October 8 2016

Our last full day in the UK. This morning we are off to Sterling Castle, the other famous stronghold in Scotland. Departing the hotel at 9 (finally got to sleep in a bit!) we arrive at the castle just after 10. Again we are fortunate to hook up with an excellent guide employed by the castle and learn of the history of the place from a very animated docent.
Boom! Boom! Boom! he cries as he sets the stage for Bonnie Prince Charlie's attack on the fortress. Boom! Boom! Boom! he has us reply as the cannon balls crash into the stone walls. Other tourists cast quizzical and envious eyes in our direction.

Later we stroll through the chamber where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James. The Reformation again figures prominently in the story of political more than religious struggles. Monarchies are rooted in the idea that the king or queen rules at the behest of God. So the monarch is subservient to the Church. First, royals (below the rank of king) also made themselves bishops and cardinals to increase their legitimacy but were still subservient to the Vatican in Rome. Along comes the Reformation and now they can wrest control of the church from the Pope. Get the common folks fired up over a religious ideal and you can cause them to fight to the death to achieve your objective. History is full of this theme over and over even into today.
Sterling gets its importance from the fact that it commands a position from which to control a bridge crossing the River Forth a major gateway into the Highlands. Although we didn't visit it, we could see the imposing monument to Robert Wallace (Braveheart), atop another hill across the river.

So next we move to a location where we can forget the political and religious and concentrate on the very earthy attraction of Scotland's signature beverage and enjoy a dram of Glengoyne Scotch. A tour of this boutiques distillery shows us in up close and personal detail, the making of this Single Malt beverage.






Back in Glasgow we have a wonderful dinner at a local seafood restaurant, Gamba. Early, because we have a very early departure planned for tomorrow.

October 7 2016

We would have like to have stayed longer at Fonab, with its beautiful accommodations but we had to leave early to make it to Fort William in time to catch the Harry Potter Train (not its official name, that's the Jacobite Steam Train). So off we went on a somewhat circuitous routing to the train station. Arriving a few minutes early, we found we were assigned to car B just two behind the steam engine.






Seating was two by two facing each other with a table between. Evelyn and I were the "odd couple" who did not have folks from our group at our table. As it turned out we met a delightful young lady from outside Paris who was traveling throughout Scotland on vacation. She would only be traveling with us to Mallaig, which was the end of the line, and then taking a ferry to the Isle of Skye, while we would be taking the train back to Fort William.

In Mallaig we found a nice little pub for lunch and did a bit of shopping, before re-boarding for the trip back.








We got some great shots

and video of the curved viaduct the train travels on near Glenfinnan, made famous in the Harry Potter films. We also found out that if someone opened a window, as one idiot did to take a picture, the smoke from the coal fired steam engine would fill the car with a choking, dark cloud! That was not pleasant. The whole round trip to Mallaig and back took about 6 hours.

On the way to Glasgow were treated to some fantastic scenery and landscape shots from the bus.

We also made a quick stop at Glencoe the site of the massacre of the MacDonald clan in the late 1600's. The views of the surrounding countryside were just beautiful.


Boarding the coach once again, we finally arrived at the Apex City of Glasgow Hotel, a nice modern hotel located right in the heart of the city. Being it was pretty late, most had dinner at the hotel restaurant.

October 6 2016

Today we leave Edinburgh but not before taking a farewell postcard shot down the Advocate's Close.

Before leaving town we pay a visit to the famous castle. Loaded the luggage on the coach and then Valter dropped us at the base of the castle. Mountain goat time again. Up the stairs behind a group of school kids in red uniforms, we are early so why not shop? The gift shop was deceiving and phenomenal in its size, with an amazing array of goodies. The castle didn't open soon enough! Save your money guys! Too late.




In the castle we found a free tour given by one of the castle guides who was excellent. The castle itself is immense and would take a day just to see the highlights. But we only had a couple of hours so the guided tour really helped.







At 11:30 we were back on the bus (excuse me! the coach, Valter reminded me), headed towards Saint Andrews, the village where golf was born. We arrived around 1 and after a quick lunch met our tour guide, Mike Terpie, who appeared not only in his kilt but sporting a bagpipe. He took us on a walking tour. Thankfully, Saint Andrews is much flatter than Edinburgh. We started with a tour of a portion of the campus of The University of Saint Andrews, including its beautiful chapel.


