Arran-ing Amok!

After a looooong night in "moderate to severe turbulance" we arrived once again in bonny Scotland! Jan and Jessie got our luggage to the hotel while I went in search of our rental car. It happened to be a shuttle ride away, so the three of us went over together. They gave us a much nicer car than any of us were expecting, but we didn't complain.


I was the designated driver and with only a few false starts we were on our way, heading out of Glasgow to Ardrossan where we boarded the ferry to Arran. We weren't sure if we were going to make it, since we kept running into minor delays, but they were situating a car ahead of us so we slipped in after. I'd never driven a car onto a ferry before, so yay for new experiences!


They closed the door right behind us and we pulled out before we were even up to the passenger decks. It brought back visions of Iona and the mad dash to that ferry. On board we were served a full Scottish breakfast and I was reacquainted with an old love - Potato Scones! They are triangle shaped, pancakey bits of Heaven! I looked deeply into where its eyes would have been if they hadn't been mashed up and cooked to perfection, murmuring "Oh potato scone, how I have missed you!" Needless to say, it was a happy reunion.


They didn't serve Haggis, which was a bit disappointing to me because I really do enjoy it. Instead, they offered Black Pudding, which is another name for Blood Pudding... which is another name for pigs blood cooked up with some oats and spices. Not at all pudding-like. The guy dishing it up argued that it was the best part of the meal. I begged to differ. We agreed to disagree.

(Aside: I'm eating a bit of raspberry oatmeal shortbread as I write this and I am in alt. Just thought I'd share. :) It's 2am, cut me some slack! haha)


We de-ferried and zoomed away from the docks in search of what the Isle of Arran had to offer. Not 10 minutes down the road we found such an offering - a brewery!


And a new friend. After giving a taste of his blonde beer (saying I couldn't have one because I wasn't blonde) he turned to Jan and said, "Oh, your glass is empty. Let me help." He was a right jolly fellow and a welcome beginning to our day.


After a few other tastings one of us stumbled out the door and ran into another of Arran's offerings. A castle! Complete with garden! Believe it or not, this picture was completely candid. Not even an "Alright ladies! One! Two! Three!" We are just -that- good. The grounds of the castle are quite extensive and had a very tropical feel to them. We walked along the path snapping photos right and left, too many to put here, of course, but you are all welcome to view them when I return home.


The Isle of Arran sits in the Firth of Clyde which runs along the West coast of Scotland, and is sometimes called "Scotland in Miniature" as you get a bit of the Highlands as well as the Lowlands. Brodick Castle gets its name from the Scandinavian for Broad Bay. In the early 5th century some of the isles surrounding Scotland were under the King of Norway's rule, Arran being one of them. There are many Scandinavian names across the island as it wasn't until the mid-thirteenth century that the isle shifted to Scottish rule. Between then and 1503 there was much back and forthing of "ownership" of the isle. In 1503 the title Earl of Arran was created and given to James Hamilton, 2nd Lord Hamilton. The first Lord Hamilton was also named James and had been given the castle by his brother-in-law, James III. It is now the property of the National Trust for Scotland having been gifted it by the Lady Jean Fforde in 1958.

It seems there were not many names to chose from in those days and so most Scots, Highlanders in particular, were known by nicknames. Generally, the nicknames were chosen based on a distinguishing feature of one's appearance or personality. Robert the Bloody, Black Jack Randall, Big Ears Stewart... any one of those were likely used back in the day.

The history of this castle is as fascinating and vast as any other I have visited. I marvel continually at the thought of so many lives, so many deaths, so much violence and beauty that is Scotland. Not just Scotland, of course, humanity in general, but I am in Scotland and so I will bask in all that is Scotland and speak of little else.


After we were finished with the magestic and vast grounds of Brodick Castle, we made our way back to the car and set off once more around the island. There is one main road that circles the island and then a small path that some seem to think is suitable for driving that runs across the middle called "String Road". Believe me, it's no exaggeration. It doesn't say it is one way, but the two way roads are already too small for all that goes on on them (i.e. cars, people strolling their babies, high school kids walking down the middle, cyclists out for a bit of exercise, tractors, sheep... the list goes on, not to mention it is all hairpin turns!). We did not venture out onto the String Road, but I did get a look at it. I felt brave enough driving through all the mayhem of the "big road".

Things were going along just swimmingly, when all the sudden it sounded like someone took two shots at us. An odd hissing sound followed and the car became a bit unwieldy, so I pulled over and we got out to take a look. It seems on that particular turn there is a hidden tire puncture in the guise of an innocent looking rock. I have my suspicions about its purpose, especially since the lovely people (Ian and his wife and their next door neighbor John) who came out of their homes to assess the carnage (it was -that- loud) stated that cars get caught on that nearly every day. The tow-truck man, Angus, further confirmed this by saying we were the 13th car that week he'd picked up there. Sounds like a conspiracy to me.


