Below you’ll find a few of the images that tickled my funny bone while strolling Edinburgh, Scotland. At the very bottom of this post you will also find a short Youtube video featuring the sights of Edinburgh. My one regret is that I didn’t take a photo of our constant roommate for three nights in Smart City Hostel. Randy met his match in that this outgoing young English man out-talked him. Randy did happen to run into him in the hallway just as the young man was coming home from his night security job, so they did get a “proper” goodbye. Hope all is well…
Hmmm… I’m not sure if we are “kick ass” enough for this hostel! Smart City Hostel worked well for us.
I also found the people taking photos of each other at tourist spots interesting…
…and then you have the typical bored kids at a historically significant location ~ Edinburgh Castle. Bored looks bored in any language.
The short video below features some of the typical tourist spots such as, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle, Palace of Holyrood House and Holyrood Abbey, St. Giles Cathedral, Grassmarket…
… and get off in the quaint village of Crail, Scotland along the East Neuk of Fife. It’s a cloudy morning and the world is slowly waking up to ready itself for the day.
The path follows the East Neuk of Fife with Neuk being the old Scots word for corner. The path is well marked and follows the coast along the former Kingdom of Fife. Our views are spectacular with the sea to our left and farm country with livestock on our right.
Memorial flowers lead one to speculate… what happened?
Interesting plaque in Anstruther. The Dreel burn divides east and west Anstruther and the song tells how in ancient times Maggie Lauder carried King James IV over it to keep his feet dry.
We enjoy a beverage with the locals at the old Dreel Tavern. Sadly, it appears as though the Dreel Tavern has become a victim of the times and is now closed for business. Click on the Fife Today link for a little info on the current status of this historic pub filled with a unique ambience and character along with an interesting clientele. Visiting with the locals always seems to make travel experiences more memorable.
Below is a short video featuring our views along the Fife Coastal Path:
A community library serves as a resource for people of all ages and interests. Meet Margaret, the friendly and helpful librarian in Cullen, Scotland. If traveling in a region, the librarian can provide a wealth of local information for its residents and visitors.
Margaret is a caring, conscientious person having a wonderful rapport with people of all ages and we notice a good mix of personalities and ages utilizing the facilities.
Since Cullen, Scotland is located right on the coast of the North Sea along the Firth of Moray, it is appropriate to have a historical display of fishing equipment and coordinating books.
Visiting a community library provides a fantastic opportunity to explore things to see and do in the area, current local affairs/concerns with a local historical perspective. Thank you, Librarian Margaret of Cullen, Scotland, for your helpfulness and we appreciated your helpful advice and services.
We’d like to extend an invitation to check out the following link and visit the Gary, South Dakota City Library. Interested in area history? Genealogy research? Want to curl up by the fire with a good book? Librarian, Vera Meyer, will go out of her way to help you feel welcome, answer any questions you may have with a variety of resources at her fingertips. While you are at it, you may as well get to know some members of the community by working on a puzzle or play a round or two of Marbles (a popular card game)!
Our ancestry includes proud Scottish roots through our mother whose maiden name was Sharp. The mission of this portion of our trip to Scotland was locating the farm of our ancestors.
Longmanhill, Scotland is located some three miles east of the city of Banff-McDuff in Gamrie Parish on the north coast of Scotland. From the top of Longmanhill, on a clear day, one can see out over the North Sea. This long, gently sloping hill consists of a few farms, one of which is Hungry Hills Farm. In all likelihood, this area is the ancestral home of the Sharp family dating back to the 1600’s and 1700’s. ~ Sharp Family History Addendum – October 2001
Thanks to our determined taxi driver from Banff, our mission was accomplished!
Why did our ancestors leave such a beautiful land? Was it due to the Scottish Clearances?
Whether it was economic necessity as described by some, or ethnic cleansing, as described by others, the net result was that between 1783 and 1881 a documented 170,571 Highlanders were ejected from their traditional lands. Records are very sparse and it’s been estimated that the true total was very much greater than this. ~ tartans authority.com
These Scottish people were cleared from their homes mainly to make way for sheep, the wisdom at the time being that the sheep were more profitable than small tenant farmers. While some Highlanders left their homes
voluntarily and went abroad, most of the evictions were forced upon an unwilling population and were often carried out using the most despicable of methods. ~ yourscottishdescent.com
If anyone has an interesting link or information pertaining to this topic, please include these into the comments section of this post. Thanks!
An attempt to locate the land of our ancestors has led us to a stay in the quaint town of Cullen, Scotland, which is composed of two distinct parts:1) Sandwiched between the sea wall on one side and the curve of the main road on the other is the fishing village, Seatown of Cullen, a unique collection of a couple hundred stone fishermen’s cottages.
2) The “inland” side of Cullen, sometimes referred to as “New Cullen,” stretches up a grand and impressive main street that continues from Seatown under the most easterly of the three railway viaducts.