We then walked along the shore to the ruins of the Castle of Saint Andrews, where we learned that the once Bishop's Palace and fortress was the site of a terrible struggle between Protestant and Catholic forces. Quite an intriguing place, with it's tunnels and counter tunnels dug beneath the structure in an effort to get inside during it's many sieges.

As we continued along the water, Mike stopped to "serenade" us with a few bagpipe tunes. I have to admit I could not tell an beginner from an expert on the "pipes". But we applauded and passersby stopped to listen and take pictures.
Then we came to the ruins of the great cathedral. Once the largest of its kind in the world, now just a hollow shell.

We could not visit the famous "Old Course" at St. Andrews because the Alfred Dunhill Links Tournament was in progress, so Mike directed us to some shops where golf gear could be purchased.

After departing St. Andrews, we arrived at Fonab Castle in Pitlochry, by far one of the nicest places we stayed on the trip. Here we had a really elegant dinner.

October 5 2016

Today we started our exploration of Edinburgh with a morning guided tour of the area. Our tour guide, Hugh Salvesen, met us at the hotel all properly dressed in kilt, even though his ancestry is Norwegian. So off we went on a walking tour of a city designed for mountain goats!
His introduction to Edinburgh started with when Scotland was down at the Equator, eons ago when dinosaurs wandered in its tropical jungles. Giving rise to the immense amounts of coal in the region and how that impacted on the development of Scotland and England during the industrial revolution. It also explains the dark look to the stone most of the buildings are made of. An oily form of sandstone which exudes a dark oily substance that cannot be cleaned away. He then talked about the ice ages and how they carved a lot of the topography but could not greatly change some of the really hard, volcanic rock, leaving behind the huge inclined pedestal upon which Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town stand.
Bringing the history a bit further towards the present he told us of the political struggles of kings and queens and clans of the highlands. While this sounds quite dry as I describe it here, Hugh did it with great humor and kept us greatly entertained as well.
As we walked and walked I came to realize what a truly beautiful city Edinburgh is. There are great photographs everywhere just waiting to be taken. One of his favorite things was to point out what he called "another useless British tradition", like the occasional announcement by the town crier in the city center when some momentous occasion occurred, or the marking of 1:00 PM with the dropping of a huge bell on the Nelson Monument which is perfectly coordinated with the firing of a cannon at Edinburgh Castle. The tour ended on Carlton Hill from which we got an excellent overall view of the city.

Willy from Hunters Coach picked us up at Waterloo Place to transport us to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is docked right next to a shopping mall, where we had lunch first before boarding and touring the yacht. On the audio tour we learned a lot of interesting facts about the vessel and the Royalty that used her. For a State visit five tons of royal luggage would be brought aboard.  The ship's Captain was often an Admiral, who might change uniforms 12 times a day, depending on his duties that day.The ship's laundry was keep busy full time cleaning all those uniforms. There was a two bed hospital with an operation room and the yacht was designed to be converted to a hospital ship if required in times of emergency. But most impressive were the opulent quarters and facilities for the use of the Royal Family.

After the tour we returned to Old Town Chambers to relax and freshen up before our big Scottish Night Out at Prestonfield. Preston claimed it was named in his honor. Well, ... really?! We arrived a bit early so went to the mansion before retiring to the "stables" where the "Taste of Scotland Show" was to be held. Now that mansion is one I would really like to visit again. Private Victorian style rooms with bar and dinner service.

Moving to the stables we were first serenaded with bagpipes. The show centered around traditional song and dance and pretty soon the company had half the audience up and dancing too. And of course, who could forget the ceremony of the Haggis?! We were all given the opportunity to taste this traditional dish! A lot was made about it in a negative sense but I found it pretty tasty!

October 3 2016

Today is our adventure day. Departing at 7:30 AM from the castle, we find it takes much longer to get from point a to point b in the mountains of Wales than Google says it will. So we just make it to our

first destination, the Snowdon Mountain Railway. We occupied two full compartments and two seats of a third. The process up the mountain was slow and noisy but fun. Along the way "walkers" would waive at us and take pictures of the train as they proceeded to hike up the mountain. I have not idea how long that would take, but it had to be exhausting! After about 45 minutes we reached the summit and were told we would have about 40 minutes until the train departed for the base again. Going through the visitor's center and out the back we walked up some stone stairs to reach the very windy peak and get some great views of the surrounding area. The

visibility was perfect. Another 45 minute ride down and we were back at the railway's parking lot.

