We headed straight away to Inverness (the area where the famous Loch Ness is located) and made several stops on the way. We drove through Queensferry which is a small town just outside of Edinburgh. Our first stop was to the William Wallace Memorial which is a huge tower on a hill with a pretty impressive view of Stirling. Tony's rendition of the William Wallace story was dramatic with Braveheart-style music playing in the background for intensity. He explained that the highlanders fought the battle against Edward I in the 1200's. The battle was fought atop the very hill where the monument stands today. The highlanders were well-known for their guerrilla warfare tactics and would carry all sorts of farming tools for weapons and would actually attack in the nude. To add to this already barbaric image of the medieval highlanders, Tony explained that this was an area known for growing mushrooms (and I don't mean the kind you saute), so we could only imagine just how crazed this battle would have been.
view of Stirling from the William Wallace Memorial
The next stop was Glencoe (not Illinois) which was a gorgeous valley, but has a really sad story behind it that the people living in the highlands still identify with today. In the 1600's this was a major settlement area for the clan MacDonald and many of these families had lived in the area for generations. Following the invitation received by William of Orange to take the throne, the clans of Scotland (who were under much suspicion because they were Jacobites, or supporters of James) were asked to sign an oath of allegiance to the new king. For centuries the clans had been very hospitable to those moving through this very harsh area, and to this day hospitality is considered to be a virtue of the highland people, something which was increasingly obvious as we became pretty chummy with the hostel owners and workers in Inverness despite our short stay there. Just before the massacre, the MacDonald clan had been taking care of British soldiers in their homes for weeks in the freezing cold winter in the mountains. In February, an order was sent out by William saying that the MacDonald clan had taken too long to sign the oath of allegiance and the troops settled in Glencoe were told to kill off the clan. Entire families were killed despite the fact that they had housed these soldiers for weeks and those that tried to escape through the mountains often didn't make it. Although Glencoe is beautiful, its story is really sad because you can see exactly where these houses would have been tucked into the mountains four hundred years ago.
Glencoe, the site of the famous massacre
Our next stop was the Ben Nevis Distillery which was really interesting because it was much smaller than the Dewar's distillery. Even though this one was much smaller, the process is pretty similar. I am still trying really hard to like whiskey, but I have a feeling it might be a lifelong process. Even though I may not have enjoyed the complimentary tasting, the owner of the distillery gave us a tour complete with his typically dry Scottish humor, which made the tour much more personable than the very commercialized Dewar's tour.
From there we went to a very small castle that was in ruins. It was really fun because we could actually climb some of the ruins. This was one of the oldest castles I have seen that has been left the way it was originally built. Our first meal of the trip was a delicious haggis roll (which is basically just haggis in a hamburger bun). I have decided that I actually really like haggis (I have eaten voluntarily more than once now, which I think is pretty impressive). I'm a little sad because I have heard that it's illegal in the states. I'm assuming there are some animal rights concerns, but I guess I'll just have to get my fill here.
We arrived in Inverness after dark and got to the hostel which was really nice and had excellent food. A born and bred Scottish highlander named Kenny runs the place and he was quite the character, and he makes a mean curry. That was possibly the best meal I have had in my two months here, and sadly it wasn't Scottish at all and of course it was somewhere that I can't really go back to anytime soon. In his little introduction to Scottish culture, Tony explained that Scotland's national dish couldn't possibly be haggis because of the incredible amount of curry they consume here. I would guess that this has something to do with the fact that most of the food here has the texture of mashed potatoes and the flavor of dry toast. I would also venture to guess that for every one restaurant offering traditional Scottish food, there are about five offering falafel, curry, or some other Indian or middle eastern dish. All and all, I was pretty thrilled when I recently opened a package and there it was..."Slap Ya Mama" seasoning all the way from Ville Platte, Louisiana. Thanks dad, you have greatly improved my previously bland Scottish dorm-food experience.
