New York or North West Scotland?

From chaos to calm – The big apple & the big yin?

I left Yorkshire this spring for two very different holiday experiences…….

In an ambitious attempt to brighten up a soggy North Yorkshire spring, I arranged two trips, one to New York, with my mother, and the other to Wester Ross in Scotland with my partner. Different companions, circumstances and (as I was to discover), utterly contrasting holiday destinations.

Staying just south of Central Park in Manhattan on West 57th street, The Salisbury Hotel gave my mother and I a fantastic central location and the fact that we were there to celebrate her 80th birthday did not stop us from wearing down the shoe-leather. Easy access to Fifth Avenue meant lots of shopping and, in Trump Towers, lots of gawping and the use of their posh, marble and gold toilets (which, strangely, became my mothers favourite destination).

Our first meal was in the Brooklyn Diner where, due to a bit of jet lag, we generously over-tipped and were then treated like royalty. It may not be well known but if you want to experience the all-american diner at its best then it must be here. It also helps if your mother looks like the queen.

Mum handled the whole trip brilliantly - if not a little eccentrically. Only an octogenarian Yorkshire lass could come all the way to New York with the main intent to go shopping in search of the perfect knickers. I’m not sure that Macys - as the worlds largest department store - had ever dealt with the likes of this kind of tourist. As they didn’t come up with the required goods, it took a trip to downtown Orchard Street market, on the lower East side, to provide her with them. A small, tightly packed shop, reminiscent of “Open All Hours” with equally bizarre staff, produced an array of huge nylon lacy pants in lurid, traffic-light colours. Smitten, she bought a dozen pairs.

We covered a lot of ground. The Guggenheim museum was definitely worth the uphill walk to look at the exhibits, but the foyer of the Empire State building was an hours wait to go up, which didn’t appeal to our feet. The Staten Island ferry was both free and fabulous with great views of the Manhattan skyline, Ellis island and the Statue of Liberty. New York is a great place to get around for an older person as yellow cabs are readily available (once you’ve mastered the art of waving them down).

On a days escape from the matriarch (she is overly fond of mafia movies), I explored Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art. MOMA is not to be missed even if, like myself, you only have a basic knowledge of the classics such as Monet, Dali and Van Gogh. They’re all here, and then some.

The “Top of the Rock” experience on the Rockerfeller Centre included a film, shown under your feet, from the viewpoint of its construction workers, who balanced on girders to achieve this 1930’s masterpiece. Then, film images were projected on to the lift (sorry – elevator) ceiling as we travelled up all 65 floors in 45 seconds. I hate lifts but adore heights so the film came in useful, with the end result of a breathtaking view of the Empire State Building and all of Manhattan laid out before you.

Whilst I scaled the heights, my mother went in search of freebies in Tiffany’s and, once again, took advantage of her favourite washrooms in Trump Towers. Oh was there ever a venue so aptly named…

On arriving home we were enthralled, tired, dizzy, and in need of a rest. Two weeks later, I got one.

Gairloch in Wester Ross, one of the most beautiful parts of the Scottish Highlands, seemed the perfect antidote to city life. Looking out onto Ben Eighe in the Torridon hills, its easy to see why it was declared Britains first National Nature Reserve. With the quartzite-topped hills and views across to Skye, the scenery immediately invokes that feeling of awe, wonder and yet at the same time, calm. On good days from here the isles of the outer Hebrides can also be seen, as well as a vast array of local birdlife including ptarmigan, peregrines and eagles.

Gairloch is the name of a collection of small hamlets along the coast. We stayed in Strath at Newton House, a B&B with views of the bay from a large ensuite room, comfortable bed and great breakfasts with no hassle. The nearby Millcroft Hotel had recently been taken over and in the evenings we benefited from the friendly family owners who tested out their (very proficient) culinary skills on us. We walked Flowerdale glen to find two waterfalls and visited the tiny, but friendly and well laid-out, Gairloch Heritage Museum.

Everyone was genuinely welcoming in the town although a local café, dedicated to outdoor beefy-types, did seem to have a constant supply of staff with a sense of humour bypass. After many attempts to melt their cold shoulders, we decided it must have been written into their job descriptions.

Inverewe gardens, just a few miles away are full of beautiful and unusual flora from all over the world, able to grow in the warm gulf-stream climate. The road from Gairloch to Poolewe also presented dramatic vistas up Loch Maree. The Wester Ross Coastal Trail road route passes through some of the most spectacular scenery in Scotland.





On the far North West side of the peninsula in the wild wind and open atlantic setting sits the Rubha Reidh lighthouse. If you fancy a get-away-from-it-all-I don’t-care-how holiday, you can rent it. However, its not easy to get to and you’ll never find a yellow cab in these parts.


On the south side of the peninsula lies Red Point, a beautiful and spectacular stretch of coastline. With no access road and a two mile walk to get there, it seems virtually untouched. An old boat house, however, gave the gold-red sands some scale with a sense of wilderness and also abandonment. The beach to ourselves and the sun shining miraculously, we explored the rock-pools, shells and corals for hours.

Listening to the gulls cry and the waves lapping gently it was hard to think of leaving. We stood on the headland just up from the waters edge, looking down to the beach and across to the distant islands of Skye and the Hebrides, bathed in sunshine.

The question,from my partner, when it came, seemed inevitable. “So, New York or here?”


Sorry New York. No contest. My soul will always win.


New York:
Salisbury Hotel 123 West 57th Street
http://www.nycsalisbury.com/
Brooklyn Diner 212 West 57th Street
http://www.brooklyndiner.com/

Gairloch:
Ben Eighe National Nature Reserve
Located on A832 north of Kinlochewe
Newton House B&B, Mihol Road Tel: 01445 712007
Rua Reidh Lighthouse, B&B/Hostel Tel: 01445 771263