by Jim Bellomo | Jun 16, 2024 | Uncategorized
When we first found out we were embarking from Greenwich, I thought it was kind of cool—almost right in the heart of London. When we arrived in our Welcome Pickups car, our driver got there the fastest way he knew, but sadly, that was by driving through the worst parts of Greenwich. Neighborhoods that were crumbling, covered with graffiti and about every other shop looked vacant.
But once we arrived at the hotel, the rest of the village was spread out in front of us. Behind the hotel were the parts we had driven through; in front of the hotel was the section most visitors would tour, and they kept that in very nice condition. I don’t think I have mentioned what hotel we stayed in pre-cruise. We had chosen the DoubleTree by Hilton at London Greenwich. Why this hotel? Decent-looking rooms, decent reviews and about half the price of a downtown London hotel. Plus, I prefer being near the port so we can get there on the embarkation day without too much trouble. The hotel turned out to be very nice and a good value. We got our rooms with breakfast, which was a buffet and very good. The shower in our room left much to be desired. It was much too short for the rain shower head above, and the hand-held shower head hit me directly in the face and could not be moved to another position. Poor marks for that, but otherwise, it is very nice, and I would recommend it. I did mention not renting the room to tall people (because my brother had no problem in his room, and he is six inches taller than me), and they got back to me and said that was a great idea. Kudo for the response as well.
Back to our Viking Day in Greenwich. We were up early because our excursion needed to meet in the Star Theater at 8:00 am. And we weren’t even on the earliest excursion. We had chosen to do the included Viking excursion, just because it was included. For those of you who have not cruised with Viking, they include a shore excursion in every port. On our Med cruise in 2022, we weren’t impressed with any of the included tours we took. They are almost always one of two types—either a walking tour of a place close to the ship or tender port or a “panoramic” tour of the countryside. When you read a Viking description that says “panoramic,” you should immediately know that much of our tour will be by bus…or, in Viking speak, a “luxury motor coach.”
The wonderful Cosette…or if you didn’t like the tour, Sue.
Our Greenwich tour was a walking tour. Kathleen was still worn out and suffering from our Ted Lasso tour, so she decided to stay on the ship. Steve, Jamie & I went along. My plan was to take off on my own if the guide was anything like the ones we had had in the Med—talked so much it was like they were paid by the word. As our Med cruise went on, I started doing that. I would walk with the group until I was bored and then walk off on my own to take photos. I had usually researched the port enough to know what I wanted to see. This one was different. Our tour guide’s name was Cosette (like in Les Mis), and she was excellent. Just the right amount of comments, just the right amount of humor and moved at the right speed. When it was over, I told her I thought it was the best “included” Viking excursion I had ever been on. She walked us all over two miles worth of Greenwich, and we learned a lot. And I got lots of photos. She was also very good about telling us where you could go after the tour (due to time limitations, these were places she couldn’t take us), and that really helped me pick out places I wanted to shoot. So, I did the entire tour and then walked back to see the places she couldn’t take us and got the other shots I wanted.
Speaking of shooting, here are my morning tour photos. I hope you like them. Don’t forget: If you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And please…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
The tour begins
My Cutty Sark Shot
My artsy Cutty Shark version
Trafalgar’s Pub
Our guide told us, it was pretty famous.
Hundreds of hanging flower baskets on the side.
The 02. Built by Tony Blair and sat unused for years. Now holds concerts.
You know me and street photos.
And river photos. Loved the color.
Cosette called this the gondola to nowhere.
Looking back at Venus with our tender in front of it.
The gate at the Palace of Greenwich.
Inside the gates.
Very strange. A compass on a stationary building???
Looking up at the Greenwich Observatory
It’s a long way away.
Huge green common areas lead up to the Observatory
Where lots of things happen.
In front of the Maritime Museum.
An old pub in downtown Greenwich.
I took these for Kathleen to see…
…but I really love the way they turned out.
They just had them there for kids to ride.
