Saturday 25 August 2007

Rotterdam - Amsterdam - Edinburgh: more than 5 hours of travel 

We take the 8.29 train service from Rotterdam Centraal to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, where arrive 45 minutes later. Our EasyJet flight to Edinburgh departs at 12.30 and check-in starts two hours before departure. Our suitcases weigh more than the official limit of 20kg, but fortunately the check-in agent is not charging us for it. Officially we would have to pay 9 euros per extra kilo and we had 6 kilos over the limit between us. At 12am we are clear to proceed to gate H1 on the special concourse for budget flights. The passengers are lined up in groups according to time of check-in. We have paid for speed boarding and are assigned to a separate line with four other passengers. From the gate it is a short walk over the tarmac to the aircraft. We are the first allowed to board and take up seats in the first row. Spacious and comfortable, which is no luxury considering Erik's height (202cm or 6'8"). The flight is uneventful and we land 15 minutes ahead of schedule at Edinburgh Airport at 12.45pm.  Once we get our suitcase from the belt we head straight for the Hertz counter. Our car is parked in the rental car park, which is a short bus ride from the terminal building. A free shuttle bus takes us there. There is some damage to the front right wheel, but that was already noted by Hertz.  We drive to Ravensdown Guest House, where we have booked - as it turns out - a rather small room.  The owner speaks Dutch, because is wife is Dutch. We take the bus into the city centre. A car does not get your very far in central Edinburgh. It is especially busy because of the  Edinburgh International Festival. This is a huge cultural festival with thousands of shows during three weeks in August. Apart from the official festival (classical music, opera, stage plays, ballet etc) there is also the Edinburgh Fringe, a more alternative festival, which has become almost as big an event as the official one. On the streets artists and touts are rounding up spectators for their shows. Lots of street artists do their acts outdoors. It is a sunny and warm day, so conditions are perfect. We buy tickets for a show in the Assembly Rooms, which is part of the Fringe festival. It is a comical dance show by a Korean group and is called Break out. The group has made it to the festival for the third time running. The show is cheerful and fun and put together quite nicely. After the show we want to go for some dinner, but virtually all restaurants are full.  Finally we find a table in the basement of a Mexican restaurant. After dinner we walk around the old town past the Edinburgh Castle, the venue for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo tonight. After the parade there will be fireworks. We walk to the New Town, where end up in the "Gay Triangle" and have a drink in a trendy bar called Street. We take the bus back to the Guest House. 

Weather: sunny 21°C/70°F

Sunday 26 August 2007

Edinburgh - St Andrews - Kingussie: 245km / 153mi

It is another fine and sunny day again, be it a bit cooler than yesterday. After the full Scottish breakfast we head out of town via the Forth Bridge, the big toll bridge crossing the Firth of Forth. A firth in Scots English is a large sea bay, often part of an estuary. Right by the side of the toll bridge is the railway bridge. The Railway bridge was constructed between 1883 and 1890 and is one the most important engineering accomplishments of the Victorian era. It is made of 50.000 tons of steal and its maintenance demands a proverbial effort -  "it's like painting the Forth Bridge" has become a Scots expression.  The toll bridge is an American style suspension bridge and in 1964 it replaced a 900 years old ferry service. We continue towards the East Neuk area - a name that sounds a bit funny to our Dutch ears! - North East of Edinburgh in the county of Fife. We follow the Fife Coastal Tourist route and arrive in St Andrews around noon. This medieval university town really merits a visit. We have lunch in the Glass House restaurant and visit the medieval cathedral (1160). During the reformation the church was stormed and  ruined. Up until 1820 bits and pieces were used to build other buildings. Now the ruin is a monument. I climb the  Rudell tower, from which there are splendid views of the town and around. Next thing is a visit to the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and the famous golf course next to the beach.  St Andrews has an enormous reputation in the world golfing community. This club, founded in 1754, still decides on the rules of the game.  

