Scotland 2012 Trip, Day 1, Sept 9th: Inveraray Castle, Glenfinnan
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Day 0 (Sept 8th):
5:32pm, Philly Airport
Up before my 6:45am alarm, and we're on the road to Denver airport ~7:35am. Packing for 2 weeks of international travel is always time consuming for us, but this time it's been simplified due to the lack of camping gear and dehydrated food to bring on our trip to Scotland. However the itinerary planning has been as time consuming as normal, and I've been up late the past couple of weeks planning and attempting to react to the latest weather forecast (I gave up trying to avoid rain in Scotland). We've got B&B reservations for the first 7 nights, but the 2nd week is wide open for us to decide on the fly.
The 10:05am flight to Philly goes without a hitch, and we both get at least an hour of sleep. Our 6:45pm flight from Philly to Glasgow arrives at 6:55am tomorrow, so we're in for a short night tonight, losing 7 hours from MST. We need all the sleep we can get today. Philly continues to be my least favorite airport. No free wi-fi (post-edit, turns out there is free wi-fi) , and 3 out of the 4 "Departures" displays didn't list our flight info/gate.
Talked to my parents on the phone in Philly, and wished my dad a Happy Birthday. Wendy ordered a tasty club sandwich from an airport eatery called "Earl of Sandwich".
Seeing all the "Duty Free" shops in the international concourse started giving us flashbacks to the start/end of past travel adventures (the most recent being 19 months ago in NZ/Taiwan), and the reality was beginning to sink in that we are about to embark once again for a life-list adventure.
My head is achy and tired, need some sleep for the big day that starts in ~8hrs. I'm hoping adrenaline kicks in once we land.
I plan to close my eyes and visualize driving on the left side of the road once we board.
Day 1 (Sept 9th):
7:26am, Glasgow Airport
Made it to Scotland! But we're in a holding pattern at the car rental area, waiting for Thrifty to open at 8am…
The Philly flight was delayed on the runway a short while due to rain, but we still landed 30 minutes early in Glasgow, I had the misfortune of having a seat that didn't recline, which limited my ability to sleep (along with the squealing kid a few rows back). Wendy managed well. I ended up watching some of the Three Stooges movie, which is a great movie to watch if you didn't shell out the $5 for headphones (not much audio necessary). I'll be relying on adrenaline today, especially after a week of poor sleep leading up to this.
Got the passport stamped, and walked through customs no problem. Luggage was waiting for us on the carrousel. Grabbed some cash from the ATM, and called the off site Thrifty car rental office only to find out they don't open til 8am. Got 40 minutes to kill. Too bad, cause the weather is only supposed to get worse as the day goes on.
A view out the window to catch sunrise Sunday morning. I wait in Glasgow airport for Thrifty to open at 8am and give us a shuttle to their site...
No free wifi here.
Everyone here talks like Pippin from LOTR (at least the folk with accents I can understand). Billy Boyd is from Glasgow, so I guess that makes sense…
It was clouded over when we landed, but saw some morning sun on the sidewalk outside. Chilly out.
Time to synchronize all the clocks on the cameras.
9pm, Dailanna Guest House, 5 miles from Glenfinnan
Trying hard not to pass out. So tired…
We picked up the rental car shortly after 8am, and maneuvered 4 traffic circles in a row to enter the highway. I only threw my right arm against the door once, instinctively trying to shift into 2nd gear, before getting the hang of shifting with my left hand. Wendy helped navigate.
We stopped at Asda (the Walmart of Scotland) in Dumbarton, and bought a simcard for Wendy's old unlocked iphone. In addition, we browsed for groceries, and couldn't believe how cheap some items were. I bought ~1lb bars of dark chocolate for 30p! And a jar of peanut butter for 60p. Also bought a couple Scottish Eggs and a meat pie, 3 for 1Lb. It felt a little wasteful to be spending time shopping during rain-free weather, but it's always fun exploring foreign grocery stores.
Wendy stands across from our rental car, in front of the ASDA mega store (owned by Walmart). We bought a Scottish egg, which was quite spicy. Wendy didn't like it...
Back on the road, we drove to Inveraray Castle, passing stunning Scotland scenery, despite the cloud covered peaks and drab colors. The Castle was a bit pricy at 10Lb/person, but we went for it, after all, it was our first hours in Scotland, and I had given up on a big hike with both of us sleep deprived, and the weather iffy.
