By the time we got home from dinner, enjoyed a soak in our deep bath it was 11pm and another long day. I didn’t even get time to blog – those light summer evenings make you think its not as late as it is! Breakfast in the conservatory was served by a smiling and chatting Graeme and his staff providing table service all the way. We started the day in fine style with creamy porridge topped as we chose with cream, honey and whiskey. Apparently that is how you do it here. Last time we had it with Drambuie on the isle of Skye, this time its fine local dram of whiskey. Yum. The porridge was delicious and smooth with a hint of salt and the honey having a nice floral and herby taste. This pairs very well with cream and whiskey. Graeme said it would not affect Verns driving, in fact it seemed to improve some peoples.
Next I had fresh smoked and grilled Scottish kippers with a poached egg, and grilled tomatoes. The Scottish kippers here do not bear any resemblance to the tinned offerings back home – or the vac-packed dry thin variety. These are big fat juicy fishies. I got served two whole ones which really was way too much – but I rose to the occasion and felt like a purring contented round cat afterwards. Of course Vern did not join me in this delicacy, but had a fine slab of black pudding, tasty breakfast sausage, bacon, poached egg and tomato. Like most B&B of this rating, all food is locally sourced and organic where possible. The eggs were so orange – I have never seen yolks so rich. No need for lunch today!
Time out for a wee note on food. Yes, we are the type of people that love to post food pictures on Facebook and my blogs feature food highly. Clearly our body shapes show that we have a good close relationship with food. I love to cook, and I love to eat. To us it’s more than nutrition and fundamental life necessity; it is art with a bit of science and some are blessed with an inherent feel or sensing for flavours and balance and timing, it is hospitality and expression of care, communion with others, tradition, and family and cultural connection. All these things considered, when we travel food is an important way for us to connect with the culture and country we are visiting. We have a rule, in Roman – eat like the Romans – so that means local type of food wherever possible unless there is no other sensible option. Generally no McDonalds or similar chain food (Amsterdam a rare exception at the airport, only other option was sandwiches its a shame their cuisine is so homogenized and very hard to find traditional Dutch food anywhere other than their cheeses, herring, eel, pancakes (albeit these are often Americanized with their fillings and toppings), apple tart and meat balls) and for example no eating pizza or pasta in countries other than Italy. Further to seeking locally produced food, we hunt out cultural classics and delicacy as a priority. This rule extends to beverages and I recall fondly our ‘cider crawl’ through the UK in 2015.
Now that I have got all excited and clarified our passion for food I will talk about what is so special about Scottish Kippers. At first glance they are bright orange to tan, not a brown smoked color. Then there is the size – large and thick or fat, and the preparation of being smoked just enough, and then lightly grilled on the bottom with a brush of butter ensures a juicy mouthful. The soft moist flesh explodes a perfectly balanced smokey- salty-sweet-fish moment or two on the palate with an accent on smoke and stronger fish that gives a woody freshness that sets it apart. They do have a few fine bones, but easily eaten by the enthusiast and I got praise and approval from Graeme at my empty plate with a couple of tomato stalks and two small fish tails! Oh by the way, Vern assures me his sausage and black pudding were very good.
Today is a quick turn around day to explore around Pitlochry. We drove through here last holiday and stopped for lunch on our first day in Scotland and really liked the feel of the place so took the opportunity for a quick look on route to puffins this trip. Lucky for us the weather today was meant to be the best all week – which meant little rain and a few appearances of the sun in between the perpetual cloud cover. It was still a brisk 13 degrees or so, and some breeze but apparently this is Scotland in summer. I really cant get my head around what winter must be like?
Before setting off we took the opportunity to take a load of washing to the laundry so we could post some of our warmer weather gear home and make our finely tuned packing easier. We also picked up a bag from the post office to have it all ready to send on our departure tomorrow. Postage is 20 GBP for up to 2kg. Walking along the shops I also managed to get a couple of cashmere scarves, and we found a very nice natural and hand made soap and cream shop where we got a couple of items. Pitlochry is a good blend of being set up for tourists but still retaining a local feel and prices.
