Cormiston Farm

Cormiston farm is located near the town of Biggar in the Lowlands of Scotland and the main house is a gorgeous Georgian house that has undergone several updates over its life. Our room had a magnificent four poster, king size bed and wonderful floor to ceiling windows looking out over the front and beyond to a farmers field filled like with sheep. The house has been lovingly restored and the surrounding farm buildings are slowly being revamped; the large barn is in the process of being converted into a reception hall and the work to date is stellar with wonderful wooden floors and rafters.

While it is a B&B, the proprietor also offers dinner sourced locally and/or from his own garden. We had dinner both nights at Cormiston, with lamb the first night and trout the second. Both dinners were excellent and our host, Richard, is not only a great cook but also a lovely and good natured person in general. Staying at Cormiston farm was really lovely and the rural setting, with accompanying silence, was a lovely change after the bustle of the two previous evenings.

We visited nearby New Lanark while staying at Cormiston which is a UNESCO world heritage site. New Lanark was built in the late 18th century as a mill (ie cloth producing) "town" by Robert Owen, a forward thinking man for his time who insisted on schooling for the children of his workers, clean housing and a very progressive (for the time) work schedule of 10.5 hours per day, six days a week in the mill. While his contemporary 1 percenters thought he was crazy, the mill still made him a very rich man and was active well into the 20th century!

He tried to replicate the same concept in the USA at New Haven but his dream failed and much of his fortune was consumed with this endeavour. Later in life he still campaigned for greater worker's rights and many of his ideas were legislated some sixty or so years after he proposed them. For a cynic like Christos, the story of a progressive capitalist from 200 years ago was a bit of an inspiration .... While at New Lanark we did a little shopping. Christos bought a lovely scarf and Lisa a sweater, as well as some balls of wool, from New Lanark.

Our other great joy at Cormiston was the local Galliforme ... A pheasant that Christos named "Philibert The Pleasant Pheasant". According to Richard he had been roosting nearby for the last six weeks or so and we managed to see him twice while there. While pheasants are hunted (after August 12), Richard indicated that Phil was too large and thus would not be tasty. This coupled with the amicable feelings the family had towards him ensured that he was safe on the grounds of Cormiston farm!

After two lovely nights at Cormiston farm, it was time to move on to our next destination, Windlestraw Lodge near Peebles.

The Mel Gibson Memorial and Bannockburn!

After our night at the B&B near Falkirk, our next destination was about an hour's drive to the south in the region known as "The Borders" as it borders England. However, before we headed south we did a quick drive back north to visit the Wallace Monument and the site of the battle of Bannockburn. The Wallace Monument is situated near Stirling and is a very tall tower with amazing views of the site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge where the Scots, under William Wallace, won a resounding victory over the English in 1297. This event was brought to a wider audience in the 1995 movie "Braveheart" which although a good watch is incredibly inaccurate from a historical perspective; in the film, the Battle of Stirling Bridge has no bridge and the bridge was a key component of the Scottish victory as they let only a portion of the English army cross it before the Scots attacked and pushed the English back to the banks of the Stirling river.

The monument also houses the "Wallace Sword", a five foot long blade that was reputedly used by William Wallace himself, although parts of the sword are some 160 years post his time period. We had to laugh as in the gift shop one can buy statues labelled "William Wallace" that are in fact anachronistic (blue faced Picts having been 1000 years before the battle and tartans coming several hundred years later) depictions of the Scottish hero straight from Braveheart!

Then it was off to the site of the Battle of Bannockburn where in 1314 the Scots, under Robert the Bruce, dealt another blow to  the English when they defeated an army twice as large as theirs (and with better gear and training) by adroit leadership and the use of the schiltron spear square to overcome the English army's massive advantage in heavy cavalry.

We visited the monument, girded ourselves in replica armour and weapons and then played an interactive battle game with another dozen visitors that allows each visitor to command a contingent in either the English or Scottish army. Christos was on the side of the Scots and Lisa on the side of the English. While the maneuvering in our game was different than how the original battle played out, the Scots still emerged victorious! The game took about half an hour and was quite fun although it took a bit of time for some players to get into it.

Then it was time for the drive down south to our next B&B, the amazing Cormiston Farm near Biggar. We arrived around 5ish and relaxed for a few hours, walking about the farm and meeting the local beasties before having an amazing dinner of lamb. Then it was time for a after dinner Scotch before heading back to our room for some Game Of Thrones watching while we drifted off to sleep around midnight.

