Magical Forest

A few weeks ago, I had gone to Dunkeld & decided it was so beautiful that I had to go back.

I arrived spot on lunchtime and went straight to the deli. On the last visit, I had got Rosemary a sweetie selection and she suggested I may want to get her another bag. Unfortunately, they only had single flavour bags so she got strawberry sherbet.

My colleague Steve had recommended Aran Bakery and it had been shut on my last visit. But wow…..it was worth waiting for. Lunch was a focaccia type pizza with fresh chanterelles and creme fraiche. Wow…..the mushrooms were like the finest mushrooms I’ve ever eaten. It wasn’t really a proper pizza so can’t go on my ranking as best ever. But it was amazing. My frangipani, apple and pear tart was equally good, and would have had Mary Berry in raptures, the pastry being so thin and crispy. All this was eaten whilst sitting on the banks of the Tay.

10 minutes into the walk, the rain started, a fine drizzle to start and then it got heavier. The good bit was that the forest trails were almost deserted. The bad bit was that it was way too wet to get my camera out much. But I still managed a magical 3.5 hours. Off-piste was best, with a mossy, lichen carpet under my feet, strange mushrooms and the wonderful smell of forest decay. I didn’t really notice how wet I was getting.

That was until I started to walk back to Dunkeld, having decided the 19:30 train wasn’t wise. It was starting to feel cold. I went to Palmerstons Cafe for a large pot of tea and a rock bun. My jacket is a ‘pull over the head one and it was so wet that it got stuck when I was trying to take it off. Fortunately, after a long fight, much to the amusement of a few nice older lady customers, I emerged. My top was soaked too. After purchasing jam and chutney too, I ventured back into the rain and the walk to Burnam, a place made famous, was it in MacBeth? A shivery train journey back to Edinburgh ensued…..followed by a very long hot shower when I got home. Rosemary wasn’t too disappointed that her sweeties were the wrong ones either.