Stop 4: Pitlochry (Sept. 17-19)

Of the places that we visited in Scotland, Pitlochry was probably our favorite. It wasn't a place with a lot of historical sights but it was a beautiful, lush, town with a nice downtown area. Pitlochry would be a good place to live (not that we're considering moving to Scotland).

Our train trip to Pitlochry was interesting. This was the only instance where we had first class tickets but strangely, the seats were unassigned. I asked about this and was told that all first class seats were assigned except for 9 seats in the compartment closest to the engine. Since there was no way of knowing how many people would be vying for those seats, we were advised to make a beeline for that compartment the second that they announced the platform. We did and got 2 of the 3 forward facing seats (the other seats were all facing backwards).

Before long, 2 American couples came along and insisted that, because there were 4 of them, they should be entitled to the 4 seats that faced each other across the table. We told them that they'd be welcome to our seats after Pitlochry. Then they proceeded to bring in enough luggage for an around-the-world cruise. Amazing what people think they can bring on a train (train travel was the primary reason that we went with small backpacks). The conductors were very clear about them not putting it in the aisle so they ended up riding on top of it.

Most of the stations, including Pitlochry are entry points for the Cairngorm National Park. We expected to have to walk a couple of blocks to get to our hotel but it ended up that a short gravel path ran from the train station to the back door of the hotel.

One of our first missions was a walk down to Tourist Information to find out just what there was to see.

On the way to the TI, we passed this beautiful pocket park.

The garden next door to the TI included this interesting woven stick figure. The TI is the building on the far right. The white building behind it is a place called Heathergems. They dye heather and then bundle different color combinations, soak it in resin and bake the bundles. The result is something that they can slice, shape, polish and put into jewelry. Very nice stuff.

Took this picture just to show all the chimney pots.

The TI recommended 2 distilleries (one of witch looked impossible to walk to safely) and a walk to the Pitlochry Hydroelectric Dam and Fish Ladder. We did the dam walk first.

After walking through a beautiful neighborhood with dense growth and running water everywhere, we came to this suspension bridge over the River Tummel.

Looking upstream at the dam. The first building on the left is a hotel. The building behind it is a performing arts center.

Getting closer to the dam. That's the powerhouse on the left.

Closer. That is a part of the fish ladder in the lower left.

The fish ladder. The water is very brown because of the peat that it flows through.

Looking downriver from the dam.

Water flowing over the edge.

From the visitors center. A couple of girls walked out an alarmed door while we were here and they evacuated the entire place and moved everyone up to the parking lot.

Our last stop was the Blair Athol Distillery. All of the tours were booked up but the tasting room was open. All of these tasting rooms serve a large variety of whiskeys from across Scotland.

Blair Athol Distillery.

The bar in the tasting room was manufactured from an old copper Mash Tun.

-JC-