Scotland - Day 8
We made our way down to breakfast at a reasonably early 8am, with the intention of being on the road back to Edinburgh by 9. We had a long drive ahead of us and the weather was pure shit. Rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was strong enough to lean into without falling over. Three days without rain on the Isle of Skye is something of miracle. We were about to experience the real Skye.
I had my eye on the "big breakfast" - scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, ham, soldiers, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Preceded by a bowl of cereal, two glasses of OJ, and a pot of tea. I was padding the waistline for the ride. My plate was delivered piled high with steaming goodness... including a little something not included in the menu version of the 'big breakfast'... Two patties of Stornaway Black Pudding resting on two potato pancakes. Peter, our breakfast chef and host, apparently was thrilled I ordered the black pudding the day before and decided to reward me with two more. Oh my. Of course, it was my sworn duty to eat everything on my plate; so, I dug in. I ate almost everything on my plate by the time the pudding loomed into view. I ate one patty and one pancake... and, I was done for. I felt bad I couldn't finish the last patty. My solution? I cut the patty in half, wrapped one half in my napkin, and put it in my pocket.
Back in our room, Tracey asked me what I did with the pudding patty chunk. I had just tossed it out of the window. Problem solved. Although, Tracey was dreading a 7-hour ride in a confined space with no ventilation.. the rain.
We were heading south on the A87 by 9am. Pouring rain and high winds would be with us all the way to Edinburgh. It was really quite beautiful. A thick mist hung in the air like a blanket. Mountain tops that had five hairline streams cascading down it's sides now had ten streams rushing down in torrents. Streams were now rivers and rivers had morphed into whitewater flumes. Waterfalls seemed to be everywhere, gushing as if a dam had broken upstream. This is the wettest place I have ever seen. Even more impressive, everywhere you looked, you could see hikers cloaked in brightly colored waterproof gear trudging through the gale.
We made two stops along the way. The first was at a fish and chips restaurant in a small town. I ordered a beer and a cheeseburger. The burger arrived and I did a double take. Resting between the meat and the top bun was a one inch thick pile of shredded cheddar cheese. Dry, unmelted, cheddar cheese. It was gag-inducing. The only bad meal I ate on the entire trip. Don't order a cheeseburger in Scotland.
Our second stop was to visit Doune Castle. This ruin is located in Doune, northwest of Stirling. This 14th-century caste is best known as the location for much of the filming of the 1974 classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Walking through the barren halls and drafty rooms of Doune, I was overcome with the urge to say in a lousy english accent "Bring out your dead!" and "none shall pass!". Standing beneath the battlement where John Cleese's French soldier shouts down at King Arthur, "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" all I could think was... "Ni".
We arrived at the Kew House in Edinburgh around 7pm to smiles. Katy and Wayne were bounding down the main stair with cups of coffee. We all went out to a lovely dinner at The Apartment and enjoyed hearing Wayne relate their not-so spectacular tour of the Isle of Mull and environs. Wayne spins a marvelous yarn, but I felt bad their trip hadn't gone according to plan. Nonetheless, it meant a great deal to me to have had a chance to spend time with my best friends, being that they came so far to be with us in Scotland.
We turned in at 11pm that night to get a good night's rest for our last two days of touring.
