The Tale of the Lost Wallet

As I mentioned in a previous post, my husband lost his wallet on our third day in the UK. His wallet contained his drivers license,  some cash, a credit card and his debit card. I know, right? (thankfully, I kept all our passports with me)

It happened when we were staying in Fort Augustus, a little town on the shores of Loch Ness. We’d gone to town to buy some groceries and then we’d walked along the locks, and down a trail that led to the Loch. Sometime during that excursion, he lost his wallet. We didn’t realize it until the following day when we were getting ready to leave to go to the Isle of Skye. We practically tore the apartment and the car apart looking for it, to no avail. We retraced our steps at the grocery store, the locks and the trail to the Loch. Nothing. We left word with our hosts at the Old Convent and then since there was nothing else to do, we continued on our day trip as planned.

We were staying in the Fort Augustus for the next two nights, so we checked at the grocery store every day to see if someone had turned in the wallet. My husband had logged into both his bank and credit card accounts and there were no unusual charges, so at this point he hadn’t canceled them. Our hosts notified the local police. They also recommended my husband register the wallet on some website Scotland has for lost property. When it became clear that we weren’t going to find the wallet, he canceled his cards and we called it a loss.

Fast forward 3 weeks. We’d been home for about 2 weeks when one morning my husband shows me his phone. There was an email from a guy stating he was with the US Embassy in the London, and they had my husband’s last property and wouldwe please either call or email him back. Warning bells went off in my head and I suggested to my husband that it was a scam. So he did what any sane person would do. He called the number.

Sure enough, someone had found his wallet in the public parking lot outside the grocery store. The man at the Embassy wasn’t very clear, but it sounds like it was someone who lived in England who found the wallet and turned it in. The police then handed it over to the Embassy. Surprisingly, everything was still in the wallet, including the cash. The man said he could mail it to us and my husband told him to just pay for the shipping with cash in the wallet.

One week later, his wallet arrived from London. To say we were tickled pink would be an understatement.

The only thing I am not clear on, is how the Embassy in London came to have the wallet (there is an Embassy/Consulate in Edinburgh). He’d filled out the lost property form with the Scottish Police, but it was the London Embassy that eventually came to have the wallet. Before we left, I did enroll us in the US State Department’s STEP program. I’ve never done this before any of our other travels, but with recent terrorist attacks in London, I decided I would this time. When enrolling in that program, I had to indicate when and where we would be, and select the embassies that would be closest to us. I also provided contact information. So I think it is possible that this could be how the wallet ended up at the Embassy. Needless to say, I will be registering with this program before all future trips!

Either way, our thanks go out to some kind soul in England!

Edinburgh to London by Train

We checked out of the Old Convent on our last day in Scotland. We tracked back toward Edinburgh, taking a different route than the one we arrived by. This route took us through the very edges of the Cairngorms National Park. I found the landscape to be interesting; it is best described as “lumpy.” I’d definitely like to spend more time in this park the next time I’m in Scotland.

Upon arrival in Edinburgh, we returned the car to the airport and took the Airlink to Waverly Station. I took the above photo of the castle from the bus. We spent our last few hours in Edinburgh stocking up on souvenirs and people and dog watching at the train station. Pretty sure my husband and I are ready to move to Scotland due to their acceptance of dogs practically everywhere. Dogs go on the train for half price!

I had reserved our train tickets on Virgin trains months in advance. At the recommendation of the Seat61 website, I booked tickets on the left (east) side of the train because this offered views of the coast. He has a play-by-play of the trip which pointed out sights to see from the window along the way. His journey traveled in the opposite direction, starting in London, so I followed our position on Google Maps on our iPad and kept an eye out for the sights he mentioned.

We passed right by this castle in Newcastle.

I loved to watch the little towns go by as we chugged down the tracks. I caught this quiet little street. Kind of reminds me of Privet Drive.

A highlight for me was capturing this sign at the half way point between Edinburgh and London. I had Brian look out for the sign ahead of us, and as soon as he saw it, held my finger on the shutter and took a burst of photos .

We arrived to Kings Cross Station after 8pm, excited to make our way to our apartment. Before leaving the station to head to the Tube, we made a little pit stop to see Platform 9 3/4 (see my earlier post about that).

