Hiking above Loch Ness with Sven and Mary Beth

Our tour of Great Britain reaches its most northerly point here in Inverness, which is generally considered the capital of the Scottish Highlands. The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic words for “Mouth of the River Ness.” The city indeed sits at he mouth of the River Ness, six miles downstream from the beautiful, mysterious, moody Loch Ness.

We drove a little under three hours to get here from Braemire. That experience combines stunningly beautiful scenery with mildly terrifying road conditions. Many of the roads in Scotland are just BARELY wider than two cars. Every time we encounter an oncoming vehicle, it seems there are only inches to spare for each car to stay in its lane and avoid collision. And when that oncoming vehicle happens to be a bus or a truck or a tractor, there is even less room to spare because it may well spill into our lane. That means Jim (who has been driving) has to move uncomfortably to the left while Mark (the navigator) winces in fear that we are going to head into a ditch or hit whatever is on the side. So every drive combines great natural beauty with a lot of stress.

And of course there are significant stretches where the roads are not NEARLY the width of two cars. There you rely on frequent little “passing places” and pray that when you encounter another car you don’t have to back up too far to get to one. And on top of all this you have to add in the minor extra challenge of remembering to always stay on the left.

The best part about our stay here was joining up for two days with our great friends Mary Beth and Sven. We had lots of time to catch up over lunches, dinners, a bit of Scotch tasting, and a couple nice hikes along the River Ness and up above Loch Ness. Given how unpredictable the weather is here, we had nice clear conditions and lovely views of the lake. We were only disappointed not to get even one sighting of the Loch Ness monster herself.

The scenery helps make up for the treacherous driving conditions

A stroll though town after lunch

The view toward Inverness on our hike along the river

We managed to get some pretty ideal weather for our hike above the Loch

Happy hikers

Jim meets a dog

A bit of Scotch tasting. They tried to borrow from the wine industry, telling us the various flavors we could taste in each brew: orange peel, vanilla, stewed pears, etc. I really didn’t taste those things at all.

Another little turn in the weather conditions

A fantastic dinner in town. I ordered a dish that included haggis, and everybody dutifully tried it. If you read a description of what haggis is, it sounds truly revolting. But I’ve sampled it a few times now, and I’m making my peace with it.

The morning we drove out of town some pretty different weather hovered over Loch Ness

Reading and having tea at our guest house. Oh, wait a sec, that must be the time I was here with my parents 33 years ago!

Mark and Jim at Balmoral Castle, just 15 minutes away from Braemar

Here we are in the Scottish Highlands and we are loving it! Our first stop is a town called Braemar, deep in Cairngorms National Park, the biggest national park in the UK. The natural beauty captivated Queen Victoria and Prince Albert back in the mid-19th century and so they bought what is today Balmoral Castle just a few miles from here. In the best McMansion tradition they tore down the small, old castle and spent three years building Balmoral. I don’t know how all the royals after her felt about it but this was certainly one of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite spots as well. And I have to say, based on our little stop here you can trust their judgment.

There’s a lot to see here but not necessarily a lot to say. That is, it’s a stunningly beautiful place and so we spent large parts of every day hiking in and around the mountains. The weather cooperated beautifully – sunny with scattered clouds and temperatures from the high-50s into the 60s – so we had ideal hiking conditions. And that’s pretty much it, so I think pictures are going to tell most of the story.

On our first afternoon in Braemar Mark did a couple-mile hike out of town on the River Dee. He never saw a soul and fell in love with both the landscape and the cool misty weather.

Besides a lot of hiking we did a morning trip up to Balmoral, where you can buy tickets to tour the grounds. We didn’t really know what to expect but figured “How bad can it be?”

We are so glad we did it! They have started to allow tours inside the building but tickets are seriously limited and we didn’t try it far enough in advance. Maybe that would have been great but just walking the grounds, soaking up the atmosphere of the castle, and gaping at all the flowers was pretty fantastic. Definitely worth doing the next time you’re in the area.

It’s worth saying a word or two about our hotel here, The Fife Arms. It is simply one of the most beautiful hotels we’ve ever stayed in. It’s history goes back to the mid-19th century, opening as a classy hotel just after Balmoral was finished. And for much of the last half of the 19th century and up to World War I it was very much a place to see and be seen. It bounced back a bit during the inter-war period but by the 1960s it was pretty run down.

The Fife Arms Hotel

Finally just a few years ago a British couple that owns a fancy art gallery bought it and spent a few years restoring the hotel in a magnificent way. The minute you step in the art and the furnishings and the colors just grab you. Fantastic and varied public spaces practically beg you to sit for a spell. All that and a great restaurant, too. Rarely does a hotel deserve so much praise but this one is truly worthy.

The reception area of The Fife Arms. That’s a Steinway Spirio, the kind like ours that plays itself. So evenings if you passed through or took a break here you had live classical music.

A very cosy lounge

Mark on the staircase going up to our room

Here I am at breakfast

Deer hunting is a big thing up here, so this bad boy was keeping watch in the restaurant. And yes, venison was on the menu.

Jim relaxing on the lawn. We were there not long after it opened and so there were few people initially, though eventually the crowds started arriving.

Balmoral flower gardens

More flowers

There was a common thread of purple and blue colors all around the grounds. Made me pretty happy!

