Traveling to Scotland

In mid-July I took a whirlwind 4-day trip to Scotland. I met up with Brenda (a native Scot living in Charleston) and Holly (a Canadian living in Charleston). Brenda was spending the summer in Scotland and Holly was visiting her grandmother and doing some sightseeing. I was in a Scottish Country Dance group with them back in Charleston. Let's just say that whenever anyone asked us where we were from, the answer was a bit complicated!

I landed in Glasgow on Wednesday night, and had dinner and a true Scottsh pint at a local pub.

The next day we started at the Falkirk Wheel, one of the engineering marvels of the world. Brenda, who planned our trip, picked this destination especially for me! The Wheel is replaces the function of a series of locks, and it transfers a boat from one level of the canal to the other.

From there it was on to Stirling to see the Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle. The top of the Wallace Monument was closed, so we couldn't experience the awesome view, but it was cool anyway. Stirling Castle was fun, with a medieval arms demonstration and a really knowledgable tour guide. That night we went to a dance at Alva. It was the first time I'd done any Scottish Country Dance in almost 9 months, so I felt a bit rusty...plus they don't call or talk through the dances in Scotland! You're expected to kow everything cold! With a little bit of luck and some talented partners, I danced about 80% of the program and felt like I held my own. It was a lot of fun and it really made me realize how much I miss dancing.

The next day we did a long drive up to Eilean Donan Castle,
made famous in the original Highlander movie. Along the way we stopped in Glencoe, site of the gruesome Glencoe Massacre. Glencoe is amazingly beautiful...the way the light and shadow play on the green of the hills is spectacular. The picture hardly does it justice.

After Eiliean Donan, we drove on to the seaside town of Oban. Oban is a popular holiday destination, and we were lucky to get a room at the hostel as there were many events happening that weekend. We ate late supper of fish and chips and walked along the waterfront, watching the ferries approach the dock.

The next morning we boarded our own ferry and headed to the Isle of Mull. Mull is fantastic, with single track roads and not a fence to be seen. The sheep roam freely about the island and are identified by spray paint on the backsides. While on Mull, Brenda and I did a short hike that started out as a glen walk, but soon turned into a "I wonder what the view is like from up there?" type of excursion. Making good use of sheep tracks, we made it up a medium sized hill and saw the aforementioned view, which was indeed amazing. Here's a pic of Brenda and I at the top of the hill.

The ferry to Mull landed at Craignure, which is in the middle of the island. From there we drove south and took another ferry to Iona, where we spent the next few hours. This was one of the highlights of my trip. Iona is the site of St Columba's famous monastery and is now home to a thriving ecumenical religious community. The water separating Mull and Iona is a startling turquiose, and it was frigid even in mid-July. If you look back at the Bavaria post, you'll notice that I seem to have a thing for rolling up my jeans and standing in cold water. Go figure.


As the day drew to a close, we took the ferry back to Mull and drove all the way to the north end of the island. There we stayed at another hostel in Mull's largest town, Tobermory. For any CBeebies fans out there, this is the setting of the children's show "Ballamory." Tobermory was a welcome resting place and we decided to treat ourselves to some Indian food for dinner. The next morning we took a quick hike along the bay and I was able to get this great shot of the Tobermory waterfront. It reminds me a bit of Rainbow Row in Charleston :)



I was due to fly out of Glasgow that night, so Brenda took the scenic way back. We drove along the length of Loch Lomond and generally took our time. We finally stopped at a seaside town outside Glasgow for a short walk along the beach before I crammed myself on the airplane. It was a whirlwind 4 days, but I really feel like I saw a good bit of the real Scotland.