A&E Abroad: Highlands. May 25

This morning we were up early to meet the bus for another ‘Highland experience’ tour. Along the way we crossed next to the Forth Bridge, which was a pretty outstanding sight, and then took our first stop at a small town called Pitlochry to buy some lunch for later in the day. As we continued on into the Highlands, our tour guide and driver Fergus, told Scottish tales with much gusto. He pointed out where the Macbeth (the real one, who was nothing like what Shakespeare depicted him to be) had lived, and pointed out the hill on which the witches were ‘supposed to’ have lived. We passed Loch Leven, in the middle of which is an island with a castle, which was where Mary Queen of Scots was held before being executed by Queen Elizabeth I. Fergus allowed us a lot of photo opportunities, and would let us out if he could, such as in one of the first gorges we came through. It was very cold, but very exciting. We say very cold, but there was one woman who insisted all her photographs must be taken sans coat/with summer dress and sandals only and we thought she was totally insane.

Forth Bridge

So cold, so fun!

We drove through the beautiful Cairngorms National Park and eventually ended up driving along Loch Ness! We got out here and waited half an hour to board the ferry tour, killing time in the gift shop, see below.

We boarded the boat for an hour cruise and ate our lunch inside by the heater, but soon moved to the upper deck when Urquhart Castle came into view. We picked up some passengers right next to the ruins, and were able to get a great view from the deck before heading back the way we came. No sights of Nessie unfortunately, but we were probably too distracted by the scenery.

Hello, Nessie?

Back there guys

Loch Ness

Urquhart Castle

Another stop along the way was a bit of a highlight. We got to pat highland cattle and it was very exciting. There is no sarcasm here, it was great.

YES

Our m8s

We moved on and next stopped at Scotland’s highest mountain, the top of which was shrouded in cloud, but we got the idea. It was a lovely place to stop though, because it was the site on a wonderful memorial to the Commandos, who were trained in the area.

Highest mountain behind those clouds

Commandos memorial

As we drove Fergus told us the more about the Jacobite risings and pointed out where their final battle took place, ending the way of life for Highlanders forever. He elaborated on the true story of William Wallace and on how Robert the Bruce’s heart was actually where the term ‘Braveheart’ originated. Elise actually learnt very little about this because she literally sleeps for most of every bus ride ever (unless One Direction is playing). She wishes this wasn't a thing but buses are so lulling you know?
We also passed the forest where Hagrid’s Hut and many scenes for the forbidden forest for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban were filmed, which of course was super exciting for Elise. Fergus mentioned that many places in this area were used for filming, and he had even seen one last week. We also drove the road that James Bond and M drive to get to Skyfall!

Hello Hagrid?????

Finally we reached the stunning Glen Coe, a huge valley made famous not so much for its outstanding views, but more because of a famous massacre that took place there. We spent a while here taking in the sights, and decided it would be nice to get a photo here together. Unfortunately we picked the wrong lady for the job who looked so fearfully at Elise when she passed her the camera, the results are below.

You go Glen Coe coe

Getting the shots

Look at us with the mountains

Fergus took us to a final sight before we left the Highlands, to have a look at another lovely loch before the sun went down. Driving home we passed Doune castle which was used for Outlander (this is for you Shaz). We also saw Stirling castle off in the distance and heard our final stories about William Wallace.