Mouse again! We are now in Germany, at a wonderful hostel with wonderful computers and internet access, and we are so thrilled at these facts that we donät care that German kezboards have certain characters in confusing, biyarre places. (That sentence was deliberate; any further errors are accidental and deeply regretted. But you'll know why!)
Finally, finally, our hundreds (literally!) of photos from Scotland have uploaded, and our greatest difficulty will be choosing which ones to show you. Obviously, Tigger will be our guiding star. But can we show the gorgeousness of Caledonia? Can we even consider rationing? Let's see!
Mouse may have overestimated her ability to navigate a town once visited after ten years' absence. Fortunately, the nice policemen put us on track within ten minutes. Unfortunately, even with the police aid, being lost in Edinburgh is quite a workout - the hills are mighty unforgiving. So when we arrived at the hostel after midnight, we were slightly exhausted.
Mouse stayed up to Skype home for Fathers' Day. Tigger is not here because he refused to stand for such nonsense and sensibly went to bed with Badger. But isn't Castle Rock Hostel lovely?
The next day, we got on a tour bus for a whirlwind tour of the east and north-ish part of the Highlands on our way to the Isle of Skye. One of our first stops was the old cathedral at Dunkeld (mostly a rest stop), but awesome from Mouse's perspective because it used to house St. Columba's relics.
Also, the river Tay. Pretty, right?
Tigger approves of our tour company. Good taste, good rates, good fun.
Later in the day, we visited Loch Ness.
Tigger contemplated diving in to earn the prize of a swig of whisky; he decided that Tiggers do NOT like soaking in barely-above-freezing water. (Mouse and Badger, however, came prepared with swimsuits. And got in up to the neck for long enough to earn the whisky. Photographic evidence on Facebook, for those who know us!)
Tigger hangs out with Nessie on the shore. Tigger may be slightly dwarfed by Nessie, but he is still eager to make friends.
Tigger was quite inspired by his visit with Nessie and decided to explore her home a bit. Farther up the shore is Urquhart Castle. Tigger enjoyed imitating the prisoners once held at the castle. Legend has it that anyone able to swim from the castle to the opposite shore was permitted their freedom. Mouse and Badger believe that anyone able to swim a mile across freezing Loch Ness ... probably isn't human. Tigger thought that sounded like a perfect job for a Tigger, but recalled his dislike of cold and decided to head back for the bus.
Incidentally, as the afternoon wore on, we entered the Wester Ross section of Scotland. Mouse's mind immediately deleted the space, one of the r's, and one of the s's. Mouse wonders whether she has been talking too much with Game of Thrones fans.
Loch Shiel (below) is a saltwater loch. Our guide informed us that ''loch'' doesn't necessarily mean ''lake,'' ergo long, narrow sea inlets can also be lochs. Either way, it was beautiful.
Still in Glen Shiel (the valley of Loch Shiel), Tigger tries to kiss one of the Five Sisters of Kintail. Legend has it that these five beautiful sisters were changed into mountains to preserve their beauty until their future husbands kiss them. Tigger did his best, but was rather relieved that he did not end up having to marry a human.
Tigger looks down on the lovely Eilean Donan castle. Unfortunately, he never got a closer look - once we got down to the ground, Mouse and Badger forgot him in a mad flurry of picture-taking. One of the best pictures is below.
Tuesday, Tigger made sure we remembered him on the way into the Fairy Palace. We were warned not to whistle, keep hands in pockets, or swear, lest the fairies whisk us away. We heeded. Mostly.
But it was hard keeping hands out of pockets on the cold, windy hike.
Looking down from the opposite direction, Tigger is pleased with our work.
He also approves of the lovely surrounding bluebells, national flower of Scotland. (Thistles, we are informed, are the national emblem, not flower, of Scotland.)
Of course, the fairy palace was only the beginning. After lunch, we left for a proper hike, starting near a sign labeled ''Welcome to Cuith-Rang.'' Tigger is aiming for the bottom of the J between the black cliffs and the pointiest green pile of rocks in the background. Not pictured: an abundance of Asian tourists taking too many photographs to possibly keep up with the group.
