Tropical Scotland

On our first visit to the United Kingdom, we spent a week in Cornwall, the southernmost peninsula of the island. We were surprised to see palm trees, apparently enabled by Gulf Stream warming. That said, we never expected to see palm trees in Scotland.

Plockton is a small village on a sheltered bay of Loch Carron. The National Trust for Scotland conservation area served as the fictional village of Lochdubh in the British dramady Hamish Macbeth, starring Scottish actors Robert Carlyle and Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter movies). And, so, we went.


 

We didn't recognize Plockton from Hamish Macbeth; it looked, in its own way, like Cornwall. Palm trees, lush gardens, small harbors filled with small sailboats, rowboats, and kayaks. Rocky beaches. Colorful restaurants and pubs, specializing in seafood (cullen skink sounds awful, but is a delicious haddock chowder with cream, leeks, onions, ham, and potatoes). The only reminder of the TV show was the sign for the local newspaper, where Henderson worked.

Boat house with sea eagle sculpture

Sail boats in Plockton harbor

Kayakers in wet suits

The Fish Bar

Plockton's newspaper and gift shop

Plockton corgi

Support for Scottish independence

On to Inverness!

This was our fourth trip to the UK. On previous vacations, we'd rented a cottage a week for two weeks in the countryside. For the Scottish Highlands, Karen concluded we'd be better off renting flats in cities and towns, using them as "travel central." First stop, Inverness, a city of  72,000 on the River Ness, which would also give us access to the eastern highlands.

Boarding easyjet at Gatwick for Inverness

After arriving at London Heathrow Airport on a very comfortable British Airways flight, we caught a tram to Gatwick Airport and overnighted at the airport Hampton by Hilton - then took the another tram to the proper terminal, having been misrouted by a tram ticket clerk who confused the Hampton by Hilton (North Terminal) with the Hilton hotel (South Terminal). The next morning we flew on easyjet to Inverness and picked up our rental car, an underpowered Vauxhall Corsa 1.4, and lit out for Inverness. This was a familiarization ride. It had been about a decade since I'd driven a left-hand stick shift, on the
left-hand side of the road.

Vauxhall Corsa 1.4. Underpowered, jouncy, but nimble

 

Thanks to brilliant directions from our flat owner, we arrived without incident at our second-story flat, one street - and many stairsteps - above downtown Inverness. An easy city in which to walk or drive, Inverness is primarily built in tones of gray and brown slate, stone, and cobbles. The architecture is a mix of old, older, and mid-century horror, with some beautiful touches.

The Castle - Law court and jail

Doorway on left to our flat

Some of the many rabbits that live on Castle grounds

Flora MacDonald memorial on Castle grounds

Inverness seen from The Castle

Slate and cobble mosaic in downtown Inverness

Oldest church in Inverness - Old High St. Stephens

Architectural detailing

More architectural detailing

The River Ness bisects the city, with the old town on one side and the university district on the other. Walking and driving bridges cross the river at convenient intervals. People stroll, jog, and bike along the river, and laze on its banks.

Herring gulls are inveterate litterers, pulling trash from topped-up bins and strewing it across sidewalks and plazas that are clean except for unusually numerous dots of chewing gum.

Used beer kegs at Ness-side pub

There are shops for every need, including two large grocers (one inside Marks & Spencer), kilt makers, souvenir and woolen shops; and restaurants for every taste, including traditional pubs, Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Italian, and chippys.

Souvenir shop, Victorian Mall

Fish monger inside the Victorian Mall

Flower shop, Victorian Mall

Inlaid sidewalk detail

We found it a comfortable city and a great gateway to the east and north.

What's Wrong With British Food?

Nothing. OK, we had our share of "meh" meals during our trip to Scotland - like the fish and chips we had for our first meal in Inverness. But, in fairness, The Filling Station advertised itself as "An American Restaurant and Bar." Our bad, but we'd just gotten into town, were famished, and it was the first place we saw. Even so, the haggis bites were a pretty tasty appetizer. By comparison, I had some great haddock and chips at Hector's Bothy in Kyle, along with a pint of Old Speckled Hen red ale.

This would be a good time to diverge into my beer and single malt tasting. The Brits (including Scots) brew some really good and some really bad beers and ales. Low on my list for this trip were Tennent's lager (think an American light beer), Bellhaven's Best (a low-grade cream ale) and Efes, a Turkish pilsner.  Oh, but there were some delights. Cock of the North ale; Red MacGregor, a Scottish ale from Orkney; Red Cuillin pale ale, brewed on the Isle of Skye; Highlander Ale; Cairngorm Tradewinds, brewed in Aviemore; and Deuchars IPA - a favorite of Ian Rankin's character of John Rebus - unbelievably brewed by the same company responsible for Bellhaven's.