Everyone was so kind and helpful, giving us rides back to the dock, reserving another car for us to continue our journey. Angus even spoke with the car rental people when they were giving me the run around. Word of advice, if you go to the Isle of Arran, fly into Glasgow, take the train to Ardrossan, ferry to Arran and rent a car there. We didn't realize there was a car rental on the island or we would have done that to begin with. The drive to the dock was lovely, but I will definitely do it the other way next time I go.



I wanted to get a picture of the craziness of the roads, but we were too busy trying not to kill something during those times, you get a picture of the nicest stretch of road. Hardly a hint of a curve! One of the main reasons we chose Arran was for the standing stones, we decided to go with the theme of the Outlander Tour and perhaps get sucked back in time to find our own Jamie. Sadly, there was no time sucking. There was, however, -of course- beautiful scenery. This is just a wee taste, you know there will be plenty more when I get home.



The main stone offering on the isle is Machrie Moor. The turn off for it is hidden amongst the twisting Z and N roads and we missed it the first time around. I managed to turn the car around without mishap and we were soon parked and making our way over fences and through farms and sheep pastures. Yes, there was a trail :P No, we weren't trespassing... we don't think. There were a couple of circles with small stones as is pictured, but there were also three very large thin stones standing out farther in the middle of the final field we came across. All of this truly was amazing, and so peaceful standing out there in the breeze with all the sheep.


The Northern coast is home to Lochranza Castle, which fell into disuse and disrepair during the 18th century. It had had a good life up until then though, so don't feel too badly for it. Many owners, many uses; it had fulfilled its purpose and beyond. Our day ended with a cup of tea and scones in a cozy inn with a view of Lochranza Castle. After that, we drove the rest of the way back to the port, turned in our car and waited for the ferry. The same crew was still slaving away as was on our outbound tour. A lovely plate of fish and chips later we were docking back on the mainland. We took a train back to the airport and tucked ourselves away in our hotel rooms. I had my own for the night.

It was lovely to have a bit of time to relax and organize myself. We meet up with the rest of the group in the morning and head out to Glencoe. Stay tuned!

Deadliest Catch!

The morning broke much cooler than the day before had been. I'm beginning to wonder if I really do have a stalker in the form of the sun. I avoid it at all costs at home and when I choose cloudy, rainy climates for my vacations invariably I bring draughts and heat. Certainly not my choice! But I digress...

Jan and I were in Jessie and Kevin's room helping her decide which bulky sweaters to leave at home so she could conform to the strict luggage sizing Judy (tour director) had imposed on us. We were innocently minding our own business, laughing uproariously at times, when Kevin entered the scene.

He stood there calm and quiet listening to our goings on, waiting for his chance to tap in with his bombshell. K and J have a boat being used in the boat shows around the area by the company they bought it from as a show model. I'd never been to a boat show before, but we had no plans of attending the one today as it was in Connecticut. Besides, Jessie still had packing to do.

"Bad news," Kevin began, "Andy and Johnathan from Deadliest Catch are down in Norwalk where our boat is being showed." The silence was broken by Jessie's drunken sailor mouth. Andy and Jonathan are her favorites and what kind of luck put them at the show we weren't going to be able to attend?! Oh cruel fate!

Just then Jessie slammed her suitcase shut, "I can pack tomorrow." Kevin blinked as he looked at her. A determined glint sparked in her eye as she said, "Oh we're doing this." Some quick travel calculations put us arriving at the boat show just after Andy and Jonathan were supposed to begin their photo opp.


"But first we need to get our manicures!" So we piled out into her car and sped over to the mall to get our nails done. I hadn't tied my shoes in the dash out the door, so I leaned over before the guy started applying the color and Jessie calls over from her seat, "We don't have time for that, Heidi!" I tied them anyway. I wasn't going to trip over myself when it came time to meet the Time Bandit boys!

Thinking on it now, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to trip and fall on Johnathan... ahem... Yes, well, anyway...

The nail people were quick and we were back home within 35 mins. Jessie walked in and yelled up the stairs, "We're back, let's go!" Poor Kevin had actually thought some sale or another would seduce us away from thoughts of our Deadliest Catches. Jessie is one determined lady, the sales did their best, the little sirens, but they were no match for the thought of an Andy-Johnathan sandwi... erm... photo opp! *cough*


To his credit, Kevin got us there in record time and the line was just forming. The seminar tent where they had the boys stationed was muggy and the air was stagnant. Jessie turned to me and said, "Is it just me or is it hot in here?" We both looked up at the stage where Jonathan and Andy were talking with a few people and her question was answered.

