Linda and I travel a lot. It is one of the things we enjoying doing together. I have been in Asia for about 18 months, so it is kind of funny my first travel post is about our September 2005 trip to Scotland.
I have had many requests for kilt pictures.
At the time of the trip, I had just moved to Beijing from Shanghai and Linda was living in Chicago. We had not seen each other for about 6 weeks and rendezvoused in Edinburgh. The purpose of the trip was to attend the wedding of two of our friends from Shanghai – Angie and Chris. Angie has become one of Linda’s important friends, even though, being Scottish, she talks funny. Chris an Australian but has lived in many different places. He is currently working from Shanghai. He talks funny, too, but not as funny as Angie.
We spent about 10 days in Scotland. In addition to attending the wedding, we traveled around a large portion of the Scottish west coast and midsection with another pair of friends from Shanghai – Jim and Kellee. They are American and work for the US government in Shanghai.
Click here for a couple more pictures of the trip.
Itinerary: Short Version
We started in Edinburgh. Very cosmopolitan city with the energy of a college town. We would return to Edinburgh – very nice. Edinburgh hosts a number of art and music festivals the month of August – we arrived at the tail end of the celebrations. Each time I visit, one thing that strikes me about the United Kingdom (and most of Europe) is how much older the cities are than in the United States. There are buildings older than the modern United States – we just don’t have stuff that old in the US.
After attending the wedding in a small town whose name I can’t spell or pronounce, we drove west and took a ferry to Islay – an island on the southwest coast of Scotland. Islay is known for sheep and Scotch whiskey. Linda’s favorite scotch comes from this island and most of the 5-6 distilleries on Islay have the distinct smoky, earthy flavor that the island’s industry is known for. We tasted several variations. Very relaxing.
We then headed north generally along the coast and spent a day on the ‘Harry Potter’ train. Our friends were skeptical. Each day, Scot Rail sends a refurbished steam train along a section of track surrounded by glens (translated as big hills, as close as I can tell) and lochs (basically a lake, but I am sure there is more to it). The train stops for a few hours in a small seaside town at the end of the line and then returns on the same route. You pass several of the areas from the movies – including the bridge from the flying car scene.
We continued to Loch Ness but did not notice anything unusual. This area was very forested, so Nessie could be hidding in either the woods or the water. Another night was spent in an old castle that has been turned into a bed and breakfest – on the North Sea on the east coast. Linda and Kellee chowed down on ‘smokies’ – haddock that are smoked, giving off a distinctive smell. I did not try them, but smokies are very popular in that area and among my traveling companions.
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Our last night was spent in Glasgow though we didn’t have much time to look around. Met some friendly blokes at a local bar and chatted for several hours.
If we return to Scotland, we would stay at least 10 days and pick a smaller area to visit. Scotland seems to be a great place to walk and hike but we did not have the opportunity to do much of this.
Driving on the Left
Not as hard as I expected. Everyone said it was not difficult and after a day or two it felt normal. When driving, I thought the most challenging part was downshifting around corners – steering with your right hand and shifing with your left – everything backwards.
Jim and I both agreed that it was more comfortable to drive than ride in the front passenger seat. Being a passenger on the far opposite side of the road from what you are used to was often disconcerting. There was the constant feeling that you would go careening off the road into a tree. My 3-5 noticeable drifts left into curb kept Jim awake and buckled up.
How to Wear a Kilt
Jim and I rented kilts – just like you rent a tuxedo in the US. You even wear a tux shirt and bow tie with a vest and jacket. The big question was what to wear under the kilt. Jim and I wore nothing, which is what all the Scottish told us was the Scottish way. Despite wearing a skirt with no underwear, a kilt is surprisingly hot – something like 7-8 yards of wool. Linda kept flirting with me.
Jim demonstrated one risk of inexperienced kilt wearing. This picture did not turn out as well as I would have liked so I had to make some contrast and color edits to highlight what was obvious to us but oblivious to Jim. I must have been laughing so hard I made the camera shake. Sorry, Jim.
