On the bus back to Strathpeffer Liz played some very nice Scottish music for us. She had been sick since the beginning of the tour. At our orientation she had a hard time talking and had only gotten worse each day. This day I saw her sitting on a bench with her head down. That evening we found out that she had been taken to hospital and later that she had pneumonia. We had all been concerned about her and were sorry to see her leave the tour. Road Scholar tried very hard to replace her but never did. Dave took over and fulfilled both roles for the rest of the trip. He did an absolute bang-up job.
Tuesday we started with a lecture at the hotel on the Highland Clearances which Dave gave using Liz’s notes. After the Battle of Culloden there was a move to punish the Highlanders who had fought against the government. It was quite cruel, so bad that eventually the Duke of Cumberland was given the nickname Butcher. Ostensibly the clearances were economic. Highlanders, organized in clans, claimed their patches of ground and managed a meager living under the protection of the clan chief. Scottish law didn’t allow for heritable tenancy, making it easy after 1745 for the English to evict them. The powers-that-be decided that they needed to get more value from the land; they wanted to bring in sheep and let them graze on the mountainside (the GDP did triple). Over a period of about 100 years whole clans were forcibly removed from their glens and resettled, initially in the coastal lands where they competed with the local fishermen to make another meager living harvesting kelp and fish. When this didn’t work out, they were shipped to industrial areas of England, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. They were forbidden to carry weapons and could not wear tartans.
Today there are many more of Scottish heritage living abroad than the only 5 million in Scotland. (England, by comparison, has 53 million.) Eventually there was a backlash and crofting (landholding that was heritable this time) was encouraged again, particularly now since the EU encourages it, but the population never recovered. In fact we seldom saw people or settlements as we drove though we did see ruined croft homes from the time of the clearances.
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| One of the ruined crofts from the time of the Clearances |
The clearances resulted in the destruction of the clan system and of the supportive social structures. Clearly there is bitterness towards the English still, as witness the 2014 referendum where the Scots almost voted to leave the UK and the 2016 Brexit vote to stay in the EU by 68%-32% whereas the move failed in a close vote overall.
After lunch at the hotel we set off for the Black Isle, a peninsula north of Inverness. On the way out to the end we drove along the Cromarty Firth and on the way back along the Moray and Beauly Firths. As we approached the village of Cromarty at the top of the peninsula, we saw many oil rigs that had been brought back from the North Sea and which were waiting to be dismantled. In the UK section the extraction is no longer economically feasible at the depth these rigs can go; it is estimated that more than half of the reserves are gone.
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| Riding alongside the Cromarty Firth on the Black Isle on the way to Cromarty |
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| One of the North Sea rigs waiting for decommissioning |
Cromarty was a cute town with pretty red sandstone buildings and healthy-looking gardens. I’m sure their temperature is much better for the plants than the punishing South Carolina sun.
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| The flowers in this town obviously liked the environment here |
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| Cromarty street with its typical red brick structures |
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| Cool door knocker |
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| Pretty cottage |
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| Seagull on the chimney |
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| Point to point brickwork (pebbles in the masonry) typical of this area |
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| More pretty flowers over the doorway |
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| This poor little seagull chick... |
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---just couldn't figure out how to get through the fence.
And it was the wrong direction anyway. |
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| Loved this sign!! |
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| Cromarty Firth |
Continuing around the peninsula, we stopped at the Groam House Museum, a small Pictish museum in Rosemarkie. The Picts are mysterious early Scottish settlers who eventually died out probably from intermarriage but who left wonderful carvings on stone slabs. We had a good lecture from a gentleman who obviously loved what he was talking about. They have several examples of the Pictish stones in the museum. We also saw a couple more on our travels, including one in our little town of Strathpeffer. The lecturer told us of a brutally murdered man (now called the Rosemarkie man) whose body has recently been recovered from a cave and is being DNA tested. The time is 430 to 630 AD, about right for a Pict. He said he hoped he had some Pictish blood.
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| Possibly the sides of a stone tomb |
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| Purely decorative Pictish stone |
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| "Man assailed by monstrous animals" |
Very close by were the ruins of Fortrose Cathedral. Only the south transept and the chapter house are left. It wasn’t especially impressive as I have seen many ruins.