More street photos. I wish you could hear the college orchestra playing.
Loved the columns..
And dad playing with his two daughters.
The walkway to the Observatory. Steep as Adair.
Billed as London’s best view.
You can see so much from here.
Including this gentleman who I thought looked very British.
The ball drops everyday at 1:00 to set the time for the world.
Venus in the foreground from the Observatory viewpoint.
The London Eye in the distance.
St. Paul’s Cathedral in the distance.
I wish that ball would go up and drop.
The Queen’s house in the foreground.
The Tulip stairs in the Queen’s house.
Looking up one way…
And another.
The city through the two sides of Greenwich Palace.
And in front of the Maritime Museum, what else? A ship in a bottle.
If you are a Monty Python fan…
…you will know what this is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218
There was a place I could stand where I felt like the bus was going to hit me.
And the Cutty Sark figurehead. She is a witch and tried to grab her victims by the hair..
Darn! I almost forgot. While I was at the Observatory, I took a screenshot of my phone’s compass. Check this out. I am at exactly 0 longitude, facing due north.
Then it was back on the ship, and Steve and Jamie met friends from Norwich for lunch at the local brewery. Kathleen and I grabbed lunch and I spent the afternoon writing the post you got yesterday and processing photos.
We had dinner in the World Cafe. They were doing a “English Dinner” featuring many dishes we had eaten at the Wensleydale Heifer and enjoyed at Paul and Gail’s. There was roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, trifle, treacle and lots more. It was good but nowhere near as good as the Howard’s B&B or the Heifer.
After dinner, it was time to sail out. The ship was scheduled to sail down the Thames to the sea starting at 7:45. While we were eating dinner, the Captain and three pilots sat down at the table next to us. We knew it was time to go when they stood up from dinner.
Leaving Greenwich differs from any sail away we have done in 35+ cruises. Usually, the seamen will slip the ropes and pull them in, and off you go. In Greenwich, because there is no pier and the ship is anchored in the middle of the river, it is moored to five huge buoys that are anchored to the river bottom. To bring in the ropes and untie the ship, a crew has to get onto each mooring buoy and untie the ropes. That became a long and entertaining process for those of us taking photos. I have a few shots to show you what I am talking about.
To untie the ship from the docking buoys…
…they have to take the boat out and get on the buoys.
Sometimes the little boat can’t handle it.
So they send the bigger boat.
And they get the job done.
Standing on Venus, I was amazed at all the women around me…
…were astounded that a woman can do this kind of work. These people don’t get it.
After they finally got the lines off the ship, we were underway, and the sail out was very different. We were led out by both a pilot boat and a big tug. The best part of the sail out was getting to photograph the entire trip on the Thames. We went through the Thames Barrier (used to control the tides), passed another cruise ship , and went past the 02 tent and lots of parts of eastern London. I will let my pics give you the rest of the story on the sail out. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
The Greenwich Observatory in a golden light.
One of the Uber Boats and the tunnel beneath the river entrance.
The Greenwich Palace. Often used in films and television.
Like last night when they were filming.
Trafalgar’s Pub from the water.
The worthless gondolas
02
02 in Pano
The Thames Barrier
Stops floods…or so they say.
Incoming cruise ship.
Windstar’s Star Legend crossing the Barrier just before us.
And now we pass through…
…going the other way.
It’s an amazing piece of engineering.
London City Airport. London is served by six major airports.
Our tow boat buddy moved behind us once we were through the barrier.
I am a huge fan of beautiful skies
With great light.
I got a bunch last night.
Goodnight Thames.
That concluded last night. By the time we were down the river, it was close to 10:00 p.m., and that was way past my bedtime. So it was off to bed. I needed to rest up to do everything I wanted to do today on the first sea day we had ever expierienced on a Viking ship.
The Thames is liquid history. —John Burns
by Jim Bellomo | Jun 14, 2024 | Photography
Yesterday was very different compared to our previous 14 here in the UK. It was our first full day in London. I almost didn’t post about it, but then I decided to use it as an example of how I plan our travels and why I sometimes stress when we are out. I can see plans getting messed up.
