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Okay, feeling better (was actually feeling kind of crappy, jet-laggy, just "off" for a few days), so hopefully our next bout of driving will go better.  And...I'll be cautious as hell.

Wrapping up a full day in Glasgow.  We didn't go nuts.  Mostly just spent some time in the flat we bought that the boy lives in.  Hit the Kelvingrove museum for the first time, that was pretty cool.  Had some errands to run (had to run by the bank, and there were a coupla things my wife wanted to pick up), ended up bouncing around town with the boy.  He needed a snack/late lunch.  We were down by Buchanan Street, so we hit Jollibee.  I tried a piece of their spicy.  Not bad.  We also took a look at the new Popeye's a block down.  He waited overnight there for the opening a month ago or so...and ended up not just getting free Popeye's shoes and food, but was also interviewed for Scottish TV about the parliamentary elections (were the day before).  He's a Labor kid, so the interview went fine.  And yes, when we visit the boy, he takes us to his favorite fried chicken places.

We also walked down to the river, sat on the lawn, and just shot the shit.  Thought about the fact that my wife's people have been along that river for hundreds (thousands?) of years, and now the boy does.

Tonight, the plan is dinner at Shish Mahal, birthplace of Chicken Tikka Masala.  Then tomorrow, gonna take it easy and go to Dumbarton and Oban.

I'll post a few pics later.  If you're looking for pics of attractive Scottish women....I don't have any.  Sure, there are some here and there, but dear lord, their penchant for painting themselves orange is awful.  And for someone like the boy, who prefers natural looking, athletic women, this ain't paradise -- his description: "They're mostly short, round, and orange."  He's not wrong.  And y'all know I can appreciate a curvy/thicc woman.  Nope.  That's not really in play here.  If they are carrying any extra weight, they're carrying a LOT of it.  It's Vic Mackey territory.  It really is kind of jarring.

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Wrapped up a good day in Glasgow yesterday with chicken tikka masala (and other items) at Shish Mahal, presumed to be where the dish was invented. Whatever the case, it was pretty damned good.

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Then today, attempt #2 at a car. It went MUCH better. Started out in heavy rain, visited Dumbarton castle and almost got blown off the rock by the wind and rain.

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Drove to Inverary, wet, cold, and hungry. Found a restaurant in a basement, had a kickass bowl of Cullen skink.

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Headed up to Kilmartin Glen, because we dig Neolithic stuff. Standing stones, cairns, 5000+ years of human activity. Pretty cool.

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And now, at our hotel in Oban. From our window:

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Our first chippy of the trip (we shared the chips, and I got an extra side of haggis although to confess, black pudding is more of my jam):

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Walked back to our hotel as the sun is setting.

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Also, my gaelic is a bit rusty, but I’m pretty sure they means “come on back, and grease your ass.”

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Disappointed we won’t be here for the shinty Macaulay Cup Final. I’m a HUGE shinty fan. Those bastard McKenzies think they’ll keep the cup, but their uppance shall come. Still, I’m not sure how they can schedule the post-match whiskey puke for EXACTLY 2:00 pm, but I guess they know what they’re doing.

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6 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

“Hey you, motherfucker. Yeah you. I’ve got a fucking problem with you.”
Not sure what we did to piss this dude off, but he’s been knocking at our window for a bit now.

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Put your clothes back on.  He thinks there's a worm and he's hungry.  😁

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Then on to Iona, where we’re spending the night. Iona is a really significant site in early Christian history, and my wife runs in circles that involve the “Iona Community,” an ecumenical and progressive organization. Iona has been a focal point for pilgrimages for 1400 years, and while she is far from Jesus-y, this was an important stop. And it is definitely a spiritual place.

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The main chapel of the abbey dates the the 15th century, but an abbey was there starting in 563. The smaller chapel shown above dates to the 12th century.

I went inside, and as I always do, I lit a candle in memory of my grandparents and now, my mother.

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The graveyard purportedly contains the remains of numerous ancient Scottish kings, including Macbeth.

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We hiked all over the island today. I’ll post some pics of that, it’s a beautiful place.

Earlier today, we stood on the spot where the writers hut was - this was where the actual Book of Kells was written (it ended up in Ireland for safekeeping from Viking raids).

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Tonight, we participated in a service at the restored Abbey.

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On 8/13/2024 at 11:19 AM, sidis said:

what i imagine hagbard looking like reading the last two posts.