Speaking of Rebus, in Rankin's series teetotalers and cops on the wagon usually choose Irn-Bru. It's iconically Scottish soft drink. There's even an Irn-Bru cycling jersey available from British manufacturer Foska. It's highly-carbonated, bright orange, and tastes like weak apricot soda. I tried it once, and that was quite enough.

Being Type 1 diabetic, I had to give myself a bit extra insulin whenever I had beer or ale with a meal. Not so with whiskeys. Nearly 40 years ago, I was introduced to Laphroig single malt by cousin Henry in the bar of the Cardiff Arms Hotel. I liked the heavy, peaty taste. Not so much anymore. A couple of years ago, I switched to Bowmore, a lighter malt, also from the Isle of Islay (pronounced Illy). But, I thought this would be a good opportunity to sample a wide variety of single malts and see if I wanted to choose a new favorite. I did.

A friend from my University of Wyoming days favored Glenmorangie. As with so many I tried, it had a smooth start and a rough finish. Not what I wanted. Same with Talisker, distilled on the Isle of Sky. A pub where we'd stopped for lunch had a special on Dalmore 12-year-old. It was love at first taste, so much so that I took a tour of the Dalmore distillery in Alness. Still, I wanted to be sure this was what I wanted to buy a bottle of (yes, I  just ended a sentence with a preposition). I tried Cardhu; hated it. A nice blend, Te Bheag, in Sleat.

Then, a clerk at a woolen shop in Inverness recommended two single malts from his Orkney home - Jura and Highland Park. Jura didn't do it for me; too harsh. But Highland Park, ah, that was another story. Beautiful from tip of tongue, through the mouth, and finish in the throat. That was the one.

Interesting economics of buying Scotch. Prices at the Gatwick Airport duty-free shop were higher than local Scottish liquor stores or gift shops. Using my smart phone, I found lower prices at Total Wine, a COSTCO of beer, wine and spirits in Spokane Valley. So, yesterday, I picked up a bottle of Highland Park and a six-pack of Old Speckled Hen, the only one of the British beers I favored during my trip which they had.

Back to food. We usually had breakfast in our flats (porridge for me; a croissant for Karen), ate lunch out, and usually ate a takeout dinner at "home." We had some fabulous meals, including a fall-off-the-bone lamb shank at Aspendos, a Turkish restaurant in Inverness; langoustinos, and venison steak on a round of black pudding at the Gun Lodge Hotel in Ardersier; venison pate, and sea trout with mussels and crisp vegetables at the Dores Inn; sea bass with leek risotto and cherry tomatoes at the Uig Hotel. We also had a variety of insanely good pastries with tea throughout Scotland.

Lamb shank

Venison steak on black pudding round with vegetables

Sea bass with leek risotto

Sea trout with mussels and  vegetables

Finally, a note on Scottish supermarkets. Whether the food court at Marks & Spencer in Inverness, Morrisons, or the Co-operative Food stores (seemingly everywhere), take-out options are terrific. Indian, being the new national food of Great Britain, the stores had ready-to-heat tikkas, baltis, rogans, tandooris, saag, naan, garlic mushrooms, and more; there were lamb shanks and pork shanks; pub favorite cottage pies, steak and ale pies, steak and kidney pies, toad-in-the-hole, bangers (sausages) and mash; roasted duck legs in a variety of sauces.

And now, a couple of pounds heavier, I'm back to cooking. Chicken and mushrooms tonight. And, maybe, an Old Specked Hen.

They'll Never Take ... Our Freedom

Scottish flag stone in Ardersier

Yesterday, a friend posted on Facebook a photo of Mel Gibson from Braveheart, painted in Pictish blue (and Scottish white), yelling "They'll never take ... our freedom"! It reminded me of what we'd seen and heard in the Scottish highlands regarding the upcoming September vote on Scottish independence.

Oil platform, Cromarty

Clearly, there is widespread pride in being Scottish, but there is a deep division on the question of Scottish independence. Media polls are split about 50-50, and our unofficial man-on-the-street poll was pretty much the same (sign us Nate Silver). A pro-independence patron at a Kyleakin cafe we'd stopped in for tea was emphatically on the "Yes" side, saying that England hadn't demonstrated any concern for Scotland "for a donkey's age." Alternately, a checker at the Co-op grocery in Kyle of Lochalsh expressed his distrust of any nationalist movements, and warning about the negative effects of exchange rates and tarrifs. A waitress who's English, married to a Scot, told us the Scots hate the English, noting that Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond had disdained her at a local event upon learning she was English; she said she'd pack up her kids and leave Scotland if voters approve independence. Another person we met insisted Scotland could easily support itself economically, and should.

