Arran, Glasgow, York and Nottingham

After breakfast on Saturday morning (June 25), after which I was ill again--but I am getting used to it--we checked out of the Auchrannie Spa Resort and left to meet another friend of Peter's from Oxford at the trailhead to Goatfell near Brodick Castle.  Charlotte (Charlie) Proby was another of the intrepid members of the Sahara Expedition in the late 1970's.  She now lives in Scotland with her husband, Stephen Hay, and most of their four children.  Their son Matthew had entered the ArranMan Middle Distance Triathlon, and various family were on the island for the weekend to provide moral support, including his parents, his Aunt Chrissy (Charlie's twin sister), her daughter Lucy and his girlfriend Anna.  Peter, Matthew and Katya joined Charlie, Stephen and Lucy for a strenous hike to the top of Goatfell (874 meters) over a total distance of seven miles.

Stephen, Charlie, Katya, Lucy, Peter and Matthew on top of Goatfall

Since Liz had to leave the island early in the afternoon, Chrissy was dealing with a bad ankle and I was not in top health, the three of us decided on a less challenging walk on the west side of the island on the Machrie Moor to see the remains of stone circles dating back to about 1700 B.C.  Six circles are visible; some are made of granite boulders while others are tall redstone pillars.  The sun was shining and I did not even need a fleece jacket!  (In fact, it did not rain that whole day--Hallalujah!)

Liz and Chrissy at Machrie Moor

Because Liz had to catch the ferry back to the mainland at 2 p.m., we arrived back near Brodick a little after 1 o'clock.  I took a blanket Liz had very kindly loaned us for the weekend, sat on the beach and read (although not in a swim suit but covered from ankles to neck in warm clothing) for about an hour.  At three o'clock, I walked across the road to the Wineport Bistro by the Arran Brewery, where the returning hikers were gathering.  Peter, Matthew and Katya were the last to arrive; Katya's shorter legs (The Proby/Hay crowd are tall and willowy.) made it difficult for her to keep up.  We all had tea and desserts as we relaxed at a table on the lawn.

We then all met up at 5:30 in Lamlash for a delicious dinner (Matthew had haggis for the second or third time; he likes it!) and good conversation.  We admired the late afternoon sunlight on the sailboats in the bay and Holy Isle behind them before we said our goodbyes.

Lamlash Bay and Holy Isle

The four of us then headed for the north end of the island, where we stayed at a lovely youth hostel in the quaint village of Lochranza.  Peter and I took a walk to observe the swan's nest on the other side of the road in the bog and see the ruins of Lochranza Castle (that originally was constructed in the 13th century and added to in the 16th century).  As the daylight slowly faded, we were surprised and delighted to be entertained by a local man who was standing by the water playing his bagpipes, who seemed to be playing just for his own pleasure.  What a lovely end to a gorgeous day!

Lochranza

Bagpiper and Lochranza Castle

On Sunday morning (June 26), Peter and I got up earlier than the kids.  Peter managed to spot Matthew Hay racing by on his bike, and then he and I observed the swans again and strolled past the castle to the ferry dock.

Nesting swan, Lochranza

When we returned to the hostel, the kids had gotten up and gotten ready, so we drove a short distance around the other side of the lock to walk along a shoreside track to see the Hutton Unconformity. At the trailhead we spotted a couple of red deer and a harbor seal, bagging two of Scotland's "Big 5" animals at once.  (The other three are the golden eagle, the otter and, yes, the diminuitive red squirrel.)

Red deer

In 1787, at Newton Point, Scottish geologist James Hutton, who had been puzzling about dissimilarities in layers of rock for 25 years, was walking with some friends when he noticed that eroded schist, a coarse-grained, Precambrian metamorphic rock was juxtaposed with an overlying layer of younger red sandstone from the Lower Carboniferous subperiod.  The unconformity represents time during which no sediments were preserved, so a part of the geological record is missing.  Hutton's discoveries and theories formed the basis for modern geology.

Hutton Unconformity at Newton Point

Peter found a little-used narrow path a bit further back from the shore through the bracken for part of our return route.  Personally, I preferred the open views of the shoreline, but I did discover a large, lovely black and yellow dragonfly among the fronds.

Black and yellow dragonfly

As we were walking, I mentioned that the cave where Robert the Bruce observed the spider that gave him inspiration for persevering in the war of independence against the British was further down the western coast of the Isle of Arran.  We decided we had just enough time before the 2:00 ferry to Androssan to do the the 3 mile roundtrip hike.  Protected with insect repellent from the midges and with raingear from the elements, Peter, Matthew and I set off through the pine forest.  (Katya was tired and chose to stay in the car for a nap.)  At the beginning, the misty view stretched out across fields filled with sheep and the dark water over to the Kintyre Peninsula. The scenery in Scotland is really beautiful, particularly if your preference is for a limited palette of gray and green.

Composition in Gray and Green

Actually, there are occasional highlights; unfortunately, they did not occur frequently enough to lift the somber mood.

Heather adding a bit of brightness to the trail

Walking over the undulating trail and down to the shore, the dampness changed to mist and then to steady, light rain as we found the caves in the bottom of the cliffs on a ledge above the shore.  By this juncture, we were quite pressed for time and had to debate whether to go back the way we came or continue on the loop trail.  We forged ahead, climbing up the steep cliff and making our way through the forest to the carpark.  Matthew raced ahead and Peter patiently kept me in sight.  I am usually the slowest hiker since my legs are shorter, and days of sickness had not increased my stamina.  Even with my new high-tech rain jacket, the cold and dampness permeated my whole body, but particularly my legs, where my soaking jeans clung to skin covered in goosebumps.  And annoying flies buzzed around my head as water dripped from the peak of my hood in front of my face.  Misery, misery!  Katya, who should have been comfortable in the car, had not fared well either.  It had been cold, and the rain prevented her from venturing out of the car to get a blanket from the trunk, so she had been unable to sleep.