Just a short 5 minute walk and we were at the Electric Mountain, a huge hydro-electric plant buried in the mountain itself. This is no ordinary power generation plant. It is designed to provide quick reaction surge generating capability based on demand. During periods of low electrical demand, excess power is used to pump water from a low reservoir up and into a lake at a much higher elevation. When a surge in electrical demand occurs fast acting valves open allowing the water in the lake to flow through huge penstocks (pipes) into turbines which turn generators producing the required electricity. The concept is pretty simple. What really impresses is the engineering behind constructing all of this within the mountain.The tour of the cavernous facility and the associated gigantic equipment was truly fascinating.

Next we were off for the great adventure of the day! Ziplining! While the others go off to the Woolen Mills, the Supper Super Six Pack, consisting of Badass Becky, Leapin' Leslie, Daring Dorlene (aka Zippy), Jumpin' Jim Day, Jittery Jim Van Wormer, and Fearless Frank, will embark upon a death defying flight along Europe's longest and the world's fastest zipline. All while 500 feet in the air above the jagged, incredibly nasty shards of a Welsh slate quarry! In order to call attention to this fantastic feat, all six super heroes have worn their super capes leaving the locals in utter amazement, and a few giggles!

But, impervious to pointing and staring, the team foraged ahead and accomplished this amazing feat. Just to give you a hint of how stupid stupendous we were here is a video of Badass and Zippy on their practice run on "Little Zipper"  

Coming soon is a video from the "Big Zipper". Stand by until I edit out all the screaming and crying!I
So, here it is. It's a spherical video so you can scroll around and see where I've been and where I am going. The camera is in my right hand behind my back so you can't see down very well.

The rest of the group went to the woolen mills.... ho humm.... They came back to get us just in time to have Badass and Zippy fly right over the coach as they arrived.  A fitting tribute!

Returning to Ruthin we all disembarked in town and foraged for food. Great food was found at "Top of the Hill" and "Wetherspoon".

October 2 2016

Our time at the Marriott and Bristol were far too short, but we had to depart in order to pay our respects to the Bard and the Beatles. After about an hour and a half on the coach Valter had us at Anne Hathaway's Cottage on the outskirts of Stratford-Upon-Avon. Our tour of Shakespeare's Wife's house started with a stroll through the garden. One might think he was in the Garden of Eden with all the apple trees, fruit trees, and vegetables growing in this huge garden. Inside the cottage we found very friendly and informative docents explaining the everyday life in the 16th century. The cottage itself was quite large with a huge fireplace in the kitchen.

 One of the interesting facts we learned was that the lady of the house was responsible for keeping the fire going. If she were so unfortunate as to allow the fire to die out, her husband was free to beat her. A similar punishment resulted if she burned the bread. But it was not all barbaric. So as not to disturb the neighbors the husband was required to gag her! Aren't you glad you weren't born back then?


Moving on we next visited Shakespeare's Birthplace. This was within the village and was also a quite large house that, in later years, operated as an inn, the village being an important crossroads on the way to London. I was surprised to find that, back in the day, several family members would share the bed at the same time!




After a simple lunch we were back on the coach headed to Liverpool and our Magical Mystery Tour. Our guide, Adrian, was phenomenal! He had so much information about the Beatles that you thought he must have been a close friend. Adrian took us to

Harrison's Boyhood Home

visit the boyhood houses of each of the Beatles ad explained in detail how they met and how the relationships grew, and how their career as a group developed. I found it amazing that they had mostly come from such modest beginnings. And the coincidences that brought them together were almost eerie. As part of the tour we visited "Penny Lane"
and learned of its significance in the lives of Lennon and McCarney, and saw many of the landmarks described in the lyrics. Then did the same for Strawberry Fields. The tour ended with a visit to the
famous Cavern Club.


Running late, we finally arrived at Ruthin Castle in Wales, where dinner was planned and had been delayed. The staff was very accommodating and delivered our bags to the rooms as we sat down to dinner. It was a great meal but everyone was ready to hit the sack as we had an early departure scheduled for the next morning.