Scotland Travel Guide
There is a whiff of rebellion and mysticism in the air in Scotland. With modern cities, ancient castles, wild scenery and intense, poetic people the country is nothing if not fascinating and rewarding.
The mountains and lochs of highland Scotland have a terrible, desolate beauty whilst the southern Lowlands have a more gentle appeal.
Evidence of Scotland's turbulent past can be seen at every turn. Nevertheless, the violence of the past is tempered by a Celtic musicality in the soul of the people.
A large, diverse country with some fine cities and a rich heritage but it will be the landscape that lingers longest in the memory.
Whisky, Kilts, Bagpipes and other icons
The word whisky translates from the Gaelic as 'Water of Life' and it is Scotland's biggest export. Distilleries are to be found all over but the Speyside whisky trail is home to many of the worlds best known. However, purists may prefer the wild solitude of the Talisker Distillery on the Isle of Skye for a taste of Peaty heaven.
The kilt is the traditional dress of the Highlander and along with tartan has a heavy symbolic importance for Scots. During the Jacobin uprisings, the Tartan became an anti English emblem and it was banned for some forty odd years in the late 1700's.
As relations between North and South improved (slightly), the tartan and the kilt became a marker for the identity of the different clans, especially as they spread to all corners of the Empire. Visit a tartan shop, be amazed at how much material makes up a kilt (and how costly they are) and trace your family tree to see if you are entitled to wear a clan tartan.
Bagpipes, despite being an instrument not uncommon in other parts of Europe, are the definitive Scottish musical instrument. Used principally in military bands the pipes inspire love or hate (a soulful instrument for tuneful laments or a bag of cats being drowned in hot chip fat, take your pick) in equal portions. Whatever your view I can't help thinking that in the 19th century, Pipers in full Highland regalia, coming out of the mist at the head of hordes of Scots clutching swords and muskets would be enough to scare the living bejaysus out of any opposing army.
The Pipes have enjoyed something of a revival latterly and 'Folkies' have begun to feature the pipes in their make up once more.
The Highlands
Beautiful. Wild. Desolate. All words that readily spring to mind on first sight of the Great Glen. The Highlands are spectacular in their harsh visage and yet, bathed in sunlight they truly come alive with a million earthy colours.
There are many places to visit in the Highlands, all fairly accessible. Some have an added significance due to the events that have passed there. Culloden, with its violent memories is most striking.
One place that had a profound effect on me was Sandaig, a small coastal spot where Gavin Maxwell lived with his Otters. It is a rocky inlet, open to the sea and a place of peaceful, pristine isolation and yet easy to imagine how soon it might change.
There is so much to the Highlands it is impossible to convey. Visit Plockton, go walking in the Cairngorm Mountains or Glen Shiel, see the Eilen Donen castle. It's all brilliant.
Its Monstrous
Whilst in the Highlands a visit to Loch Ness is on most peoples to do list. The reason is simple; there is supposed to be a dinosaur living there. People have been hallucinating a monster there since the 7th century. There are two monster exhibitions on the shores of the Loch where the 'evidence' is presented. If however you are too cynical to believe in such things the area itself is most attractive; the loch is huge, very deep and black looking, surrounded by mountains and hills.
Don't miss the gift shop, it is run by a cheery, fat man in a white spangly suit. Claims his name is Presley or some such thing.
A long walk ruined
Golf was invented by the Scots in the 15th century. In its homeland, it is played religiously at over 400 courses with a degree of egalitarianism that is most refreshing. At many courses, it is possible to just turn up and play. St Andrews is the home of Golf but other world class courses include Carnoustie, Gleneagles and Turnberry.
Cities Outside of the Capital
Glasgow is a city that has done much in the last fifteen years to dispel its image as a grim industrial wasteland. During the eighties huge investment was made into Scotland's largest conurbation and the city reinvented itself. The culmination of this transformation was being elected as European City of Culture in 1990. The city boasts a fine Gallery of Modern Art, classical Victorian architecture and a vibrant nightlife. Also high on any visitor's agenda should be the Burrell Collection, a vast, diverse array of artworks from ancient civilisations onwards. There are many other worthwhile galleries and museums to visit as well as the Cathedral. Above all though Glasgow is a city that has moved blinking into the sunlight. And it finds it rather likes it!
The other two major cities in Scotland are Aberdeen and Dundee. Both are East Coast port towns but Dundee is much closer to the central Scottish industrial belt than Aberdeen, which lies further north than Moscow.
Dundee is a city that is struggling to reach the heights it achieved as Britain's 'Jute City'. Nowadays its main claim to fame is as home to the Beano and Dandy comics. Despite this Dundee is a lively, down to earth place with some good museums and it makes a good base for exploring the Grampian Mountain region of Scotland.
Granite City, as Aberdeen is known, is a dynamic oil boomtown. This can make it seem a transitory place of forbidding grey buildings but it is a place undeniably sure of itself. However Aberdeen has won the Britain in Bloom competition enough times to be barred from competing and it has a great -if somewhat blustery- beach.
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