The Scottish Highlands

Josh has been wanting to visit the Scottish Highlands for as long as I can remember.  He grew up watching the "Highlander" on television and has Scottish ancestors, so it only seemed natural that we would eventually make the trip up to visit.  I, as usual, did the planning for our trip and decided to go at the end of August, over Josh's birthday.  Our plan was to take a train from London to Glasgow, then another train to Fort William where we would spend two nights.  After Fort William we would take another train to Mallaig, then a ferry over to the Isle of Skye, then catch a coach to Portree for two nights.  And finally, reverse our travels back to Glasgow for one night then back to London.  I was a bit worried about all the train time and the possibility of missing ferries/coaches, but everything went very smoothly.  

Josh and I left London very early on a Thursday morning for a five hour train ride to Glasgow.  We spent the time napping, reading and enjoying the views around us.  After arriving in Glasgow we had about an hour before our next train ride of four hours.  We did a quick walk around the city centre and grabbed some food for the next leg of our journey.  The second train ride to Fort William went by faster than expected due to the beautiful scenery we encountered.  

On the train to Fort William from Glasgow

The scenery from the train was amazing.  Scotland is beautiful.

Everytime I see this picture I laugh out loud.  Totally cracks me up, I'm such a nice wife :)

Blue skies and a beautiful day in Scotland.

We finally arrived in Fort William in late afternoon and checked into our B&B, the MacLean Guesthouse, which was amazing.  Our host was a Canadian expat who was married to a Scottish fellow, the B&B was perfect and our room was A+.  Josh and I walked around the town of Fort William and found a pub with outdoor seating and enjoyed our first beer of the holiday in the sunshine.  After dinner we made our plans for the next day and called it an early night.  

The next morning Josh and I took a bus to the base of Ben Nevis.  Standing at 4,409 feet, Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles.  Armed with plenty of layers, a snickers bar and a pack lunch, off we went!

At the trail head.

Josh is happy happy happy!

Part way up

Josh taking a mini break

About halfway up!  We've disrobed...sticky humid climb up!

A pit stop view.

Josh (re-clothed) enjoying a delicious brownie. not much farther to go!

Hazy from the clouds

Not much of a view with the clouds hovering around.

Believe it or not, we made it to the top!  This is the top with a cloud....

This is the same spot as above after the cloud moved out a bit.  Not the view we were hoping for after such a long hike!  

Layered up and taking cover from the wind as we have our lunch at the top of Ben Nevis.

Part of the Old Observatory at the top of Ben Nevis

Josh at the summit of Ben Nevis

Not quite the "top of the mountain" pic like our Austria pics, but we made it (and its cold!)

Headed back down.

Josh enjoying his snickers :)

Those darn clouds are really obstructing the views!  

Josh being awesome, as usual.  

Josh and I were exhausted after our hike up and back down Ben Nevis.  We got rained on the way back and ended up having to walk two miles back to our B&B because there were no buses running.  After resting and cleaning up, Josh and I headed back out into Fort William for a well deserved beer and dinner. The next day we caught a train to Mallaig, to start our journey to Portree on the Isle of Skye.  

Our train went over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which is famous for its role in the Harry Potter series.  The Hogwarts express takes this route to Hogwarts!

It was hard to do anything during our train ride other than look at the window at the magnificent views.  

The ferry we took in Mallaig over to Armadale on the Isle of Skye

Josh and I on the ferry to the Isle of Skye

Once we arrived on the Isle of Skye, Josh and I had to take an hour coach ride to Portree, the largest city on the island.  We arrived in town earlier than expected and ended up having to wait a few hours before we could check into our B&B.  We ended up walking around the port of Portree and stumbled upon a city fete. We ate our lunch with our legs dangling over the water as we watched Scottish dancers and listened to bagpipes.  Amazing!

Bagpipers!  Is that a word?

It was great to listen to them play.  

After finally getting into our B&B, Josh and I were exhausted from our travels and the rigors of the previous day.  We napped for a few hours and then went out again to check out the rest of Portree.  We ended up having dinner at a great little seafood place down by the port and then took a walk along the water.  

Josh and I in Portree

Love this place.  Sigh.

A view across the port of Portree, we had dinner in one of those places our first night.

Just breath taking.  

Josh is in Highland heaven.

We hiked around for a bit as the sun set.

So rugged and beautiful.  

Josh and I in Portree

Our self portrait.  Can't get a much better background...unless you are on top of a mountain in the Austrian Alps!

Calm and peaceful.  

The following day was Josh's birthday!  We celebrated by hiking, again.  This time we hiked along a train around the coast and up a somewhat steep cliff in order to get a great view of the surrounding area.  

Josh found a swing

Kind of scary!

This is what we hiked up.

Kind of steep and scary!  The sheep didn't seem to mind though.  

Josh having a break and a good look around, happy birthday Josh!

It was a beautiful day!  Those things in the water are a fish farm.  Probably salmon.

Our lunch time view.

Yes please!  I'll take this view!

The lunch spot that Josh chose...it was a bit poopy.  Darn birds!

Josh having a break in the perfect tree.

After our hike, we had reservations to take a kayak tour.  We had been lucky to come across a couple of guys who had set up a tent for tours along our hike.  It was great to get out on the water and work our arms instead of our legs for a while.  It as a great time, but no pics for fear of loosing our camera in the water!  

For dinner that night we ate at a little place in town called the Granary.  It was delicious!  I had the langoustines which are a small type of lobster, while Josh enjoyed a birthday dinner of a goat cheese salad and sweet potato soup.  

The next day we left Portree to take the coach back to Armadale.  We had a few hours there while we waited for our ferry, so we explored an old castle ruin and had lunch at a small cafe.  

I love ruins!  They have so much potential...

 

It's just wrong places like this are left to go back to nature...

Just chilling in the old laundry house.

 From Armadale we traveled back to Mallaig by ferry, then took the train from Mallaig all the way to Glasgow, it was a long train ride and we arrived in Glasgow quite late.  We grabbed some dinner and headed to our hotel for our last night in Scotland.  The next morning we toured through the Glasgow cathedral and the Necropolis next to it.  Josh and I spent a long time searching for the Baird name on headstones.

Back over the Glenfinnan Viaduct

I just can't get enough of these views.  

Some of the more rugged parts of the highlands.

The Glasgow Cathedral

Most of the artifacts inside were saved during the reformation, yay!

The Necropolis on the hill above the cathedral

Inside the Glasgow Cathedral

It was a beautiful church.

We found a Baird! 

The Necropolis, have I ever mentioned I loved cemeteries? 

A very old Baird marker, we couldn't read the names.  

 After our walk through the cemetery we decided to visit the Tennent's brewery around the corner.  They weren't having any tours that day, but the nice lady at reception gave us some free (extra strong!) beer and let us wander around the advertising museum area.  I have to say, it was some good beer.  So far we haven't found it in London yet, which I find strange since it has been around for over 400 years!  They also make Magner's cider, which is quite popular.  I am personally not a cider fan, but Josh likes it.

We had a late lunch in Glasgow and walked around the shopping district for a while.  Josh wanted to buy some whisky, so we found a local store and spent more than we should have on liquor!  Our trip was quickly coming to an end.  We took the train back to London and arrived back home late that night.  It was a fantastic trip and quite relaxing despite all of the hiking and walking around.  Josh even told me when we got back that he could have stayed a few more days.  I call that a success!

Rachel x