Delightful Day on the Isle of Arran!

 When I posted my blog last evening, the rain was beating against our window, and we could hear the howl of the wind deep into the night.  My weather app showed 100% showers predicted for this morning, with it becoming partly cloudy by mid afternoon. 

I was also still feeling the results of the 6 mile Glen Rosa hike that had been quite a challenge for me to complete. I was certain that I'd awake with certain body parts issuing strong protests.

But, surprisingly enough, not only were the skies clear when I awoke, but my body seemed to have forgotten about the previous day's challenge, and we were back to our original plan of hiking the Fairy Dell on the northern part of the island. 

We drove to Loch Ranza, and found the car park at the edge of the trail, grabbed my hiking sticks, and headed out on the trail.  I am curious as to how it got its name, Fairy Dell, as I could see no connection between fairies and the trail. Although there were some gorgeous vistas along the way.

Unlike yesterday's hike, which began with a gusto, this one began gently albeit with a steep incline for awhile.  

and when we finally broke out through the wooded area, I could see Castle Lochranza in the distance.

The sun wasn't yet breaking through the clouds, but that didn't diminish the beauty.

After a bit, the path changed from a road to a narrow walkway, and we soon found ourselves trekking through some marshy areas.  I had checked the ratings on the walk and it had a 2 grade bog listing. 

That certainly seemed doable in comparison to the highest rating, and we were both equipped with waterproof hiking boots anyway.  If we'd have needed snorkels, I'm sure we'd have passed on this one.

We were delighted to stumble upon some small waterfalls.  We could hear others, but the brush was so thick, that we could not see the water tumbling over the rocks beneath.

As you can see, the path became more and more rocky

and some jumping from rock to rock was necessary here and there.

Luckily, there were signposts to keep us on track.  If you've followed my blog over the years, you might recall that I have an uncanny knack for becoming quite lost in this fair country.

We were sure to stop and take in the vistas, which were continually changing due to the terrain as well as the weather patterns rolling by.

We knew when we saw the stone engraved "Hutton's Unconformity" that we were not much further from the end of the trail. 

If you are unfamiliar with James Hutton, (and I'll admit that I was), he is known as the Father of Modern Geology, having made his discoveries in the late 1700's.   His theory of Uniformitarianism involved the idea that natural processes occur at the same rate as they had previously.   When he visited Arran from Edinburgh, by studying the rock formations, he concluded that when one rock fits above another that is tilted, that is called "Unconformity", and the event implied that the earth was far older than the 6000 years previously determined at the time. This became a fundamental principle of geology and opened up an entirely new way of thinking for the geological community. 

There is a geology center located near the trail that goes into great detail about the discovery, thereby a stone named in Hutton's honor exists in memory of his work. 

Walking a wee bit further, we were delighted by small cozy white cottages along the once again flat road.

and Castle Lochranza appeared once again along the shoreline.

We had completed the walk in a little over 3 hours, which probably wasn't too bad, considering all of the boggy areas that we had to maneuver along the way.  We certainly paled in comparison to the locals who walk this path daily with their dogs.  But we weren't out to set any records, just to enjoy the day, and how fortunate were we, once again, to have such a brilliant day in which to do so!

I had scheduled a Chocolate and Whiskey tasting at the local Lochranza Distillery, for 3:15, just in case the walk took much longer than expected, but we had quite a bit of time to spare.  So, I suggested that we drive to the distillery, which was just 3 miles away, and see if they had a Cafe so that we could partake of some lunch. 

We were in luck!  We did have to wait a few minutes for some seats to open up, but before too long, we were enjoying some lunch in Cask Cafe.

I had heard rave reviews about the Arran cheese while here on the island, so I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to have a taste, so I ordered the Arran cheese sampler for my lunch. 

I paired it with the Arran Gold Latte, which contained a dram of the creme liquor made at the distillery.

and, much to my delight, it came with a luscious creme filled chocolate, also made locally.

After our lunch, we enjoyed our much needed rest after our hike, and waited for the scheduled tasting to begin.

There was just one other couple who had signed up for the event, and we were greeted by Scott, who was our tasting director. 

Scott was a delight, and made the experience a ton of fun for all of us!  

We entered the small tasting room, and each of us had a set of whiskeys and chocolates to pair together. 

I'm not a fan of whiskey, but my husband surely is, and I'll give just about anything a go if it involves chocolate!  Scott was happy to take our photo just as we were getting ready to taste our first chocolate creation. 

