Scotland - even greener than Switzerland!



We finally made it to Scotland! Janette flew into Edinburgh and we picked her up from there after visiting Manchester (for Josh's work conference) and Glasgow (both somewhat interesting cities, but Edinburgh was definitely our favorite from all the cities. The best part of Scotland was by far Isle of Skye! I love the ruggedness of the highlands - and they seemed even greener than Switzerland!!

Manchester
(Stayed 1 night)
Manchester is an easy city to visit, everything is basically in walking distance. First stop: 

Manchester Cathedral:



Oldest pub in Manchester:


Sarah and I also went to the 
Manchester Art Museum:


And then Sushi galore!


Between Manchester and Glasgow we found a hike that gave us a great taste of Scotland: Grey Mare's Tail hike to Loch Skeen. The road there was not as narrow as in Wales, but narrow enough to have our side mirror clipped by a passing car! We ended up driving with both mirrors folded in! 

Grey Mare's Tail Trail - with lots of sheep and beautiful Vistas: 










Loch Skeen:






Glasgow:
(1 night)

Glasgow cathedral - Erected between AD 1136 and 1484, 
this cathedral is now Scotland’s largest place of worship




Glasgow is adorned with many large murals: 


Tolbooth Steeple - only structure left of 
the council hall and the city prison


The massive Glasgow Necropolis - 
a Victorian cemetery with 50,000 graves
with a nice view over the city




Edinburgh
(2 nights)

What a great city! Loved the modern mixed with the old and everything about that city


National Museum of Scotland -
With lots of Scottish history 



St. Giles cathedral:




We weren’t sure about Haggis: 
plus I made the mistake of googling what it is before we ate it. Red flag was that it is illegal in the US! However, in spite of what it is it actually tasted alright!! 


Sir Walter Scott Monument - 
one of the largest monument to a writer in the world


Hike to Arthur's seat with a nice overlook over Edinburgh

Cool looking ruin on the way to Arthur's seat:





at Arthur's seat:







From Arthur's seat we walked to downtown Edinburgh


and found some fun stores:


Edinburgh Castle 


nice view from the castle:


a short line to see the jewels


View of castle from further away:


and another interesting looking building:


The Britannia - the official ship of the Royals:


Glamping at  Kennacoil by Dunkeld
(1 night)
 
one of the most serene camping/glamping spot I've been to: 



Early morning hike:




Cairngorms National Park: 

Pattack Falls (a bit underwhelming, 
actually the whole park was a bit underwhelming, 
since it looked liked many other places we have been to.)


Girl power :)


Small Highland Folk Museum with Scottish homes:



Highland Cows:


On ATVs at Cairngorms - with lots of sheep - 
fun ride, even got to ride through water



The old packhorse bridge in Carrbridge



After Cairngorms we stayed overnight in Inverness


Nearby there was the "Stonehenge" of Scotland:

Clava Cairns
These cairns are about 4000 years old and are an ancient burial site. 
(Became much more famous since Outlander was filmed there. Nearby is also the Culloden Battlefield - something to do for next time)





Urquhart Castle by Loch Ness
(very popular castle - good thing we bought tickets beforehand!) There are so many castles in Scotland to visit. I enjoyed visiting this one because the scenery around it of the Loch and the surrounding hills was pretty awesome to see. 



Eileen Castle - (also for next time)


The drive from Inverness to Isle of Skye was very picturesque. 
It was on that drive that I thought Scotland looked even greener than Switzerland!


Isle of Skye
(stayed near Portree - 2 nights)

First stop was by the Fairy Pools in the southern part of Isle of Skye. 
Luckily the weather was nice enough for Janette and Sarah to take a dip in the water.







Portree - the main town on Isle of Skye is a 
quaint town with multi colored homes, etc.


Isle of Skye is a hiking paradise!

Old Man of Storr
Simply wow!! I think I took a thousand pictures!!


Here's the old man looking over us!











And some waterfall stops after the hike: 



Quiraing Loop:

It was pouring rain on this loop, but still breathtakingly beautiful!











Driving around Isle of Skye wasn't too hard, 
in spite of some narrow roads and occasional sheep


A few more things to do before leaving Scotland: We heard about deep fried Mars bars and of course had to try one! 


It was... Interesting!


Timing worked out perfectly to see the
Harry Potter Train on the Glenfinnan Viaduct on the way home: 



Short stop by Glencoe - Visitor Center with a rebuilt old farm house



Glencoe would have been another great place to do some hikes. 
Unfortunately it rained the whole time we were there. 
A good reason to come back to Scotland!!


THE END












 

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