First thing the next morning we went to check out Inverness, and saw what Tony referred to as the "love shack". It's a little stone hut atop a cliff with a gorgeous view of a bridge and some pretty wild looking rapids. Next, we saw the Five Sisters Mountains which were absolutely stunning and looked very green and Scottish. The mountains got their name from a Celtic story in which two sisters fall in love with two Irishmen. The Irishmen ask the girls' father for his permission to marry his daughters, but he denies them saying that their three older sisters would be upset if their younger sisters got married first. So, the Irishmen promise to go back to Ireland to fetch the other sisters some men to marry so that they can return to marry the other two sisters. The sisters fear that they will age by the time the men return so their father sees a witch in the hopes that she can put a spell on the sisters to preserve their youthful good looks (there is lots of superstition and witchcraft in the highlands). The witch promises the father that she will preserve their beauty until the men return. The problem was that the witch's idea of preserving the sisters' beauty was by turning them into five gorgeous mountains. According to Tony, clearly a born and bred Scotsman, the moral of the story is never to trust an Irishman. It is said that if you drink the "tears" of the five mountains, or the melted snow, you will be cured of heartache. The mountains were gorgeous and we were lucky enough to get really good weather throughout the weekend.
mountains from the five sisters story
The next stop was Eilean Donan Castle, which was incredible and definitley the highlight of the trip. It is truly an epic view as the castle juts straight out into the water and is backed by the mountains. The sun came out in perfect time and we were able to get lots of great pictures there. We also had the opportunity to walk up to a ruined fort way up on a hill. This was yet another incredible view of the mountains, but the walk up was definitely a trek. Tony warned us that he had seen more than one broken leg on that hill and I definitely believed him after I almost got knocked over by the wind. I guess the winds are a lot stronger out there because of all the water, but we were all pretty suprised when we climbed up the ruins and had to immediately get back down for fear of being blown away.
the walk up to Eilean Donan Castle
Eilean Donan Castle
castle ruins on a hilltop
Day two was also the day that we visited the Isle of Skye, another very picturesque place famous for Viking activity. This gave Tony the perfect opportunity to mess with the only Norwegian on the bus. The best part about Scotland is the incredible variety of places you can see all in one country. Edinburgh is the epidome of a medieval city, but it also has New Town, where you can see what is considered to be a masterpiece of eighteenth and nineteenth century city planning. Similarly, the highlands are more than just a series of mountains, there are glens, lochs, farms, valleys, castles, ruins, and just so much to see. Skye was not at all what I would have expected out of Scotland, despite the ruins on one of the hills which, of course, were very green. The island reminded me of Nantucket more than anything with all of the sailboats and piers. It was really nice and overall a very refreshing change from Edinburgh.
boats at the Isle of Skye
Isle of Skye
This morning (the last day of the trip) we drove all along Loch Ness, which is the largest body of water in Britain. It was definitely murky and mysterious, but I would not have been able to tell it apart from any of the other lochs in the area. It was definitely worthwhile though, and now I can say that I have waded in the famous Loch Ness. Tony told us about the original sighting of the Loch Ness monster in the 500s AD, claimed by a Celtic saint. Since then there have been hundreds of recorded sightings and scientific research about the monster. It is thought that Nessie is some sort of Plesiosaur, which was a carnivorous marine reptile back when the dinosaurs were around. It is actually pretty amazing to hear about just how much scientific research has been done about the topic and how many theories there are.
posing with Nessie
wading in Loch Ness
Our last stop was to the Culloden Moor, which is a famous battleground where Jacobite highlanders fought the British redcoats in the 1700's. This was another really sad story in which the highlanders were totally annihilated by British troops. They were completely unprepared for the the "gentleman's" style of British warfare and were basically lined up and fired upon in a wide open field. It is pretty moving to walk around the field and you can definitely sense how important this place still is to people in the area. There are small gravestones that haven't been touched since the 1700's that mark mass graves for many of the clans whose surnames still belong to this area. It was really interesting to hear the story from Tony, who had an obvious personal connection to a lot of these legends. The tour was a really great experience not only because I finally got to see the highlands, but because I had the opportunity to see just how different highland culture is from lowland culture. Overall, I would say that Scottish people have quite a lot of national pride, and now I am really starting to see where it all comes from.
Culloden Moor, site of the famous highland battle
the very green highlands
another highlands vista
Looks like an awesome trip to the highlands! Wish we could have come with you.
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