So, let’s start with the main goals of the day. One was to tour Richmond, a suburb on London’s far, far west end—beyond the West End you think of when you think of London. The one that’s like Broadway in the USA. That is funny since that other West End is where we wound up late last night. And the biggest problem is that we are staying in Greenwich, a suburb on the far, far, east end of London. And London traffic sucks. I mean really sucks.
If you know me, you know how much I love the television show Ted Lasso. This show literally changed my entire outlook on life. I use it regularly as therapy. If I have a terrible day, I watch an episode or two of Ted Lasso. I love Ted as a TV show as much as I love Princess Bride as a movie. Ted Lasso is set in Richmond, and if we were to come to London, I would have wanted to see Richmond. And I would like to take a Ted Lasso Tour of Richmond. I was able to find a tour company that does tours based on movies here in London called Brit Movie Tours. They have a Harry Potter tour, a Game of Thrones tour, etc. We booked it, which meant I had to coordinate getting us from one extreme end of London to another. It also meant I needed to avoid some of the more usual ways of making the transit. With Kathleen’s back and knees, I had to avoid stairs and a ton of walking, so that meant no Tube. And the idea of a two-hour-plus Uber ride from Greenwich to Richmond was just too much.
To top all this off, we also made plans to see a West End musical last night. So, with the four of us depending on my travel planning expertise, I found some interesting (I think) ways to traverse London, miss a bunch of the traffic, see the city from a different point of view and not kill us in the process…which I almost did. I am saying right now that this schedule was too much, especially for poor Steve and Jamie, who were still mostly in California during this time. Seeing a musical in the West End when their bodies told them it was 4:00 am is not fun. So, in the future, one big thing per day. Not one in the morning and one at night. The night before, I sent the four of us a text with the schedule for the next day. I thought I would show you what it looked like.
Ted Lasso/Theater Day Schedule
- 7:15 Breakfast
- 7:55 Take Uber to Greenwich Pier
- 8:23 Take Uber Boat (RB1) to Blackfriars.
- 9:14 Transfer to Putney Boat (RB6) to Putney Pier
- 9:57 Arrive Putney Pier
- 10:00 Take Uber to Richmond Station/The Quadrant
- 11:00 Ted Lasso Tour begins at Richmond Station/The Quadrant
- 13:00 Ted Lasso Tour ends
- 13:10 Lunch
- 14:05 Take Uber Boat (RB6) to Greenwich
- 15:45 Arrive at Greenwich Pier and take Uber to the hotel
- Rest and relax for 45 minutes
- 16:30 Take Uber to Ivy West End (time dependent on traffic) for dinner
- 17:30 Dinner at Ivy West End
- 19:30 Kathy and Stella Solve a Mystery at The Ambassador’s Theater
- 20:00 Take Uber back to the hotel
So, a little explanation. In London, they have a service I had yet to hear of before, The Uber Boat. You book it on your Uber app, you meet it at one of about 30 stops on the Thames, and it takes you from one side of the city to the other on a catamaran-type boat that, in some places, moves pretty fast and in others, not so much.
Of course, the schedule didn’t go perfectly. It was pretty much doing great right through until we were supposed to head to dinner at the West End Ivy. My only complaint (Mulgrew time) was that the second Uber Boat was almost 20 minutes late…but your faithful travel planner had planned that time into the schedule…so we actually arrived at the tour meet-up spot at 10:50 am for an 11:00 a.m. tour. Also, when the second Uber Boat arrived, something was VERY wrong with the sewage system on board. I mean, gaggingly wrong. One of the worst smells I have ever smelt. This meant I sat outside for most of that trip. Luckily, that meant some river-level photos of London. I will let you judge that for yourself. Here are the photos I took on our way west. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
When we left Greenwich, Viking Venus (our home for the next two weeks) was already there.
