Janice's Highland Fling



Last week my sister Janice flew in from Canada and paid us a visit. I thought Mike and I were keen travellers, but we are mere pikers in comparison to her. In eight days Janice saw more of Glasgow than I have seen in a month, went hiking and castle-bagging on the Isle of Skye, toured Glen Coe, sailed on Loch Ness, rambled up Arthur’s Seat and down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, and searched out tasty brews in each pub she entered (and she entered LOTS!). Mike and I did our best to keep up, but even Mike had to take a day of rest – I had to take two.

Path up Arthur's Seat

Our first foray outside of “The Dear Green Place” (Glasgow) had us on the bus to Edinburgh where we met up with Janice’s friends from Revelstoke BC. Kathy and Bob were in the UK on vacation. They had just finished walking the Coast To Coast hiking route in Northern England and wanted to see a bit of Scotland before heading home.

Kathy met us at the bus station in Edinburgh and we started to explore. All eyes turned to the hill in the eastern part of the town – Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park. The ridges and high points in the park are the remnants of a volcano that last erupted 340 million years ago. After a stop to let a cloudburst pass (this is Scotland after all), we started up. The group of us spent several hours poking around. After this it was down into the town for a walk up the Royal Mile and dinner at the End of the World pub.

Janice at Kilt Rock Falls, Isle of Skye

Next on the touring agenda was the misty Isle of Skye. We took the bus up and back (cost for three of us – there and back - £12.00 – the bus company was having a sale). We rented a car and toured for two days. Highlights were a hike on Elgol beach to see the Cuillin range rising out of the sea, Dunvegan Castle, home of clan MacLeod (yes Alan, we were thinking of you – the resemblance to some of the featured MacLeods is extraordinary!), and a hike up to The Old Man of Storr on the Totternish peninsula. Geology, history, and light made this a place Mike and I will return to for more adventures.



Old Man of Storr

Janice left Glasgow on Tuesday, May 31st with some fine Highland experiences under her belt – she will soon have some pictures posted on her Flickr site – I’ll update this post as soon as she gets them in place (updated -- see the link below).

Mike and I enjoyed showing off our new “home”. We’ll be welcoming other visitors as the summer progresses. Hopefully they will enjoy themselves in the bonnie braes of Scotland as much as Janice did.

More pictures from our Edinburgh day here.
More pictures from our Skye rambles here.
More pictures from Janice here.