A small… well maybe large… miscommunication between Den
& I meant that I thought she and her family were arriving into Scotland on
the 24th of December, when in fact it was the 23rd of
December. How could this happen when
we’d spoken about it so often?? By the
time I realised this, they were at the house we’d rented for Christmas - and we
were still in Aberdeen, four and a half hours away. Not a good thing
as we’d done the food shopping, and they had arrived with no food!! Luckily our hosts fed them and gave them a
bit of sustenance for breakfast.
Meanwhile, in Aberdeen we had another lovely dinner with Murdo and Mairi
and retired early, so we could pick up our hire car on the dot of 8am. It was still too dark to check over the
vehicle for scratches etc, but by the time we’d loaded up the car (to the
gills!) it was daylight. It took Greg
nearly half an hour to go over the car with a fine tooth comb – the excess is
1000 pounds and we’d rather not be hit with that bill. We also had a quick detour to borrow Murdo’s
GPS, as although I was SURE I’d booked one with the car they wanted to slug us
a further 14 pounds a day! The
directions for finding the place were actually a bit vague but we set off for
Oban, the nearest town. We drove along
listening to BBC1’s Christmas Eve programming and encountered every sort of
winter weather you could imagine: strong winds, rain, light hail, heavy hail,
sun, rain, sleet and snow! Yes we
actually drove through falling snow on Christmas Eve. The kids were thrilled. We had thought we'd pick up a late breakfast at McDonalds on our way. It's a credit to Scotland that we only saw one Maccas on the road, and it was just after we'd finally stopped for bacon and egg rolls at a road side cafe, near to passing out from starvation (well that was only some of us, others are made of stronger stuff!).
Near Oban I was finally able to make text contact
with Den and we managed to meet up in Oban at the local Tesco’s. We managed to find the Tesco’s, but working out to get into the car park was an added challenge!
Apparently Bill & Den found that too J
Bill and Den had bought the extra things I’d texted through that we still needed (we
couldn't buy everything as we knew we'd be struggling to fit the food, people and luggage into our car!) and we had a late pub lunch before
heading up to the house, Cairn Lodge. Bill and Den had managed, by a bit of a
miracle, to find the place the night before in the dark – the directions we’d
been given were quite vague! We were glad to be able to follow them as the
GPS announced we’d reached our destination about 3 miles out – I don’t know
what we’d have done then! The house is as beautiful as the pictures on the net
said it would be. Four bedrooms – two
double and two twin; four bathrooms (one of the double and one twin rooms have
en-suites), there is one more shared bathroom upstairs and a further bathroom
downstairs off the TV room; a large kitchen/dining/living area with gorgeous
mountain views; a further small living area upstairs; and a wet room. All spotlessly clean and beautifully set out.
The 24th is also Rachel’s 19th
birthday, so Emma and Bella immediately set to work whipping up the cake mix
we’d bought, I set to making a spanakopita and Greg prepared his Greek chicken
and lamb (always a crowd pleaser!). I
had thought I’d google the spanakopita recipe to make sure I had it right, but
it turns out there is no Wi-Fi at the house.
Which is kind of nice – no-one is checking their emails or Facebook, but
we can’t believe how often we all want to turn to google to check something - and
can’t! Or show a u-tube video for that matter :-) There is also no phone reception
– apparently the mobile tower blew down in a storm the week before
Christmas. So we are quite
isolated. No wonder I had trouble getting in touch with Den by phone! Oban, the nearest big town, is
10 miles away (the Poms still use miles for distance but litres for petrol,
it’s very confusing!). We had a lovely
birthday dinner and I think Rachel really enjoyed it. She’s been away from her family for a few
months studying near London and they are enjoying being together again! The
only downside was that the underfloor heating and the radiators did not appear
to be working. Luckily there is a wood
stove in the main area, but it was pretty chilly at bed time. And no hot water!
The next morning was Christmas! Still no heating or hot water, so Bill and
Den drove down the road to our hosts who popped up and got it going. Apparently it's an issue with mice and the boiler...! We were all thrilled to have a hot
shower! Greg made us all a full English
breakfast – bacon, poached eggs, mushrooms, baked beans, sausages and toast,
which was delicious. We all enjoyed a
glass of bubbles (with OJ for the younger members) too. Liam donned his Santa’s helper hat and handed
out the presents one at a time. We’d
each bought a gift for everyone in the other family, plus we all had gifts for
each other, so it was lovely. The kids
also had a big bag of goodies from Murdo and Mairi which they just loved. Those guys have really spoiled us! We
immediately hung the tartan Merry Christmas banner – that will join our
treasured Christmas decorations at home!
