All the way from Carlyle to Glasgow I sang
“You take the high road and I’ll take the low road,
and I’ll be in Scotland afore ye.
For me and my true love will never meet again
on the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond.”
And why? Because it is said to be written by a prisoner in Castle Carlyle on the eve of his execution. And where were we going? From Carlyle to Loch Lomond, taking the high road of course.
We stayed in a suburb of Glasgow called Bishopton, about 15 miles west of the city, in a holiday rental. It was our first and boy were we in for a treat. First, it was HUGE! I think it was the same size or slightly bigger than our house. Second, it had a really cool girl’s room with lots and lots of toys and books. Fi was in heaven! She was over the moon and when it came time to leave, she didn’t want to. She was so happy just to stay home and play all day, and did not want to move on to the next town. The apartment had a full sized kitchen and I made good use of it, cooking dinner two of the three nights we were there. We made sandwich lunches and ate breakfast in our PJs. It was just like being at home, except everything was from Ikea and the cheese was much much better.
We had the entire upper floor of this house:
The garden had a table and a swing that Fi got to use when it wasn’t raining:
Pretty flowers too:
Wifi everywhere = Skype with Grandma every few days:
Our weather was so variable at the beginning. Hot and sunny in the Cotswolds, overcast and drizzly in the Lake District, and often raining in Scotland. Here is Fi on the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond, throwing rocks into the lake:
The trademark “nosepicking” position you will see in many of Fi’s photos of late:
On the day we went to Loch Lomond, it started raining really hard, so we went to an aquarium and looked at fish and other sea life for a while:
I’m too old (and big) for this ride:
Balloch Castle:
Our friend Angus lives in Balloch, which is on the shores of Loch Lomond. He told us that Balloch Castle is empty and hasn’t been used in years, which is a shame because it looks pretty nice on the outside and would probably make a great community center. Angus recommended we check out Dumbarton Castle and we were glad we did. There were many stairs at Dumbarton (someone told us there were 365 to the top) and it has a long history, dating back to the 5th century. Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed here more than once, and it was an important stronghold against all sorts of invading forces, even up through World War II. William Wallace (aka Braveheart) was captured and imprisoned here.
Whenever I am in Europe or the UK, I am always amazed and impressed by how old everything is, and how much history there is. The oldest building in my town and surrounding areas is the mission, and even that is only as old as the newest buildings at Dumbarton (and other places we visited). When ever I start to think about it, I begin to get overwhelmed. So many people lived and died in these places. They loved and laughed, cried, had their hearts broken, got married and had babies, hurt each other, ate, slept, and went to the bathroom (or equivalent of a bathroom), fought wars, celebrated victories and mourned losses. So many people, so many lives, have spent time in these places. Like I said, I get overwhelmed when I start thinking about it.
Here are Fi and me with the River Clyde behind us (and Fi’s finger in her nose):
The River Clyde (the white specs are swans):
Clyde is tidal because it is really a giant inlet from the ocean. We were viewing it during low tide.
Fiona was obsessed with the bowling green:
Some views from the top:
Angus with John and Fi (she called him “the Man”):
A nice hike we did near a place called Milton. It’s in the Trossachs and the weather was perfect. Partly sunny, partly cloudy, and as two walkers (hikers in the UK) told us, just breezy enough to keep the midges away. The midges are little biting flies that LOVE me, much like mosquitoes.
The area where we were is considered Rob Roy country, as he had a hiding place near a lake close by.
It all begins with a bridge:
Random installations in lakes along the way:
The area we were in is a logging area, as are many parts of Scotland.
More random installations:
It really was warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt:
Angus recommended that we stop at a place called The Drovers Inn on our way to Inverness. He said that it was like no place else. It was raining pretty hard the day we left Glasgow, so we stopped for some tea and snacks. The Drovers Inn is a little over 300 years old and the motto at the top of the menu is “If it’s good enough for Rob Roy…” It was quite an experience. First, we were the only customers and we ordered food from the bar tender, who was wearing a kilt. He was a youngish guy, but in keeping with the child friendly theme of our trip, he quickly made friends with Fi by providing her with paper and highlighters with which to color. She changed tables several times, but he did not mind at all. At one point, a guy walking the West Highland Trail came in and sat by the fire that was keeping the room warm. The Drovers in had all sorts of stuffed animals:
Fi was not afraid of the bear:
The view from the parking lot of the Drovers Inn:
In fact, all over the Highlands, a person can see random waterfalls and cascades. It’s like being in Hawaii, but much, much colder.
The food at the Inn was delicious! We ate our first haggis and tatties of the trip, and Fi had mac-n-cheese that she devoured, just one of the many reasons we love Scotland.
Here are some photos from a drive we did toward Argyll, where John’s ancestors on his dad’s side are from:
You can see how low the clouds were in the last few photos; the sky is not washed out, that blankness is cloud cover, soon to be fog. They were hanging out just above us the whole way. The scenery on the road was really dramatic and I am sorry I am not a good enough photographer (who actually remembers to check her camera settings) to capture it. It was just breathtaking. Very green, very moody in the mist and wind, very cool. Fi slept through all of it. It seems like such a wild land and I can imagine all the tales of clans fighting each other being true.
We spend three nights in our Bishopton villa before packing up and heading to Inverness by way of Glen Coe and Fort Williams. I’m glad we had our one nice day of weather because the drive to Inverness was notable for the interesting scenery, the slow traffic, and the pouring rain. But I will relate that journey, as well as our adventures in Inverness, in my next blog post.
