Just got home and a bit behind in the blog publishing. This is Fridays.
I sometimes wish I could write better. To be a wordsmith with greater talents. Only then would I be able to do full justice to the fiasco that going to the toilet block this morning for, what shall I call it, ablutions? Well we all know what that means, some distance in the pouring rain, in my pyjamas in a waterproof because it’s absoluement pissing it down, taking it off putting in on taking it off, trying to work how the shower works, being hit by a wall of freezing water even greater than the one outside, trying to dry oneself without dragging the towel on the floor or pyjama legs when you’re trying to put them back on along with waterproof, and so on. Why I ask myself, why do we do it?
You’re right of course the simple answer is we’re just not caravanning people. The life is full of little and, sometimes not so little, inconveniences which are the price to be paid to have access to some truly outstanding scenery up in the North West of Scotland. When, and if, you get to where you’re going you can simply (ha) unhook the van and set off exploring. There is no question that these side trips have been the best bits of the holiday. The rest of it, bloody hard work or irritating, like this morning. Everything is a struggle. On balance probably more so than if we’d hired a campervan. Mea culpa.
The weather has been, what at best might be called, indifferent. Strangely, although we keep being told we’ve missed the best of the weather, I don’t have a problem with this side of things. No use complaining about the weather if you choose Scotland even though September is usually a good month weather-wise. No, not a problem. It has meant we’ve had to be fairly creative with our activities.
Like this morning we’re planning to take the train into Inverness. It could be very nice with only the madness of Nutty Slack aka Archie to spoil it. We have tried on a number of occasions to get our dogs used to train travel partly because we like trains and we’d like to do more of it but it hasn’t always worked out. He’s alright most of the time but if the train goes through a tunnel of even over points and he can go bonkers, much to the surprise of the other passengers and his sister Millie who tries to shut him up by barking at him. Result, two bonkers dogs. I’m writing this before we set off I will let you know how it goes.
If I could include all my favourite bits into one ‘ideal’ holiday the list would probably look something like this – trains, bookshops, vineyards or at least plenty of wine, castles and churches, a bit of art and some music (as in Ireland) and of course the scenery. As I’ve already written top marks for the scenery on the West coast, less so down the East.
Trains have figured quite a bit and in a positive fashion at least if Archie doesn’t get us kicked off the train this morning. I took a trip from Brora to Kinbrace as a part of the Inverness to Wick / Thurso line (a trip we did the whole way several years ago). As this is a rattly line we left Archie and Millie who would have been fine and Mrs Summerhouse who would also have been fine, behind. It was a delight, half along the sea, almost in it at some points, then into the hills to a small request stop, Kinbrace, where I got out and caught the train back the other way to be picked up by Mrs SH, M and A at a place called Helmsdale. I would have looked a fool had I misread the timetable, stuck in the Scottish highlands with three trains a day two of which had already gone. Anyway I got it right and it was a perfect little jaunt and included my favourite type of station – old and isolated*.
Castles and churches, I have to admit the latter haven’t figured at all. Dare I say Scottish churches look, from the outside at least, a bit austere and I haven’t been tempted inside. I will never know the accuracy of this judgement. Castles we’ve done better. Seems to me they fall into three categories – 1) converted into hotels, 2) open to the public as kind of stately homes or whatever the Scottish equivalent is or 3) ruins. We’ve seen quite a lot of all 3 types, the Scottish like their castles so a good place to come if you like that sort of thing, which I do. I wrote about one hotel type in my last blog and a couple of days ago we visited Dunrob(b)in (a play on words maybe?) Castle, the historic home of the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland. It was full of old stuff and none the worse for that. You can see from the picture it doesn’t look very Scottish not to my untrained eye at least, more Bavarian or similar. One thing they all seem to have in common is that they are tall. You’d have thought with their wind they’d have kept them low but maybe they’re trying to get above it. Anyway, impressive, full marks for castles.
The art side of things has not been as might have been predicted. At the point when we were thinking of escaping the weather by doing the art gallery thing we thought about visiting the newly opened, prize-winning gallery in Dundee, but it was closed because of bad weather. However all was not lost and art was found in a most unusual manner – on the wall of an old pub called The Harbour in Burghead. We admired them, the landlord said they had been there more than eight years and the artist had disappeared. We rang the number that went with the paintings and it was ‘unavailable’. We offered to buy it, he said take it and so we have. We don’t really need any more art but free is free. Who said the Scots aren’t generous at least with other people’s stuff.
Strangely we have not heard any music at all unlike Ireland where we hear so much, so I have nothing to say about this desirable bit of any holiday. And the only bookshop we found was in a place called Dornoch, very pretty place and I bought the book below, a suitable souvenir for this trip I think. Oh and no vineyards but plenty of wine. Quite predictable I think you will agree. And that will have to do for now. Tomorrow we’re heading home with a stop-over near Edinburgh and so only one day early. I don’t know whether I will be able to publish this given we’re on the road. Just have to wait and see.
*I bought myself this souvenir (photo above) from the bookshop in Dornoch. Not many bookshops and we’re off to Leakey’s, the biggest one in Scotland so they say. This should bring the bookshops score up.
P.S. It didn’t. No dogs, no toilet and no A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland by Dr. Johnson. This is a bookshop isn’t it?