Fàilte / Scottish Gaelic, welcome
Scotland / a train north, darker stone and bigger hills
VISITED
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I have been here.
FranceCities
- Edinburgh Old Town closes, a castle on its rock, hills you can climb before lunch.
- Glasgow Louder, warmer, funnier, the city that actually talks to you.
- Isle of Skye Where the road runs out and the weather does whatever it likes.
- Fort William Base camp for the Highlands and the long haul up Ben Nevis.
The table
- Haggis, neeps and tatties Better than it has any right to be. Order it once, then order it again.
- Cullen skink Smoked-haddock soup that fixes a cold, grey afternoon on contact.
- Cranachan Cream, oats, raspberries, whisky, pudding as a national argument.
- A cask-strength dram Roughly the mood this door hums at you.
Saved pins
- Edinburgh Castle ↗ Go early, before the coaches; the view down the Royal Mile is the whole city.
- The road to Glenfinnan The viaduct, the loch, and every train-nerd's favourite bend.
- A back-street Edinburgh whisky bar No music, no telly, a wall of bottles. A proper pub.
My note
Scotland is close enough to reach by train and different enough to feel like a proper change of scene. Edinburgh gave me the old stone and steep streets. Glasgow was warmer, louder and easier to talk to.
The door is a studded stone arch, with more castle in it than subtlety. Its chime holds a low drone underneath the notes, borrowing the part of bagpipe music that never quite leaves the room.