The Best Highlands Day

John and I both agreed that if we had to pick a day, the second day of our Highlands ride was our favorite. I think it was just a combo of amazing scenery and having already gotten through the first day and getting settled into everything.

I love this one of John and Jan, our fearless leader.

I think this was the wildest part we rode through.

I think this my favorite picture of the whole trip:

Before we got to the hotel, there was a beautiful patch of wild garlic in a wood. That's what all those white flowers are, garlic. It almost looks like snow, doesn't it?

We couldn't *quite* see the horses from our hotel room this time, but we could see them from the entrance.

That's Fern in the red blanket, with Graham just out of sight. Graham is Jan's husband/partner, and provided backup/support on the ride, trailering all our luggage and meeting us each night with feed and blankets for the horses. And a bit of craft beer for John.

Our part of the Inn was literally called "the Barn." I think it was the best bit.

 This was the place where we sat out on the porch, me reading Raymond Chandler, John reading Burroughs, drinking scotch at 9 pm in the clouded sun. I washed my jeans in the sink and put them on the clothesline to let them drip, then hung them over the heated towel rack after dinner. Which was a delicious rabbit pie. Graham came and chatted with a us a bit and told us about Black Bottle, an excellent blended whisky made from Islay malts. Another dead to the world sleep, undisturbed by the resident turkey (yes, there was a resident turkey).

Highlands!

So I forgot to mention that I saw a fox on the train out of Glasgow on the way to Edinburgh. I mean, I was on the train and the fox was running alongside the track. I was literally just thinking that it would be so cool to see a fox, and wondering if there were any around, and BAM, there was a fox outside the window.

We also saw a pheasant fly alongside our taxi briefly on the way to the meet up point for the ride - in Dores. We met up with our horses, learned to put easy boots on, and started off.

 This is John's horse, Ginny. She's a sweet paint, very level-headed. Below is me standing with Fern, a Highland pony. I knew they would put me on a pony! I don't think I minded though, she was certainly fast enough and there's something to be said for being matched with something your size . . . although I'm not sure whether we were evenly matched in stubbornness or not.  

The water in the photos above is all Loch Ness, and all taken within a few hours - note the varying sun and clouds! I have to say, the weather was perfect. You don't want it sunny all the time, too hot, but it's nice to have just a bit now and then to warm you up after going through a shaded forest.

I like this one of John:

Maclaine, this one is for you, the only time I took my helmet off!

We went by a lot of farms -- I should have realized it wouldn't be the wildest part of the highlands, as we were following the line of the lakes, which of course would have the most cultivated land.

Here's where we spent the first night, the Whitebridge Hotel. The pasture you see below it was where we put the horses - we could see them from the window in our room.

I believe this was the establishment that had the ridiculous curry, and by ridiculous I mean one of the best things I have ever tasted, anywhere. They had about 6 curries to choose from as well a respectable menu of Scottish fare, and I went with the venison passanda. Let me tell you, if I ever see venison passanda on a menu again, I will order it, but it can't possibly be as good as what they gave me here. Those people are WIZARDS.

Needless to say, we slept extremely well, secure in the knowledge of adequate towel-warming appliances.

Second Day in Edinburgh

John came down with a cold, but our second day in Edinburgh he rallied and we went to Edinburgh Castle.

Of course the most fascinating part to me was the painting of "Grey Lady," a charger from the calvary regiment the Royal Scots Greys.

John enjoyed the prisons.

We walked by the Scottish National Gallery on the way to Marks and Spencer to pick up food for the train, so I dragged John in and we took a quick look around at the RSA Annual Exhibition. The theme this year was "Between the late and the Early" and was supposed to be related to different realities, shamanism, dreams, etc. It was really interesting, it's too bad we didn't have more time, but some of what we saw was amazing. Photography in the exhibit itself is prohibited, but we did get this snap in the entryway:

There was one of those on each side of you as you approached the entrance. Sparkly AND spooky. Then we kind of accidentally went through an underground passage and came up in a completely different building, where the permanent collections are for the Scottish National Gallery. Somehow I saw the painting below in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London a few years ago, I wonder if there is another copy? Or maybe it was loaned out for a special exhibit. The woman on the right always reminds me of my mother.

Honestly the resemblance is striking.

Then we got some sandwiches and crisps and rode the train for 3 and half hours to Inverness. Our hotel in Inverness was a bit of a trip. It was called the Royal Highlander, was carpeted all in tartan, but had modern art (for sale, too!) on the walls:

Also, this was when I first began to notice that in the Highlands, if you don't have a heated towel rack you might as well be peeing into a hole in the ground. EVERYPLACE has heated towel racks. No matter how humble the B&B or Inn, if you have a toilet in your room, you have a heated towel rack. You may not even have a sink in the bathroom, but by god you will have a heated towel rack. I should have taken pictures of them all, but just take my word for it. Actually, I defy someone to find a me a hotel in the Highlands without a heated towel rack. I bet it can't be done. Kind of comforting, really.

No Internet in the Highlands

So, no, John and I didn't go on a whisky bender and have to check ourselves into a quiet Scottish treatment center for "exhaustion," we were just in the Highlands with very sketchy phone much less internet service.

It's going to take FOREVER to catch everything up on the blog, so I think there will be more installments well past when we return! Right now we are on Islay, just having finished up a day of whisky tasting and just a tiny bit of both intentional and un-intentional exploring, i.e., getting lost.

Let me tell you, even on small country roads, driving on the wrong side of the road is no joke. Although that's not even the worst part. It's shifting with my left hand on a $#!!@**^%!! Volkswagen clutch that is the worst part. Why did I not remember that I hate Volkswagens and that all Volkswagen clutches and shifters hate me as well? Probably because I haven't driven a VW in 20 years.

Anyway, before I post just a couple of pics of the Highlands to tease you, let me give you a preview of our next installments:

- Our last day in Edinburgh (We managed to hit Edinburgh Castle, a bit of the Scottish National Gallery, and the Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, all before catching to train to Inverness at 2:00 pm)

- 4 days of incredible riding through the Highlands, alongside the lochs, through forests, and up into the hills

- Highlands Inns, which honestly have some of the best food I have ever tasted

- Even more spectacular scenery on the train route from Spean Bridge to Glasgow

- Islay, which for some bizarre but spectacular reason has decided to be 70 degrees and gorgeous clear blue sky and sea during our first day

- Oh and also our hotel in Glasgow, Citizen M, deserves a post all to itself. Seriously, it was the most perfect   travel (as opposed to just leisure) hotel I have ever stayed at.

Enough words.

Good night for now!