November 2024 – A Traveling Fool

November 17, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: Invergordon, Inverness, Urquhart Castle & Loch Ness

This was my fourth time in this part of Scotland. On two of the other three trips, I had gone out on Loch Ness on a boat. We had a very pleasant ride both times but hadn’t seen Nessie. That was fine with me. I wasn’t certain that I especially wanted to meet her face to face. I definitely didn’t want to end up as lunch or possibly an appetizer.

On none of those prior tours did I have the opportunity to explore Urquhart Castle. I had taken photos from out on the water or from up above it. I had envied the people who I would see climbing around on the ruins. I guess I just needed to get on the right tour.

We docked at Invergordon and rode a tour coach to Inverness. Along the way, we saw some North Sea oil platforms. We passed by the Black Isle and we drove around Inverness a bit before heading to Loch Ness.

In Inverness, we passed by the old Victorian hotel where we had stayed on the first trip to Inverness. I had fond memories of that hotel and the dinner we had there. It had a lovely atmosphere and good food. We also passed by Inverness Castle on the other side of the River Ness. Shortly before reaching Urquhart Castle, we crossed the Caledonian Canal.

The visitor center and visitor parking are mostly underground except for the side facing the castle. This allows for great views of the castle and the loch from the visitor center.

When heading down to the castle, a full-size reproduction of a trebuchet awaits. This is a counterweight trebuchet, which is a type of catapult that uses a rotating arm with a sling attached to the tip of it to launch a projectile. Its design allows it to launch projectiles of greater weight at a much greater distance than traditional catapults. Although the trebuchet itself is a reproduction, the balls sitting by it are the real thing. They were found at Urquhart Castle.

Although there is some debate about whether or not Urquhart was the location of a Pictish fort that was visited by St Columba in 567 (and where he reportedly encountered the Loch Ness Monster), our tour guide stated that the remains of a Pictish fort were beneath the oldest part of the castle. This is a motte and shell keep built upon medieval foundations that date back to sometime between the 5^th and 11^th centuries. It sits up on the highest mound in the castle complex on what they call the Upper Bailey.

Despite the castle being mostly ruins, it is a fascinating place to explore. Urquhart is one of the largest castles in Scotland. It is also quite old (the actual castle remains range from the 12^th through the 16^th centuries) and sits in a gorgeous location. The day we were there was beautiful. The temperature was mild and there was no rain. A perfect day for climbing around and exploring the ruins of the castle. The upper portions of the Grant Tower weren’t open to exploration, however, due to safety concerns. I was able to go up one level and down to the cellar, but not to the top.

From the Grant Tower (16^th century on 14^th century foundations) I did have some wonderful views of the loch and of the rest of the castle. It was easy to see the remains of the private living quarters plus the Great Hall and the kitchen. There were some good views of the Upper Bailey as well. The castle even had a water gate which allowed it to be supplied from the loch when under siege by land. The way that the Grant Tower was built allowed it to be defended independently of the rest of the castle.

As always when I am exploring a particularly interesting castle, the time for me to remain became short fairly quickly. I decided to give the gatehouse a thorough exploration before heading back up to the visitor center. I found a kiln on one side and a prison on the other. The kiln was used to dry grain before it would be ground into flour. Traces of both oats and barley have been found there.

There had once been a couple more stories of the gatehouse. But it had been blown up back during the Jacobite uprising to keep the castle from being used as a potential fortress by the Jacobites.

The visitor’s center had the obligatory gift shop plus a café. There were also exhibits of several of the archaeological finds from the site. I would be more than happy to visit Urquhart again and explore some more.

I had signed up for a spa treatment, for once I returned to the ship, called Northern Stillness. The description had said that it was a restful massage of neck, shoulders and back, followed by a blueberry mask. While relaxing with the mask, my hands and feet would be massaged. Sounded good to me. But when I got into my stateroom on that first day back in London, the instructions regarding the Northern Stillness said that I should disrobe in my stateroom and go to the spa in just a robe and slippers. It turned out that it would be a full body massage and a blueberry body mask.

When I got back to the ship from our visit to the castle, I had time for a short lunch before undressing and heading to the spa. I did point out the scar next to my spin from surgery just three years ago and mentioned that it was still sensitive. Other than that, I was fine with being pummeled. When I had some physical therapy for my lower back the prior year, my favorite part had been the massage.

I figured this treatment would be quite restful once I got past the fact that I was naked and my masseur was male. I had a sheet over me that was moved around to supply me with some modesty while allowing various parts of my body to be worked on. Once the blueberry body mask was applied, I was essentially wrapped up like a mummy to let it all be absorbed into my pores before having my hands, feet, face and scalp also massaged. Overall it was an 80 minute treatment.

