Alright, buckle up people. This is going to be a long post, because it was a long day. No guarantees that the post will be as good as the day was, though. That would be a very tall order, since the day was completely spectacular. It is also appropriate that you buckle up, because this day was the one where we took a bus tour through Scotland. We saw a TON of stuff. The photos here are just the best maybe 5% of the pics we took.
The tour started in Edinburgh, which is in the Lowlands, where there are a lot of three things: fog, grass and sheep. Strange how picturesque those three things are when combined, huh?
The fog that fills the Lowlands in the mornings is called Haar, and it blows in from the sea nearly every morning, giving Scotland it's famous foggy, mysterious and awesome atmosphere.
The cool thing about the fog there is that it lifts in the later morning, and on this day it gave way to a gloriously sunny, warm and beautiful Scottish day. Here, you can see that sheep and grass can look charming even without the fog. Seriously, though - the scenery throughout this whole tour was magnificent. You will of course have to imagine the voice of our tour-guide, with his mild Scottish lilt, funny little stories and strange propensity for singing little melodies to himself.
We made several stops, and fully enjoyed the walks around. This is Loch Lochie, which is in the same chain of lakes as Loch Ness. Our guide told us that Scotland has no restrictions on where you can go camping, so we made plans to come back and camp in the woods on the back side of this lake for a week or seven. Stunning.
One of the high points was a drive through Glencoe, which is a dormant super-volcano in the Scottish Highlands that has been the scene for many of Scotland's more legendary events. When we got out it was windy, a little chilly, rugged and beautiful. And then to cap it all, this piper started playing Scotland the Brave, which is the tune to Praise to the Man. Friggin awesome! The other people thought it was weird when we started singing to the Scottish National Anthem, especially since we were singing in German.
On the way we stopped in one of several picturesque villages to grab breakfast. We all experimented on Scottish/British pastries, to mixed results.
One of the most pleasant surprises was how wild and unsettled the Scottish Highlands are. The moors and heather covered hills are almost completely uninhabited and have a wild beauty to them, especially when considering the thousands of years of history that have played out here. Our guide stated that the Scottish Highlands are the largest wilderness area in all of Western Europe.
This is a view of the slopes of Glencoe. While we were here our guide recited a haunting poem about the attack by the Campbell clan during a snowy winter night against the unsuspecting MacDonalds, nearly all of whom were killed in cold blood. As he was talking, it seemed almost like the ghosts of those MacDonalds were there, still walking around in the glen. It is a truly magical place.
You can't go to Scotland without going to Loch Ness, and we were thrilled to find a tour that included the lake in the itinerary. We were even more thrilled that we were able to take a boat tour. This is the little jetty where we boarded. The day could not have been more beautiful, obviously.
Before we embarked, we grabbed lunch on the shores of Loch Ness. Our friends Christian and Sarah were awesome companions for the whole tour.
Loch Ness is truly striking. And huge. It is incredibly long and narrow, stretching far beyond the horizon. While we didn't see any monsters, we really wanted to. And having been here ourselves, we could easily believe that something mysterious lives in those dark, peat-colored waters.
It was a great day and a lot of fun. This is a shot of Dan with our tour guide, who was hilarious. The two of them talked about Scottish history and culture at almost every stop. Kindred spirits.
We didn't get a chance to go to Stonehenge, but we did stop close to this one standing stone, which is directly north of three other known stones that are each more than 5 miles apart. They are all set in an exactly straight north/south line, placed at exactly the same aerial distance apart, even though the line intersects some of the roughest mountain country in Britain. Pretty amazing.
As we were driving back, the Haar rolled in from the sea again, blanketing the land in mysterious and simultaneously charming mist.
On the outskirts of Edinburgh we passed this ancient private school, which we were told is where many of the school scenes from the Harry Potter movies have been filmed.
Our tour lasted almost all day, but we got back to Edinburgh while it was still light enough to attempt a climb of King Arthur's Seat, the gigantic rise that dominates the city. Legend says that this hill is where King Arthur pulled the Sword from the Stone.
As we climbed, the Haar rolled in even more, and we got some truly breathtaking views of the city. Or maybe it was the climb that was breathtaking. At any rate, we were panting a lot.
That is Edinburgh castle in the distance. Scotland did not disappoint in any sense.
This stone plinth has been placed at the very top of the Seat, and is supposed to mark the exact spot of the ancient Sword in the Stone.
We watched the sun set and the city come to life from King Arthur's Seat. There is another legend that if you wash your face with the dew on King Arthur's seat in the morning, you will gain eternal beauty. We will never know, because we didn't spend the night.
But we did get some more great photos of this truly picturesque city. This is another shot of Edinburgh castle from the Seat.
By the time we had climbed down (in pitch darkness), we were starving, exhausted, and lost. But we quickly got found, and made our way to the only Scottish restaurant that was still open: McDonalds.
