General Mills stop? Did the General retire or has it been that long
since I ate Cheerios?) and we were on the road south back to Dave and
Caroline's. We were a long way north-about a three to four hour drive
through the highlands, so we picked a few destinations along the way
to break up the drive and get a taste of Scotland. We took a quick
drive into the Cairngorms National Park for an embarrassingly short
look-see, then later stopped by Blair Castle for a tour.
We knew we were approaching Blair Castle about three miles before we
reached the front gate because we were driving allong this huge stone
wall that encloses the entire land tract. The castle is the ultimate
man's room. The entry foyer is three stories tall and has hundreds and
hundreds of guns, swords, spears, muskets, cannon balls, bayonets and
knives geometrically arranged in artful fashion from floor to ceiling
along with a stuffed deer. I took it as a reminder that the owner
means business when he says no picture taking while on tour. We had
to do a quick walk-through due to time constraints, but between Blair
Castle, Versailles, and Newschwander it became apparent this was the
age of competitive Castle building. Lavish rooms, painted potraits
bigger than life size, inticately carved marble fireplaces and
monsterous rooms with atmospherically high ceilings all say, "I'm rich
and trying to impress you.". And they did.
In spite of implied and real threats I did manage to iPhone a few
pictures which give a taste of the lavishness. Especially the use of
antlers in decorating. It is amazing the number of antlers that can be
acrued when given a couple hundred years to collect them. The
geometric arrangement of hundreds of dead animal skulls and horns
create the pattern seen in the ballroom pictures. Gaston from Beauty
and the Beast would be proud.
We got to Dave and Caroline's a little after noon. Geoff & Lorna with
children Eighly and Maddie-friends of Dave and Caroline's were going
to be stopping by for lunch. We met Geoff and Lorna two summers ago
when they were touring the US with Dave and Caroline. We offered the
use of the Caldwell's beach house for four days, (thank you Bill and
Pat!) and we spent a couple of those days with them.
We had a rowdy lunch of meat, cheese, rolls, fruit and more, were
amazed at Geoff's juggling skills (we gave Geoff, Magnus and David
juggling balls), visited a bit, gave the ladies hats that Di had knit
for us and then Geoff and Lorna were on their way home. We visited
with Dave & Caroline for another hour or so then jumped back in the
car, headed for Dunbar and the birthplace of John Muir on the west
coast. The rainy skies of morning were clearing and a late afternoon
sunny drive was in the offing.
Sally did an excellent job navigating me around Edinburgh, keeping us
south of the city on the bypass roads and by 7 we were in Dunbar.
We had many things to take care of for planning our trip to London and
securing our flight home (Orbitz still had not taken care of getting
our flights booked in the right date) so we got a hotel room with WiFi
and spent the rest of the evening researching and phoning on Scype.
The hotel was very reminicwnt of the one depicted in the movie "Hot
Fuzz" a British spoof on American cop shows. The proprioters were
eccentric, the facility old, but well kept.
A word on driving vs trains. On the continent we took trains
everywhere. They were quick, on time and left us with hours to plan,
blog, and stare out the windows at the passing countryside. In
Scotland we have been driving, thanks to the generosity of Dave and
Caroline. I have my eyes glued to the narrow winding road, Sally's
eyes are glued to the maps and our brains and hands are occupied
navigating and staying alive on these twisting byways. We see the
country, but it is not as relaxing, and we have no time for planning
nor writing. Given a choice, if the train and car go the same place,
the train is the definite winner.
Chuck
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