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absolutely not

scotland has hidden (AND I MEAN REALLY HIDDEN) special things, wonderful things, things that should only be seen by TOP MEN (and their tribes)

but the only way to get there is to drive yourself and DPS DMV doesn't teach 1 lane mountain roads with with 1:5 gradients on hairpin switchbacks

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On 8/13/2024 at 1:24 PM, gsoda3 said:

the best spot is a secret travelodge parking lot that charges 24 pounds per 24 hours on cowgate near st mary's.

sheet neeegro, you got one i didn't have

well done

it's easier to park in central london than it is anywhere near the royal mile, much less with a sprinter

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We’re on Skye. Our accommodations and view from same.

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It’s raining today. Like…a lot. But we’re here. And our Texas rain gear is not fully up to the task. But fuck it, we didn’t come to sit around.

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The fairy pools are not so fairy…the fairies are angry today, like an old man sending back soup at the deli.

And I’ve now been driving on single track roads enough that I get annoyed at the tourists doing the “passing place” maneuver wrong. Of course, we won’t speak of my first day behind the wheel here.

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3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

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The fairy pools are not so fairy…the fairies are angry today, like an old man sending back soup at the deli.

And I’ve now been driving on single track roads enough that I get annoyed at the tourists doing the “passing place” maneuver wrong. Of course, we won’t speak of my first day behind the wheel here.

It never happened...  just a whiskey induced fever dream 

 

Also further down from the Ferry Pools there is a nice hike up to the Black Cullins

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/coirelagan.shtml

Also jealous AF, enjoy!

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1 hour ago, locodos said:

It never happened...  just a whiskey induced fever dream 

 

Also further down from the Ferry Pools there is a nice hike up to the Black Cullins

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/coirelagan.shtml

Also jealous AF, enjoy!

We really got chilled today.  Went up all the way to lealt falls and kilt rock (all falls were flowing like crazy from all the rain), but that was about all the wife had in the tank.  Our pants and shoes were still soaked, and that takes it out of you.  Back to the room to dry off and warm up.  Now doing a bit of work, and then a nice dinner.  We're going to try Old Man of Storr tomorrow -- supposed to be a bit drier, although the hike is reportedly muddy after a rain and....we had some RAIN.  Whatever, we're here, we're gonna give it a shot.  Then, on to Lewis and Harris.

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

We really got chilled today.  Went up all the way to lealt falls and kilt rock (all falls were flowing like crazy from all the rain), but that was about all the wife had in the tank.  Our pants and shoes were still soaked, and that takes it out of you.  Back to the room to dry off and warm up.  Now doing a bit of work, and then a nice dinner.  We're going to try Old Man of Storr tomorrow -- supposed to be a bit drier, although the hike is reportedly muddy after a rain and....we had some RAIN.  Whatever, we're here, we're gonna give it a shot.  Then, on to Lewis and Harris.

Get warmed up with a wee dram whilst sat next to peat fire...

My favorite stat about Skye is that they get 20 units of rain annually.   Those units are feet!

For other's benefit, if there's one thing you should splurge on when hiking in Scotland...  it's rain gear.

I made sure the wife and I had GorTex everything and waterproof boots.   Also brought a boot dryer.

Sounds like you're having an amazing visit.

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On 8/18/2024 at 4:40 AM, Brisketexan said:

Waiting on ferry to Lochalime. Finally started a day with a full Scottish, but told em to hold the beans and tomatoes and shit like that.

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Their version of bacon on that island was not to my liking. 
Smart move to delete the breakfast beans.

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Get warmed up with a wee dram whilst sat next to peat fire...
My favorite stat about Skye is that they get 20 units of rain annually.   Those units are feet!
For other's benefit, if there's one thing you should splurge on when hiking in Scotland...  it's rain gear.
I made sure the wife and I had GorTex everything and waterproof boots.   Also brought a boot dryer.
Sounds like you're having an amazing visit.

Yeah…our rain gear is merely…ok. We under-judged. And we didn’t get to do Storr - it was genuinely too crowded, and between the chaos at the trailhead/parking lot and on the roads around it, the wife had a small panic attack. I bailed and went south, then east. We hiked the fairy glen, had a relaxing lunch on the road outside Uig, and are now waiting on the ferry to Lewis and Harris.