Our first destination was Blair Atholl which was 23 miles up the road. Blair castle is here, which is Georgian style with lovely gardens but unfortunately we did not have time to visit but it looked nice and different being elegant white in its manicured gardens. Not far from there we saw a sign for “Old Bridge of Tilt” which sounded intriguing so we took a side trip and it took us a 5 minute drive over a stone bridge and past a little old grey stone settlement to a woodland parking place where you could leave your car for free and set off on various marked trails through the natural woodlands. One walk was to Brough falls – about 2km – which we did not have time to do either, so instead we did ‘the red squirrel’ walk of about 1km along the river and over the bridge and back again. At the park there was an information board on the area, the walks and some brochures which you could take to guide you. The trails were well marked with different colored arrows, albeit I felt a bit like Hansel and Gretel heading off into the woods and wondering if I would find my way back ok. The falls looked pretty and if we get the opportunity to come back we would do both the castle and some more walks. This is such a nice area with a lot to do, we could definitely spend a few days here.
The air was still pretty brisk which added a sharpness to the forest and damp earth scented air as we walked the path along the river. I love woodlands over here which are more open and orderly than our NZ bush at home. Tall trees reach for the sun and allow the dappled light to dance through their leaves painting the patterned bark down to the green moss covered rocks and tiny fern and plants on the forest floor in soft light. The odd bluebell remnant now tatty from the rain provided spots of color amongst other tiny blue, white and pink flowers. The occasional purple rhododendron – a naturalized rogue over here provided bold splashes of color against the back drop of greens and black and dark rust leaf colored earth. I took the time to stop, breath and enjoy this lovely scene whilst Vern continued on ahead. My mind easily imagined legends of fairies and a time when man lived and travelled here on horse and foot, until Vern gave me a call back to the present to keep moving as there were places to go and things to do….
Next stop took us in a westerly direction to Queens view, a famous lookout point and then Tummel Bridge – which is a bridge dating 1710, over loch Tummel. The lookout was nice, but we felt the whole drive around the area was filled with more spectacular views from – yes more ‘quaint’ stone hamlets, to river and loch views surrounded by woodlands and dramatic big hills with early dark brick red and green colored summer heather growth in the background. The sun teased us all day long with occasional brief peeks through the cloud, illuminating like a spot light where it shone through.
I was thinking aloud to Vern “what is so special about the Scottish highland and lowland scenery?” There is a book called “50 shades of Grey” and all I could conclude about the scenery is that it is “50 shades of green” with the odd golds, browns, rusts and beige and blacks thrown in. Further to that all I can add is that together it is refreshing, relaxing, grounding, and a pleasure to experience
We completed the circle from Pitlochry north east then west – south west and back north east to home. All in Perthshire this area also borders and encompasses the national park region of the Cairngorms. Aberfeldy was a particularly pretty town along the way. The region offers wonderful hiking, salmon fishing, hunting (deer), water sports, lamb, pork, cheeses and of course lots of top whiskey distillers. With the risk of repeating myself, we would love to come back to this region and extend our visit to the Highlands and Islands for a more indepth look.
Back at home we refreshed and headed out on foot to dinner at the second restaurant Graeme recommended called Victorias. It was really busy and we got the last table – others got turned away after us. It was very nice and I enjoyed some more great tap Scottish ale. We shared haggis bon bons that are balls rolled in oats and panko crumbs served with a whiskey cream sauce. Next up Vern had a slow cooked angus scotch fillet and red wine pie, and I had some local lamb loin with a herb crust served with ratatouille and mash. Meals are generally costing us, including drinks 36 GBP average. The venue was nothing out of the ordinary being a relatively modern building but I still have to say to Vern to pinch me as I look out the window at the lovely old village and realize I am actually here – eating haggis.
We strolled home around the back of town where the river runs and there is a hydro dam where they have created a ‘ladder’ for the fish to complete their journeys up stream. We saw a couple of good size salmon part way up the ladder – but no jumping. They have cameras recording them and up to 5,000 pass through each year. Another awesome day, relaxing and enjoying rural Scotland and to bed with the northern sun still lighting the sky long after it has left the horizon.
Travels with Valrock 