Edinburgh, St Andrews, Culloden to Inverness: Sunday 17 July

Breakfast was available early so we were there at 6:45am. It was amazing - salmon, brie, and all the European type gourmet breakfast items. Also the usual hot and cold buffets. I was given GF toast, and had some sliced potatoes fried up in a separate fryer because I couldn't have the potato scones on offer. Amazing!


We drove north out of Edinburgh and over the Firth of Forth bridge, heading through Alan's home town of Dundee, on our way to St Andrews and the world famous golf course. We arrived quite early, just after 9am, and being a Sunday, not much was open yet. There was a very cold wind coming off the ocean. We grabbed some photos, then headed into a hotel for a coffee. Batteries recharged, we walked along to the Museum of golf, which opened at 10am, just before our bus was to depart. They kindly gave us a very discounted price to just flick our way quickly through the interesting exhibits. Of most interest to us was the screen display of how the upper echelons of society through history tried to forbid the rest of us (plebs) playing golf.

Back on the bus, and before long the landscape had changed to become more hilly as we entered the Scottish highland area. Lunch was at the quaint town of Pitlochlory. Luckily we arrived just before a lot of other tour buses, because everyone was heading to the fish and chip shop, as did we - they had GF fish and chips! David had a hamburger which he didn't think was great, but I regret not grabbing a photo of my huge piece of fish done in GF batter, and with chips. The fish was beautiful, not our sharky stuff - and moist and creamy, not dry. 

Many of us were booked to do a tour of Blair Castle; others stayed back in town while the bus delivered us out to the castle. The castle was amazing! Three floors of fully decorated and furnished rooms, with authentic furniture. The family history was amazing - the castle was first developed in 1479. Truly, a worthwhile visit.

Next stop was the battlefield of Culloden. We had about an hour and a half there, with included entry to the amazing new museum. This was very poignant for me (hence the deliberately solemn photo of us at the battlefield memorial cairn - you could really feel the sadness of the place and of course we understood the impact of the battle on the Scottish), having read all Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and watched it on Lightbox. The museum was very well done, explaining the politics and reasons around Bonnie Prince Charlie's efforts to regain the thrones of England and Scotland. It must have been a terrible time, with ongoing threats from the French, and families and clans split on whether or not to support the Prince. The first couple of Outlander books are based around the build-up and outcome of this terrible battle - and because of the books I made sure to take a photo of the Fraser memorial stone... Here we were, on that very field where the battle took place and where the highlanders were slaughtered in 1746. The museum did an excellent movie, re-enacting the battle and making it seem that you were an observer but in amongst it, bringing it to life.

Just 10 minutes down the road was Inverness, also a prominent place in the book series. We arrived at the old Columba Hotel, with one lift and keys for the rooms instead of plastic cards. Dinner for me was rather disappointing - either all the courses without gravy, or a vegetable curry that turned out to be not good, and while the others dined on profiteroles full of cream and chocolate sauce, I had a cheap icecream. Better than nothing though... And, after all, I had hit the jackpot at lunchtime.

Edinburgh: Saturday 16 July

We had a lie-in this morning... Until we had to be at breakfast at 7:30am, and ready on the bus by 8:30am. It was another lovely cold and hot food buffet and the service was excellent.

We had a short bus tour to hear some of the stories and see some of the highlights around the city of Edinburgh, including driving past the Palace of Holyroodhouse (wished I could have gone in there, but there was no time); Mary Queen of Scots' bath house (where she bathed in wine); the Scottish Parliament Building; a statue of Greyfriars Bobby (the skye terrier that guarded his master's grave for 14 years, between 1858 and 1872); the coffee shop where JK Rowling wrote much of her first Harry Potter book; where the First Minister lives (a bit like 10 Downing St); numerous statues and churches, Georgian buildings, and pubs frequented by other famous authors). It was hard to get photos from the bus moving along, and take it all in.

Then we drove up to the top of the Royal Mile, and the entrance to Edinburgh Castle. We were able to bypass the queues forming, and go straight in. It was crowded enough then, but much worse by the time we came out. It reminded me of what it was like when we visited the Acropolis! We had our group photo taken in the area all set up for the Military Tattoo, then our local guide took us in as far as he was allowed and pointed out key buildings. 

We then wandered at our leisure for a couple of hours, visiting the Crown Square, and then into the Royal Palace to see the Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny. We saw where Mary Queen of Scots had lived, and given birth to the future James VI. We saw the mighty Mons Megs canon, forged in 1449 and much used as the largest canon in Britain. We visited the tiny St Margaret's Chapel, built in 1130 by King David. The views over the Firth of Forth from the Castle were excellent. There was even a Dog Cemetery for regimental mascots. We weren't allowed to take photos of the beautiful stained glass windows in the Scottish National War Memorial. There was so much to see, but that was as much as we managed with the time we had. On the way out I took a photo of what I think was once the barracks at the castle where mum says her father was born (around 1890-92, from memory). He became a Cameron Highlander and was posted to India. He emigrated to NZ after WWI, meeting my grandmother on the ship they came out in.