Alright, buckle up people. This is going to be a long post, because it was a long day. No guarantees that the post will be as good as the day was, though. That would be a very tall order, since the day was completely spectacular. It is also appropriate that you buckle up, because this day was the one where we took a bus tour through Scotland. We saw a TON of stuff. The photos here are just the best maybe 5% of the pics we took.
The tour started in Edinburgh, which is in the Lowlands, where there are a lot of three things: fog, grass and sheep. Strange how picturesque those three things are when combined, huh?
The fog that fills the Lowlands in the mornings is called Haar, and it blows in from the sea nearly every morning, giving Scotland it's famous foggy, mysterious and awesome atmosphere.
The cool thing about the fog there is that it lifts in the later morning, and on this day it gave way to a gloriously sunny, warm and beautiful Scottish day. Here, you can see that sheep and grass can look charming even without the fog. Seriously, though - the scenery throughout this whole tour was magnificent. You will of course have to imagine the voice of our tour-guide, with his mild Scottish lilt, funny little stories and strange propensity for singing little melodies to himself.
We made several stops, and fully enjoyed the walks around. This is Loch Lochie, which is in the same chain of lakes as Loch Ness. Our guide told us that Scotland has no restrictions on where you can go camping, so we made plans to come back and camp in the woods on the back side of this lake for a week or seven. Stunning.
One of the high points was a drive through Glencoe, which is a dormant super-volcano in the Scottish Highlands that has been the scene for many of Scotland's more legendary events. When we got out it was windy, a little chilly, rugged and beautiful. And then to cap it all, this piper started playing Scotland the Brave, which is the tune to Praise to the Man. Friggin awesome! The other people thought it was weird when we started singing to the Scottish National Anthem, especially since we were singing in German.
On the way we stopped in one of several picturesque villages to grab breakfast. We all experimented on Scottish/British pastries, to mixed results.
One of the most pleasant surprises was how wild and unsettled the Scottish Highlands are. The moors and heather covered hills are almost completely uninhabited and have a wild beauty to them, especially when considering the thousands of years of history that have played out here. Our guide stated that the Scottish Highlands are the largest wilderness area in all of Western Europe.
This is a view of the slopes of Glencoe. While we were here our guide recited a haunting poem about the attack by the Campbell clan during a snowy winter night against the unsuspecting MacDonalds, nearly all of whom were killed in cold blood. As he was talking, it seemed almost like the ghosts of those MacDonalds were there, still walking around in the glen. It is a truly magical place.
You can't go to Scotland without going to Loch Ness, and we were thrilled to find a tour that included the lake in the itinerary. We were even more thrilled that we were able to take a boat tour. This is the little jetty where we boarded. The day could not have been more beautiful, obviously.
Before we embarked, we grabbed lunch on the shores of Loch Ness. Our friends Christian and Sarah were awesome companions for the whole tour.
Loch Ness is truly striking. And huge. It is incredibly long and narrow, stretching far beyond the horizon. While we didn't see any monsters, we really wanted to. And having been here ourselves, we could easily believe that something mysterious lives in those dark, peat-colored waters.
It was a great day and a lot of fun. This is a shot of Dan with our tour guide, who was hilarious. The two of them talked about Scottish history and culture at almost every stop. Kindred spirits.
We didn't get a chance to go to Stonehenge, but we did stop close to this one standing stone, which is directly north of three other known stones that are each more than 5 miles apart. They are all set in an exactly straight north/south line, placed at exactly the same aerial distance apart, even though the line intersects some of the roughest mountain country in Britain. Pretty amazing.
As we were driving back, the Haar rolled in from the sea again, blanketing the land in mysterious and simultaneously charming mist.
On the outskirts of Edinburgh we passed this ancient private school, which we were told is where many of the school scenes from the Harry Potter movies have been filmed.
Our tour lasted almost all day, but we got back to Edinburgh while it was still light enough to attempt a climb of King Arthur's Seat, the gigantic rise that dominates the city. Legend says that this hill is where King Arthur pulled the Sword from the Stone.
As we climbed, the Haar rolled in even more, and we got some truly breathtaking views of the city. Or maybe it was the climb that was breathtaking. At any rate, we were panting a lot.
That is Edinburgh castle in the distance. Scotland did not disappoint in any sense.
This stone plinth has been placed at the very top of the Seat, and is supposed to mark the exact spot of the ancient Sword in the Stone.
We watched the sun set and the city come to life from King Arthur's Seat. There is another legend that if you wash your face with the dew on King Arthur's seat in the morning, you will gain eternal beauty. We will never know, because we didn't spend the night.
But we did get some more great photos of this truly picturesque city. This is another shot of Edinburgh castle from the Seat.
By the time we had climbed down (in pitch darkness), we were starving, exhausted, and lost. But we quickly got found, and made our way to the only Scottish restaurant that was still open: McDonalds.
2 comments:
If I ever go to Europe, I'm going to pull up your blog posts and use them as my travel guide!
I love how much you guys enjoyed your trip! What a variety of scenery you got to see in one day, beautiful.
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