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| I can tell you right now before you start my story that I left a large part of my heart in Scotland. The home of my forefathers has such a great pull on me that if I don't travel anywhere else I will definitely go back to Scotland. |
| Over the border to Gretna Green... you know, the town where everyone eloped to when their parents wouldn't give permission for them to be married. It is a lovely place and of course we were greeted by our first piper of the trip. Grasmere where the great poet William Wordsworth is buried was our next stop and then on to Ayr to the house where Robbie Burns the Scottish poet was born. More wonderful scenery on the way to Glasgow which is a brilliant city. We did an evening tour of Glasgow which is a real mixture of old and new. It was also Great Britains winner of Architecture and Design Award for 1999. Although Glasgow is still an industrial area the people have really worked hard to take the industrial look away from the city and it is a city to be really proud of. Of course I could be a bit biased - my paternal grandfather was a Glaswegian. |
| From Glasgow we hit the most breathtaking scenery. Rolling hills gave way to mountains reaching to the clouds. Loch Lomond was spectacular and not at all cold while we were on the boat trip. A huge loch carved by glaciers so long ago that I can't even imagine it. The scenery is so beautiful you want to cry. Mountains, heather, bracken, rocks, waterfalls and in the lower areas, sheep, cattle and horses. More beautiful weather. We have been truly blessed with the weather during this holiday. We stopped at Glencoe where the Campbell's slaughtered the MacDonald's hundreds of years ago. The weather was so clear we could see the top of and photograph Ben Nevis, which at 4,200 ft above sea level is the highest mountain in Scotland. Totally spectacular. |
| Gretna Green - I always wanted to say that I had been there... and a piper greeting us was the icing on the cake. |
| One of the main city squares in Glasgow. It is surrounded by the most fabulous bronze statues of rulers on horseback. The detail is absolutely amazing as you can see below. |
| What a breathtaking sight it was cruising Loch Lomond. |
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| Jules - my very own "highland lassie" quite at home amongst the heather. |