Day 7- 8 - the last of the Grapes

Alas the adventure has come to one of life's pauses.  The Jamie and Claire tour May 2012, The Grape Tour (named after Robert who is a bit of a wine buff) has shouted its last shout, tinged its last last glass of announcement, climbed its last castle step and Noella, always disappearing, finally caught up with the group (once we unglued her camera from her fingers).

We have new friends and many memories, but let me hand over to our guests' own words to describe the last two days.

DAY 7

Dolly: Yesterday's stop at the Castle was great fun. Lots of stops as each person was shown their rooms – all with plaid carpeting. Ours was with two single beds and in the best Scottish tradition, the toilet was across the room from the bathtub and shower. Although we would have explored the castle on our own, we were happily obliged to search for the dining room – hidden away and not part of our introductory tour. We were instructed to respond when we heard the bagpipes … very nice. Dinner was in the great dining room with luscious food and libations.

They are a fun loving lot, our guests.  On the roof of the castle.

Robert

I went to the cemetery just outside of Stirling Castle, the history was quite interesting with sites dating back to the early 1500s. Took some nice panoramic photo's of the country side and Stirling Castle. You can see how the Castle's location was at the heart of all travel and how it could protect itself from intruders.

Undoubtedly one of the best nights was at the Castle.. hearing the bagpipes calling us for dinner, the great meal, storytelling and then Scotch and Snooker in the parlour took me back to past generations.

Robert has got into geocaching on this trip - he meets the "planter"

Grant [aka MacLarry]:

Great trip.

Great group of interesting people....great camaraderie.

Great hosts.

Great second wedding – thanks Mac Iain!

Je suis priest!!! If Scot and Sam come to Canada, please look us up!!!

Noella: A fantastic trip. Ditto the comments above. Being in a castle which we could treat as a home away from home with all the trimmings was a wonderful experience. The pre-arranged surprises just capped everything. Laden food tables with good food and company added to my enjoyment. 

The morning after the night before in our castle.

All through we've experienced historic Scotland pertaining to Jamie and Claire and more as well as wonderful scenery. The fact that the Scottish weather pulled out all the stops for the whole trip giving us beautiful warm, sunny days after the absolutely cold, wet entry into Scotland was a relief. The walks were another really enjoyable aspect of the trip taking us to some out of the way places not able to be experienced on your average coach tour. Being able to actually be in the kinds of locations for our favourite characters will enhance my future re-reading of the books. The celebration of a Cindy & Grant's wedding anniversary was a very special experience and happened in a wonderful location combined with a book reading. I'd better stop as I can go on and on...... Noella

DAY 8
Today we did the Edinburgh, having arrived by carriage into the town last night (train carriage that is, a first for the J&C tour).
We had a grand time running up and down the Royal Mile, visiting all the places that Claire did, looking for Jamie.  The OSs really enjoyed putting face-to-place so to speak.  Kim spoke of finding the spiral staircases in the castles much narrower than she had expected from her reading of the books, so a good "education" in the scenery of Outlander was had.

A fond farewell was paid after lunch, with email addresses and hugs exchanged all round.  Gisella had been a little worried before the tour about getting on with "a bunch of strangers", but she realised that if they were all a group of DG fans, then they couldn't be all that bad.  She remarked how pleased she was that everyone got on so well, across the decades too.  Of course, I knew from experience that this would be the case.  We have only ever had wonderful guests on our tours and we are still in touch with most of them. It's a 'club' of Outlandish Spirits.

The Epilogue:
Some of the group are going on with me in the morning, one of my "extension" tours.  We're off to Skye, so keep an eye on the blog for the Outlandish comments on that one.  Perhaps we'll pass a Silkie's Isle on the way.  In fact, we will see lots of west coast isles like the treasure laden one, seals and all.

The Ladies of Leisure head to the Western Isles.

Grape Tour - days 3-6

We have been so Outlandish that we haven't had time to blog, hence several days in one post here.
DAY 3 - The Grape Tour

Grant and Cindy renew their vows

Sam here:  We're having a heat wave.  It's getting warmer each day and the sun shines beautifully.  We've got lads and lassies on this May adventure of the Jamie & Claire Tour and everyone is getting on beautifully..... no surprise there!  People who travel are already of a like mind and when they come together not just to see a country but with a shared theme in mind (and heart) then the mix is great.

Samantha and Scot surprise us. Yesterday a couple from our group renewed their wedding vows,highland style, with a Handfasting; so romantic! We frolicked in the wilderness but not like J & C did...ahem! 

Sitting in the wilderness of J&C's honeymoon, hearing that story, with our honeymoon couple

DAY 4

Gretchen: I tried Haggis for breakfast, surprisingly delicious.  Now off to meet the real "lord John" and explore his castle.

Sam MacKenzie: Today we went a' Castleling. No fake castles mind! The real deal.  We had a private audience with the Chief of Clan MacKenzie, Earl of Cromarty.  He enthralled the group with tales of past Chiefs and their lives prior to the 1746.  His energy was catchy and our Outlandish Spirits really enjoyed their visit his hospitality of a dram.  The lane up to the Castle was filled with my favorite, Bluebells.  Everything was magical.

Approach the castle.  Look at those trees!

Before

And after.  Grape that is.

DAY 5

We are staying in another fine castle tonight. Previous tour friends will know the exciting experiences that our guests are braving.

Sally:   We had a pj party with the girls... we are in a real castle and we have it all to ourselves. [The guys are in the snooker room]  Of course it is supposed to be haunted.

Our fantastic long-table dinner was interrupted by two time travellers gathering forces to fight for King Robert the Bruce. Luckily we were not “volunteered” but our opinions were sought on tactics. Most of them wanted to fight, but I [Scot] wanted King Robert's offering of land upon victory in Writing.

