Chapter 6 - Glasgow and Andy

Chapter 6 – Glasgow and Andy

Friday, August 26, 2022

Well, we had our first sleepless night on our trip. Our hotel room, which was quite large and included a sitting area and small kitchenette, faced the street and with our windows open we heard every car, every motorcycle, and every person. Moreover, the hotel faced a public office building – called the Commonwealth House – and there were political rallies with bullhorns and chanting crowds. After breakfast we requested a change to a quieter room – they graciously moved us across the hall to a room on the back of the building. (We learned later though that we just traded one noisy room for another.)

Sarah walked about an hour in the morning, getting the lay of the land. After lunch of pastrami sandwiches at Wilson Street Pantry, we walked to George Square and took a two hour hop on hop off bus tour of the city. It was a great way to get an overview of Glasgow especially on a rainy day. Glasgow has so many museums and offers free entry which is great. You could probably spend weeks here just visiting museums. We also saw several of the city’s iconic murals (https://www.citycentremuraltrail.co.uk). We went inside the City Chambers (Photo 6 - 1) where the city council meets. It's very ornate (Photo 6 - 2). We also saw the statue of Wellington with the iconic cone on his head in front of the Glasgow Modern Art Museum (Photo 6 - 3). This started as a joke but is now one of the most photographed statues in the world.

We had a late dinner at The Italian Caffe Enoteca which was just across the street from our hotel. We had small portions of pasta which were delicious.

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Unfortunately, Bruce still didn’t sleep well. While the new

room was quieter, there was still just enough noise throughout the night to disturb him. (The nearby bars emptied their trash in the alley bins all night long.) We had shopped the day before at a Tesco Express, so we fixed scrambled eggs along with bagels and fruit from the continental breakfast in the hotel in our little kitchenette.

Andy McAlindon, better known as Andy the Highlander, picked us up at 8:45 am for our first all day tour with him (Photo 6 - 4). Check out andythehighlander on Instagram or Facebook.. Andy lives with his wife and 2 small children in a town about 25 minutes from Glasgow. He was a successful electrician for many years but felt something was missing. He got into amateur acting and joined an acting agency. One

day he got a call asking if he was interested in a little television show about Scotland – Outlander. As he says, his life changed that day. He has been in numerous episodes of Outlander in the six seasons playing both a highlander and a Redcoat. Andy then started his own touring business in 2014 and is now one of the busiest and most recognized tour guides in Scotland. Andy had been referred to us by a friend, Becky Baker – thanks, Becky! He is a wealth of knowledge and loves his work. Apologies to non-Outlander fans but a lot of the references over the next few days will not only include the historical significance of places but the Outlander connection as well.

We first stopped at the archway at Glasgow City Chambers

which was the site of Claire and Frank deciding to get married in episode one of Outlander (Photo 6 - 5). From there we drove by the Outlander studios outside of Glasgow and then went to Blackness Castle in Linlithgow (Photo 6 - 6). It was built in the 1440s as a strategic and defensive redoubt when Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow. Blackness Castle passed to James II of Scotland in 1453 and remains crown property. It’s been called “the ship that never sailed” because of its shape and design. It was heavily fortified and used as a prison. While mostly ruins today, one can imagine life in the castle as Andy walked us

through it. Blackness Castle was featured in Outlander as a stand-in for Fort William.

We then went to Midhope, a sixteenth-century tower house in the hamlet of Abercorn on the Hopetoun estate. It still belongs to the Hopetoun Estate and Lord Hope. In Outlander it is featured as Lallybroch (or Broch Tuarach) which was Jamie Fraser’s childhood home (Photo 6 - 7). While there Andy gave us a lesson in sword fighting (photo 6-8) and firing muskets.

From Midhope, we went a short way to Abercorn Church (photo 6 - 9). This church dates to the twelfth century. In the graveyard, however, there are older monuments and

fragments of crosses dating to the seventh century. There was a tea and coffee sponsored by the local ladies going on at the church. They were very welcoming and offered us a drink and a sampling of their delicious homemade sweets. The graveyard stood in for a Boston graveyard where Frank was buried in Outlander.

Before lunch, we went to the town of Doune and Doune Castle, a medieval stronghold in the Stirling district of Scotland. The original castle was built in the thirteenth century. Mostly in ruins today, Doune Castle stood in for Castle Leoch in Outlander, home of Collum MacKenzie, the clan’s chief.