A 10 year old Arran Single Malt Whiskey was paired with a Passion fruit cream and  a Coffee and nut Ben Hur.  Marty and I both preferred the fruit cream, and I was amazed to find that I enjoyed the taste of the whiskey when it was accompanied by chocolate.

The second pairing was the Sherry Cask Bodega Single Malt, with an Orange Velvet chocolate and Pistachio chocolate.  Once again, we both preferred the pistachio. 

The final grouping was Machrie Moor, a peaty single malt whiskey, with a Soft Caramel & Nibbed Hazelnut chocolate and a Champagne & Ginger chocolate.  Marty and I both enjoyed the ginger connection, but I will admit that I was not a fan of the peaty whiskey.  In my opinion, the ginger made it tolerable.  

As I have mentioned, I'm not really a connoisseur of whiskey.  In fact, I've often stated that the so called "liquid gold" tastes like soap on my tongue.  But today, the first two whiskeys that I tried did not have that reaction, even before tasting the chocolate with it.  However, the third one did disappoint. 

I was quite up front with Scott regarding my lack of taste for whiskey, and he was great at understanding, and actually a bit excited that I was open minded about tasting, and actually enjoyed the first two that he had poured. 

As an extra treat, he poured a 21 year old Arran whiskey for us that sells for £125 per bottle, of which he had only a limited supply left.  I can assure you that age and expense did not affect my taste buds, because, once again, this dram left that same soapy taste in my mouth.  Not to worry, we were given vials in which to pour what we had not consumed so that we could leave with it, and Marty was more than happy to enjoy my share later. 

Our tasting fun having come to an end, we made our way back to our hotel for our last evening on this lovely island.  On the way, we stopped to admire a beautiful flowing waterway that I had spotted earlier on our drive out to the Fairy dell walk. 

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Picture perfect, don't you think?

A little closer to our hotel, we pulled off the side of the road to enjoy some wildlife antics.

and, quite by accident, we noticed the back side of the summer house that is located in Brodick Castle Gardens.  We had seen the front side and its interior, but had no idea that it hung out over a cliff to capture the views from the sea.

All in all, I'd say that we had an awesome day, mostly due to the sudden change in weather, which allowed us to get outside to enjoy some nature.  But this is Scotland.....and in Scotland, one can never predict the weather!

Tomorrow, we head out on the ferry, back to the mainland.  We've only two more days before we head back home.  I certainly hope to make the most of it!

Gallivanting on the Isle of Arran

 This morning began as a glorious day, so we headed out to Brodick Castle, a National Trust of Scotland Site.  As I had mentioned in previous blogs, we are members of the Royal Oak Society, that partners with the National Trust, as well as the NTS, which makes touring these sites so easy.  Just show them the card, and enter.  

Occasionally, we come across someone unfamiliar with the Royal Oak, and today was one of those days.  The NTS staff member at the entrance was surprised to see the card,  said "Ooh...I've never seen one THESE before", and actually took Marty's card to show the other woman in the hut.   We could her exclaim, "This is SO exciting!", which actually made our day.  It's kind of fun being the one off the beaten track.

The castle was pretty amazing. There's been a stronghold of some sort on this site since the 13th century.  But this particular structure was used more as a hunting lodge when it was donated to the National Trust in 1957. The history was quite fascinating.

It came into the possession of the Hamiltons in the late 1400's and was rebuilt in 1510.  But it ownership passed back and forth over the years, and was even used as an army barracks in 1652. 

By the mid 1800's, it was becoming popular for people to visit Arran from the mainland, and the 10th Duke of Hamilton took a keen interest in the castle.  His wife, Susan Beckford, came into a huge inheritance, and the Duke was then able to update the castle to more comfortable living quarters for his son, eventually the 11th Duke, and wife Prince Maria of Baden. 

Maria was a German princess and was accustomed to living in something more luxurious than what the original Brodick castle offered, so she pleaded relentlessly with her new father-in-law to make changes to the house. He finally had no choice but to relent and he commissioned James Gillepsie to make the necessary upgrades that would be satisfactory to Maria. 

As a result, the original structure was nearly doubled in size, and it is this refurbished house that still stands to this day. This graphic gives an idea of the before and after of the actual building. 

We entered the castle through the 1840 front door, and found ourselves in a magnificent hall, featuring furnishings from these original owners.

We learned that there were no less than 87 Stag heads hanging on the wall:  86 were slain in Scotland, with the last being from a hunt in Hungary.  It seemed that they were everywhere we looked in the entrance way, and up the stairwell!

