Trekking the Trossachs

By then, she had chosen to wear booties lent to her by her cousin. To us from South Africa they looked like Safari boots but out there they refer to them as booties. Whatever, they seem to have served their purpose for the walking and for protection, but for driving they were not really the thing. She participated in the driving up to Scotland.

As they crossed into Scotland, the weather turned. They saw only clouds and as they approached Edinburgh,

Edinburgh City Centre

where the uncle lived, it started to drizzle. With the help of cell phones and a friend of the uncle, they tackled the centre of Edinburgh to get to Viewforth where uncle San lives. As usual, they got lost in the right direction. Soon they were parked in front of the apartment block and were unloading their luggage.

They just dumped the luggage inside and all flocked to the kitchen for a hot cup of tea. It was a nice reunion. She had not seen Pirjo in years and Coen had never met her. Hakim, her cousin, was there too. That evening they had a simple but excellent dinner of cold-smoked salmon with hard boiled eggs and potatoes. As they talked, distributed gifts and enjoyed food and drink, they made plans on where to go and what to see.

Later, they sorted out who was sleeping where while further catching up on news and views.

The set plan for the next day was to go to Stirling and see the sights, then through the Trossachs, meander around there and see the Lochs, then on to Scone Castle and see where the old kings of Scotland used to be crowned.

And so, soon after breakfast, they set off. By then they had consulted San’s road map and found a good way of going out of the city because there are major road works in the centre and things get rather confused if you want to get into the city or out of it.

Robert the Bruce in Stirling town

First stop was Stirling, checked on a few monuments/statues to the memory of Robert the Bruce. They also drove up to Stirling Castle through the narrow roads of the town. The place was busy, people were coming in by the bus loads. They did not go into the castle but looked over the ramparts at the lands beyond.

Back on the roads heading to the Trossachs national park there was stunning scenery with quaint villages and lochs. They

Through the Trossachs

meandered through, took pictures, stopped by loch Lomond and took in the fresh air. On the way in and out of the national park she saw the sign board to another Loch and was wondering about the name when San exclaimed “really, but the Chinese are everywhere”, it was because the loch’s name was Chon! They had a good laugh over it.

Loch Chon

As they opted not to drive all the way to the coast, they came back on their steps and stopped at a small town for lunch. They were so hungry that they just ate at the first stop where there was decent parking. It was self service but tasty. It was inside one of these ‘wool shops’ set up for tourists. These often sell woollen garments as well as any other articles that may interest tourists – in Scotland that would be shortbread biscuits, haggis, keychains with clan coats of arms etc.

It was still early when they headed for Scone palace. This is a castle that is still inhabited. It was also the place where the old kings of Scotland were crowned. It was well indicated and they were soon driving into the grounds. They parked the car and went up to see about visiting the grounds of the castle. The people were in a fizz since aunty Lizzie was just there having lunch, left 15 minutes before we arrived.

Scone Palace

It was quite amazing to them that there was not great hooo haas after such a visit because they are used to great show of security, presence of police and barred roads when African leaders appear anywhere. At Scone palace that day, the gate guy only apologised that it would take a further 15 minutes wait

Crowning stone

if they had wanted to go inside the castle. Since that was not their aim, they were free to stroll into the grounds and take pictures. They went by the small chapel where THE stone used to be. There is a replica in the place where she sat and was crowned.

From Perth, where the Scone Palace is, they were only a stonethrow from Edinburgh, it was a matter of crossing the Firth bridge. When they got back to Edinburgh, they were hard pressed to find a parking spot because it was very much ‘residents only’ or ‘permit holders only’ where San lives. Since it was after hours, they found a spot where they could park for free for the night and remember to put in some coins if they had not moved before 8 on weekdays.