We stopped for a delicious lunch along the River Teith at Deanston Distillery before continuing to Culross, a town of less than 400 right on the banks of the Firth of Forth. We toured Culross town hall and Culross Palace (home of local entrepreneur Sir George Bruce in the early 1600s) with its beautiful gardens (Photo 6 - 10). Several scenes from Outlander were filmed in the garden. We visited a small photography gallery in the Town Hall run by a woman who

was clearly American. As we started talking, we found out she was from Fentress County, Tennessee. What a coincidence! She married a Scot, the photographer of all the beautiful pictures, and had lived in Scotland since 2014. Tragically, her husband was killed in a mountain climbing accident in 2021. Through our conversation, we introduced Andy to Sergeant York of World War I fame.

Our final stop of the day was Falkland, a lovely village with the oldest tennis court in the world and a beautiful Falkland Palace which we did not have time to tour. There are lots of Outlander links as Falkland stood in for 1940s Inverness in the show. One poignant scene is of a highlander (the ghost of Jamie??) standing at the town fountain looking up at the

room where Claire and Frank are staying on their honeymoon. Andy struck the pose (Photo 6 - 11).

Andy drove us back to our hotel and we had a nice tapas dinner in a nearby Mexican restaurant.

Sunday, August 28, 2022

We started our second day with Andy in Ayr which was established as a Royal Burgh in 1205 and is the county seat of Ayrshire. It’s now a town of about 46,000. Ayr, which sits on the River Ayr, is the birthplace of Robert Burns, a Scottish poet from the 1700s. He returned to Ayr to live and write. His parents are buried in the Old Kirk graveyard (Photo 6 - 12). The bridge across the River Ayr – Brig o’ Doon – is beautiful (Photos 6 - 13 and 6 - 14). There is also a lovely garden and monument dedicated to Robert Burns (Photo 6 - 15) and a beautiful hotel with manicured gardens right on the River Ayr that looks like a lovely place to stay. We are searching for that perfect small Scottish town to spend a month on our next trip to bonny Scotland. Maybe we've found it. We stopped for coffee and a scone at the Poet's Corner Restaurant before moving on.

From Ayr we drove to Dunure, a small harbor town located on the firth of the river Clyde. (The Scottish firth is a derivative of the Viking fjord.) Andy had us sample a couple of wee drams of whisky just to kick off our day. He then showed us his armory collection. Sarah tried on an authentic large kilt (five yeads long – not the full nine yards – and two yards wide) even folding it herself (Photo 6 - 16)

We then toured the ruins of Dunure Castle which stands on a rocky promontory on the coast (Photo 6 - 17). This castle dates from the thirteenth century and is the initial home of Clan Kennedy of Carrick (different from the American Kennedys) who once ruled over much of southwestern Scotland and were granted the lands in 1357. It’s also

significant that Mary Queen of Scots once visited this castle. In the distance you could see Paddy’s Milestone, locally named because the landmark beacons to nearby Ireland (Photo 6 - 18). Dunure Castle was the site of filming in Outlander when Jamie swam to a make believe “Silkies Island,” climbed the rock walls, and found the MacKenzie treasure.

We had lunch in a little café on the harbor, the Anchorage. Sarah and Andy had the fresh mussels and Bruce had a prawn salad. Delicious.

The countryside heading farther down the west coast of Scotland was beautiful – farms with cattle, black-faced sheep, and horses. Our last stop of the day was Culzean Castle which overlooks the Firth of Clyde in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland (Photo 6 - 19). This is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy. It was built between 1777 and 1792 and is beautifully preserved. In 1945, the Kennedy family gave the castle and its grounds to the National Trust for Scotland but stipulated that the apartment at the top of the castle be given to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in recognition of his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during WW II. He stayed there four times including once when he was President of the United States.

In addition to the Castle, we toured the extensive walled gardens (Photo 6 - 20) and the nearby swan pond with a Loch Ness monster (Photo 6 - 21). The setting around the castle was very beautiful and park-like.

From there Andy dropped us off at our hotel in Glasgow. We decided to just pick up a pizza and have dinner in our hotel room.

