Scotland Dairies : When all roads converge, the road I take is a whole nine yards

Camille Pissarro said: “Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.”

Observe the above two paintings from the illustrious Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow. These paintings are walled hardly at 10 feet distance in the gallery, with the former proclaimed as a modern art and the latter a portrait masterpiece. Seeing the first piece of modern art, a cacophonous caricature expression of “My kindergarten kid can render something like this!” is not outlandish. It is also not atypical to wonder how such a penny plain preschool worthy art found a place, sharing space on palatial stage of Kelvingrove Art Gallery, beside a paragon portrait.

For me, the artist of the first painting has truly lived by the wise words of Camille Pissarro. Only because the artist saw the beauty and marshaled confidence in his/her artwork, the world reflected the same. In a world that has recklessly resolved to make us feel incomplete and insufficient physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, everywhere…all the time, it is imperative on us to restore our value first to us within ourselves persuasively and only then the world will mirror the perspective inevitably. There is a place for each one of us here! Nobody is going to give us that place, we have to give it to ourselves!

Secondly, in pursuit of “alleged” perfection, we fail to give expression to those little talents hidden within us either out of shame or fear of competition. If the artist of the first painting above had thought similarly, this painting would not have found its place in the prominent Kelvingrove Art Gallery at Glasgow. Whatever the talent in you, however small or big, give it wings relinquishing the mindless competition and exasperating pursuit of perceived perfection that a horde of shoddy souls have defined. Go and put yourself out there with what you have in all confidence! The world is simply compelled to celebrate you for who you are and what you give!

Scotland harvested Harry Potter for us and it is a worthy travel to these highlands that will fill your dairies with magnificent  tales, thoughts and pictures that will leave you in high spirits even without a drop of this Highlands’ Single-Malt Scotch.

Route Plan

Give this beautiful land at the least two weeks to experience the diverse and vivid experience it has to offer to a traveler.

Itinerary Overview and Stay

• Day 1,2,3: Edinburgh – Charming Eco-friendly apartment in Edinburgh City Centre
• Day 4,5: Glasgow –  A spacious apartment with city views
• Day 6,7: Oban – King’s Arms Apartment
• Day 8,9: Isle of Skye – Ridge Cabin
• Day 10: Applecross – The Old Store
• Day 11,12: Inverness – Lyndon Guest House
• Day 13: Pitlochry – Westlands of Pitlochry
• Day 14: Stirling – Premier Inn Stirling City Centre
• Day 15: Edinburgh – Double Tree by Hilton Edinburgh Airport

 Practical Details

• Hire car from the 4th day and drop off at Edinburgh airport at the end of the trip. Recommended car rental for good prices with Arnold Clark: Celtic Legend
• Food is not an issue for vegetarians and every restaurant has vegetarian and vegan options or they are custom made by chef as per request
• Good to buy a local SIM for moving around. Lycamobile is cheapest and is available with newspaper agents all around Edinburgh for as less as 2 GBP and sometimes SIM is offered free too. However 4G isn’t its best in highlands and better to rely on car’s navigation system.
• Best time to visit is from April to September. However typical UK weather and hence prepare for rain anytime of the day in all seasons.

Day 1,2,3,4 Edinburgh

Visit:

• Day 1: Reach Scotland and settle In
• Day 2: Scott Monument, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh Castle, St Giles Cathedral, Evening Shopping @ Princes Street
• Day 3: Calton Hill, Waverly station, National Museum of Scotland, Greyfriars Bobby Statue, Hike to Arthur Seat, The Scotch Whisky Experience
• Day 4: Half a day at Portobello Beach before heading to Glasgow in the afternoon.

      Must Eat @ The Elephant House – Birthplace of Harry Potter

Day 4,5: Glasgow

Visit

• Kelvingrove Art Gallery
• Riverside Museum
• George Square
• Gallery of Modern Art
• Shopping at Princes Square

All the above places can be covered in half a day. It is sometimes easier to use the Glasgow metro to move around as its faster than looking for parking around Glasgow sightseeing spots.

Day 6: Loch Lomond, Lochawe, Oban

Along drive to Oban, visit

• Loch Lomond
• Falls of Falloch
• Grab lunch here @  Ben Cruachan Inn. Get a picture of Kilchurn castle from Loch Awe station
• St. Conan’s Kirk

Day 7: Isle of Mull and Iona

Visit Isle of Mull and Iona as a day trip from Oban. Book your ferry to Mull in advance here.