We settled in to our apartment, on the 11th floor of a high rise south of the river. From the balcony we could see over to the central part of the city. Closer by was a cricket stadium and we fell asleep to the sounds of the crowds cheering their teams.

Photo Friday

Here is an example of a single track road on the Isle of Skye. See up ahead, where the road bulges out on either side? That’s where you pull over if someone is coming in the opposite direction. Whoever is closest to one of these passing places waits for the other to pass. If you meet in between these passing places, then whoever is closest to one gets to back up to the let the other car pass. It’s all so civilized, for the most part!

Castle, Cairns and a Battlefield

We had another day of driving planned. Our first stop was supposed to be Urquhart Castle, about 15 minutes north of Fort Augustus, but when we arrived, the parking lot was full and we were waved on. So we decided to head for our next destination and hit up the castle on our way home.

Next stop was Culloden Battlefield. Outlander fans are familiar with this battle, but for those who aren’t, this is the site of the last battle in the Jacobite Rising against the English. Basically, it’s where the Scottish finally lost their independence to the English once and for all.

There is a nice museum that explains the events leading up to the battle, the battle, and then its aftermath. Most of the museum is reading plaques and maps, until you get to the video. You stand in the middle of a smallish room, with giant screens on each wall. On one wall you see the British lining up, old school style. On the opposite wall, the Highlanders line up. And then all hell breaks loose and you’re standing in the middle of a battle. It was very well done and my favorite part of the museum.

After that you can look at artifacts that were found on the battlefield and hold replicas of their pistols and rifles. And then you can go outside to the actual battlefield. They have a blue flag that marks where the Scottish line was, and a red flag for the English. They aren’t that far apart. There are paths through the heather field and every so often, markers that signify the clans that fought and died at Culloden. The Fraser stone was quite popular.

Our next stop was Clava Cairns. Cairns are piles of rocks, and these specific cairns were ancient burial grounds. There were several of these cairns, each surrounded by rings of standing stones. The grounds were almost park like. We just wandered around, looking at the cairns and stones.

Apparently the openings to the central chambers of the cairns are situated according to the winter solstice.

This stone was split by frost (I overheard a guide telling someone that). People like to pose with it, I think because it is very Outlander-ish.

After leaving Clava Cairns (which involved a line of 5 cars backing up on a single track road when a giant tour bus turned onto said road), we stopped to take pictures of this viaduct. We didn’t even know it existed previously, we just saw it on our way to the cairns. And since we didn’t have time to visit Glenfinnan Viaduct earlier in our trip, this was the best we were going to get. It was a pleasant surprise to find this.

After a stop for lunch, we headed back toward Fort Augustus. The parking lot at Urquhart Castle was open again, so we headed in. We learned that the name is pronounced “ur-kit.” That’s much simpler than the way I’d been saying it in my head! This castle sits on the shores of Loch Ness, with some great views! As you can see, it is mostly in ruins. When castle owners would abandon their castles, they often blew them up so no one else could occupy them.

There was a trebuchet outside the castle, with these giant stones for throwing. Apparently it still works.

As we pulled in to Fort Augustus after visiting the castle, it started to rain. And that’s when we realized… it hadn’t rained all day. This was our driest day in Scotland, full of blue skies and puffy white clouds.

Castle count: 4

Souvenirs purchased: too many to count.

Postcards mailed (and still not received) to the US: 3

**Update: 6 weeks after popping the postcards into a mailbox in Fort Augustus, they have finally arrive at their destinations in the US.

Day trip to Isle of Skye

I’d planned one day for us to drive to the Isle of Skye. Again, I’d had some hikes bookmarked for us to choose from. We also got some recommendations from our hostess at the Old Convent. So on a dreary morning, we set off in a westerly direction. Our first stop was Eilean Donan Castle. The parking lot was packed when we arrived and it was raining, but the beauty of this castle blew us away.

We didn’t pay to go inside. I’d read that it is relatively small, and the interior has been updated (weddings are held here!) so we decided to skip touring it and instead enjoyed it from mainland. Talk about a postcard perfect sight.

After visiting the castle, it was a few minutes to the Skye Bridge. Soon we were on the island and cruising along the narrow roads that wind in and around the many inlets and mountains. There was a lot of single track road again.

It rained off and on, of course. The west of Scotland is the rainiest.

Our destination was the Old Man of Storr, a pinnacle sticking out from the mountainside. The clouds were just moving out as we approached. Notice those curvy roads with no shoulder!

