Pitlochry, Scotland - A relaxing holiday full of interesting sites and marvelous views... and fish teas

Well all, sorry I've been gone for a bit. We took a holiday this past weekend to Pitlochry, Scotland, and afterwards I needed a bit of a break to catch up on life! Pitlochry is a cute little town in Perthshire. It's full of B&B's, hotels, and inns, and those fill up pretty quickly it seems. I highly recommend that you take a trip to this town, even if it's just a cheap weekend getaway. We stayed at the Buttonboss Lodge. We were greeted with pancakes, cookies, and fresh coffee to enjoy while we filled out the paperwork. The staff were super friendly. The breakfast was marvelous: tomato, sausage, bacon, pancakes, eggs, potato scone, mushrooms, fruit, tea, and coffee! All so yummy! The room was cute, clean, and had a very nice view. My only complaint is that the mattress in the room we had was TERRIBLE. We didn't get any sleep. It was hard, and the springs made their presence very well known.

I loved the tartan floors. Apparently they are the family's colors.

We had a great view of the town and mountains!

Anyway, I have a pretty bad headache today so I'll keep this brief. I found out today that I am going to a ball hosted by Steve's company (Fun!) so I had to go out to find a dress and stuff today very quickly! Really, I had a great time. Girl time is a necessity, especially in a crunch. It also helps if your friend has some style when you, in fact, do not (thanks Pam). The good news is that I got a dress! The tiring news is that I got up early after a late night (exercising late keeps me awake... I need to not do that) to clean because we have our house inspection tomorrow and then, after a full (and successful) day of shopping, I had Kung Fu, which as you all know wears me out. I think I didn't get enough water due to all the shopping, so I've probably got a dehydration headache. I know the solution, but drinking so much water late at night means only one thing for me... getting out of bed often all night. Blah. Choose your battles right?

Moving on. Here are some pictures from the day we arrived in Pitlochry. We walked to the Pitlochry Dam to see it and the fish ladder. On the way, we crossed the River Tummel via a small suspension bridge. The bridge construction cost £850. Pretty cheap, eh? They previously crossed the River Tummel using a small ferry called the Port na Craig Ferry.

River Tummel

Anyway, the fish ladder! Fish ladders assist salmon and trout with their migrations up- and downstream during spawning and after hatching. Almost all of the males die after spawning... guess they die happy, eh? About 20% of the females live to return to the sea after spawning. This fish ladder had a fish counter to show how many swim through the ladder each year. It was pretty cool.

Steve at the Pitlochry Dam.

Fish ladder

Steve and I on top of the dam

Upstream from the dam. I love Scotland; the views are amazing.

Just for fun:
As we were walking around, we saw some cute ducks, an interesting sign advertising fish teas, and some very brightly colored plants.

Quack!

I learned that "fish tea" is fish soup! HAHA.

Check these out! Somebody please tell me what these are! So cool.