Scotland with Dennis

After a rainy morning at Llantwit Major, followed  by a lunch with the family at a little cafe in Llantwit Major, it was time for some fresh air and a little time just wandering alone. I love people but realise more and more on my journeys that I need to have time alone to just clear thoughts and appreciate what is around me. The little lanes of Llantwit and the pretty stone cottages and buildings are perfect for that.

Time to leave for Glasgow. This was the first propellor plane I have been on for years. It was surprisingly wuiet and very smooth. Most of the seats were taken by the Ospreys rugby team, who played in Glasgow at the weekend, but lost! Perhaps they were too squashed on the plane! Those seats are not made for huge rugby players!

It was fantastic, after an hour's wait, to see Dennis's smiling face again. It seems ages ago since we last met, though actually it is only a few weeks. Travel does weird things to one's perception of time. By the time we had chatted and laughed our way through a bottle of NZ wine , itvwas way past midnight! Fun though. There was a party going on in the bar below so we would not have slept anyway!

We set off early next morning. Dennis did the driving and did really well considering it was his first time driving on the left. Brilliant, in fact! We had a rather larger car than I would have chosen, but it was very comfortable and smooth. Very flash! Dennis and I both had problems understanding the Glaswegian accent as we picked up the rental. 

Of course, travel with Dennis always means loads of laughter and lots of selfies! He is really very good at them- must be thanks to his long arms?

I was happy to have done the trip last year with Rabbies, cos I could remember some of the best places to stop.. our first stop was Callander and here we had our first introduction to the friendly Scots, and their love ( as in all Britain) of dogs! We were surprised we could understand the barman, so much better than the guy in Glasgow!

We drove on through the beautiful rugged hills of the Trossachs and decided to turn off on a narrow road to Killin and to the Dochart.Falls. I thought they might just be tiny, rather unimpressive falls but boy, were we surprised. Blown away in fact!

What a gotgeous place with historic bridge, magnificent scenery and two rivers joining to form fanulous falls. It would have been a great place to sit outside the old local pub to savour the views but we still had a lot to visit. Knowing the weather would change the next day, we wanted to make the most of the mountains and glens! We would even take in some coastal scenery north of Oban.

There were some superb reflections and  rock formations. This heart- shaped one was so beautiful.

Despite it being outside the main summer high season, we could not get over the amount of traffic, tour buses and campervans, particularly at the lookout points, which were very few and far between. In summer it must be dreadful. Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Cornwall are all suffering , like NZ, from being overrun by tourists. We all need to develop strategies to cope with this influx to protect our lovely countries and the unspoilt areas of natural beauty. We found a very full car park, but close by was a perfectly tranquil spot to enjoy our picnic lunch.

It must be marvelous to hike here - but no time for that today.

Just before we got to the famous and spectacular Glen Coe we came to this absolutely beautiful swampy area surrounded by highlands. 

Glen Coe. Scene of so many battles and massacres. When you stand there, you can almost imagine the clashing of swords and screams of pain. Today all was calm and really breathtaking.

It was super to once again visit the lake at the start of the Glen. We were there with the tour a year ago and I remember Alan , our driver, saying how much he would love to live in the house by the lake! Bit remote for me, but certainly great for a weekend!

We turned off just before Fort William with these sensational views of the setting sun on Loch Linnhe, such a long and occasionally wide loch that it was easy at times to think it was the coast.

It was lovely to be in Oban again. Nice memories of my fantastic tour last year.  Our accommodation was sadly not very good. You would think that the Balmoral Inn would be quite flash, but it was very very basic. We had to check in in a smelly, dirty old bar with rather unsavoury characters lounging around there. There was a very large , elderly man slouched on one chair with a huge ' birthday boy' badge on! At least Dennis and I could share a laugh about the place and occupants. The rooms, up two flights of a winding staircase with filthy carpet, were luckily better than the rest of the place, and my bed was quite comfortable. Still not a place which would get my recommendation. Goodness knows how it got 7.5 on Booking! Perhaps the guests spent too long in the bar!

We headed out straight away to make the most of the sunset over the very peaceful harbour. How difficult it was to imagine that we would have bad weather the next day.

 

As forecast though, the morning was rather wet, but that didn't dampen our spirits much. We had a lot of fun,  but sadly Dennis missed out on the wonderful coastal scenery and we didn't feel it was worth heading down to Kintyre, a place I would especially like to visit. We got some good shots under Dennis's red umbrella!

Despite the dreary day, I was optimistic it would clear and so we set off beside the Argyl Canal to Crinan, a tiny wee fishing village on the coast. It was a narrow, single-lane road, but still very pretty with the canal beside us. Actually, I was right that it would clear, but very temporarily!  Just time to get out to take this photo before the heavens opened!

Once again we were lucky as we got to Loch Lomond, to Luss, and we once more had a few precious, dry minutes. Last year I saw this same view in perfect conditions, but it was still stunningly beautiful with its low, grey cloud and the silvery sheen on the water

How lovely to shelter from the storm with such a bright and cheerful friend!

I remembered the fantastic cafe I had visited last year, and thankfully it was still open.

This is what you call a real cuppa! Actually a gigantic tea pot which required super strength to pour the first cups! We both felt we could provide a huge family with tea from this pot! Not only that, the colours matched perfectly to the uniforms worn by the incredibly friendly staff, particularly to the kilt worn by a rather good- looking young Scotsman with great legs!

Of course, Dennis had to be prepared for rather more than my usual number of toilet stops after that pot of tea!

We made it safely to Glasgow airport to give back our rental car and then headed into the city. Easy public transport and soon we were happily booked into a much nicer, reasonably- priced hotel, the Merchant City Hotel. The receptionist was really nice. i loved the way he always remembered our first  names when we went to reception. He was great.

We did a mini pub crawl, some modern and some older more traditional places. It was a really enjoyable evening.

What a shame we would say 'goodbye' the next day.

Still, we had a half day together and the sun was back. Wonderful! What a good walk we had to the Necropolis, an ancient graveyard on a hill overlooking the city. With such perfect weather, it was a perfect choice.

On the way we passed some amazing street art. It reminded me of Christchurch, although our focus is not on natural history in general.I love the way the fox is licking its lips at the thought of a tasty squirrel meal.

Glasgow Cathedral is a very impressive monument which we only enjoyed from outside. Time was short!

Yet another fabulous piece of street art. I wonder  how artists can get such perfect dimensions. This has so much remarkable detail.

It was good to finish on a light and cheery note. As we had a coffee we could hear music, and it came from this guy! He was brilliant and lightened up everyone's day. It was marvelous to watch the crowd gather and start to smile. It must be so rewarding, not only financially.

As I left Glasgow for Stirling I had another chuckle. The authorities must think we are all idiots!

The end of 3 brilliant days. Thanks again Dennis. Last year Danzig together, this year Western Scotland. Where next?