First Impressions from Scotland

Inside the walls of Lochleven Castle – Kinross Scotland

Although the ten hour flight to the UK was grueling, the one hour shuttle to Edinburgh was a breeze. We caught a bus from the terminal and transferred to a northbound express bus straight through for 20 miles to Kinross. We walked into a nearby supermarket to ask about getting a taxi, and the sweet Scottish miss at the service counter had a taxi on its way within minutes.

A nice house in Kinross

The patron standing in line behind me picked up on our conversation and asked where I was from. I told him we just arrived this same day from Los Angeles, to which he replied, “And you decided to come here?” like I was crazy or something. He added, “It rains a lot here, even in the summer.” I said, “I’m from Seattle, so rain doesn’t bother me. We call it ‘liquid sunshine.’ Anyway, we came to Scotland because it is on our Bucket List,” I replied happily. He said, “Your Bucket List is it, just like the in the movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson? Well, you will love it then. It is beautiful here!” And just like that we were friends.

The garden across from our hotel in Kinross

As we were waiting outside the store for our taxi, he came over as he exited the store. I had just told Florence of the encounter as he smiled and walked up to us, so I made introductions. He even offered us a ride to our hotel, which we declined because we had all of our luggage and he had a small car.

We were relieved to complete the day’s journey at the Windlestrae Hotel in Kinross. After sleeping over ten hours and eating breakfast, we began walking the town. Everything except a coffee shop and corner grocery store were closed on Sunday. The town air is so fresh! No beeping horns, no barking dogs. Just spotlessly clean streets and sidewalks and quaint architecture.

View of Loch Leven and hills from outside the walls of Lochleven Castle

We visited our first historical site, the  Lochleven Castle. Mary Queen of Scots was garrisoned here in 1567. She made a daring escape a few months after being imprisoned, daring because Loch Leven is the largest fresh water lake in Scotland, and the castle is on an island in the lake. She was re-captured soon after.  If you know any of the history of Queen Mary, you know she was ultimately convicted of treason and beheaded to remove the threat of the claim she had to the throne of England.

We are going to Perthshire on Monday. While there is much to see and do there, our first order of business is to find an apartment. If it turns out to be exciting I will share the adventure.

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