One Final Tour

We took a lovely bus ride with Alec, our tour guide. I highly recommend Rabbies tours if you're in Scotland. They have nice mini-buses and very friendly and knowledgeable drivers.
http://rabbies.com

This is Alec. He was our tour guide and he's a genuine highland born Scotsman. He sounded like an extra from Braveheart. He grew up in a village with 10 houses in it and was full of interesting bits of information.



These are the Forth Bridge. The elaborate one is the Forth Rail Bridge. It's famous for being the first major steel bridge in the world. The other one is the road bridge for cars and pedestrians. http://www.forthbridges.org.uk/railbridgemain.htm

http://www.dunkeldcathedral.org.uk/history.htm

Doune Castle. Recognize it? From Monty Python.

The Road to Edinburgh

Leaving Glencoe we headed southeast towards Edinburgh. Along the way we saw some interesting sights. This beautiful loch for one. I don't remember exactly where we stopped. We just came around a corner and there it was. I had to stop for a picture.







This is Castle Stalker just north of Oban where our ferry landed.






Further on down the road we met Hamish, a genuine highland bull. He's a local attraction, kind of like the "Big Chicken". Let me give you some perspective on his size.




From here we went through the town of Stirling and stopped at Stirling Castle.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stirling/stirlingcastle/

The castle is quite large and spread out. Parts of it are under restoration and it's very interesting to see the archaeologist excavating in these areas.


There is a central courtyard immediately inside the main entrance.

It's a little hard to make out, but this is the William Wallace memorial as seen from the ramparts of the castle. Click on it to zoom and you can see it better.

These two tapestries are from a series of seven that used to hang in the queen's bedchambers. There is currently a studio set up on the castle grounds where a team of weavers are recreating the tapestries. It's very slow work and takes them several years to recreate one individual panel.

This is a picture of the High Street. The building in the center is St. Giles Cathedral. It's more or less a central point on the high street. We didn't go inside but it is quite ornate outside.

Sorry I didn't get more pics of Edinburgh. I'll be sure to get more when I go back next year.

We did some really fun things while we were in Edinburgh. We toured Mary King's Close, http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/home.htm, and the Edinburgh Dungeons, http://www.thedungeons.com/ and wandered all over Princes Street where most of the shopping is.

Okay, we have no idea what kind of advice they dispense, but this was the landmark we used to find our bus stop back to the B&B in Edinburgh.

Last but not least, one very good piece of advice...

We thought this was absolutely hysterical. Typical straightforward Scottish sensibility. Don't overstate the obvious.

The last adventure we took was a day tour through the highlands region on a mini-tour bus. Check the next blog for pics.

Glencoe

April 23, we arrive in Glencoe, site of the infamous Glencoe Massacre. The monument at left is dedicated the those who died. Click here for the whole story http://www.rampantscotland.com/features/glencoe.htm

This is just a quaint little cottage in town. It looks like it's still being used as a storage shed or barn. And it's right beside the...

Obligatory phone booth shot. We're tourists. What do you expect?

We stayed at Dorrington Lodge, directly across from Loch Leven just south of Glencoe. http://www.dorrington-lodge.com/ The room was comfortable, the food good and the house quiet. We watched the back garden for deer but didn't see any.

The following morning we departed for Edinburgh. Along the way we passed the Pap of Glencoe.

And just north of Glencoe, some beautiful mountains.

Isle of Mull

April 21, arrive on the Isle of Mull. We stayed at Fascadail B&B in Salen. http://www.fascadail.co.uk/





While on Mull we toured Torosay Castle. It had some very interesting items on display including articles of clothing belonging to Bonnie Prince Charles as well as a lock of his hair. We also drove out to Duart castle but it wasn't open until after our ferry left so we missed it. As the ferry pulls out it goes right by the castle.

We shopped in Tobormory but didn't buy much. After driving around the island we headed for the ferry over to the mainland and on to Glencoe.

The Hebrides

April 19, we take the ferry from Uig to Tarbert on the east coast of the Isle of Harris. When we exit the ferry and begin our trip to the south end of the island the terrain is extremely rocky and reminds me of the surface of the moon.





As you continue south you soon come across the most beautiful beaches and turquoise water. The ocean crashes against the cliffs and the water is beautiful and clear.


We stayed at Carminish House, a wonderful B&B run by Howard and Sallie. http://www.carminish.com/ Also in residence at Carminish House are Percy and Willow, two adorable cats. Mom and I were missing our cats terribly on the trip and were so glad to meet these two. They kept us very good company in the parlor in front of the fire at night.
One morning we awoke to find a ram and his offspring in the garden out front. The ewes are all either pregnant or new mommies in April. There were cute little lambs everywhere. We were tempted to grab one and smuggle it home.

All in all this was our favorite stop in Scotland. Howard and Sallie were wonderful. They sat and visited with us, made us feel so at home. We both agreed that they made you feel like you were staying with good friends, if not family. It was hard to leave and neither of us wanted to. We could have spent the whole two weeks at Carminish House. Thank you Howard and Sallie!


While we were on Harris we took a drive up to the northern island of Lewis. Lewis and Harris are attached by a small bit of land. We visited the Callanish Standing Stones, a 5000 year old standing stone site. As with Stonehenge, noone is certain of the purpose.





Sorry, obligatory lambs. I just had to.


We also saw some funny signs. Check this one out. Can you guess what it means? Click on it.