Scottish flag at information session

One one of our first days in Inverness, we came upon an information rally, where supporters of independence stood side-by-side with opponents, handing out literature and buttons, and chatting up the voters. There was no rancor, no virulence, no anti- expressions. Pretty cordial, all in all. Perhaps that's because the government in London and the SNP have been playing political small-ball. Actually, economic small-ball.

Perhaps the government's most serious threat is pulling the pound from Scottish usage and withdrawing support from the Bank of England. So what? Royal Bank of Scotland benefited hugely from a government bailout during the 2008 financial crisis. Not a problem, says the SNP, we'll still get to use the pound as our currency; and if we don't we'll deal with it.

On Sky News, we watched excerpts from across-the-street presentations by the British government and the SNP on the difference in benefits to families regarding Scottish independence. The SNP argued that Scottish families would gain an additional 1,000 pounds ($1,678); the government insisted that by staying in the UK Scottish families would benefit by 1,400 pounds ($2,350) a year. So, that's the big public argument - a difference of  $672. Hard to imagine William Wallace shouting to his fighters, "They'll never take...our freedom - but we'd gain 400 pounds a year, per family."

And, the political parties - Conservative, Labor, and Liberal Democrats (UKIP seems only interested in disentangling from Europe) - are climbing all over themselves to offer enhanced ideas for distribution of funds and taxing authority to Scotland. Very small ball. Would Adams, Jefferson, et. al. have cancelled the American revolution if George III had made a similar offer to the colonists. Doubt it. We'll see in September what the Scots do.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - A Blog in as Many Parts as Seems Right

Back in the '70s, my parents put off going on vacation while my grandmother was in a nursing home. Go ahead, said her doctor; she could live for years. They flew off to Brazil. Two days later, my grandmother died, and they flew back while I made the funeral arrangements.

Seven years ago, Karen's mother showed strong signs of having developed dementia, and seven months later, she moved into an assisted-living facility. Within six months, my mother had a stroke, engendering dementia. I moved her from her condo in Florida to the same assisted-living facility here in Post Falls, Idaho. And, we waited, for seven years. Finally, as we recognized our own increasing creakiness, we decided to go to Scotland, the setting for Karen's next book. Quick, but thorough planning. We were going, we agreed, unless she or I could not physically go. Just before we left, my mother developed infectious diarrhea and had to be moved into a nursing facility; Karen's mother was stable. Each had pulled out of medical conditions before. We went.

The house in Deale

View of the creek from the house

Karen and her new doggie friend, Stella.

First stop, Maryland, to visit our friends Steve and Luz Marina. I'd worked for Steve at the Naval Academy, where he was public affairs officer and I was his deputy. We became good friends. We met Luzma on a wine tasting trip to Oregon a few years ago, and they visited us in Idaho.


We missed their engagement party when Karen's mother became ill, but we decided to stop on our way to Scotland to celebrate their recent marriage.

Kayaking with Steve and Stella

When Steve was single after a divorce, he adopted Stella, a Cavapoo (King Charles spaniel/poodle mix), and while I've never cared for small dogs, she's a real cutie, riding on Karen's lap in Luzma's motor boat and on mine in the car.

Before they married, Steve and Luzma bought a house in Deale, Maryland, a community on a series of creeks off the Chesapeake Bay. Gorgeous place, very comfortable. And great to see them.


Steve's a navy guy from Indiana, and like a lot of midwesterners I met at the academy, he took to boats like a Hoosier to water. After you've trained on 44-foot sloops as a midshipman, on surface ships and
submarines, boats get into your blood. 





I, on the other hand, got seasick on the sloops and, as a 14-year-old, on the Queen Mary. But, Steve's persuasive. Karen and I went out on the motor boat for a dockside breakfast; I went kayaking with Steve; and we went on Steve's catamaran for a familiarization tour - next time, I'm crewing with him.

Dockside breakfast with Luzma and Steve

Steve's catamaran, "Balance Act"

Back in my academy days, I had to shepherd the Blue Angels during three-years-worth of performances during Commissioning Week. Great show, but they were incredible prima donnas. During our visit in May, we managed to catch the Blue Angels practice performance over the Severn River. Fun - and I didn't have to worry about them pranging a plane into the governor's mansion. Luzma's first Angels show; Stella's too.


When I was a supervisor, I made a conscious choice not to get too friendly with my staff. I always worried that some day I'd have to discipline or fire one of them. As it turned out, I had to terminate a couple of probationary employees, discipline a couple, and fire one who tried to withdraw his resignation. I didn't enjoy it. Still, considering my long friendship with Steve (and newer friendship with Luzma), there are some employees I wish I'd been friendlier with. Oh well, past is past.

On to Scotland.