If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again

Living in Scotland has giving me the opportunity to be at the footsteps of British culture.  Spring is springing, though not yet fully sprung, and I am starting my sightseeing adventures in earnest.  Last week, I went to Edinburgh and yesterday, I got to Arran Island, the island just off the coast of Troon.  One of the ladies at church invited me to join her on a lovely hiking adventure so we headed off for the ferry and managed to make the full bus trip around the island, stopping in Blackwaterfoot.  It was there that we hiked along the beach cliffs out to King’s Cave at Drummadoon.

I was so amazed by the beauty of the island.  It was cool, but not cold.  We had sun all day (a treasure in these last few weeks) and were lucky to be on the opposite side of the island from the wind.  I was bundled up, but stripped down to only two layers by the time the hike was over.  We started at the bus depot, then walked up to the Shiskine Golf Club Tea Room for a cup of tea.  Then we walked throught he golf course, cutting off to follow the Scottish walking trail over a bluff and down to the beach.  We followed the coast , going up and down inclines until we came around a bend and entered the mouth of the largest cave I have ever been inside. 

Old folklore reckons this is the cave in which Robert the Bruce is believed to have hidden inside during a massive storm during the time he was fighting the English.  While waiting for the storm to subside, he observed a spider in the cave trying to build its web.  Over and over, the storm winds tore it down, and over and over, the spider resurrected its masterpiece web, each time as crafted and beautiful as the last time.  From this, Robert the Bruce decided if such a small spider could find the strength to keep going, so too could he, thus giving him the encouragement to continue the fight.  Of course, whether this cave is THE cave, or whether or not this is just a myth is all up to history.  You can see more versions online here and here.  Nevertheless, the hike and the cave were awe-inspiring and the tale certainly added to the adventure of it all. 

I hope you have the chance to enjoy my photographs of the day.  Arran is considered “Scotland in Miniature.”  I haven’t seen all there is to see here by any means, but it this is what I have to look forward to, I can’t wait to see the rest of this land!

If you are curious to know where I plan to head next, I am thinking of returning to Edinburgh with friends to see the Castle, Hopefully visiting Iona via Oban, possibly making it up to Orkney via Inverness and also dropping in on an old friend in Aberdeen.  Check in later to see how well I do with all these adventures.