Bonnie Scotland & the How-Tos of Travel

We are 10 days in our time travelling around the world. And time flies when you are having fun. Scotland is teaching us about our ancestral heritage, its fascinating history, rich culture, stunning geography and driving manual transmission on the wrong side of the car on very narrow roads. The Sharp family is also growing our travel muscle: we missed a bus stop on day one, laundry is now a celebrated and rare event, and keeping track of the budget is a daily family affair. In ten days we have experienced average, below average and spectacular accommodations (all for around the same price!) and stayed positive throughout. 

Highlights of our travels:

Edinburgh:

This cultural and historic town was a great place to kick off. We explored Old Town and New Town; took naps in Princes Street Gardens thanks to jetlag; went on the Harry Potter walking tour to see Voldemort’s grave and George Heriot’s school that inspired Hogwarts (this school continues to provide free tuition to orphans since the 1600s thanks to an endowment started by its founder); walked and jogged on the lovely and prolific trails throughout the city; saw where Erin used to live and study at the University of Edinburgh; and visited Edinburgh Castle - learning about Scottish history with particular interest in the Wars of Independence through to the Union of Great Britain. Upon renting a car to leave Edinburgh Ian discovered he had somehow lost his drivers license before leaving Canada-sometimes we take for granted what’s in our wallet! Thankfully travel status is something that Ian has in spades and the kind people at Enterprise still gave us a modest upgrade and looked up his license from his profile. Many thanks to Grandma Karen for receiving the replacement and getting it sent off for a London rendezvous. We quickly learned UK measurements are as confusing as in Canada-using MPH for speed but metric to weigh and fill up the tank. At least Gaelic does not also come with its own measurement system. 

Jasper at the Edinburgh Museum of Modern Art

Princes Street Gardens

Below Edinburgh Castle

Bagpiper Busker

Killin:

With a brief stop in Stirling (to see the Castle and the William Wallace aka Braveheart monument), we continued on to Killin, a village in the central highlands of Scotland, where the MacDiarmid ancestors are from (Erin’s father’s side). Here we departed the highways of Scotland to find the more windy rural roads. Surprisingly, these roads often have a speed limit of 60MPH! When a lorry is coming towards you on what feels like a 1½ lane road, the space provided feels less than adequate, and we’re learning fast to make way, which sometimes makes the passenger feel like they are hanging off the side of the road! We encountered a fine Scottish mist (read downpour) on our way north and noticed a wonderfully competent older Scottish woman driving a vintage green Rolls Royce convertible in the downpour!  

It was an early bucket list success to be able to connect to this personal history and contemplate what life was like for those who came before us. The MacDiarmids came to Canada in 1845 during the time of the Highland Clearances, although many stayed behind in Scotland. In and around Killin we were able to find one of the homestead birthplaces (Tir Artair), and gravestones (including ones that referenced both a Finlay and Hugh MacDiarmid-on the same stone, namesakes for our modern family).

At Dochart Falls in Killin, Central Highlands

One of many moss covered graves of the MacDiarmid ancestors

Other highlights of the area included Dochart Falls, Scottish playgrounds (with a zipline!) and a semi-working water mill at the falls dating from the 1840s. This made for a great school project about early forms of engineering. We hiked a very windy Beinn Ghlas that took us higher into the highlands past grazing sheep and into the clouds above Loch Tay.

We learned what it felt like to be IN the clouds!

The top of Beinn Ghlas, what an incredible Scottish view

The way down.

Inverness:

We drove from Killin through the stunning Glencoe, visited the Glenfinnan viaduct (for the train lovers out there it is a viaduct made around 1900 that is still in use. A vintage steam train crosses the bridge a few times a day and makes for a great viewing experience; the bridge and surrounding area has been featured in a few of the Harry Potter films). We carried on further north past Loch Ness (we didn’t see any sea monsters this time) and arrived to bliss at the Cnoc Hotel (pronounced knock, meaning Hillock) outside of Inverness. What a find! We felt cozy and at home here and were sad when it was time to leave. We explored Inverness Old town, visited Culloden Muir (the site of the last battle on British soil and the last stand of the Jacobites), our innkeeper Duncan provided us with some local recommendations to explore and hiked to a waterfall that was truly amazing. The mist and roaring water made it feel like a scene from a Scottish fairytale. We caught a few views of Urquhart Castle (Scotland has lots of castles we’re learning), a stunning castle on the shores of Loch Ness (still no sighting of Nessie) and even visited the wave pool to burn off some steam. 

