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Celtic September Part III

Mrz 4

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Rua Reidh Lighthouse Melvaig, Gairloch

We got up a little later the next day because of a decision taken the night before to eat a Scottish breakfast served in the tiny shop cum restaurant ran by the hostel families. It was a delicious meal served by Hippy Lady’s teenaged daughter and set the right mood for our trip to our next destination, the Rua Reidh Lighthouse Hostel at Melvaig, Gairloch.

Jolene and Michael were somewhat concerned about the integrity of the clutch of their car and it was decided that we would have it repaired by a mechanic they knew in Kyle of Lochalsh.

Fortunately we did find another mechanic who could repair the clutch and then drove towards Plockton on the northwest Coast of Skye. Plockton was known as the Jewel of the Highlands and situated at Loch Carron. On the way there we observed a road sign indicating that a left turn would take you to Strome Ferry. In parenthesis below the name it was made clear to each and everyone that there was in fact no ferry at Strome ferry. I can imagine that before this caveat was issued, many an exasperated tourist in search of a ferry to transport the car across the loch would have arrived at a village far removed from any port.

But even more picturesque than what was described in Jolene’s guide book was the loch side village of Shieldaig. It was truly a scattering of mostly whitewashed buildings and cottages along the shore of the loch. Opposite the village was an island bird sanctuary covered in Scots pine. The whole village and surrounds were idyllic. Den Rest des Eintrags lesen. »

Tags: Edradour, Loch Ness, Pitlochry, Reisebeschreibung, Schottland, Single_Malt, Whisky

A Celtic September – Part II

Okt 17

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Skye

It was a good thing we did not know what Jolene and Michael had in store for us that morning of the 13^th of September. To be fair, Jolene had warned us beforehand to bring along good walking shoes since we would be going on hikes. Not quite appreciating the challenges of hiking in cold, wet weather along slippery slopes, Gloria donned sneakers and I my trusty veld shoes. My decision was almost disastrous.

The drive down to Malcolm’s Point was a rewarding one in terms of the magnificence of the scenery. Where the road eventually descended to the beach we found, in all its splendour, a traditional red telephone booth on the side of the road. It was almost incongruously out of place. The available parking at the beach was already full and after some difficulty we managed to park the two vehicles precariously on the side of the road and set out on our walk.

The coastal walk from Malcolm’s Point to the Carsaig Arches is said to be the most magnificent of all the coastal walks on Mull. The stunning scenery, I understood, was the result of eroding sedimentary rocks underlying the Mull volcanics. As the younger rocks crumbled, the volcanic cliffs above were dramatically steepened.

Den Rest des Eintrags lesen. »

Tags: Glen_Coe, Mull, Single_Malt, Skye, Talisker, Whisky

A CELTIC SEPTEMBER – Part I

Aug 9

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Celtic Cross

One may be forgiven for asking, no, wondering, when the most advantageous time to visit Scotland; and the Highlands in particular, would be. Advantageous in the sense that one would be able to appreciate the cornucopian delights of exquisite and mystical beauty of this ancient country in relatively acceptable weather. Acceptable weather in Scotland, you see, is the ubiquitous light rain of early autumn as opposed to the continuous heavy and chilly downpours of winter, the incessant summer rain and the invariable drizzles of spring. It is all a matter of degree.

My daughter suggested that September would allow for less crowded accommodation and more tolerable weather conditions because it is supposed to rain a modicum less in September. It would furthermore fall outside the tourism high season of June and July when the Scots are invariably invaded by camcorder obsessed Japanese tourists, socks and sandaled Germans and high school and university graduates from all over the world who carry with them heavy back packs but few manners and no inhibitions.

I have often wondered why young Americans would be so keen on walking around a foreign country for weeks with a back breaking weight of dirty washing and cheesy memorabilia just so that they can say, at the end of it all, that they ‘have done’ Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland; that, when they had not even been to Utah or the Rocky Mountains.

I think it is fair to enquire why people carry these vast objects around on their backs when, in my experience, most back packers you see round the world are only interested in beach parties, night clubs and pizzas and have no intention of climbing a mountain or hiking a hill in their lives, unless they have to go up to score some E and even then they probably get a cab. They might as well get a little hold all instead. Den Rest des Eintrags lesen. »

Tags: Mull, Oban, Scotch, Single_Malt, Tobermory, Whisky