Falkirk Wheel Etc. | UK Adventure Part IX

As I watched Glencoe slowly roll away from view out my passenger window, I felt the gray clouds matched my mood.

There's always a bit of sadness on the last day of a good trip--but it's also mixed with relief. There's nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed with your own sheets to make returning home that much easier.

Our last day in Scotland proved to be a strange mixture of sights, with really nothing in common but the fact they were along our way back to Edinburgh.

The morning began with another tour of a local distillery--this one, though, seemed rather sad and had fallen on hard times.






We lunched in this quaint town. I think the tour bus had just pulled up before us.


Then we hopped out of the car for a photo only of Doune Castle, which Monty Python fans will recognize as the one used in the Holy Grail movie. There were loads (literally) of tourists here (trust me, they just moved out of view of my camera).


Next up was Stirling. Again, we just went up to the castle but didn't tour it. By this time we were castled out.


Sorry, these illustrations always amuse me.






And finally we came to the highlight of the day--and the title of this post.


Yes, it's the Falkirk Wheel


If you read the wikipedia article, it will explain how this was built to replace several locks along the canal.


We were fortunate enough to get to watch it in action.












We made it back to Edinburgh.




This sign would be ideal for the college dorm room.




And lastly we celebrated Jay's birthday--pub style.




Goodbye, dear Scotland.


Well, that's all she wrote, folks. Hope you enjoyed viewing my travels!

Glencoe--the Beautiful Valley | UK Adventure Part VIII

The afternoon sky was growing warmer as the sun climbed overhead, burning away the haziness of the morning's clouds. The memory of our "leg-stretcher" in Fort William was fading, and all I longed for was to get out of the car.

Jay had talked Glencoe up from the beginning of the trip--no, even before that. "They call it the Switzerland of Scotland," he told me. We were going to love it.

I heard no trumpet; I saw no sign heralding the entrance. There was no abrupt change in scenery--but suddenly we had arrived. It seemed so small--and very much like most anything else we'd seen along the drive. Beautiful, but not especially so.

Ken steered the car along a winding, narrow road, my mind wondering how two cars could possibly pass by each other. Tall trees and thick shade obscured any vision of what the area looked like. And then we came to our bed and breakfast in the woods.

Stop the car. Now.

So this was Glencoe.



Jay was right. Words and photos don't really give it justice.


After unpacking and taking a bit of a rest, we endeavored to find the "lost valley" between these mountains.




We followed a stream bed up the hill.




For a group of non-hikers, we did pretty well climbing over rocks and scaling cliffs--ok, we didn't really scale any cliffs. But it sure felt like it sometimes.








And there it was, the lost valley.


Bethany and I opted to stay on the hill while the boys descended to the valley. Those two specks are Jay and Ken.


We almost made the hike injury free--until Bethany slipped and fell on her knees on the way down. Ouch.








It felt good to be back on flat ground.


We were famished by the time we finished the hike, so we grabbed dinner at this local hiker's pub.


I felt about the same.


But the delights of the day weren't over. On the drive back to the cabin, I yelled again--stop the car.


Um...can you get any more pretty postcard than this??






Words don't even start...


I think Jay was wrong, though. Switzerland doesn't have anything on Glencoe.


Last stop is the Falkirk Wheel...stay tuned!

Loch Ness Minus the Monster | UK Adventure Part VII

After a splendid day climbing around castles and dining in Inverness, we were ready to do it all over again.

So, we made our way along the lochs--think lakes--to the famous Loch Ness. Naturally, this was the very definition of tourist trap. I didn't see many shops or cafes that weren't touting some sort of connection with the fabled monster, so we tried our best to bypass all of that. We failed.

Nevertheless, the day was really quite lovely...and it became lovelier when we made it to Glencoe. But, I'm going to devote an entire blog post later to that lovely spot of earth because it's really worth it!

Loch Ness is a very deep lake, which makes for good reflections. Unfortunately, we saw it on a hazy day.


The biggest tourist tra--I mean, local castle.


I thought this was kind of neat.






Urquhart Castle has a rather sad history--lots of switching hands and bloody battles. The last owners blew the gate up so no one would use it anymore.


I climbed down to the shoreline, despite there being a gate in the way (hey there was a path).




Drive by shooting--basically there's several lochs along the way from Loch Ness.


Massive memorial in the middle of nowhere.


Quaint town of Fort William. We lunched and souvenir shopped here.


13th Century Inverlochy Castle.










Now, you must stay tuned, for the best is yet to come...