09.27.04 | Unprepared for Sheep

On Sunday, we decided to drive out to the western edge of Loch Tay to access a hiking trail to Ben Lawers, Scotland's fourth-tallest peak. There was a group of about 20 hard-core hikers all standing around the ranger station. They were fully kitted -- full backpacks, sleeping bags, etc. And there we were with our jeans and light jackets. Comparing the two states of gear, it seemed that we had come a bit unprepared.

And it was cold. But we decided to try it anyway. So we started walking along the nature trail, which, I later found out, was different than the main Lawers trail. That was just fine as the nature trail was quite pretty. We crossed streams and went up and down green hills. I spotted what looked to be like wild blueberries. Claudine told me not to eat them ("they might be poisonous!") but I did anyway. Tasty.

Our hike was quite enjoyable -- until it started to rain. I did have a pair of cheap ponchos I had bought in London. While they kept our upper bodies dry, the ponchos did nothing for our shoes and jeans. We stuck it out for about another half hour in the rain before deciding to turn back. On the way down, we encountered normal Scots hiking up. They didn't have any rain gear but seemed to be quite happy. Their attitude seemed to be: rain, yeah, happens all the time.

After hiking and drying off, we ate some lunch and then headed east to see some castles. We decided on Glamis Castle, which is located about 15 km north of Dundee (Dundee is located on the Eastern coast, about the middle of the country latitude-wise). Along the way, we spotted signs for the 'Beatrix Potter' exhibit. Beatrix Potter was, of course, the author of the Peter Rabbit series of books. I found it pretty interesting as I knew nothing about her.

To Glamis. The castle, according to its website, is a 'place of legends and fairytales'. Family home of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne and a royal residence since 1372. Childhood home of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, birthplace of Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret and legendary setting for Shakespeare's famous play 'Macbeth'.

Sounds neat, don't it? Well, we found it to be rather average. The outside is cool but nothing really impressed from the inside. I think if we had known more about British royal history we would have enjoyed it more. We also spent about an hour walking around the grounds and gardens. Those, too, were average.

For dinner, we drove down to Dundee and ended up in a gastropub (a British pub that makes an extra effort to have good food). Claudine's veggie burger was … wait for it … deep-fried. We entertained ourselves by asking each other Stargate trivia questions. Yes, we're geeks.

The next morning, we work up early and slowly drove back down to Glasgow for our flight home. Slowly, you might ask? Yes, right before leaving, I noticed that our Vectra had gotten a flat tire overnight. I had to change it out for the spacesaver spare. Top speed now: about 55 mph. We had scheduled ourselves an extra hour and we used all of it.

So that was the trip. Certain parts could have been better but no trip is perfect. We had a fun time and got to see a few bits of Scotland. Overall, the Scots seem quite proud to be Scottish, though at times the differences seems a bit exaggerated. Other than all the sheep, a lot of Scotland seemed just like England, which should probably be expected considering the two united about 300 years ago.

But I suppose the slight differences are part of the charm. << REWIND