Wild in Scotland (21.06.08)

Today we set off on a three day tour to explore briefly some of the rest of Scotland. I would love to hire a car and do it ourselves but alas time is limited (not to mention petrol works out to be about $3 a litre).

We passed through Stirling (Braveheart country) and heard about William Wallace and the battle and victory of Stirling Bridge. We then made our way through Rob Roy territory (Trossachs). Unfortunately no time to stop and explore but we did say hello to the hairy and horny Hammish (Scottish for James) - a cow.

The whole day was pretty much spent in the bus winding our way around lochs (no water shortage here) and rolling green mountains with the occasional hairy cow thrown in. We did get out at Glen Coe (spectacular glens with snow capped mountains and streams running through the valley). This was the site of the massacre of the MacDonalds by the Campbells in 1692. Legend has it if you go up into the mountains you can still hear the screams particularly on the 13th of February (the anniversary and Jess’s birthday).

Lunch was at Fort William (William of Orange had a fort there) which I wont waste much time on except to mention that I ate what is possibly the worst hamburger there. Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, also lies behind the town.

On the way to the Isle of Skye (part of the Hebrides – islands off western Scotland) we passed the Eileen Donan Castle. This is the most photographed castle in the country - possibly because it is the most complete having only been built around 1930. It has featured in Highlander and Entrapment amongst other high quality films. When we get home we have a lot of DVDs we need to borrow.

I should have known I would get no sleep on a Saturday night in a 12 bed dorm in Portree (the capital) where there are lots of pubs and not much else. Jon had a bit too much of a wee dam of whisky.

Note: I don’t like whisky as the photo above indicates.