After getting dressed for dinner, I had my usual Lemon Drop Martini at our evening discussion on the Mystery of the Lewis Chessmen, followed by dinner. I felt very relaxed and my skin felt soft and smooth. I would be quite happy do that same treatment or a similar one again. In fact I have one in mind offered by one of the hotels I will be staying in during a trip in 2025.

Next time – Fascinating Shetland

November 10, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: Linlithgow Palace – Birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots

With the many trips I have taken to Scotland over the years, I have been to a lot of places associated with Mary Queen of Scots. Places where she lived. Multiple places where she was imprisoned. Where she gave birth to her son. Where her personal secretary was murdered by her 2nd husband (Lord Darnley) and his cronies. Where her 2nd husband died. But Linlithgow is where Mary Stuart was born.

I had originally signed up to see Scone Palace, but that excursion had been canceled when not enough people signed up for it. Of all of the other excursions, the only other two that I had not done before were Broomhall (the home of the Family Bruce), and Linlithgow Palace. Broomhall was sold out by that time, so I signed up for Linlithgow Palace. This was an included tour. No additional charge.

The site on which the castle stands has been occupied for as far back as Roman times (2,000 years ago). King David I of Scotland founded the town of Linlithgow (meaning “the loch in the damp hollow”) and built a royal manor there in the 11^th century. In 1424 a fire partially destroyed the town and much of the manor as well.

King James I rebuilt the manor as a grand Royal Residence and also rebuilt the Church of St Michael. Linlithgow Palace became one of the principle Scottish royal residences throughout the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Mary’s father, James V, was born there in 1512 and she was born there in 1542.

After Mary’s son, King James VI of Scotland, left Scotland to become King James I of England after Queen Elizabeth I’s death in 1603, the palace was rarely used and fell into disrepair. It was finally ‘accidentally’ burned out in 1746 by the Duke of Cumberland’s men.

During our visit to the palace, we listened to our tour guide give us a history of the palace and point a few things out while we hung out in the inner close by the fountain. There were several benches on which to sit, so I did that for a while and then began to circle the fascinating fountain to take photos of it from all angles. We were then set free to explore the palace at our own pace. I headed up the Queen’s Turnpike to the first floor and the Bed Chamber.

I continued on from there, photographing the Presence Chamber, the King’s Hall, and a statue of Mary Queen of Scots from one of the windows in the King’s Hall. Passing the King’s Turnpike (and taking a photo of it), I entered the museum and explored its contents. When I was done in there, I checked out another Hall and the Chapel, taking a photo of the Church of Saint Michael from one of the windows there.

I found a very interesting old door (but likely not original) that was closed and locked. I wondered where it led. Then I discovered another very interesting set of really old stairs. I wanted to see where they led but they appeared to be blocked part of the way up. That is one of the things about ruined castles. You never know when something may be blocked, falling down, or missing entirely.

Next came the Great Hall, which was also known as the “Lyon Chalmer”. This was the largest room in the palace and had a properly gigantic fireplace at one end. At the other end, I found the entrance to the Court Kitchen.

With a little further exploration and my natural curiosity, I ventured down a long passageway within the wall alongside the Great Hall. That was quite rewarding. I found another turnpike (this one unnamed) and took it back down to the ground floor where I wandered through another interesting corridor, discovered a guardroom, and eventually came out near the entrance (and the gift shop).

At this point, I discovered that Christine and Sherry were also at Linlithgow on another tour coach. They had arrived after me, but were already in the gift shop. Most of my explorations had been a solitary endeavor. I had some company in the Bedchamber, the Presence Chamber and the King’s Hall. But then was entirely on my own in the museum, another hall and the Chapel, until the Great Hall, where I encountered a handful of people. After the Great Hall, I was completely alone again until the gift shop. It was crowded in there.

We still had some time before my coach would return to the ship (theirs would be about 15 minutes after mine), so we left the palace to explore the town. We were pretty far along the main drag (I had purchased a wooden thingy with which to stir my porridge) when it began to rain fairly heavily. We ducked into a café where I ordered a chocolate shake and a pastry while my companions ordered a cream tea (tea with scones, cream and jam). Fittingly, the site where the café now stands was once the location of the bakery for the palace.

Later, after our evening lecture on the Highland Clearances (and my Lemon Drop Martini), the three of us had dinner together again. I had some salmon stuffed with Spinach Florentine and crabmeat, some roasted vegetables, and a very nice Italian rosé.

