False Starts and Self Imposed Difficulties: But, we’re in France!

Wow, what a few days it’s been. We are traveling to find out more about ourselves and the world. Been thinking that I am being hit over the head with demands that I become better at planning, and better at handling self-imposed difficulties. When I left off, we were spending our last night in Lossiemouth before heading back for a night in Edinburgh ahead of the channel crossing to France.

About halfway down through Scotland we stopped in the little village of Kingussie for breakfast at Cafe Aroma. Kingussie is a pretty village on the edge of the Cairngorm National Forest. The most notable thing about it might be the pronunciation, keen wheezy. After breakfast I went to the bathroom and on our way we went.

The objective was to be at the town of Dunfermline, 30 minutes north of Edinburgh by early afternoon. Mission accomplished. We were there shortly after 2 at my chiropractic buddy Mark’s office. He gave us a great walking tour through the old towne filled with grand stone structures. So far, a fine day with continued historically dry and warm weather, as most people we meet tell us. Ten days in Scotland without rain!

The Abbey of Dunfermline is an impressive structure and the burial site of Robert the Bruce. He was a 14th century warrior who united most of Scotland, and defeated the British. He is also the subject of the movie Braveheart, which I am assured over here is largely fictional The Abbey though, is quite grand, even the part in ruins. Ruins and graveyard are pictured first.

Everything was fine until we checked the car in at the rental office in Edinburgh. That is when I realized my fanny pack with passport and credit cards was gone missing. I called Mark, but alas, no fanny pack in his office! I recalled the Cafe Aroma in Kingussie, where we ate breakfast and I had gone to the bathroom. I realized I had taken the pack off in their bathroom. I started calling them knowing they closed at 4pm and it was now 9pm. No answer. I resumed calling at 8:30 am as google said they open at 9am. Finally, at 9:48am Nitty answered the phone and much to my relief told me they had the pack. Hallelujah!

I readily admit I was a bit daunted and frantic at the prospect of having to get a new passport. We got out the door to get to Waverly Train Station in Edinburgh in time to be on the last train of the morning back to Kingussie. On the way we decided to stop rushing and stay in Kingussie for the night. I booked a room at The Crossing, 350 feet from the train station.

That was a great decision. We got there a bit late by being too slow to get off the train in Kingussie and going to the next stop in Aviemore where we had to wait about 50 minutes for the next train back (for which they declined to charge us). The folks at the Cafe Aroma were patiently sitting there at 10 minutes past closing time. The young man who had served us was there, as well as Nitty, his mom, her younger son, her parents and one of their friends. All had shown up to get a good look, and a good laugh, at the super silly (and super fortunate) tourists. We laughed heartily along with them for about ten minutes until I announced I deserved a beer. Grandpa raised his fist in agreement and off we went.

Oh, and what a beer we had at the Duke of Gordon Pub. It was a pint of Cairngorm Scottish Stout that had won the United Kingdom beer of the year award last year. Fantastic beer that was creamy rich with a slight sweetness and a bit of smoke overlying crisp hops. Sheila had their IPA and it was a crisp clean beer also. To top it all off we shared a shot of my favorite scotch whiskey, Oban, a 14 year old. We sat in the sun and talked to numerous folks. What a way to end what started as an incredibly stressful previous night. Below you can see pictures of the pub, the babbling creek that runs through town and our lodging The Crossing. The creek runs directly between the two buildings, and it is about a 100 yard walk between the two buildings.

                  Except it wasn’t the end. Seven thirty is still early when sun doesn’t go down until after 9:30. We walked a block down the street to what we had been told by several people was the best restaurant in town. Sheila ordered a perfectly crisp and thick haddock fish and chips. I ordered the sea bass. Unfortunately, it was nothing like the sea bass of my past. It was thin strips that were tough. I asked the waitress whether that was normal. She was a bit embarrassed and went to talk to the chef. They offered to recook or let me order something else. I ordered a beef stroganoff in a middle eastern type sauce. It was perfectly acceptable. When the bill came there was only one meal on it. I pointed this out and she said everyone was deeply embarrassed, that it didn’t meet their standards, and the manger insisted on comping the meal. How is that for service? We seldom eat out in the US because we have too many substandard meals with poor service. It was refreshing to experience this kind of service.

The next morning, we got up early, about seven to prepare for a long day of travel to France. Our train was leaving Kingussie at 8:47 and we winded up with time to spare so we headed over to the Duke of Gordon, to the hotel part this time. They serve coffee, but we were there too early. Nevertheless, the receptionist went to the kitchen and asked if Sheila could have coffee. The kitchen manager said, “Sure, no problem”. She drank coffee in posh surroundings and when it was time to leave, they refused payment. Another example of Scottish hospitality. On the surface the Scottish people often look gruff and uninterested in conversing. However, when we asked for help, or simply chatted them up, they usually opened up like a flower in spring, full of life and excitement.

I started this blog post with the observation that travel is supposed to teach us more about ourselves and the world. I appear to be in a quite intense learning mode about remaining focused and calm in the face of adversity. My first instinct, since childhood is fear and anxiety when difficulties surface. For decades I have focused on changing that to a calm acceptance of the adversity I find in my life, knowing that it is what I have chosen on some level; an opportunity to learn and grow. Well, the Universe seems to think I need a little more practice and I can not disagree.  Tomorrow I will write about yesterday’s journey from Kingussie to Lille France and our first day in France. For now, I am fatigued of writing, sayonara.