A rough Saturday night

Christos left July 4th and 5th open with no hotel/B&B reservations. Although we had originally planned to visit Glasgow, we decided to stay in the Highlands instead so we found a place to stay using the Internet .... The MacDonald Forest Hills Hotel and Spa. As it was a short drive away, we decided to extend the drive and visited the Glengoyne Distillery north of Glasgow before arriving at the hotel around 4pm. We walked into a scene of chaos as there was a wedding going on at the hotel and things went downhill from there. Neither the phone nor the TV worked in the room which was frustrating as we had hoped to watch a bit of TV and relax (Lisa loves the show "Come Dine With Me") and the more upmarket restaurant was closed (booked for the wedding) which meant we had dinner at the hotel bistro instead which served very mediocre fare.

When we got back to our room at 10:30pm, the din from the wedding's live band kept going until midnight and then one of the guests in the room adjacent to ours left the fan on in the bathroom in their room (we believe he passed out) creating a dull roar in ours. With no phone to call down to reception, we threw on some clothes and arranged for management to talk to the guests next door. Finally by 1am we had peace and quiet but we were certainly not in good moods after the evening. We had planned on spending two days at the place but cancelled our second night. The bright side was the hotel staff was attentive (they had a guy come in to look at the TV and phone soon after we notified them) but to no avail (the phone and TV remained offline during our stay) and the manager ended up refunding our stay! So we left the next morning feeling tired but in decent spirits as we felt the hotel management had done the right thing.

The next day we drove to Falkirk with stops at the ruins of Inchmahome Priory and Doune castle. Inchmahome is on an island in Lake Menteith and one takes a quick boat ride out to visit the ruins in their quiet, peaceful setting. At one point, it was a place of refuge for a very young Mary Queen of Scots. On our way back from the priory, we saw a beautiful heron emerge from the reeds and fly by; quite a majestic sight!





Only a short drive away from Inchamohome is the excellent site of Doune castle.

While not the largest of fortified dwellings, it's state of preservation is stellar to such a degree that it has been used for not one, not two but three well known programmes; Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail, Outlander and Game of Thrones! The tour includes an audio guide narrated by Terry Jones with quite a bit of humour.  The castle is pretty much in perfect condition and on the tour one visits the Great Hall, the Kitchens (including the Servery with a precursor to the "pass" in modern restaurants), the Lesser Hall, the Duke's Chamber, the Duchess' chamber etc etc!

Really an excellent castle to visit for any medievalists! The image to the left is the window for the scene goes as such:

Father: One day lad, all this will be yours!

Son: What the curtains?

We then drove on to the B&B we had found for our night's rest and popped by a local pub for a dinner including curry, a food the Scots love!

Loch Voil, the land of Rob Roy!

We left Loch Ness before noon as we had quite a drive ahead of us to Monachyle Mhor in Trossachs National Park. The drive down the bank of Loch Ness was wonderful with gorgeous views, sunshine and fresh berries (raspberry and strawberry), purchased from a roadside stand operated by two wee Scottish ladies. About half way through the drive, we stopped off at the Ben Nevis distillery, which unlike the other two distilleries we had already visited is not owned by a large liquor consortium (ie Diageo) but was not Scottish owned, having been purchased by a Japanese concern some time earlier. Ben Nevis Scotch is almost exclusively exported to SE Asia so of course we could not leave without buying a bottle!

We then headed away from the coast into the highlands and through Glencoe. While Glencoe is amazingly beautiful, it is also the site of a sad history for in February 1692, 38 members of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe, including the chief Alasdair MacIain, were brutally murdered by British soldiers after they had provided hospitality and billeted said troops for almost two weeks. A further 40 women and children of the Clan died due to exposure in the harsh Scottish winter. Two of the British soldiers refused to obey their orders and instead broke their swords but still, the Scottish did not forget and subsequent support for the Stuarts amongst the highlanders had a least some origins in this vicious act. We visited the small museum at Glencoe with its exhibits relating to the massacre and also encountered a kilted highlander playing bagpipes in the Glen itself!

