This Particular Tour



Tour Information:  This was a tour through Gate 1 called 12 Day Kaleidoscope of Scotland.  Scotland is a fairly small country, and I tried to find a trip longer than 12 days; it was almost impossible.  I guess we could have extended on either end and made our own way, but I had already asked for several changes and didn't want to upset the apple cart.  When we get back, I'll be able to comment on how the length of the trip turned out. 

​It was also hard to find a trip that covered the full length and breadth of Scotland.  I wanted to see the western isles, but I also wanted to visit the Orkney Islands to the north.  This tour had both.  ​
Picture
This is a Gate 1 map from the brochure for this tour.
Apps and Websites 

www.thetalkingsuitcase.com   Search for Best Places to Visit Scotland with Teens
www.visitscotland.com   The whole site is good.
keltyevangelicalchurch.org   Good historical outreach
duolingo  I spent 6 months learning Gaedhlig.  This app makes it fun.
speakgaelic.scot  A resource for those learning Gaedhlig
learngaelic.scot  another resource for those determined to learn Gaedhlig
www.scotlandshop.com   Has good information about the best places to find ceilidh in Scotland




Things to Watch:

Macbeth, Shakespeare
Highlander, the movie (with Sean Connery)
Rob Roy, the movie
Lorna Dunne, PBS
Outlander, the series (Starz and Netflix)
Braveheart, the movie
Brigadoon, the play is best, but the movie is next best.  The one with Gene Kelly.
Stone of Destiny, the movie
Chariots of Fire, the movie
All things Bright and Beautiful, (a PBS series; also a great book!)
Robert the Bruce, the movie, director Richard Gray (says 2019, but I don't think so), tubi (I think)

Books

MacBeth, Shakespeare
I thought everyone had read MacBeth.  (Everyone but me, anyway.) So I read it.  I tried to watch a video version first, but I couldn't find anything I'd recommend to anyone who wasn't a staunch Shakespeare enthusiast.  Like a 14 year old.  So I read the play, and got the gist of it.  It is very Scottish!.  Meaning, lots of swords, regicide, blood, and ghosts.  And, come to find out, MacBeth was a real king of Scotland, supposedly ruling for about 17 years.  
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How to Have an Adventure in Scotland, Rafael Coronelli
This is a travel book by a guy traveling by himself around Scotland recently.  He went there for a friend's wedding...every story starts that way, right?  He likes taigheis, oops, Haggis and IRN BRU.  Biggest insights:  public transport between sites is hard to understand and requires some tolerance for uncertainty.  Book is easy to read, but not helpful in the larger picture of Scotland.
Scotland, 2nd edition, Rick Steves
Hands down, Rick Steve's travel books are the best.  The best because  they tell you what to expect, how to pack, how to get there, best places to go.  He supports local Scottish businesses, i.e. hotels and restaurants, over franchise stuff, so you have more opportunity for rubbing shoulders with the locals.  I was worried about this edition, even though it's the most current, because, still, it was written pre-covid shutdown.  It's still an adventure to go to the local mall, because I don't know what survived the melt-down.  When the day arrives and we're on our way,  I'll literally  tear apart the book, so that I just have to carry the section on the site we're visiting that day.  
Scottish Miscellany,  Everything you Always Wanted to Know about Scotland the Brave,   Jonathan Green
Fun trivia about Scotland.  (There is a whole series of these books about countries throughout Europe.)  Easy to read one short section after another, out of order, or skip what doesn't appeal.  Good for the coffee table.
Outlander, Diana Gabaldan
So, I'm talking about the books now.  There are 5 or 7.  I enjoyed the first few, years before it was ever a thing.  I stopped reading after several, because like series' seem to do, they all start to sound the same.  I enjoyed the books, don't get me wrong.  They are historical fiction, and after what I've now read about Scottish history, seem to stay close to the truth, or generally accepted historical truth anyway.  And of course I have to mention the Starz series that developed out of the books.  I liked it, but it's not for 14 year olds.  Rule of thumb:  I don't mind reading about rape, but I don't want to see it acted out.  
Clanlands, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish
Which is a good seq way into this spin off book from the Outlander tv series.  I heard it was funny, and I can confirm, that despite my Scottish roots, there were moments of roll on the floor humor here.  They did a great job of mixing acting/scene moments with flat out Scottish history as they toured around the castles and battlegrounds of Alba.  According to Sam (Jamie Fraser, reincarnated) tourism in Scotland increased 72% as a result of the popularity of the show and the Outlander books.  (Before or after covid?)
Scotland, The Lonely Planet
Another travel book.  I like to look at several because  each is directed at a different audience.    And the Lonely Planet books are free to borrow on Amazon prime e-books.    I've always found that the Lonely Planet travel books focus on "affordable" stuff.  Hamburgers instead of steak sort of travel philosophy.  Which is great, because I am in search of the world's best hamburger.  
How the Scots Invented the Modern World, Arthur Herm
This is a great book.  I learned a lot.  Instead of the usual, "in 1063 so and so slashed who's-it with a what's it", this was a history of thought and ideas and their impact on Europe, and especially on the US.  I had no idea!  But I'm glad to understand a bit more about the Scottish influence on my country.
A History of Scotland, Neil Oliver
Of the several "history books/texts" I read, I liked this the least.  Reasons:  He started at the creation of the universe and life itself.  Which really is both speculative and unnecessary, but if you want to get through a history book fast, by skipping the first 100 pages, then this is the one to read.  Second reason:  Christianity--its quarrels, its impact, its existence--seemed to be of low importance, in fact, something rather annoying to have to deal with.  Yet it played a huge role in the known history of Scotland.

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Where's Me Plaid, A Scottish Roots Odyssey, Scott Crawford
Another type of travel book.    A American ex-pat to the Caribbean visits Scotland in search of his family history.  If you're a Crawford (or a MacCrawford, I guess), you might like this. 
​Scotland, A Concise History, Fitzroy McClean
And, more history.
​Highland Clearances, Eric Richards
Still reading 
Scotland, A History from Earliest Times, Alistair Moffat
Best history book I read.
Waverly, Sir Walter Scott
So, Sir Walter is said to have done for Scotland what Charles Dickens did for England.  He captured in great and vivid detail the Scottish era of Highland rievers; the English vs. Scottish antipathy; the wildness of the Highlands and the pride  and code of the Highlanders.  Takes a bit to read it as he suddenly writes in Latin, and then in French and back to English, all without translation, but it does chronicle an era as only a work of fiction can do.
Ossian
I tried to read this; I didn't get far.  It's all poetry.  Here's the story about the story, as I understand it.  Some Scottish guy decided that Scotland had no great poetry about Scotland (like Homer's Illiad) so he arrived in Edinborough one day with a dirty dusty book called Ossian and declared he'd found it in the ruins.  It, he said, depicted the true legends of Scotland.  It was accepted for a while, but then was declared a fake, and that is how that story ends.  
Prince Across the Water, Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris
This book was a work of fiction. It told a fairly quick and accurate story of the battle at Culloden, as told by a young Highlander and his family.  A fun read.