paraphernalia

After so many days of city sightseeing, it was fantastic to spend today out in the car exploring the Lochs and scenery to the North West of Renfrew.

We started out driving alongside the River Clyde, across Eskine Bridge (aka Iain's Bridge as it was worked on my Uncle Iain) to Balloch, which is the town at the start of Loch Lomond. We then drove up the western side of Loch Lomond to Crianlarich, then Tyndrum to Glencoe. We stopped at Glencoe for a great lunch and to stretch our legs.

From Glencoe we drove to Castle Stalker (partly submerged in water for part of the day) in Potmacroish by Loch Creran. We then continued onto Loch Awe, home to Ben Cruachen and one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in Scotland. The mountain of Ben Cruachen has loads of tunnels drilled through it allowing water to pass into the Reservoir before dropping 400m in four huge tunnels to provide power to the electric station at the base of the mountain. Quite a feat, and apparently a large minority of Scotland's power is provided this way.

Finally we stopped for tea at the Cruin - a FANTASTIC restaurant near the start of Loch Lomond with views of the Loch and Ben Lomond. I had my first haggis here (which was very tasty by the way - its essentially sausage meat done as a kind of pattie), along with wild salmon in chilli. Mmmmm!

Altogether we visited Loch Lomond, Tulla, Leven, Linnle, Creran, Etive, and Awe! Not too bad for one day!

Tomorrow it's off to Edinburgh, which is the capital of Scotland and home to the world-famous Castle, Royal residence at Holyroodhouse and the Parliament. It's a rugby and kilt-wearing town. On Friday we head into Glasgow, which has taken over from Edinburgh as the heart of modern Scotland, with its industrial and shipbuilding past taken over by finance and a great nightlife. It's definitely a football town, with two of the most popular teams in the world - the Protestant Rangers and Catholic Celtics. Those two teams have some of the most passionate and violent supporters around - and it all stems from Irish politics!

For photos of Loch Lomond, click here