Day 7 – to Edinburgh
We leave the highlands today and make our way back to Edinburgh for the final episode of this epic journey. We travelled through the Glens of Glencoe again and even in the cold, wet and misty morning, the majesty of the place was impossible to ignore.
Our route had us traversing the southern edge of Loch Lomond. We played Ella Roberts‘ version of the Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond. Reminding me of the trip with my father in 2024, I was filled with emotion. Dad believed when a Scotsman passes, his spirit takes the low road back to Scotland.
For ye’ll take the high road
And I’ll take the low road
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye
We stopped in Luss for a rest and we made our way down to the Loch’s bonnie banks. Jane got her shoes off and waded in the Lomond Water.
Onward to Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow. My motivation to stop here was purely to collect a Starbucks mug for my “you are here” collection. Jane wanted to see more of Glasgow, so we drove deeper into the city to find somewhere for lunch. We found a place called the Wee Lochan Kitchen. It was indeed wee but had great reviews. The haddock chowder was very good. When it was time to pay, we discovered they don’t accept contactless payments. – only cash or (strangely) bank transfer. There was an ATM just down the street, so I went to withdraw some folding stuff. No good – the machine kept spitting out our card. I tried a local convenience store buying some crisps and hoping the shop owner would give me some “cash out”. It worked; we paid the bill and continued on to Edinburgh.
Most of the way was on a motorway, but as we entered the city google maps took us through the back roads where we hit every red light. We eventually got to our accommodation at Hotel Ceilidh-Donia (pronounced kay-lee-donia). We unloaded the car fully which proved to be a chore as they placed us on the 3rd floor up a narrow staircase. The hotel itself was nice, and the staff were super friendly.
We had to drop the car back to the Haymarket depot. On the way we visited my childhood home in Blackwood Cresent, my first school: Sciennes Primary School and drove past the Meadows. All fond memories of the five year old me.
Walking back into the city we stopped to see an old friend, Greyfriars Bobby.
We stopped for a pint at Grassmarket.
The rest of the crew were organising dinner at the Indian restaurant Voujon. We caught the bus back there and joined them. We hit the sack early because we had to get up early the next morning.
Day 8 – Ashes
The alarm sounded at 5.45 am. It was a special day. We were climbing Arthur’s Seat at sunrise to spread the ashes of our parents on Scottish soil. Keith and Alison’s parents Jim and Alice, and my parents, Ian and Myra all have passed away, and their ashes have been waiting in canisters for their trip back “home”.
We were joined by my Dad’s brother, my Uncle Willie and his wife Auntie Linda. We all set off as the sun was rising on a clear, crisp day. The dawn light painted a beautiful backdrop to Arthur’s Seat.
We followed the road that winds around the back of the hill before joining the track that climbs to the summit. As we began the steep ascent, it became clear that we would not be able to make it all the way to the top. Instead, we chose a small grove of trees about halfway up the final slope as the place to scatter the ashes. The spot overlooked Greendykes, where my grandmother lived, and Portobello, where my dad went to school. I scattered Mum and Dad’s ashes there, with Willie helping to spread some of his brother’s. It was a simple, quiet moment.
Mum and Dad were never ones for pomp and ceremony. In fact, I can almost hear Dad now saying, “haud your wheesht!“. I think they would have approved of this modest farewell and the chance to return part of themselves to the place they always considered home. My sister, Ann and I will have a similar little ceremony with the remaining ashes on a beach somewhere in Perth later.
Keith and Alison took a much more hands-on approach, spreading some of their parent’s ashes there and some on other parts of the hill.
Thanks to Keith and Alison for the opportunity to share this special moment. Also, thanks to Wille and Linda for joining us. Willie and Linda joined us for breakfast back at the hotel. It was great to catch up with them after many years.
Jane and I spent the rest of the day exploring Edinburgh City. We caught the bus into Princes Street where we took photos of the Scott Monument and Princes Street Gardens. We walked up the Royal Mile. We had lunch in between rain showers at Luckenbooths.
At 3.30pm we had tickets for Edinburgh Castle. We met Alison and Vic and used our “castle pass” for the last time and explored the castle grounds and buildings – such a privilege. It felt right to end our adventure at Edinburgh’s iconic landmark, standing above the city like a final moment of reflection.
Our final dinner together was at a nearby restaurant Abacus, then back at the hotel for final drinks, and recounting the awesome time together we had in Scotland.
Keith and Lynn, are travelling on to Romania; Alison and Vic heading to London and Paris; while Jane and I are returning home after nearly four weeks.
Final Day – Home time
Time for us to return home to reality. Sadly, we could not secure a business class upgrade, so we toughed it out in economy. Luckily, we missed the chaos of the flight traffic control problems in UK and the flight home was uneventful. We arrived home about 7pm the following day after seeing both sunrise and sunset on the same flight.
What a fantastic time we had. We certainly crammed a lot into those 25 days.
Highlights include:
- Glencoe – magnificent scenery
- Guiness Storehouse tour
- Wicklow National Park in Ireland
- Meeting cousin Gillian in Pitlochry
- Ring of Kerry driving – scary but worth it (Jane might say otherwise)
- Meeting Aaron’s parents in Cardiff
- Spreading the Ashes on Arthur’s Seat
- Travelling with the “Will trade cousins for Whisky” group – when’s out next trip? – and how many other cousins can we rope in?
- Jane’s driving! Really, an impressive effort. Well done.
Lowlights include:
- Getting robbed in London – and not being allowed to drive
- Getting robbed by the London cabby
- Hot hotel in London
- Accommodation chaos in Cork
- Continual nagging from Jane about keeping my belongings secure (I guess I deserved it)
