Too tired to post today...

...but I'll tell you all about our travels tomorrow when we reach our next cottage: Bairnkine.

http://bairnkinecottages.co.uk/about.htm

We are staying in the Owl Cottage.

Night, night...

Last day in Port Appin

Mom, Chris and Tatiana hung around Bothan Darach today - to run, rest and check out the local scenery...while Stacey, JA and Dad went onto Dunstaffnage Castle. Not much else to say...it was a relaxing day taking in the beauty of Port Appin (we are VERY sad to leave tomorrow).

This evening after dinner we went to the Pierhouse for a drink and had a chance to speak to some local folks (and as it is, not one of them is FROM Port Appin!).

All in all - a wonderful day. Did I mention we don't want to leave tomorrow? That's ok - it will be a new set of adventures. Tomorrow we are off to Glasgow...

Inverness (in the snow!)

Yesterday we left Port Appin around 7:15 am because we knew we had a long drive ahead of us to Inverness (about 2.5 hours). That may not seem like a long drive to some (especially fellow Texans), but trust me...2.5 hours in Scotland on skinny roads, in the snow and ice with double-decker buses and semis passing you on the 'wrong' side of the road is very long! We started off with fairly clear skies but just as we made it to our B&B and our tour guide (Allison) was picking us up, it started snowing!! We had made it just in time! We hopped into the tour van and headed off to Urquhart Castle.

Urquhart Castle
On our approach to Urquhart Castle we stopped at an overlook of Loch Ness and quickly saw Nessy! (See picture in slideshow above). The snow was coming down densely in great, white puffs at this point but we were all smiles at the beauty of the snow. Urquhart Castle is mostly in ruins now, but it is very beautiful and easy to visualize the structure in its heyday. The castle is built in a very strategic l0cation to the Highlands and has an interesting and long history. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/drumnadrochit/urquhart/

Corrimony Burial Chamber
We set out from Urquhart Castle for the Corrimony Chambered Cairn (burial chamber). This 4000 year old burial chamber is mostly known by locals and therefore we would not have found it without Allison (our tour guide). There are other smaller chambered cairns in the area...but the Corrimony is the largest and the only one that was excavated and now protected by the Historic Scotland Foundation.

Loch Ness Center
We were suckered into a Loch Ness exhibit exploring the mystery of Nessy and the geological and scientific pros and cons of her existence (cue spooky music here). So...does Nessy really exist? We are not telling. Something neat that did happen at the Loch Ness Center, as we were leaving Adrian Shine walked right by us! (Adrian Shine has devoted his life to studying Nessy and Loch Ness and designed and narrated the exhibit. He has written many books and sponsored numerous expeditions and research projects). http://ww.uniontrib.com/uniontrib/20080316/images/trav-man280.jpg

Dinner and a show
After resting a bit at the B&B, we enjoyed a dinner at The Kitchen right on the River Ness and then walked to Eden Court Theatre for a pantomime of 'Aladdin'. Think vaudeville meets Barney and Saturday Night Live. It was...interesting... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantomime

Inverness Town Centre

This morning we slept in a bit, had breakfast at our B&B and then headed into town centre Inverness for some site seeing. We found a delicious little bakery and bought lots of yummies for dinner and dessert: mince meat pies, sausage rolls, bridie's(pronounced BRY-DEEs), cornish pasties, shortbread with caramel and chocolate on top, jap cake (with marzipan, coconut and bananas) and a sweet mince pie. How much weight are we going to gain on this trip? Let's not count...

James Pringle Weavers

On our way out of town, we stopped by this 200 year old working woolen mill on the northside of Inverness. We were able to see some old weaving techniques of the traditional tartans and explore products we can't get in the U.S. Dad bought a nice cashmere scarf, Tatiana bought a tartan shawl and JA tried on his Scottish look (see slideshow above).

We stopped off for fish & chips (which were delicious!) - served with pots of tea, of course, and then made our way home.

Oban and Inverawe smokery

Today we mostly spent our time in Oban, but we made a detour first to the east, to Inverawe.

Inverawe: Scotland's Specialist Smokehouse
http://www.smokedsalmon.co.uk/default.asp?submit=Home
The Inverawe smokery is tucked into a tiny town, down a 2 mile single track lane. It is very isolated and very unique. We stepped right into the 'deli' area to peruse their goods - mostly focusing on their specialty preserves (used for game and other meats), specialty mustards and other condiments and...of course...their smoked fish! We bought smoked trout pate (which is to die for and is almost gone already!), smoked organic salmon fillets as well as a roasted, then smoked salmon with herbs (which is completely gone!). YUM! While Chris and Tatiana ate their smoked trout pate on oatcakes in the tea room (with panoramic windows overlooking the water) Dad, Mom, Stacey and JA went to the small smokery exhibit and then we headed to Oban.

Oban
Oban (which means 'little bay' in Gaelic) is a larger town directly on the water (population 8500) about 19 miles south 0f Port Appin. We headed straight into town looking for lunch. We wanted to eat at the Oban Inn, but we were hungry and needed to find lunch asap. We ate a pancake place which was basically the Scottish equivalent to an American diner. Stacey was adventurous and tried black pudding (she later found out what was in it and swore she would never eat it again. But hey - she tried it!).

After lunch the guys and the girls split up. The girls went in search of jewelry, general site seeing / shopping and to find out how to get onto the Ferry to Mull (which we'll be doing on Thursday). The guys headed off to tour the Oban Distillery which is the second smallest distillery in Scotland but one of the oldest (established in 1794). The girls had to go retrieve the guys from the distillery...and then we got into our cars and headed up the hill above Oban to McCaig's Tower. It was EXTREMELY windy and cold up there so we left quickly (nice view, though!). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCaig%27s_Tower

Great finds today:

• Smoked goods from Inverawe.
• Chris, Dad and JA got a free 'Official Whisky Glass' (for tasting) and bought some single malt scotch whisky.
  
• Mom bought some cool earrings made from dried, dyed Heather twigs!
• Ginger wine!
  

Tomorrow we are off to Inverness for two days!

Day of rest in Port Appin

We woke up late this morning - some of us at 10...some of us at 11. We had a nice breakfast of Scottish sausage, eggs, toast and marmalade!

After some respite:

• Chris and Tatiana went on a run up to the township of Port Appin
• JA, Stacey and Dad went on a nature hike on the Clach Thoull footpath which winds around on a small hill behind Port Appin
• Mom enjoyed some quiet time bird watching from the second story sitting room.
  

Afternoon tea and hot chocolate was served around 1:30pm and then Mom, Dad, Stacey and JA took a leisurely drive toward Glencoe - stopping at Ballachullich for tea and Guinness! Since it started to snow, and it was getting dark, they turned back toward Bothan Darach.

It was a very relaxing day getting acquainted with our piece of west Scotland. Tomorrow we are off to Oban for some shopping and site seeing (the boys will be drinking - there is a distillery in Oban!).