We couldn't get out of there fast enough, in my opinion, because of the dreariness.  But we also had to rush to reach the ferry.  We took the road that bisects the island from west to east at breakneck speed (considering the narrowness and winding nature of the lane) and arrived at the designated time for lining up to board.  We had really eaten nothing all day, so we had been looking forward to food on the ferry, and we were quite satisfied with the hot lunches we were able to purchase.

We arrived back at Liz's welcoming flat around 4:30.  Most of her luncheon guests--her graduate students--were still there having tea and drinks.  The day had worn me out, so I excused myself for a nap, but Peter, Matthew and Katya joined them for conversation.  (Matthew, I understand, also enjoyed sampling various whiskies with them.)  By the time I woke up, the crowd had left.  Liz managed to pull together another delicious meal in the evening from leftovers and a few other dishes, and we helped her polish off most of the food.

Liz is such a gracious hostess and lovely friend that we regretted having to continue on our travels, but on Monday morning (June 27), we packed up and departed before 10 a.m.  Luckily, there was a hiatus in the rainy weather.  The kids still wanted to shop for souvenirs in Scotland, so we went first to the nearby Kelvingrove Museum to try the museum shop.  Unfortunately, most of the items reflected the collections rather than Scottish heritage, so we decided to try downtown.

Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow

Along Buchanan Street, we found a shop with Scottish souvenirs that were reasonably priced.  Matthew purchased a tam and Katya chose a trivet with a Celtic design.  We got in the car around noon, just as the rain started pouring.  It continued to rain hard as we drove south to York.  The rain miraculously ceased when we arrived there, although the skies did not brighten.  We parked outside the city by fields recently fertilized with manure.  The smell was disgusting!  However, York is a lovely old walled city by the Ouse River.  Because of the lack of external light from the heavens, the stained glass windows did not show to their full advantage on the interior, and the nave was set up with bleachers to accommodate a large audience for the season of the mystery plays, so the beauty of the soaring gothic arches was diminished.  We chose to walk along the old streets and admire the architecture of the public buildings along the winding, narrow pedestrian streets.  There are remnants of structures from the Roman era, when York was a strategic fortification, as well as examples of Tudor, Edwardian, and other period styles.  It was cold outside, and we needed food and tea, but, for some reason, most tea shops seemed to be closed or closing around 4 p.m. so we were forced to grab something to eat at the chain, Pret et Manger.  (Nothing looked appetizing to me, so I just had hot chocolate to try to get warm.)  We ended our brief stop in York by strolling through the museum garden, which was actually pleasant (if not warm).

Streets of York and York Minster

We then continued our drive to Nottingham for a two night stay with Peter's brother Mike and his family.  When we arrived, dinner of lasagna was ready.  Along with Mike, Louise and their two children Hannah and Simon, we were joined by Rob and Susan's daughter Immie, who is studying at the University of Nottingham this summer to begin her two-year teacher certification program.  She will be teaching Spanish to young teens at a low performing school in Lincoln.

The next day (Tuesday, June 28), we had a lie-in and a lazy morning.  In the afternoon, as rain threatened, the four of us walked with Louise and Simon through their town of Beeston to the University of Nottingham, where Louise is on the faculty.  It is an attractive campus, and we made our way across it to the Engineering building.  Louise gave us a tour of some of the areas, and we got a chance to see the displays and talk with the graduate students who will be at the Royal Society in London next week for the annual Summer Science Exhibition featuring cutting edge innovations.  Their focus was on the use of polymers in medical applications.

After that, we went to the Lakeside Arts Center, where we enjoyed afternoon tea as the rain began to fall again.  We spent some time at a small exhibit on British travelers to Europe before the 20th century and then darted across to another building where we viewed an exhibition of works by MFA students.  The rain was even heavier when we walked the block to the tram station where we picked up the public transport that took us to within a couple blocks of their home.

After Mike arrived home from work, Mike, Louise and Simon (unfortunately, Hannah had to work that evening) walked with us to the Victoria, a red brick pub by the train station.  Immie met us there.  We loved the atmosphere, and the food and drink was superb.

Matthew, Mike, Louise, Simon, Katya, Immie, Sherri and Peter at the Victoria Pub

The eight of us had a great time there, and then we walked back to the house, where we got involved in a lively game of Uno.  With each hand, Simon added house rules that made the game more lively and more cut-throat.  It was sometimes hilarious and sometimes intense.

This morning (June 29), we packed up once again, loaded the car in the pouring rain and set off for London.  (Where is the sun?)  When we reached the ring road, we detoured to the town of Potters Bar, where Peter's paternal grandparents lived.  Dodging raindrops, we made it to a restaurant, where everyone but me had fish and chips.  (I only had chips, because there were no vegetarian options.)  Afterwards, we drove along the road where his grandparents' house was, but Peter couldn't be sure where it was or if it was still there.  We then drove to the home of Wendy Sykes and Don Fisher and their family in the north of London.  Peter and I will stay here for two nights and help get the kids settled in and oriented.  Then we will abandon them for a week to join our friends from the States, Paula and Andrew, on the canal boat they are renting for four months this summer.  They are near or perhaps in Wales at this time; we have yet to establish a definite rendezvous point.  

We have just finished a dinner of pasta and a salad, and I must rejoin the family.  (Whew!  I am caught up!)