Today is birthday girl Gretchen's special day. It has already been established that this tour has Outlandish Spirits from all the decades, 20s to 70s. Gretchen is covering one of the lower half decades and I'm not saying which, “just saying”. 
We then had our two nobles help “crown” Gretchen. With birthday cake, card, ermine robe and crown and a kiss.

 

The men then withdrew to the 'man cave' to play snooker, without cigars, but with the malts, while the ladies retained the drawing room but changed into their jammies. We have the run of the castle tonight. There was much defending of the joining door on both sides of the gender argument.

DAY 6

Man is it hot today! A sad farewell to our Highland castle – we must foray southwards to do the deeds that must be done in the Lowlands and Edinburgh – printers to visit, as you know.

Scot gave a wee bit of historical understanding at the stone circle that Diana G. is photographed in on the back of the Companion, so the ladies all had to have their photo taken there too. They all had many questions about the cairns and stones and how they were used, how old they were and who built them, all answered by Scot.

You'll notice that we don't have many words from our guests. No Time! Rest assured they are all smiling faces, loving the food, the scenery, the details that we include in the tour and each other's company.  Gisela said she is going to print some highlighted photos from our adventure and look at them as she reads Outlander again.  Great idea!

Goto the next entry in this tour

Day 2

Last night there were scenes reminiscent of Ardsmuir, with Lord John and Jamie Fraser playing chess long into the night. This time it was Grant from Canada and Scot, heads bowed over the board, a darkened room and a glass of something red and imported to cloud their reason.

I won't embarrass Grant by revealing who won, but let us suggest that the recent Curling world Championship victory of Canada over Scotland might have been avenged. Still there's always tomorrow night...

Ahh, Boys.

Theresa: How lovely an adventure today being driven to a small chapel charmed in history. The scene reminds me of the definition of peace and harmony. In a space where heaven meets earth. The sheep grazing in the fields around the chapel where the sleeping lie. As we entered, it was a sight to see that this very old stone structure was still in use. Restored by Scottish descendants from British Columbia and Nova Scotia, which was special to me since I am from Canada. As we enjoyed the ambiance of such a special place, we were gathered to hear the Gaidhlig words exchanged between the to be husband and wife (Jamie & Claire) in a very traditional historic wedding ceremony, Handfasting. How romantic within itself. TLS

Kim: We started today by visiting a crofter's cottage. Hard to believe people really lived that way. Next, we visited a 'wee kirk' and imagined attending the wedding of Claire and Jamie. Then, it was off to a special Castle hotel for afternoon tea before hunting monsters at Loch Ness! I'm still finding it hard to believe we are finally here. Ever since reading "Outlander" the first time, I've dreamed of visiting Scotland and following the footsteps of Claire and Jamie, seeing all the things they saw.  Doing all of this with my daughter, Jillian (also a huge fan), makes it even better!

Our refined guests in a refined place - afternoon tea

Our youngest and eldest Outlandish Spirits, awaiting their tea, anticipating politely

Bah! there's always one to get you banned from the joint!

Go to the next blog entry in this tour

May Tour - as yet to be named

DAY 1

And so it has begun!  The May Tour 2012.  We have 14 Outlandish Spirits aboard (We're full, sorry to those who couldn't get on the tour.  Keep trying!)  The weather is hot.  The Wild Hyacinths (aka Bluebells) are into their first stretch, as they begin to carpet woodland hillsides in indigo (how odd to see).

Here's are wee snippets from some of our travellers:

Dolly: “We read the books and we talked about coming and one day someone went on line and said 'Look, the tour!'"

Somebody likes the food.  Art on a plate.  Aye? Where's the Haggis?

Cindy: Well, we had our first “adventure” today – we had to have some billy goat in us! It was a nice walk up the hill to see the stone. It was a “wee” Munro [Ed: a mountain over 3000 feet] and the scenery was breathtaking. Once again, there were a lot of sheep and we also passed a “wee” hoosie and Sam's favourite cottage. Our B&Bs look wonderful. Our lunch was excellent and dinner is proving to be excellent as well. It has been a great beginning to our tour! It is a great group and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

Selena:

Today was our first day and we saw many beautiful scenic views as we drove to the highlands. I was so excited to see the bridge across the Firth of Forth. I had watched a DVD about Scotland and recognized the bridge, but Scot really explained what we were seeing and triggered my memories. I have dreamed of this trip for so many years that I can't believe that I am actually here. It really hit me that I am in Scotland when we were driving on the left side of the road to go on a hike in the highlands. Scot and Sam provided us with walking sticks and I was very glad to have it on the hike. They seem to think of everything. I'm glad we chose this tour for our Outlander Book tour.

Would YOU buy a used pony from this lot?

Sally: I am so excited to finally be in Scotland. I just want to high five everyone and shout! It is so beautiful, did our first hike and it was spectacular, great views and even a standing stone. A great group, I got to ride shot gun with Sam at the wheel. Cant wait till tomorrow for our next adventure!

Sam: Tomorrow?  Oh, who knows where...  Tune in the next time we go Outlandish.

Next post in this tour 

The May 2012 Tour Begins

Sunday we pick up our Outlandish Spirits in Edinburgh for The Jamie & Claire Tour!

Stay tuned for the excerpts from our first day out with our new travelling companions.
Click for the first tour blog entry

In the mean time check out our recent fb updates on "Scotland for Outlanders":

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Scotland for Outlanders

Join us on our new Facebook pages as we take a look at Scotland and all it's beauty, history, culture and even humour.  Follow along from home or join us on one of our adventures through Scotland from the Highlands to the Islands to the Lowlands.  Come and take a nap in the heather!

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