The Tail and The Trail

Before we went to bed on Saturday night we reached the decision that our knees could handle the Gray Mare's Tail one more time and we'd be up and off early to hike on Sunday morning.  There's always a dread that goes through me when I make the decision to hike the Tail.  The reason is, it's STRAIGHT UP HILL....like a stair climber for about 40 minutes.   Then there's the walk along to Loch Skein which is another 20-30 minutes.  But that's not the problem.  You see for people like Gordon and I, people with bad knees, the problem is coming down.  So we popped 3 ibuprofen a piece and headed up one of my favorite roads in all of Scotland, not that I've seen all the roads of Scotland, but the roads I have seen, the Selkirk Road.

The parking lot and you can see the trail cutting across the far hillside.

Across the bridge and up to the first set of rock stairs

The trail cuts above the wash and climbs up and up

Our first view of the "tail"

The gravely part of the path with the tail in the background

A pretty foreboding sky and there's a bit of wind on this side of the mountain

Gimpy Gordon coming along behind me on the flat bit of path

Mists over the Loch

And still we walk.  You can see the path in the distance

Almost there

Ah, here it is!

You can see how still and placid the loch is.  Clear enough for some good reflections.

And a little bit of blue sky

And blooming heather in the foreground

Another beautiful day

So we did it again.  We follow three Scottish fellows down the path and see many cars in the carpark and lots of people heading up.  We were glad to have gotten an early start on the day and be headed back to the house and make vegetable soup for Jillian who was arriving Sunday night from London.  Jillian was supposed to arrive at 4:30 but her tickets got messed up and so she took a later train which arrived at 7:30.  That was all good though because the repeat of the season opener of Downtown Abbey, which we missed last Sunday because we were traveling, was playing at 4:30 on Sunday, and the second episode was later Sunday night at 9:00.  So Jill's ticket change worked to our advantage!

Today, Monday, we all had a slow morning and then decided on a walk out the back side of Gallow Hill.  Gordon and I did this walk last year and remember it as a difficult uphill climb.  I forgot how difficult it is and wish I'd taken another couple of ibuprofen!  Last year when we walked out the back gate of Gallow Hill we stumbled upon a sheep which had been stripped clean of all its body right down to the still bloody and pink bones equipped with little sheep teeth.  We figured that it had manage to fall over and couldn't get up and got attacked by a fox.  You know if a sheep falls over, they can't just roll over like any other animal and stand up.  They lay there kicking their feet in the air like an idiot until someone comes to roll them over or a fox comes to eat them!  We were telling this story to Jillian when we came upon this:

 This seems like a dangerous field for animals like this:

 Soon we finished our walk across the field and headed up a very steep slope to the top of a ridge looking back on the far wood and the field we crossed with the sheep.

We continued our climb

Until we were at the top over looking Moffat in the far distance with the suns rays shining down.

 It was incredibly windy at the top and I was thinking this walk made Gray Mare's Tail seem easy.  We headed down the backside of the mountain to the Old Well Road and into the cover of some trees and came upon this cute herd of cattle.  They are only cute because a fence separates us!

 Then we enjoyed some fall color walking back into town and down the high street in search of scones.

Tall people just do not fit in the little land of Scotland!  Certainly people from the Netherlands just wouldn't do!

Jill worked on her film today; Gordon and I in the yard a bit and then we went out for a delicious Italian meal as a treat.  Tomorrow we meet with Maureen here for a coffee in the morning and then Maureen, her daughter, Stacey and her granddaughter, Freya, are coming for dinner.  Our days in Scotland are numbered and we are looking forward to our last visits with our Scottish family.

Disembarkation Day and Back to Moffat

It's a 6:00am wake up call and we stir, dress and head down to the Terrace Cafe for our final delicious breakfast. Along the way we say goodbye to so many wonderful servers and people we've met on board Oceania.  It's been a fabulous cruise but we need to get back to reality right?  And we are each dragging around the extra little person we ate and drank while touring 10 different countries over the last 2 weeks!  I've named mine Shelley and I mostly wear her on my backside!!!!

We had the easiest disembarkation ever and went to a waiting bus which took us to Stonehenge near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, where, of course, we took many pictures.

Gordon pretending that he's always working!

Stonehenge is pretty amazing.  The stone circle was erected in the Neolithic period in around 2,500 BC!  Incredible that after all this time Stonehenge still stands and it is still anybodies guess as to what it was used for.  There were only the remains of one body found in the circle which is being called "the Archer".  Don't know why though because the remains indicate that the human died of 3 arrow punctures....that hardly makes him the archer! 

After our hour long visit to Stonehenge we headed through the countryside and then on the motorway toward Heathrow.  The bus driver dropped Jillian at a Tube station to go in to London to meet up with Beckio, a character from Jillian's film Trichster and YouTube sensation.  They will complete Becky's interview for the film and hang out in London Town until Jillian returns to Moffat on Sunday evening.  Gordon and I bid Jillie farewell and went on to Heathrow unfortunately 3 hours early for our flight.  But we were hungry so we checked in, dropped our luggage, ate and headed over to our gate where Shelley and I stretched out on several chairs to nap and read.  Our flight back up to Edinburgh was uneventful, except for the guy sitting next to me snoring (I can't get away from it!).  Upon our arrival into Edinburgh, slightly early, we pulled off the landing strip and sat.  And waited and waited.  Apparently being early we caught the gate-keepers unaware, perhaps on their tea break and we ended up sitting about 15 minutes before we could get off the airplane.  Bummer.  Luggage came pretty quick and we nipped off outside to catch the Park-n-Fly bus over to where our little car was waiting for us with the keys in it.

