My return to Inverness offered a redemption to the city I felt slighted me. I stayed at a different hostel, which proved to be much better accomodations. The first place I stayed every shower/toilet area was waterlogged and smelled of mildew and the mattresses, if you could call them that, were nothing more than a plastic bag with pokey wires in them. The new place was the much cleaner and comfier. Unfortunately, 3 of the girls sharing the dorm room all had colds and were coughing and sneezing all over the place. I figured a cold was in my future and it has manifested itself in the past few days.
In my two additional days in Inverness I toured Loch Ness and another church and took part in a free "crime and punishment" tour around the city by a kilt wearing guide, Cameron. He was quite the character and was very informative of the various punishments given through the ages in Inverness. I sweet place I also found was the Floral Mall (small botanic garden). This gem of a garden was well worth the 30 minute walk to the edge of town. Had I known that the Loch Ness tour started only 2 minutes around the corner, I would not have walked all the way back to the city center to catch the provided bus.
On my way to Inverness from Stirling I passed through the cute victorian town of Pithlochry and decided that I would return there to explore what it had to offer. This small town (not more than 3,000 people) was delightful and I am glad I stopped for a few days. Not that there is an abundance of things to see in Pitlochry, but there it is a good base if you like to see nature. If one is travelling by car, there is easy access to many lookouts, waterfalls and other small cities with their own attraction. However, I am not travelling by car and there was still pleanty to do by foot. There are no less than 8 trails just from the town itself. I decided to combine 3 trails into one as they all overlapped in some manner. On my trek through through the woods, barley fields, and sheep pastures I saw: Black Spuot water fall, Scotland's smallest distillery (and another one to boot), Black Castle ruins, standing rocks, great view from Craigs Tower, dam with salmon ladder, and the best town theater project ever. The theater that is on the outskirts of town offers 6 productions during the summer, so If you wanted, you could see a different show each night of the week. It was just wonderful what a very small, though touristy, town can do.
From Pitlochry I made my way to St. Andrews. I know what you are thinking, "Lisa doesn't play golf." But that aside, I really enjoyed St. Andrews. Like Pitlochry, St. Andrews was like stepping back in time. The architecture, which I love, was facinating. The ruins of St. Andrews cathedral were amazing, to imagine the large structure and what it would have been like was mind boggling. I also toured 3 museums (all free) that gave an insight to the history of the town and college. And St. Andrews' college was beautiful, I think it would have been a place my youngest daughter would have enjoyed attending. Again, I found another botanical garden well worth the price of admission (2 pounds). This garden had the best ecological plan I have ever seen and would rate it in the top 3 of botanical gardens I have been to (I love botanical gardens so have been to a lot). The rock garden was superb and would recommend going just for that feature alone! Of course, one cannot go to St. Andrews and not see the old club house and golf course (see picture), which I did. Probably because I am not into golfing, it really did not impress me much and I opted not to go through the golf museum. Just note that it is there if you are considering going and enjoy golf.
At St. Andrews I met Anna and Cat (I am not sure how to spell her name so shortened it, I hope she does not mind) from Germany. We had a great time playing Yatzee at the hostel and enjoyed each others company. They had offered me a ride to my next location but we just didn't hook up and so I headed to Dundee, thinking I would never see them again.
Dundee, a place I really had never heard of, but it looked like an interesting spot on the map. Of all things in Dundee, but the ship Discovery! Remember back in Ireland and my Shakelford, Crean, Antartic experience.... Well the Discovery was the first ship of the 3 expiditions that I have been exposed to on my trip thusfar. The ship was built here in Dundee and though repurposed through the years, has had some restorations and is now available to wander through. I definitely had to check it out and was not disappointed. In Dundee I also explored the Verdant Mill Works and the McCann Museum. They were all very informative of the history of Dundee.
On one of my days in Dundee I actually took a trip to Dunfermline for the Bruce Festival. This festival celebrates the life of Robert the Bruce and had a great line up of events for such a small festival. I had been at the festival for about an hour or so when Anna came up to me and said "hi." I couldn't believe it, we apparently arrived about the same time to the festival. It was great to see them again and we spent the rest of our time there together, the last 30 or so minutes all three of us huddled under one umbrella. I felt very fortunate to meet them again and I gave them my card so they could follow this and keep in touch via e-mail. I stayed a bit longer to watch the jousting event (which btw Anna and Cat, was the real jousting) and greatly enjoyed my time. As I walked back to the train station there was nothing that could wipe the grin off my face. I just had a wonderful day!
Inverness Photos Here
Pitlochry Photos Here
St Andrews Photos Here
Dundee Photos Here
Bruce Festival Photos Here
In my two additional days in Inverness I toured Loch Ness and another church and took part in a free "crime and punishment" tour around the city by a kilt wearing guide, Cameron. He was quite the character and was very informative of the various punishments given through the ages in Inverness. I sweet place I also found was the Floral Mall (small botanic garden). This gem of a garden was well worth the 30 minute walk to the edge of town. Had I known that the Loch Ness tour started only 2 minutes around the corner, I would not have walked all the way back to the city center to catch the provided bus.
