The next stop heading north was midmorning at a beautiful little town called Callander. There was a picturesque river winding its way past the shops and a council worker stopped to tell us a little about the area. After a quick coffee, it was up and up to the Scottish Highlands.
There was still snow on the Bens- beautiful- and walkers everywhere! In fact, walking in summer in the UK seems to be the favourite past time. Around every corner, there was a cluster of cars from those who were off trekking the hills.
Back to Scotland- I lost track of the magnificent mountains as panorama after panorama opened before us. I was so blown away by the beauty, I almost forgot to take photos with the Budgy Smuggler hat. We stopped at a Scottish Commando memorial tucked away in a huge valley- what a moving tribute to the service of those men!
And where there are mountains, there are lochs. I was incredibly excited to see Loch Ness which has its own castle ruins- Urquhart. I walked the length of the ruins and climbed to the ramparts, snapping photo after photo and imagining what it was like before it was blown to smithereens. I didn’t see Nessie.
There were many battles fought over that piece of real estate and in the end, Castle Urquart’s owners fled, blowing it up so it could never become a refuge for their enemies – so very difficult to imagine today. I didn’t want to leave but we were due in Inverness to spend the night.
See you next week when we discover Blair Castle!
Bernadette x