We luckily found a parking spot in the car park, though there were many people parked alongside the road. We started our ascent up the trail toward the Old Man.

This picture makes the pinnacle appear deceivingly close, but it really wasn’t. In fact, Brian and I didn’t even hike up to the pinnacle. We waited at the halfway point and enjoyed views over to the mainland while Ben hiked to the base of the pinnacle. I read somewhere (maybe on the sign at the trail head) that the pinnacle itself is as tall as 11 double decker buses stacked on one another.

After our hike, we continued north to Kilt Rock. When we arrived it was pouring rain and there was a line just to get in the parking lot. By the time we got a spot and made it to the viewpoint, the rain started to let up so we could see this view. I forget the name of the waterfall, but the rock in the distance is named for it’s resemblance to pleats in a kilt.

Back in the car, we warmed up and headed back south in search of a late lunch. We stopped in Portree, the main town, but a cruise ship had dropped off its passengers and the town was crawling with people. We ended up heading to Broadford. After a warm lunch, we headed back across the Skye Bridge.

You didn’t think I was done taking photos of the castle, did you? Had to get it from as many angles as possible!

Castle count: 3

Resources:

Old Man of Storr hike

 

 

 

Photo Friday

This is Linlithgow, Scotland, where we stopped after the bike tour. You can see the red van with the bikes. Johann, our tour guide, grew up in this town. I like taking pictures of the little towns because they are so quaint and different from what we are used to.

Edinburgh to the Highlands

We said goodbye to Edinburgh on day 3 of our trip. We picked up a rental car from the airport and set off for our next destination: The Scottish Highlands. But first we made a pit stop.

I’d researched some hikes for us to do on our way to the Highlands. I used the Walk Highlands website to find hikes that suited our level and bookmarked three of them as potential hikes for this day. The night before we checked out of Edinburgh I had Ben review the hikes and choose the one he wanted to do. He picked Conic Hill, located in Trossachs National Park.

The hike started easy enough, walking through a forested area. Once we reached the treeline, we passed through a swinging gate and began our assent up some stairs.

Luckily, there were plenty of places to stop and rest, like this spot. This was our first preview of Loch Lomond. At this point, I thought the view was pretty darn nice. It improved the further up we hiked.

See what I mean? The view just gets better! There were sheep on the far hill, bleating away. I kept telling myself, if they could do it, so could I!

That’s Loch Lomond, with it’s many islands. Conic Hill and those islands sit on the fault line that separates the Lowlands from the Highlands. This is at the bottom of Loch Lomond. We’d stopped by the top of the Loch the previous day, on our biking tour.

Of course it rained a little, right when we reached the summit, but was a nice way to cool off after the huffing and puffing to reach the top. There was lots of other hikers, but not so many that it was crowded. Some hikers were on multi-day hikes and carrying their backpacks and gear with them. Others had their kids or dogs with them. We were surprised at how little some of the kids were that were hiking up this hill. I think it took us a total of 3 hours to go up and back down Conic Hill, which was 1148 feet ascent.

After descending the hill and catching our breath, we set off north. I had initially planned to stop by Glenfinnan Viadcut, of Harry Potter fame, but we were on a time crunch to check in to our apartment, so we had to skip it. Insert sad face. Next time!

We drove up the western side of Loch Lomond, eventually leaving Trossachs National Park behind us. Next up was the drive through Glen Coe, a valley of sorts. It was a little foggy and raining as we drove. If it was this beautiful in the rain, I can just imagine how spectacular it must be in clear weather.

It looks very moody, right?

We finally reached our destination, Fort Augustus and checked in to our apartment, which used to be part of an old convent. Hence the name, The Old Convent.

 

We took a stroll through the little town, which has a set of locks that connect the Caledonian Canal to Loch Ness. And so we had our first chance to do some Nessie spotting. Spoiler alert: we didn’t find her.

Resources:

Walk Highlands

The Old Convent No. 3 Our home away from home for 3 nights in Fort Augustus

Biking through Trossachs National Park (also known as that time I crashed a bike in Scotland)

One of my nephew’s top requests for our trip was to bike through a national park. As luck would have it, Johann with Tartan Bicycle Company offers such a tour. I booked us on his “short” tour, reserving electric bikes, because I knew there would be plenty of hills and I wanted the tour to be enjoyable.

