Britain -- June, 2003: 14 Days, 2350 miles
This page has a lot of photos. It may take a minute or two to
load completely.
Day 1: Amersham, on the
outskirts of London, where we visited with
Jen’s relatives Frances and Martin Mace.
Day 2:
York,
England
Day 3:
Edinburgh,
Scotland. The first photo was taken
at Edinburgh Castle. The building in the
background is St Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in the city, which dates
from the 1100s, and which is still used for British military weddings. The
artillery in the foreground is the giant medieval siege cannon Mons
Meg.
Day 4: The beautiful seaside
town of Elie, in
Fife,
Scotland.
The Ship Inn, in Elie, where we both had surprisingly good Asian stir-fry
dishes.
The “cliff walk,” just south
of Elie. Heavy winds account for the
bad hair.
Day 5:
St.
Andrews, in Fife. This shot was taken among
the ruins of the town’s 12th-century cathedral
St.
Andrews Castle (from a
postcard)
The town’s famous golf
course:
Day 6: The
Island fortress of
Loch Leven Castle, which we accessed by
ferry. Fortifications on the site date to the 13th century. Mary, Queen of
Scots, was imprisoned here in 1567. She escaped in a rowboat on May 2,
1568.
Here’s an airborne view of
Loch
Leven (from a postcard we
bought)
Day 7: We spent most of
the day traveling in the rugged, unpopulated areas east of Loch Ness. These were
typical views.
We saw many bunnies. This
one even let us take his picture.
Day 8: After spending the
night in Aberdeen with Joanna Pirie and Brett
Wallick, we toured the surrounding region. This is
Dunnottar Castle, on the coast south of the
city.
A pagan stone circle, one of
many in the area, created roughly 5,000 years ago
The coastal cliffs north of
Aberdeen. This is ideal birding
territory. We even saw a pair of puffins.
The tiny coastal town of
Pennan, best
known for being the shooting site for
the movie Local Hero. The Pennan Inn, the light blue building in the background, is
where we stayed.
We hiked to a small town
near Pennan and examined its graveyard, which had
legibly carved gravestones dating back to the mid-19th century. I found this
19th specimen particularly interesting. Note well, reader, the last six lines.
In rural areas, sheep often
blocked the road. You sometimes had to honk a lot to get them to
move.
On Day 9, we headed West to
the island of
Skye – looping north through the
rugged terrain of northwestern Scotland. Near the bridge to Skye,
we stopped at Eileen Donan Castle, which is billed as the
most photographed castle in all of Scotland. You can see why.
We spent Day 10 driving
through the islands of Skye and Mull. This is considered to be
one of the most scenic parts of Scotland. Unfortunately, it was here
that we had some of our worst weather. This fog-drenched scene was
typical.
This picture was taken at
the western tip of Mull. In the background, you can
see the tiny but immensely historic island of
Iona.
Day 11: We toured
Glasgow (in which this photo of
City Chambers was taken) and then drove to the southwestern city of
Ayr to visit Jen’s relatives,
Ian and Fiona Meikle.
Jen, Ian and
Fiona
On Day 12, we traveled to
Stirling, where we stayed – just
south of the city – in a small cabin, right next door to Adam Farlow, his wife Bonnie and their
new son Tom.
On Day 13, we toured
Stirling – site of, among other
famous events, the 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge.
Here is a picture of me at Stirling Castle.
We spent the night back in
Edinburgh, where our Scottish trip
started. Lara and Patrick generously hosted us once more. They also showed us
some of the city’s better restaurants. This shot was taken at Bells Diner.
The 19th-century
Forth
Rail
Bridge, a
beautiful structure and a marvel of Victorian engineering. This shot is from a
postcard.
We spent Day 15 in
London (after spending the
previous day driving south from Edinburgh). Ion Valaskakis generously played host, and even came with us on
a double-decker tour of the city. This shot was taken in front of his flat in
Kensington.
