Day 7: Destination Belfast September 5

Pack 'em up, move 'em out ... off to Northern Ireland.

Today's journey took us through the highlands and along Loch Lomond, through parts of Scotland used for filming many movies. Our first stop was a photo stop at the Three Sisters Mountains. I understood our guide to say these were called "Faith, Hope and Charity," but haven't been able to fact-check that.

Bob with one of the "Three Sisters," in the background.

The other two sisters.

Interesting place to set up camp.

Lots of history was delivered as we drove through the highlands and into the lowlands. I was beginning to zone out from so much non-stop history and dialogue, so tried to take notes to concentrate on what the guide was saying. Unfortunately, my notes don't make a lot of sense. Here are a few bullet points:

• There was a massacre in Glen Coe in 1692  (good thing I fact-checked - I wrote 1592 in my notes.)
• The Campbell and MacDonald clans were enemies. The Campbells supported the English. One distant relative has linked our Scott family to a Campbell. This is not necessarily a good thing.
• Many movies and TV shows have been filmed in this area: the latest James Bond film, Braveheart, Rob Roy, Highlander, and, one of my favorites, the TV show Outlander. 
• A "bothy" is an open house where hikers/walkers can stop for a rest or overnight; the tradition is to always leave something behind for the next person
• There has been only one gold mine in Scotland; there are, or have been, many lead mines
• I began to realize what Scottish moors are, and they are not quite as I imagined when I read fiction set in Scotland many decades ago (pictures below).

Highlands disappearing as we drive further south.

I think this is the U-shaped valley carved out by the glaciers. The u-shaped valley
we passed is represented in many geology books
because it is the best example of this geological feature. 

Land is becoming much flatter and barren - Scottish moors.

Many rivers and streams traverse the moors.

Our morning rest break was at the Green Welly Stop. We knew this was one of the last times to shop in Scotland so we hurriedly grabbed a few souvenirs. Shopping was definitely not a priority for the people who planned this tour. There were 43 people on our bus and often other tour buses were stopped, too. That's a lot of people to use restrooms, maneuver around small, crowded gift shops, stand in line at registers and, if trying to grab a snack, crowding into concession/restaurant areas. It was always very hectic and difficult to make sound decisions about purchases within the allotted time. And, this was September. I wouldn't want to travel in July and August!

Snippet of the 20 mile Loch Lomond from the bus window.

After boarding the bus we headed toward Loch Lomond. During this part of the journey, we were shown a small train station that appeared in the Harry Potter films. I haven't been able to fact-check that and, unfortunately, no picture, or, if I have a picture, I don't know which one it is!

Our tour guide told us a story about the lyrics to the song, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond. There are several interpretations of the lyrics, many of which relate to the uprisings during the 1700s. Our guide went through all the lyrics and shared how they might be words spoken by a soldier on his death bed to another soldier. Sad.

A short rest stop along Loch Lomond gave us time to walk along a small, peaceful, beach. 

Loch Lomond rest stop.

Bob on the bonnie, bonnie banks.

Our lunch stop today, and our last chance to shop in Scotland, was at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. We had finally gotten into the tour bus groove; we grabbed a quick lunch and then hurried through the displays inside. I had misplaced my camera so was hoping to get into the bus as soon as our driver opened it. I stayed at the gift shop which was closer to the bus, while Bob took a walk to the outside displays. He came back to take me to see this statue: (and I did find my camera inside the bus)

Robert Burns: "To a Mouse."

The next part of our drive by-passed the city of Glasgow, traversed through agricultural land, and we drove through the village of Maybole where our first guide, Forbes, grew up. Then on to Craigryan where we waited for the ferry to Belfast.

Just like home!

Wide open green pastures - looks a lot like NNY and Vermont!

It isn't unusual to see ruins of towers or castles in the middle of fields.

The ferry was the largest one I've ever seen. The two and a half hour trip across the ocean would have been very boring, even with all the amenities, except we sat in the lounge and chatted with two travel companions. We hadn't talked much with these two women previously, but had a lot of laughs and thoroughly enjoyed their company. 

Did I say this ferry was huge? The ferry we took was the European Causeway, actually not one of the largest that travels between Scotland and Ireland, but it can hold up to 375 cars and over 400 passengers. In comparison, the largest Lake Champlain ferry can carry 50 vehicles!

European Causeway ferry - taken from the bus as we were waiting to board. They let us stay on the bus until boarded, then we had to get off and go up to the third floor passenger area.

Our Scotland tour guide left us at the Robert Burns Museum, so our tour director/driver had taken over to finish our journey to Belfast. He gave us a challenge to find three things during our next few days in Northern Ireland, the first being a "Crown on the Ground." When we arrived and got settled at the Europa Hotel in the center of Belfast, our window was directly across from the Crown Bar where we could just barely make out the mosaic of a crown on the sidewalk in front of its door. I had laundry to do, we were tired, and we really had no interest in rushing to get a picture or running around to find Dick to be the first to show him evidence. At dinner we offered the information to two of our younger companions who, it turned out, had already found the crown and were the second ones to present Dick with evidence.

Surprises/cool stuff today:

• I never associated Robert Burns with mice, probably because I never studied that particular poem in school. To my surprise, I saw many mouse-themed gifts in the shop. No, I didn't buy any of these for my niece, Sharon! ;-)
• Paul McCartney had a farm in the western part of Scotland. His song "The Long and Winding Road" was reportedly based on the twisty roads leading to this farm and those around Loch Lomond. I'll mention here that we were again very happy that we were not driving. We had an excellent driver!
• Environmentalists in Scotland are working to replant trees to replace the many destroyed in a storm (I don't remember the year). They use biodegradable tubes to keep the tree trunks safe until they reach a level of maturity to survive on their own. In general, both Scotland and Ireland seem to be very environmentally conscious, even more so than Vermont.