The tour bus picked me up outside the hotel at 8:45am and then we drove about 10 minutes to the other side of town where we picked up the only other 4 people on the tour today, 3 sisters and one of the women's 20-something daughter, all visiting from Spain. It was funny they couldn't understand the Scottish accent of the tour guide so after he would tell some facts about a place or some interesting story they would look at me for an explanation or ask me specific questions about what they didn't understand so I would then have to repeat it in understandable English but do it in a way that didn't make the tour guide feel bad. It was good for me because it forced me to pay attention to the details more.
Now one of the women had read several books on Scotland's history and one in particular on Mary Queen of Scots so when the tour guide told us that her father died 3 days after her birth mysteriously because he was so upset that he had a daughter and not a son the women in Spanish got so excited and made her sister who spoke English pretty well tell me that the man was wrong because the book she read said the father died 3 days before his daughter's birth. There were several other points on Mary's life that she corrected. I think she knew more about the queen than most Scots do.
According to the brochure for the Loch Lomond, Highlands, Stirling Castle tour is described thusly:
Heading west towards Loch Lomond, we take time for a short panoramic tour of Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow and see how this once industrial giant is again flourishing.Soon after passing the River Clyde, world famous for it’s heavy industry and shipbuilding, we stop on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, Britain’s largest expanse of water, with time for a boat trip or a ramble, as you wish. The Loch Lomond and Trossachs area was recently designated as a National Park, where the magnificent landscape has fired the imagination of writers and artists for centuries.
So we got to Glasgow around 10am and toured it mostly by bus. It's a large city with some incredible architecture including the Glasgow Cathedral: "The first stone built Glasgow Cathedral was dedicated in the presence of King David I in 1136. The present building was consecrated in 1197. Since that same period the Cathedral has never been un-roofed and the worship of God has been carried out within its walls for more than 800 years." We were then allowed to exit the bus for about 20 minutes to see the Glasgow City Chambers building which is of Victorian style architecture and was inaugurated by Queen Victoria in 1888. The facade is impressive looking out over George's Square but it's the interior that just takes your breath away. Here's some details on it:
"
The entrance hall of the Chambers displays a mosaic of the
city's coat of arms on the floor. The arms reflect legends about Glasgow's
patron saint, Saint Mungo, and include four emblems - the bird, tree, bell, and
fish - as remembered in the following verse:
Here's the Bird
that never flew
Here's the Tree
that never grew
Here's the Bell
that never rang
Here's the Fish
that never swam
An abstract tapestry hanging in the hall is intended to
represent Glasgow's past and present.Pillars of marble and granite give way to staircases of
Carrara marble, freestone, and alabaster, and a ceiling decorated in gold leaf
is topped by a stained glass dome.The Councillor's Corridor, containing councillors' mailboxes
and decorated in Italian faience, leads to the Committee Rooms, where formal
business committees meet, and an impressive library."
I couldn't help but think of our dear family friend Tony Murray who sadly passed away a few years back but who was born and raised in Glasgow and I know would have had so much to tell me about his beloved city and I'm sure would have been so excited that I was getting to visit it even if only for a little bit.
I couldn't help but think of our dear family friend Tony Murray who sadly passed away a few years back but who was born and raised in Glasgow and I know would have had so much to tell me about his beloved city and I'm sure would have been so excited that I was getting to visit it even if only for a little bit.
We left Glasgow and went directly to Loch Lomond where we all took the 11:30am lake cruise. It was misty and foggy but the views were still spectacular and worth the trip. The water levels were extremely high and several nearby towns had been flooded and closed yesterday but today the waters seemed too be receding enough to let us drive in and amazingly it was so warm and almost balmy and in the afternoon, soon after we left Loch Lomond the sun came out and I even heard two English couples coming out of a store just as the sun shone through and they looked at each other and said "What country is this?" We were told by many people including the bus driver that the weather in Scotland can change minute to minute and you can get all four season in one day. I believe it but today we were so blessed with incredible weather. 
Wildlife, a mysterious floating island, stately homes, ruins - Loch Lomond has them all in abundance, all just waiting to be explored."
More from the brochure description of the tour:
Moving on, we soon come to the village of Aberfoyle, the gateway to the Trossachs, where we stop for lunch. With its lochs, glens and heather covered mountains’ this area is well known as ‘Scotland in Miniature’, and was a favourite destination of Sit Walter Scott, who used the location as the backdrop for his ‘Rob Roy’ and ‘The Lady of the Lake’.
Soon after driving through the picturesque village of Callander we pass the massive 14th century Doune Castle, which was featured in the movie ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’.
Then on to Stirling, with an opportunity to visit the Castle. With at least an hour’s stop on the castle esplanade you will be able to visit the castle or other nearby attractions and take in the magnificent views over the Forth Valley towards the Wallace Monument, a 200-foot memorial to William Wallace, the man immortalised in the movie ‘Braveheart’.
The trip on the whole was just lovely but my favorite part was driving through the Trossachs national park where Andrew Carnegie (yes, of Carnegie Hall fame as well as being one of the richest men in the world at his time) donated money to build a ranger station as well as lots of library's and public buildings in the area. He was born in this area of Scotland and moved to the States when he was around 9 years old and eventually made his billions in the steel buisness.
Trossachs has several lakes or Lochs as they're called here as well as the natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands but in a smaller more condensed form which was perfect for us today because we got a feeling for all of what the massive highlands are like without traveling the extra 5 hours or longer. When you only have one day this is a perfect place to visit but better if you are in your own car so you can stop and walk around some of the hiking trails and just get pictures that aren't taken as your bus is wheezing by. The driver did stop to let me out when we go to the pasture with the furry cows or hairy cows as they call them here. I never saw a furry cow before and got so excited. And as you can see from these pictures the mother cow had 3 little white baby furry cows with her along who were eating along the fence line.
We stopped off at the town of Sterling last before heading back to Edneburgh and walked around the lovely old cobble-stoned streets and up and down the small hills that lead from the town center with shops and restaurants to the Sterling Castle which sits happily atop the main hill. Interestingly when we first pulled into the parking area of Sterling Castle there were several large movie trucks with people unloading film and audio equipment. I didn't inquire about it then but walked down to the city center and by the cathedral which was closed for tours because it's the low season and even stopped off at the pub at the foot of the castle and had something I've seen on just about every menu in England and Scotland, Sticky Toffee Pudding which was smothered in a creamy custard sauce. I have a sweet tooth as you all know but this was even too sickeningly sweet for me. I enjoyed it and finished it but I don't think it's something you would ever want to eat on an regular basis, I certainly wouldn't. So back to the film/audio people, our bus driver found out that Rod Stewart was filming a Christmas special in Sterling Castle tonight. So funny but this is the third time I've been in the same vicinity as Rod Stewart since I got to Europe. Maybe next time I'll actually get to meet him.
We arrived back around 5:30pm and I did some walking in the city before having dinner at a lovely French cafe near my hotel.
I passed by an old Catholic Cathedral near my hotel and stopped in which was great because they were just about to have 6pm mass here at St. Mary's Cathedral so I stayed. I was just thinking as the priest entered the alter that it's nice to be able to hear mass in English since I'd been traveling around Countries like Germany, Italy, France and Spain but since there is a large Polish population in Edinburgh I wasn't too surprised when the priest started speaking in Polish. It was still a nice mass even if I didn't understand a single word he said.
It has been an incredible trip to the Lake District and to Scotland and I'm so happy I had the opportunity to experience it all and now back to Tunstall tomorrow afternoon by train.