Off the main entrance, there was a hallway that had an excellent interpretation board that offered a view into the family.  It was really cleverly done, with nicknames given to the family to help one piece the story together. 

his son

and wife

their son

and the final heiress.

Mary inherited the estate,  and she donated the house and estate to the National Trust of Scotland upon her death in 1957 so that her children would not have to face paying the death taxes upon her passing.

Because the family came from money, there were many "luxury" items on display in glass cases.  These were possessions acquired by the family in the 1700s and the history of how they were made was carefully detailed. 

Here are just a few items that I have selected to share:

The bright blue spoon is made from a rare and expensive stone called Lapis.

These items were made of the finest filigree.

and there were fine porcelain pieces included as well. 

From here, we headed up the stairs, past the many stag heads adorning the walls, and entered the Duke's bedroom.  

That room adjoined Princess Maria's bedroom where Queen Victoria's mother stayed on a visit, with Maria giving the woman her own set of rooms to use during her stay. 

You can see by the photos that the castle is filled with furnishings that have been preserved since the mid 1850s when the house would have been furnished by Maria with such opulence.  

The kitchen is the original as well.  The Duchess of Montrose had her own modern kitchen added to the house in a separate location, leaving this room in the same condition as it would have been in the late 1800s.  It's one of the few original kitchens in the National Trust collection.

But before I leave the house, let me offer you this "cheat sheet" on the art of Fan Flirtations.

I probably would have failed the test if I'd have had to remember these important hand motions. Although I might have gotten "kiss me" correct, as it seems the simplest of the group. What do you think?

One of the interesting features of the castle is its amazing gardens.  Since the weather on the isle of Arran is rather temperate, there are many species of more "tropical" plants growing on the grounds.  It really was quite interesting to see the array of unusual plants.

There was beauty just about everywhere the eye could see. 

And, of course, the beauty of the thistle, although most had already seen their best days. 

The Silver Garden Trail is designed to reflect the 12th Duke of Hamilton's silver collection.  This is one of the set of sculptures.  

As you can see, one of the reflecting trees is just beginning to turn the colors of fall.

The grounds feature many walking paths that lead to an ice house, summer house, and a squirrel hide, which today, featured many birds flitting around, but no red squirrels to be found. 

We did learn that the Duchess of Montrose actually introduced red squirrels to the isle in 1954.  When we asked just how she managed to get them onto the island, we were told that it was by postal service.  Can you believe that?  I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be the mail carrier!

We took one last camera shot with the castle in the background, and you can see just how glorious the day was.

On our way out of the estate, we spotted a few Highland Cows busily munching in the field.

By this time, it was about 1:30 pm, and I proposed that we walk the Glen Rosa, as I had read that it offered some outstanding views, but wasn't too taxing of a hike. 

 

Well, I might argue that last point, as we found ourselves climbing up a very rocky hill, with a steep drop off the side of a cliff to our right, not far from the beginning of the hike.  Marty took a photo of me standing on the bridge that spans the gorge with a waterfall behind me.  

I'll admit that the waterfall is a bit in the distance, but it did look pretty awesome in person. 

Our travels continued up the hill even higher, then a descent through a grassy field.  When the path split, we turned to the right, instead of the left, to continue on the trail.  We found ourselves in a thick forest, with pine needles coating the ground, but there were spots where we had to cross running water, but that was easily maneuvered.  

Coming out of the forest, we passed through a gate into a glen, where the mountains opened up before us. 

There were about 2 and a half miles of narrow trails

with some requiring a little leap

and, actually, some involving a bit longer leap.  But I had walking sticks to help me maneuver my way along. 

We finally reached a bridge that crossed the water and offered a beautiful waterfall in the distance. 

The mountains were behind us offering an incredible view. 

and a second bridge stood right in front of the Glen Rosa.

If you look closely, you will see that we are standing in front of a waterfall that starts at the very top of the hill behind us. 

It was such a relief to reach this point, and no one was happier than I when the path back widened and maintained a relatively flat terrain in comparison to what we had just maneuvered. 

Once we reached civilization, I took a picture of this scene just to remember the beauty of the environs through which we had just climbed. 

It took us a little over 3 hours to complete the hike, and we were lucky to have finished when we did, as the rain came blowing in just about the time we reached our hotel.  Those beautiful mountains that I featured in yesterday's blog were no longer visible by the time we had dinner, as the mist had overtaken them.

It appears that rain is in the forecast tomorrow as well.  We were supposed to hike the Fairy Glen in the morning, but right now, I'm perfectly happy to find a substitute.  Actually, I think my feet are begging me to do just that!

But I'll be sure to keep you posted!