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| The ruins of Fortrose through the gateway |
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| South transept, all that is left of the cathedral |
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| Detail of the south transept |
On the way back we heard the story of Hector MacDonald also known as Fighting Mac. He was a person of low birth (son of a crofter) but very courageous. He joined the British army and fought bravely in various places (Afghanistan and the Boer War among them), eventually earning the Victoria Cross, the highest award a military man can receive, for gallantry in the face of the enemy. He was given the choice of the award or a commission (highly, highly unusual in the British military system. There is more of a divide between officers and non-officers than in the American system.) He chose the commission. He continued his brave exploits and rose to the unheard rank of Major General. Perhaps because of jealousy, stories were leaked to the papers about homosexual activities. He tried to fight it but eventually committed suicide in a hotel room in Paris. The Scots would have none of it and erected a monument to him which we passed every day on our travels around Strathpeffer.
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| The top of the Hector MacDonald monument from the road |
Wednesday it rained off and on, as it had been doing. We headed south to Aigas Field Centre, a wonderful place. The current owners, the Lister-Kayes, bought the estate in 1976. The house was rundown, almost a ruin, with snow in the Great Hall. With an inheritance from his aunt he started to repair. Most of the house is early Victorian. Earlier parts are post-Jacobean. After Culloden the original house was burned down and all the women killed except one—hello, Duke of Cumberland.
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| I've always liked these round bales
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John Lister-Kaye bought the property because of his interest in nature. Today he is one of Britain’s best known naturalists and conservationists and the author of several books on wildlife and the environment. He was knighted by the queen for his work.
Sir John and his wife have seven children; the youngest one Hermione was our tour guide in the house since her parents were away. She will be the caretaker eventually since none of her siblings have an interest in doing so. She comes by her interest naturally. When younger she accompanied her father to Africa for several months on one of his expeditions.
It was almost better to have her than one of her parents. She could speak about them and his work in a way that they might not have. The house is full of family portraits, and she told us about some of them.
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| Aigas' Great Hall |
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| A homey touch--the family's boots |
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| Stuffed bird in the sitting room |
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| Carol, Susan, Robb, Stevie, Carole, Cheryl Patty, and Marland listening to the AIgas guide |
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| Hermione and her dad, Sir John Lister-Kaye, on an expedition |
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| Hermione talking about her home and her ancestors |
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| Whale carcass found in the area |
The estate is 500 acres, but only about 250 are available to the family. The rest, by law, is used by crofters who have total say over it. When we arrived, we went on a nature walk up to the loch (named for the one female who survived the Hanoverian assault). The guides are actually trained naturalists, and ours pointed out interesting facts about the flora we saw. We didn’t see any fauna unfortunately. The whole atmosphere is very peaceful. The estate is available for week-long educational tours or just as a place to chill. Visitors eat with the family in the Great Hall.
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| Schematic of Aigas with the house on the upper right and the loch in the center |
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| Lichen growing on a tree branch |
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| The beautiful Aigas loch |
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| Side pool by loch full of things fascinating to a naturalist |
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| Turn over a rock and find interesting things underneath |
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| Flowers growing out of the spaces between the rocks on the path |
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| Four leaf clovers! |
Our lunch was delicious—broccoli and Stilton soup, delicious bread with butter, several quiches and salads and vegetables. It was a lovely morning and early afternoon.
Our next stop was free time in the small town of Beauly. It boasts a ruined priory and some nice shops. Unfortunately we had pretty steady rain.
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| Beauly Priory ruin |
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| Rain at Beauly Priory |
After dinner at the hotel I went in to watch the England-Croatia game in progress but had to leave after awhile to attend the bagpipe demonstration put on only for us. The bagpiper was a university student who also teaches the skill in a school. In a few days he was taking his students to a big competition in Glasgow. He told us all about the parts of the bagpipe and their purpose as well as his uniform—very interesting. He was young, fresh-faced, earnest and delightful. Also good on the bagpipes, of course. But, boy, are they loud. I guess I had never been that close and in such an enclosed space before.
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| ...showing us the parts of the bagpipe |
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| Bagpiper piping and... |
After his presentation I raced back to the TV room only to see England lose 2-1 in the second overtime. It was interesting to observe the mostly English spectators in the room. They were very critical of bad plays or bad calls and quite vocal. But when England lost it was almost ho-hum, as if they expected it. I think I was more down than they were.
Thursday was a day of riding—and a beautiful one. It was mostly sunny and warm. After breakfast we headed south toward Loch Ness. Along the way we stopped once to listen to a bagpiper along the road, confident that we knew more about this than we had yesterday. He was wearing the Hay tartan (my family’s) though he wasn’t a Hay. Apparently it doesn’t matter. From that vantage point we got a glimpse of our first site—Urquhart Castle, the very romantic and famous ruin along Loch Ness.
