Week 29 - Scotland - Isle of Skye to Ireland - Enniskillen

Our first stop on Monday morning, was the Eilean Donan Castle next to the picturesque village of Dornie. The castle is on an island situated at the point where Loch Long, Loch Alsh and Loch Duich meet, and linked to the mainland by a stone bridge with three arches. It was a really beautiful and romantic setting and it was easy to see why the Eilean Donan Castle is Scotland's most photographed castle. After taking a few photos we drove towards Loch Ness. We stopped to take some photos of the ruined Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness, then we drove on into Drumnadrochit where we parked next to the village green and had lunch at The Courtyard Restaurant.

After lunch we drove to Glen Affric which the Lonely Planet called one of the most scenic glens in Scotland. We drove past shimmering lochs, mountains and unlike the other glens we had seen, it was heavily forested with the native Scots Pine and birch. The single track road ended after about ten miles or so and we had to retrace our steps and drive back to the village of Cannich where we were able to get back onto the main road again. After this we drove towards the Argyll Coast crossing over Loch Linnke on the impressive Spean Bridge, passing Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis, crossing over the Connel Bridge and passing Castle Stalker perched on a tiny offshore island near Appin. We arrived in the waterfront town of Oban at around 6.00 pm and checked into a double room at Corran House with bay windows and a view of the harbour and waterfront. As it was still sunny and warm we walked along the esplanade past the pier around the harbour and the town.

We woke up to another beautiful cloudless day on Tuesday. After breakfast, we walked into the centre of town to the end of Argyll Street where we climbed up Jacob's Ladder - a flight of stairs leading to McCaig's Tower, a Victorian folly built by a local philanthropist for the sole purpose of providing work for the town's unemployed stonemasons. The tower looked very similar to the Colosseum and there were sweeping views of the surrounding bay and town from the top. We strolled back into town to the Oban Distillery where we tried the Oban 14 year old Scotch which had a slight smoky and salty aftertaste. The man at the distillery was really knowledgeable and also gave us some Oban Cask Edition (55% alcohol) and Lagavulin 16 year old Scotch which was extremely smoky. We walked back to the car after our tasting and drove towards Stirling. On the way we stopped in the village of Doune to visit Doune Castle (which featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail). It's one of Scotland's best preserved 14^th century castles. We had lunch in Doune village before driving to Stirling. At Stirling we drove straight to Stirling Castle located at the narrowest point of Britain. We walked around the ramparts for a while enjoying the views from the castle walls and then we joined a guided tour around the castle. We walked around the gatehouse, courtyard, Great Hall with its impressive wooden hammerbeam roof (very similar to the hull of a ship) and Chapel Royal (which had four beautiful tapestries from the Hunt of the Unicorn series on display) with the guide while he explained the historical significance of the castle. After the guide left us, we paid a visit to the Great Kitchens which gave us a taste of life in the medieval kitchens, and then paid a visit to the Tapestry Studio where a weaver was working on another tapestry from the Hunt of the Unicorn series. We headed back to the castle entrance where we joined a guided tour of Argyll's Lodging – a restored 17^th century townhouse that was the home of the Earls of Argyll, located near the entrance to the castle complex.

It was a short drive into Edinburgh along the M9 but once we were in Edinburgh we had to find somewhere to stay. This was not so easy because we had to find somewhere where they had parking facilities. After spending a couple of hours driving through the city centre and around, we found a room at the Travelodge West End, with parking and ensuite and the added bonus of being only a fifteen minute walk into town.

We got up late on Wednesday morning and then strolled into town. We walked through the Princes Street gardens and up Castle Hill to Edinburgh Castle. We spent a little bit of time walking along the ramparts where we saw the One o'clock Gun, Mons Meg (a giant 15^th century siege gun built in Mons), Dog Cemetery (for regimental mascots and officers' dogs) and enjoyed panoramic views of New Town. After that we joined a free guided tour. The guide spent half an hour giving us a potted history of the castle and pointing out the main features of interest, and then he left us to our own devices. We went to the Royal Palace to see the heavily guarded Scottish Crown Jewels (a glittering crown, sword and sceptre) and the Stone of Destiny (an incongruous looking block of sandstone with rusted iron hoops at each end). Then we went to the neighbouring Royal Apartments where we saw the room in which Mary, Queens of Scots gave birth to James VI of Scotland (James I of England). We walked around the complex for hours visiting the impressive Scottish National War Memorial, the Great Hall with its hammerbeam roof and display of weapons, the tiny St Margaret's Chapel (the oldest building in Edinburgh), the Military Prison, the Prisons of War Exhibition and the Royal Scots Regimental Museum. While we were visiting the Great Hall, a couple of staff members dressed as Oliver Cromwell's roundheads showed us how the muskets and halberds were used. At one o'clock we watched the master gunner fire the One o'clock Gun and then we walked into the Old Town to visit St Giles' Cathedral with its striking crown spire. One of the most interesting parts of the cathedral was the Thistle Chapel which is the place of worship for the Knights of the Thistle. The chapel was decorated with intricate stone carvings and there were elaborately carved wooden stalls for each of the 16 members – coats of arms, animals and angels playing various instruments (including the bagpipes). Outside on one side of the cathedral was the Mercat Cross – a replica of the original where merchants and traders used to transact business and royal proclamations were read. On the other side was a cobblestone Heart of Midlothian set into the pavement marking the site of the Tolbooth. Passers-by traditionally spit on the Heart for good luck and we could see where a couple of passers-by had left their mark!

