It was our last full day in Scotland and we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. I went through my list of possibilities and we chose a few of our favorites, then asked ChatGPT to put them in logical order for us.
First up- Clava Cairns. A 4,000 year old cemetery that has been excavated and left open to explore.
And standing stones.
It was nice that they were not roped off so you could wander inside.
Ryan doing his best as a model to show perspective of how tall they are. They were once covered by a roof.
A little further on down the road (Google maps took us down some twisty, narrow roads!) was the Culloden Viaduct. It is the longest masonry railway viaduct in Scotland.
Next stop was our hike for the day at Loch an Eilein in the Cairngorms National Park. This one was a very easy 3 mile hike and not at all wet. Just a loop around a lake. It was a semi-popular place and we were passed by a couple of trail runners.
We chose to do the hike clockwise so we would see the castle ruins towards the end of the hike.
After our hike, we were hungry and ready to eat some lunch. Google maps helpfully showed this barn turned restaurant that was very close to where we were. Ryan ordered a slice of cheese pizza but I was feeling adventurous. There was a soup called Cullen Skink on the menu and I managed to order it without giggling. I was glad I did! Think of a thick, creamy clam chowder- except this is made with smoked haddock instead of clams. And the roll was just the right amount of crusty with a soft interior. So, so good!
Back on the road again and we passed a site that didn't quite make the cut of must-do's for the day. This was
old soldier barracks, but it was right off the highway. We were so close! I took a couple of photos out of my window as we drove past.
This just made me laugh. I wanted to tell somebody- Hey, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but we don't use carriages anymore. We use cars. Anyway, the "dual carriageway" meant a 4 lane road for a couple of miles. Drivers could pass safely!
The old Roman fort at Ardoch was tricky to find. The GPS deposited us in the middle of a road and we were left to park, wander, climb a fence, and generally figure out where it was.
The meadow was very beautiful. I loved all of the wild flowers. But the only evidence of the Roman fort were the lumps and bumps on the ground. Obviously something big had been there once.
As we headed back to the road where our rental car was parked, we saw a gate in the fence. But we didn't use it. Oh no, gates are for wimps? We trampled through waist high weeds in the general direction of the car.
Then we drove the rest of the way to our hotel for the night. Once we arrived, we agreed that Ryan was not going to have to drive into Edinburgh. But we needed to go into the touristy part of Edinburgh because we neglected to pick up souvenirs for the kids the first time we were there. We asked the people at the front desk about buses, and they helpfully suggested the train. So a 15 minute walk and we found the train station. We bought tickets and got on the first train that came through (we were fairly sure it was the one that would take us into downtown). Unfortunately, there was a guy group all in white t shirts that got on the train at the same time as us with a box of full beer cans. They popped the tops of those cans and had spirited conversations for the next 45 minutes. I wanted to scrub out my ears by the time we arrived. We had to put our tickets into machines to let us out of the train station. It was different from my other train experiences.
We found our souvenirs fairly easily. Then we wandered down the Royal Mile. There was a street performer that proudly announced he hadn't worked a "real" job since 2004. His livelihood is entirely earned on the street. He was entertaining, and got out of his straight jacket and all of the chains wrapped around him.
The sun was out and lit up St. Giles Cathedral. It was happy looking.
We had dinner and then decided it was time to head back to our hotel. We wandered around Waverley Station before taking off, and found these pretty windows. We hadn't seen it coming in.
On the train and heading back to St. Margaret's station.
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