Mum's The Word

There’s much to write about, but before I venture into the details of my three weeks away on the Greek Islands and the French Riviera, Mum comes first.
She came for a long weekend and we had the complete Scottish experience, highlands, coos, and haggis included. Her first day here was packed with all the major Edinburgh sites… and when I say all, I mean every single attraction in this small city was covered. First Elephant house for some tea and scones, then the Graveyard for some Harry Potter indulgence, then the National Museum to brush up on our Scottish history, then the National Gallery for the opening of the Turner exhibition, then the Castle for some royal delight, then the Witchery to eat in the gallows where the witches were hanged, then Brass Monkey for some Scottish ale, and to top the evening off we went to see a hip-hop street dance version of the Pied Piper at the Festival Theatre House. Exhausted.

We woke up early to catch a train to Stirling, a city clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town along the River Forth. Historically it was strategically important as the ‘Gateway to the Highlands’, located near the boundary between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, and its crossing of the Forth, the nearest to the river mouth. We stayed at a fantastic Bed and Breakfast in Bridge of Allan, right outside the old-town. We walked across the town and climbed up some of the central hills, where we found a medieval beheading stone. From that site was a tiny path that led to the castle, where the famous (copies) of the Unicorn tapestries are hung. It was spectacular. We found a small pub and listened to some live music, which was mostly Scotsmen performing their renditions of classic American songs. We ended the night in a restaurant located inside the city walls and watched the Holland vs. Scotland soccer match over Haggis.

Next it was Inverness, considered the capital of the Scottish Highlands, located in the very northern part of the country. The city lies where the Loch Ness meets the Moray Firth… the home of the Nessie the Loch Ness monster. Inverness is the bagpiper centre of Scotland, all the signs are in Scottish Gaelic, and the entire town is devoted to finding Nessie. We stayed in Drumnadrochit, a tiny town located on the shore of the Loch Ness. There are only three hotels there, but over two dozen Nessie exhibitions, museums, and monster-hunting offices. It is also the town in which Urquhart Castle is located. The castle is terribly destroyed and all that’s left is a skeleton of the once largest stronghold of medieval Scotland. It is located directly on the Loch Ness and is supposedly the sit where most of the monster sittings have occurred. We looked for hours… I think I might have seen a tail. We headed back to our Bed and Breakfast and had Bangers and Mash (Sausages and Potatoes) over some Drumnadrochit brewed beers.
The next day we headed back to the train station and took the beautiful scenic trip across the country back to Edinburgh. We had a fantastic last night dinner in Leith overlooking the waterfront.


Gotta love my mom.

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