We were picked up by Johann, along with a group of 3 sisters from Mexico, and we headed about an hour north west of Edinburgh, to Trossachs National Park. We made a stop at Doune Castle, of Monty Python and Outlander fame, for a quick little visit. We didn’t go inside, just walked around the castle and took lots of pictures. Fun!

After driving through the country, through cute little villages, we arrived in Aberfoyle, where we hopped on our bikes. The electric bikes were fabulous. We still had to pedal, but the going was a lot easier up hills. We biked down a quiet, single track road. It sprinkled a little off and on during the bike tour, but was never cold. We biked past gorgeous lochs.

I think my favorite was Loch Chon, pictured above. There was something about the clouds nestling in the hills on the far shore and the reflections on the smooth water. There was even a family with two little kids that came by on their inflatable kayak.

Which leads us to that time I crashed a bike in Scotland. The short story is that I was biking down a hill, on a curve, and I got too close to the side of the road. The roads in Scotland don’t really have shoulders; the pavement just ends, and then sometimes there is a hedge, a stone wall, a stream, or if you’re lucky, a patch of grass. My front wheel slid off the pavement, and there was a little drop, which was enough to propel me over the top of my bike. I guess I held on, because the bike essentially came with me, and we flipped over. I landed on my back, on a “pillow of grass,” as my husband calls it, with the bike on top of me. Commence freak out by my husband.  Miraculously, I was relatively fine. I was stuck, pinned down by the handle bars, and Johann and the hubs had to pull me out from under the bike. I had dirt on one hand, and bruises on one knee, my thigh and butt, where various parts of the bike had hit me. The bike survived too, and after I finished laughing so hard I was crying and caught my breath, we continued on our tour. This is your friendly reminder to always wear a helmet!

Shortly after the awesome wipe-out, we arrived at the top of Loch Katrine, in a tiny hamlet called Stronachlachar. There’s not much there, a few houses and little cafe with a great view of the loch. Johann left us here to get some lunch while he biked back to the van to collect it and pick us up. He biked back in 30 minutes what just took us 2.5 hours to bike as a group! After we had some food and loaded up the bikes, he drove us through the National Park to see some views of Lake Lomond and some hairy coos, as the long haired cows are called.

On our way back to Edinburgh, we stopped by Linlithgow Palace for a walk around the grounds. For the Outlander fans, this palace was used for parts of Wentworth Prison.

Castle count: 2

Photo Friday

Views in Edinburgh. The chimneys make me think of Mary Poppins!

Harry Potter’s Edinburgh (and a little of London)

Many Harry Potter fans know that JK Rowling wrote some of her first (and some of the last) pages of Harry Potter in Edinburgh. Several companies offer Harry Potter tours around the city, but I knew this type of tour wouldn’t interest my husband as much as me. So I researched some of the sights on my own and took myself on a little self-guided Harry Potter walk our first evening in Edinburgh, while the husband and nephew took cat naps.

Victoria Street is this cute and colorful street that winds up (or down) a hill. Apparently it was an inspiration for Diagon Alley. Partway up the street is an adorable little HP inspired shop called Diagon House. I didn’t know it was there, just stumbled across it. I could have purchased one of everything in the place, but restrained myself. As I went up the stairs, there were two little boys, dressed in cloaks, shopping for wands. Of course I snapped a quick photo of the little wizards-in-training.

Thomas Riddle

William McGonagall

I also wandered through Greyfriars Kirkyard to find these grave markers. Apparently JKR wandered the cemetery and borrowed names for the book. The place is large, so I  researched where the graves were before departure. I ended up finding a video on You Tube that showed how to find the locations.

And of course, I wandered by the Elephant House, one of the cafes JKR wrote in. I didn’t go inside because there was a line, but the bathroom has lots of “graffiti” left by fans.

Lastly, when we went to London, we arrived at Kings Cross Station. This is the station with Platform 9 3/4, which is not between platforms 9 and 10, but rather in the main entry hall. A nearby store manages the area and picture taking. I think there may be a fee to get an official photo. We arrived from Edinburgh at 8:00 pm and there was a long line, so the above photo was as good as I was going to get!

Obviously I didn’t see all the HP inspired sights around Scotland and England, but I was happy to see the few that I could.