We arrived at lovely Monachyle Mhor late in the afternoon and relaxed for a few hours before dining at the fabulous restaurant around 9pm. Monachyle Mhor is quite amazing as it is located some eight miles off the main highway at the end of Loch Voil. One drives down a tree lined, single lane country road beside Loch Voil to get to the place, having to pull aside on occasion in order to let other vehicles by and it seems as one goes that perhaps one is chasing a dream; could a fine establishment really be located in such a remote place? All doubts are dispelled upon arrival when the property comes into view; it is a lovely building with views over the Loch and a top notch staff. The restaurant serves an expensive but amazing dinner complete with amuse bouches, small soups between courses and fine wines! It is the kind of place that has a helipad nearby as celebrities and other bigwigs do on occasion make an appearance.

We were quite lucky in that we received a room upgrade and our suite had not only the most wonderful plush bed but the bathroom had two clawfoot tubs beside eachother so that both guests could bathe at the same time! We ended up having two baths while there and watched the film "A Most Violent Year" while in the tub resulting in Christos becoming a human prune one night. We spent three wonderful nights at the place and enjoyed deep, relaxing sleeps while there of the kind that only rural tranquility brings, although we were awoken the last night by a very noisy, perturbed crow at 5am!

While there, we trekked down the road to the local "Kirk" wherein can be found the grave of Rob Roy along with his wife and two of his sons. The area was in fact home to the famous Scottish folk hero.

Behind the old church is a path that leads up to the old MacLaren lookout point with stunning views down the Loch and to its entrance, allowing a clan lookout to warn should outsiders enter the Glen.

We also took a day trip into the local town of Callander during our time at Monachyle Mhor to get a little laundry done as well as some shopping. Callander is quaint, cute and small but one can get Guinness at the pub so a visit was critical given the lack of said beverage at MM.

We finally left MM on a rainy Saturday morning; we would not have minded extending our stay but the whole place was booked for a wedding on the weekend. So off we headed to our next destination, the MacDonald Forest Spa near Aberfoyle.

The Hunt for Nessie

After a couple nights in the Cairngorms National Park, we hopped in the car and headed for our next destination, Loch Ness! We had aimed to take a little diversion down into Speyside to visit a distillery or two but ended up getting diverted and instead found ourselves heading north towards Nairn which turned out to be a good thing as the Speyside itinerary would have added quite a few hours to our trip and would likely have seen us arrive quite late at Loch Ness. As Scotland is thick with distilleries, we were not too put out and vowed to make it up later. On the drive, we saw several deer (including two very young ones) as well as a pair of pheasants (male and female) that were only feet away from the car. The male pheasant really is a beautiful creature although clearly not the brightest of beasts (how it managed to let us get so close is beyond me).

On the way, we stopped off at an 17th century bell tower, visited an old church and passed by Culloden battlefield (we decided to postpone the visit as it was late in the day) before arriving at the charming Loch Ness lodge. The Loch Ness Lodge is a beautiful, luxury B&B so dinner was, by necessity, offsite. We dined at the Loch Ness Inn where Christos' prawns were excellent and Lisa's fish was top notch. A shuttle bus back to the Lodge was passed on at 10pm, resulting in more Guinness being quaffed and we ended up being the last customers at the Inn! We finally got back to the Lodge shortly after 11pm and fell asleep watching a little TV.

The next day, Lisa was not feeling very well so she skipped breakfast which was a pity as it was excellent. Christos had the traditional Scottish breakfast of eggs, bacon, roasted cherry tomatoes and sausage accompanied by freshly squeezed OJ and a wonderful, large cappuccino.

After breakfast we headed off to visit the Culloden battlefield site where in April 1746 hopes of a restoration of the Stuart family to the throne of England were finally dashed after 57 years of hopes and dreams. The site and visitor centre are very well done with enlightening exhibits, helpful guides in period costumes and a GPS based listening tool that tells you about different spots on the battlefield. Perhaps the most moving part is the row of clan grave markers which still have raised mounds of earth behind them covering the bodies of the fallen.

After Culloden, it was off to the Black Isle (which is actually a peninsula) for lunch and scenic views from the spit near Fortrose which also hosts an interesting ruined cathedral.

