June 25, 2018

June 25, 2018

For breakfast I ordered a side of Haggis, one of the traditional dishes of Scotland. It is sheep's innards mixed with oatmeal and spices. Tastes like liver sausage; not bad, but I am not ordering it again.

We left Oban and followed the Western Highland coastline north. In Glen Coe we detoured east to explore its valley. Besides being the site of a tragic Scottish massacre, it is a particularly scenic valley where several movies have been filmed. At the Three Sisters pull out, we did a short hike to the start of the Hidden Valley trail. When we returned the pullout was jam packed with busloads of tourists. We continued a few miles farther inland to the beginning of the Rannoch Moor before backtracking and continuing north.

In the town of Fort William, we made a stop at Neptune's Staircase, a series of eight locks on the Caledonian Canal that connects Loch Ness with the ocean and provides a shortcut across Scotland.

We turned west stopping next at Glenfinnan Monument. This site is dedicated to Bonnie Prince Charlie’s 1745 Jacobite Revolution. Unfortunately it was a disaster and the English retaliated against the Highlanders with expulsions and banning of Highland customs (e.g. kilts and bagpipes).

Glenfinnan also has a picturesque railroad bridge. We hiked up to a scenic overlook point and ate our picnic lunch. We were hoping we would get lucky and have the steam-locomotive tourist train pass by. This train and viaduct stood in for the Hogwarts Express in the first Harry Potter movie.

Further west we loaded onto a car ferry that carried us to the Isle of Skye, the largest of the Inner Hebrides Islands. During the passage we watched the ocean and saw swarms of jellyfish. Glad we are not swimming!

On Skye, we stopped several times for photos before finishing in Portree. Our room overlooks the picturesque harbor. Despite being the rainiest spot in Europe, we are extremely lucky with warm weather and bright sunshine.