The Glorious Highlands

Stirling Castle

We are now down to our very last day of the "trip of a lifetime". Remember when I told you we booked a bus tour? Well, this is it. We spent 12 amazing hours on a comfortable coach touring the Highlands with a visit to Loch Ness!

This will have to be split into two posts, there is simply to much in this day to fit into one!

William Wallace's Monument

We had a fabulous guide, Scott, who told us stories of history and geology and geography as we went. We saw standing stones, Stirling Castle, William Wallace's monument, highland coos (not a typo, they like to call the fuzzy ones coos, instead of cows), and a piper in full kilted gear.  Many places we only saw from the road, so good pictures are in short supply. It only made me want to come back and see more!

Not a fabulous Highland cow picture, 
but I almost forgot to take one because
of my time chatting with Jamie!

You may remember seeing pictures of young Jamie, born in Medicine Hat, Alberta! While everyone else was oogling the fuzzy highland cows (after we restocked on the all-important coffee), Janis and I were far more interested in the Piper performing. We both love bagpipe music, I always have. I get that from my parents! We did not see nearly enough bagpipes or kilts in the past week for our taste. Between songs, Jamie was chatty, which is how we found out he was born in my home town and lived in Canada for the first two months of his life. Scott came to fetch us back to the bus, saying we couldn't bring Jamie with. I said, "But he's from my hometown!" To which Scott replied, "Well, you never said he was family, by all means!!"

We heard about mythology and folklore as we passed significant sites. We saw sites where movies like James Bond's Skyfall, Braveheart, and Harry Potter were filmed. Apparently it is common to see people try to recreate the scene of James Bond standing by his car on the road to Skyfall. Sure enough, we saw one! We saw highland mountains, moors and endless blooming yellow gorse bushes. 

We learned about Queen Margaret, who was pawned off to the Scottish king by William the Conqueror. Her arranged marriage to Malcolm III ended up being a love match. She did so much for her people that she was called the Pearl of Scotland and was Sainted after her death. One of her biggest achievements was establishing a ferry service across the river, the Firth of Fourth. This was a significant achievement which allowed for trade across the river. She was reported to have died of a broken heart after her husband was killed in battle. Margaret, also called the Pearl of Scotland, was canonized in 1250. The bridge now crossing the river is called the Queensferry Crossing in honour of Margaret and is an Unesco World Heritage Site.

As we passed the Cave of Oisin, Scott related the story of Oisin. Legend says his father, Fionn, found a deer while hunting in the forest. When his hounds refused to chase it, he realized it was special. The deer turned out to be Sadhbh, a beautiful girl who was turned into a deer by the druid, Fear Doirich, for refusing to marry him. Fionn and Sadhbh fell in love and married. While Fionn was out hunting, the druid found Sadhbh and turned her back into a deer. The faithful hounds found the baby, now a fawn. When he was returned to his father, he became a boy again and grew up to become a famous poet. Oisin lived in his father's land for 200 years, not growing old because of magic. He was compelled to see Scotland, the land of his mother and the cave where he was born. The moment his foot crossed the border, the magic stopped protecting him and he aged 200 years in a moment. And so ends the story of Oisin.

According to legend, the Cave of Oisin is in these cliffs

Our travels took us past a few locations of standing stones, but only to be seen from the window as we passed. It is one of the few things on my list that didn't get fully accomplished on this trip. I really did want to see standing stones, up close and personal. Definitely a top priority for my next trip to Scotland. If I have my way, there WILL be a next trip to Scotland!! 

The burial mound by this standing stone is in the middle of a traffic circle. This stone stands in front the main entrance of some sort of high tech computer company.

I could not get enough of the scenery. The Highlands of Scotland is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. The picture I took cannot do it justice.