Author: Jen

  • Road to the Isles

    We left out of Perth early – the sky was threatening but in a really beautiful way (it doesn’t always rain – but November is a bit showery…good news is we won’t be coming in November, but in glorious April or September!).

    One of the very few bits of highway we see on the trip

    We followed the southern bank of the River Tay through to Aberfeldy and onwards to Falls of Dochart.

    The Tay is beautiful and we have traveled along it today.  Here we’re near the Black Watch memorial.

    Then we crossed the river at the eastern end of Loch Tay.

    Obligatory sheep photo – this might be where washable wool comes from?

    We continued westward before turning north towards and through Glen Coe. I find that Glen Coe is haunting and new each time I see it – even without its bloody history, it is a moving place.

    Entrance to Glen Coe

    From there we kept on to the north, through Fort William and the southern approaches to the Caledonian Canal (another incredible engineering feat – Scots may arguably be the best engineers in the world, both historically and currently).

    The final leg of the day turned us westward again through Glen Shiel and the Five Sisters to Klye of Lochalsh and across the sea to Skye.  Do you know what “kyle” means? If not, I’ll tell you later on…

    My first view of the new Skye Bridge – not a great picture, but I was very excited!

    The scenery is captivating and the tunes we’ll share start bombarding me with every curve in the road! It’s been a long day but full of breathtaking sites.  Can’t wait for what tomorrow brings!

  • Arrival in Edinburgh

    I flew into Edinburgh with a great view of the Firth of Forth. You can see the Forth Bridge which is an engineering feat and just cool to look at (but a little challenging to photograph on the approach):

    Shortly thereafter, I arrived in Perth just in time for dinner. The trip over was good and although it’s a little gloomy (alright, it’s raining – but a fine soft rain!) I can’t wait to get started on the tour tomorrow.

    I am staying at the Parklands Hotel, our first accommodation. It’s quite nice and has attractive rooms. You might have heard bad things about food in the UK in general and Scotland in particular – you might be worried how you’ll subsist on porridge, haggis and turnips. I’m here to tell you (between mouthfuls) that all you’ve heard is wrong. I’ve had dinner at the Parklands restaurant and it was incredible. You won’t get bad canned haggis and “rubber chicken” like at your local Burns Supper, but rather delightful creations like the Black Pudding Bread that was served with my soup and amazing fresh local selections. It was very difficult to decide on a single dish to order!

    Tomorrow we start our tour, nailing down the ins and outs – finalizing the stops we’ll make in April and September. More pictures then!

  • Travel Day!

    Travel Day

    I’m on my way to beautiful Scotland. I am really excited not only to go and finalize the planning for the Harp in the Highlands and Islands tours for 2010, but also to be able to share it with you here!

    The journey was uneventful (except for the part where I started in San Diego – but what’s a continent between friends?)

    The weather en route was incredible and lead to pictures like this one. Hope you have a great crossing when you come!

    Sun setting east of San Diego

    Moon rising a little farther east on the way to Scotland

  • Getting Started is Exciting!

    As I begin my preparations for the planning trip, I’m trying out blogging as a way to keep you up to date on the Harp in the Highlands and Islands planning.  I think it will be very exciting to help you see just a glimpse of the tour as we finalize the places we’ll visit and I identify the tunes we’ll learn, matched to the history, people and places we go.

    I hope you’re getting excited about coming with us – I’ll be so glad to have you there!  And if you haven’t decided if this is the trip for you, I hope this glimpse will help you decide that you’ll have a great time learning about Scotland and the harp!

    See you soon…Jen the Harper