Scotland: Our Highland Fling
On the Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond
The Magnificent Lochs and Glens of the Southern Highlands:
The spectacular day we had in the Highlands more than made up for the disappointments of Glasgow.
On the Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond:
We found our way out of the city of Glasgow fairly easily and arrived on the shores of Loch Lomond within an hour. Making our way towards the western shores for the prettiest village in southern Scotland called Luss, we passed by a few tourist buses and many holiday makers. At Luss, Loch Lomond’s “bonnie, bonnie banks” allowed us to touch the water that softly lapped the shore as kids fed ducks. This is the lake with which every kid is familiar—especially those who have gone through music lessons. Which one of us who learned to play the piano did not play the Scottish song made famous the world over by a Scottish soldier dying far away from home? I had to pinch myself to believe that I was actually on the banks of this celebrated lake.We found the temperature of the water rather chilly and for a souvenir I picked up a small pebble of slate which was the main export of this little village.
It had the cutest little cottages all lined up in neat rows (left), their front facades thick with colorful climbing roses and the famous slate roofs sloping down low and crowned with their chimney pots.
Loch Katrine and Loch Achray:
Then, we took a detour towards the western side of the lake driving into Queen Elizabeth Forest Park in the Trossachs which reminded me of the film The Queen and I had to wonder whether the unforgettable scene with the stag in the film was shot in these environs. Certainly the landscape was as spectacular and isolated as shown in the film. Passing by tiny little villages, we stopped a couple of times to browse through their stores and to pick up our little stock of souvenirs.
At Lake Katrine, famous for the novel The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott and the opera of the same name by Lammermoor, we saw the steamship The Walter Scott that has plied these waters since the late 1800s (left). Throughout the area, there are lakes that glisten softly in the weak sunshine. On our way out, we passed by the imposing Tigh Mor, a castle-like building on the banks of Loch Achray, which was for me at least, reminiscent of the setting of the manor in Monarch of the Glen. We were fortunate that though clouds hung low on the mountain tops, there wasn’t much rain, not until we reached Fort William about 4 pm, which afforded Llew perfect driving conditions in the Highlands. The driving was slow and for about ten miles we were on a one-lane bicycle path that needed us to allow oncoming cars to pass in special “passing places” created along the route. The sense of remoteness was complete as we were engulfed it seemed, up to our elbows, in green pastureland and towering peaks. The villages were cute to the point of quaintness and I enjoyed these bits of the drive best of all though they couldn’t have been very easy on Llew.
Glen Coe and the Glen Finnan Viaduct:
The most spectacular part of our travels today was around the area of Glen Coe where the mountain faces of the Cairngorms rose up sharply right in front of our car (left). We saw the famous Glen Finnan Viaduct, which is deeply evocative of the Victorian Age when it was created—a very old arched bridge that spans two mountain slopes on which steam trains still run today and become useful props for films such as the very recent Miss Potter.
The Three Sisters, three magnificent mountains, were clearly evident close to Glen Coe right off the winding road and then we were arriving in Fort William on the banks of Lock Leven when the drizzle began. This entire area is so full of lakes that every time you round a curve in the Highlands, you pass by another picturesque body of water. Since it had started raining by the time we arrived at the tiny town of Fort William, we spent some time browsing through the souvenir stores, got ourselves a take-out tea consisting of scones and hot chocolate (which we ate at Subway and which filled us up so much that we could barely think of dinner) and spent about half an hour in the local library checking our email.
Getting back in our car, we thought we’d try to find our B&B before darkness fell. This lay about four miles north of Fort William in the little village of Bannavie and in a short time, we were at Quaich Cottage B&B (left) run superbly by Ian and Val McDonald who were extraordinarily friendly and offered us a cup of tea upon our arrival. We spent more than two hours chatting with them in their living room that offered a dazzling view of Ben Nevis, the UK’s tallest peak then shrouded in clouds. We met another French couple Isabel and Bruno, fellow-travelers in Scotland, who were staying at the same place.
To follow us on the next leg of our travels, please click on The Isle of Skye.