Next stop was a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia - much more interesting than you would imagine. Again, we bypassed the queues, picked up what turned out to be an excellent audio guide, and began a very interesting two and a half hour tour.

I had heard that the Royal Tea Rooms on the Yacht were great for GF, and had been told it could get very busy. We were lucky to get an excellent table by the window, and I enjoyed Cream of Cullen Skink soup (haddock, leek and potato) with a lovely, light GF roll - absolutely delicious! David had the Shetland oak smoked salmon, lemon and cracked black pepper cream cheese sandwiches, and we shared a GF fruit scone with jam and clotted cream. A small 'Retro' milkshake each was also enjoyed.

The tour was very well-laid out, and highlights for me included the Sun Deck, the Queen's bedroom, her office, the Duke's bedroom, the State Dining Room, the State Drawing Room, a Honeymoon Suite (used by Charles and Diana, but also a guest room for dignitaries), the various sleeping quarters for different levels of officers and seamen, and their recreation areas, the on-board hospital and theatre, and the immaculate engine room. The stories of life on board, and the protocols, were very interesting. All of this is attached to a large shopping mall, but we had no time to take this in - I wasn't interested in shopping, anyway.

Back at the hotel we sorted laundry and relaxed, and I flaked out. We weren't doing the optional tour group dinner, and had arranged instead to meet Elaine and Alan at 6pm. They live here in Edinburgh. Elaine's grandmother was my grandmother's sister (Grandma Dawson/mum's mother). They have visited NZ a couple of times, staying with mum and dad. We headed out with them for a drink in a bar directly across the road from our hotel, and then to a restaurant also just across the road. We had a fabulous meal and enjoyed lively conversation, including family reminiscing and updates, talk about travel, and Brexit! David even had a whiskey-tasting session, with their guidance! We will definitely be keeping in touch!

Lake District, Gretna Green and Edinburgh: Friday 15 July

We were woken at 5:20am by a noisy family on the street below our first floor room (directly above the main entrance, with a perfect view of Clifford's Tower). This was a nice room, but like all on the tour so far, the rooms are very small by NZ standards, and there is really only space for one suitcase.

Again, out suitcases were out by 7am and we were ready for breakfast at that time - again a hot and cold buffet. GF toast was available when I asked. We were on the road early at 7:55am, thanks to everyone in the group being so reliable about being on time. 
We had a two and a half hour drive north, first through the Yorkshire Dales (very picturesque) and then through the Cumbria region. All the land thus far was flat or gently undulating, but increasingly high through Cumbria. Dry stone walls bounding the fields were a feature here, with Galloway belted cattle (white band around their middle) and sheep. The weather was very grey and overcast, and starting to get drizzly.

We stopped for coffee in an unusual service area of cafes, restrooms and shops, called the Rheged Centre, which seemed to be built partially underground. The history of the area suggests a King Urien and his successors tracing their ancestry back to Coel Hen (alias King Cole), who is a mythical figure who may have actually lived in the area during the 5th century.
We drove into the Lake District National Park area. It was interesting to hear the role of Beatrix Potter in having this huge area established as a national park. Lots of tourists come for the historic and scenic beauty, and for hiking. 
This area and Cumbria were badly hit by a Foot and Mouth scare in the past. The hardy grey-wool Hardwick sheep were almost wiped out. The hills are called 'fells', and the lakes have various names (or none at all) depending on their size and importance. 

We parked in Grasmere and Michelle handed out Insight umbrellas and took us on a short walk through part of this very quaint village of stone buildings (in increasing drizzle), to see Wordsworth's grave. His home (Dove Cottage) was in a different direction, and we could have walked there if we were very keen Wordsworth fans, but that would have used up our entire allocated hour and a half. 

We found a cafe that advertised an extensive list of GF menu items, and David shared with me a plate of shepherd's pie and a sausage roll, and I appreciated being able to have something completely different.

We arrived back at the bus to find that every couple had a gift of Kendal Mint Cake (GF yay)! We had passed a signpost to the town of Kendal on the way, so David's family possibly originates from the area. By the time we left Grasmere, it was raining steadily and down to 14C - most days we've hovered around 19-22C.



The rain got really heavy as we headed up the M6 towards Carlisle and Gretna Green. We had a 35 minute break at Gretna Green, and had our photo taken (in the rain) under the clasped hands sculpture. I bought some GF shortbread but wasn't tempted by any other souvenirs.

We had a further 2 hour drive to get to Edinburgh and it rained steadily along the way. The scenery was lovely though - lush, green farmland.

We arrived at our hotel, the Waldorf Astoria Caledonian, at 4:45pm - quite a fancy place!

We were out the door again at 6:30pm to go to a dinner and Scottish cabaret (Taste of Scotland) in the stables at the Prestonfield Manor. It was a fabulous night's entertainment of Scottish music, song, dance and humour. Dinner included haggis, but it wasn't GF.... David surprised me by trying it, and he said it tasted a bit like a spicy sausage and was quite pleasant. The dinner wasn't brilliant for me in terms of their management of GF, but it was still an excellent evening of entertainment and the 27 (out of 38) of us from the tour who went had a fabulous time.