Back East of the Irish Sea

We're in the Scottish highlands today, heading for Edinburgh tomorrow.  But here's what we've been doing:

On Wednesday we left Ireland aboard the huge car ferry Ulysses and arrived in Holyhead, Wales.  We enjoyed the pretty ride along the Irish Sea to the English border.  We visited the lovely ancient walled city of Chester, founded by the Romans between 70-80 A.D.  There were poor feelings between Chester residents and any person from Wales, just across the border; it was so bad that a Welshman could be killed if they remained in Chester after dark.  And a beautiful clock tower was built in Chester with lovely-faced clocks on the 3 sides but the West side (toward Wales) is blank.  Peter, our tour director, is a Welshman, so we all keep an eye on him.  Town criers have called the news since 1050, and we were entertained by David upon our arrival.  An unusual feature here is what we'd now call a shopping mall, called 'Rows' which have store fronts and a walkway on the second floors above the main street's store fronts.  We drive on to Liverpool, where Anne and I ride a Ferris wheel outside our hotel.  This was my first ride since my kid brother Tommy made me cry when he starting our car swinging while we were stopped at the top.  It still scares me.

Thursday morning we join Paula for a tour of Liverpool.  We saw a large Chinese community behind the ornate Dragon Gate.  Liverpool surprised us with lovely old buildings even though 80% of the city was decimated during WWII, especially docks, factories, train lines.  We walked along Penny Lane.  Paula had chatted with both Paul and Ringo in the past.  Paul patted her on her head at her graduation, and she sat on Ringo's knee. Sir Paul McCartney co-founded the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in 1996.  Did I mention that we see mostly row townhouses when we are in the cities.  We generally see individual homes in small towns.  We travel to the largest lake in Britain, Windemere.  It is raining, so we take a boat ride and see some of the beautiful Pennine mountains.  We see Hardwick sheep which are born black and turn white as they age.

In Scotland we visit the marriage anvil of Gretna Green on Friday, where couples could elope and be married by the blacksmith.  Around 122 AD, Hadrian's Wall was built over 7 years, 80 Roman miles or 73.5 British miles long, from coast to coast.  Some say it was built to keep the barbarians from the north out.  But Hadrian had to find work for his 2nd, 6th and 20th legions, so they built the wall.  It was 21' maximum height, and 9' wide.  On the north side they built a ditch as a deterrent, and a Roman road was built along the south side.  They built castles and turrets at specific intervals.  After the fall of Rome, the wall remained; but stones were taken by farmers and builders for their own use.  We see some buildings built from those rocks.  We see many tartan of various clans.  Tartans are weaves, and Peter tells us the oldest tartan in Britain is Welsh.  But the oldest tartan in the world is Chinese.  The colors were derived from plants and roots.   The modern kilt was made around 1720.  Most of Peter's jokes are too long to share, but here's a good one.  What's the difference between an onion and a bagpipe?  No one cries when a bagpipe is cut up...   We arrive in Glasglow, founded in the 7th century, in the pouring rain so we don't go wandering.  

100% chance of rain this day, Saturday.  As we travel along the Loch Lomond, we listen to a rendition of a song I slightly remembered; 'You'll take the high road, I'll take the low road' is a tale either about a cruel British game upon two soldier brothers or a soldier and his woman during the Jacobite uprising during 1745.  Either way, the singer is not returning to Loch Lomond alive.  So sad a story.  I don't know where I would've learned those few bars.  This loch is between gorgeous monroes, mountains over 3000'.   We hear about feuds between the Campbells and the MacGregors since the 1400s.  My ears pop as we now drive up into the highlands.  Highlanders were generally Catholic, loyal to the house of Stewart.  The lowlanders are Presbyterians,  loyal to the Crown.  We learn of the 1692 treachery and massacre of Glencoe when King William ordered Captain Robert Campbell to kill MacDonalds.  Then, WOW, we're in the highlands in beautiful Glencoe.  Anne and I go into a shop and talk with the shopkeeper from Mexico with a Filipino mother and a Mexican father.  It's amazing how people travel this earth.  Then we eat lunch in a Chinese restaurant, and those are everywhere.  We couldn't see Ben Nevis mountaintop (4000') because of cloud cover.  We see Neptune's staircase, part of the Caledonia Canal between the Irish Sea and the North Sea.  We spend the night on Isle if Skye.

Today at breakfast, haggis is served in a big pot.  We taste it.  It's not bad, but we don't take a bowlful.  It's cooler today, and we learn the temperature and weather doesn't change much from season to season.  We tour with Katrina today around a bit of the 350 miles of craggy coastline of the small island of Skye.  It's a clear day, so we see water, mountains, waterfalls and rugged terrain around us.  Large Norwegian companies farm salmon here.  We learn Irish monks arrived here in the 6th century.  The Vikings ruled Scotland for 500 years until 1263.  Rowan trees are planted near most houses to ward off evil.  Gaelic is taught is primary school.  There's a quick rainbow.   We see Heilan Coo (hairy cows), a Highland cattle breed.  We walk the sacred ground of Culloden where Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite Scottish troops were defeated by Redcoat Scots in the uprising of 1746.  After the defeat and slaughter,  drums, bagpipes, tartans, anything Scottish Highlander was illegal.   More British government brutality.  We learn a Firth is where fresh and salt water meet (brackish water).  Tomorrow we'll be leaving the highlands; and as Peter tells us, it's all downhill from here.

Peter is worried about his family in Wales.  They've taken a battering from storms the last couple days.  We wish them well.  And we wish you all well, too.  This tour is over Friday morning, when we fly to Krakow to visit Thom for a couple days.  I hope to write again before we leave the UK.

A & M