Dunkeld & The Hermitage

Traveling can be awesome. It can also be terrible. Sometimes it can be both in the same day. I took a tour from Edinburgh called Waterfalls, Warriors, and Whiskey.

I have a love hate relationship with organized tours. I despise them yet they are necessary for my public transportationally challenged ass to get places I want to go.

I booked this tour because I saw there was an option to visit Drummond Gardens, a place I have been fortunate to have visited before and jumped at the chance to see again.

The website advertised, "If you decide not to join the whisky distillery tour, you can explore the nearby market town of Crieff. This charming town offers plenty to see, including the beautiful gardens of Drummond Castle..." So I signed up!

Side note: Ewan McGregor is from Crieff.

This ended up being false advertising, for me anyway. I was on the Outlander tour the day before, and my driver was scheduled to lead the Waterfalls tour, the next day. I asked him about going to Drummond, because I wanted to make sure that I could really go, and he said, "No, no Drummond. It's not worth it. By the time I get you there you'll only have 20 minutes."

SO?!

Twenty minutes of beauty is better than an hour touring a stinky distillery I have no interest in.

He said that it would be stupid not to go to the distillery tour.

I almost cancelled this tour.

I was in such a foul disappointed mood.

While this tour was not the best, the highlight was visiting the town of Dunkeld and The Hermitage followed by getting to feed Highland Cows.

The tour's first stop was at The Kelpies, an enormous monument to horses. Worth a stop and a photo, yes - but we were dumped here for 1 full hour. That was about 45 minutes too long. I could have been at Drummond!!

Why were we here an hour? Because we had to kill time before our timed Distillery Tour - again time we could have spent at Drummond!!

After leaving the horse heads, we drove right by Drummond Castle, and I saw that the big black gates to the entrance were closed. Maybe it wasn't even open yet. Grrrrr.

I begrudgingly went to the Distillery. I don't mean to disparage the place. They did nothing wrong. They have nothing but good reviews. I just didn't want to be there.

Many years ago, I took a tour of the Heineken factory, and was not a fan. I just remember how bad it wreaked. This place did too.

I'm not a big drinker and when I do, it's frozen rum-based drinks with umbrellas in them.

I guess at least I can say I've drank whiskey, on Scottish soil, directly from its source, in the country's oldest working distillery. Woo-freakin-hoo.

I still couldn't stand it. And this tour droned on well over the one hour we were supposed to be there.

So far, one hour staring at horse heads. Another hour breathing in noxious fumes, listening to other guests ask inane questions. Then more time waiting for my fellow passengers to buy their souvenir whiskey in the gift shop. Boring.

Not having a good day of it so far.

Dunkeld

Things changed dramatically once we got to Dunkeld. Dunkeld, means "the Fort of the Celts." It's a picturesque town.

I stopped in the old Dunkeld Cathedral, where Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, known as "the Wolf of Badenoch", is buried. A name given to him due to his notorious cruelty, in particular for his destruction of the royal burgh of Elgin and its incredible 13th-century cathedral.

I didn't see his elaborate memorial which is behind the alter because there was a lone lady in there near the front, and I didn't want to disturb her - you know, because I'm considerate.

Lunch in Dunkeld was delightful. There are number of food shops, delis, bakers and cafes. There's a bakery owned by Flora Shedden, a star from the Great British Bake Off.

I got a gourmet grilled cheese from a shop and took it down to eat along the banks of the River Tay, near the beautiful stone bridge. Having a picnic, in field by a river, made me feel like I was in one of those old British films. This is just not something that a person from the dusty desert of the Southwest has the privilege to experience. It's only something we've ever seen in a movie. I enjoyed it. I imagined all the people over the centuries who have come here and done this.

On the way back to the tour bus, I took the route by the Cathedral again, and while walking through the park this time I heard gun shots. Hunting??

Oh, only now did I look at a map and see that there is a clay pigeon shooting range just beyond the cathedral. Good to know!

The Hermitage

We got back on the bus, and drove maybe 5 minutes, to the forest known as The Hermitage, where we went for a lovely woodland walk, under the tallest Douglas fir trees in Britain, along the River Braan, across a Tolkien-esque stone bridge, to the captivating Black Linn Falls. It was here, that made me glad that I didn't cancel my tour! I'd do it all over again just to come here.

Nature always makes me feel better. The stone bridge over the river offers great views of the falls. As well as a lookout from Ossian's Hall of Mirrors.

On the way back to Edinburgh, we made a stop at the Perthshire Visitor Centre to feed some Highland Coos.

*I made the mistake of being honest, and indicating on my customs form that I had been in contact with livestock on my return to US. They assumed I had been to a farm. They took my passport and put it a bag, they called someone to grab my luggage off the belt, while I sat in a room by myself, then they made me undergo agriculture screening and they checked my shoes.

This isn't a farm. It's a gas station with a pen of cows in the back - as I explained to the agriculture officials - who weren't hearing anything I had to say, and who were treating me like I was a moron for not realizing that I had been to a farm - when they are the morons. They didn't even know what a highland cow was. Hello?!

As you can see my feet were on gravel - NOT FARM LAND. MORONS!

Don't put yourself through the hassle. Check no. It's just a tourist attraction where adorable cows may happen to lick you. It's not worth getting detained over.