The Canadian girls took over the Highlands!
Early Sunday morning myself and three fellow Canadians from Ontario; Ashleigh, Amanda, and Madi, woke up during the wee hours of the morning (6:30am, ew!) to hop aboard a bus tour to the Scottish Highlands!
We boarded onto Timberbush Tours at 8:00am sharp with a monster enthusiastic driver named Laura, who was the definition of being Scottish! There was only 8 of us on the tour so it was a nice and cosy ride as we weaved through the winding roads to the Highlands! And man do those drivers go zooming around those turns!
Our tour consisted of 9 stops! Laura insisted that due to the current down season and small size of our tour we squeezed in a whole 3 other photo opportunity stops!
Here's a list of our stops!
Loch Lomond
Glencoe
Fort William
Ben Nevis
Loch Ness
Urquhart Castle
Loch Ness Boat Tour
Inverness
Pitlochry
Here is some of my photos from the Highlands!
Loch Lomond was our first stop on our 11.5 hour tour of the Highlands! Loch is the Scottish word for lake and I have been taught that you do not pronounce the hard "ch" sound at the end of the word. Instead you enunciate the first two letters, l and o but let out a big throat sigh at the end.
Loch is pronounced lo*sigh*
Watching the sun rise over Loch Lomond.
Glencoe is named such after the Scottish word Glen which from my understanding means the V or U shaped dip between two side along mountains.
Glencoe has been a very sought after area for movie directors. If you look down upon the lake you might be able to imagine the Durmstrang ship emerging from the lake as Hogwarts stands strong and proud on the distant mountains in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Or you might be able recognize this mountain range as you picture Quidditch players zooming around on broomsticks with snow capped mountains in the background.
The scenery in Glencoe can also be spotted in movies such as James Bond Skyfall and Braveheart.
Now I have the soundtracks stuck in my head again, ugh!
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Main Theme Soundtrack
Skyfall by Adele Soundtrack
The Durmstrang Ship departing the Black Lack in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (top photo) and our tour bus driving past Glencoe (bottom photo)!
**Photo Edit Credits to Madi**
My jump shot with the three sister mountains of Fort William hiding in the clouds in the background. You can just make out Ben Nevis "Mountain in the Clouds" the tallest peak in the United Kingdom hiding behind me.
The sun came out as we drove past Ben Nevis and we had a chance to spot the summit which apparently is only visible for approximately 6o days of the year.
The sun is out! So much for Scotland always being rainy and dreary - did I just jinx myself? I really hope not.
The Canadian girls from left to right: Ashleigh, Amanda, Madi, and Meagan!
This is the Urquhart Castle that sits overlooking Loch Ness, the infamous lake that is said to be home to a monster - but seriously doesn't this look to serene to be home to a sea creature?
Urquhart castle had been destroyed and left in ruins. Myself and Madi had a blast scaling over these castle ruins. It was my first time ever being inside a castle, even if it was only the remnants of what once was a gorgeous castle.
Whilst on the Loch Ness Boat tour accompanied by Madi! Unfortunately I did not see the real Nessie and will not be claiming the one million dollar National Geographic contest prize. BUT I have not given up hope yet!
**Fun fact: Nessie has been spotted over centuries but the real Nessie could not have lived for that long, so that could mean multiple Nessie's are breeding deep in the bowels of Loch Ness. There is also rumours that Loch Ness has many underground tunnels connecting to other Lochs in Scotland and possibly even the ocean! Nessie is considered to be an evil spirit which is why she resides in one of the deepest and darkest Loch's of Scotland.
Nessie apparently takes on a horse like shape, doesn't that sound familiar! Does this mean Nessie is really a Kelpie? Is that how she has alluded us humans for so long?
BUT WE DID SEE ONE MONSTER!
(not a reaaaal monster though)
Aww look it's a Highland Cow (far too cute to be a monster)- or as the Scots pronounce it a "Hielan Coo." Amanda's dream was to be able to pet and take pictures with a Highland Cow whilst abroad in Scotland. Poor Laura pulled over the bus immediately after we spotted him because we had all been screaming in excitement from the backseat about the Hairy Cow!
She then started screaming "you cannot ride the coo!" as we had all ran out of the bus towards the cow!
Amanda's day, maybe even trip, was made after that! I am trying to find a way to ship this cute little guy home with me, any advice?
.jpg)
Unfortunately I have no photos of Inverness, as we had barely juuuust passed through and my camera had died! But I cannot wait to go back so I can say I have really been there. It looks like a gorgeous town. But here is a picture from my phone of our last stop, a little Scottish town called Pitlochry which I thought was so very adorable and Scottish.
AND FINALLY A SELFIE STICK PICTURE!
Thank you to Ashleigh, Amanda, and Madi for inviting me to go on this amazing tour of the Scottish Highlands - which was certainly a box checked off my bucket list! Oh and for bearing with me as I tried to handle using my new selfie stick, and yes I have purchased a selfie stick and have no shame about it.
It was awesome sharing this experience with fellow Canadians and even a fellow Potterhead, I think Madi was even more excited than me about the Harry Potter tidbits! I really hope I can also see some of the Highlands in the spring time as well. It was so dreamlike in its winter wonderland state but I would love to see the Highlands rolling with green grass and Hielan Coos in the spring.
We all agreed that this experience has encouraged us to travel, explore, and experience even more at home! I feel like I have already seen so much of Scotland and am so excited I have been able to spend time seeing and doing new things, but why is that only inclusive to here? I really hope I can bring that excitement back home and instil the desire to see more of Nova Scotia, Canada, and the rest of the world.
Cheers,
Meagan
No comments:
Post a Comment