A month or two ago, I mentioned that we had a vacation to France planned. That trip ended up being cancelled because Georgia didn't have a visa. She wouldn't have been allowed back into the UK if we had left. During that same week as our France vacation (and Dave's time off), there was an appointment up in Glasgow. We decided to take our vacation, but instead of going to France (and being denied access back into the UK) we would go to Scotland and get Georgia her visa.
We loved it! Scotland is absolutely amazing. We flew into Glasgow and stayed at an amazing hotel right next to their Central Station. We had one "touristy" day in Glasgow and really liked it. A lot of people had suggested we skip it altogether, but I'm glad we didn't. In the travel books we got from the library, they gave a suggested walking tour that we did in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. It allowed us to see much of the city and get the lay of the land.
Our walking tour ended at Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis which was stunning. Glasgow Cathedral is pictured above, and Necropolis below. Necropolis is a giant hill next to the Cathedral and overlooking the city, which, has (according to Wikipedia) 50,000 graves and 3500 monuments. It was unlike any place I have ever been before.
In the afternoon, we went to the City Chambers (their City Council) and did a tour of the building. They have the world's largest marble staircase.
The second day in Glasgow, we had Georgia's visa appointment (which took forever!) and then we hit the road. It was a rainy day, but the drive was absolutely gorgeous. We were heading to Fort Williams, on the northwest part of Scotland - the Highlands. We stopped probably every 15 or 20 minutes to take pictures. Highlights of the day included getting stuck behind a herd of cows and seeing all the castle ruins.
The weather was cloudy and rainy all day - but beautiful!
Inveraray Castle (impressive from the outside, not so much on the inside)
Some castle ruins (I forget which ones these were) we drove past
These were the cows/shepherds that went maybe 1/4 mile down the road. On an unrelated note, do you see the striped white line on the middle of the road? They have this whether its traffic going in both directions or just one. In the US, when there are cars going both ways, the stripes are yellow so people know what side to drive on.
Another castle ruins we came across.
Next, we went into the Glencoe valley. The mountain that's here - Ben Nevis is the highest one in the UK.
So... that's enough pictures in one post. Next time: Loch Ness and the Isle of Skye!
No comments:
Post a Comment