The beautiful Plodda Falls

The team getting the full experience!

Glenfinnan Viaduct

Befriending Highland 'Coos' (read cows), Jasper's new favourite animal

The Cnoc Innkeeper Duncan was so nice he even let Ian pour his own ale, while away eating his dinner

Pitlochry:

Our final stop in Scotland was to the Pitlochry Highland Games. For those who are unfamiliar with Highland Games these feel like a cross between a track and field meet, a strong man competition and a music festival filled with bagpipers and Celtic dancers, all with the trappings of the midway at Stampede. We were met with the all too familiar Scottish mist - still managing to have a great time despite the rain. We found that the Scots take their tug-of-war VERY seriously with proper equipment and uniforms for each team. The umpires, judges and performers throughout the festivities all wear very nice traditional Scottish dress kilts, sporran and sgian dubh. With a stunning array of tartans.

The Tug of War at the Pitlochry Highland Games

All in all a great way to finish our Scottish adventure. Onwards to England!

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We thought everyone would enjoy hearing from the boys individually about their reflections on Scotland. We helped Jasper a bit, but Finlay’s is his words unedited. 

Jasper

I liked that the hotel experiences were different - some were nice and some were not good - but it was an adventure. I liked learning about the Loch Ness monster and about the history of Edinburgh Castle, and the crown jewels. I miss Fitzy and my friends. It feels good trying new foods, except Haggis. 

Finlay

We enjoyed seeing the sights in Edinburgh like the castle where we learned a lot about the wars of independence. I enjoyed staying in the hotel that we had. We had a decent amount of space, enough space to watch a movie comfortably. The next hotel was just outside Killin; it was called the Luib hotel. That hotel was the worst hotel I have ever stayed in. Once we got into Killin we had a fun time exploring a river called the Dochart falls. There was a bridge my brother and I found a secret passage under the bridge which was really cool. The next day we went on a big long hike that was so windy I felt like I was going to be blown off the top. The next day we left for Inverness. It was only meant to be a three and a half hour drive but it felt like it was five hours. We stopped on the way to see a bridge that was in some of the Harry Potter movies. After that we left to go to our hotel. Once we got to the hotel we realized it was much nicer than the one back in Killin. Yesterday we went around exploring Inverness. We went to a pool then we went to a restaurant that had big burgers and giant milkshakes. Now I am feeling great and I absolutely love this trip.

Reflections from Ian & Erin

It feels good to finally be travelling - after so much planning we are finally in it! We planned for Scotland to be first as a relatively low bar to entry - same language, Erin’s experience living here etc… and it has been great. It even rained less than expected. Already we are seeing the benefits of being on the road with our kids - the kinds of conversations we are able to have with them feels like the learning is happening organically all the time (although we are also doing some actual school work too!).

The cost of living in Scotland is astoundingly high. We will be interested to see first hand how this translates to other places we will visit. We observe the cost of food, gas and other basics to be numerically on par with prices in Canada - but in pounds (so basically double). With the latest tariff controversies, it has been interesting to see first hand the effects of Brexit. As tourists, the costs of sights are either quite steep or free (almost all museums in Britain are free!). 

We are so grateful for the advice we have received from others around extended travel - this is paying so many dividends. Particularly, we heard that it will take us awhile to find our family’s travel rhythm and learn what works for us. We are reminding ourselves to be patient with this - 10 days in already we find ourselves settling in better than the first few. We are excited for a bit more space in our first AirBnBs and laundry!

Overall, we have found so much to be joyful about. The boys are getting along really well (until they aren’t LOL), the plans we made have mostly worked out, and the pieces that we have decided to ‘wing’ have also yielded great experiences. We think of everyone back home often, and miss you (especially our best dog Fitzy xxx). We are filled with gratitude to be doing this and to be doing this together. 

Love to all!

The Sharps

PS. We will continue to upload photos to the Route page - you can view additional photos of each of our destinations.