On The Road Again

This past weekend we rented a car for some good old fashioned road-tripping.  We were a bit worried about driving on the right side of the car and on the left side of the road but we were excited about experiencing this aspect of UK culture.

We had planned to spend Saturday touring Speyside distilleries but during our planning we found most of them would be closed for the winter (or at least no longer offering weekend hours).  Undeterred, we headed north to Dufftown to tour Glenfiddich, one of the few distilleries still offering weekend hours and the only distillery we really wanted to see anyway.

Dufftown

The scenery up north was beautiful and we were able to experience a lot of the picturesque side roads coach travelling does not allow.

View from the road

On Sunday we had planned to visit the modern engineering marvel that is The Falkirk Wheel.  Sadly, but unsurprisingly, whilst planning this day trip we learnt the wheel would be closed for maintenance during the month of November.  We rationalized, however, that although this closure meant we wouldn't get to take a boat cruise through the wheel we would still be able to tour the grounds surrounding the wheel, which includes Antonine Wall and what's left of a Roman fort (nothing but hilly landscape), visit the museum, and see sights we have not yet seen.  Thus, Sunday morning we headed south to Falkirk.

The Falkirk Wheel

Although the museum and cafe proved wholly unimpressive, the wheel was pretty cool.  We're looking forward to visiting again when its working so we can see it in motion.  The grounds were also very lovely.  We spent a long while wandering Antonine Wall and taking pictures in the lovely landscape.  It was a very nice walk.

Antonine Wall (on the left) and the Roman fort ruins (everything else)

On our way back home we stopped in Airth to see Airth Castle (now a hotel) and The Pineapple, a semi-eerie former Duke's home.  We took the scenic coastal tour back to Dundee, driving through Aberdour, Elie, and St. Andrews before crossing the Tay Road Bridge into Dundee.

Airth Castle Hotel

The Pineapple

It was a lovely weekend of scenery and although everything we attempted to do seemed to be closed we still enjoyed ourselves immensely and would do it again.

By the way, Mike did all of the driving and handled himself like a champ through all the roundabouts and other obstacles the UK road system threw at him.  Even hitting a pheasant on the Fife scenic coastal route didn't break his concentration.  Well done, Mike!