Goodbye to Scotland - un-glamorous hiking and a vintage-style guest house

I have just finished a tour of the ‘Isle of Skye’, a pretty island in the west of Scotland. As part of the tour of the isle, I went hiking up a hill (but it felt like a mountain to me). When the guide said it would take two hours I was a little alarmed, as I love to exercise, but only indoors in a controlled environment (the gym and aerobics). I am not used to slogging up a hill in the wind and rain! I am glad to say I made it to the top, and I thought I had to show you this picture of me at the ‘summit’. For a girl who loves to dress up in vintage, this was definitely not one of my style-defining moments. I hope it gives you a laugh!

Vintage Suburbia channelling 'Michelin man'

As you can see, I look like someone on ‘American Wrestling’ rather than ‘The Collectors’. When I saw that photo I thought, ‘Gosh, I really need to lay off those cooked breakfasts’ (bacon and eggs every day is a killer for your hips) but I think my ‘largesse’ can be explained by the fact I was wearing about 6 layers of clothes (yes, I know, excuses excuses).

Before I leave Scotland I wanted you to see the photos of the lovely little B&B I stayed at in Edinburgh. Although it did not have any ‘antiques’ as such, it was decorated in a lovely vintage style. As you will see, the wallpaper was particularly beautiful.

Hallway with lovely faux French art nouveau (?) chair

Bencruachan Guest house, Edinburgh

I think the pattern of the wallpaper might be by a famous Scottish architect/designer/artist called Charles Rennie MacIntosh (or otherwise inspired by his work). MacIntosh made very striking designs using dark blue and green with distinctive leaf and flower motifs.

If you want to know more about this artist, please see the Charles Rennie MacIntosh Society website for more information. His designs really are stunning. If you go to Glasgow, you can go to the 'Willow Tea Rooms' which he designed - the building looks beautiful.

I also loved this statue that the lady owner of the B&B had placed in the hallway – really lovely.

But best of all was that they had a decanter of very nice sherry in each room. I am embarrassed to say that I drank about one third of mine and they had to top it up! My excuse is that I was very cold and needed to be warmed up. I don’t normally like sherry, but this was really nice.

I felt very at home in Scotland, as they even sometimes have whisky in their porridge at breakfast time – what a great country!

Goodbye now from Scotland and stay tuned for the next post.

The beautiful Dunvegan Castle in Scoltand

If you are interested in going to Scotland (and I would highly recommend it - I had a wonderful time):
I stayed at Ben Cruachan B&B, 17 McDonald Rd, Edinburgh http://www.bencruachan.com/
My tour of the Isle of Skye was with ‘Rabbie’s Tours’: www. Rabbies.com