Goodbye Skye

Monday 3rd October

We left Portree and retraced our steps crossing the bridge joining the island to the mainland, past the Eilean Donan Castle again which belongs to the McCrae clan. The Chief had a dream that he would restore the dilapidated castle but no-one could find the original plans so he renovated it as he saw it in his dream. Many years later the plans were found and the renovated castle was built exactly in accordance with those original plans. We continued back tracking for some time but we were getting a different vista of the hills we drove through and passed the day before. There was a heavy mist and rain with high winds, but the views were spectacular. This part of the world is well worth a visit by everyone, I cannot say just how impressive it was. We passed Glencoe, where another massacre took place between clans. I can’t believe that these people live together now after all the blood they have spilt over the years.

We left Glencoe and travelled through the moors until we got into the Loch Lomond area. We were supposed to take a boat trip on Loch Lomond, but cancelled that due to the poor weather. Loch Lomond is the largest fresh water lake in Britain. At the bottom of these Lochs there live “kelpies” – fairies, but not nice fairies and locals will not swim in these waters as these bad fairies will get them!

Our destination today was Glascow. As we entered we passed Dumbarton where the Cutty Sark was built. Then we passed Clydebank where the Queen Mary ship was built. The River Clyde was a major shipbuilding place. Glascow doesn’t have a lot of outstanding features, though as our Tour Guide and Driver both come from Glascow there was a hard sell! It soon became obvious though that many great people have originated from this city.

Tonight we went out to the Wetherspoon pub with some American and Canadian fellow travellers and had a very nice meal and chat. We were the only Aussies among the eight of us and it was interesting listening to their points of view about various things.