ness

Loch Ness, Stirling, and Falkirk

It was a busy road out of Ullapool with very impatient drivers pushing me to ignore the scenery. It didn't work I drove between the river and barren mountains and was reminded of the Tibet river outside Lhasa but this was even more barren.

I stayed in Inverness at nice friendly B&B (Bannerman) and walked downtown for dinner at Riva, a sleek modern restaurant. Here as in several restaurants for salad had a small bowl of mixed veggies with lots of flavor instead of being mostly lettuce. I had another great mushroom risotto with asparagus and a desert tort and ice cream was only very good. Rissotta was much more common throughout the UK than it is in the US.

Loch Ness

Loch Ness is just south of Inverness I drove down to visit the Uruhart castle at Drumnadrochit. It was destroyed by Scottish Jacobites to keep English from regaining control.

View of Loch Ness.

Nessie!

Best shot of Nessie.


I watch all day and finally caught Nessie in the act.

In the Cairgorns near Aviemore there is a reindeer herd brought over in 1952 I only had time to see couple they have in a padlock but the rest run wild in the mountains. If you have time you can visit them and hand feed them. There is also a little museum on reindeer both real and fanciful. The next day I heard the herd was quarantined with blue tongue disease - a common disease in Europe.

Heading south I stopped at Killkrackie Pass a nice peaceful place at a bend in the river when a fighter jet flew down blasting the air waves.

This is the site of the first battle of the 1689 Jacobite rebellion. The fourteen foot wide soldier's leap across the river here was allegedly jumped by a government soldier fleeing from the highlanders.

Stirling

Next stop was Stirling, I stayed in town (The Golden Lion) near some pedestrian streets. It was another case of too much noise from streets as boys shouted out to girls who were sitting in the window on the second floor across the street at a party. Those Scots love to party.

King Robert

The highlight of Stirling is the castle. King Robert the Bruce ruled from here and Mary Queen of Scots lived here as an infant. It's an interesting historical place and well preserved but still undergoing renovations.

Stirling Castle pages in training

Falkirk Wheel

Falkirk is a busy and confusing city but I finally found the wheel which connects the Union Canal with the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Instead of a regular lock system they built a eight story high wheel that lifts the boat from the bottom to the top.

Next stop Rosslyn Chapel

Or return to UK