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Hey aggies…DON’T WORRY THE SHEEP.

Also, I’m having too much hot tea. Way over caffeinating myself. C’est la vie.
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On 8/15/2024 at 2:10 PM, Brisketexan said:

Also, my gaelic is a bit rusty, but I’m pretty sure they means “come on back, and grease your ass.”

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"Greasaibh" can either be "Y'all grease your ass" or "You, dear sir, do grease your ass, now please," to give you the illusion that your ass-greasing is optional.

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Another day of flat-out gale. We at least broke down and bought good ponchos, although we now look like walking traffic cones.

We headed in to Stornoway to see the museum, which is damned cool. And yes, ended up buying Harris tweed scarves for wife and daughter. Some other tweed stuff was nice, but makes no sense for our climate at home.

The queen of the Lewis chessmen cannot….fucking…believe…that you just did what you did.

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And the king…sitting there wondering “was that JUST a fart?”

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They really are incredible to see in person. An amazing piece of history.

Now, we’re back towards the various Neolithic and other ancient sites. In the rain.

I’m supposed to fish tomorrow. We’ll see. The weather today is so bad that they cancelled both ferries to the mainland. So…that could be fun.

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see my pm reply
bbc says you break clear at 7am tomorrow it's going to be a glorious day, possibly up to 3 days

We shall see. Still supposed to be pretty breezy. I was supposed to go fishing, but we’ll see…rivers are pretty blown out, and will be…challenging conditions for fly casting.

So, we thought we went through a wee gale the other day on Skye. Oh…silly us. Today on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland said “hold my whisky and watch this.” Heavy rain all day. Blowing sideways in winds up to 50 mph. Ferry traffic to the mainland was shut down all day, and may be for much of tomorrow as well (we don’t leave till Friday morning…but hoping that our ferry will have gotten here the night before…fingers crossed). But did we go out to see things? Oh hell yes. Upgraded our rain gear, which….helped, but not entirely. And made us look like traffic cones. But honestly, seeing some of these ancient sites in pure Scottish conditions was impressive in its own way. Nature lashing against 4,000 year old monoliths, which provided us brief shelter from the wind. Stepping inside a Blackhouse, and feeling the warmth of a peat fire (rapidly becoming one of our favorite smells). And doing it bravely, foolishly, together.

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Okay, we’re back, so I’ll update with some pics and narrative.

The day above was rainy and windy as hell, probably our toughest day. Until the next day, when I went fishing.

See the heather? Yes, it’s so pretty, but….HEATHER IS A LIE. IT WANTS TO HURT YOU. IF SOMEONE INVITES YOU FOR A LOVELY WALK IN THE MOORS AMONG THE HEATHER, THEY WANT YOU TO SUFFER. I say this because I went fly fishing in that. Casting into a 30mph wind was tough. Hooked several browns, landed only one, small enough to lose a fight to a sardine. Beautiful place, and beautiful water, and truly enjoyed fishing, but…moors are mud pits that will make you get struck and/or stumble and fall. And heather grows in stubborn, rigid clumps that want to trip you. Ask my very muddy pants how I know.

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Before that, waiting for the rivers to go down from all the rain, our guide drove us over to Uig, to see the coast there.

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That evening, we visited the Calloway Broch - an approx 2000 yr old structure (somewhat restored over the years) right around the corner from where we stayed (sorry, pics are a bit out of order below).

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The next morning, an EARLY wake-up to catch the ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool. We were worried about that just 36 hours before - the gale was strong enough that they cancelled the ferries for the day, stranding a bunch of people. Lucky for us, the sea was dead calm when our time came.

And…breakfast on the ferry was a thing of fucking beauty.

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We arrived in Ullapool, and walked the town (didn’t take long). We then headed north into the highlands.

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We checked out Ardvreck castle, reminded me of the castle in Highlander where the Spaniard met his match. I tried out my favorite line from the movie - “DO AS I SAY, WOMAN!” My wife was unamused.

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Stopped for lunch in Lochinver at the Lochinver Larder, famous for its pies. It did not disappoint.

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Had an apricot peach pie too, also amazing.

Then, took a long single-track road trip to achnahaird beach.

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Wrapped up the day back at our bnb along loch broom. Views from our place (note the small rainbow dead center of the first pic).

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The next day, we had a drive to Edinburgh, but plenty of time to do things along the way. Will follow up with those.

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