We carry on to Kingussie via Perth. It is about 165 km (100 mi) and a two hours' drive on wide 2 lane roads. In  Kingussie we stay in the Auld Poor House  with Paulene and Gordon. We get a spacious room with en suite. After a short break we go to the village do some shopping and go for a pint in the local pub. What strikes us immediately is that the pub is totally smoke free. What a relief!. Smoking has been banned in Scottish pubs and restaurants for 18 months now. At night we have dinner in the Silverfjord restaurant. Good food, served by a friendly, handsome, but slightly uncertain and inexperienced waiter. When we get back to the guest house we notice that the front left tire has gone flat. It is so flat that we cannot even make to the filling station. We change the wheel and contact Hertz. Our call is forwarded to the AA. They tell us that we have to phone again during business hours as long as we do not have a real breakdown. 

Weather: sunny, 18°C/64°F in St Andrew's. In Kingussie 12°C/54°F.

Monday 27 August 2007

After breakfast - armed with Paulene's lunchbox - we head for Glenmore Forest in  Cairngorms National Park. At the visitor centre we get some advice on routes taking us up to the top of Meall a' Bhuachallie (2654ft/795m). The climb is fairly gradual with some steeper stretches. After a short while we clear the tree line and walk into a moor, with not a soul to be seen or heard. No people, no animals, no birds. We climb to the top where we face a strong wind. We find shelter behind a wall of pieces of slate. We eat our sandwiches before we continue down along the other side of the mountain. It starts raining. Lightly at first, but soon quite heavily. The view disappears within seconds. When reach the foot of the mountain the rain stops. Then it's another hour before we get back to the car. Once there, we are attacked by a swarm of midges. Quite annoying stinging little creatures they are. In the shop inside the visitor centre they sell us skin moisturizer by way of repellant. When I look to surprised the shop keepers says: "Even the army uses it these days". It must be good then! And indeed it is.  Tired yet satisfied we return to our guest house. After a shower and a short rest we return to make a ride on the   Cairngorms Mountain railway. It is a funicular railway towards the top of the Cairn Gorm Mountain, on which a viewing pavilion offers fine views at 3000ft above sea level. The construction of the railway was quite controversial with environmentalists. It would damage the landscape. During the ride up we are constantly reminded by a recorded voice of the environmentally friendly way the whole thing is operated. So often that we start to become suspicious. For environmental reasons we are not allowed to venture outside the viewing pavilion. The view is good, but there are showers in the distance. It is very cold up there: 5 or 6°C/ ±42°F. We take the train back down again and are greeted yet again by a bunch of midges. At night we have dinner in the guest house, where Paulene has cooked a fine meal. 

Weather: cloudy but dry at first. Then patchy rain, clearing up later. 12°C/54°F.

Tuesday 28 August 2007

Kingussie - Craigellachie: 80km

After breakfast we move on to Aberlour. The Aberlour hotel serves us an (awfully bad) cappuccino. We call the local Aberlour whisky distillery to book  tickets on the guided tour of the place. The tour starts at 10.30 (there is a second one in the afternoon). The tour lasts for two hours and Julian, our guide, tells us vividly about Whisky's origins and various episodes that were of influence on the industry. During the actual tour he explains more about the distillation process. At the end of the tour we get a tutored nosing of the stuff. We smell and taste two half products (spirit and sherry cask) before we get to the three varieties of Aberlour products: 10 and 16 year old single malt whisky and a'budhna, a specialty whisky according to an old recipe. After this binge we have lunch in the Mash Tun, a pub cum restaurant.

We drive on to Craigellachie, where we will be staying at the Green Hall Gallery B&B. Our ever so friendly host Stewart welcomes us, after we have woken him from his afternoon nap. Later in the afternoon we drive to Banff on the Grampian North coast to have a look at Duff House. This once was the stately home of the earls of Fife. The building has been beautifully restored to its former glory in 1992 and made accessible to the public. The original furnishing has been lost, but with historical pieces of furniture and paintings on loan from the National Gallery of Scotland old times are brought to life again. The upper floor is dedicated to a exhibition on the earls of Fife and houses a gallery with temporary exhibitions. After the visit of the house we have some tea in Duff House's tea room, after which we return to the B&B. At night we have a pint at the Highlander Inn, where we also have a pub meal. Not bad at all. We round off the evening with a few drams of single malt.

Weather : sunny start, getting overcast later. Patch of rain in the evening. Max.18°C/64°F