Tag Archives: Scottish Highlands

The View from Here

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Apologies for not being more regular. I arrived in Scotland Sept. 1, surprisingly solid on sleep. My friend Amelia spent the night watching movies that are hard to find in the States, so she crashed while I wandered around my new old home place.

The view from our flat window is lovely in every time of day and every type of weather. I only had a few days to enjoy this as we arrived on Tuesday and headed to Edinburgh to start the tour on Sunday, but it was enough to get some exploring done.

The town has two sections: the working market square (four thrift shops! :] ) and the Old Town down by the harbor.

Once Amelia revived we explored the Old Town portion, stopping to admire the statues that line the walkway to the harbor. More about these later as they deserve their own post.

If you look closely in the picture of the town, at the far back right, that’s where our flat sits, right next to the North Sea. But comfortably protected from tidal surges. :]

We hiked to the War Memorial, which is a nearly-vertical climb, but in its desperate need to be ever-improving, WordPress is now using AI to insert photos “the best way” so they are mostly coming out sideways. I will have a serious chat with them about this and hopefully be able to post those later. The War Memorial has eleven columns, each with the name of a significant battle on it. It was meant to be for World War I, but by the time they had the land and the architect, World War II was upon the world. So they waited and did both.

Incidentally, the house of the architect who created the memorial is for sale now , for 710,000 pounds and commanding glorious views of the harbor. It’s called Haamar House, in case you’re interested. :]

Talk soon, tour group is waking up and I must get my best extrovert self on.

Saucy Waiters Spice up Supper Service

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Jack’s weekly guest blog reaches us from the Old Country

One of the highlights of my year is the annual small group tour of Scotland I organize. This being an even-numbered year, we do the Highlands and Islands.

The tour started Sunday, and so far it’s been a delight: decent weather, good hotels and food and a delightful group of fellow travelers.

Not without its moments, of course. Our first evening in our Crianlarich hotel, we sat down to dinner and were approached by the ‘Maitre D’, whose lapel badge identified him as ‘Andy’. Launching in a plumby accent that would not have been out of place on Downton Abbey–or perhaps Fawlty Towers–he attempted to entice us away from our special group price dinner with pricey items on the regular menu. When that failed, he offered special deals on personal recommendations from the wine list (none of them particularly cheap).

Everyone’s got to make a living, but if the man had had an ‘Americans are rich–and cheap and easy’ sign above his forehead, he could not have been more obvious. As our meal continued he could be guaranteed to regularly interrupt our conversation as he got into the full flow of his ‘act’.

temp wendyFortunately, I’m traveling with a group of people whose senses of humor are as strong as their accents. And he’s made good fodder for follow-up impersonations as the week progresses. All someone has to do is say ‘May I recommend’ and the rest of the van passengers fall about laughing.temp wendy 2

I was reminded of an overnight Wendy and I spent at a Bed and Breakfast in a historic area which shall be nameless. At breakfast we were having an interesting conversation with our fellow guests when the lady in charge, having served the food, launched into an hour long presentation (clearly learned by heart) on the history of the town – in a way that would brook no interruptions from any of us. Glances were exchanged and diversionary gambits attempted, to no avail. Bless her heart! But it was interesting. And she wasn’t trying to sell us anything.

And then there was the first Scottish tour I put together. At breakfast in the Birnam Hotel, we were attended to by the indefatigable Margaret, who had served under a variety of owners over the years and thus was effectively in charge of meal-time discipline. When one of our party wwondered aloud if she could order a variation on one of the menu dishes,  our driver Colin opined “I’m sure that would be fine”. The hovering Margaret quickly put him right, saying, “I think that would be my decision!”

These are the unexpected things that, with hindsight, add a bit of spice and are remembered with a smile. I’m sure there are plenty more such moments ahead– bring them on!