Heading north I spotted those kids from Glasgow…now in London
And of course the multi-layered, multi-bridged Thames River
Me being artsy
St. Paul’s
Artsy again.
London Eye from the Thames.
Big Ben and Parliament
Same place, different angle
Further away.
Heavy cruiser
Artsy Tower Bridge
The whole thing.
Ted Lasso
When we arrived in Richmond on our VERY stinky boat (we actually got off at the furthest west stop, the Putney Pier and then had to take an Uber car to Richmond), we were met by Bruce, who would be our guide to all things Ted Lasso. From this point (if you are not a huge Ted Lasso fan, you can skip forward…and never speak to me again ?), otherwise, here are some photos of the tour and how they relate to the show.
The theater where they hold the auction that Rupert took over.
The Village Green. So much of the outdoor shots on the show take place here.
Nate’s Parents house.
Rebecca’s House
She kissed Sam goodnight…
right here.
The actual crest of Richmond. Note the colors and the greyhound.
Bruce, our wonderful guide.
He had a bunch of still shots from the show and would show us where we were.
Where Dr. Sharon had her bike accident.
The stage door on the theater where Ted talks to Rebecca after Rupert takes over the auction.
Ted’s Street.
Again
The doorway from the Christmas episode where Phoebe does the Love Actually card thing.
Kathleen and I in front of Ted’s door.
Jamie and Steve in front of Ted’s apartment door.
Mae’s pub
And again
Kathleen on Ted’s bench
Jamie and Steve on Ted’s bench
Everyone but me on Ted’s Bench
After we finished our Ted Tour, we went off in search of lunch. During the tour, we had walked by this small (really small) Italian place that smelled like a little bit of heaven. Actually, it smelled like Steve and my Italian grandmother’s kitchen on Christmas Eve. We had to go back and see if we could eat there. We could! Sadly, I had eaten much of my lunch before I remembered to take a photo of it. So if you like plates of half-finished pasta, you will love this. Suffice it to say, I inhaled this sucker. One of the best plates of pasta I have ever had.
Then an Uber to the Putney Pier, the Uber Boar (Damn! We got the stinky one again), Uber to the hotel and get ready to go out again.
The Theater
This is where we almost lost it. I had budgeted an hour to get from the hotel to the Ivy Restaurant in the West End, which was across the street from the theater. According to Google Maps, we only needed 45 minutes, but I didn’t build in how long it would take to get an Uber. The ones in the morning had been there in minutes, but when we went to get an Uber to leave at that time, the Uber app told me that the closest driver that would accept our drive was 25 minutes away. To be fair, he was only two miles away, but in the London traffic, it took him 25 minutes to get to us. Seriously, 25 minutes to go two miles. By the time he got to us, we were already 10 minutes behind schedule. My biggest fear was that they would give our table to someone else, and since I had booked them through Open Table, I didn’t have contact info to reach them to let them know we were on our way.
Thankfully, our driver made a better time than we thought he would, arriving only 14 minutes after our reservation—a good thing because they only hold them for 15 minutes. We got to the desk, and I overheard the hostess tell people in front of us that the next open table was at 9:15 p.m. But our table was waiting, and we had a great meal before we adjourned to the theater just across the street.
What did we go see? Well, when you want to see a show in the West End, you pretty much have three choices. One is one of the older, established shows like Phantom, Mama Mia, or Wicked or the longest-running play in history—Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap, which has been playing continuously in the same theater since 1951. Seriously, Kathleen and I saw it there in 2003. It’s still going strong. We really wanted to see something new, so this one was out.
Your second choice is the new shows, which have limited runs and famous actors starring in them. We would have loved one of these, but they sell out in minutes if not seconds.
