Kenmore
If every journey has its peaks and valleys, the times of high excitement and quiet reflection, days 3 to 6 of our Scotland tour were a perfect mix of these essential ingredients.
At the end of a long day in Culrosss and St Andrews, we journeyed to Kenmore, a 16th century village with the oldest and one of the most atmospheric hotels in Scotland. The hotel sits on the River Tay, one of the best salmon fishing sites in the United Kingdom. After moving into our rooms, most of us joined Brian, who led an impromptu walk through the woods to Taymouth, a massive Victorian-era castle that was recently renovated into a private club, but now seemed abandoned. Surrounded by forests and hills, it was easy to imagine Queen Victoria visiting to Taymouth in 1842 as part of her honeymoon tour of Scotland. Certainly with its acres of locally quarried blue-grey stone walls, large chapel, and lavishly wood paneled entry hall, the castle is still fit for a queen. |
After dinner at the Kenmore Hotel we listened to a talk on the history of the Scottish bagpipes and a demonstration on how to play them from pioneering woman bagpiper, Gillie McNab, head of the world's largest bagpiping clan. Gillie told some great stories about being a trailblazer decades ago. Kathy was one of the willing volunteers who tried it out and took a bagpiping lesson. And she succeeded in piping out a recognizable tune, with Gillie's help!
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Crannogs & Loch TayA few dozen steps from Hotel Kenmore lies Loch Tay, offering a stunning vista of an ancient lake, mountains, and small forested islands. We headed to the Scottish Crannog Centre early on Day 4. Crannogs were the man-made islands on the loch built by Iron Age people as defensible sites close to trading networks. Archaeologists reconstructed the crannog we visited on Loch Tay, turning it into a living museum. Sitting around inside the dim and fragrant crannog (dried herbs/grass covered the floor), we listened to a historical interpreter describe the lives of the ancient peoples who made this place their home. There were more demonstrations outside the crannog of food gathering, agriculture, fishing, and tool-making.
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Cathedral Town and GardensAfter a morning exploring the Crannogs the tour departed for the town of Dunkeld and it's medieval cathedral. A splendid "city" that's more the size of a village with a cathedral in its midst, Dunkeld was an ideal place for lunch stop, cathedral visit, and walk-around.
We sampled some of the goodies from a bakery owned by a Great British Baking Show finalist (awesome cinnamon rolls!) and walked along the River Tay for a mile or so before departing for Aberfeldy and the Dewars distillery tour. |
A Wee Dram of the Golden ElixirA late afternoon stop at a whisky distillery in the Highlands of Scotland after a busy day of touring? What a great idea! We descended on Dewars Aberfeldy Distillery at the close of Day 4, enjoying a tour and dram of the several different single-malt whiskeys. While Dewars is well known for its blended whisky, Aberfeldy makes a range of very good single malt whisky. It was another chance for everyone to get to know each other and relax. The distillery tour was quite the eye-opener--no photos allowed inside, but it was detailed and very informative.
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