The hosts had set up a lovely tree with decorations for us so it all
felt very festive. Rachel was playing
carols on her laptop! The plan was to
then have a very late lunch/early dinner.
We lounged around contributing to the (very hard) puzzle set out on the
table; read, napped, watched TV and generally had a very relaxing day. We
started with smoked salmon and fried bread. Greg had prepped the gamon the
night before (not being able to purchase a Christmas ham was a surprise for us
– the Scots do gamon, which you can buy smoked or unsmoked, but not leg ham!) – luckily we had quickly
watched the you tube video back in Aberdeen (although we did think we’d re-watch it for tips, but due to the
lack of Wi-Fi, couldn’t!) so we knew it had to be soaked, or at least cooked in
water first, then roasted, and allowed to sit overnight, before the glaze is
added and a final bake. We didn't have cloves
– I was after a small sachet, not a full jar, so didn't get them in Aberdeen
and they were sold out in Oban! – but Greg whipped up a lovely glaze with honey
and marmalade. We also had a turkey crown, baked veggies and brussel sprouts
tossed with bacon. Greg made one of his
special gravies and it was an absolutely delicious meal. We finished with Den’s home-made pudding,
which had come all the way from WA, and was extra special because of that J Oh, and the
weather? A bit wet, and no actual snow,
but there was snow on the mountains we could see outside the windows – the
closest we've ever been to snow on Christmas Day! It made the carols seem very appropriate! The
only downside was that the heating went from not working to being on turbo
–charge. It was 26.6 degrees on the
thermometer, and with the oven on, it was HOT in the living room – we opened
windows and I even had a t-shirt on!! We
worried that the boiler might explode during the night but it seems to have
settled down to a steady 20 degrees.
On Boxing Day we decided to set off on walk around the
loch. Our host popped in to check on the
heating and gave us directions, which as expected were a bit vague – “head down
to the gates, ignore the ‘private’ sign, head off to the right and walk around
the loch until you see the bridge which will bring you back to the road – it
should take you about 2 hours”. It was a
very mild day with occasional quick showers of rain, so we headed off with some
fruit, biscuits and water around 11.30. We
had a great time, saw quite a few stags and deer, took lots of photos and more
than a few wrong turns – we knew the
directions were too easy to be true! – and three and half hours later, emerged
onto the road feeling that we’d earned a drink or two! Our early dinner was pumpkin soup, made of
all the left over roast veggies, with hot baps.
And a bit of left over pudding for dessert. It’s so good that the kids don’t like
pudding! Den and I got the TV room to
ourselves and watched “Brokeback Mountain”, a movie neither of us had seen.
It rained steadily all night and we woke on the 27th
to find the loch had spread, and was now quite visible from our back door! Greg served the left over smoked salmon with
scrambled eggs. Yum! We went down to the Scottish Sea Life
Sanctuary which is just down the road.
You can buy tickets on line for 40% off but as we can’t access the
internet we thought we’d ask very nicely if they’d give us that rate anyway…
and they said yes, which was great! It’s
not a huge place and they specialise in seal and otter rehabilitation. We saw the seal feeding – the seals are
adorable – and were delighted to find out that our tickets are valid for six
days, so we can call in another time to take in the otter feeding. Thank goodness, as we couldn't see an otter
to save ourselves. Maybe they were
hiding in the rain! Onto Oban to stock
up on supplies, including some more mulled wine. Rachel, who really doesn't drink alcohol,
said she’d really enjoyed warming her hands on cups of mulled wine while
touring Europe. Cheeky Liam quipped “Mum
really enjoys drinking it!” Greg bought
Scottish mussels to make pasta with spicy mussels. Unfortunately half the quantity he bought
didn't close so he turfed them, so slightly less mussels than expected – still
delicious. We’re lucky he’s such a great
cook!
The next day we were up early to go out and about – this
area is full of history! Firstly we drove into Appin itself and saw
the lovely “Stalker” castle (apparently used in the Monty Python movie ‘The
Holy Grail’) which still looked stunning despite the very grey sky. It’s on an island, and privately owned, or we
would have visited in a shot! Onto Glencoe, where we looked out for any stray
Campbells! I’d read the very sad story of the Macdonald massacre as we drove –
the Campbell’s had billeted with the Macdonalds of Glencoe and after sharing
their hospitality attempted to murder the entire extended family in the middle of the night, on order from the English to subdue the Scottish clans, an atrocity that has never been forgotten. In fact, we called Wendy & John (Greg’s parents) on our way and on hearing we were heading for Glencoe, John said “Look out for those Campbells!” Never mind that it was 320 odd years ago. The Scots have long memories! Bella has personally
decided that she does not like the Campbells.
