The hubby (henceforth referred to as Bumpy) and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Scotland. This was our second trip to the land of my ancestors and it was packed with adventure! It is such a peaceful place, read that as, grown men and women are not on the television. calling each other names and people are not blowing each other up. Just had to get that off my chest.
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A piper in the Highlands
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An observation from this trip:
I discovered that Scottish folk, as well as Australians and Canadians, use the word "lovely" for almost anything you can imagine. Even when they are talking about the crappy weather, they might say, "Oh, it isn't very lovely today." Clothes are lovely, people are lovely, dogs and cats are lovely, children are lovely, cars are lovely, the grass is lovely, and fish and chips are lovely. You get the idea.
However, if you are from the southern United States you know that the word "lovely" can refer to things that are not so "lovely". For example, "That dress on her is
lovely," meaning "that dress does nothing for her and makes her look two sizes bigger."
I bring this up because from time to time the word "lovely" might appear in this narrative.
This trip included renting a car and encountering all the joys of driving on the opposite side of the road, shifting with the left hand, and navigating roundabouts. Many, many, roundabouts. However, Bumpy did a great job and got us to our destination and back with only a
couple of incidents! More about those shortly.
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Bumpy getting into our little car, before the incidents!
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We started our trip in Edinburgh arriving at 7:00 am local time after very little sleep on the 9 hour flight. Last trip our seats were across from the bathroom and this time were next to the galley. Hard to decide which one was better.
We arrived at our lodging later that afternoon in the village of Closeburn and were extremely pleased. This building is on the grounds of what used to be the hunting lodge for my family back in the day. "Lovely" (British sense of the word) room and great food!
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Trigony House Hotel
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Room with a view!
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The lounge at Trigony House
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Bumpy had a strong hankering to go fly fishing in Scotland. The hotel manager made the call and the next morning off we went to the grounds of Drumlainin Castle to fish on a small loch (lake). A gamekeeper got everything set up and the day began. I have to say the weather was not "lovely" in any sense of the word, as it was pouring down rain and about 58 degrees.
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Bumpy receives some instruction from the gamekeeper.
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Bumpy happily fishing.
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Me, ever at the ready to catch those suckers!
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After about 3 hours and sadly 0 fish, we packed it up and returned to the hotel for lunch, rest, and to plan our next move.
The rest of the day was spent castle hunting. With directions from Google that included something like, go down the road for 3 miles and then turn on "un-named" road, we set off to find Closeburn Castle, the family stomping grounds for many centuries. We drove in circles, much like I'm sure my ancestors did and actually went through the same village at least 6 times. We even asked for directions! Finally, two little ladies out walking their dog, smiled as they told us we had passed the road already and by my estimation that included the 6 times we went through the village.
Finally found the extremely tiny sign on the un-named road and turned in. We talked with one of the caretakers and she said we were welcome to drive up to the castle and take pictures. How exciting! We were able to walk the grounds and take photos at our leisure.
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Closeburn Castle
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| The side garden of the castle |
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| The front garden |
To spare everyone from the sordid details, I will just skip to the part that I consider to be one of the above mentioned "
incidents." Long story short, the car got stuck in the mud in the driveway to the castle. Never in the history of mankind has a car sunk in the mud that quickly. The words, "I hope we don't get stuck" had barely passed my lips when the sound of the gas pedal being pushed followed by the sound of spinning wheels occurred.
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Sad, sad
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Since the car was the size of a thimble with wheels, we thought that surely we would be able to push it out ourselves. So once again, the sound of the gas pedal being pushed and the spinning of wheels occurred but this time another sound followed. That would be Bumpy cursing the little vehicle that was obviously heavier than it looked.
So we set off on foot to find help. The caretaker was busy for the next hour but after that she said she and her husband could help. So Bumpy spent the time dis-assembling and re-assembling the car and I spent the time thinking about my ancestors as they trod on this very ground. I also had to find a bathroom, however, you guessed it , that was impossible. So once again I'll spare you the details, but I just may be the only current day descendant who has trod off into the weeds on this very ground.
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| Bumpy at work. This is possibly when he discovered the motor in the back of the car! |
Well, the caretakers were true to their word and pulled us out of the mud with their SUV. We thanked them for their hospitality, they said, "no one has ever gotten stuck where you did," and we traveled into the village in search of dinner.
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Dining room at the Trigony House
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The following day while leaving Closeburn to return to Edinburgh, the second "incident" occurred. For some reason, known only to the Scots and perhaps a higher power, the road signs do not bear any marking indicating north, south, east, or west. All the roads have a letter and a numeral to distinguish one from another. So for example, you would travel on A72 or M08 or B19. So when you see the letter and numeral that you want you just naturally go on it. Well, my advice is don't do that! We only traveled about 2 hours longer than we should have and saw some beautiful countryside but needless to say there was a little tension in the air.. We finally just began to follow any road that said it went to Edinburgh and after stopping for directions, not once or twice but three times, finally got on the correct road and reached the airport to return the car.
The rest of our trip was spent on a guided tour to the Highlands and details of that part will follow in the next post.
That's it for now.
Check back again!
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