On my way to Inverness from Stirling I passed through the cute victorian town of Pithlochry and decided that I would return there to explore what it had to offer. This small town (not more than 3,000 people) was delightful and I am glad I stopped for a few days. Not that there is an abundance of things to see in Pitlochry, but there it is a good base if you like to see nature. If one is travelling by car, there is easy access to many lookouts, waterfalls and other small cities with their own attraction. However, I am not travelling by car and there was still pleanty to do by foot. There are no less than 8 trails just from the town itself. I decided to combine 3 trails into one as they all overlapped in some manner. On my trek through through the woods, barley fields, and sheep pastures I saw: Black Spuot water fall, Scotland's smallest distillery (and another one to boot), Black Castle ruins, standing rocks, great view from Craigs Tower, dam with salmon ladder, and the best town theater project ever. The theater that is on the outskirts of town offers 6 productions during the summer, so If you wanted, you could see a different show each night of the week. It was just wonderful what a very small, though touristy, town can do.
From Pitlochry I made my way to St. Andrews. I know what you are thinking, "Lisa doesn't play golf." But that aside, I really enjoyed St. Andrews. Like Pitlochry, St. Andrews was like stepping back in time. The architecture, which I love, was facinating. The ruins of St. Andrews cathedral were amazing, to imagine the large structure and what it would have been like was mind boggling. I also toured 3 museums (all free) that gave an insight to the history of the town and college. And St. Andrews' college was beautiful, I think it would have been a place my youngest daughter would have enjoyed attending. Again, I found another botanical garden well worth the price of admission (2 pounds). This garden had the best ecological plan I have ever seen and would rate it in the top 3 of botanical gardens I have been to (I love botanical gardens so have been to a lot). The rock garden was superb and would recommend going just for that feature alone! Of course, one cannot go to St. Andrews and not see the old club house and golf course (see picture), which I did. Probably because I am not into golfing, it really did not impress me much and I opted not to go through the golf museum. Just note that it is there if you are considering going and enjoy golf.
At St. Andrews I met Anna and Cat (I am not sure how to spell her name so shortened it, I hope she does not mind) from Germany. We had a great time playing Yatzee at the hostel and enjoyed each others company. They had offered me a ride to my next location but we just didn't hook up and so I headed to Dundee, thinking I would never see them again.
Dundee, a place I really had never heard of, but it looked like an interesting spot on the map. Of all things in Dundee, but the ship Discovery! Remember back in Ireland and my Shakelford, Crean, Antartic experience.... Well the Discovery was the first ship of the 3 expiditions that I have been exposed to on my trip thusfar. The ship was built here in Dundee and though repurposed through the years, has had some restorations and is now available to wander through. I definitely had to check it out and was not disappointed. In Dundee I also explored the Verdant Mill Works and the McCann Museum. They were all very informative of the history of Dundee.
On one of my days in Dundee I actually took a trip to Dunfermline for the Bruce Festival. This festival celebrates the life of Robert the Bruce and had a great line up of events for such a small festival. I had been at the festival for about an hour or so when Anna came up to me and said "hi." I couldn't believe it, we apparently arrived about the same time to the festival. It was great to see them again and we spent the rest of our time there together, the last 30 or so minutes all three of us huddled under one umbrella. I felt very fortunate to meet them again and I gave them my card so they could follow this and keep in touch via e-mail. I stayed a bit longer to watch the jousting event (which btw Anna and Cat, was the real jousting) and greatly enjoyed my time. As I walked back to the train station there was nothing that could wipe the grin off my face. I just had a wonderful day!
Inverness Photos Here
Pitlochry Photos Here
St Andrews Photos Here
Dundee Photos Here
Bruce Festival Photos Here
Time is passing too qucikly. It seems as though I just posted a blog and here I am back again. :)
While exploring the McCann Museum in Dundee, one of the exhibits was about 2 women journalists that took an around the world journey in the late 1800's. I find it strange that the same comments were made about these two ladies that have been made to me. You would think that after 100+ years and with all the strides that women have made in that time, that it would not seem so uncommon for a woman to travel solo on such a journey. I really cannot come close to compare myself to these women or to those that pioneered the jungles, oceans, mountains and sky. In all actuality, I must thank these women for taking the first steps to open the door for me to be able to take the journey I am. They are the true brave women, full of courage and wonderlust. I am but a meager traveler taking the easy road because they have already forged it for me.
I close this weeks blog with a quote from Amelia Earhart: "The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure , the process is its own reward."
While exploring the McCann Museum in Dundee, one of the exhibits was about 2 women journalists that took an around the world journey in the late 1800's. I find it strange that the same comments were made about these two ladies that have been made to me. You would think that after 100+ years and with all the strides that women have made in that time, that it would not seem so uncommon for a woman to travel solo on such a journey. I really cannot come close to compare myself to these women or to those that pioneered the jungles, oceans, mountains and sky. In all actuality, I must thank these women for taking the first steps to open the door for me to be able to take the journey I am. They are the true brave women, full of courage and wonderlust. I am but a meager traveler taking the easy road because they have already forged it for me.
I close this weeks blog with a quote from Amelia Earhart: "The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure , the process is its own reward."
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