This area is beautiful, partly because we go from the mountains and rivers out to the sea! We start out from Aberlour and head to Tomintoul and Cockbridge along parts of the old military road on our way to Royal Deeside – which, not surprisingly, is along the River Dee.

The area is called the Royal Deeside, not surprisingly, because since Queen Victoria’s time, the Royal Family have spent time here.  We took in the Bell Stane (a cool, half-buried rock with a strange history that you would not look at twice if you were to walk past it – yet it rings like a bell when you strike it with another rock). Later we saw the picturesque Corgarff Castle with its star shaped wall. 

We visited the Crathie Kirk (which is the place of worship for the Royal Family when they’re in the neighborhood). From there we headed to the coast, from Portsoy and westward along the Moray Coastal Trail and visited another of Scotland’s ancient stately homes.

Another day so full of wonder that I kept forgetting to take pictures.  I hope you remember better when you get there!

We ended up the day at David’s and his lovely wife Heather’s home for a dinner that can only be described as an event! Heather is a fantastic hostess and I am thrilled that she’s invited us to share traditional Scottish hospitality. This will be a meal that you’ll savor for a long time!

We saw some incredible things today. We started at Ballindalloch Castle, still lived in and beautiful! Unfortunately for me, I’m here in November and the Castle is closed, but when we come back in April, it will be open! I can’t wait to go! The pictures on the website are marvelous!

A little further on, we came to the River Avon…and no, we weren’t lost…there are seven Rivers Avon in the UK alone! We just happened to be at the one in Strathspey…a beautiful little bridge that I guess most people don’t know to see – I tried to surf it up and didn’t see any pictures of it…and now that you’ve seen my picture, let’s keep it our little enchanted secret! And now you get a glimpse of the great tour guide we have!

We passed through Cromdale and as we happened on the “Haughs of Cromdale”, I felt another tune coming on!  We kept on our way to Carr Bridge, though. And I had to have a photo of the Carr Bridge, not only because I learned the tune very early in my harp life, but also because its not only beautiful, it has a great story that goes with its being built. But you’ll have to come with if you want to hear it!

The Carr Bridge…in the early morning, stunning!

From Carr Bridge we went on to the Cairngorms. The entire range are breathtaking and we actually go to the top! Not only is this the largest (read biggest) collection of high peaks in the UK, but even better – it’s just incredibly beautiful! And do you know why calling the mountain range the Cairngorms is sort of funny? David’ll tell you. And you’ll see the incredible view from the Cairngorm Funicular Railway – another astonishing (but fun) engineering feat!

View from near the top

And of course no visit to the Spey Valley would be complete without a visit to a distillery – to watch the water of life being born! Even if you’re not a big fan of uisge beatha (the water of life!), you’ll enjoy learning about how Scotch whiskeys are made, their history and the path a grain has to go through to become something more celebrated than breakfast cereal!

This was a great day exploring working forts and walking through history in a really modern way. We start by crossing Dava Moor (which some will tell you is what people who’ve never been to Scotland think all of it looks like – deceptively expansive, wild, beautiful – its a “carpets of heather” place!).

After crossing the Moor we get to Fort George, built in the 1720s it is the most secure fortification in Europe to this day. It is a working Army Barracks, so you might see soldiers while we visit.

This fort was originally built to pacify the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745. And yup – that’s when they started burning harps to squelch the culture. It is a Star fort so it is interesting (even if you’re not into forts) and contains exhibits about its history and use. It is home to the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland. Anybody know what their regimental marches are? Want to learn one?

From there we moved through Inverness and along Loch Ness which looks just about as deep as it is…Didn’t see Nessie this time, but I’m always looking, just in case. Urquhart Castle sits on Loch Ness and has a very interesting history including visits by such interesting characters as St. Columba!

We went on to Culloden Battlefield from there. They have a brand new visitors’ center which is state of the art and has excellent displays and information. You can practically feel the history around you. I think that the site is so captivating and overawing – so much so that I was too stunned to take photos! But it is so impressive that I can’t wait to get back there!

We start this day by visiting the well known and beautiful Eilan Donan. You’ve seen the photos and here’s your chance to visit the hauntingly beautiful and recently restored castle.

 
After exploring Eilan Donan we moved on to Ardival Harps to see how the wide variety of harps they build are made in their workshop. We met Zan in her “showroom” (and I did not succumb to playing all the harps there – it would have been tough to choose – Pictish harps, wire strung Clarsachs in multiple sizes, Gothics, bray harps and plain ole’ lever harps – all on display! Heaven!!). Then she gave us a tour of the workshop located in the mill (and the beautiful aroma of fresh cut wood – I didn’t want to leave).

But leave we did and on our way to Aberlour and the Dowan’s hotel, we saw Achnasheen, Strathcarron, Loch Carron, the Black Isle and Beully. Another day of tunes just popping into my head with each glance!  I am really excited about the things we’ll play together!

We end this day at The Dowans Hotel, our accommodation for the rest of our visit. It is very pretty and much like staying at someone’s country house! You’ll feel quite grand when you bunk down here!

Today we started seeing Skye. There’s a reason there are so many well known tunes related to this area. With so much to see it was hard to remember to put the camera down and really look around. And looking around is a must…

We’ll spend some time here, so you’ll see waterfalls, and Kilt Rock

as well as picturesque Port Righ (Portree)

At the end of the day we return to McKinnon Lodge, our accomodation for the evening.  I was really taken with our Hosts Iain and Carol Tongs who made us very welcome in their lovely lodge.  I was in the Lindsey room, and really enjoyed the ambience of my tartan based decor.  The Lodge was a wonderful place to rest before our next day!

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!).

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

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

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.

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…

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!

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

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

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