We set out for Glasgow on Boxing Day. My friend K and I, that is. We took the train because, well, train travel is delightful. I was going to say “train travel in the Northern Hemisphere”, but actually, I have enjoyed trains everywhere they have been available to me.
Glasgow
Glasgow was just an overnight stop. We dropped our bags off at a hotel and then went for a wander. Going for a wander is an underrated travel experience. We didn’t have any sort of plan, but there are these signs with maps all around the city with different monuments marked. So we could choose a destination and make our way there, see that moment or icon, and then look around for another map. And thus we darted our way around the city.
The Glasgow Green and River Clyde were probably my highlights of the day, with many birds to enjoy – including a somewhat territorial goose.
The next day, we went to the Botanic Gardens via a loop train. I loved this. You’d expect December in Scotland to be a poor time for a trip to a garden – Glasgow thwarts this by many, many greenhouses. It is well designed and well-labelled, so I could satisfy my curiosities.
We picked up a car after that. I forgot how much simpler things can be with a car. I really enjoy taking trains, but it is so easy when you can leave your bag in the car whenever and can get to places so conveniently.
We had one more Glasgow stop: Pollok Country Park. It was here where I saw the largest herd of Highland Cattle. Not wild, but lovely and even a young one in their midst, not quite a calf.
There is a big storybook house here, and a fallen tree.
It’s called the Wishing Tree and six or seven years ago someone took to the idea to burn it, and thus the fairy tree was felled. It shares this story, this fate, with many other famous trees.
The location of the oldest tree in the world is kept secret, because we as a species have recognised the need to save things from ourselves.
We drove in the dark to Fort William that night, and by “we” I mean K because she’s an absolute champion. Through rain and sleet and snow – even I got a headache as the passenger trying to follow the road and be a back-up set of eyes.
Kilmartin and surrounds
We doubled back to Kilmartin the next day. Glasgow had taken a little longer than expected, so we rearranged our plans slightly.
This part of the trip was for my family history. We went to a church and cemetery, walking in the rain in search of family headstones. This part of the endeavour was very successful, though we might have been lost if the family history book hadn’t been so thorough. Far too many sons are named John. It’s a problem.
After that we tried to go to Duntrune Castle. The website assured me that the grounds were open and that we could visit the garden – but the sign at the gate informed us otherwise. So I only got to see it from afar. Another reason to return again to Scotland, such a shame! (😉)
We did Glencoe after that, ‘glen’ meaning ‘valley’. It’s a very famous valley, and quite pretty. Still the rain kept picking up and it was a bit more difficult to appreciate the view. The new waterproofs I had bought held up wonderfully, but a good coat and pair of boots can do nothing once the water goes down your jeans to your socks.
Another reason to go back – this valley was one of many places I thought it would be great to wander and draw.
Fort William and further north
We did two nights in Fort William but we didn’t visit the town until after we’d checked out. With it being almost New Year’s, everything was a little sleepy. But when we went to a nearby beach to see an old shipwreck, it was quite difficult to get a shot without with people in it. One person was even there for the long haul, tripod set up, just waiting. (Unless it’s the Mona Lisa, there’s almost always a lull, if you’re patient. I have found this to be the case with my own photos.)
Then we took the long way to the Isle of Skye. It was a very full afternoon.
First, we went on a walk near Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest peak. Where ‘glen’ means ‘valley’, ‘ben’ means ‘mountain’, so there is both Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis. A neat system.
We walked to Steall Waterfall, and it was lovely all the way. To get all the way to the waterfall, we had to cross a bridge that was a tightrope wire, with a wire running higher up for each hand, in a triangle shape. There’s a small hut that was closed, at least for that time of year, and then we sloshed our way through a waterlogged field to climb the rocks and be almost in the waterfall, halfway up. Could stay there all day except you have to eat sometime.
Back at the parking lot, I had a pleasant conversation with a red robin who was hopeful of crumbs. I explained he was more likely to get run over than find any good crumbs, and after a little while he moved onto a nearby mound off the road. I enjoyed him very much.
And there was still more to squeeze into our day: next was the Glenfinnan Viaduct. This is the train bridge that they filmed for Harry Potter – it gets quite the turnout. And you can tell why they used it for a movie about magic. We caught it as the sun was setting and it was pretty magical.
And that’s what I considered to be the second leg of our trip. My request for “trees and cows” had already been well delivered on, so we joked that the trip was already over. But there’s still two more legs to go!