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| Bagpiper on the road to Urquhart |
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| Urquhart Castle in the distance |
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| View of Loch Ness |
Urquhart is quite ruined, so it was hard to figure out what the purpose of each area was without the very good signs. We could walk all over which is always fun. We saw a very good, succinct film at the visitors’ centre which explained the history. During the Jacobite period it was held by government forces for two years; when they left in 1692 they blew it up so the Jacobites couldn't use it. That only adds to its allure.
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| Urquhart from the Visitors' Centre above |
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| Medieval catapult |
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| View of the private chamber--left part of the photo above |
On the coach we heard about the loch which is 23 miles long, 750’ deep (deeper than the North Sea) and located in the Great Glen. St Columba visited the area in 562 and claimed he saw a monster. That began the sightings. And indeed, when you gaze at the water it isn’t hard to imagine that you are seeing monsters in the waves.
Before leaving we had a lunch of our choice in the tearoom and then boarded the bus for Glen Affric, a huge and beautiful glen owned by James Matthews, the laird—the name given to landowners after the decline of the clan era. Matthews is the husband of Pippa Middleton.
The area was once populated by Caledonian pines. After the clearances and the coming of the sheep, the pines were gone because the sheep ate the saplings. When the sheep left, the pines returned and now their growth is controlled.
An interesting fact about Scotland is that there is technically no concept of trespassing. All land is essentially public land, theoretically even Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish estate. I wonder what would happen if you wandered onto it.
Along the way we stopped to see a pretty bridge and small falls at Invermoriston and later at Dog Falls where we took a walk along the river. By now I was using my hiking poles because my left hip and right knee were really hurting—probably from overdoing it in England.
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| River Moriston from the bridge |
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| Falls on River Moriston |
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| This dog is definitely part of the family--he has his own chair |
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| Forest of skinny trees |
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| Forest floor full of ferns and other vegetation |
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| Dave explaining the ecology of the area |
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| Slug making his way on the path |
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| River Affric |
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| Dog Falls in Glen Affric |
On the way back we stopped to see a memorial to the golden retriever first bred right there on the estate of Lord Tweedmouth. I sent a picture to a friend who breeds them, and she sent back a notice of the 150th anniversary of the breed at the estate the very next week. What a conincidence.
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| Golden Retriever memorial near Lord Tweedmouth's estate |
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| Lending library on the stone fence |
That evening after dinner a few of us walked up to the Strathpeffer field to see the Pictish stone called the Eagle stone because of the carved image on the stone.
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| Pictish horseshoe on top and eagle on the bottom in Strathpeffer |
On Friday we weren’t sorry to leave the Highland Hotel and excited to be on our way to the Isle of Skye. We stopped several times along the way for the awesome views. The mountains were sometimes rocky and other times green. I loved especially the contrast between the green grasses and the still brown heather on the sides of the mountains. A few places we saw heather in bloom, but that was for a few early-blooming varieties.
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| Forbidding skies as we drove across Scotland |
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| Eagles' nest on the power pole |
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| Loch Garve from the coach |
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| Another shot of Loch Garve |
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| The ever present patch of foxgloves |
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| At our Achnasheen pit stop |
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| Road through the Glen down to Loch Maree |
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The mountain side that I liked so much with the beautiful green and
the now brown heather |
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| Good view of the almost blooming heather |
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| One of the few pictures of me against the mountain backdrop |
One stop was at Victoria Falls where we walked to the top of the falls and saw the fast-flowing stream.
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| Can't resist a pretty flower picture |
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| View of Loch Maree from Victoria Falls |
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| Victoria Falls |
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| Some heather just starting to bloom |
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| Top of Victoria Falls |
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| Very shallow river feeding the falls |
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| Susan making friends with a puppy |
For lunch we stopped at Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve and ate our picnic lunches prepared by the hotel. (None of these places is pronounced the way you might think—this one is ‘ben egg’.) Here I took a walk along the Pine Cone Trail and part way on the Buzzard Trail--the rest was very much up. The trails were really well marked, and the map was easy to follow and marked to show the difficulty and length of the trails. The visitors’ centre had very good displays. In fact, I was really impressed with the visitors’ centres all over Scotland.
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| The very good sign for the three walks through the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve |
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| Very soft ground cover through the reserve |
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| Naturalist statues in the reserve |
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| Stone pine cone on the path |
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| Beinn Eighe peak--the whitish look is pebbles created by the receding ice |
We continued having spectacular views all afternoon, driving past lochs and through the glens with the mountains on either side. At one point we came across a field where sheep and Highland cattle were munching away. This was our best view of the shaggy, wild-looking cattle.
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| Probably Loch Clare |
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| Just mountain and clouds |
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| Homestead in the glen |
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| Torridon peaks |
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| We came across a field of sheep and Highland cattle |
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| Highland cow among the sheep |
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| Munching away |
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| And who are you folks? |
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| Loch Carron |
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| Glimpse of settlement opposite Stromeferry where we were |
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| More foxgloves and Loch Carron |
Late in the afternoon we stopped in Plockton, a pretty little town on Loch Carron. There Mary Ann and I stopped for tea and scone but unfortunately no clotted cream, only butter and jelly. We walked around and visited a few shops.
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| Plockton harbor |
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| Plockton garden |
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| Victoria and John Brown in the Highlands, a picture at Culloden |
Along the way that day we heard about Victoria who visited the area with John Brown. Dave said it’s pretty certain that Victoria actually married him at some point. When he died, she had a monument put up to him at Balmoral; when she died the family quickly and quietly took it down. Dave said she liked him because he talked back to her as no one else did.
We also learned about the geology of Scotland. The Highland rocks are some of the oldest on earth. Scotland was once connected to North America in their position below the equator. They eventually moved northward and separated. Later Scotland bumped into England and they landed where they are now. The various Ice Ages smoothed the lower parts of the mountains and created the valleys. Some places we could see the smoothed layers.
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| You can see the striations left when the ice receded |
We also learned about tartans. They were not originally for clans but rather for people in a given area according to what dyes were available there (though the colors were much more muted—what good is it if your enemies or your prey can see you?). It was in Victorian times that the whole notion of tartans for particular clams became popular in an attempt to recreate the romance of the times.
In late afternoon we arrived at Tingle Creek Hotel in Erbusaig on the Lochalsh peninsula. I think it is safe to say that we all loved this place. It is family-run and known for its comfort and gourmet meals. Each night was a treat beautifully presented; for those who couldn't eat some part of it, they gladly provided an alternative.
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| Our favorite hotel--Tingle Creek Hotel |
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| Our coach in the parking lot with the Inner Sound beyond |
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| Mackerel and bok choy |
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Cheesecake with strawberry glaze and
physalis (tiny fruit in upper left
which was delicious) |
On Saturday we explored the northern part of the Isle of Skye. It was nasty off and on—wind and rain and not so great for pictures. We drove through both the Red (lower) and Black (taller) Cuillin Mountains—though not tall by US standards. Our first brief stop was in the town of Sligahan where we parked at a nice pub with a good shop.
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| View of the Red Cuillins |
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| The Black Cuillins |
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| Waterfall in the Black Cuillins |
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| A commuter ferry |
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| Sign in the Sligahan pub |
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| Rain on the coach window |
We arrived at Dunvegan Castle, located on a sea loch, in the pouring rain. It kept me from exploring the noted gardens. The castle has been home to the MacLeods for 750 years; of course it has undergone Victorian renovations. It was impressive and contained many relics, some quite important. Their most treasured artifact is the Fairy flag, an almost completely threadbare flag said to protect the family from harm.
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| First view of Dunvegan Castle |
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Mary Ann in her recognizable jacket ahead of me
heading for the entrance |
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| Library of the castle |
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| The game room |
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| The clan chief is a woman! |
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| The Fairy flag, their prize possession |
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| The bell board used by the domestic workers |
On our ride we heard more about Bonnie Prince Charlie and his escape. After the Battle of Culloden he fled west and was aided in his escape by 24-year old Flora MacDonald who later in life lived at Dunvegan. The story is that she disguised him as her Irish maid. He eventually made his way to France and then Rome, and she may have helped him to get him out of the country so that he wouldn’t pose a danger to her family. Some say that the Jacobite general may have let him get away since they knew he had no future. In any case, I didn’t come away with a good impression of Bonnie Prince Charlie despite the romanticism surrounding him.
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| Alexander McQueen in the same cemetery |
Farther north near the top of the isle we stopped at Kilmuir cemetery where Flora MacDonald’s grave is. It so happens that the designer Alexander McQueen’s grave is there also.
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| Flora McDonald's grave monument |
On the east side of the isle we stopped at Kilt Rock, so called because of its vertical striations.
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| I just liked the look of the beach here |
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| Kilt Rock with its vertical striations |
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| Some of the heather was blooming here too |
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| We got a pretty rainbow on the way back down the island |
Our last stop was at the town of Portree for some free time and shopping. I got some ice cream and bought a few things. But I saved room for the next wonderful meal.
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| Cured herring appetizer |
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| Smoked chicken with vegetabes |
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| Awesome dessert--traditional cranachan |
Sunday was the southern part of the Isle of Skye and rain once again.
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| The Skye Bridge connecting the mainland to the isle |
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| The sea loch near Armadale |
We stopped first at Armitage Castle, home of the MacDonalds. The castle is a total ruin, so the clan chief (whose title is Lord of the Isles) lives in a nice home we saw along the way with his wife who is a well-known chef. The visitors’ centre at the castle told the history of highlanders, the incursion of the Vikings and the clearances and then focused on the MacDonalds. There were plenty of artifacts but perhaps too many wall panels here. By this time we had gotten such a lot of Scottish history from Liz and Dave that a lot of this was a repeat.
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| Viking ship in the museum made by children |
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| Mary Ann and Pat on the treed path |
We walked in the rain to the castle ruins—second day in a row where we essentially missed the beautiful gardens. Here we couldn’t go inside the ruins, just look from a distance, even though there is a substantial amount left.
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| Armadale Castle |
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I just thought the white stuff on this
tree was interesting |
In the coach we heard more about the MacDonalds. In the 4th century the Gaels came to the Scottish land mass and in the 8th-9th centuries it was the Norse. In 973 Kenneth was the first to call himself King of the Scots (the western part of modern-day Scotland and the Isles). In 1156 Somerled founded the dynasty which became the MacDonalds. Today Prince Charles is Lord of the Isles.
Our afternoon visit was to Eileen Donan (‘a-lun doo-nan’), situated even more gorgeously than Urquhart Castle. The name is that of an Irish saint of the 6th-7th centuries. The castle is surrounded on three sides by water. Founded in the 13th century by the MacKenzies, it was lost because of their Jacobean connections and taken over by the MacRaes. Many movies have been filmed there which is not hard to imagine.
One fact we learned there was that the narrow spiral staircases in castles were made for right handers so that their sword hand would not be against the wall when marauders were coming up.
It was an interesting interior but we couldn't take pictures--again. The Great Hall and kitchens (recreated with foods and people in all their activity) were especially nice. Once again there was a good shop.
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| Eileen Donan Castle from across Loch Long |
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| Closer view of the castle |
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| Model of a later Vikiing ship of the kind that came to this area |
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| Inside the castle grounds |
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| Looking up |
After another delicious dinner at the hotel, we had a wrap-up session with Dave who had to leave early the next evening to get to his daughter’s college graduation in Nottingham. We also took some group pictures.
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| Salmon and crayfish salad |
Monday was the day to make our way back down to Edinburgh. It was another spectacular day for scenery, even better than the day we crossed the Highlands for me.
We drove by Eileen Donan again for another view and then on south.
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| Pretty houses near Eileen Donan |
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| Last view of Eileen Donan |
Along the way we heard about modern Scotland. Electric power generation began around the time of World II. At that time one percent of the homes in the rural areas had electricity. The first hydroelectric power plant was built in 1959-64. Today 12% of the electricity comes from hydroelectric. The second large industry in Scotland is the production of whisky which is made from barley; we saw a barley field at Culloden. The Scottish life span is shorter than that of the English largely because of their poorer diet.
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The field adjoining Culloden Battlefield was planted with barley
used in making Scottish whisky |
We stopped at the Commando Memorial near Lochaber; it is dedicated to the original British Commando Forces raised during World War II. Nearby was Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain (4413 feet), but we could barely see it because of the heavy mist and cloud cover.
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| Loch Duich |
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| In the area of Beinn Fhada |
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| In the area of Loch Cluanie--beautiful greens |
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| The only windmill farm we saw |
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| Loch Lochy |
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| Ben Nevis is back there somewhere |
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| Commando Memorial |
As we drove along we heard about the Glencoe massacre, another seminal event in Scottish history. To tame the clans William III required an oath of loyalty of the clan chiefs by Dec 28, 1692. The MacDonalds of Glen Coe were a rough bunch and frequently sparred with the Campbells. Clan chief MacDonald dithered about signing but at the last minute made his way to Ft William to sign where he was told that he could not sign there but had to go to the sheriff of Inverara who turned out to be gone for the holidays. He signed but he signed late. John Dalrymple on behalf of the crown didn’t accept his oath and ordered a group of Campbells to kill the MacDonalds of Glen Coe. The party were welcomed warmly by the MacDonalds and then killed them in their sleep. Some escaped but spent a hard winter in the mountains. To this day there is a pub in Glen Coe with a sign on the door which says “No Campbells.”
The visitors’s centre here was also terrific, telling the story of the MacDonalds and the massacre. Another big focus was mountain climbing because there is a lot of it in the Glen Coe area. Dave pointed out a few that he had climbed. Now and again he told us about himself, and there was plenty to tell. Raised on a farm, he sheared sheep, baled hay, and split wood among other things. Always into sports and martial arts, he now hikes, bikes (next is a 1000-mile trip in South America), sails, and mountain climbs. He’s actually had time to work in his life also—both teaching history and geography and working in the travel business.
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| Mountain climbers' sentiments with which I am sure Dave identifies |
Then we drove through the beautiful Glen Coe, a long narrow glen with high mountains on either side. My first drive through Glen Coe was back in April of 1995. Nothing was in bloom, so it was totally brown. It was absolutely eerie. Glenna was asleep beside me, so she has yet to see this spectacular place which on this day was a beautiful green.
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| Glen Coe peak |
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| More Glen Coe peaks |
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| Crevice among the peaks |
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| And another Glen Coe peak |
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| Area near Glencoe Mountain Resort |
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The Bridge of Orchy, part of a network of roads built to carry
government troops during the time of the Jacobite uprising |
We drove on past Rannoch Moor, very primitive looking, and through the Trossachs of Rob Roy fame to Stirling Castle, the home of the Scottish kings for a long time. We had audio guides which gave us a good commentary on the history of the castle and kings.
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| Stirling Castle on its hill |
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| Kids having fun in the Queen Ann Garden |
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Pat and Mary Ann listening to the commentary with the Inner Castle
entrance in the background |
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| Great Hall restored to its original appearance |
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| Another hammer beam ceiling in a Great Hall |
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| Exterior of the Chapel Royal |
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| Interior of the chapel--plain but appealing |
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| Palace exterior |
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| Gudeman of Ballengeich at Palace corner |
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| Palace ceiling restored to the look of the James VI/I era |
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| Another Royal Apartments ceiling I liked |
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| Another ceiling--I guess I just like ceilings |
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| One of the 16th century carved wood medallions |
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| William Wallace at Stirling |
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| View of Stirling from the Castle |
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| Queensferry Bridge from our hotel |
Reflecting on the trip, my biggest impression is of all the history we learned. A lot of it had been fuzzy before, but now I feel as if I have a pretty good handle on it. What a great way to learn!
On the road for the last stretch we were soon back to Queensferry where we got another good look at the three bridges. Our last very nice modern hotel was right by the newest bridge. We said goodbye to Dave and Stevie and were turned over to another group leader Fiona for our departures in the morning.
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Our route through Scotland--Edinburgh lower right point, north on the right side with
Strathpeffer in the middle of the four branches (our day trips), then west across
the country withTingle Creek in the middle of the two loops of the Isle of
Skye and then on down to Stirling and back to Queensferry near Edinburgh |
The last day, Tuesday, as always, is just getting home. I flew back to Heathrow, then to Newark and then Greenville--18 1/2 hours--arriving home at midnight. I think the meal on the long flight was probably the worst I have ever had on an airline. But I watched Goodbye Christopher Robin which was lovely. At home I did some unpacking and then was up for my volunteer job the next day.
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| The rest of my purchases--some for me and some for gifts. Part of the fun of a trip is shopping! |
Would I take another Road Scholar tour? Yes, I think I would. I enjoyed the company of my fellow travelers very much. The logistics and the learning were both handled really well. For some, the history may have been a bit too much, but I ate it up (taking notes, as you surely can tell). There was a little too much down time, but that may be because I chose a level 2 tour (not too much walking and, I guess, not too much changing of hotels which I don't really mind). It was fine, as it turned out, to have all the meals and hotels and entrances taken care of even if we have no say in the matter. And it will keep me traveling which is what I want to do for as long as I can.
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My traveling companions--from left: Stevie, Betty, Marland, Patty, Mary Ann, Connie, Pat, Susan, Robb, Gayle,
Cheryl, Ben, Bob, Florence, our leader Dave, Arlene, Warren, and Carol. Missing: Carole who unfortunately
missed many of the activities due to illness and our tour director Liz who had to leave |
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