We arrived in Aviemore yesterday, checked into our cute but very tiny B&B, the Ardlogie, and then took a wander around this cute little village. We discovered an ancient stone circle situated in a little neighborhood of homes! The stones are literally in these peoples back yards! How cool would that be! I think the plaque said they were over 4000 years old. They were fairly small, but must’ve been the local site for rituals and burials, as there were human bones found at the site. There was also the most gorgeous, huge Rowan tree, one so perfectly shaped and bigger than the skinny ones that are all over around here. There is a lot of lore around Rowan trees, and it is considered very bad luck to cut one down. I offered it my love, gratitude and hair, as well as to the two stones at the entrance to the circle before I entered it. Really cool to have stumbled upon those!
We then went up and down the streets, popping in and out of the little shops. I bought some locally made lotion that smelled fabulous and should make it through the TSA business at the airport. I hope! John wants to find another Scottish wool paperboy hat, but hasn’t yet found one he wants. We then had dinner at the Old Bridge Inn, which was a cute little pub that appears to have transitioned to a little more upscale type menu, so we each had a small bowl of Cullen Skink and we shared a charcuterie tray, we were stuffed!! There was a drunk Scottish guy that absolutely latched onto us as we came in the door, and when he found out we were American, starting singing Johnny Cash songs to us. What a hoot! But I was grateful that the hostess peeled us away for our reservation or we may have never eaten! The restaurant had tables set up right next to the Spey River, and there were some nature trails along that we strolled along after dinner. It was a lovely end to the day.
This morning, we both were up so early, like 3/4:30am, so it was a bit rough, but we had to eat our breakfast at a designated time and in order to make our morning bus to the Cairngorms Reindeer Centre, another highlight of this trip. So we had a lovely breakfast and met our hosts who are very vibrant, chatty people. I had herby eggs with some fruit and John had the full Scottish breakfast, which he hasn’t had yet on this trip. All was delicious and too much, I should’ve asked for only one egg! They raise chickens here so they said, “These eggs are from our gals out back!” Which was so sweet. We’ve seen the chickens bobbing about the yard. They also have a few apple trees and a nice garden where the rocket and cress was likely grown. Can you imagine that herbs can still be growing and picked fresh in October???
We hopped onto the 9:22 bus to the Glenmore Park Centre, where we then had to use to only loo for the next several hours and then up to the Reindeer Centre to check in. We then walked up the roadway about a 45 minute hike, gradually steeper and steeper incline, so by the time we made it up to the meeting place/car park, I was pink as a pig and sweating like mad. They go on and on about needing to wear warm clothes and will send you away if you’re not dressed appropriately, so I decided I’d better wear my long johns and bring all the stuff. Even though this morning it was quite chilly and a heavy fog lay over the whole town, by the time we started walking up the hill, it was sunny and in the 50s! But I know in the mountains weather can change quickly, and in Scotland it was start pouring anytime, so though I was miserable, it was for the best just in case.
There is another, prettier and shorter hike to get to the reindeer, though some really steep parts on huge stones that were rough on the knees, but overall much easier than the hike up the roadway. After a lot of history and prep talk about meeting the reindeer, we were let into the gated area where they manage some of the herds (moms and babies, and to control some of the rutting between certain reindeer to keep their genetics diverse) while the rest of the herd, which is about 150 reindeer, is free to roam the mountains freely. There were two reindeer herders and two volunteers, and as we entered the third part of the pathway, the one herder began doing the “cow calls” the people do when they call of sing songs to call their herds in. It was so cute when they all began to come! One little baby just came running! Then they all followed, it was so fun watching them all come up to us! They gave us feed and lichen to feed them and said we could stay as long as we wanted, so we were there a good long time feeding and taking photos. The land is very wet and boggy, and there are unpredictable bumps of earth and reindeer poop everywhere, so you had to be careful. It got to a point where you didn’t watch for poop as much as for the lumpy bumps because they were a serious hazard! But we had so much fun with those reindeer, and it was so special for me because the reindeer is very sacred to me. We had an absolute blast, and we couldn’t have had better weather! It was lovely and cool up on the mountain, the view spectacular. I would come back again and again!
We grabbed a bit to the two volunteers as we were hiking out, and blessedly, they offered us a ride down the street to the Reindeer Centre so it saved our knees a little more stress! I was very grateful. We stopped in the shop and got a few items, then hit the loo which is conveniently located by the bus stop, and caught the bus back to town to have lunch at The Winking Owl. Back to the Ardlogie for a shower and a bit of a rest, we then went out for a pan evening walk about in more natural areas in town, finding some lovely trails with soft earth underfoot. A few peeps at the Royal Scotsman steam train, and then back home to sup on cold sandwiches bought at Tesco’s. We are trying to balance the eating out with eating in, but cold sandwiches pre prepared aren’t really my favorite thing, I’d rather just buy the raw ingredients and make a fresh sandwich, but we have limited options on the road.
Tomorrow will be another squeeze, we need to have our breakfast early so we can catch the train by 8:30 and the it’s a 6 hour ride to York! Ugh, lots of sitting and hard on the knees in other ways. Then one night in York, down to Norwich and Dereham to stay for three nights at the place Dave worked for years, Wetherspoons, which is a huge restaurant and hotel chain here. They’ve got reasonably priced rooms and food, and they had a very forgiving cancellation policy. It will be nice to hang with family and have some more leisurely time, though I worry that John will be squirrelly, since there’s not a lot to do in Dereham, so maybe he and Dave can have some brotherly catch up time walking and I can sit and work on my embroidery in solitude and give my feet’s and knees a break.
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