I’m glad the window washer has another man holding his ladder sturdy as it appears to be propped on an old stone wall. I might be inclined to own a window washing device like this, but I’d probably hit the power line and electrocute myself. Clean windows are not worth all that!
Cullen was established by 1189 on a location about half a mile inland from where you find it today, marked on maps as “Old Cullen” and close to Cullen House, which we were able to locate while following one of the walking trails near town.
Oh-oh… whoops! (At least we didn’t pick any flowers and don’t have a dog.)
Cullen’s wealth in the 1700s was built on textiles, and thread-making; the main period of growth came with the herring boom in the 1800s.
The impressive Cullen railroad viaduct was built in the year 1884 and is now a bicycle path.
New Cullen and Seatown of Cullen were built in the 1820s, the latter close to the pier built by Thomas Telford in 1819. ~Undiscovered Scotland
Below is a slide show of our walks around Cullen, Scotland where you’ll find the most beautiful sunsets.
…still more to explore in Cullen, Scotland so stay tuned!
We follow the directions from the Cullen, Scotland bus stop to our hostel for tonight: Harbour HostelNice and roomy and we are delighted to find ourselves the lone occupants of this 16 bed hostel.
The kitchen is supplied with a stove, dishes, pots and pans, refrigerator and more…
A-h-h-h… Let’s stay two nights.
Day two finds us gaining a roommate. Meet Bill Nickson Sr., an ex-international professional cyclist with many notable victories in his career, including the overall in the Milk Race (Britain’s most prestigious stage race) and the British National Road Race championships. He also rode and completed the Tour de France. In 1981 he started Bill Nickson Cycles in Leyland, England and his son runs the business now. He biked into Cullen from the train station (I think, 30 miles away) and is touring the area on bicycle. What a wonderful gentleman!
View of the sea from our hostel.
Elvis’ roots are also in this region and, fate would have it, the hostel has an “old school” record player and at the top of the pile of records is Elvis’ Greatest Hits. O.K., let’s stay here a third night.
We head through the Fort William tunnel and hop onto a bus… Destination? Inverness, Scotland!The word Inverness is from Scottish Gaelic language and means mouth of the River Ness. Inverness is the administrative centre for the Highland council area and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland. ~ Wikipedia Inverness Castle is in the background overlooking the River Ness.
Interesting architecture throughout the city.
Inverness Tourist Hostel is our home for two nights. Filled to the max due to a music seminar at the university, but they provide coffee grounds, electric hot water pots and a well equipped kitchen, so life is good. (Life is not so good from 6-8 a.m. as we wait for the kitchen to be unlocked with no caffeine) Ivan, the hostel employee extraordinaire, is very friendly and helpful. He’s from France, studying extreme sports at the university and with his personality, I’m sure he will do well in life.
Meet the Outlander Girls! Enjoyed visiting with them at the hostel and hearing of their adventures and interest in the Outlander series. They were even lucky enough to be part of the “Rob Roy” 6 a.m. serenade in the hostel lounge room. Such an interesting trio and so easy to converse with.
Culloden Moor lies nearby, and was the site of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which ended the Jacobite Rising of 1745–1746. Visiting the battle site sounds like a good plan to me. Tomorrow…
Living large at No 6 Caberfeidh B & B in Fort William with a huge Scottish breakfast featuring ham, sausage, eggs, black pudding, tatties, all kinds of cereal, granola, coffee and juice. Most of our nights are in hostel type accomodations so this is a real treat. Too bad we aren’t hiking 15 miles or more today to wear off our breakfast.
In front of the B & B, we find the couple from Austria that have been guiding a large group of about 18 people walking the West Highland Way. They are checking into possible lodging options for their 2016 West Highland Way tour.
Shrieks of delight fill the air as we spot the Scottish mother and son on their way to the bus station.
Oh, wow!! It’s the Canadian minister from the bar last night on her way to church. What an interesting person with a charming, sincere personality. Her name is Donalee Williams and she has a blog which I linked to her name.
Manchester, England claims these two hikers who camped all along the West Highland Way and this gentleman has been observing my hiking speed along the trail. At the bar in Tyndrum, I slowly crept past their table while carrying two pints of beer, trying NOT to spill, to which he commented, “Fastest I’ve seen you walk all day!”
Finally… It took us longer than expected to get to the new end of the trail sculpture due to all of the bonus socializing this morning. As we continue on to the bus station, we are grateful to have another farewell session with Mike and Stacy who are going the Isle of Skye before returning to Belfast, Ireland.
For us, it’s time to catch a bus to pursue new adventures and explore Inverness, Scotland. Stay tuned…
Here is the short video of our last day in Fort William:
While gazingover at the campers cooking their breakfasts, I do a last-minute check to see if I have everything. Yes, I remembered to get our sandwiches out of the hostel refrigerator and pack them in my backpack. (I have been known to forget!)
We start our day with Laura from Berlin. I often find myself thinking of her and hope all is going well with her life.