We went with the third choice, a new musical. Lots of them open and don’t do well. Some open for the first time in the West End and do GREAT. Lion King comes to mind. The one that we could get decent seats to is a brand-new musical about two girls with a murder podcast. It’s called…
...Solve a Murder! And it was a hoot. Great music and a superb cast of seven who kept us laughing and crying for 2.5 hours (with an interval) and a fun plot. We really enjoyed it, and Steve actually made it through without falling asleep for too long. I am truly sorry I forced them to have this long day when they weren’t fully recovered from their jet lag. After that it was just back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. As I write this we are waiting until 10:45 a.m. to check out of the hotel and head to Viking Venus for the second half of our journey. More tomorrow.
There’s nowhere else like London. Nothing at all, anywhere. —Vivienne Westwood
by Jim Bellomo | Jun 11, 2024 | Photography
Before I start, I have to tell you about the photo above. This is the view out our hotel room window here at Grasshoppers in Glasgow. The hotel sits on the sixth floor above the Glasgow Central Rain Station. Those panels in the foreground that look like solar panels are actually skylights in the station below. Across from our room, we think those are apartments, but we aren’t sure anyone lives there as we have never seen any movement and only one light, and that’s a work light. But no matter what they are, we found the whole thing very interesting, and I had to include a shot of the view, now on with the actual post.
When doing our planning almost a year ago, Kathleen and I had discussed how much time we wanted to spend in Glasgow. We have been to Edinburgh three times in the past and have spent about seven days total there. We could easily spend three or four more and still not have seen or done everything we would like to. It is one of my favorite cities in the world.
So when discussing Glasgow, we decided we wanted at least two full days here along with the transition days when we came up from England, before we drove north, when we got back from up north, and today…when we take the train to London. We thought that two full days would make us want to come back again. In retrospect, one day would have been enough. We found Glasgow kind of boring. Yes, it has a very nice hotel, some great restaurants and beautiful murals, but to be honest, that’s about it.
I mentioned on our first full day that we had taken the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour. Usually, when we do that, we take the entire tour and then return to the places we want to see again. We didn’t go back to anyplace. Just nothing intrigued us enough. There were a few things I wanted to walk to and take photos of, but I got those (show them to you in a minute) but; looking back on it, if I were planning this trip again, we would have stayed an extra day in Portree or gone up to Inverness (even though we have been there before) and then driven back, dropped the car and taken the train to London the next morning.
I am not dissing Glasgow—it’s just not our cup of tea. It is a grimier, more industrial city than Edinburgh and seems to be centered on shopping and museums. Edinburgh is a museum. I could walk the Royal Mile for hours. I am looking forward to stopping there next Monday during the cruise.
Now, on to the walk I took with my camera and the photos. After breakfast at the hotel, we went out to do a bit of shopping. Kathleen had forgotten to bring a hat, and since we are headed to the part of Norway that is beyond the Arctic Circle by the end of next week, she thought she might need one. So we were off to find her a nice, warm knit hat. Found it. Back at the hotel, I dropped Kathleen off, and I was out for a five-mile walk. Have camera, will travel. But first, here are a few pics while she and I were out walking that I liked.
A young bagpiper playing for £ across from Starbucks.
Love these kids in their uniforms and life jackets. Must be going on a cruise.
This was a pretty interesting alley.
The one place I had seen on our bus tour I wanted to explore more of was the Cathedral and the Necropolis. In case you don’t know exactly what a necropolis is, the dictionary that’s built into my Mac says that it’s “a cemetery, especially a large one, belonging to an ancient city.” Why did I want to see this necropolis, you ask? Well, a few years ago (quite a few years), we were huge fans of the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, a native Glaswegian. As a special program, Craig brought a few guests (Kristen Bell, Michael Clark Duncan) to his hometown and filmed a great deal of the special in the necropolis. I don’t know why I recalled that, but I do remember that it looked quite interesting, so I decided I had to see it, and since it was right behind the cathedral, I figured I might as well see that too.
Along the way to and from, I saw more of the incredible murals that Glasgow is famous for, and I wanted better shots of them than I had been able to get off the top of the bus. So here are the pics with captions. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
The first mural on my walk
And the second
And the third
And the fourth
I loved this street, it just appealed to me.