Next time – Invergordon, Inverness, Urquhart Castle & Loch Ness

November 3, 2024

Viking British Isles Explorer Cruise: 17th Century Orkney – Skaill House

Literally a stone’s throw from Skara Brae stands a 17^th century manor house built over a pre-Norse burial site and surrounded by various burial mounds. It has been enlarged over the centuries. Nowadays the house is open for tours. Parts of the building that have been redeveloped into apartments are available as holiday rentals.

On my first visit there, once I finished photographing Skara Brae, I traipsed through the mud towards Skaill House. I had the very odd experience of being rained upon heavily on one side of the arch next to the house, only to find that the rain ended abruptly when I walked through the arch. I turned around to look back through the arch and could see it was still definitely raining on the other side. Interestingly enough, a large stretch of the pre-Norse burial site lies next to the house right where I was standing. I was walking over graves from that point to the entrance porch on the other side of that part of the house.

When the flagstone floor in the Main Hall was replaced by Oak flooring in the 20^th century, more skeletons were discovered there. There has been a debate about whether the skeletons were Norse or Pictish. They seem to have settled on pre-Norse. Before the Vikings, but maybe not necessarily the Picts. The current owner thinks that either they didn’t know the graves were there, or they weren’t concerned about it. According to my DNA, I have both Viking and ancient Briton. In this part of the UK, that likely would have been the Picts.

When coming from Skara Brae, it seems that the house is being entered at the back. The rear of the house, is actually facing Skara Brae (although that had once been the front of the house). But the main road now comes to the property on the side of the loch, which is the opposite of where Skara Brae sits on the edge of the ocean. The main drive comes up to the house from the loch. The East Porch, which is the front entrance to the house, was built in 1878.

Entering through the East Porch, the Entrance Hall was created from a storage room and pantry when the main entrance was moved. I showed the woman sitting there my ticket and bought a guidebook for £4.00. The Dining Room was the next room. The dishes in the display cabinet were once owned by Captain Cook and were brought to Skaill House in 1780 by Captain King after Captain Cook was killed in Hawaii.

The Library, which had an interesting atmosphere, is the room with the odd round window. The portrait next to the window is of the son of a former owner of the house (Colonel Scarth) who was killed at the age of 14 from an accident with a horse. The round window was created to allow for light while making room for a flue pipe to reach the gable chimney from a boiler that had been installed near the library.

The Main Hall and the wing to the south of it were added, along with the main staircase, in roughly 1790. At that time the road was to the west of the house (on the Skara Brae side), so the main entrance was moved to the Main Hall, where it remained until the road was moved to the east side of the house.

The Main Hall contains a large, dark cupboard, called the Armada Chest. The panels of the chest are said to have come from one of the Spanish galleons which sank in 1588. A similar chest is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Visitors are sent up the main staircase to see the rooms on the floor above.

The large Drawing Room sits in the south wing (above the dining room and library) and has views of both the loch to the east and the bay to the west. My photos of the room show the doors of a closet containing glassware open on the east-facing end of the room, and a less formal area on the west facing end.

From there the former dressing room and bedroom of Colonel Scarth are used as exhibit rooms. Just before entering the 17^th century bedroom of Bishop Graham, I came across a part of the house I had not seen when I was there in 2009. This was the dressing room and bedroom of Colonel Scarth’s wife. They have been kept as they were from the early 20^th century.

It is said that when visitors were able to enter the rooms and take a closer look at her belongings, her ghost wasn’t happy and let it be known. Once the rooms were roped off at the doorways, she settled down. Skaill House is reportedly very, very haunted with ghosts from many different centuries in many parts of the house. So you never know who you might encounter.

On this visit, as I did on my previous visit, I headed straight for Skaill House after spending loads of time at Skara Brae. After touring the house, I visited its gift shop and bought some beautiful, silver, Celtic earrings before heading to the reproduction of one of the houses at Skara Brae. I still had a decent amount of time before we needed to get back on the tour coach.

I checked out the visitor center which seemed to be larger than I remembered it from 2009. I found a couple necklaces for my sister-in-laws there and had a nice cup of hot chocolate to warm me up. It was quite nippy the closer one was to the sea. So spending so much time at House #1 of Skara Brae, which was right next to the sea necessitated a warming drink. I still got my usual Lemon Drop Martini at that evening’s presentation on “Roman Britain” however.

When we returned to the ship, we found some pipers and Scottish dancers performing for us just before the ship sailed. They were on the same side of the ship as my stateroom so I could get the best view of them from up above. A couple of photos are here with this post.

I was very glad to see Skaill House again, but don’t think I would be interested in spending the night. At least not completely on my own.

Next time – Linlithgow Palace – Birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots