Mini Scottish road trip Part 2 – Taychreggan Hotel

We arrived at the hotel late afternoon for just an overnight break.  The drive from the main road was interesting including some fool in a Suzuki SUV thing getting annoyed despite the fact he passed his passing place before us.  The benefit of an open top car is when I tell him exactly what I think of him…he can hear me!  He looked like one of those folks who was permanently angry so I was quite pleased I might have set him further off.

However…the pleasant views and beautifully tranquil setting soon set me back on the straight and narrow (btw…I wasn’t the driver ;-)).  The place is in the middle of nowhere and right on the edge of Loch Awe which is a quiet loch and not even close to being as developed as some of the Loch’s further south.

We checked in and got a pleasant surprise when they upgraded us to the nicest room in the hotel!  I had paid US rates because I booked through my US account so I was already paying less than the quoted (which was nice) but to be upgraded to a four poster bed with the best views across the Loch in the hotel was really quite pleasant.  Molton Brown (which is apparently a good thing) toiletries in the room impressed Carol as did the enormous bath.

We opted at check in for the set dinner (they don’t have an evening ala carte menu) which turned out to be quite pricey per head (50GBP) but it was 5 courses plus canapes.  We don’t get away too often so we splurged for the meal.

After check in and getting organized we headed out for a walk about the grounds.  The place is beautifully place on the side of the Loch and had great views right up the Loch and across the Glen.  They have a number of small private spaces to sit and take in the scenery and they have obviously thought this thorough as each space is away from the other so people can have their own space even when the place is busy.  The same goes for the inside.

They do not have a huge number of rooms but they do have plenty of sitting areas to while away the hours quietly and undisturbed.

After a walk around we headed and got ready for dinner.

Dinner is an experience (the price tag reflects that ;-)) and you start with drinks and canapes in the bar.  We chose some wine and it got all set up at our table.  The waiting staff then walk you through individually to your table which is a nice touch.  

The five courses sounds a lot but actually each course is smallish in size so that you are still appreciative of the food by the end.  The beautiful setting was excellent, the fabulous room good too but the food was the highlight.  Incredibly tasty and full of flavour even in the small bites!

After dinner the staff walked us through to the sitting room with night caps and we sat there chatting for a while then retired to the Snooker room where they have a 12 foot table and played a game.  We are both rank rotten at the game so one game took best part of an hour (I blame the lack of chalk… ;-)).

Breakfast in the morning was decent and we checked out relaxed and ready for a day exploring the motherland.  The place was lovely and a lot of small items like a complimentary Carafe of Sherry in your room, spare wellingtons for walking around in, umbrellas, the red telephone box outside, the sitting rooms, the seats outside and other items made for a pretty excellent stay overall.

big snooker table

Red telephone box

The single track road down.

Random Peacock

Panorama from the dock

Spare wellies to borrow!

Beautiful view from the dinner table

View from our room

The road down

Mini Scottish road trip Part 3 – St Conans Church

On the way up to the Taychreggan we  saw a beautiful looking church on the side of the road which looked medieval in age and I said to Carol that we should explore on the way home.

On our trip home we were looking for a place to grab a quick break and maybe a cup of tea.  As luck would have it we found a very friendly and nice tearoom run by the friends of St Conans which is the name of the church we had wanted to see anyway…so two birds with one stone.

The church LOOKS medieval but actually is not that old at all.  it was built in the 1860’s (finished the first phase in 1886) and finally completed in the 1930’s!  It was made to look medieval as well as a host of other styles!  The builder seems to have built what they liked rather than stick to one style and I think that adds to the beauty of the building as it is it’s own thing.

The church allows you to walk around by yourself and asks for a donation afterwards.  You can also buy guidebooks, postcards and souvenirs and it is on an honor basis which is nice.  make sure if you go to give a little more as a donation!

There are plenty of things to see and lot of little nuances which are worth looking over like the Bruce Chapel which has a bone from the tomb of Robert the Bruce.

The back of the church is also pretty impressive.  It sits right on the Loch and looks amazing.  If I was getting married again this would be a perfect setting!

It’s a grade A listed building and has an interesting history in itself.  The wooden beams in some of the areas are rescued from previous Royal navy ships for the 19th century such as the HMS Caledonian.

More details on the church and the person who founded it here.

Mini Scottish Road Trip Part 1 – Travel to Taychreggan

Back in Scotland and decided to get away for a night just the two of us.  Booked a trip on Expedia for the Taychreggan Hotel in Argyll.  It’s roughly 2.5 hours drive from Cumbernauld and we set off around 1pm to head up there.

It’s a beautiful drive and the scenery in Scotland is just so breathtaking.  You never forget how beautiful it is but sometimes you forget the awesomeness of the spectacle when you drive round a bend and witness a view so fantastic that it takes your breath away for a second.  I can never recommend enough a drive through the highlands for a couple of days.

We headed up past Stirling and the dominant view around that area is the castle which sits on the hill and no matter which direction you come from you can’t miss this fabulous place.  We then headed along the A82 through Doune, Callandar and past the Safari park from the other week.  After about 1.5 hrs of driving we were passing the Falls of Dochart and decided to stop in for some food at a place we were at a few years ago the Falls of Dochart Inn.  the Inn is right beside the beautiful falls and is a friendly and decent priced place which we knew was worth a wee couple of miles out of our way to stop off at.

For lunch I had the Venison burger which was great if a little messy and Carol had the fish and chips.  The Inn itself is right next to the falls in Killin.  It’s a beautiful old building which has an open fire and even has a resident waxwork figure of a woman sitting by the fire.  Capturing the feel of the highland croft.  Two meals and two soft drinks were under 30GBP which is excellent for the quality of the food.

After lunch we walked along the Falls which is a lovely place to visit (we visited Killin a few years ago and hired a canoe and it was excellent).  The town was having a scarecrow festival so there was a slightly bizarre and slightly sinister wedding group as we drove in which was a little confusing.

After lunch we headed up the road to the Hotel.  It was up past the Green Welly in Tyndrum and just before Taynuilt there was a turn to a single track road.  The road was 7 miles long of single track road before we got to the hotel.  Worth the drive though.  Beautiful setting.

The single track road down.

Tick Tock Unlock – Glasgow

Another Groupon purchase which turned out very well.  We had purchased a locked room experience (Tick Tock Unlock)for our brother in law Steven and as we were back in Scotland he decided it would be a good idea for us to go along with him.

If you don’t know the concept of the locked room experience – it’s basically a team of you are locked into a room with a series of clues for items in the room and you have to work out how to get out.  There are many many puzzles and questions that need to be answered and the room is literally chock full of locks and codes etc which you need to decode and unlock to get you moving towards release from the room.

This one in St Vincent street is very well done and the friendly staff member, Amy, helps you throughout the process via a screen on the wall.  That way you don’t spend ridiculous amounts of time doing the wrong thing and get locked forever in the room!

I’ll not give anything away on the puzzles front though as it’s worthwhile working it out for yourselves.  teams for 3-6 can play at once and you need many heads to work it all out.  we had a team of 5 (Myself, Ben, Steven and Carol’s cousin and uncle (Sarah and Iain).  We needed all 5 heads that is for sure.  So many puzzles and so much interlinking.  Whilst one person is doing the prep work for one area someone else is unlocking something painstakingly.

Great fun!  We were not allowed to take photos in the room but they did take a photo of the team which we will stick up on here when they publish on Facebook.

They have only just opened in Glasgow but I’d recommend having a go.  It started slow for us but by the end we were all into it and excited!  And did we make it out?  Yep…with 13 seconds to spare!!

X-Scape/Soar Glasgow

Carrying on our tour of places in the motherland we spent the day at Soar (used to be called X-Scape) near Braehead shopping center in Glasgow.

We had booked a Groupon deal for the kids to have a Snowboarding lesson which was something they had never tried before.  We struggled to get everyone booked onto the same lesson so my nephews and nieces who came along went to other places within the centre whilst Ben and Sophie did their lessons.

We had booked them on the same lesson but the instructor thought that Sophie was perhaps a bit too young to be on the same lesson and asked to move her over to a younger lesson.  Not knowing Sophie the guy went purely on her age which was not the best and interestingly Sophie actually took in two lessons for the price of one in the younger lesson so was more than capable of doing the older lesson but it was no skin off of our nose so we agreed to have them in seperate classes running at the same time.

Whilst the kids were getting snowboarded we sat upstairs in the cafe/bar and had some tea and cake…which is nice.  Carol had a fresh Crepe and i had a waffle.  We had my mother in law there and my parents too who all had some food and we popped out to the viewing gallery to watch the kids in the 1.5 hours on the snow.  The place itself is like a huge flask for keeping in the cold and has real snow indoors so the gallery is freezing!

They loved the lesson and were getting pretty comfortable by the time the lesson had ended.  My brother and his kids were also there but they had gone round to other parts of the center.

They were taking part in the Climbzone whilst our kids were in the snow.  This is a warmer activity but is based on the roof of the building (very high up) and you basically dangle and climb up there!!

You get time on climbing walls and climbing over various obstacles but high up in the air.  Then you can finish off by jumping off and descending to the ground relatively gently…but no matter how gentle the descent it’s still a long way down!

By the time we were out only my two nephews were left on the ClimbZone.  Still a great time was had by all.  The centre has various shops and lots of restaurants and bars which means there is something for everyone.

We then finished off the day as a group by heading to the lazer zone which was great fun and our huge group must have seemed strange to the poor other folks in the group from Eastern Europe who were shot quite a few times by the McAllen crack shots at the game ;-).

Good day out and great to catch up with relatives whilst we are in town.

Blair Drummond Safari Park

Another of our favorites today which is Blair Drummond Safari park.  The concept of Safari parks is pretty old school we know but they no longer take animals from the wild I am assured.  The park opened in 1970 and was founded by Sir John Muir who is father to the current owner Jamie Muir.  The set up was helped by Jimmy Chipperfield who owned Chipperfield circus and who had helped set up the inspiration for Blair Drummond, Longleat, 4 years prior.

Blair Drummond House still dominates the land but is now owned by the Camphill Movement for people with developmental disabilities and is not accessible to the public.

The park has a large selection of animals and attractions and is laid out in a nice way to encourage kids to stay awake.  you interact with the Lions (drive through reserve) differently from the Monkeys (Boat safari) or Giraffes (raised platform) or even Lemurs (walk through enclosure). So it is laid out in an ideal way.

We started the day gathering the 3 separate cars we took on the journey and the inhabitants. (tip – don’t bring a soft top car as you can’t go through the game reserve with that – although you can park and then take a bus through the reserve for free instead).  not an easy task as the park is in the middle of nowhere and has very little mobile signal and we did not find any wifi either so arrange in advance where you are going to meet!  we had 3 of Sophie’s friends, my mother in law, brother in law and 2 of my wife’s cousins which one son also so we were a big group!

Once we had everyone gathered up we headed to the Flying fox to start the day.  The girls all wanted a go on the Flying fox but we managed to stop off at the lions ( who you can also see from within the park), the rhinos (who were not about that day) then through the elephant enclosure before we arrived at the area for the flying fox.  This is a large zip line across the water which has Splash cats in there also for a wee bit of boating fun as well.  After launching off of the fox you zip across to the other side of the water.  Great fun for the girls and everyone else!

The girls had a go on the Splashcats after flying over them then we headed over to the Giraffe enclosure.  The Enclosure is raised so you can get eye to eye with the enormous giraffes.  

