My wife, Patty, and I were planning to go to Scotland for our 50th anniversary. That was in 2020, and no one was going anywhere in 2020. In January of 2023 I saw that a small group of like-minded photographers were going to photograph around the Highlands and Isles in July, so we signed up. We decided to go nine days early so we could adjust to the time change and travel around on our own since there were places we wanted to go where the tour group was not going.

We flew from San Francisco to Atlanta and then on to Edinburgh. The car that we hired was a bright red MG SUV.

Patty perusing the instruction manual before deciding to leave the driving to me.

We headed for the hotel and decided that after two long flights and a layover, a nap was in order rather than going out on the town. We had dinner at the hotel since the long-awaited fish and chips was on the menu. For dessert, I was introduced to Sticky Toffee Pudding, served with a generous amount of warm gooey toffee sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream! That was a dessert I indulged in every other time it was on the menu.

After a hearty Scottish breakfast, we drove to Anstruther (pronounced AHNster) which is in the East Neuk of Fife, across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh. I wanted to see where my grandmother VW (maiden name Grant) was born. Anstruther is a delightful small fishing village. We walked the waterfront and out on the pier where "Girl Emilie" (see Gallery) was photographed, then ducked into The Wee Chippy which had just been voted the best fish and chips in Scotland (and again in 2024) for, you guessed it, Fish and Chips! Oh, and Sticky Toffee Pudding (henceforth STP) with ice cream. They were both superb. We had on and off rain, but this is normal for Scotland, and we had the proper attire. After lunch we drove up the coast to St. Andrews and walked around the beach called Castle Sands below the St. Andrews Castle ruins. We circled back to our hotel in Edinburgh in time for dinner and STP.

The next day we drove to Stirling. After checking in at the guest house we toured the castle which we were told was “just a wee walk to the entrance”. The castle sits atop an intrusive volcanic crag overlooking a huge valley, so the “wee walk” was more like an up-hill climb.

Rob Roy MacGregor at your service, Stirling Castle

The castle gardens are beautiful, and the castle itself is full of Scottish history. Looking over the ramparts, one can see where the Battle of Stirling Bridge took place in 1297. In one of the royal chambers we enjoyed a short solo lute performance, the player dressed in period attire. In an adjacent room someone was playing a violin. When she finished, Patty, being a violinist, had a conversation with her about things violin. Also of interest was the room where the Unicorn Tapestries, that now hang in the castle, were created using the original techniques, yarns and dyes. The original tapestries are in the Cloisters Museum in New York. We had seen the original medieval tapestries in 1978, so it was interesting to see the re-creations and what the original vibrant colors would have been. You can find pictures online.

From Stirling to Glencoe: A lovely drive and finally in the Highlands! Driving along the A82 there are many pull-outs, and I took every opportunity to stop and photograph on the way to the B&B in Glencoe. The B&B was lovely and welcoming. We had dinner in Ballachulish and drove around part of Loch Leven before turning in. Next morning we looked out our second story window and saw an 8 or maybe 10-point buck grazing in the field below us. We checked out the Visitor’s Center and took a walk to find the MacDonald Clan’s (Patty’s Clan) Signal Rock. It was a nice cool (and drizzly) walk, over the River Coe and through lovely hillsides covered with bracken and trees.

Trees and Bracken along the Trail to Signal Rock

Signal rock was high enough in the glen so that a fire could be built on top of the hill to warn all of the clansmen of danger. Unfortunately, it is now overgrown due to reforestation, so there is no longer a view from the top, but we hiked to the top anyway. Driving further up the glen, I did scramble up the side of a hill to get a few photos of a waterfall and a view across the glen, but mostly it was stop and walk several meters to get a good shot. You really can’t go wrong no matter where you point the camera. Sometimes with the rain and wind I had to hold the camera under my coat then take it out quickly, click, put it back under my coat, wipe the lens and repeat, sometimes, in haste, taking a picture of my feet. Sorry, those were deleted in the first round of editing. We made it up to the Kingshouse Hotel, where the River Etive and River Etive Bridge was taken (see Gallery). The ben (mountain) in the background is Buachaille Etive Mòr (The Great Herdsman, or Great Shepherd of Etive).

On our way to Portree we took the inside tour of Eilean Donan Castle as it was raining, but we were still able to photograph between episodes of rain after the tour.

After lunch we crossed the Skye Bridge onto the Isle of Skye. After checking in at the B&B, we headed into town for dinner, but, without reservations at any of the eateries, we instead patronized the CO-OP and took food back to the B&B. Sadly, there was no STP that night. It was getting close to sunset (9:50, or so) and the light was just right on Portree’s harbor, so I jumped on the host’s picnic table (the proprietor gave his permission) and got a few shots off before noticing more bugs (not midges) than I was willing to tolerate, so we called it a day and reviewed the day’s photographs inside overlooking Loch Portree.

Next day we drove the loop trip, anticlockwise, to the northern tip of Skye and back around to Portree. First stop was at the Old Man of Storr. We both climbed the steep trail to a place where it levelled out. Patty, wisely, turned back, and I (foolishly) decided to make the final ascent. I climbed for a while and then a group of 1st graders passed me up singing their lungs out. Mine were barely getting the oxygen that I needed to continue, so I decided I had the pictures I needed and turned back. Up the road at Mealtfalls taking pictures can be challenging as it is popular place where tour busses like to swarm. The area where one can get the best shots had a very sturdy chain-link fence in front of the cliff and not enough room for everyone to get the best shot. You need to wait while all of the people finish taking their selfies, but being taller than all of them, I held my camera above my head and shot over them. I also held the camera out over the fence and shot around them. Up the road from the falls the road turns into a single track, so I had to pay attention to where the turnouts were and whose turn it was to proceed. Going around the top of Skye we stopped at the ruined castle of Duntulm and further along, the Skye Museum of Island Life, that has several furnished crofts, but being Sunday, it was closed. (We stopped with the group later and were able to go in.) We visited the Kilmuir Cemetery instead. More history there, and that is where Flora MacDonald is buried.