I was a little worried; I didn't want to get up close and personal and be a wilted, stinking flower. One lady kept offering to take other people's pictures. I'm sure she thought people would think she was nice. We were on to her, she obviously just wanted more face time with the crabbing duo. We dubbed her the Attention Whore.


Finally it was our turn! Jessie and Kevin went first and Jan and I manned the cameras.


I stood in the middle in front of them and Jan was off to the side.


This ended up causing a bit of confusion as to which camera they were supposed to look toward.


We got it sorted eventually.


Next it was my turn! The experience was a little too private for this blog. If you'd like to hear it, email me :P *grins* Oh alright, twist my arm... After this round of pictures was taken, Kevin moved behind Jan and said, "You could just take a picture over her shoulder." Which would have solved all the confusion about which camera to focus on.


Johnathan put his arm around my waist and said, "How about another picture?" Andy was busy signing Anna(who sadly could not be there)'s present. Anna said it looks like Jonathan's about to sneak off with me. Ha! Yes, it was very magical. I'm sure it was for him as well. Life altering, in fact. Haha


And at last Jan got her hands on the boys. (Though you see how Johnathan is still smiling at me... Yes, me - not the camera, no sir! :P)


We visited Kevin and Jessie's boat and looked around at the other offerings until closing time. Their boat is named "Binary Star". Kevin is a software engineer and has actually written an app for iPhone and iPod touches called "Rogue Touch". He's working on a couple of other projects, and perhaps soon to be one more. Rob from the boat company has a great idea for an iPod/Phone game/app. When it becomes available I'll spread the word.


The drive back was not as harrowing as we hit a bit of rush hour traffic and many spots of construction. Road weary, but happy, we folded out of the car and plopped down to the table for left over Chinese.

The house is quiet now as all the rest have been sleeping for quite some time. I know my role, however, The Documentor, and sleep will just have to wait. I changed the date on the post to keep things in order. It is sadly now just two and a half hours before my alarm will go off.


We are hopping the pond tomorrow and if we aren't able to upgrade out of coach, I'm going to need some exhaustion to help me survive the ride. Once we land Saturday another adventure begins. We'll be renting a car, taking a ferry to Arron and I'll be driving us around sightseeing. You may begin to look forward to the pictures from that post now.

With that, I will bid you a fond farewell and I'll catch you on the flip side!

A New Beginning

Here I am at the beginning of another adventure! As is tradition, I will open with talk of luggage. My poor suitcase had a rough go of it on my last grand adventure, so I am using part of Hailey's set. She (and Anna, yay!) is meeting me in London at the end of this trip and needed new luggage, so it all worked out. As you can see it is very loverly.

I am headed back to Scotland and England for three weeks. The beginning of the trip I will be in the company of a couple of hilarious ladies Anna and I met on our last tour of the UK. You will be hearing more about them very soon. I'm spending a couple of days in New Hampshire with them and we are all flying out of Boston together. My flights from Vegas to Manchester, NH were without much incident.

I did witness a love burgeoning between a couple of passengers on the commuter flight from Newark to Manchester. The woman was in full Impressive Mode, complete with a loud, almost caustic voice. The man was soft spoken, but appeared to be completely taken with the brash thing across the aisle from him. It was a short flight, but I was highly entertained. Good luck to them, I say!

I collected my bags and noticed a slender blonde woman with short, flippy hair sitting on a bench engrossed in her book. She looked familiar, though the Jessie in my memory had long hair. Deciding that since we were now the only people in the baggage claim that did not work there it was safe to assume she was who I was looking for, I approached. After a tentative, "Jessie?" brought her out of her alternate reality, we were off.

It is beautiful here! The leaves are starting to change, bright reds, oranges and yellows have begun to outnumber the green. I've never really seen the changing leaves before I don't think. Jessie had to go back to work for the afternoon, but Jan arrived just in time to take over Heidi-sitting duties. I felt very safe in her care; obviously, she has a black belt in something.

Jan took me on a drive around the area and up into Maine, where she lives. We had lunch at a little restaurant that sits in the marshes. Wonderful views! The lack of sleep over the last week started to hit me hard and I had to cry off the hike she wanted to take me on in favor of a nap.

In the evening we picked up Jessie's three boys and ate at a delicious chinese restaurant. A sort of Last Supper for her and her family. We returned home to relax for a bit and then headed to bed. I slept about 8 hours total! Amazing, I know. We have a leisurely day of manicures and roaming about the town planned for tomorrow.