Since the first time I saw the movie Highlander I
was mesmerized by the wild, untamed, beauty of the highlands of Scotland. The
Highlands are now one of my favorite places on earth and going on this trip was
a life-changing achievement that literally opened up the world to me. That
being said, it is the absolute worst place on earth to be if you are allergic
to wool.
My brave friend Ann agreed to fly overseas with me
on my first transatlantic flight in almost 40 years and only the second flight
period in almost 30. She laughs when she tells the story about that flight. I
had a minor freak-out when we realized that there was a mix-up and we were not
sitting together. I practically jumped over some man trying to reach the flight
attendant so that she could do something about this earth-shattering crisis,
which she did admirably. The gentleman sitting next to me moved to the aisle
seat behind me, and Ann was now safely ensconced next to me. Disaster averted.
There were no cheap flights directly into
Edinburgh from Chicago, so instead we used our miles for a round trip flight
into London. We landed at Heathrow airport to discover my wonderful luck has
struck again. We were there the morning of the Tube strike. This was bad for 2
reasons, we needed a way into London and we had tickets to board a train at
Kings Cross station to get to Edinburgh.
The dry air on the nine-hour flight had done a
number on my throat and I couldn’t get rid of the tickle. I was coughing
constantly. Ann and I headed to the bank of computer pads to see what we could
do about getting to London and to find out how bad the picketers were outside
the stations. Of course we encountered a crazy lady. She was following us
around and telling us about the strike and how we shouldn’t even try to get to
London. She kept trying to get us to go with her, to where I don’t know.
Everywhere we walked, there she was saying, “Come with me.” We couldn’t shake
her. The woman creeped Ann out so badly, she ran for the restroom, leaving me
to deal with the crazy.
“You are not going to believe this is coming out
of my mouth,” I said to Ann upon her return.
“What?” she asked.
“Why don’t we just fly?”
So off we went to the Virgin “Little Red Jet”
counter to buy ourselves tickets to Scotland. The only problem was by this time
my little cough had turned into a full-blown attack. I coughed through standing
in line. Ann purchased the tickets
because I was coughing too hard to fish out my credit card. She looked at me,
and I guess I didn’t look too panicked even though it was bad enough for people
to stop and stare at me. The women at the ticket counter didn’t know whether to
weigh our bags or call an ambulance. Since Ann didn’t look that concerned,
later she told me she was, she weighed our bags and sent us on our way.
Going through security from arrivals to departures
Ann realized she left her iPad on the plane. Nothing we could do at that point
so we went through security and headed straight for the United counter. The
good news was by this time my cough had settled back down to just an annoying
hack.
I was expecting the United personnel to be as
overworked and overstressed and therefore unhelpful as their American
counterparts. To our pleasant surprise they were amazingly helpful. They called
the gate and found the lost iPad. We just had to wait until there was someone
from arrivals that could bring it to departures. After much anxious waiting to
see if we would get it before our flight left, it was delivered safe and sound
to Ann.
We landed in Edinburgh two hours before we were
supposed to get on the train in London, so we decided to take a “Big Red Bus”
hop-on, hop-off, tour around the city. This was a great idea except for the
fact that I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I had been awake for 30 plus hours and
taken some Xanax for the plane ride. Ann had to pretty much wake me every
ten-minutes for the next two-hours. We tried going to the top of the double
decker, hoping the sun and fresh air would keep me awake. Unfortunately, there
was nothing that was going to keep me awake.
A shot of our hotel from the hop-on hop-off bus
A shot of our hotel from the hop-on hop-off bus
The rest of our time in Edinburgh went along
swimmingly. It’s a beautiful city with the nicest people anywhere. After taking
a wonderful tour of the royal ship Britannia, we boarded another train headed
for Inverness. For 3 hours we road through countryside so neon green, it looked
more like a painting then real hills.
The cab driver from the Inverness train station
had a very hard time finding our AirBNB. It turns out it was a tiny house in
someone’s driveway. Using the very nice and helpful cab driver’s phone, like I
said the Scots are the nicest people I’ve ever met, we call our hosts. David,
the owner of the tiny house answered the phone very confused. It seems my
booking the house, calling and emailing to confirm was not enough and he had
double booked it for the first night. Our cab driver sat with us while David,
who was a frail elderly man, wandered VERY slowly down the street to meet us.
He then wandered VERY slowly to his neighbors who were all B&Bs to try and
find us an alternative place to stay. He found one 3 doors down at Thomas’
B&B. We gave our cab driver a £20 tip and sent him on
his way.
Thomas, it typical Scottish fashion, was exceptionally
nice. A man in his seventies, we were very worried as he climbed the
three-flights of stairs with our very heavy suitcases. We could tell by his
demeanor that, as much as we wanted to, there was no way he was letting us
help.
The room was a tiny little attic room. We had to
duck to walk around. The ceiling was a pyramid.
The only place we could fully stand up was between the two tiny twin
beds, and that was just because we are both under 5’5”. The bathroom was just as small. The ceiling
was so low over the bathtub that you could barely sit up in it, let alone stand
and shower.
After a wonderful breakfast of homemade eggs,
toast, sausages, oatmeal, we watched in terror as Thomas, again resisting all
attempts to help, carried our luggage back down the 3 stories. Wandering back
down the block, we found our little house in the driveway, which was now
vacated and ready for us.
