R: Sorry for the posting delay. Saturday night we had a wee bit of a problem with alcohol (as in drinking quite a bit of it). Then our computer died and our 1990s-era converters did not allow for a three-pronged computer plug. Once we finally located a converter, we were without internet access at our hotel. And so it’s now Tuesday and we’ve made it to our Fort William B&B, finally with a charged computer AND free wi-fi! But for those of you who are dying to hear the extreme details of all the in-between, we’re backing up to tell you about the days in between, starting, of course, with our departure from Edinburgh.
J: Saturday morning marked our departure from Edinburgh to the Scottish countryside. And, being the little planner (and automatic-only driver) that I am, I had reserved us an automatic car several weeks ago. After breakfast, we headed down to the car rental agency to pick up our automatic hatch-back, only to discover that no automatics can be found in the entire country of Scotland!! Rebecca and I were both immediately dismayed. Me because that means I don’t get to drive at all, Rebecca because she gets to drive all week. At any rate, we picked up our Opal and hit the mean streets of Edinburgh…eventually. It took Rebecca a bit to get out of the rental car parking lot. But, don’t worry; throughout all of our missed turns and scenic byways, I remained calm.
R: Yeah, I “get to” drive all week. I am absolutely shocked that Jen didn’t mention how many times I killed the car (it’s been a long time since I’ve driven stick…ahem), did a curb-check, failed to get the car into the hard-to-get-into-reverse gear, had to backtrack, or missed the correct turn off in the roundabouts. Roundabouts! I essentially panicked every time I hit one, yelling, “Jen, Jen! Which way? Which way?!” This and we forgot to pick up a quality map, so we were working off some Google maps I printed myself. These are not so useful when you are no longer on the proscribed route. But Jen’s calm demeanor and extreme skill reading crappy maps eventually got us to Rossyln Chapel (of The Da Vinci Code fame) south of Edinburgh.
J: Rosslyn Chapel had obviously become a major tourist attraction based on the large number of signs describing all of the sites to be seen in the church. The masonry work throughout the entire church was spectacular. One interesting point of note in the church was the carvings of maize (a North American plant) completed 50 years before Columbus discovered America. Sadly, like most sites in Europe, the chapel was covered in scaffolding and therefore hard to take lovely photos of. After the church tour, we wandered down to the cemetery for some scenic photos of the Scottish countryside.
R: After some further creative navigation through the Scottish countryside, we stopped at Linlithgow Castle where Mary Queen of Scots was born. The castle is in semi-ruins, but was fun to run through when we heard the bagpiper starting to play the recessional at the neighboring church following a wedding. I also engaged in some inspired rock climbing, much to Jen’s amusement this time.
J: I must have spent too much time with engineers over the years, because I really wanted to see the Falkirk wheel. It’s a boat lift that swings boats between the Union and the Forth and Clyde canals. It runs continuously, and lifts boats the equivalent of 11 locks in 15 minutes. Sadly, we didn’t get to see it lift any actual boats, but we did see it in motion.
R: As our last stop on this whirlwind day, we pulled of the main highway to a tiny town called Airth in search of one of those off-the-beaten-path sites that I love. This one, The Pineapple of Dunmore, was actually Jen’s suggestion, and when we realized we didn’t have quality directions to the site, I was determined to keep driving through the tiny town to find it! And am I glad I did, because it caused us no end of laughter in engineering a few silly photos—plus I figured out my camera’s self-timer! Thanks, crazy man from a past century for putting a pineapple on the top of your house.
R (continued): We had another free Hilton night (thanks, Jen and your employer) in Dunblane. The hotel was fancy-looking, but we wanted to escape the hoopla of the wedding going on inside, so we had dinner at the sleepy town’s only restaurant. I actually got Jen to eat Indian food! I was so excited. We wrapped up the evening pub hopping (between the town’s two pubs). Below, Shaun illustrates our level of alertness by the time we got back to the hotel.
Dunblane Doubletree
Poor Shaun
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