Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The day was drizzly and cold again, which I am not sure if I was pleased or disappointed about. Pleased as there is nothing worse than seeing great weather the day you are leaving somewhere when it was not nice whilst you were there, but disappointed as we still had a 30 minute drive down the east side to the Ferry with some potential great views!

Breakfast was different from the usual full fry up in that the hot offering was ‘Scottish porridge topped with cream, brown sugar and Drambuie’. I must say it was good – the oats were the courser ones than the smooth oaties we are used to, but they were beautifully tender with a hint of salt and then finished with the cream, Drambuie and sugar made the humble oat rather exciting. We also had warm nice croissants, thick wedges of leg ham, cheeses, cherry tomatoes, toast and cereals and spreads. The oats, ham and croissant was perfect for me.

Our Ferry loaded at 0930, so we left promptly after breakfast to ensure we got there on time with no stress. The Ferry is at Armadale and is a short 30 minute ride to Mallaig on the mainland. Our boat was very modern and big and it was fun to experience driving onto it and the nice smooth passage across.

Mallaig is a tiny port town, but obviously with a good fishing industry. It was not raining over that side, and the sun even peeked out momentarily although there was a biting cold wind that made us seek out a cafe for a cuppa before our big drive to Edinburgh. The cuppa turned into another breakfast as they catch and smoke their own kippers there and they smelt so good. Vern under protest (yeah right) managed to fit in a Scottish cooked breakfast with local black pudding so we justified it all by calling it brunch – lunch. Prices for food and drink was one of the cheapest we have seen, only £6 for the kippers and £8 for his full breaky. The kippers were so fat and juicy, and unlike any I have had before. Vern’s breakfast was very good too and included one of those little potato breads – they call them scones here.

Fortified we set off along the scenic route towards Fort William which follows in part the ‘famous’ scenic Harry Potter train ride, including the Glenfinnan Viaduct which is 200 years old and has 21 supporting arches. Regrettably the weather clouded over and even was spitting, so some potential stunning coastal and loch scenery was not as spectacular as it might have been. Nonetheless it was still very pretty all the way through and we had nice stop off at the Viaduct which is a 10 minute walk off the highway.

After Fort William you can take 3 routes to Edinburgh and we chose the one through Glencoe which is purported as one of the most scenic highland routes in Scotland. The weather was still pretty rubbish but we had moments when a bit of light would spotlight parts of the sheer mountainous ranges creating some incredible brooding views. As previously mentioned there are limited viewing pull overs and some are in places where there is no great view so I have limited photos. What a lot do over here is simply go hiking and get the views that way. Tough lot but I am sure all the effort is well rewarded.

The hills are incredibly steep and the road follows a valley or two without too many climbs so you get this feeling of being very tiny as you drive in-between huge sheer hills. There is a highland alpine plain at the top and then you wind down again through valleys to the country lowlands on the east side passing through a lot of more developed farmland than we have seen so far in the other areas. You also pass through some pretty villages near lochs and it is curious to see how close the road passes next to houses – like in Greece – just don’t get that here as there seems to be plenty of room?

Without a doubt it is a beautiful country and a stunning area and given the opportunity I would love to spend more time in rural Scotland, and the Islands and even do some little hikes. I would choose late Summer, in the hope that I might see the sun …. and the heather would be in bloom and that must be something quite lovely to see.

We got into Edinburgh nice and smoothly with the GPS just before 7 and checked in quickly before heading out to get some dinner. We walked with a little map provided by our hosts and a 10 minute walk up the road was more like 15, but it was good to stretch after our long travel day. Our B&B is on the very corner of the CBD, and a nice area which has plenty of eateries and other shops not too far away, leading right into the city. We chose a Turkish restaurant and it was very reasonable with monster portions. The food was great – we shared an entree platter which was enough in itself and shared a main ‘mixed grill’ which came with a huge salad and more toasted turkish bread that we couldn’t even put a dent in. I tried a turkish yoghurt drink that was very refreshing like a plain lassie, thin, and not sweet but a hint of salt and natural zing without being sharp.

After our huge dinner we strolled home admiring the victorian houses and lovely gardens in the posh area and are looking forward to exploring more tomorrow after a sleep in.