Scotland - Part Two

Tuesday, April 4, 2006 6:40 pm

We are now in the MacKinnon Country House Hotel--a Hotel rather than a B & B, which is what Dhailing Lodge was. Less personal and less attractive. The plus is the actual bathtub in each room. There was a hideous burgundy spread on my bed which I took off and p ut in the closet, in favor of the flowered duvet covered feather comforter beneath it. They are trying, according to their Hotel book, to decorate each room in the colors of the clan the room is named for--in the case of my room, Clan Leslie, and the colors are burgundy and green with a navy tripe running through.

We had a long day of travel to get here. One of our stops was at the Glencoe visitor's center. Glencoe is a range of mountains in the Highlands with a bloody history during the Jacobite period. The Campbells were ordered by the British to murder the MacDonalds, who held Glencoe. The British wanted to control the mountainous area, I'm sure, but also thought of these Highlanders as barbarians and not worth living. How they convinced the Campbells to be so traitorous I don't know. Promises of land, probably. The area is dramatically beautiful, the mountains rising just beside the road that goes through it, and at this time of year there is still snow on them. The mountains aren't high, maybe 5000 ft., but impressive so close. Since our family can be traced back to the Campbells we must be careful who we tell around here, as all on the Isle of Skye would have a negative view of that betraying clan.

Another stop was at a place called The Green Welly, called thusly because a Green Welly (mucking around boot) is very posh, versus a black welly! We stopped for a cafeteria type lunch. I had a cheese/tomato sandwich and a scone. Good scone with gold and black raisins. Scones here are smaller here than the US behemoths we are used to from Starbucks, et.al.

Prices are high and our exchange rate is practically 50%. I got 106.25 pounds for $200!! Yikes! Not buying much! I did buy a plain scarf and a stuffed sheep for Ali, and cookies for people at work. I've picked up a few rocks to take back for Bookworm and another friend.

Moving around is hard for Mom, so sometimes when we make short stops she stays in the car. She seems happy enough to do that, but it makes me sad to think of h ow she would have bounded out of the car if she hadn't broken her ankle. I wonder if she will ever really heal to 100%. I pray she does and she is determined to. Of course, now I wish I had organized this trip 2 or 3 years ago, but the timing was right now, so there you have it.

This hotel we are in is not anything like the Dhailing Lodge. The other ws beautifully appointed and decorated. Fraser was a wonderful host, moving our utensils at dinner so we'd know which ones to use, very courtly with Mom. The rooms were immaculate and tasteful. The meals were incredible. This hotel, in comparison, is obviously trying hard but not quite making it. The tile in the bathroom isn't trimmed under the sink, the toilet shifts when you sit on it, the chairs are some awful 50s style with tartan fabric. There is a hair drier, though, as there was at the Dhailing, which is a surprise to me. (I didn't bring mine because even with a UK adapter I blew out all the circuits in my Mate's Aunt's house in Norwich!)

The choice of food is odd here.The menu is Steak, Dover Sole, Salmon Venison or Chicken stuffed with Haggis! I chose the Sole tonight, but it was served whole with a heavy sauce on it. I had to eat down to the bones and then flip it over. I ignored the head. Desserts were various "puddings" (very moist sweet breads) or ice cream. I had a walnut/apple pudding with vanilla hard sauce and Mom and Erin had the Plum Duff w/sauce. I love the name Plum Duff, but it was just a very rich "pudding". The oddest part of this dinner, aside from the fact that the 3 of us were the only people in the large dining room, was bagpipe music being played on boombox. Oh yes, the white (think Wonderbread) bread with trimmed crusts in toast rack, on the table during dinner, was also a disconcerting touch. Crikey!!! I believe we are in a foreign country!

Must stop--very sleepy I get the single room this time, with Mom and Erin sharing a room. I am glad for the quiet.

Wednesday, April 5, 2006 3:55 pm

Very stormy day on Skye! We were intending to visit more places but the weather is so cold, wet and windy that we are skipping some things. We went to a botanical garden at Armadale Castle this morning and were able to get Mom an electric wheel chair. She had a ball with it, going off on her own at one point, just because she could. The garden contained the ruins of a mansion, Armadale, a mansion built to look like a castle.

On our way here yesterday, we stopped at Eileen Donan Castle, which is quite a superb ruin and a real castle, six or seven centuries old. It is wonderful to photograph. At low tide there are gigantic rocks, a stone bridge. It looks like something out of myth. Erin and I took tons of pictures there until George made us get back on the way to get to MacKinnon house by dinner. That has been the agenda every day-- leave at 9 a.m. and back by dinner, which is usually 7 pm.

I got wet and cold today, so when we got back at 5:30 I took a bath then took a nap in the fluffy terry robe provided in the closet. Very nice!

Dinner for me was prawns in the shell (!) as a "starter", then Breast of Chicken stuffed with Haggis and a very dense chocolate cake. The chicken with haggis turned out to be very good! The haggis was more like a grain stuffing. I guess it's just the thought of it being steamed in a sheep's stomach that made me think it would be something that tasted like organ meat. It doesn't. Haggis is used so much here that we have seen large vans pulling up in front of restaurants and hotels with nothing but the daily ration of Haggis! Best Haggis, LTD.

Tomorrow will be another travel day to a new hotel. I hope the weather is better. I think George feels badly about today. I forgot to mention this fabulous shop we visited this morning. It was called Ragamuffin. Incredible knit things--fashion scarves, hat, pins made of boiled wool, beautiful too expensive clothing. Mom bought a pink, blue, maroon scarf knit in a contemporary pattern. Erin bought a silk scarf and a ring. I bought a felt pin. We could have spent hundreds of pounds there if we'd had them.