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Published: September 7th 2014
Luss
Skipping stones at Loch LomondSo after going going for several days, we signed up for a bus tour of the West Highlands. The Highland Experience and Kenny (our bus driver) took us on a tour of the West Highlands. We start out in Edinburgh and make our way out of the city. First stop… Glasgow, but only to pick up two other tourist. Luckily we had most of the bus to ourselves. It was us and the two that we picked up on Glasgow. Kind neat to drive thru Glasgow. It reminded me a lot of Seattle. A city through and through, with hills.
From Glasgow, we head to Loch Lomond. To see the Loch (i.e. lake), we stopped by in the cute little town called Luss. Luss is on the west bank of Lomond. This seems to be a major stopping point for tourist, so I”m not sure if Luss is habitable by natives. It was nice to get out of the bus after sitting in it for about 2 hours. We hopped off and went to the lake, skipped a couple of stones, took some pictures of the Lake. Not a bad stop. Wish we had maybe another 15 minutes or so
to explore the town, but when you’re at the mercy of the driver, what can you do.
After Luss, we drove through the highlands… I couldn’t tell you exactly what we saw between Luss and Loch Awe, because to avoid motion sickness, I closed my eyes and took a nap. At Loch Awe, we stopped off at the Campbell Church aka St. Conan’s Kirk. This was built between 1881 and 1886 by the Campbell family. The patriarch, Walter Campbell, designed the church using ideas and designs from different churches. Around back, you were able to see a vast view of the south end of Loch Awe. Worth the visit. Worth the stop.
From Loch Awe, we made our way to a little sea town called Oban. Oban is a
resort town within the
Argyll and Bute council area of
Scotland. It is the largest town between
Helensburgh and
Fort William and during the tourist season the town can play host to up to 25,000 people. Oban occupies a beautiful setting in the
Firth of Lorn. We stopped in Oban long enough to have lunch. It was also in Oban where it started to rain. Not too fun walking when it’s
raining. Good thing we were on a bus tour and not exploring on foot. In Oban, we stopped for lunch at the Oban Bay Fish and Chips Restaurant. Tricia finally had her first taste of fried haggis. I would describe it as a creamier corn beef hash. Not as bad as I remembered. After lunch we walked around a little bit more, but before we knew it, it was time to hop on the bus.
From Oban, we stopped for our last stop at Inveraray Castle. I fell asleep again to the lulling and soothing sounds of Kenny while the bus was in motion. I must have done this every time we got on the bus, because Kenny had asked if he was boring me… not in a mean way, but in a “i must not be interesting, what can I do” kind of way. I felt so bad… but I assured him, it wasn’t him.. it was me… we were going going going for the past few days and it’s probably catching up to me.
Inveraray Castle is the ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll, Chief of the Clan Campbell located along the West Coast of
Loch Awe
Campbell Castle Scotland on the shores of Loch Fyne. It’s open for tourists, but it’s also still being lived by the current Duke of Argyll. From what I hear, it’s not out of the question for guests to run into the Duke “working” on the estate. We didn’t get to see him though.
For you Downton Abbey aficionados, it’s also the home of the Grantham family’s cousins, the Marquess and Marchioness of Flintshire called Duneagle Castle. I”m still a season behind, so it wasn’t familiar to me, but there were tons of Downton Abbey paraphernalia around. We had ice cream in the tea shop, then we were home bound. Thankfully the festival was going on because Kenny couldn’t drop us off at Parliament Square and he was going to drop us off at St. Andrew’s Square, but I planted to seed that we were just off of Spittal Street near the castle and he dropped us off right at our flat. Score! All in all a good day of bus touring.. in the words of Calen.. best day ever… no walking 😊
We picked up dinner at Three Coins. Pizza for the kids and Doner Kabobs
Loch Awe
Campbell Castle (turkish gyros) for the adults. Not bad for quick and cheap. Last day tomorrow.
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