So Campbells, be warned! We went
for a walk around the visitors centre and enjoyed the vista of the Glencoe
mountains, and made it back to the car just as the skies opened. We called into the nearby ski field opposite
Kings House. We had thought we might go
on the ski lift to look at the view but it was raining too hard (which quickly
turned to sleet, then snow!) so the kids threw a few snowballs while the adults
huddled under the small shelter offered by the boot lid of Bill & Den’s
hire car! At Tyndrum we turned right to
head back into Oban, and visited Dunollie Castle. It was very, very cold, grey and wet by the time we
arrived, and although the notice at the castle said it was open, it was closed
up tightly! We squished our way up the
very muddy and slippery path (only Liam managed to have a slide though!) to
look at the ruins of the castle – it was fenced off for repairs, so we could
only see the exterior. The brooch of Robert the Bruce, which Greg was very keen
to see, is held at the MacDougall house adjacent to the castle – but that was
also closed. We moved onto Dunstaffnage
Castle but it was raining very hard and we all decided it was a good decision to
wait until the next day. We were all
pretty wet and cold and mulled wine was calling! That night we had a turkey roast again, as
Bill had picked up a whole Turkey at Tescos on Christmas Eve for just 5 pounds
(marked down from 35 pounds). Greg again
made another wonderful gravy – he is the king of sauces!
On the 29th, the following day, we made a
slightly later start but reached the Sea Life Centre just in time to see the otters
fed. They are just gorgeous (Canadian
Otters, not Scottish, as the local otters are nocturnal so don’t make for good
exhibits!) and we were glad we made the effort to see them. Even gladder when the sky cleared up. A day without rain. Yay!
Back to Dunstaffnage Castle which is well worth the visit (even if it is
owned by Campbells). We also tried
Dunollie again but it is closed on a Sunday during the Winter months (we should
have remembered that from the day before!).
Greg was not destined to see that brooch! We had a late lunch at the Victoria Hotel on
the Oban waterfront. The chef apparently
won Scottish Chef of the Year two years ago and we felt his reputation was
deserved! The hotel had free Wi-Fi and the staff laughed at us all catching up
quickly on email and Facebook! I managed
to book our accommodation in Athens and our flights to Turkey. We had thought we’d travel by ferry but it
appears that the ferry from Rhodes to Marmaris doesn’t run over
December/January… so now we are flying into Istanbul. Our last stop was Barcaldine Castle, which
turns out to be closed to the public – you can rent it out for weddings if you
want too! It didn’t stop me taking a few
photos. Chicken curry for dinner,
although we were all still quite full from lunch.. It’s amazing how much food
you can eat when you put your mind to it!
Our last full day in the house we drove south, through Oban
to Kilmartin Glen, apparently home to over 350 ancient monuments! The kids found the road very winding (it was
a bit) and both Bella and Emma felt a bit crook by the time we reached
Carnassarie Castle – but they cheered up as we all had fun exploring the
castle. The top ramparts where
challenging for people not keen on heights – like Bill, Den & I – but the
view was amazing. It started to rain as
we left and moved onto Kilmartin.
Unfortunately the museum was closed until 1 March, but we did see the church,
standing stones and some of the burial cairns.
We also visited the stone circle at Temple Wood. Thousands of years old! They look so impressive. The ground was incredibly soggy due to all
the rain, we were all very muddy. We had
a car park picnic of turkey sandwiches before moving onto the ruins of Dunadd
Fort. The brochures told us this was one
of the most significant monuments in the whole of Scotland, and the views from
the top were spectacular. It was quite treacherous getting up and down
due to the muddy, slippery conditions, and the wind was bitter – I think it’s
the coldest we’ve felt since we’ve been in Scotland! There was more to see but that required more
driving, but the kids had had enough, so we headed back to Oban to buy the
ingredients for dinner (steak with mushroom risotto) and back to the house.
We’ve had a wonderful time here. I wish I’d taken some photos of Oban itself
as it’s a lovely port town! The house
has been great and sharing Christmas with the Curries as much fun as we’d hoped
it would be! Tomorrow we head back to
Aberdeen (hopefully via the local Priory ruins, if I can convince Greg to make
the 10 mile detour!) and New Year’s Eve with Mairi and Murdo!
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