Why are they always putting scaffolding on churches when I am in town? ?
But the inside was pretty.
And they let you take photos.
Nice stained glass.
It even looks nice when you are leaving.
Right behind it was the Necropolis.
You get the impression that this was…
…definitely a place where they…
…buried the rich people.
I thought this guy looked like an American character actor we like.
The tombs and crypts are huge. Oldest I could find was 1828.
Back on the street, my favorite mural
And another
And one last one that I found very interesting
Not quite sure about this shop so I had to share it.
Finally the front of the Central Rail station where we will take a train to London in about three hours.
That’s about it for our last day here in Glasgow. As I write this, I am sitting in the “sitting room” at Grasshoppers Hotel, looking out the windows at the view I started this post with. It’s 5:45 a.m., and Kathleen (like most normal humans) is asleep. We have tickets on the 10:18 a.m. train to London right downstairs. In fact, if I listen very carefully, I can hear them announcing the next train. It’s really kind of cool. I think I will leave you with one final photo. This is a panoramic shot from inside the station itself. Our room is above those windows on the left. I LOVE European train stations. For some reason, they just do it for me. And since we will have more than four hours on a train from that station, watch later today for a summary of our time in England and Scotland.
The great thing about Glasgow is that if there’s a nuclear attack it’ll look exactly the same afterwards. —Billy Connolly
by Jim Bellomo | Jun 11, 2024 | Photography
This post will be short. Mainly, because I didn’t expect to write it. I thought that yesterday (Monday) was just going to be a long car trip from Portree to Glasgow. And that’s how it was for our first three hours. Until we got through Fort William and turned to take a different route than we had come north on. We wanted to go through what is supposed to be one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland—Glencoe. BTW: When we stopped for lunch before we entered the actual Glencoe area, we saw some red deer. Here’s their three pics I got.
There are a lot of historical facts about Glencoe. It was the sight of a battle and a massacre and other stuff but for me, it will just have to be about the beauty. I am going to shut up now and show you Glencoe. We could only pull over for photos three times but suffice it to say that the rest of what you aren’t seeing was maybe even more beautiful. We just kept turning corners and saying, “Oh, my god!”
Here’s the pics. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Just amazing
I usually don’t say this…
…because I feel like I am a pretty decent…
…photographer, but…
…these photos don’t do…
…it justice.
Beauty beyond compare.
That’s it for tonight. I am just trying to catch up. Fell a day behind when we saw the puffins. We got into Glasgow and checked into our hotel last night. Had a nice dinner and then off to bed. Up today where I did a photo walk around Glasgow. We are back from dinner and about to sleep before we get up tomorrow and take the train to London to meet our usual traveling companions, my brother Steve and his wife Jamie. We will also be meeting new/old friends, Julie and Jamie, who are doing the cruise with us. I say new/old because Julie and I went to high school together back in Palm Springs (Class of 1971—go Indians!) but we haven’t seen each other in 50+ years. We have not met her husband Jamie but it should be fun having two Jamies on a cruise together.
I hope to do two posts tomorrow. An early morning one to round up my shots in Glasgow today and then one while we are on the train as a kind of a summary of Scotland—the highs and lows (not too many of those) so to speak. I will try and get that out before we are off the train. Depends on how good the rolling WiFi is. It’s a four-hour and 40-minute train ride so I will have plenty of time if the internet cooperates.
There are few places in my life that I’ve found more ruggedly beautiful than the Highlands of Scotland. The place is magical – it’s so far north, so remote, that sometimes it feels like you’ve left this world and gone to another. —Julia London
by Jim Bellomo | Jun 11, 2024 | Photography
First, THE castle
On Sunday morning we again woke early at the Balintoy. We enjoyed one of Gillian’s great breakfasts (she makes a GREAT cup of coffee) and headed out to find two things—an extraordinary castle and coos.
