Wednesday May 11, 2011

The date of this blog is May 11 but I am writing it on the 16th. My last blog was April 25 the day before Bob and Nancy left on their big trip to Scotland. The following is a brief narrative on our trip and the week following.

Tuesday April 26: We load all our bags and Ms P in the Taurus and head to Cleveland. It rained most of our trip. We arrived in Cleveland in time to pick up AJ at pre-school. We then all went out to dinner in one of Cleveland's great local bars.

Wednesday April 27: We are leaving for Scotland at 1500. I walk to the Caribou Coffee shop to read my papers. At 1230 Missy takes us to the airport. We got through security ok and were settling in to wait for the time to board. Our flight was delayed several times because of conditions in Newark. After the last delay we knew that we could not make our connecting flight to Edinburgh. Nancy being as efficient as she is had Continental get us on a later flight. Instead of flying to Edinburgh we are going to Heathrow and then take British Midlands (BMI) to Edinburgh. We would get to Edinburgh about four hours later than our original flight. Our bags would follow, we hoped.

This was my second trip to Newark. The first time was 50 years ago in May. My flight from Newark to Rhode Island was also canceled. I had to take a taxi to Grand Central Station in NYC and then a train to RI. I was on my way to Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI.

Our flight from Newark to Heathrow was about 6.5 hours. We made our connection to Edinburgh.

Thursday April 28: The weather in Edinburgh was warm and sunny. The first thing I noticed was that all the trees were in full bloom. Edinburgh is 780 miles north of Grand Rapids but their Spring was two weeks ahead of us. The reason is the Gulf Stream. We are staying at the Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa in downtown Edinburgh. I thought the hotel was great. I gave it a 3.8 but Nancy gave it only a 3.2. Our bags had not arrived yet but Continental assured us they would arrive tomorrow. The first thing we did was to walk around the hotel area. We had dinner at a local pub in a renovated area of Edinburgh. In fact we had all our meals at local establishments.

Friday April 29: We are going to explore Edinburgh today. It is also the day of the Royal Wedding and a holiday. We had breakfast at a local hole in the wall cafe. I had a bowl of porridge (oatmeal), toast and coffee. My grandmother always told me that all Scottish children had porridge for breakfast. We ate in the cafe which we soon learned costs more than if you order take away. After breakfast we walked to the Old Town. On our way we walked along a side of Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh Castle sits on a large rock outcropping. It is the highest structure in Edinburgh and it dominates the skyline. It is very imposing. We walked through Old Town and visited the many shops selling Scottish woolens, shortbread and whiskey. I almost bought a kilt. We stopped by a Scottish Tourist office to see about getting a hotel in Campbeltown. We had planned on driving to Campbeltown on Sunday. Campbeltown is the home town of my Great Grandfather McTavish. Nobody had heard of Campbeltown. But after a computer research they found it and told us that there were no rooms available on Sunday. I asked if they had not heard of Campbeltown how come all the hotels are filled. They explained that Monday is a holiday so the locals had probably booked all the rooms. We finally got a reservation at a B and B about 5 miles outside of town. They told us that Campbeltown had a taxi company. Our bags arrived today.

We stopped at the railway station to see if we could get a train on Monday to Campbeltown. They also had not heard of the town. Finally we stopped at the bus station and got tickets to Campbeltown. I decided that if public transportation was available that I did not want to rent a car and drive on the wrong side of the road.

We also stopped at the hotel and bought tickets for a tour of Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle. We are leaving tomorrow. We had dinner at another local pub and I had the steak and ale pie. I also tried some Scottish beer. I liked Tennant beer.

Saturday April 30: Another bright sunny day and most of the cafe's around the hotel are closed. We had coffee and a scone at Starbucks. Good ol Starbucks. We caught the tour bus at the hotel and headed out into the countryside. Loch Lomond is northwest of Edinburgh. We have to pass through Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The countryside was beautiful, just like the postcards. When my grandmother Hughes visited Scotland in 1927 she said it was so green that she got the equivalent of snow blindness. I agree with Grandmother. I saw a first cutting of hay. We saw a zillion sheep and as many new born lambs. At Loch Lomond we took a boat ride around the lake. Loch Lomond is Scotland's largest fresh water lake. The western Highlands surround the lake. I think it is comparable to the finger lake area of NY. After the boat ride we get in the bus and head into the Highlands. We stop at a little village and have lunch. Nancy and I had an ice cream cone and walked around the pretty town. A lot of the locals were mountain biking and hiking in the area. I think the Highlands would be the perfect spot for hiking. The area is beautiful but they hills are not that difficult to climb.

