A sentimental journey to Scotland

By Patti Nickell, Tribune News Service

My most recent trip to Scotland was a sentimental journey of sorts – a nostalgic nod to my first visit as a 20-something just beginning her love affair with the British Isles in general and Scotland in particular.

My magic chariot at that time had been a large tour bus – of the kind that proudly promised 11 countries in 10 days.

This time around, the mode of transport was not a bus, but a large(ish) van, and the itinerary much more modest. Rabbie’s Small Group Tours specializes in affordable journeys throughout the U.K., Ireland and Europe, and our merry band of 16 was headed for four days in the Scottish Highlands.

Edinburgh-based Rabbie’s has a motto, “Driven by Curiosity. Guided by Storytellers,” and our driver-guide Al was a great example of truth in advertising.

Resembling a modern-day Braveheart in plaid pants and long flowing locks, Al spun tale after tale as he fearlessly navigated early morning traffic out of Edinburgh.

Passing through the charming town of Callander, known as the “Gateway to the Highlands,” he motioned toward the baronial Dreadnought Hotel, telling us that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had honeymooned there.

That particular nugget turned out to be more fiction than fact (they spent their honeymoon at Windsor Castle), but another of his stories did prove true.

Thomas Cook, founder of the world’s first travel agency in 1872, made Callander famous as a key stop for those wanting to visit Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. For more than a century-and-a-half, tourists have flocked here, and it’s not hard to see why.

Taking in the wild landscape, it’s easy to imagine William Wallace (Braveheart), Robert the Bruce and Rob Roy gallivanting about, doing daring (or in the case of the latter, dastardly) deeds.

Al enthusiastically pointed out 14th-century Doune Castle, a forbidding pile of stones that today is less known as a royal retreat for Mary, Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie than as a popular movie and TV setting.

Doune Castle has doubled for Winterfell in “Game of Thrones” and Castle Leoch in “Outlander,” as well as being the featured royal residence in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

In addition to castles, the Highlands is home to a veritable cornucopia of mythological creatures, the most famous being Nessie of course.

Al, however, seemed partial to the kelpies, shape-shifting water sprites which most often appear in the form of a horse luring the unsuspecting to watery graves.

One of the stops though, the Valley of Glencoe, known as the Valley of Weeping, has an all-too-real tragic history. The breathtaking beauty of the glen, created by the eruption of a super volcano some 420 million years ago, is overshadowed by an event that lives on in Scottish history.

In 1692, the powerful McDonald clan of the region hosted the rival Campbell clan for a fortnight of what the hosts thought would be hospitality intended to thaw the frosty relations between the clans.

What they got instead was a massacre, courtesy of the Campbells, acting under the orders of King William III, who wanted to suppress the Jacobite Rebellion and prevent Bonnie Prince Charlie from reclaiming the throne for the Stuart dynasty.

As we walked through the eerily silent glen, Al informed us that the abundant waterfalls rippling down the rocky cliffs represent the tears of the McDonald clan. Here, in this bleakly beautiful landscape, it’s easy to believe him.

After such a solemn stop, the drive to Fort William put us in a happier frame of mind. Although originally built as a military post housing garrisons sent to quell the Jacobite uprisings, the beautiful town today has a happier purpose.

Located on the shores of Loch Linnhe, one of 31,000 freshwater lochs in Scotland, Fort William sits in the shadow of Ben Nevis, at 4,490 feet the highest peak in Britain.

The name means “mountain with head in the clouds” says Al, adding that it’s only visible 62 days of the year. Alas, we arrived on one of the 303 days it wasn’t.

That didn’t stop us from enjoying Fort William, known as the “Outdoor Capital of the U.K.,” with activities ranging from skiing and mountain climbing to hiking and sailing.

Other dramatic sights included Rannoch Moor, a vast peat bog that is one of Europe’s last remaining wildernesses, and Eilean Donan Castle. Perched on a tidal island at the meeting point of three lochs, it’s the castle appearing in all those Scottish calendars.

An island like no other

In reality, the Isle of Skye is a simple journey across the Skye Bridge. In fantasy, the Misty Isle is a world apart.

Although lore and legends abound throughout the Highlands, on the Isle of Skye, they are taken to a new level. It’s easy to believe that fairies and water sprites and wandering ghosts really do exist.

With its eerie lochs, heather-clad moors, rugged mountains peeping from the mist, and beaches with ancient echoes of dinosaurs and Viking invaders alike, it’s a landscape straight out of J.R.R. Tolkien.

At the Fairie Glen, peek hard enough through the emerald-green curtain, and you just might spot an elusive elf.

Look at the craggy shape of the mountain known as the Old Man of Storr, and you really do believe in the giant who died and was swallowed by the earth, leaving only his thumb visible as a pinnacle.

Skye easily enchants, but if you need a shot of reality, you can find it in the lovely town of Portree, where Bonnie Prince Charlie allegedly had his last meeting with Flora McDonald, the Highland lass who helped him escape to exile in France dressed in women’s clothing.

Or take a literal shot of reality with a wee dram in the tasting room at Talisker Distillery, followed by a gourmet dinner from the Welsh chef who owns the charming Hame Hotel with his Polish partner and their adorable Aussie dog.

The 10-room Hame, located near the picturesque village of Dunvegan, makes an ideal base for exploring Skye.

English writer Samuel Johnson wryly observed that “Scotland is blessed with an abundance of rocks and water,” while Mary of Guise, the French mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, was more poetic in her description, calling it a “wet and misty land.”

Both descriptions are accurate, and there is no better way to see this wet and misty land with an abundance of rocks and water than on a customized Rabbie’s small group tour.

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