Last day Glasgow, walking tour.

July 3, 2023July 3, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We had a great day. Started our day with the botanical gardens then a picnic in the park. The gardens were great and perfect reprieve for little rainy spurts.

We continued the Austin walking tour through the University which was quite beautiful.

Then through the mural district which made us very thirsty.

We wandered by an Italian restaurant that was super busy (Sugo) and had the foresight to put out name on the list while we finished the mural walk. So glad we did. It was delicious!

Sad it’s ending, but we had a great time.

Loch Lommand to Glasgow

July 1, 2023July 1, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

Started the day on Loch Lommand and saw Dumbarton castle which has had the longest stronghold in Scotland. It was also free because they are fixing the masonry so we didn’t get to go to the top of the volcanic plug.

Next we headed to Glasgow. Since we had extra time (because of the shortened castle tour) , we stopped at a Scotch whisky distillery named Auchentoshan. We couldn’t get a tour but we (primarily me since George was driving) got a sample and made it to the pie, a pint and a play on time.

The play was about Mary (queen of scots) kinda outlanderish( with time travel and humor). After the play we checked into our last air bnb and finally dropped off the rental car and got another double decker bus back to Glasgow. We found an Irish pub that had music and we closed out our night there.

Balloch on Loch Lommand

June 30, 2023June 30, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Long day of driving (2 hours) from Fort William to Balloch on Loch Lommand. We took a pit stop at the highlands soap factory and at the Ben Nevis distillery, but I forgot to take any pictures of us sniffing either soap or scotch. It rained the whole way here, but we did stop in GlenCoe for a short hike. It also rained on Balloch today so we found a castle and a brewery.

Fort William, Glen Coe

June 29, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

Another great day in Scotland. We went from Ft. William to Glencoe. Just a bunch of Monroes (that’s what the Scots call a mountain over 3000 feet) #beautiful #scotland and waterfalls. Two major hikes, one right out the visitor center where it was raining in one valley and the sun was shining in the other.

Next hike, we went to the lost valley. The girls were a little traumatized by our 2 mile hike that turned out to be 5 miles, but their legal representation contacted our lawyers and we negotiated another round of fish and chips as compensation for an additional 4 mile walk.

Isle of skye

June 27, 2023June 28, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Today was rainy and we slept in until 8:30. We pretty much geared up after breakfast to walk to the fish market for dinner, but George noticed the mobile seafood van was right in front of our house. We stocked up for lunch and dinner. After a stroll about town, we convinced the girls to go with us to brother’s point.

At brothers point, we were the only people there. The rain stopped for our hike so I felt like it would be best to pay our respects in the pub that was once a church… We went to the pub and I had a wee pint and listened to the band.

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Isle of Skye, Man of Storr

June 25, 2023June 25, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Neist point light house was super rainy when we got there but immediately took a turn for the better.

The day only got better from there. Next was Dunvegan castle.

The gardens at Dunvegan castle were amazing, but I am limiting my pics or this would get ridiculous. Next on the bucket list was the Old man of Storr.

Isle of Sky, Eileen Donan castle and Fairy Pools.

June 25, 2023June 25, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / 3 Comments

Uhm, I’m so late today, but it was an amazing day and I was too tired to post yesterday. We started off the morning with a run through Inverness before we picked up our rental car. We got to ride a double decker to the airport

After picking up the rental car, we drove past loch Ness. We did get a great shot of the monster, but I’m not going to share it because it will ruin the mystery for you. George drove us to the ilse of sky. We stopped at Eilean Doran, a beautiful castle where 3 lochs meet, then we went straight to the fairy pools.

We started heading home and the day just got more and more beautiful. T we stopped at Sligachan old Bridge and took a short walk up the John Muir trail.

Day 5 biking to Inverness.

June 23, 2023June 23, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We started our day with a quick jaunt up to loch Morlich with Tim. I saw a reindeer as well, but it was not the one that ran over grandma on Christmas Eve (at least as far as I know).

After the biking trip and a quick shower we let Scotrail take us to Inverness

After dropping out bags we got pizza at Black Isle brewery.

Day 4, Duthil, Grantown on Spey

June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / 2 Comments

Today was the last long day for biking. It was almost a false start, but Scott from Scotland (shout out to Ravenscraig of Aviemore) really saved the day by dropping the biking shoes after the ‘oh shit, I forgot my shoes’ moment. He raced up the hill , a good 15 minute trek to deliver the goods. After that, all was well.

We stopped in Granton on Spey for lunch. And then road across the Spey Bridge outside Grantown on Spey

Next we stopped for a beverage in Boat of Garten and another highland coo before our delicious dinner with the girls. I was starving.

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Day 3 Aviemore biking tour to

June 21, 2023June 21, 2023 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Started today with better than expected weather. And the rainy weather we had, was short and came with a whisky shots from locals. (More on those nice Scots later).

George woke up at 3:15 because the light was shining in the window and we both wondered,when does the sun rise (maybe it never really sets in Scotland on the summer solstice). I fought through the sunlight and managed to sleep again till 830. We had more eggs and local salmon/ lox for breakfast. After bfast we wandered through town and started day three of the cycling tour around 10:30.

At this point in our trip, I needed to pee and ventured off to look at the bridge and find a nice quiet spot while George and Tim (our riding companion) went ahead.

I turned on the turbo to catch up. But Tim was waiting for me in the road and said we were taking a pit stop for the rain. Wherein the 90 year old Scottish local not only gave us shelter from the rain, but also whisky.