Tag Archives: Travel

A visit to Loch Lomond and Loch Ness

Life, , ,

Our journey commenced from Glasgow Central . My wife Anjean and I were accompanied by a Jesuit priest Fr. Vincy Vaz visiting from India.

Our cab dropped us at the main bus terminal . However we had booked our trip on a private tour bus . It was quite a challenge to find this bus stop. After making a few rounds of the area , we finally found the bus parked not far from the main bus terminal .

The time was 6.50 am and the bus was scheduled to leave at 7am . We just made it to the bus where our guide cum driver was waiting. He gave us a warm welcome .

Having him to drive and also be our guide was the best part of the journey.

He was funny and had a lot of stories to share as he drove along . He looked a personality from the movies with long hair tied behind and a beard .

We left Glasgow before sunrise , and gradually saw daylight creeping in .

Our first stop was Loch Lomond . The lake is beautiful. The sunshine was brilliant and made a good opportunity for pictures . A few people were boating on the lake.

We had a quick cup of coffee and tuna sandwiches that Anjean had prepared for this trip. The mince samosas , an Indian snack also prepared by Anjean would serve as lunch along with the sandwiches and cheese biscuits.

Our next stop was at Ardlui . We stretched and walked around . The slope of a hill made a beautiful backdrop with the rust coloured trees ,greens of the others and the frost below .

We then moved on the through the Scottish highlands into Rannoch Moor and Glencoe . Glencoe is considered the most beautiful glen . We passed beneath the Ben Nevis en route through Glencoe. Glencoe is a village in Lochaber which is famous for its natural beauty . It has the Ben Nevis the highest mountain in Scotland . There is a memorial installed for the soldiers who died during the 2nd World War and those thereafter . The nearby valley is very steep .

The mountains were breathtaking!

There is a small village at the foot of the Glencoe . We passed by Fort Augustus and Fort William until we reached Loch Ness. Fort William is the main town at Lochaber.

Loch Ness is famous for the monster that is supposed to live in the Loc. There are two sets of people , one group firmly believes in it’s existence and the other does not believe . In Scottish forklore she is known as Nessie and is believed to make an appearance periodically.

There was an option to join a cruise on the lake . However we were happy to enjoy tea and cakes at the quaint restaurant near the lake. A gushing spring with a bridge across was a sight which caught my eye .

We then drove on , passing through Inverness . With the sunsetting , it became dark and there was not much to see. So our driver cum guide quietened down and drove speedily back to Glasgow . On the way we had to detour because of road repair . With the help of a passenger and google he found his way back on the route . We did see a beautiful scene of a bridge over the lake just before sundown .

So our day’s trip ended giving us a lot to remember.

Edinburgh and Greyfriars Bobby

Travel, , ,

The visit to Edinburg was keenly anticipated. We thought of joining the walking tours with a guide .

This idea had to be shelved as I realized that at Edinburgh there were steep slopes and being a senior citizen I would not cope with this .

Anjean and I with our daughter Larissa and her husband Lloyd agreed that we do our own walking tour.

There seemed to be a holiday atmosphere. People were dressed in colourful summer attire, good walking shoes and cameras .

We began our walk with first a visit to Starbucks . The coffee and hospitality was warm and efficient.

We then proceeded to the St Giles Cathedral which has so much history…. a bit of heartbreak in that , bringing into focus the split in the church . I was very impressed with the stained glass Windows. The special cordoned area for the choir , seemed quite unique.

St Giles Cathedral

As we walked along , we approached the Edinburgh castle . This was a good spot for photographs .

I was surprised to be see the India Cross made of sandstone. It was erected to commemorate the 78th Regiment of Highlanders who quelled a mutiny from the Indian soldiers who fought against British rule in 1857. The Regiment was jointly awarded the Victoria Cross .( I wonder what happened to the Indian soldiers )

The India Cross has an elephant carved at its base . This elephant badge was awarded to the regiment in 1803 .

Thirty years later the regiment brought a real elephant to Edinburgh. It was well looked after with beer etc and led parades at ceremonial occasions.

We resumed our walk and refreshed ourselves with waffle icecreams .

The most interesting part of our walk was to see a statue of Greyfriars Bobby erected for his fidelity .

Statue of Greyfriars Bobby

The legend goes that Greyfriars Bobby befriended Colour Sergeant Scott . He would follow Scott to his home at 38 Candlemaker Row . The latter trained him to move from Greyfriars Kirkyard when the guns from Edinburgh Castle sounded at 1pm to Traills Coffee House at 6 Greyfriars Row where he was fed his dinner of a hot meat pie . Colour Sergeant Scott often joined him there.

When his master died in 1858 ,Greyfriars Bobby followed his master’s remains to Greyfriars Churchyard and lingered there until his death in 1872.

We had a quiet moment at the Churchyard .

Our walk ended with a sumptuous lunch at one of the popular restaurants Macker’s Mash Bar. We chose to sit out for our meal. If you are familiar with Glasgow and Edinburgh you notice many seagulls flying around . I was shocked to see a bold seagull land up on the table nearby after the diners finished their meal, to enjoy the remainder!

One cannot forget the grand architecture of the buildings at Edinburgh . George Herriots School was a spot where ‘Harry Potter’ fans show so much interest . Of course the story is quite different from the reality .

The pastry shop Patisserie Valerie was quite appealing. Lockkdown has not been helpful as the display was limited and the pastries we selected were well decorated but not too fresh.

We strolled around the shopping centre . The trams plying through the town caught my eye.

Finally we made our way back to the car park and Lloyd and Larissa saw us home to Glasgow after a long drive back .