Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: Scotland

A Weekend in the Scottish Isles

If Chris wasn’t a big whisky fan, I don’t know if I would have ever heard of the Isle of Islay, except maybe in an episode of Parks and Recreation. A small island in the Hebrides, Islay (pronounced “EYE-luh”) is home to approximately 3200 residents and eight single malt whisky distilleries, including Chris’s and Ron Swanson’s favorite distillery, Lagavulin. So when planning our week in Scotland, I split our time between Edinburgh and Islay, “where God’s chosen elixirs are distilled, barreled, and prepared for consumption.”

We arrived in Scotland via an early easyJet flight between Belfast and Glasgow, rented a car at the airport, and drove to Kennacraig Port to catch a ferry to Islay. (It’s certainly an option to fly right to Islay, but we wanted to do the drive – it’s gorgeous.) If it sounds like it’s a lot of work to get to Islay, I won’t argue with that, but I can tell you it’s worth the effort whether you’re a whisky fan or not. I’ll get to the distilleries in the next post, but first I’ll honor the sheer beauty of Islay.

The ferry ride over to Islay was nicer and comfier than I expected. The Calmac boat looked like a small cruise ship with a restaurant, gift shop, lounge and casino on board. The ride took two hours in which we read in cozy chairs and enjoyed the rainy view from inside.

When we arrived at Port Ellen, the rain cleared up just in time for me to get behind the right-side wheel to drive on the left side of the road. With whisky as our main purpose for visiting Islay, I promised Chris I would drive all weekend so that he could easily partake in sampling all eight distilleries. Driving on the island is easy enough; stay on the left and keep an eye out for the cows, sheep, and even peacocks.

At one of our first must-see spots, Kildalton Parish, we stopped to see the Kildalton Cross, said to be the best surviving monolithic Celtic cross in Scotland. We also found a little baked goods stand called Cakes at the Cross where we enjoyed using the honor system to swap a few coins for some delicious baked goods. If you pop by and they happen to have the lemon drizzle cake available that day, I highly recommend it! And I’m not ashamed to admit I am as excited about lemon cake as I am about a centuries-old Celtic relic. What can I say? I like history and I like snacks.

I actually didn’t have too many must-see items on our Islay list other than distilleries, but I wanted to explore as much of the island as possible in our three days. So between distillery visits we wandered the roads in our cute rental B180. We found gorgeous beaches and expansive stretches of green farmland. We chatted with locals and visitors, and tended to run into the same people over and over throughout the long weekend. Most of all, we found a peaceful laid-back atmosphere that only small island life can offer.

We strayed off of the main road frequently, but we did end up covering it end-to-end. The cottage where we stayed was situated in the middle of Islay in Bowmore, so we had easy access to everything. Our treks to the distilleries took us up toward Port Askaig. A search for idyllic beaches (pictured above) pointed us to Saligo Bay. We drove down to Portnahaven one evening for dinner only to find out that our destination restaurant was closed for a private event, but it was still worth the trip to see the port and…

…I found Highland cows for the first time! I was reeeally hoping to see sweet hairy coos on this trip despite not being in the Highlands, so I was excited to find them on Islay. They look surprised to see me! They’re curious little guys – they moseyed right on up to me at the fence to see what I was doing.

So cute. The cows, and the island. Chris and I are already dreaming about going back someday. More on the Isle of Islay, specifically the distilleries of Islay and details about our accommodations, in the next posts!

October 26, 2015
Photo Friday – Stonefield Castle

Built in 1837 along the shore of Loch Fyne in Tarbert, Scotland, Stonefield Castle checked the box for one of my bucket list items: stay overnight in a castle. I didn’t find a clawfoot tub in the bathroom and we didn’t see any ghosts during our visit, but Chris and I felt like king and queen staying in the stately guestroom with four-poster bed and separate sitting room. We didn’t even spend a full 24-hours at the castle, but it was a nice resting point between our long weekend on Islay and our city adventures ahead in Edinburgh. More on Scotland coming soon!

September 25, 2015
England 2003

As promised, I’ve finally gotten around to scanning a few film prints from my travels to England in 2003! This trip was incredibly special for so many reasons. It was my first time going anywhere in Europe, and I was visiting my parents who had moved to Lytham St Annes (near Blackpool) for my mom’s job. They were both excellent hosts, and made touring the country really fun and easy. The trip didn’t start out easy though – the day before I was scheduled to leave, I received notice that my flight was cancelled due to incoming Hurricane Isabel. I called the airline to ask about my options, and they informed me that they had one seat available on that evening’s flight and that it was mine if I wanted it! Great! Only…the flight was leaving in just under three hours. Oh, and I was at work, in Rockville, Maryland, which is at least a 45-minute drive from where I was living at the time. AND I hadn’t packed yet! So if you do the math, three hours minus the commute time, minus the required be-at-the-airport-two-hours-before-your-international-flight time, that left me less than 15 minutes to pack a suitcase for a week abroad. What I didn’t account for was how crazy the security lines would be at Dulles International Airport since everyone else had the same plan to get out of ~~Dodge~~ Virginia before the hurricane hit. Somehow I managed to throw a bag together and get a taxi to the airport in time, and thanks to the kindness of strangers who let me jump to the head of the security line, I just barely made my flight! And thanks certainly also go to my super sweet co-workers at the time who encouraged me to drop everything, covered the remainder of the day’s responsibilities for me, and allowed me to go, go, go. I’ll never forget how crazy that day was – that is not my preferred method of travel (I’m an obsessive planner), but it’s nice to know I can be super spontaneous, too!

Once I arrived in England, my parents ensured that I saw an amazing sampling of the entire country. My mom and I took a fantastic side-trip via train to London for a few days where we saw just about every major must-see including Mamma Mia at Prince Edwards Theatre, my dad drove me all over the beautiful countryside to various castles and towns during the week, and we all took an overnight trip to Newcastle upon Tyne and went up to see Alnwick Castle, where parts of the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed! We even drove across the border into Scotland, so technically I’ve been there, too. (Chris and I are actually planning a proper visit to Scotland next year.) There’s still more I’d like to see in England so I’ll definitely go again someday, but I’m grateful I was able to see so much during this visit.

Note: there aren’t many people-photos on this trip! At the time, I was really just into photographing scenery and details. I did snap a photo of my dad at Alnwick and I wish I had taken more photos of my parents and I together. I guess we’ll all just have to go back! Also, I used to be into scrapbooking and several of my photos ended up sliced-and-diced for the scrapbook pages, so I included a scan of my London two-page spread just for fun.

April 3, 2014