Our final stop was Stirling Castle. Nancy and I paid our fee and walked through the Castle. The Castle is located in a beautiful area but certainly not as imposing as Edinburgh Castle. Our ride back to Edinburgh was very pleasant. The entire trip took about nine hours. The evening meal was at another local pub.
Sunday May 1: Today we are staying in Edinburgh. We bought a 24 hour pass on a local bus and rode all over Edinburgh. We walked around the Queen's summer home and Edinburgh Castle. We even found a cafe that had free internet. We checked our email and the weather back home. Edinburgh is a beautiful city. It is Scotland's second largest city with a population slightly under 500,000.

Monday May 2: We get up early in order to catch the first bus to Campbeltown. We had breakfast at the bus station. I was surprised at the number of folks on the bus. Public transportation appears to be very popular. It is a six hour ride with stops at all the small towns along the way. Once again the weather was beautiful. Campbeltown is located at the end of a peninsula. It is about 20 miles from the coast of Ireland. We traveled through the Western Highlands and also along the coast. The bus stopped at several Ferry stops so the folks could catch at ferry to the western islands. We saw a zillion more sheep. All the farms looked well kept and prosperous. We arrived in Campbeltown about 1130. My first impression of Campbeltown was what a beautiful town. They had palm trees growing along the waterfront. We stopped at the tourist office and got a map and got directions to the cemetery. We walked along the Quay wall on our trip to the cemetery. The homes along the waterfront were beautiful. The cemetery was large and well kept. Since Monday was a holiday nobody was working. We walked through the old area and could find no evidence of a McTavish. In fact an old man who lived in the area all his ninety years said that McTavish is not a common name in Campbeltown. Campbeltown has a population of about 6,000. It has many beautiful homes and we wondered why Great Great Grandmother McTavish, a widow, would leave this area with her three sons. The lady at the local book store said poverty was the reason. In fact all the young folks are leaving because there are no jobs.

The beautiful homes are now second homes. At one time Campbeltown had an active ship building, fishing and distillery industry. They have all moved except for two distilleries. It is very sad. We walked around downtown and then had dinner at a local pub. We hired a taxi to take us to the B&B. The B&B was housed in a manor built in the 1700's. It was set back about a 1/2 mile from the two lane highway. The place was what one would picture a country estate in the 1700s. Nancy and I walked around the grounds. The back 40 was a pasture for sheep and we walked up the hill to get a great view of the area. The place was very well maintained.

Tuesday May 3: Our host fixed a great breakfast. The high point of breakfast was a bowl of porridge made with pin head oatmeal. It was great. After breakfast we took a taxi back to Campbeltown. We had some time before our bus left so we headed to the whiskey store. I bought a bottle of single malt scotch whiskey. It is called Springbank and it is one of the two remaining distillers in Campbeltown. 18 year old scotch is not a poor man's drink. At 1115 we caught the bus back to Edinburgh. I was impressed with the bus service. Despite a lot of stops the buses were always on time.

Wednesday May 4: Our last full day in Scotland and we are going to spend it in Edinburgh. We visited the Art Museum and were surprised at the size and quality of their collection. Actually Nancy was surprised. I did not have a clue. We made some purchases and enjoyed our final evening meal at another local pub. I love pubs.

Thursday May 5: We get up early and took a taxi in order to get our 0925 flight to Newark. We arrived in Cleveland at 1600. Missy picked us up at the airport. The Scotland trip was great and I fulfilled a promise to my grandmother that I would visit Campbeltown.

Friday May 6: We all went out for breakfast and then Nancy and I packed our bags and Ms P in the Taurus and headed home. We got home about 1600. We went to a OHNA TGIF on Friday. It was held at a neighbor's new bakery. The TGIF was well attended. One of our neighbors asked what happened at our house on Wednesday. We did not have a clue so he told us that the GR Police were looking around the house. Kim the cleaning lady improperly set the alarm when she left.

Saturday May 7: Our grass could support half the sheep in Scotland. It was so long I had to set the mower at its highest setting. We had a quiet dinner at home.

Sunday May 8: We only swam 30 minutes this morning. At 1600 we attended a Mother's Day dinner at the Moleski's.

Monday May 9: It is back to normal. I did my morning routine at 50%. Nancy attended a luncheon.

Tuesday May 10: I increase my exercise output to 67%.

Wednesday May 11: Today is my easy day. I pedal the AT to the Bill's for breakfast. Nancy and I attended a charity auction at Meijer's Garden in the evening. We bid on a trip to Africa and for awhile I thought we had it but at the last minute some clown bid more. Nancy got dressed up for this event and she looked great.