What a beautiful site for wild camping, overlooking the town of Kinlochleven. Beautiful weather today and hikers seem to be going at a leisurely pace as if savoring their last day of hiking. Joan, AKA The Beast, is ready to tackle the last leg of the hike with Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the U.K., in the background.
We are fortunate to be able to share part of this last day with Mike and Stacy (Ireland/Ukraine) as we descend into Fort William. Such a lovely pair…
This is the last we see of Leon and his gang from Holland as they are staying in the campground just outside of Fort William. We notice they still have energy to play tricks. Oh, to be so young again.
We see many runners from the Ben Nevis race walking back to their vehicles with their medals and trophies. Apparently, I didn’t have enough energy to pull out the camera. After walking 16 miles today, I don’t think we’ll attempt Ben Nevis.
Maybe, some other time.
Mike and Stacy are going on through town to pay homage to the new end of the trail, but we are close to our check-in deadline for the B & B so we must bid them farewell. Sad to see them go.We appear to be faking glee and excitement. Maybe we are a little disappointed to not have all of our WHW friends cheering with us at the end.
Hold on.. Who is that I see chatting in the distance? No, it can’t be. Yes, it is!!! Mandy just happens to appear along our route.
Later, we meet up with Mandy and Karen at a the Grog and Gruel Pub, popular with the Ben Nevis race crowd as you can see by the race numbers in the background. The fun-loving Scottish gentlemen in these photos are our photographers tonight so that we could get some group photos. You can’t help but love the Scottish people.
We also spend time this evening visiting with a minister from Canada on sabbatical doing research. I can’t remember her research topic… Could an evening in the pub provide inspiration for a few sermon topics?Cheers to the West Highland Way! 96 miles and we did the WHOLE thing! We may walk slowly, but we never walk backward.
Here is the video of our last day hiking the West Highland Way:
September 3, 2015: After spending a night in the lap of luxury at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel, we are recharged and ready to tackle the challenges today has to offer.
We cross the 18th century Bridge of Orchy and find some of the tent campers still waking up, including the group from Holland. Wild camping is quite economical but the downside is the extra weight of carrying a tent and camping gear. Upside is extra money to spend on food and drinks at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel bar next door.
The high point of this section, Mam Carriage, is marked with a cairn. A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones often used as trail markers or burial monuments. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn (plural càirn). ~Wikipedia
Thank you to Wolfgang, a musician from Switzerland, for taking this photo for us.
It feels eerily remote and I’m reminded of the Love Rock Story.
Joan adds a dash of color as she poses by the lone tree cairn.
Built in 1708, the Inveroran Hotel could also be named The Last Chance as this is the last opportunity for a stop before crossing the dreaded Rannoch Moor, the remotest and wildest section of the whole Way, according to Charlie Loram in his West Highland Way guidebook.
For the next ten miles we will have no escape from the elements should the weather become inclement. What have we gotten ourselves into?
Vintage photo of the Inveroran Hotel and beautiful flowers brighten the views as we sip our hot coffee, hoping it charges our spirits for the next ten miles.
Michael, the Irishman, takes a moment to drink in the view. (Maybe along with some Irish coffee?!)
The open feel of the terrain reminds me of South Dakota as you drive west from our home along the Minnesota/South Dakota border. The guidebooks give a warning of this awful section, but it reminds me of home and I’m especially enjoying the hike today.
This boggy moorland measures 50 square miles and caused major difficulties to builders of roads and railways. When the West Highland Line was built across Rannoch Moor, its builders had to float the tracks on a mattress of tree roots, brushwood and thousands of tons of earth and ashes. ~Wikipedia
So, don’t step too far off of the path as you may sink into the bog.
Snack break along the bridge before we tackle the last stretch for today. Thankful for good weather…it could be rainy, windy and cold. Lucky us!
Lodging tonight is within a couple of miles and the quiet gal that didn’t want to stay in the haunted room at Drovers Inn briskly walks by me. I haven’t gotten her life’s story yet so I pick up the pace to get the full scoop: From Taiwan, assistant professor at a university in Taiwan.
Can’t talk… wrong turn back at Bridge of Orchy and got lost. Must get to Kinlochleven by tonight.
She seems a little stressed and understandably so. It’s about 3:30 p.m. and she must hike another 12-13 miles through Kings House and over the challenging Devil’s Staircase before arriving in Kinlochleven. Scary thing is that she will likely be alone since most people will not be walking this leg until morning. Yikes! Hope she has a torch.
Twelve miles completed today and our home tonight is in a hobbit house at Glencoe Mountain Ski Resort.
Cozy quarters tonight, but we have a space heater and a coffee pot for the morning brew of instant coffee. We now know from previous experience which water bottles can handle the heat of boiling water.
Plus, locally brewed beer is available in the ski lodge.
Below is the video of our hike from Bridge of Orchy to Glencoe Mountain:
Thank you to Charlie Roth for his beautiful rendition of Wild Mountain Thyme from his Tartan Cactus Heart album. For more information on this talented gem of the Minnesota prairie go to charlierothmusiccom.
RJ Meyer Arts 
