Blogs from The Highlands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 9

After nearly 2 weeks in the English midlands we made it to Scotland. From our first night in Ballach, on the shores of beautiful Loch Lomond, the remoteness and ruggedness was a contrast to the gentleness of the English midlands countryside. When the sun shone and the mist lifted we saw snow -capped mountains, fast flowing streams and loch after loch.On the Ben Nevis Range Harry and Eliza were able to feel snow for the first time and experience the joy of a snow fight. Although we did not see the snow fall, it was with us by the side of the road and on the hills as we drove around the Isle of Skye and on the hills as we cruised Loch Ness. One of the motivations for travelling to Scotland, and especially the Scottish ... read more

We are nearing the end of our time in Scotland, its been nice catching up with the family and enjoying some home comforts as well as seeing the sights of Scotland. Tom managed to survive the weather and meeting the entire Elliott clan... We stole mum's car a lot so headed off on a roadtrip to show Tom the best of Scotland and also show me a lot of the places I haven't got round to seeing. Highlights were climbing Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK, its about 1300m so not that high but it can be quite tough because of the unpredicatable weather. We didn't have too much trouble climbing it, got some great views from half way up but then it clouded over so we didn't see much at the top. Still, ... read more

Day 5: Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit We're getting delirious. We started great! Up at 6:00am to Skype our loved ones and start our day. Had a scrumptious breakfast, by far the best we've had in Scotland! Walked downstairs to say goodbye to Sunshine Sheila at the Bracarina B&B at 9:10. Then Travis, the Springer Spaniel comes bounding out the kitchen door, the next thing you know it is 9:45 before we actually left. Walked next door to the only store in town. Frank the owner, (and I think he should be the Mayor) greeted us with a friendly "humph" when we said we were here for our free 5:30am coffee. But he hooked us up with a hearty packed lunch before sending us on our way. All we have left to do is cross the street and ... read more

Today started and ended great! We fell in love with the Forest Lodge B&B. Robert and Linda are fantastic, breakfast was one of the best we've had and the conversations with our hosts we informative and friendly. Truly great people that I would love to see again someday. In all good fun we renamed Rambling Robert to "Randy Robert" because he teased us and joked around so much. How his wife, the Lovely Linda deals with him we'll never know! We left today for our 10.5 mile walk, give or take the mile to get to the starting point, at 10:30ish. A little later than yesterday, but we were planning on an easy, slow day. Who's kidding who, we all felt lucky to be walking at all! Lady Wheezy had surgery on her blisters by the ... read more

From Edinburgh we departed on our two-day tour through the Scottish Highlands with Timberush Tours and our amazing tour guide, Haymish. Haymish delighted us with and endless supply of songs, poems, facts, and stories along our journey. We headed west to Glasgow, stopping at the village of Luss, on Loch Lomond. Then into the expanse of Rannoch Moor, passing the Black Mount, to Glencoe, site of the 1692 massacre of the MacDonald Clan. It was appropriately pouring rain at this stop, but the scenery was breathtaking. We then continued north towards Fort William and enjoyed views of Scotland’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis. Later, we drove the 24 mile shoreline of Loch Ness, passing Urquhart Castle, and finished our day in Inverness, capital of the Highlands, where we enjoyed an evening walk along river, dinner and the ... read more