Blogs from Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 485

April 28th 2005 Edinburgh, Scotland. As children, my siblings and I would stand outside in cyclones, waiting, with arms outstretched, for the wind to overcome gravity and carry us away... just a few yards, mind you. Unfortunately, North Queensland is not a particularly windy area and has not, in recent years, managed to produce anything stronger than a category two cyclone, which certainly lack any detectable elements of excitement. It's quite humorous, in fact, to watch the newcomers work themselves into a tizzy every time the newscasts begin forecasting devastating winds in the latest cyclone threat. …"Yeah, right". But today, my friends, was just such a day and just such a city. Edinburgh's high altitude is obviously conducive for strong winds, because it's often been windy in the few days I've been here, but nothing compared ... read more

As you know Loch Ness is famous for Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster whose legend dates back to 565. This loch is 22 miles long, more than 700 feet deep and is the "largest freshwater lake in Great Britian". It wasn't raining and we were in time to catch the last Loch Ness Boat Tour Cruise for the evening. We were the only customers on the way over to Urquhart Castle & then picked up passengers for the way back. We only saw the castle from the lake, for we were touring it the next day. We got some great shots though. After the cruise, we had dinner at our hotel (I got duck breast-very good) and afterwards at dusk, we walked down to the loch and sat there for about an hour looking for Nessie. ... read more

On our 11th day, we toured Fort George which was built between 1748 and 1769 because of the Battle of Culloden. It is built on a peninsula that goes out in the Moray Firth and is almost a mile around. It is still used as an Army Barracks and the men did not talk to civilians, unless spoken to first. Pictures were allowed and our belongings weren't checked. Besides the barracks, there was also a chapel, interior ditches, brewhouse, provision stores, Grand Magazine used for gunpowder barrels, and a multi level Regimental Museum of the Queen's own Highlanders. The museum took an hour to see everything and was interesting. There was much to explore as we walked around and got views of Moray Firth. We had a beautiful, windy day and no rain. From here we ... read more

After the walk Thursday morning, we drove north and stopped at the former, fishing village of Collieston to take in the scenery of the jagged, rocky edges out to the North Sea. While Suzi climbed a rather steep hill, I stayed behind, worried I would have a difficult time coming back down if I attempted it. She made it down fine that why I have nicknamed her "billygoat" from previous trips. We also stopped at Cruden Bay and walked across a white, wooden bridge to the lovely beach that had a few people. The day was cool without rain. One map showed Slains Castle south of Cruden Bay while I had read it was north. Somewhere I also read that it was a dangerous area and people were not encouraged to visit here. That made me ... read more

I have loved Scotland since my first overseas, 2 weeks trip in 1999 which was an escorted tour. This time was a lot different due to the fact we would be driving and doing everything on our own for one month (April15-May 16) in the Highlands. My friend & I were both able to get the time off work and so were very excited about this. Our B&B's and hotels were already booked since we would be in a different location practically every night with a few exceptions. The weather was cold and rainy the first week. Over 500 pictures were taken between the two of us, so I will only highlight the places we saw and blog a few days worth on each journal. We arrived mid-afternoon on Friday in Aberdeen from London, got our ... read more