Our first full day in Scotland (Wednesday, June 13) was spent in Glasgow after spending the night on a transatlantic flight. Because Britain is five hours ahead of the USA, we arrived jet lagged and did not spend too much time touring on our first day. I am standing in St. George's Square with the City Hall of Glasgow in the background.
The interior of the City Hall is grand, with marble everywhere.
We rode pass the Glasgow Cathedral. It was a cold ride on top of the tour bus, but we did stay awake.
Glasgow prides itself as a working class city, but it has numerous statues. We saw these two fellows watching everyone on the street below.
After a good night's rest, we ventured forth into the Highlands in our rental car. My advice as to driving in the UK is to avoid it if possible, and never attempt it immediately following an 8 hour flight.
Above is typical of the scenery we drove through on our first day out.
Everywhere you look in the Highlands is a picture post card.
I suspect the structure is an ancient tomb, but since we were out in the middle of nowhere, it is impossible to really be certain.
We now are going higher up toward Glen Coe.
Glen Coe is one of the popular national parks of Scotland.
Imagine living along side of Lock Awe.
We saw foxglove (digitalise) growing throughout the Highlands. We also saw pink mountain laurel, yellow iris, and many other wild flowers. The heather was not yet blooming.
This view is from the side of Ben Nevis, the tallest peak in Britain.
Here we are on Ben Nevis.
Our hostess at our Bed and Breakfast in Fort William, urged us to drive up Glen Nevis. (Ben - mountains, Glenn - valley.) Since the sun did not set until 10:30 pm, we followed her advice. Glen Nevis is beautiful beyond description. It was the location for the filming of the movie Braveheart. For Betsy, it had a Narnia feel to it.
Glen Nevis
The river running through Glen Nevis.
On Friday, June 15, we rode the Jacobite Steam Train for an eighty mile tour of the Highlands. Here we cross the aqauduct made famous in the Harry Potter movies.
The views were ever changing and spectacular.
It does look a little like the Hogwarts Express, don't you think?
On Saturday, June 16 we left Oban on a ferry boat to explore the Hebridee islands. Here you get an idea of the weather (cloudy and Cold!) and the awesome scenery.
Castle Duart on the shores of the Isle of Mull.
The large Isle of Mull is a grand isolated sprawling countryside. We road across it on a tour bus across one track rodes. The farmers and fishermen who live there dodged our vehicle as we progressed.
Isle of Mull.
The most spectacular place we visited was Staffa Island. We travelled to it aboard a small boat from the Isle of Mull. Staffa was formed by volcanic activity which pushed up basaltic columns from the ocean. These impressive columns make up the entire island. Legend contends that these are actually the remains of a giant's causeway which once connected Ireland and Scotland. The giants, however, destroyed it as they warred with one another.
This gives you an idea of the size of the basaltic columns.
Here you can see how the rock once flowed before cooling.
Here is Fingal's cave. I called out to the giant, but he only replied with echos.
Here we are aboard the small ferry. (We were colder than we look here.)
Here is our first view of the Isle of Iona, the island made famous by Saint Columba, the great evangelist of Britain.
A couple of residents of Iona.
The restored abbey at Iona.
An ancient ruin on Iona.
On Sunday, June 17, we left Oban to travel into the Trossachs arriving at Loch Katherine. This beautiful loch is the water supply for Glasgow. Here we see the steam boat Sir Walter Scott under way up the Loch. Later, we took the two hour ride on it.
Here is another view of Loch Katherine.
On Monday, June 18, we drove to Stirling where we visited the Bannockburn Battle field, and toured Stirling castle.
The inner court of Stirling Castle.
Stirling Castle as it appears from Bannockburn.
We took over 270 pictures in all during our five days of touring in Scotland. Here we have tried to share some highlights of what we saw. Scotland is truly much more beautiful than the pictures can show. Just as important, the people of Scotland are friendly hosts to folks who come to enjoy their country. We look forward to our next visit.
Clent & Betsy Ilderton
