Travel Journal:

As a Postgrad in Edinburgh... - The Highlander, Pt. 2


The Highlander, Pt. 2 9/11/2007
 
Let's begin by saying that by the second day, Jonmikel was a pro at driving on the wrong side of the road. you could barely tell he wasn't British. ;-)

Today was a nice relaxed day. As all days should be while vacationing in the country. We began with a hearty breakfast of good Highland eggs and toast with REAL butter (I Know! I can hear all you American gasping at the novelty of real butter). Then we hopped into our car and began our drive into the mountains. We wanted to hit a couple of hikes and a castle ruin today, but first we stopped to gawk at the almost comical-looking Highland cattle. These cows and bulls (they all had longhorn style horn horns, except the babies, so it was hard to tell male from female) were covered in a thick layer of shaggy and sometimes dred-like hair. Long, stringy, moppy. Very cool. You could barely see their eyes from the outside of the fur, and I wondered if they could really see me from underneath it. Totally wild, and I wondered the whole time if you can breed Highland cattle with normal domestic cattle? I would think that if you can somehow breed American bison and domestic cattle, surely these could do the same... And then I wondered what that would look like.

When finally a big (bull?) with rather large intimidating horns gave a look indicating that he now found our presence annoying (I think? after all, he was wearig a mop on his head), we jumped back into the car and drove on our way. The plan was to drive out toward Aviemore via a backroad, which would take us right past the old Ruthven Barracks. So we stopped for a tourist break there, as well. We were able to walk and climb around the old structure, exploring the military quarters, the stables, and even the officer's latrines (rather not as unpleasant as it sounds, I hope). It was cool to think that at some point, this was a very imposing and very modern structure surrounded by wild countryside, fully of Bonnie Prince Charlie's band of wiley outlaws. This place represented 18th century law in all its glory.

After this stop, we took a liesurely country drive, avoiding all crazy cars in the process. We stopped at a small county park, called the Inshriach Forest, near Loch Insh. This small park included many miles of footpaths around the Uath Lochen (small lakes), beautiful bluff and craigs to be climbed and explored, and even some interesting marshlands. It's no wonder these areas inspired people to write novels like The Lord of the Rings series... I myself felt I could see the dead, blank faces of elves staring at me from under the water in the swampy area (see the scenes in the fire swamps from Return of the King). It was easy to imagine bandits and highwaymen and wizards and elves and knights all using this secluded area for their own purposes. Except for the screaming children, which showed up at the last part of our journey around the Lochen, and thankfully did not follow us up the craigs. The highest bluff we climbed was called Creag Far-leitire; it wasn't particularly tall (having lived at well over 5000 ft for a year makes everything in Scotland a "low land"), it did offer fantastic views of the very fallish countryside. Again, the colors were magnificent, and though it wasn't particularlly clear (is it ever in Scotland?), we could see a ways into the distance.

After a few hours wandering this park, we hit the road again, this time ending up at Rothiemurchus, an old estate within Cairngorms National Park, privately owned and operated but providing many ammenities. Skiing seemed popular in the area, though it is not yet skiing season. I wanted to see a castle, so Jonmikel dutifully drove to Loch an Eilein, a lake with the ruins of a small castle on an island right in the middle of it. Unfortunately, it gets dark around these parts between 4 and 4:30, so our daylight was running out and we couldn't walk all the way around the loch. We did get to see the castle and explore the surrounding forests, however, which looked old and tired. Some of the forests (especially in Inshriach Forest) were so dense that it was total darkness inside them. The top soil all around this area seems very thin, and in many places roots are exposed, and many sinkholes have been formed from impromtu rock quarries. But waking around, seeing the remains of old bridges in rivers and old buildings in the ground, you really feel the history of the place.

The light finally gave out on us, and we had to head home, but not before picking up a roast chicken for a late dinner and some mulled wine. I am a huge fan of mulled wine, and many stores around here are preparing for the holiday season (Christmas and New Years here, as opposed to Thanksgiving and Christmas back in the States). Jonmikel was not as huge a fan of it as I am, but I shall make some more anyway, closer to Christmastime. We got back to our cabin and watched some wonderfully British television while while playing various board games left in the cottage by our friendly proprietors.
 
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