Day 14 Loch Lomond

We are taking a field trip today to Trossachs National Park just north of Glasgow to see Loch Lomond and the countryside. "Loch" is the Scottish word for lake.



Remember the song-



"Oh, ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road, And I'll be in Scotland afore ye; But me and my true love will never meet again On the bonnie, bonnie banks o'Loch Lomond."



Wikipedia says this may have be written by a Scottish soldier in his final letter home while awaiting death in enemy captivity. The "low road" is from the Celtic belief that if someone died away from his homeland then the fairies would provide a route . . . for his soul to return home. (Amy Fraser, "In Memory Long", pp 54)





As we drove further north, the rolling hills turned rougher, not what we would call mountains but some were covered by low clouds.

The valleys had a few sheep grazing but looking up to the tops there was still snow near the end of May.

This drive was to be a circle route but there was an accident near the tiny Glencoe Ski Lodge which stopped the 2 lane road (it could be hours since towns were so far apart). We heard that skiing has not been very good in the past several years. (Global warming??)

We retraced our route to the seaside town of Oban on the western coast. Ferry boats leave from here to the outer islands that are said to be very beautiful.

Day 13, Day 2 Glasgow

There were "Potato Scones" on the breakfast menu along with haggis! I tried the Scones--sort of like potato pancakes--and pretty good! No haggis samples however. It is rainy and even colder for my Florida blood. How many layers will it take today?





This morning we're going to Kelvingrove Gallery and Art Museum. Guidebooks say it is the "Scottish Smithsonian" in a 100 year old,Spanish Baroque-style building. Well, the outside looks beautiful!!








The inside was filled with Scottish history, lots of stuffed animals and a WWII Spitfire fighter plane hanging overhead.













We even saw some "Old Master" art and lots of school groups (are they called field trips in Scotland?)

This museum was very impressive AND FREE!!!









For lunch we found a pub with traditional "home cooked" meals so it was "Bangers and Mash" for two--it was tasty sausages and mashed potatoes and very, very good. However, I ordered cream for my tea and got a little pitcher of whipping cream! So my lesson for today--order milk! I used the whipping cream but it was not so good in tea. No wonder the server looked at me with question.

The Kelvingrove Museum was my choice for today and Don's choice was The Pot Still, a whisky bar with more than 300 choices. It was listed in our guidebook!!! This bar started about 1835 and locals of all ages come here to watch "football (soccer)" and discuss whisky. Are there "whisky drinkers clubs here--maybe like book clubs??)

Today there were a few wine and beer drinkers but we sampled three different whiskies (DS-2, KS-1) and watched the locals. It was a very Scottish experience.

We also looked in a "kilt shop" but decided that Don needs to do more research on his Scottish ancestors so he doesn't get the wrong clan color.





Last stop today was the famous "The Willow Tea Room" designed by Charles Renee Mackintosh (1868-1928)--all Art Nouveau from the furniture to the silverware. The Tea Room was a place women could gather unescorted at a time when going anywhere solo could have ruined their reputation! How quaint that sounds in today's world.





Almost 8 miles of walking today.