Monday, August 29, 2022

Today was our final day with Andy Part I – we have 2 more tours scheduled with him in mid- and late-September. We drove first to a park called The Helix in Falkirk to see the Kelpies (Photo 6 - 22). These are the largest equine sculptures in the world. The park is on a canal where we saw multiple canal boats tied up. The canal connects the Clyde and Forth Rivers allowing barge traffic between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Some were quite unusual and beautiful (Photo 6 - 23). The Kelpies stand 100 feet tall and weigh more than 300 tons each. They represent the lineage of the heavy horse teams of Scottish industry and economy, pulling wagons, barges, and coal ships. The park itself includes a water feature with swans and great playgrounds for children.

From the Helix Park, we headed to Glencorse Church or Kirk just 20 minutes from Edinburgh. Glencorse House is a privately owned family home. Sarah, whose family owns the estate today and grew up there, toured us around the Kirk (Photo 6 - 24). This building dates from the seventeenth century. Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous Scottish writer, worshipped there. This church has been restored by the family and is used for weddings including handfasting ceremonies. Question of the day: what’s a handfasting ceremony? This Kirk was the venue for Claire’s wedding to Jamie in Outlander.

We then headed to nearby Rosslyn Castle and Rosslyn Chapel. The Castle is a ruin just a few hundred yards down into the glen from the Chapel (Photo 6 - 25). There’s been a castle on this site since the fourteenth century when the Sinclair

family fortified the site. After touring the ruins, we walked back to Rosslyn Chapel, formerly known as Collegiate Chapel of St. Matthew (Photo 6 - 26). The chapel was founded by William Sinclair, first Earl of Caithness for his family’s place for private church services. This building is one of the most ornate places of worship in Europe with elaborate stone carvings throughout the interior and exterior. Many theories have sprung up around Rosslyn Chapel including its supposed connection with Knights Templar or Freemasonry. You may know this Chapel from Dan Brown’s "The Da Vinci Code" (movie 2003) starring Tom Hanks.

We stopped in the town of Rosslyn for lunch at the Old Rosslyn Inn. Bruce had a BLT, Andy had a hamburger, and Sarah had carrot soup and a Greek salad.

Our last stop of the day was Craigmillar Castle, a ruined medieval castle just outside of Edinburgh (Photo 6 - 27) and across the valley from Arthur’s Seat. There were beautiful views of Edinburgh from the top of the castle (Photo 6 - 28). The Preston family began building this castle in the 1400s. It’s

well known for its association with Mary Queen of Scots who lived there for several months following the birth of her son, the future King James VI. Craigmillar is a very large castle with many rooms although it is thought that there are additional rooms a level below that have not been uncovered.

It was about an hour drive back to our hotel in Glasgow but an early night for us. We rested a bit then went out to a nearby restaurant called Metropolitan’s. We had several small plates for dinner – roasted cauliflower, avocado hummus, prawns, and haddock fingers.

We are ready for a day of rest tomorrow, our last full day in

Glasgow!

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

It was so nice to sleep a little later and have a slower start to our day. The weather has been beautiful for the past few days, and it looks like it will hold for another day or two. Sarah did laundry in the morning then we headed out to walk to the Glasgow Cathedral (Photo 6 - 29). Erected between AD 1136 and 1484, it is now Scotland’s largest place of worship. Just to the east of the Cathedral on a prominent hill is the

Glasgow Necropolis which is a Victorian cemetery. Sarah walked to the top. It was a very overcast day which lent a suitable atmospheric (and spooky) air to the Necropolis (Photo 6 - 30).

We had lunch at Merchant Chippie a tiny fish and chips place. It’s been recognized as one of the top 50 fish and chips take aways in the UK and the only one in Glasgow. We would concur. After lunch, we separated for a bit. Bruce toured the Police Museum. Sarah went to the Glasgow Modern Art Museum and then just walked for about an hour.

We both took short naps in the afternoon and went back to Enoctea Italian for small plates for dinner.

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

We left Nashville three weeks ago today! We are heading by train to Aberdeen this morning, our base for the next two weeks.

We awoke to a cool (48 degrees) but sunny morning and headed out to Gandolfi’s for breakfast. Bruce had Eggs Alba which was basically an eggs benedict with salmon. Sarah had sourdough toast with whipped feta, poached eggs, mashed avocado, pine nuts and harissa sauce (made from a hot chili paste that originated in Tunisia, North Africa). Delicious! Our waitress told us she had worked there for 57 years. We got a taxi to Queen Street Station for our train to Aberdeen.