Scotland

Gairloch

Ullapool

 

 

 

 

Auchterarder

Auchterarder is a fantastic town near the famous Gleneagles Golf Course, it is also close to Crief and just a few miles from Stirling and Perth. It is often called the "Lang Toon" due to it's long main street which is full of quality shops, cafe's and restaurants. We arrived early just after 11 am and dropped into InDulge for an early lunch. Everyone was very friendly and the food was delicious. Often you will find something that is not up to scratch, yet at InDulge everything was just - brilliant, and delicious.

Cakes for lunch, you bet.

inDulge is found at 22 High Street, Auchterarder - phone 01764 660033

After walking up the high street taking photos of the town we were welcomed by a number of local people, friendly and pleased to see visitors to their town. The only problem is that every few hundred yards (metres to Europeans) we came across yet more fantastic restaurants with mouth watering menus displayed in their windows. What can you say when a 3 course dinner menu is a set price of around £21 - excluding wine of course. All I will say is that we hope to sample it soon!

Across from the Glendevon Hotel I noticed a very colourful display of vegetable outside a veg and flower shop. The shop is owned by Alexa Dunlop and she does have an eye for displaying fruit and vegetables, she should have been at the Chelsea Flower Show, if that is they have a vegetable display section. On display was some of the reddest Scottish grown tomatoes I have ever seen.

Alexa not only sells the best fruit and veg in Auchterarder she also does flowers. For local Auchterarder flowers telephone 01764 663724 or visit the shop.

Going back to my car and our ever patient dogs I discovered the Old Church Tower and the Auchterarder war memorial. Quoting off the wall plaque describing the history of the church it was built in 1660 using stones reputedly from the stones from Kincardine Castle, the castle being desieged in 1646 at the end of the Civil wars and the castle was then used a building materials by the town. In 1904 a new church was built in Auchterarder and the old church was taken down except for the tower. The war memorial was build in 1920 for soldiers who had fallen in the First World War and is was disturbing to see many men listed from the area.

Today Auchterarder is a busy place and we me a nice couple from Troon who in conversation told us that one of the "clothes" shop as I would call it is one of the best in Scotland and they appear to come over regularly to do shopping in Auchterarder just to visit R. Watson Hogg. It certainly looked a cool place to shop to me and the building it is in proudly displays the word "Cashmeres" in bold above the entrance.

After our wander around this great Scottish town we went onto Gleneagles, not to stay, just to photograph this world famous hotel and the golf courses.

After this we went onto the fantastic (I use this word a lot about places in Scotland, on this occassion it is really means fantastic) Drummond Gardens and Drummond Castle. Having seen pictures of the gardens in the past does not prepare you for one of the best places in Scotland to visit. The entrance to the castle and gardens is up a long single track road with beach trees growing on either side as a magnificant avenue. You honestly feel as if you will find Jane Austen walking in the woods as it does have a very Pride and Prejudice feel to the whole place.

I have taken a fair number of pictures of Drummond Castle and Gardens, I hope these will inspire you to visit Scotland and do a Scottish tour of Drummond Gardens and the surrounding areas.

On our way back home to Fife we stopped off again at Auchterarder and had freshly cooked fish and chips from the Italian fish and chip shop, they also do other Italian dishes, we can definately recommend the fish and chips!