Where's Nessie?

Sunday (8/16/2015) is our day to go to the Scottish Highlands! We had rented a car and had planned it as a way to get out of the cities and see the Sottish countryside. Unsurprisingly, I’m still not feeling great. This cold has really started to become a nuisance. Regardless, I was still excited to see the country!

We left the apartment a little after 9 and took a taxi to the airport where we picked up our rental car. John was the lucky one who got to spend the entire day behind the wheel. He was a little freaked out to be driving on the left side of the road, and I had to agree with him. I sat in the passenger seat to help with directions and it was slightly terrifying. One of the biggest problems is that the rural roadways were much narrower than normal US roads. But we survived!

Our first stop was Loch Lomond just outside of Glasgow. It was very pretty! My dad began his love-hate relationship with European coffee at a café near the loch. He really wanted coffee and caffeine, but hated how strong the European coffee is. All trip he struggled to find a coffee place that served large quantities of weak coffee like they do in America. I thought it was funny because I had the same search when I first got to Delft, but I eventually gave into the European way and started drinking lattes and cappuccinos.

Water pump at Loch Lomond

Looking out over Loch Lomond

How Beautiful!

Another view of Loch Lomond

Our next few stops were in the Glencoe area north of Glasgow. I thought this area was spectacular! I would have loved to have spent more time here hiking and walking around, but we had more places we wanted to see.

View from a rest area near the Glencoe Valley

Another view of the valley

And another view!

We just can't keep our enthusiasm down!

The family's here in Scotland!

Mountains!

Just as pretty as any countryside in America

And yet another cloudy grey sky.

Our main destination for the day was Loch Ness. My dad and sister really wanted to take a boat ride on Loch Ness so they could say they went looking for Nessie. We did make it there, but it was a much longer drive from Glasgow than I was expecting. On the way to the loch we stopped for lunch in the town of Fort Augustus. It was a cute town built around the locks on the Caledonian Canal. For lunch we went to this small café where I got a potato jacket. A potato jacket is what people in the UK call a baked potato. Except they usually put much more on top of their baked potatoes than we do. I had my potato jacked covered in cheddar cheese.

The Locks at Fort Augustus

Looking down the locks towards Loch Ness

Where are we going?

After lunch we continued the drive and finally made it up to Loch Ness. We didn’t actually make it there until close to 4PM, but we made it. Our main activity at Loch Ness was an hour guided cruise of the lake. The cruise was really nice. The weather was beautiful (sunny and around 70), the scenery was gorgeous, and the captain was very entertaining with his knowledge of history and his stories of Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. Overall, I will reluctantly say that it was worth the time driving in the car to get there. However, I was still feeling rather tired and I ended up falling asleep for over half of the boat ride. I enjoyed my nap, as it was beautiful out on the lake with the wave rocking the boat back and forth. Although the rest of my family gave me lots of grief for falling asleep on the boat. I didn’t hear the end of it for the rest of the trip.

Loch Ness!

There's a castle in the shadows!

And lots of farmland!

This is the deepest lake in Scotland

Some breaks in those clouds.

Is that Nessie?

Fishing boats on the lake

After the boat ride we left to head back to Glasgow. John wanted to be back before it got dark, and we almost made it. We arrived at the Glasgow airport a little after 9, just as the sun was finally disappearing. 

Some pictures from the drive back to Glasgow

Beautiful scenery from the road

See how narrow is roadway is?

Driving back through Glencoe Valley

This sign is a little concerning

We took a taxi back to our apartment as got a late dinner from a take-out donor kebab place down the street. I thought it was pretty good, but not as good as the donor in Delft. However, the rest of my family really liked it because most of them hadn’t had donor kebab before.

After dinner my parents went down to the pub around the corner for a quick drink with John. Lauren and I stayed behind to repack our suitcases, as mentioned before we both had issues with baggage in Scotland. I was happy staying in though because it gave me some more time to rest.

And with that our time in Scotland is over! The next morning we’re off on a train to London. Overall I thought Scotland was a great place to visit. I liked the change coming from Holland and Germany and it was definitely good to be back in the English speaking world again. I want to go back to Scotland again when I’m feeling 100% so I can fully experience the country. I would come back not at festival time though, and I would spend more time in the Highlands where I could slow down and really appreciate the scenery. I guess it’s not a good trip to somewhere though if you don’t want to go back as soon as you leave!