Then we drove back towards Loch Ness, bypassing Inverness, with a stop at the Glen Ord distillery for a wee tipple and some whisky buying. As the previous night's meal had been grand, we opted to not try a new establishment and returned to the Loch Ness Inn for dinner where Christos ordered the mussels but settled for the seafood gnocchi (mussels being all gone) while Lisa indulged in one of her favourite meals, the hamburger. Finally we took an early shuttle back to the Lodge and got good night's sleep before getting ready for our lo drive the next day to Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

The Magic of Cairngorms Park

We arrived at the lovely Docharn Lodge (a B&B), located near Boat Of Garten, after a lovely drive from Edinburgh through the hills and dales of the Scottish Highlands. After a warm welcome from our hosts, we relaxed for a couple of hours before heading off to a local hotel and pub at nearby Carrbridge around 8pm. Carrbridge is a quaint little town, most famous for its lovely stone bridge over the river at one end of town that is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands, having been built in 1717. While the bridge was damaged in the 19th century and is unusable for traffic today, it is quite lovely and worth a look if one is near Aviemore (the largest town nearby). Dinner of fish and chips for Christos and Ale Pie for Lisa was good and washed down by Guinness. On the drive back, we saw several deer in the local woods, a big thrill for city slickers like us! When we got back to Docharn Lodge, we snuggled in to our bed and watched the first episode of Game Of Thrones as well as the first episode of Outlander. While we love GOT, Outlander was in some ways more intriguing as it is set in the Highlands, near Inverness, and thus resonated with us. We finally drifted off to sleep around midnight with the blinds tightly drawn as even at night it is not completely dark at this time of year in the Highlands.

The next day we woke a little late due to jet lag, ate a lovely breakfast that appealed to our Canadian sensibilities (unlike most of Europe, the Scots know how to do breakfast; bacon, eggs, beans, sausage, black pudding and more!) and then off we went for our first full day of touring the highlands.

First we visited the Osprey Sanctuary nearby where we joined the RSPB (The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and saw Ospreys, Woodpeckers, other gorgeously coloured songbirds and rare Red Squirrels! Quite fun and they have done a great job with the centre as it allows visitors to see the Ospreys from a distance (via telescope/binoculars), thus not disturbing the wonderful birds of prey, while the closer by bird and squirrel feeders are overrun with other creatures and do not require the use of optical aides to view the animals.

After the Osprey Sanctaury, we headed to the nearby town of Aviemore for a quick bite before heading to Loch An Eilein for a wonderful hour and a bit stroll around the Loch complete with a view of the lovely ruined castle on an island in the Loch. Loch An Eilein was a bit more popular than we had thought and we encountered quite a few other walkers on the trail.

We got back to Docharn Lodge around 5pm and relaxed for a bit before heading to the "Winking Owl" for dinner around 8pm where Christos had the Cullen Skink and a meatie while Lisa enjoyed a burger, one of her preferred meals. Dinner was interrupted when a rush of people headed out to the entrance and we soon discovered why; a beautiful and strong rainbow was to be seen!

We drove back to our B&B after dinner but spent some extra time hunting deer and other forest beasties (with our eyes, not with guns) and we did in fact see a rabbit and several deer!

Scotland! The arrival.

While we usually travel to warm and sunny Mediterranean climes for holidays, this year we decided on something different, a trip to Lisa's ancestral homeland of Scotland! Sure it's a bit chillier than Canada but with the summer heat already hitting Toronto, cooler lands are not such a bad thing.

We arrived in Edinburgh after a sleepless flight from Toronto. The flight was not an easy one for either of us; Lisa was feeling sick from bad airport food (avoid Susur Lee's place at Pearson) and neither of us got much sleep on the way over. So we crashed for a few hours at the hotel before getting up in the late afternoon to explore Edinburgh. It was a bit rainy so our stroll was limited to the area around the "Royal Mile" of the city with the obligatory stop in a pub for pints of Guinness. Edinburgh (what we saw of it), is a lovely city with gorgeous buildings, windy roads and cool monuments (such as the one for Bobby the Dog). After a few hours out, we grabbed a quick bite and had planned to enjoy Friday night live music but we were so bagged it was back to the hotel for a night's rest. Being further north than Toronto, the light in Scotland during the summer lasts for quite some time; sunset at 10pm and darkness (well dark twilight anyway) at 11pm!

On Saturday we picked up our rental car and were on the road just after noon, heading north to our first country destination, Cairngorms national park!!! We arrived at the the lovely Docharn Lodge in the late afternoon after a three or so hour drive north ... With of course the obligatory stop at a whisky distillery on the way, in this case Dalwhinnie, where Christos enjoyed a wee dram and bought a bottle to take home.