We walked to the National Gallery of Scotland to try and see the rest of the collection before the gallery closed at 5.00 pm. On our previous visit we had only managed to see the ground floor and basement galleries so this time we went straight to the upstairs galleries where we saw some European Renaissance and Impressionist art including works by Da Vinci, Gainsborough, Botticelli, Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Gauguin and Cezanne. One of the most memorable paintings was a portrait of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw by John Singer Sargent.

We sat in the neighbouring Princes Street Gardens for a while, then had some dinner before we started the long walk back to the Travelodge.

On Thursday morning we checked out of the Travelodge and started the drive south to Cairnryan. It was a beautiful day and we drove through the lowlands and border areas with rolling hills dotted with fat sheep and cattle. There were no lochs or heather anymore. We even saw some fields of corn! At Ayr, we hit the coast again and then drove along the coast road with views past seabirds on rocky outcrops to offshore islands like the tiny Ailsa Craig. Just outside the village of Maybole we stopped to visit Crossraguel Abbey. All that remained of the 13^th century abbey were the walls of the church, cloister, chapter house and domestic premises. However in the garden was a fairly intact dovecote, complete with individual niches for the doves. At Cairnryan, we stopped at the local pub for a late lunch. After rushing through lunch, we drove down to the P&O ferry port where we were able to purchase a ticket for the 3.00 pm fast ferry to Larne.

We arrived at Larne at 4.15 pm and drove off the ferry. We drove north along the A2 coast road to Ballycastle. After we drove through Cushendall, the road turned into a single track lined with deep pink flowering fuschia hedges and large trees. We started getting concerned as we weren't sure if we were going the right way so we were very relieved when we arrived at Cushendun and the track turned back into a two lane road. We arrived in Ballycastle and drove down to the waterfront where we checked into a small room at the Ballycastle Backpackers Hostel.

After breakfast on Friday, we packed up, checked out of the hostel and drove along the coast road. We left the main road and drove along a winding track to the scenic Ballintoy Harbour which had white limestone and black basalt cliffs and rock pools with a rocky island offshore. Then we drove back to the coast road and drove past Whitepark Bay – a white sand half moon shaped beach. Later we stopped to take a photo of the fragmentary tower remaining of Dunseverick Castle perched on a high crag. Then it was the Giant's Causeway with a good walk along the cliffs above before descending down a path and climbing amongst the columns of solidified lava. We had a well earned cream tea back at the visitor centre disappointed we hadn't seen the eider sea duck from which the eiderdown filling used in quilts comes. We drove on to Bushmill's Distillery where we tasted the original blended whiskey and a 12 year old single malt Irish whiskey. Then we drove to Portrush stopping on the way to photograph the evocative ruins of Dunluce Castle built on top of a sheer basalt cliff. At Portrush, we had lunch before walking around the headland of town and past the harbour back to our car. We set off for Londonderry and checked into a room at the Derry City Independent hostel. We liked the hostel and decided to take the room for another night to have a rest and recover from our head colds.

It was raining when we woke up on Saturday morning. After breakfast, we started the Lonely Planet walking tour around the city walls of Derry stopping at each gate where there were sets of stairs that we could get on and off the wall. There was a long history of conflict between English/Protestant and Irish/Catholic continuing up to the present. Murals had been painted to commemorate key events in the "Troubles" on the gable ends of houses in the Bogside Catholic area, and these were visible below one section of the wall. There was a statue of George Walker, a Protestant hero which had been blown up by the IRA. It seemed peaceful enough now and we walked outside the wall into a small market with beautiful home-baked goodies. We continued right around the wall taking a couple of detours to see the Columba Cathedral and the Chapel of St Augustine. After lunch we went for a walk around the Diamond – the area within the walls. Then we walked around the Bogside area admiring the murals before walking back to the hostel.

Like Saturday, Sunday was a pretty average day with rain and clouds. After breakfast we checked out of the hostel. We drove past rock-strewn, green, heather-topped hills bordered by streams which reminded us of Scotland. Except that here the landscape was scarred by ditches from which peat had been dug and the smell of burning peat from the chimneys was in the air. We drove into County Donegal (in Eire) through the small waterfront town of Dunfanaghy which was a highlight in the Lonely Planet. Because the weather was so bad, we couldn't do any of the suggested walks. We drove on through Donegal County through the Glen Gesh Pass with its pine topped mountains and lush green valleys, until we reached the attractive Donegal Town on the River Eske. We decided that we would stop there for a Sunday carvery lunch – but first we had to take some Euros out of the ATM! We had lunch at the Abbey Hotel where we had a choice of three different types of potato! After lunch we walked to the harbour where a large Napoleonic anchor was on display and then around a bend in the river to the ruined Donegal Castle. We took a few photos of the castle in its picturesque setting and then walked back through town to our car. We drove back into Northern Ireland into County Fermanagh along Lower Lough (pronounced Loch) Erne to Enniskillen where we checked into a room at the Bridges Youth Hostel.