yellowrose477

I made it! The trip to Scotland was great - even though it DID rain every day, at least for a while. When we got to the Edinburgh airport and went to the Hertz counter the kind man there told me that they had upgraded me to a brand new Mercedes Benz!! I told him that I didn't want a brand new car, that I wanted a junker since I had never driven on the left hand side before. He just smiled and told me that I would love it. They didn't have my navigation system there, but I was able to pick it up during our tour of Edinburgh the next day. My son met us at the airport and we got the car and headed out toward Dalkeith. The driving wasn't horrible - but I do not like roundabouts. I think that I will have nighmares about them for a while yet! We arrived at the Dalkeith Palace where my son is staying without incident. It was an easy drive from the airport. We walked around Dalkeith the first night and spent the night in the palace. Friday we took the bus to Edinburgh and walked all over the city. Had to buy new warm scarves as the wind was blowing and it was cold. Enjoyed Starbucks across from the Edinburgh castle - what a view. That night ate supper with my sons host family - how nice to visit a Scottish home and have wonderful hospitality. Saturday morning we headed toward the highlands. First stop was Scone Palace. Few people thought that the palace was open, so we had it to ourselves. The man at the ticket booth was very happy to see somebody so he chatted quite a while with us and gave us great pointers. We found the people of Scotland to be extremely considerate and helpful and friendly. Enjoyed Scone Palace and the peacocks outside. Continued north in the mist and rain - driving continued to be fairly easy - to my surprise. I did opt for the automatic - shifting would have been too difficult for me. More later -

Heatherkay

oh i really want to go to scotland! is it expensive to go there from Spain? Do you recommend Edinburgh? What airline companies are the best to look into? It sounds incredible!

noe847

yellowrose, so glad to see your trip report. Will be very interested to read the details of your time in the highlands.

yellowrose477

I forgot - before we left for the highlands - we visited Rosslyn Chapel. Unfortunately we were there too early and could not go inside. It was very close to Dalkeith and am so glad that I saw another member talking about Rosslyn Chapel. I would have hated to miss it. More about it later - -
After we visited Scone Palace we headed north toward Inverness on A-9. We didn't spend any time in Inverness, but headed toward Loch Ness and Urquart Castle. I thought that Loch Ness was beautiful and am so happy to have seen it. We didn't go into the castle, just took some photos and bought some souveniers at the local shops. While at the castle, there was a wedding party going in and a bagpiper leading the way! That was really great to see. We decided to head toward Plockton for the night. Oh my gosh - if we hadn't had the navigation system, I doubt that we would have been able to find it! The road to Plockton was very narrow! Plockton was a nice small town. We found a lovely B&B - Hill View for 20 pounds per person for the night. Then we had supper at a lovely inn. Time change that night! Sybil at Hill View served a great Scottish breakfast (beans for breakfast?) and we headed toward Skye. It was a rainy and foggy morning. We were close to the Skye Bridge and were in Skye within 20 minutes of leaving Plockton. It was Sunday so Skye was pretty quiet. When we arrived in Plockton nothing was open. It was also Mother's Day - so very quiet. There wasn't anything to do in Plockton so we decided to go to Dunvegan Castle. I loved driving on Skye - it was beautiful - even with the rain, fog and mists. We enjoyed Dunvegan Castle and the gardens were lovely. Can only imagine how gorgeous they must be in the summer. We spent quite a while at the castle and the grounds. Wanted to take the boat out to see the seals but the rain had picked up and the boats were pretty small - so we decided to skip it. Searched for another B&B and found one in Ose called The Anchorage. Again we hit the jackpot and had two lovely rooms for only 20 pounds per person per night. As it was Mother's Day our host had a lot of company and her new grandbaby over. So not so different on Mother's Day than here in America. We ate supper at the Dunvegan Hotel - only 1 other couple in the pub. This was the day the smoking ban went into effect, so had quite a chat with the pub owner about this topic. I ate the best curry I have ever had. My son decided to try haggis and my friend had the fish. A good meal.

Kippy

Hi yellowrose,

I had been thinking about you because of the weather we had during the time you were here. Snow, rain, hail, strong winds, sometimes all on the same day.

Great report so far. Looking forward to reading more.

yellowrose477

Backing up a little bit - when we were in the Loch Ness area - we were in Drumnadrochit. When we headed south from Drumnadroichit on the A887 - can anybody tell me what that area is called. There was some gorgeous scenery through there. If I had been dropped from a plane into that landscape, I would never have thought I was in Scotland! My pre-conceived notions were totally unprepared for that type of breathtaking landscape. Of course no photos can capture the mountains and the true beauty of the scenery. Is this the Grampion area?