Not that anyone could blame them.
A tricky gully - Tigger opts to bounce across. Mouse and Badger followed more gingerly.
Frankly, no one made good time on this hike, because the view kept changing into another spectacular view.
The pointy green bit has become a very large peak of rock. Tigger has not quite figured out yet that he cannot bounce over a peak fifty feet higher than he is. But look at him try!
Eventually, Tigger settles with a lovely view of the sea beyond the hills.
Tigger ended up riding most of the rest of the trip in Mouse's pack. He objected strenuously as Mouse stripped layer after layer down to a t-shirt, stuffing them in the bag with him. Mouse was unsympathetic after having raced over hills for half an hour trying to keep up with the guide - having hiked over hills the hour and a half previous, albeit at a slower pace. Badger informed Tigger that until he could carry his own weight - but here Badger's breath ran out, and she and Mouse stayed voicelessly gulping sweet oxygen while collapsed on the bus for the next bit.
Mouse does not know the name of these fairy falls near the Old Man of Storr, but Mouse rather resents them for making her slip and render her jeans (aka her only pair of long pants, or indeed bottom-half-wear at all on Skye) a wet and muddy mess. The shoes were dry by morning. Badger simply danced her way over to the falls and got a refreshing drink. Tigger remained in the bus, perhaps presciently given Mouse's fall.
Tigger later decided to try the water again, from a stream guaranteed to provide eternal youth. Badger made a slightly more successful effort further upstream, more intrigued by the chance to touch wild water than by the legend. Mouse stood by and endured midges. Samwise Gamgee, when they can't get hobbit, midges gladly devour humans.
This view nearby was worth it, though.
Wednesday, we left Skye and its loveliness for the mainland again. This is Loch Garry, nicknamed Loch Scotland for its resemblance to a map of Scotland. Tigger is happy to indicate, although he is not much good at reading the map.
This is Inverlochy Castle (or the remains thereof)...
... excellent for climbing.
Or bouncing. (See Tigger, near where the tree's outline intersects with the castle's? About ten feet up a fairly sheer wall? Tigger is a good bouncer.)
Of course, Badger and Mouse had to give climbing the wall a go. Which is how we obtained the pic of Tigger peering out the ancient arrow slit.
After the long trip, Tigger dives into a container of peaches.
Mouse and Badger would rather look at Glen Coe. This was the first time we were the last back to the tour bus!
Later, we went to see a ''hairy coo'' - the Scottish Highland Cow. Hamish was once an ordinary bull, scheduled for slaughter, but the local schoolchildren liked him so much that they took up a collection and bought him. Now a venerable old 21-year-old, he has his own tourist site, a cow named Honey, and a Hamish Jr. to keep him company. Also, he likes being fed by tourists. It only occurred to us later that one of his foods is carrot sticks.
We think he was slightly disappointed to smell Tigger instead.
Tigger bounced up to the top of the William Wallace monument in Stirling, and admires the statue who bears no resemblance to Mel Gibson.
He was slightly fascinated by the historical reenactor/tour guide.
But more interested in making friends in the gift shop. Mouse had to remind him that neither she nor Badger had room in their luggage for his new friends.
Even if bears are what Tiggers love best.
The hairy coo was remarkably patient with Tigger's bouncing, but Mouse decided to evacuate before someone else took offense.
Which led to Tigger making a new friend.
Mouse felt a little bad that she had nowhere else to put Tigger during a bathroom break. A little bad, but not very.
Tigger collapses...
... and finally poses in person at the place he first saw on Mouse's laptop before this journey began.
A last view of the hostel. Unfortunately, Mouse's phone chose not to load any of the pictures from The Elephant House, a cafe where JKR wrote much of her early drafts of Harry Potter. We even have pictures of Tigger reading tea leaves. But Google+ has decided you don't get to see, so nyah. (Mouse is slightly irritated, can you tell?)
Edit, 12 Jan 2014: Mouse cannot, in good conscience, allow her irritation with Google products to interfere with pictures of Tigger in The Elephant House. So, being safely on her computer...
