Wednesday 17 June

Week 9! Three quarters the way through!!

Heavy rain until late afternoon.

A long driving day today, leaving Edinburgh and head north into the Highlands.

First stop is St Andrews. Visit the old cathedral and Royal St Andrews Golf Course. It is pouring with rain but the golfers are out. No wonder as you have to book a year in advance – and you are only told the day you will play, not the time! A round costs up to £200 on the Old Course and no hackers are allowed; you need a 24 handicap. We have a cup of tea. I roder Cranberry, Raspberry and Elderflower tea. The waiter looks startled and asks me if I really want 3 cups of tea! I patiently explain the menu to him. When he returns with it he say “Here is your multi fruited tea”. My tablemat is the 13th hole of Muirfield Golf Course.

We drive by an RAF (Royal Air Force) base with lots of planes. Next to the base is a small village which has a restaurant with RIF in huge letters – REAL INDIAN FOOD!!!

The Highlands has rougher country with less farmland.

We go through Birnam Gap and into MacBeth country.

Stop at Pitlochry and I have cock-a-leekie soup.

Stop at Edradour Distillery - the smallest in Scotland. Tasting, see the process. First time on trip we didn't buy anything. V heavy rain.

Visit Blair Castle (which isn't a castle now – a Georgian mansion). Also known as Atholl Estate and Blair Atholl. They have the only private army in Europe – awarded to them by Queen Victoria. Huge display of weapons. The current Duke is a South African!

Sunshine!

Highlander Hotel in Newtonmore - an isolated little village in Highlands. By luck we got one of the few nice rooms (208). There are many complaints about the rooms but we stay quiet. They have an 18 year old cat and the owner/manager is known as The Dragon. I found her charming! Haggis was on the menu for dinner and we had a little bit along with the tatties and neeps.

Bed number 33 (one less for Tina).