yellowrose477

o.k. - now back to the story -
We awoke the next morning (Monday) to RAIN! Heavy rain this time. We had wanted to head north on Skye but decided to re-think our plans. Got out the maps and our hostess called the ferry. Found out that it wasn't running until evening. So we headed back toward the Skye Bridge. By this time the left-hand driving was becoming second nature to me and my son didn't have to yell at me quite so often to watch the left side! We headed toward Fort William. Tried to go to the Ben Nevis distillery - but they didn't have power. So we went to the Invergarry ruins and wandered around imagining all of the history that had happened there. Could not see Ben Nevis as it was too cloudy and rainy. Did some more shopping in the downtown area of Fort William and found a B&B with a nice view of the loch. The next morning went back to the distillery - in the rain - but still no power. We then headed toward GlenCo - rained all the way. What a beautiful area though. I can imagine if we had been able to see more of the mountains that it would have been more beautiful. We still were able to get quite a few good photos as the rain would clear at times. We stopped at the Green Welly store that had been recommended on this site. It was fun. Ate lunch there. Then went to Doune Castle as my son is a huge Monty Python fan. We played with the coconuts and had to prance around the yard (in the rain) re-enacting parts fromt he movie. This was a big hit with my son. We decided it was too late to do Stirling Castle and this is one place that I regret missing. (We had planned to do it the next day - but I was growing tired and did not feel like driving again from Dalkeith to the castle) We returned to the Dalkeith palace and checked emails and found the location of a local Asda (WalMart) -so spent time at Asda. We ate at a local Indian restaurant for a late supper that evening. We were actually one day ahead of our shcedule, so decided to return to Edinburgh for another day. The next morning the skies were blue and clear!! (until mid-afternoon when it rained again) We were thrilled. We returned to Rosslyn Chapel and spent quite a lot of time inside. This place is amazing!! I recommend anybody taking the time to visit this place. Then we drove to the Best Western Capital hotel and stashed our bags. Took the undented, undamamged Mercedes to the airport and returned it to the Hertz rental agency. I was scared that he might find something - but he only took a cursory glance at the car. We got it in just under the 24 hour limit, so saved one days rental! I was SO happy to give him the car keys. But I must say that I was really proud of myself for driving over 800 miles with no problems! We then caught the bus for downtown Edinburgh and spent the day hiking around town. One of my highlights was going to see Greyfriers Bobby and visiting the old, old church and graveyard where he and his master are buried. The Edinburgh Castle is great also. We ate supper at a small pub before we took the bus back to the hotel. Had to say goodbye to my son as he returned to Dalkeith. We awoke at 4:45 the nect morning and took a taxi to the airport. Found out that we were going to have to get our bags at Gatwick and check in there. That airport was a nigthmare. We had a 3 hour layover and had planned on shopping. But we waited in line to check in for over an hour and then waited to get through secuirty and waited to check our bags over an hour. I got searched 3 times at this airport and my bag was gone through thoroughly twice! By the time we were heading toward the gate we saw the sign that it was closing!! But we made it in time and had an uneventful trip home. It would have been better to have seen more sun - but none the less - we had a great time and I hope to return again - perhaps in the spring - for a more thorough look at Scotland.

noe847

I think the Grampians are southeast of the A887.

sheila

YOU can fly on one of the low cost airlines from Spain to Scotland.

The mountains south of Drumnadrochit are called the Monaliadh (moanaleeah)Mountains.

I'm glad you liked it, even in the rain.

yellowrose477

Sheila - Yes, we really did like it - a lot. There is so much to see. The rain didn't bother us at all. Only one day did it rain hard all day. The other days it was fun to watch the clouds break. Especially when we were on Skye it was so nice to watch the mists clear from the mountains and roll away. Believe it or not - the hardest thing we did was try and find a Helian Coo! Finally found one by Dunvegan Castle - in the road munching on some leaves. I had said that I would kiss one if I ever saw one. This particular cow must have heard me because he walked right over to the car and stuck his head through the window. I didn't kiss him though! He scared me and I tried to roll up the window! Got some great photos of him though. Have a lot of great memories and the reassurance that when my hubby returns with me - I can do the driving.

caroline_edinburgh

Yellowrose, so glad to enjoyed, despite the weather.

Heatherkay, in addition to the low cost airlines Sheila mentioned (www.flyglobespan.com flies between several Spanish airports & Scotland), there is a sort-of-direct (i.e. quick touchdown in Birmingham) BA (www.ba.com) flight betweeen Madrid & Edinburgh. I got it home on Monday - left Madrid c.3.30pm local time & got home c.7pm local time.

Jane2

I use to live in Dalkeith!! Went to Esk Valley College in 1980. I lived with a family on Croft Street. My goodness, this brings back many fond memories. Actually, I'm returning to Scotland this September for a coach tour of the Western Highlands, Outer Hebrides and the Orkney and Shetland Islands. I will be spending several days in Edinburgh...just love that city..and I plan to look up the family I stayed with in Dalkeith. Tell me, do they still have those green Eastern Scottish buses?? How much is a return ticket to Dalkeith? Can't wait to get back there!!!

GreenDragon

Glad you had a great time, yellowrose! And the right attitude, too -- you can't be mad at Scotland because it's raining, it's part of the experience!

sheila

Easter Scottish, Jane2, is, unfortunately, no more.

yellowrose477

jane2 - I think that Dalkeith would be a great place to live. A small town, but very close to a large city. Kind of like where I live in Wisconsin. My son has a host family that we wee able to enjoy an evening with while in Dalkeith and they were the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Edinburgh was fantastic. I think we could have spent our week there without any difficulty - but so many more wonderful places to see. The rain really didn't make any diffferences to our plans other than going north for a second day on Skye. In fact the last morning of our trip when we awoke to bright blue skies - we were almost in shock! Until my son moved there for the semester I really had no idea that Scotland was so rainy - so nice to travel and learn things about places you have only heard about all your life. I hope that you have a wonderful visit when you return to Scotland. My husband wants to go back with me - hope it doesn't take us 10 years to return!

Jane2

yellowrose477

Glad you enjoyed your visit to Scotland. It's a beautiful country and makes quite an impression! I consider Scotland my "spiritual home". Please get back there before 10 years; certainly don't wait as long as I did. Things come up, and yes there are other places to visit, but time goes by very quickly. I agree, Scotland is very rainy...and windy, as well. I remember one day there were gale force winds and I had to hold onto the buildings as I walked up Croft Street to the shops. Quite a scary experience!!! The family I lived with were lovely and I hope I can locate them when I return.

amelie

Great report, thank you! Brought back memories. (we had a bag piper lead us out at our wedding here in the us ).

Can't wait four our trip, unfortunately not until June 07.