It was a lovely summers day so the park was packed full and getting served was difficult but as this weather is unusual in Scotland it’s hardly prudent for the owners to employ more staff for the year when we only get 5-10 days like this a year ;-).  Anyway Ice cream was next on the list and was relatively inexpensive so we all had this.  We missed the Sea lions show which runs throughout the year but literally a few seconds so we were a little disappointed because the delay was in the queue for ice cream but we managed to take part in some of the carnival attractions like the roller coaster and tea cups (which you need to pay for tokens for) an the the big slide (which is free).  We had arrived late (1pm or so) and did not have enough time to get through even half of the attractions before the close at 5.30pm.

One thing we did manage as we were leaving was to get through the reserves.  in the reserve there are deer and things then you move to the inter reserve which is where most of the cars were stopping for the Lions!  You need to keep your windows rolled up as the lions are in there with you…and your car!  we were lucky as the staff were moving the lions when we got in and a huge lioness walked right past our window and within a few feet of us.  I’m glad they keep them well fed as they are powerful looking creatures!

My phone was playing up that day so i didn’t get a lot of photos but Carol had her iphone and camera so we were able to use hers.

it was a great day out and for 8 of us we paid around 100GBP (4 kids, 3 adults and a senior)     which was not too bad for the amount of stuff to see but go early to get the most out of the day…and plan your day also so that you get to see all the shows and meet the keeper sessions.

Colzium House

We’re back in Scotland for a few weeks and intend to take in a few sites whilst we are here.

Our first stop was close to home and close to our history as it was where we got married!  Colzium house in Kilsyth was built in 1783 and added to in the 1820’s and is a beautiful place set in it’s own park which has surprisingly a lot of things to do.

We started out by going round the house itself and trying to get some photos – we did get lots of photobombs before we got a shot of the two of us with the house in the background.  We didn’t have that trouble 16 years ago on the wedding day!

We then took in the walled garden which is a beautiful tranquil space filled with plants and trees which are both native and exotic.  My Nana who was a keen gardener loved that spot when she was alive and it always reminds me of her when I go there.

We then walked down the hill past the monument to the battle of Kilsyth and as it was a beautiful day we went for a short walk in the woods.  There is a nice path which we followed up to the childrens play area.  The area is great and suitable for adults in parts and built for exercise as well as leisure.  Worth the visit for just that piece to be honest.  

Inside the Ice house

After we had exhausted ourselves we decided to walk up the granny’s mutch which is on top of the hill behind the house.  The path through the Glen area starts with a mysterious structure with steps going down to what looks like a dungeon.  in fact it’s just the Ice House for the old house for the days prior to fridge freezers!  I managed to get some photos inside for the first time and unfortunately people have dumped lots of stuff in there and it’s a little unsightly but no major damage has been done because it’s barred off and difficult for even the most resourceful of vandals to get access to.

Granny’s Mutch

Bridge over the Burn and waterfall

Walking up the hill the path runs alongside a beautiful waterfall almost all the way up and the mid way point has a superb little picturesque bridge – Don’t cross it but head further up the hill to the Granny’s Mutch which is a little shelter next to the biggest part of the waterfall.  Originally there was a seat in there but it is gone now.  Nice place to see the waterfall from though.

Follow the path down the hill now (on the other side of the burn that you walked up) and you will get to the now no longer used Pet cemetery.  The council stopped people burying their pets there a few years ago but there are still lots of tributes to much loved dogs, cats and rabbits which are nice to see.

Once we got to the bottom we had parked the car next to the Clock theatre which is near the walled garden and was restored in the 1970’s from an old storage outhouse.  I’ve never been into the Theatre as it’s always closed but I’d love to see what it looked like.

After all that walking we jumped back in the car and headed home…via the takeaway…we are on our holidays you know 😉

Clock theatre

The glen sign

Looks like Groot!

Granny’s Mutch

Old bridge

Robin the hooded man

Sophie and Gran

Recreating wedding photos

walled garden

Tryst Sports Centre

Our wee trip back to the Motherland and to an old favorite with Sophie and her friend (Ben was catching up with friends).