In order to make the most out of the day, take the first ferry to Mull and return back on the last ferry late evening. On reaching Mull, drive straight from Craignure to Fionnphort in order to reach Isle of Iona. Return Ferry to Iona can be booked from Fionnphort ferry station after reaching Mull. We were unlucky with weather and all ferries were cancelled to Iona. Spend 2 to 3 hours in Iona and on returning to Fionnphort, drive back to Craignure through scenic route that goes along Calgary bay and Tobermory.

Day 8: Glencoe, Isle of Skye

A day of the most scenic drive in Scotland. Drive through Glencoe from Oban to Isle of Skye. Head straight to Neistpoint lighthouse in Isle of Skye on this day before checking in to the stay.

Day 9: Isle of Skye

A great day to plan hikes like Old Man of Storr and Quiraing.

Day 10: Applecross

Eat @ Applecross Walled Garden Cafe and Restaurant

Day 11: Glenfinnan, Inverness

Drive to Glenfinnan to catch the “alleged Hogwarts Express” that goes through the Glenfinnan Viaduct. The viewpoint to Viaduct is a short hike Glenfinnan station or Glenfinnan Visitor Centre.  The train passes through viaduct twice a day. Check for train timings and ensure to be on time for the view of epic train passing through the viaduct.  Check the train time here.

Eat @ Glenfinnan Dining Car

On the way to Inverness from Glenfinnan visit

• Caladonian Canal
• Urquhart Castle

Day 12: Inverness

Visit

• Loch Ness
• Falls of Foyers
• Inverness City centre

Day 13: Cairngorms, Ballatar, Pitlochry

Drive through Cairngorms National park to reach Pitlochry from Inverness. Along the way visit

• Loch Morlich
• Cairngorms Funicular Railway
• Ballatar (Optional: Balmoral Castle)

Day 14: Pitlochry, Stirling

Visit

• Queens View
• Loch Rannoch
• Mustard Fields on drive to Stirling

Day 15: Stirling, Edinburgh

Visit

• Doune castle – For Game of Thrones fans, this is where the first episode was shot. This was Winterfell, the home of Starks.
• Stirling City Centre and shopping.
• On a drive to Edinburgh, visit Kelpies.

 Reflections into Scotland Dairy

1. This was a trip I let myself sink in a pool of tears multiple times, being impaired with a knee injury on the trip and unable to do many hikes I had planned. But this is also a trip that taught me to focus on all that “I can do” and swayed me with a gospel truth that if I can manage to do all that I can in my lifetime, it surely would make for a very fulfilled life! We spend so much time whining over all that we can’t do but rather channelizing that energy into what we can do, is a sure road to a prosperous life!
2. In Portobello beach, I saw a young couple play beach badminton. The boy was very good at his game but he was struggling to have a good game as the girl couldn’t match up to his game at all. Neither of them enjoyed the game due to this mismatch. The moment he tuned his game to the level where they could have a good rally of the game, both started to enjoy the game. That’s Relationship! It is all about tuning! Many a times, we want to show our best game in relationship and it only gets painful for both. Relationship is only enjoyable to both parties when there is tuning!
3. Continuing on the above line of thought at Portobello beach, A new beach badminton game started between the same boy and a new girl. The new girl was very good at the game and a great match to this boy’s talent. However this time, the boy had constrained his game by burying one of his legs into the sand. I came very close to giving a shout to the boy: ” Hey Boy! Get your leg out of that sand and go have your game of dream! This is your chance!” The Boy did not get his leg out and this time too he had a constrained game! The message is “Sometimes you will come to meet people, be in places, find opportunities that matches your talent and is of your dream, but you would have buried yourself in the sand of status, obligation and for some inexplicable reason making the timing imperfect!” Sometimes timing is everything! We might get everything we have ever wanted from the time we learnt to want something, but if the timing isn’t perfect, it just loses it value or we can’t get ourselves to appreciate its value!
4. With UK weather so unpredictable, one message I will almost put on a plaque is: “There will come many situations in life where you feel stuck! Always move forward, however hard it may seem, keep moving forward and never look back with regret! There will always be enough to explore and experience in life when we move forward with hope, than being stuck”
5. Sometimes in life you are face-to-face with multiple paths and you are unsure which one to take! Listen to your gut and trust that the path you take will be a whole nine yards and do not waste time in regret of not taking a different path. When you would reached your destination and if you get to look back, you will see that all paths anyway led to the same destination. So any path you would have taken, you would get to where you wanted to and hence be gleeful that the path you took was the whole nine yards! Give this a deep thought and you wouldn’t have the need to “agree to disagree” but we will smile in profound agreement.

Every night when I go to bed, there is always a moment I take to read and reflect upon from the percipient thoughts from Scotland Dairies!