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Writer's pictureJohn Burkinshaw

Things We Love About Scotland - part three

Since Charlotte was about 8, and Amber 10, we have developed a tradition of family touring holidays. For many years, we planned during the winter and undertook week long road trips on the motorbikes, the kids riding pillion, organised in military fashion to get the very best out of our precious holiday days. Because we used up all our annual leave separately, covering school holidays, the one week we got all together in the summer was like gold dust. We loved these trips that meant we could see the best of the country in a short time, but by 2013 we had covered a fair bit of England and Wales, and it was time to go further afield to Scotland again.


This was too far for the kids on the bikes, and so a camper van was in order. We drove up to Glasgow to collect the van and set off from there, covering over 500 hundred miles through spectacular and varied scenery along the way from Glasgow to Aberdeen to Edinburgh and back to Glasgow.

Camper van rental
Camper van rental

For both of us the landscapes across Scotland are truly magnificent. Backdrops of steep sided hills and mountains rising up from wide valleys, typically with a loch or flat plain, give an amazingly unique perspective. The weather is wet and that gives almost luminous greens, especially when the sun is low and it’s just rained, with opalescent waters and dramatic clouds. The morning mist rising off the still water’s surface is just surreal. We're sure there are similarities to say the Italian lakes, or closer to home in the Lake District, but Scotland seems so un-spoilt by human hands and feet. Religious or not - we think the expression truly 'heavenly' feels right.


The water is amazing in Scotland, really amazing. It is crisp, clean and crystal clear. We were in it at every opportunity. Below are photos of Loch Lomond, Glen Coe and Loch Awe. All incredible in their own beauty, from shallow waters to tumbling streams to dark blue depths.

Here is the iconic lone tree on the shore of Loch Lomond, and Amber looking less than impressed with the Falls of Lora - a whirlpool that sometimes appears, but not that day! We also ignored the warnings of dangerous steps to investigate a secret and untrodden place called the Devil's Pulpit. Down a long and treacherous stone staircase, slick with damp and moss, we found ourselves alone in the beautiful brown peaty water at the bottom, with nothing but the sound of the rushing water.

Scotland is steeped in history and there are many amazing places to visit. On our travels we took in Temple Wood in Kilmartin Glen, a fabulous stone circle and funerary site that is more than 5000 years old. There are dozens of examples of incredible stone circles all across Scotland, revealing ancient history, but providing so many mysteries than people have solved.

There are so many cool and interesting places to see along the way. For example the Secret Nuclear Bunker, shown in the photo below. Hidden beneath a very normal looking house, down a very long concrete lined corridor is a network of tunnels that could sustain life for months or years. Looking at the technology down there I am pretty sure we would all have been doomed, but an amazing feat of engineering and imagination to create.


The Glenfinnan viaduct, featured in the Harry Potter films is was also on our route, and we battled the midges to walk to the arches and look up at that amazing curved structure.


And, for those who like something weirder - the Clootie Well. A woodland shrine linked to ancient healing traditions. The rag, or cloot, is dipped in the well and tied to a tree in the hope that a sickness or ailment will fade as the rag disintegrates. Fantastically bohemian tradition or scrappy woodland full of litter - you decide, but it is a site to boggle and behold.

The last stop on our trip was Edinburgh, my favourite city in all the UK. There is so much to see, and because it is small it all feels very welcoming, accessible and interesting. We met He Who Is Red, a fabulous street artist and living statue who creates magic with his crystal ball, visited the World Famous Frankenstein & Bier Keller for a one off bar experience, and toured the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions. This is a fabulous museum/art gallery full of curious optical illusions through the ages, culminating in an amazing maze of mirrors and vomit inducing rotating tunnel of LEDs to walk through - well worth the visit!

2013 was also the year The Incredible Spice Men exploded onto our screens with their infections enthusiasm and positivity, and their eclectic combination of kilts and turbans, Sikh heritage and Scottish accents. I loved their cooking of classic British staples, like Victoria sponge cake, with a fabulous spice twist to each dish, and I found them endlessly entertaining to watch.


Scotland has a long list of famous, traditional dishes, and some of the best food we've ever tasted has been in Scotland. Neither of us would gravitate to towards seafood, but when we are in Scotland and it is all so local and fresh we are tempted. Fresh pan fried scallops, smoked salmon, crab and Cullen Skink (a creamy soup with smoked haddock) are truly amazing, as are whiskey soaked raisins in your breakfast porridge (a nice way to start the day!). For the sweeter tooth, tablet (a bit like fudge but not fudge) or maybe some local cheeses on some home baked oatcakes. We have never tried deep fried pizza (seen in a fish and chip shop hot-counter one tea time after spending an hour watching the dolphins frolicking off Rosemarkie shoreline) but a good haggis either on its own or with just about anything else! Wow

Dolphins off Rosemarie shoreline
Dolphins off Rosemarkie shoreline

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