This was where, as a child, I would do most of my swimming.  Lots of offers on here so it’s not really expensive for anything.  They have Squash, Handball, 5 aside football, Badminton (one of our favs), and three swimming pools plus more…

Tryst means meeting place and it was somewhere that my friends and I spent many an afternoon taking part in sporting activities.

The girls started to play in the main pool but the swim clubs (and there are many at the Tryst) forced them out ot the middle pool.  It was quiet and they had the mats out, which is the ultimate in bonus balls!  If you got the tryst quiet AND the mats were out then you had won the lottery when I was younger.

The girls played there for over an hour before they were ready to come out exhausted and happy.

They also had the best roll and chips in the land!  After an afternoon of swimming we would go and buy these rolls and marvel at how good they were.  Ask any child of the 80’s and 90’s in Cumbernauld about the Tryst and they will mention the roll and chips.  Unless they had never been there ;-).  We did have some chips this time but no rolls unfortunately!

Conic Hill January 2011

So we tackled the first real hill today.  Not a mountain yet but a reasonable hill.  Conic hill is behind Balmaha and we actually left pretty late to get there due to a slow morning in the McAllen household…

The trip from Cumbernauld to Balmaha is only about 40 mins but we got there after 1pm.  I was worried that it was a little late in the day but it was actually fine as the walk was pretty short (though not too short).  I had asked people on Facebook and Twitter for recommendations for hills for beginners and this one came from a twitter connection, Elaine Mullen.  It was an excellent call though as it was perfect for the kids.

We started out in thick fog and we were concerned that the day would be ruined by the weather but actually the weather made the day.  We parked at the main Balmaha car park and the first part of the hill was a gentle climb up to the top of the tree line and the fog was pretty thick at this point but when we came out of the trees and into the main hill we hit some stairs and by the time we got to the top and stopped for our first rest the mist had parted and we had a clear view of the hill for the first time.  The kids loved this as it was like curtains being opened and we could see most of our goal.  Once we reached the top of the first ridge the mist had come back in behind us and it added to the atmosphere.

The peak is in the middle of three ridges and it is a small scramble to the top but it is not very difficult.  Once at the top the views are spectacular.  We were joined by Ben’s friend Mark so we had three kids at the top.

The walk down was a little treacherous at times as Ben and Mark insisted that the boys had to take the hard way down which you can see on our GPS page here.  We walked up 1193 feet and it was about 2.5 miles so a reasonable walk overall.  It was Carol and Sophie’s first real hill and they enjoyed it so it was mission accomplished.

More photos are on the GPS link above.

Next we’re going to tackle Tinto Hill I believe in a few weeks time.  Enjoying the smaller hills just now.  The guy who recommended Tinto, my friend John Anderson, has just dropped off Band Hero for us this evening so the kids should sleep tonight with the hill and the rocking!  😉

Inchmahome Priory

Headed out today to Inchmahome Priory on the Lake of Menteith.  We had originally been heading to Culzean today but we left it too late and as it’s a 2 hour drive we scrapped that idea and decided that Inchmahome was a better bet.

It’s up near Callandar and sits right in the middle of the Lake of Menteith which is unique as it’s the only ‘Lake’ in Scotland (the rest are Loch’s) (or at least this is the story…).

Originally built for Cannons (different from Monks as they also had pastoral duties (you learn something new every day).

It later became a mausoleum.  We were walking in the footsteps of Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots and even Sir Walter Scott to take the wee boat over to the island to see the Priory (Obviously they did not use the same boat as us though ;-).  The Priory is pretty impressive and must have been superb in it’s day.  It was also nice to be able to walk round the island which was very scenic.

Ben in the Woods

We didn’t spend too much time there (maybe an hour or an hour and a half) mainly because the kids are not excited about the history of the place as I am!  After this we headed to King’s Park in Stirling which has a superb kids play area.  Sophie’s pal Rachel came with us today.