A little Scottish history, as I understand it. In Scotland, you have clans (extended families) and you have castles. Many of the clans had what is known as an “ancestral home.” For instance, the castle I wrote about two days ago in Armadale (where we had to run from the rain) was the ancestral home of the McDonald clan.
If you are not aware, my wonderful bride is of Scottish descent. Her mother was part of the McCray clan. The ancestral home of the McCray/MacRae clan is a castle you have undoubtedly seen numerous times in photos and films. It is, in all likelihood, Scotland’s most famous castle. It has been in multiple movies (a couple of James Bond films and a rom-com with Patrick Dempsey called “Maid of Honor”), and if it is not the most famous, it is undoubtedly the most photographed. Only Stirling Castle and possibly Edinburgh Castle are more famous but not more photogenic.
So, we needed to make a pilgrimage to Kathleen’s ancestral home. We had been to Eilean Donan in 2003 on our second trip to Europe and our first to Scotland. That was in November, and it was cold and rainy. We were looking forward to seeing it in June with better skies and to see if they had changed anything since we had been there before.
It took us about two hours to get there because, of course, there were things along the way I had to stop and take photos of to show you the incredible beauty that is Scotland. For instance, here’s our stops…another mountain, another waterfall and a vista that rocked.
I am not sure what mountain this is, but it was gorgeous.
And this waterfall was as well.
Looking the other way after the waterfall went under the road.
What a vista from here.
We finally did arrive at Eileen Donan, and WHAT A ZOO! When we were here in 2003, we paid for entry (It was a small donation of a couple of pounds) and toured the two rooms that were available to view inside the castle. Most people stopped on the road across from the castle and took a photo. While we were there in 2003, we talked to one of the docents who toured us through the rooms, and she said they had expansion plans someday. No kidding.
When we pulled into the car park today (see, I have stopped calling it a parking lot already), there were already more than one hundred cars there. When we got to the brand new Visitor’s Center, gift shop, and restaurant building, we paid our £14 per person admission (and that was senior pricing) to tour the castle. You would think McCrays would get in free ?. On the way to said building, we must have passed more than 200 people.
Of course, I took a BUNCH of photos of Scotland’s most photogenic castle. Eileen Donan sits at the intersection of three lochs (Loch Long, Loch Duich and Loch Alsh), so it has played a significant role in protecting much of Scottish real estate. And it is the position of the castle, on a tiny island at the intersection of these lochs, that makes it so photogenic. So, without further ado, I have for you here my ground-level take on Eilean Donan. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
From the car park…
…you can get all kinds of great shots.
Including yachts floating by.
But certainly from all angles.
Even Kathleen on the bridge…headed home.
And from down below once you cross the bridge.
And the ticket taker, a find Scotsman dressed to suit his job.
And on the way out.
And one last ground level shot.
I would love to show you photos of the inside, but there are numerous signs and numerous docents telling you NO! Suffice it to say it combines Scottish history and Pirates of the Caribbean. Many documents, artifacts and exhibits mixed in with kitchen scenes with mannequins dressed in period clothes trying to stop dishes from falling off a shelf. Seriously. Let’s say some of it went a bit too far. And getting through the place took some time as it was PACKED! Nothing like our November 2003 visit when we had been the only ones there. I am glad to see them so prosperous, but I am also sad to see people treating it as the Scottish version of Disneyland.
Once we had toured the interior of the castle, we went to the restaurant and grabbed a latte and some Scottish shortbread. Then it was off to the gift shop to find the first coo we were to see that day. You see, we were on a hunt for two kinds of coo. One would be a tiny piece of pottery and the other a full-size coo. We got both. The first one we found was in the gift shop. Whew!
Kathleen had seen a very cute ceramic coo at the Balintoy. And when we asked Gillian where she had purchased them, she was pretty sure she had done that at a pottery shop in Uig. The same Uig where we had had lunch the day before. She said it was on the backside of the big car park. We had parked on the front side of the big car park and never seen it. That meant if we didn’t find it in downtown Portree or someplace else, we were driving the 50-mile round trip to Uig to get one. Sadly, we didn’t find it in the Eilean Donan gift shop. Thankfully, Kathleen found one she liked even better!!!! Check that off our list. Now we just need to find the real thing—a live coo.
