae to write the poem "In Flanders Fields," which then in turn became a national symbol of remembrance and hope. The number of memorials scattered across the countryside was a stark reminder of the high numbers of men that the UK lost at home and abroad. 

"IN FLANDERS FIELDS"

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place, and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly,

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead; short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe!

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high!

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

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