Saturday, September 13, 2014 - The Scotland Saga

Darcy Alessandra Picken Covert is 27 years old today!  We awoke this morning after a lovely nights sleep to our first full Scottish breakfast, masterfully prepared by our Brae House hostess, Patti. Of particular note was the haggis, spicy and scrumptious with egg. The sausage was wonderful and also the homemade bread we had sensed the night before.  A great start to our driving excursions.

We left Aberfeldy, headed for Pitlochry and the last installment of the Highland Games.  Deb and I had no idea what to expect and we were surprised and amazed. The Highland Games are filled with athletic events attended by a crowd of folks from around the region. There were Bagpipe bands in competition, races, both foot and bicycle, traditional Scottish contests, such as the caber toss (a log balanced on end and then tossed end over end to land in a flat position,) shotput, hammer throw and others.  A joy to watch.  We also made our contribution to the economy by patronizing the various sellers in small tents surrounding the playing field.  A truly local and enjoyable experience of true Scotland.

We left Pitlochry around 2:00 and headed north towards Inverness, our destination for the evening being the town of Granton-on-Spey.  We stopped in Aviemore, a town resembling a Colorado ski resort, for provisions of potato chips and wine, lest these not be available when needed on Sunday.  Then on in search of our hotel for the next two nights - Tigh Na Sgiath (pronounced tie na ski) which translates to "house on the edge."  After a few bad turns and dead ends, we arrived at this stately home formerly occupied by the Lipton family of tea fame. 

Beautiful home and lovely rooms, with one slight downside.  Stupid Americans believe the term "private bath" is the same as "en suite." We were soon dissuaded from that perception as we noted our private bath was not attached to our bedroom, but down or across the hall. After much negotiation, a single en-suite room was found on the third floor, and a promise of a second one for the next night.  Glenda and Jeff elected to take the private bath room.

As the hotel dining room was totally booked for the evening, we walked a full quarter mile down the road to the Riverside Restaurant. This turned out to be a small but elegant 6 table establishment run by the chef, his daughter and the partime dishwasher, the son-in-law, whose day job was as a policeman.

The food was excellent, with salmon, chicken in a mushroom sauce and a sea bass with florentine suave.  The chips (fries) were marvelous, and the wine surprisingly good.

We sauntered back to the hotel, kissed and hugged, and repaired to our separate rooms to rest for the morrow.