We hit some traffic on the "ring road" so our journey back to Moffat ended up being a little longer but once on the A701 heading south we began to relax and enjoy the countryside.  It's a beautifully scenic drive and the sun was setting on still blooming heather and lovely hills.

Once home and unpacked we went down the hill for dinner at the Star hoping to have their GREAT Friday night only battered fish and chips- the best in town but alas, they were sold out.  So we went to the Indian for a curry and brought it home so we could get in our pj's and relax.  The Tesco guy arrived about 9:00pm with our groceries for the week and just before bed Gordon went into the kitchen for a glass of water and almost stepped on this guy!

DAMN the spiders in Scotland are big.  That's a standard water glass and the sucker fills the rim!!!!

The next day dawns sunny and GLORIOUS!  So we did our favorite walk, Jenny's View, in reverse, which is harder in that it's more uphill, and added an extra hill climb going up to a cairn we've threatened to walk up to for years.

Man and his country!

The Cairn

Cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones. It comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn (plural càirn). Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose, conical rock piles to delicately balanced sculptures and elaborate feats of megalithic engineering. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, e.g. for increased visibility or for religious reasons.
In modern times, cairns are often erected as landmarks, a use they have had since ancient times. Since prehistory, they have also been built as sepulchral monuments, or used for defensive, hunting, ceremonial, astronomical and other purposes.

View south from the Cairn

View north

After we got home I did laundry, worked in the yard and made a dinner of roast chicken and potatoes and broccoli (already missing the ship's restaurants, servers and dishwashers!).  When Gordon went down the hill for a few more supplies he saw these colorful mushrooms which sprung up overnight from a slight rain.

Hmmmmm, which sheep would I be?

So glad to be back in our comfortable home and planning on the big hike up Gray Mare's Tail tomorrow, Sunday.

IN BRUGES

Today we are in Bruges!  We are very excited to be here and after a short shuttle ride we are dropped a an entry gate to the port to await our pre-ordered taxi.  While waiting heard this annoyed couple asking when the shuttle to Bruges would be arriving.  They were surprised and angry that there is NO shuttle to Bruges.  You have to have arranged your own transportation and they didn't read or "listen up" when told this.   So when our taxi arrived I asked our driver if we could add two more and we took this crabby couple with us for the 10 mile, 50 pound ride into Bruges.  It was at least nice to split the cab fare!  Once we arrived we arranged to meet up later to ride back to the port and headed out into the square and our first mission....to climb the 366 steps up into the medieval bell tower, the Belfry of Bruges.

The square

Gordon and Jill at the entry to the Belfry

Here we go!

The first low window view of the main square in Bruges

A giant music box inside the Belfry

We made it!

In the far, far distance is the port of Bruges, 10 miles away.

Well that was fun.  Now to explore.  There are many horse drawn carriages throughout the city which you can pick up on the main square.

Lace and chocolate shops abound tempting us at every turn!

So of course we stop and buy some as gifts and some chocolates for nibbling while walking!

This lovely old building houses a museum and fronts another smaller square.  BTW, there's free Wifi in that square! 

Bruges is another city filled with beautiful canals.  Look at that blue sky!

Interesting restaurant with a thatched entry.

The square is filled with little restaurants of all ethnicity's.

While walking over bridges and around canals we happen upon a beautiful cathedral and popped in.

There were several cute year round Christmas shops poked in to and we bought and tasted a very popular lunch/snack in Bruges, the waffle!   They make them sweet and savory.

House of potatoes!  Belgium is where the "french fry" was born so of course our noon time meal included chips and mussels, oh, and Belgium beers!

Fall is on it's way.

We had a fantastic day meandering around lovely Bruges.  It didn't disappoint as a magical, romantic, beautiful city.  We met up with our cab-sharing friends at 3:00pm and went back to the ship.  The last shuttle through the port was at 4:00pm and we couldn't miss it.  Apparently and unlike any other port we've been in, you are not allowed to walk through the port to the ship.

It was our last night on the ship and when we arrived to our stateroom our suitcases were lying on our beds, a not so subtle reminder that we need to pack up and get out!  I packed most of my things while we took turns showering and preparing for our last meal on board.  We had reservations in the Italian restaurant, Toscano, a truly FANTASTIC meal.  We then strolled around the ship one last time and went back to our room to pack.  Our cases needed to be outside our stateroom by 10:30pm.  We said goodbye to our butler, Mervyn from India, and our housekeepers, Ruby and Andre.  They were all fabulous...the service is SUPREME on Oceania and we will miss being waited on! 

Our sail-away took us past many many windmills and back out into the North Sea for our crossing into Southhampton.