Scotland Honeymoon: May 9, 2011

After a long day on Sunday, we slept for 12 hours! I typically get five or six hours of sleep a night and that keeps me running. Twelve hours is a bit much for this body to take. I woke at 4:30 but didn't want to wake Hubband so I played on the iPad a bit but was restless again by 4:45 or so. At 5:45 Hubband woke up and we decided to start our day since we were both done with sleeping and a bit sore from being in bed for so long.

By 6:15 am we were touring the area around the B&B looking for coffee. As it turns out, Glaswegians don't start their work days until 9 am (must be nice) and as a result, most coffee shops don't open until 8am. We did manage to find an Italian cafe (Coia's) that opened at 7am but "opened" is a loose term. They sat as at 7:05 (we must've looked caffeine-deprived enough) and tossed menu's at us by 7:15. They finally took our order by 7:20 and within just a few minutes we had our coffees. I ordered a "white coffee" which appears to be a standard coffee with whipped milk added so it's much lighter in color than a black coffee. It. Was. Delicious! You want good coffee? Come to Scotland!

We downed our coffees fairly quickly as we had to be back at the Manor at 8 am for breakfast. Maybe you can answer this question for me as I've never stayed in B&B's before: is it customary for them to serve
hot breakfasts to order at specific times? At each place we're staying there appears to be a window of time where they will serve breakfast each morning and it's included in the cost to rent the room. They appear to be between the hours of 7am and 8:30 am though it does differ by about half an hour at each place.

The Scottish breakfasts seem to include to same items at each B&B: eggs (poached, scrambled or fried), sausage, bacon, potato scones, bakes beans and more toast that you know what to do with. Not a lick of fruit or veggies to be seen. So if I'm a couple of sizes larger than the last time you saw me when we meet again, blame it on the Scots!

At 9am Andy Cameron, our tour guide, arrived to pick us up for our day at Loch Fyne to learn about my family clan: the McLachlans! Our first stop outside Glasgow was half way up Loch Lommond, just north of the border of the Highlands. There isn't really a line drawn anywhere but it appears to be at about the halfway point (north to south) of Loch Lommond. It was a brief stop as this Loch didn't hold much interest for me. It is, however, Clan McFarlane territory and a colleague of mine, Rev. Tuttle, is of the McFarlane clan. He asked us to stop to skip stones at Loch Lommond or Loch Long so we indulged his request. We don't really know the significance of skipping the stones but it was fun anyway!

Hubband skipping stones - he was far more successful than me!

Our next stop was on the way to Inveraray at the Argyll Forest Park also known as "Rest and be Thankful". Its the first real stopping point after coming down through the Highlands according to Andy. It was a beautiful valley but so very windy! I think Scotland suits us...

Our next stop, and the main reason for hiring Andy, was to visit Loch Fyne and Old Castle Lachlan of the MacLachlan clan. I knew it was in disrepair so I didn't expect to get to see it but boy, did we see it! I stood where our ancestors stood! It was so cool. When we first arrived we could see the new Castle Lachlan and the ruins appeared to be across a bog which, as it turns out, is actually underwater when the tide comes in. Did you know that Loch Fyne is one of the largest, if not THE largest sea water fed Lochs? Me neither, but now I do!

In any case, when we got over to the old castle ruins which you can see WAAAAAY in the distance in the above picture... covered in vines... we climbed our way up into one lower room of the castle. We could see other rooms but there didn't appear to be any way to get to them internally. It turns out, if you're clever, a little brave, and have a wonderful tour guide, you can get up and down in the castle from three of the four sides. We stood in the great hall, and in the courtyard where visitors would have been announced. We stood on the kitchen and various battle rooms. I could go on and on. It was just amazing.

This would've been the Great Hall for hearing the public and feasts!

This would've been the front entrance. Do you see the white stone just this side of the door? It's a huge piece of white quartz. We don't know the significance of it but think there ought to be one. I rubbed it for luck.... Just in case!

And as a gift to us for our honeymoon, Andy brought us a bottle of whisky and we toasted to our good health (Slange Var in Gaelic) on the bench at the foot of Old Lachlan Castle.

And THIS was the view...

Our fourth stop was the town of Inveraray. We had lunch at The George Hotel which (and I'm still a bit confused about this) was established in 1720 and built in 1778. Maybe you understand the distinction? I had smoked salmon with chive cream cheese and baguettes and a salad while Alan had haggis, tatties and neeps (mashed potatoes and mashed turnips). I have to say, haggis is actually pretty good.

After lunch we stopped at the Sweeties shop (Andy calls it this, you and I would call it a candy store) and the the Loch Fyne Whiskies shop. At the Sweeties shop Hubband bought fudge (as he always does) and I got sour apple balls (I think I destroyed my sour sensors on my tongue with just one...) and horehound candies. I didn't know what horehound candies were but traditionally in Europe they were used to treat upset stomachs or sore throats. They seem to be a combination of anise seed, sarsaparilla and black licorice.

At the Whisky shop we bought two bottles that we're having shipped to us next week. The first, more for me than Hubband as he's not as big a fan as I am, is a single malt, straight out of the barrel, 25 year old Speyside whisky. On top of that, it's one of only 556 bottles to be made from that stock. Its not available in the US at all. Pretty special! The second is Islay whisky (pronounced eye-la) which is known for it's smokiness because the water is heated over peat fires.

Stop five on our tour of the Clan MacLachlan lands was a brief tour of the clan graveyard. According to Andy, as a descendant of a MacLachlan, I have the right to be buried there. I can only imagine the stories that would develop seeing a "Schmaltz" buried in a Scottish graveyard.

Our sixth and final stop was Inveraray Castle which is still an active castle. The 13th Duke of Inveraray lives there. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but you can learn more about it at http://www.inveraray-castle.com/. It's a Campbell clan castle and they were enemies of the MacLachlan clan at Culloden. Despite it being "enemy territory" it's so perfect - it looks like a castle straight out of a Walt Disney film.

After a long day of searching and discovery we headed back to the Manor. We were in our room by 6:30 and asleep by 6:45. We snoozed until 8:30 or so at which point we decided to go find dinner. Much like the coffee shops not opening early, many pubs don't stay open late. We ended up finding a deli that was still open so we took an order of fish and chips with us back to the Manor.

We stayed up until midnight or so uploading pictures and blogging the first leg of the trip, which by now you've probably seen. However, we did it with a dram in hand...