In researching the trip in Scottish FaceBook groups I had learned that there was a little-known place you could drive up to on a tiny one-lane road to take a photo from above the castle. We asked one of the car park attendants and he was nice enough to give us explicit directions (but swore us to secrecy) and off we went. His directions were right on the money and these photos are the result. My best shots of the castle— either this year or in 2003.
BTW: They all look the same…
just different focal lengths…
…and more sky…
…less sky.
When we were up at the top we had one of those fun travel experiences. The night before we had seen a group of six people eating in the Rosedale when we were having dinner. We could tell by their accents they were Americans. And where should we run into them again? At the top of this hill. They admitted they had not found out the location from the secret guy in the car park but that their guide (who we got to meet) had driven them there. We talked and joked and I took their group photo and the guide was a huge help to get us on our way.
On to the real coos!
For those of you who are not sure about what in the heck I have been writing about when I talk about coos…coos are Scottish Highland cows. In the wonderful dialect that people speak in Scotland, they become coos. They are different from regular cows. They have to be the shaggy, hair-in-their-face kind of cow. You have undoubtedly seen them (if you have ever followed a Scottish FB group or anyone Scottish on Instagram—as they celebrate Coosday every Tuesday). We had not seen a single one yet except when driving at breakneck speed to get to Balintoy and make our dinner reservation.
Having seen a YouTube video taken in the small, nearby village of Plockton, that featured numerous coos we decided to head that way. And our SatNav (no longer a GPS to us) took us on quite the ride to get there. It was supposed to take us on an A road (one lane in both directions) but ended up taking us through some scenic countryside on a B road (one lane in ANY direction). I did get some decent photos on the way. Especially this one that Kathleen spotted for me. You can actually see a regular cow in the distance in the first pic. I couldn’t decide which photo I liked better, cropped or uncropped, so you get both.
We finally got there and were rewarded with exactly ZERO coos. The video had shown a whole bunch along the roadways, but they must have been at Coo church (after all, it was Sunday) because they weren’t out anywhere we could see them. So, sadly, we decided to head back to Portree. That route took us over the Skye Bridge, which is an architectural marvel. Had to get pics of that and when I did, I saw this cool lighthouse under it so I got one of those.
Cropped?
Uncrossed?
Bridge
Under bridge
After crossing the bridge and driving back onto the Isle we were still looking for coos. Lo and behold— just outside the village of Sconser, we saw them—COOS! I quickly pulled off, grabbed my camera, and started shooting. Hope you love coos because here they come. I call this gallery The Many Faces of the Scottish Coo. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping… and PLEASE… don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
First a profile
Then straight on
She’s trying to ignore me
She just kept on eating
She finally got sick of me.
And then told me to go away.
But I stuck with her.
And her cute little calf.
And this one who just didn’t match up
And she did have friends.
But she was the most photogenic.
She finally got tired of me and left.
Like the puffins on Lunga, I shot about 300 photos of the Coos of Sconser. Luckily for you, the rest are just for me to look at with fondness ?.
After our coo encounter, it was back to Portree. Kathleen for a nap at the Balintoy and me for a walk to the village, where I hit some decent weather and got some great photos of the downtown. Here they are in all their glory.
Downtown Portree from above
Not a drone shot…just a high hill.
An old building. There are lots of those.
The town square and The Antlers Inn where we ate the first night.
The Rosedale where we ate the second night.
The View Restaurant where we ate our last night in Portree.
That does it for our third and final day on the Isle of Skye. We were headed back to Glasgow the next morning (a six-hour drive). More about that tomorrow…or maybe later today.
I hate it when people romanticize Scotland. —Alexander McQueen
