Stirling to Milnagavie - Tuesday April 30

Stirling to Milnagavie

We were up early this morning and had our bags packed in the car by 7:45. Ate a delicious breakfast at Castlecroft, our B & B, and were on the road by 8:50.

We drove through the transition from east coast and lowlands to west coast and the Scottish Highlands! The difference is stark. Our drive up the East coast to St. Andrews was all about small fishing villages and the ocean. Our drive today was varied; we travelled through the green fields of the farming area in the East to the craggy rock and mountains (well maybe hills - 4440 feet?? -  of the west. The land became more remote, the villages smaller, and a view of craggy rocks and mountains coupled with lochs and moors such as Rannoch Moor, filled our vision. It is all so beautiful. This is my country!! I love the sense of wildness, tipped with a little drizzle and mist and hints of kings and queens, battles, and historical characters such as Rob Roy,  The sad part  is the dark side of Scottish forestry i.e. the clear cutting. It is ugly with no apparent attempt at nurturing a continuous cover model of forestry where a canopy is always maintained. Really??  It's hard to believe. Robin spied two deer on the journey, and we saw several of the iconic highland cattle!

We arrived in Fort William in good time for our train journey to Milnagavie. The trains integrate seemlessly into the lifestyle, and we slid onto the train in Milnagavie around 11:41, changed at Dalmuir for four stops and exited at Westerton; caught the train 10 minutes later for the 10 minute journey to Milnagavie, all as if we were riding the subway. We walked the last 400 metres to our B & B - Best Foot Forward!

We dropped off the bags and went out to check out the town. Walked down through the pedestrian only area in the centre; not too exciting. We checked out the obelisk at the start of The West Highland Way, took a few steps on the route so that we knew which way to go in the morning. We only have to walk 19k and apparently, it is the easiest day of the hike!! Don't know how good that is!! I'll let you know tomorrow.

On the way back from our stroll we stopped of at the Burnbrae Inn Pub & Grill for dinner. Not quite the standard of the other meals we have eaten but it satisfied the hunger pangs. We had missed lunch....well a chocolate caramel biscuit hardly counts as lunch!!

So tomorrow morning we are off on the unknown. The trail looks amazing and we are all excited and looking forward to the journey.

Strathkinness to Stirling - Monday April 29

Strathkinness to Stirling

We had a lovely breakfast this morning at Mansedale House, packed up the car, and were on our way to Stirling. Its not a long drive, but I am revelling in the Scottish countryside: horses, sheep, wooly lambs, cows, and green, green fields separated either by straight lines of perfectly manicured hedges or stone walls. The little Scottish villages are quite unique and all adorable.

Peter wanted to check out Rumbling Bridge, which we did, and had a lovely walk along the side of the river. At first, it was miles below us, tumbling between rocks, and rock arches, and roaring in our ears. We were looking for the "lower bridge" to cross river, 300 metres from the "upper bridge" which had been wiped out. But, we never found it. When we got back we discovered we were walking "upstream" and the bridge was "downstream"...oh well!! The walk was very pretty. When I got back into the car, I noticed I had a phone call. Cursing Vodafone, who has sent me umpteen texts, and a couple of phone calls, I opened the phone message. It was Elaine from Mansedale House. She had found a "car shelf" in the drive way right where our car was parked and wondered if it was ours! It was!! So, we headed back to Strathkinness (about 30 miles back and 45 minutes driving).  After picking up the shelf and thanking Elaine we headed into Cupar and found "the best coffee shop in the world". They had delicious scones, and coffee!! I don't think we stopped again until Stirling.

We first climbed up the Wallace Monument commemorating William Wallace. We walked the short distance to the monument and climbed up the 264 steps to amazing views over the grounds of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, a sad time for the English!!

We drove to our B & B, parked the car, and headed up to Stirling Castle. This castle is the largest and most important castle in Scotland. Although its not known exactly when it was constructed there is mention of the castle in history in 1110. It has been nicely restored, and there are some good historical actors in various rooms as you wander around. It was far more entertaining than Edinburgh...I hate to say!!!

After our tour we headed for dinner, then back to the B & B to arrange our bags for our hiking trip. Tomorrow we drive to Fort William, drop of the car at the B & B there, and take the train down to Milnagavie for the following morning's start of our 8 day hike on The West Highland Way. No idea what WiFi will be like along the way, but I will do my best to up date this blog. Till then....

The East Coast Neuk - Sunday April 28

The East Coast Neuk - April 28

We had a leisurely breakfast again in the Painted Rooster, packed up the car, and set off on the Queensferry Road to St. Andrews. We took the scenic coastal route across the brand new Forth road bridge...but this is the New Bridge, not the Forth Road Bridge which was built shortly before I left Edinburgh. It is stunning! Looks like 3 big white sails. Beautiful!! (if you look carefully in this picture you can see the 3 sails...if you can enlarge it, you will see them better).

We drove through familiar towns such as Dalgety Bay, Burntisland, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy, West and East Wemyss, then around the Bay to Elie, a picturesque town with the most amazing beach, a harbour, and a lighthouse, where we stopped in the Ship Inn for lunch. Memories of my youth came flooding back here, and the harbour area was not really much different from when I used to holiday there.

Then we drove on through Anstruther, and Pittenweem to the beautiful little shell-fish fishing village of Crail where we had a wee walk around the harbour.

 After Kingsbarn, we arrived in St. Andrews, home of the famous golf course, university, and private schools! The architecture is beautiful in this small town. We walked all over the ruined catholic cathedral, first built in 1158, burned down and rebuilt, blown down by the winds and rebuilt, and then when the Scottish reformation took place in the 1600s and Scotland became protestant, it was left in ruin. In its day, the largest church to be built in Scotland, now it stands in glorious ruin. After that we had a quick look over the castle; found the golf course, and were dismayed to see people and dogs walking all over it. We discovered that the golf course is owned by the people, and every Sunday it is open to the public as a park!! I can feel all you golfers cringing, when you think of dogs and kids playing on the fairways and greesn of your golfcourse!!!

Our B & B for the night was just outside St. Andrews in a small community called Strathkinness. It was lovely! Tastefully decorated, the owners were friendly, welcoming, and efficient, the location in this tiny town barely 9 minutes from St. Andrews is perfect in amongst all the beautiful green fields. Everything was clean, and comfortable. We headed down to the local pub and had a great meal then back to the B & B and bed!