Here endeth the edit; back to your original programming.
A hint at the topography of Edinburgh. Off the Royal Mile, there are dozens and dozens of pedestrian staircases allowing access to other streets. Most are very narrow and make delicious secret passages. Hence the reason Tigger is sneaking beneath the camera.
A view of the lovely gardens around the Waverly monument.
A 3D map of Edinburgh
and the view back toward the castle.
Tigger insisted on making up for the sneaking by being photographed at Waverly Station waiting for the train. Unfortunately, Tigger led us to the wrong platform, so we had to scurry to catch the last train to London.
But the view on the way back was gorgeous.
We began studying the French section of our Rick Steves phrasebook. It quite helpfully contains instructions on how to ask for a room for June 21, the night we stayed in Paris.
Tigger enjoys lingering over the last bit of English tea for a while.
Finally, finally, our hundreds (literally!) of photos from Scotland have uploaded, and our greatest difficulty will be choosing which ones to show you. Obviously, Tigger will be our guiding star. But can we show the gorgeousness of Caledonia? Can we even consider rationing? Let's see!
Mouse may have overestimated her ability to navigate a town once visited after ten years' absence. Fortunately, the nice policemen put us on track within ten minutes. Unfortunately, even with the police aid, being lost in Edinburgh is quite a workout - the hills are mighty unforgiving. So when we arrived at the hostel after midnight, we were slightly exhausted.
The next day, we got on a tour bus for a whirlwind tour of the east and north-ish part of the Highlands on our way to the Isle of Skye. One of our first stops was the old cathedral at Dunkeld (mostly a rest stop), but awesome from Mouse's perspective because it used to house St. Columba's relics.
Later in the day, we visited Loch Ness.
Loch Shiel (below) is a saltwater loch. Our guide informed us that ''loch'' doesn't necessarily mean ''lake,'' ergo long, narrow sea inlets can also be lochs. Either way, it was beautiful.
Tuesday, Tigger made sure we remembered him on the way into the Fairy Palace. We were warned not to whistle, keep hands in pockets, or swear, lest the fairies whisk us away. We heeded. Mostly.
The falls by Kilt Rock, widely agreed to be one of Mouse's best pictures.
Wednesday, we left Skye and its loveliness for the mainland again. This is Loch Garry, nicknamed Loch Scotland for its resemblance to a map of Scotland. Tigger is happy to indicate, although he is not much good at reading the map.
Later, we went to see a ''hairy coo'' - the Scottish Highland Cow. Hamish was once an ordinary bull, scheduled for slaughter, but the local schoolchildren liked him so much that they took up a collection and bought him. Now a venerable old 21-year-old, he has his own tourist site, a cow named Honey, and a Hamish Jr. to keep him company. Also, he likes being fed by tourists. It only occurred to us later that one of his foods is carrot sticks.
More pictures from the day in Edinburgh? If you insist.
Mouse labels her cheese for the fridge at the hostel. It ended up being forgotten the next day, but was very useful in helping make sandwiches for Mouse and Badger. Badger did slightly better making a soup/noodle/vegetable thing for dinner.
A last view of the hostel. Unfortunately, Mouse's phone chose not to load any of the pictures from The Elephant House, a cafe where JKR wrote much of her early drafts of Harry Potter. We even have pictures of Tigger reading tea leaves. But Google+ has decided you don't get to see, so nyah. (Mouse is slightly irritated, can you tell?)
Edit, 12 Jan 2014: Mouse cannot, in good conscience, allow her irritation with Google products to interfere with pictures of Tigger in The Elephant House. So, being safely on her computer...
 |
| Tigger reads tea leaves. Trelawney would say it's the Grim. Tigger doesn't know what "grim" is. |
 |
| And immediately above Tigger's head, out the window? That's Edinburgh Castle. THIS is the table to work at. |
And hence we returned to London. Apologies if this entry is a bit short on text and whimsical adventure, but... Scotland! Next: our journey to Paris, aka A Midsummer Night's Dream. :)
