We left Belfast on Wednesday morning bright and early at 6:30 with a ride to the ferry station. The ferry took us across the Irish sea to Stranraer in style, with movie theatres, restaurants, and arcades aboard for entertainment. Of course instead of enjoying the amenities we both promptly fell asleep only to wake up as we approached Stranraer, a surprisingly cute seaside village with a humungous out of place looking dock for the ferry adjacent. Once we disembarked it was a quick walk out the front of the ferry and straight into the train station and straight onto the train. From there we took a total of 4 different trains to reach our final destination: Stranraer - Kilmarnook, Kilmarnook - Glasgow Central, a quick walk from Glasgow Central to Glasgow Queen Street, and then Glasgow Queen Street - Perth, and finally Perth - Dunkeld. We had an hour in Glasgow to get from one station to the next, so we stopped and enjoyed a cup of coffee (from this local place called Starbucks, perhaps you have heard of it?), sitting under a tree on the grass in George Square. One thing that I was pleasantly surprised by throughout our travels in the UK is how many people take advantage of the small green spaces in their cities, with dozens of people sitting outside on the grass during their lunch breaks chatting with friends.
Once we arrived in Dunkeld we had about a mile walk to our B&B, as the train actually arrives in Birnam, right across the river. We took the walking path from the station, and walked directly into the Beatrix Potter Garden. She spent several of her summers as a child in Dunkeld and Birnam, and she was actually in Dunkeld when she wrote the letter which later became the Tale of Peter the Rabbit. From there the gardens only became more breathtaking. All of the houses lining the main road in the small village of Birnam had amazing gardens full of wild flowers and vines.
Upon crossing the bridge to Dunkeld we were rewarded with picturesque views of the cathedral ruins and this small Scottish village. After checking into our outstanding Bed and Breakfast, we walked to the visitor center to pick up a map of local walks. This turned out to be a pound well spent, as the walks are not as well marked as a lot of other places we encountered in the UK. From there we were off to see the cathedral ruins, just around the corner. The front part of the cathedral has been redone and is currently in use, but the nave, with parts dating back to the 1200s, was destroyed in 1689 during a battle between Jacobite Highlanders and William of Orange. The interior of the ruins is gorgeous with soaring walls, large windows, and graves scattered among the ruins. There were also wild flowers growing throughout, and large flowering shrubs on the grassy grounds that spread down to the river. We later learned on our walks, and while talking to a local Dunkeld man, that these wildflowers cover the hills all summer long, instead of the few weeks worth of wild flowers that we are graced with most places in the US. My favorite of all of them were the pink foxgloves, with tiny brown polka dots on the inside that were found around every corner on the trails.
From there we were off to the local pub, the Taybank, for dinner. I had a delicious dish called a curly skirly (chicken stuffed with oatmeal and onions and lots of other wonderful foods). From there we were off on a 6 mile hike in the hills south of Birnam. The beginning of the trail wound by 3 large roaring waterfalls, and took us through the hermitage which has a charming small circular building with balcony overlooking the largest of the waterfalls, and was a playground for the Duke of Atholl among others. It also took us by the tallest tree in the UK, who knew that such a small village could have so many amazing things to see?
Hiking in Scotland is a lot different than in the US, because the land was divided up long before anyone gave thought to having hiking trails, so the trails actually wind through people's property, by cows and forests, and provide sweeping picturesque vistas of small farm houses or large estates against the tall hills surrounding.
From there we went back to the Taybank for some local Scottish beer, and to hear some local musicians play. The Taybank does not book acts, instead they provide a space for anyone who wants to to come play music. The night before we arrived it was a visiting Frenchman who played the spoons, the night we were there it was 3 local men playing more traditional instruments and local music.
We had a tough time deciding what beer to try so we enlisted the help of a man standing near by. He appeared to be 3 sheets to the wind, so we figured he would know his beer. Not only did he suggest a great beer to try, but he also ended up being very friendly and we talked to him for over half an hour. He has lived in Dunkeld his entire life, and was open to answering all of our questions ranging from the weather, to what jobs were most common in the area. He was so friendly that he offered to buy us both a pint, but was we knew that custom dictated that you reciprocate the favor, and we did not want to stay out late, we politely declined. He asked where we were off to next, to which I replied "E-din-bur-ah". He was so excited that I said it correctly instead of "E-din-burg" like all of the "yanks, sorry to call you yanks, but that's what you are so don't take no offense of it", that it launched him into a 5 minute long discussion of how annoying it is that most "yanks" don't pronounce it correctly, and even when corrected continue to make the same mistake. Moral of the story: make the effort to learn how to pronounce local words correctly, or to speak a few words in the language of the country you are visiting, and it will get you a long way with the people in that country, who will really appreciate the effort, even if you feel slightly silly when that foreign word tumbles awkwardly off your tongue. While this drunken Scottish groundskeeper was the local that we spoke to the most during our trip, we were pleasantly surprised by the kindness of everyone that we spoke to, and the willingness of local people to jump in and help when we were lost, or looking for a good place to eat.
The next day we awoke to delicious scrambled eggs with local smoked salmon, and pancakes with bacon on top and smothered with local syrup, served up by the Bridge B&B where we were staying. With full and satisfied bellies we were off on yet another walk, before returning to town for a late lunch and to try some sticky toffee pudding and haggis. Not actually a pudding at all, but instead a dense sweet bread, smothered in hot toffee, and served with vanilla ice cream that was like a little slice of heaven. As for the haggis, after hearing so much about it and each half dreading and half looking forward to having a taste, I think we were both pleasantly surprised by the delicious interplay of meat and spices in this traditional Scottish dish of sheep's heart, liver and lungs combined with oatmeal, onion and spices, and stuffed in a sheep's stomach and then boiled for several hours. The stomach is then cut open, and the contents inside scooped out. We had it served over tatties with neeps on top (mashed potatoes and turnips), delicious. It was so satisfying that we ended up falling asleep on the grass in front of the cathedral and taking an hour long nap, quite the picturesque place for a late afternoon snooze in the sun.
After that we explored the village a bit, only to find several other places we wanted to eat and will have to hit the next time. We did get a chance to buy some delicious linseed bread at a local baker, which we ate on the train along with Serrano ham and a spreadable local Scottish cheese that we bought at a local sandwich shop. It was a complete shot in the dark when we choose the cheese, but it ended up perfectly complementing the bread and ham.
Then it was off to the last stop on our trip:Edinburgh.