This was my first encounter with the “cover
everything in wool” phenomenon. The couch and chairs were filled with wool
pillows and covered with wool throws. In the bedroom the headboard and
footboard of the bed were wool as was the blanket and the runner and of course
some more wool pillows. The itching started immediately upon entering the house
as did the red and swollen hands. Ann was kind enough to remove all the wool
from the couch so that I could sit down, though there was still enough wool in
the air to cause itching.
Very excited about the washer/dryer in our little
house, we decided to do some laundry before heading out to explore the
beautiful town of Inverness and take our boat ride on Loch Ness. You would
think 2 smart, educated women would be able to figure out how to work the
combination washer dryer. We opened the instruction and started reading.
Finally we thought we had it and threw our clothes in, shut the door and pushed
the button. There was a click and the door locked. Nothing happed for the longest
time and just as the water began flowing, we realized that we didn’t put the
soap in. A half-hour went by and we gave up trying to get the thing open again
and went out to explore.
We came back, and it was finished washing. After
consulting the instructions again, we got it open and put in the dryer sheet
and programmed it for what we thought was the dryer. To our dismay, the water
started running again and there was no way to open it. After dinner the washer
had stopped again. We had now been washing clothes for close to 8 hours. Giving
up, we unloaded the washer and hung our clothes all over the living room trying
to get them to dry for our trip across the Highlands the next day.
I covered the wool footboard with a towel, removed
all the wool from on top of the bed and tried to go to sleep at the foot of the
bed with just a sheet. The itching was so bad I went out to the couch to try
and not wake up Ann. It was a long, itchy, sleepless night.
The next morning, with exhaustion and excitement,
I climbed into my still damp jeans and waited for David our driver to arrive.
This was the day I was looking forward to. Twenty-five years of saying I was
going to go to the Highlands for my thirtieth birthday, then my fortieth and
now on my fiftieth I finally made it. This was a triumphant day!
David showed up right on time in his silver
Mercedes sedan. (David looking "Manly")
We got in and there was fresh baked shortbread and cold bottled waters waiting for us. He asked what we wanted to see today and I blurted out, “Isle of Sky, Harry Potter bridge, Glencoe, St. Andrews golf course …” He pulled over.
We got in and there was fresh baked shortbread and cold bottled waters waiting for us. He asked what we wanted to see today and I blurted out, “Isle of Sky, Harry Potter bridge, Glencoe, St. Andrews golf course …” He pulled over.
“This is only a one day trip right?”
I nodded.
“Okay, let’s make a plan.”
So it was decided that we would drive across the
Highlands, stopping at some of his favorite scenic places, see Eilean Donan
castle and then head over the Skye for lunch.
Ten minutes after we left Ann pointed out some
hairy coos, the longhaired cows the highlands are famous for. I said I had not
seen any coos yet. Before I could say another word the car took a U-turn and we
pulled into this driveway to purchase food to feed the coos and a moment later
I was feeding the coos. Someone probably should have told me not to turn my
back on the coos with a bag of food in my hand, because when I turned to talk
to Ann, I felt a long pointy horn graze my stomach. One more inch closer to the fence and it
might have gored me, though I think it was going for more of a nudge.
Our next stop was a hilltop overlooking the valley
and the Five Sisters mountain range. The sight was breathtaking, not in the
clichéd way, I literally stopped breathing for a moment. I don’t think I
understood that word until I stood looking at the deepest green and bluest
waters that made even the landscapes in Alaska pale. This is the spot I did my
victory dance. I had overcome all my fears and ended up in this amazing place.
The world was now mine to explore.
We left there and went to Eilean Donan castle. Known
for it’s beauty and completely intact, its the most photographed castle in the
world.
Of course the shop in the castle was lined with wool and I had to skip it.
Of course the shop in the castle was lined with wool and I had to skip it.
From the castle we crossed the long bridge that
led to The Isle of Skye. The island was, as it is most days, shrouded in fog.
Since there was no point touring the island in the fog, we ate lunch and then
stopped at a small candle shop next door.
Surprise, not only did they sell candles, but a variety of wool scarves,
hats, etc. The itching started almost immediately. I hurriedly bought my
lavender soap and cinnamon candle and rushed outside to wait for Ann. This was becoming a theme where I waited
outside while Ann purchased woolen items. In the stores in Inverness where I needed
to buy wool tartan gifts for my friends, after I paid and left while Ann tied the
dangerous textiles up in a plastic back, carried them back to our room and
buried them in her suitcase. My hero.
We had told David of our love of the books and the
show Outlander, so he did an impromptu Outlander tour on the way back. We
stopped at what was the inspiration for Castle Leoch and Clava Cave, the druid
cemetery where the split-stone Claire fell through was. Finally we ended in
Culloden battlefield where in 1746 three thousand men died a horrible bloody
death and the clan way of life ended in Scotland. I’m not usually sensitive to places, so you
know the vibrations of that day must be extraordinary. I could feel the energy
and the sadness. I had goose bumps almost the entire time we walked around
there.
David dropped us back at our little house in the
driveway and I thanked him for one of the most wonderful days of my life. The
next day, I got on yet another flight to London to start the second half of my
adventure. I was sad to see Scotland in the rearview mirror, at least I was no
longer scratching.
Extra Photos
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