A gate to some of the gardens. Originally developed by Queen Mary in 1923, the initials at the top of for King George V and Queen Mary. A hundred years later King Charles oversaw a significant rebuilding, so his initials along with Queen Camilla are below.

Balmoral is built near the River Dee, so part of our walk about included walking along the river

Mark at Duck Pond on a hike we started together

At this point the trail is still pretty easy

A little further along the trail

While Mark headed around on a relatively level loop I headed up, up, up on the big mountain overlooking Braemar

Working my way up, you can see Braemar way below. The trail continued up for a long way but eventually the town was out of sight.

And here I am a very happy guy at the top

The view from the top of the world

At higher elevations the hillside (mountainside?) was covered with these bushes and their red/pin/violet flowers. From way below it all looks brown but up here it’s alive.

The bridge is the start of the Queen’s Drive trail, named because it was one of Queen Victoria’s favorite drives in the area. And the bench was pretty striking.

The Queen’s Drive was a beautiful trail through the woods

More woods along Queens Drive

Turns out Mark liked the bench

Another day, another hike, this one with a view of Braemar. That hill behind it is the one I’d climbed the day before.

The town’s steeple and the little creek that runs through it down to the River Dee

I loved this isolated house a few miles from town

Some wild life not at all far from town

And Mark’s favorite wildlife

The glorious architecture of Edinburgh

From York we took a wonderful high speed train for 2-1/2 hours to reach the Scottish capital. Edinburgh is a truly captivating place — a city that looks like no other. Immediately upon arrival we were drawn to its magic, which is a combination of several things.

First of all, the architecture. The city center is just packed with monumental buildings, spanning centuries of Scottish history. Medieval masterpieces live alongside Georgian splendor. Yet it’s all united by a peculiar and romantically dark coloring. This patina derives from the unique local Craigleith sandstone, exaggerated by centuries of soot and weathering.

The grand staircase leading to our room at the Virgin Hotel

A super cool corridor leading to reception

And then there is the natural setting. Edinburgh castle sits upon a hilltop, with much of the city center descending down the Royal Mile toward the Firth of Forth below. Nearby rocky crags create extra drama. The one known as Arthur’s Seat draws hikers up above the town for splendid views of the city and the Firth of Forth.

On top of all this, layer in the drama of moody and constantly changing weather. Rain comes and goes. Heavy cloud cover moves in and out at will. The sun is nowhere to be seen, then suddenly comes streaking in through the dissipating clouds.

And finally there is an almost spiritual layer of Scottishness over all of this. The fiercely independent Scottish identity shows itself proudly in the monuments to its poets and leaders, the blue and white banners fluttering everywhere, and the ubiquitous, mournful sound of bagpipes.

This glorious city offers an endless supply of historical sites and activities, though we didn’t feel compelled to churn through them. We did climb to the top of Arthur’s Seat. And we toured St. Giles’ Cathedral and then went back for a classical music concert. And we thoroughly enjoyed a visit to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, where we saw the portrait of our friend Thea Musgrave, a Scottish-born composer who lives in New York. Other portraits do an amazing job of telling the story of Scotland through the personalties of its greatest leaders.

Beyond those things, we did little more for three days than just soak up the glory of this beautiful and distinctive place. We are excited to head to the highlands next as we dig deeper into a 15-day adventure in Scotland.

Seconds after our train crossed the border into Scotland the view became ever so pastoral

A special highlight was breakfast with our friend Sally Cade Holmes, who recently relocated from New York City to Edinburgh, though as a theater producer she’ll keep spending lots of time in New York, London, L.A., etc.

Hiking up to Arthur’s Seat

Reaching a height with a commanding view of the Firth of Forth

Selfie time

The sun shines for a moment over St. Giles’ Cathedral

The magnificent medieval interior of St. Giles’

The spot in St. Giles’ where Queen Elizabeth II lay in state on her final trip from Balmoral to London

A lovely concert of piano trios by Beethoven and Schubert

The beautiful entrance to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Excited to find Thea!

We were crazy about this huge portrait of Scottish actress Tilda Swinton. Her right foot is on a stack of movie scripts she’s done. She’s sitting on the ones she has rejected.

This reimagination of American Gothic features Mike and Sheila Forbes, who spent a decade fighting Donald Trump’s efforts to force them off their farm to make way for his golf course. They still have their 23-acre farm, and Mike says Trump can “take his money and shove it up his arse.”

We loved the Virgin Hotel Edinburgh, in a stunning refurbished building just around the corner from colorful Victoria Street

The lively and colorful Victoria Street, believed to have inspired Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter stories

We met Mandy and Helen at the Virgin Hotel bar and loved them

Jim and Mandy share a toast

We discovered an Indian restaurant called Dishoom in Cambridge and went there twice. They are scattered around the country, so we were excited to find this one in Edinburgh. The food, atmosphere, and service, are incredible. We’re mildly devastated that we won’t encounter another one until we get to Oxford very late in this trip.

I was here 33 years ago but did not remember at all the Scottish Parliament buildings. Oh, right, because they were built since then.

Scotland loves its writers, and this Victorian Gothic monument to Sir Walter Scott is the world’s largest tribute to a poet

Another view of Sir Walter Scott. Also caught an airplane!

The stunning dark monumental buildings along the Royal Mile

When things turn grey

And it all changes when the rain starts up

Even moodier