Hiya! Yes, a blog update so soon! Well, we have lots to share with you right now - yesterday we just got back from a week on the Westcoast and the Highlands of Scotland - and believe me, this sheep above was one of MANY. I'm pretty sure that there are way more sheep in the Highlands than people. But what a completely amazing week! We set out on Monday and travelled through all the sights that you will see below.
We started our trip with a day of "castle bagging" - the U.K. term for visiting a significant number of castles in a short period of time. It was a fun way to make our way to the west coast of the country. We tried to keep our visits to 45 minutes or less, and for the most part were very successful with our timing. The first visit was to Lochleven castle in Kinross. This was cool because we had to take a boat on a 10 minute journey to the middle of Loch Leven to get to it. There was also a lot of history in this place as it was the prison castle for Mary Queen of Scots for the year after she was forced to abdicate. After a year of being held here, Mary escaped with the help of local boatmen, to gather her suppporters and unsuccessfully make her move to try to get her crown back. Walking through the nice but small castle, you get the idea that after a year anyone would want to get off the island. Cool to visit for 30 minutes though!
The family outside the walls of Lochleven Castle. Beautiful gardens all around the castle too.
Our third castle was this great fortress named Doune Castle. For film buffs, this castle was the main filming location for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As King Arthur and his men approach the French soldier taunts them "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries..."
After everyone else left, Isaiah decided that he'd do a little jig in the Great Hall of Doune castle. I love how this photo worked out!
Oh yeah, this happened between some of the castles as we wound our way west.
The next castle was the lonely Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe. I love the castles that are completely deserted and open for us to wander about. This castle was on the main shore of the Loch, but out on a spit of land making for great photos.
This was my view from the top tower looking out towards a couple of little islands in the Loch.
Similar view, but you can see Emma and Sophie wandering the little beach. With the incredible weather on this day, it almost seems like a tropical photo location. Who'd have thought this of Scotland!
Emma and Sophie walking out to the little island.
Isaiah and Sophie waving from the top of the tall tower. Goodbye, Kilchurn!
Next was the most-photographed and least-visited castle in Scotland - Castle Stalker. No tours or services to the island. Visitors would have to arrange a private boatman to take them over. Pretty difficult since very few people live in this area. In fact, this is about the only vantage point from the highway that one can even see the castle.
We finally made our last approach to the town we were staying in. It's the most westerly village on mainland Great Britain, and we only got there after 44 miles of single-track road. Very interesting driving, up and down like a rollercoaster, with nearly every corner a blind one, and not enough room for two cars to pass, except in the "passing place" pullouts. Fortunately, in the 44 miles I only passed a half dozen cars altogether. Here was a herd of about 30 deer that crossed the road in front of us.
Finally we got to the coastal village of Kilchoan. Yes, this is all there was. Maybe 2 dozen buildings, including the church, primary school, pub, and hotel.
Our hotel was nice - only it was a further 3 miles away from Kilchoan "town centre"!
This is really the view from the front of the hotel. Rugged hills, the ocean, and a couple of buildings a mile or two away. I told Kim that the hotel was a little remote - I think that I nailed it!
Isaiah feeding straw to the two cute little donkeys.
Here is a funny little video clip of the girls playing in the "quicksand" of Loch Awe. Sophie gives some important information right at the end of the clip...
So went our first day! Westcoast Scotland didn't disappoint! The next couple of days of our trip will be covered in the next blog entry.
Jimy MacJohnson
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