Some scenery from the drive, NW of Glasgow...
A common sign in the Highlands (rather, implied all the time)...
Approaching the town of Inveraray, with it's trademark white buildings...
A pano from the entrance of Inveraray Castle, and a hill with a monument on the right...
The castle had a self tour, and no pics were allowed inside. There was a huge armory inside, and lot of pics of the current Duke of Argyll (formerly Scotlands most eligible bachelor). He inherited the 30 mil pound fortune. Lucky.
Flowers lined the entrance to the castle...
Pics while walking around the castle...
Some classic castle shots from the gardens. Quite idyllic...
The outside architecture was impressive, even if it was rebuilt in the 1800s. Overall it was an ok experience.
Wendy, the gardens, and the castle. Nice start to our Scotland trip...
Then we continued on the coastal drive up to Fort Williams, stopping at other castles along the way. First up was the ruins of Kilchurn Castle, built in 1440 and abandoned in 1750 after a huge fire, along Loch Awe. We made a .5 mile walk to the impressive ruins, and were instantly entranced by this imposing structure of the past.
Seeing Kilchurn Castle across the Loch on our drive caught us by surprise. We eagerly set out on a quest to visit it...
How many ancient people took this road to the castle? The approach was exhilirating and magical...
Wendy arrived first and peered out the window...
It felt like exploring part of Minas Tirith, or more appropriately, Osgilliath (Minas Morgal)...
There was a narrow staircase that led to the 2nd floor. Check out how thick these walls are...
Narrow slits for arrows? A look back at the trail we walked in on...
A look inside the castle from above...
A pic of Wendy below (1st pic), and me up top (2nd pic)...
So cool...
This was better than Disneyland as a kid. Exploring ancient REAL castles is like stepping back in time. There are chimneys, stone circular stairways, and windows. And all free to visit! We knew this would be the highlight of the day.
A look at Kilchurn Castle as we drive away...
Just up the road from the castle was St Conan's Kirk, a church known for it's creative architecture. We stopped by to explore...
Good thing Wendy noticed this church while passing by. I had read that it was worth visiting, but didn't remember where it was...
Wendy liked this chair...
Cool steps built into the side of the church...
Courtyard scene...
We saw a few more castles on the map, and stopped by, but nothing came close to the aura of Kilchurn. Stalker Castle, of Monty Python and the Holy Grail fame, was also dramatic to behold. We had to brave the rain to catch a view at the lookout.
We stopped by 2 other castles on the map, but one had an entrance fee (1st pic), and the other was just a pink house/B&B (2nd pic)...
Stalker Castle was very cool! Wendy was even happy to see it, despite the rain!
The rain had begun, and was wiping away all our visibility as we drove along the coast up to Fort Williams. We didn't bother making a side trip to Glen Coe, since all the mountain tops were gone.
Eventually we arrived in Fort Williams ~4:45pm, tired. It took us awhile to figure out where to park. The main pedestrian street was fairly empty for a Sunday in Sept, and we ate dinner at an uncrowded pub restaurant, Ben Nevis Café. Wendy had beef lasagna, and I had a smoked haddock dish. Reasonably priced and good.
The streets of Fort William were desserted this wet Sunday evening. Plenty of room at the restaurants to find a table...
Out B&B was just 10 minutes from Fort Williams. It was gorgeous! The rain had stopped, and scenery was re-appearing, so we quickly headed over to Glenfinnan in hopes of some views. The loch and mountains had a silky silhouette. We saw a train on the viaduct too.
Wendy and I at dinner. A look out our bedroom window at the B&B before heading to Glenfinnan (2nd pic)...
Two classic Harry Potter scenes at Glenfinnan: Hogwarts is super inposed on this lake (1st pic), and the Hogwarts Express uses this viaduct (we happened to catch a train passing, 2nd pic)..,
But before I could get any serious photos, the rain started up, and we retreated back to our B&B.
Our en-suite room at the B&B...
A look out the living room and gardens...
Wendy takes a rest after a long day...
Wow, it's been a LONG day, and it feels like we've been in Scotland forever already. The forecast is for more rain tomorrow. We'll see what unfolds…
Other people in this B&B were saying they had a week full of blue skies before today, so we must have brought the bad weather. Doh!
At the B&B we filled out the checklist for tomorrow's 8:30am breakfast. Looking forward to it.
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