Flora MacDonald’s Grave, Kilmuir Cemetery, Isle of Skye

We drove back to Portree via Uig, and I was glad to eventually see a road with cars traveling in both directions in their own lanes. We had another lovely dinner at the CO-OP.

It was a rather long drive from Portree to Strathyre. We did stop briefly at the castle in Armadale (the Clan Donald Centre) before taking the car ferry from Armadale to Mallaig. We just puttered along, stopping at the Glenfinnan Monument (where the clans gathered to greet Bonnie Prince leading up to the second Jacobite Rebellion of 1745/46).

We continued after lunch through the Trossachs to the B&B in Strathyre where it was raining quite heavily. The building is an old stone Victorian, and we had the top (3rd) floor to ourselves. We arrived too late for dinner, but we had food with us, so we sat in comfortable rocking chairs looking out a dormer window over the trees next to Loch Voil, which is, at that point, more like a river than a loch. The bathroom, across the hall, was quite large with a four-footer tub and a crapper with the tank on the wall, well above the seat, with a pull chain. Gravity works.

It was now time to return to Edinburgh where we stayed at the same hotel as when we first arrived. We drove around looking for a laundromat and finally located the advertised address. It is now a real estate office. The realtors were very helpful and gave us directions to where one was located. We expected a laundromat that was inside where we could sit and read e-mails. As it turned out, it was outside, and part of a petrol station. There was a bank of two washing and drying machines where we loaded our clothes then quickly got back in the car to get out of the rain. Mission accomplished, we headed back to the hotel, had dinner and STP, and got ready to meet up with the group of photographers at the airport who were coming in from all corners.

The next day, we turned in the car, and after everyone was assembled, we bussed from the airport to Edinburgh proper and the elegant “The George Hotel” in New Town. After settling in we were all taken to the top of the Royal Mile and told to meet again at Holyrood Palace. Patty and I explored St. Giles Cathedral.

The Thistle Chapel in St.Giles Cathedral

Then, walking down High Street and Canongate to Holyrood Palace we had tea, coffee (for me) and cakes. For dinner we walked over to Rose Street which has a plethora of pubs. We found one that had an interesting menu and STP!

The small bus that we had for this part of the trip had a huge shamrock on the side (I guess that’s better than a happy haggis) and held just 22 people plus the driver, who was Irish, and had an inexhaustible supply of information about every place we went. We were off to Oban with stops in between at the wee village of Luss which is on the shore of Loch Lomand. Each lodging has planters or gardens with colorful flowers in the front. We stopped at a couple other road pullouts to stretch our legs before arriving in Oban.

Our hotel in Oban was on the waterfront, and we enjoyed a leisurely evening stroll along the esplanade.

Dinner was topped off with STP.

Patty opted out on a long day that included a boat to the Isle of Mull, a bus trip across Mull to get on another boat that took us to the Isle of Staffa where we photographed puffins. Puffins are cute little birds that nest on Staffa from May to August. The rest of the time they are at sea eating fish and other sea critters.

From Staffa we hopped a boat to Iona for coffee and cakes (no STP) and to photograph (in the rain) the ruins of the nunnery and abbey.

Another boat took us back to Mull where we took a bus across the island to catch yet another boat back to Oban. We were back just as the restaurant at the hotel was closing, but Patty had made reservations, and all the staff were very nice to accommodate us, especially because they had…wait for it…STP.

From Oban we went to Fort William and were greeted with a deluge. And no STP at our lodging.

We were supposed to ride the steam train from Ft. William to Mallaig and back, the one made famous by the Harry Potter movies, but it was down for repair. That wasn’t really on my bucket list anyway as the best pictures of steam trains are taken while not riding them. We had already seen it when we were on our way back from Skye. We had stopped at Glenfinnan for lunch and saw the train going over the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

From Ft. William, we pretty much repeated the same itinerary that Patty and I did on our own. We did stop again at Eilean Donan Castle and this time it was drizzling and moody.

As we went around the tip of Skye, the Skye Museum of Island Life was open, and we had an opportunity to enjoy the displays of life on an isolated island. Some samples of island life, below.

So there went another two days in Skye with no STP. Dang!

As we headed to Pitlochry, we spent another few hours at Eilean Donan Castle and photographed for a while. This time with some nice clouds.

Low tide at Eilean Castle, now with sun and clouds

We were scheduled to visit the one whisky distillery that allows photography, but it was closed for some reason. Sooo, we spent the night in Pitlochry. The next morning, we had enough time to take a short stroll up and down Atholl Road, looking at the architecture and do some window shopping, then back on the bus and on to Edinburgh. For dinner, we headed back to Rose Street for pub grub. We later sauntered through the Princes Street Gardens as there was still quite a bit of evening light left, even at 10 PM.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes and transferred back to the airport for the long flight to New York Kennedy. I was worried that we might not clear customs in time to make our connecting flight to SFO, but we made it through, and the flight back was uneventful (the best kind). We were tired, but happy to have had the opportunity to see a lot of what we wanted to see and experience in Scotland. Would we do it again? At the drop of a hat!

A final happy note: I now have a recipe for STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING!!! Thanks to Janet, Patty’s Scottish fiddle buddy, for the book by Coinneach MacLeod who wrote The Hebridean Baker with recipes and wee stories from the Scottish Islands. My thanks and love go to Patty for preparing this desert for us at Christmas. It brought back such lovely memories of our travels and experiences together.