Okay - so this was the absolute highlight of the trip for me (Marc)! I have been wanting to see the Scottish Highlands for sometime, and as I've said before, it completely lived up to the romanticized notions of the place I've held for some time.
We got an early start and drove west to Glasgow and then north into the Highlands. We started the adventure at Loch Lomond, kind of the unofficial gateway to the Highlands. It is a pretty Loch (I suppose most are . . .), including a drive through some pretty remote spots. Check out my Flickr account for some photos of it - though some photos of the other Lochs are included below. If you're really interested where these places are, some of my photos on Flickr are "tagged" - just look for the "map" link when you click on a photo and you'll see exactly where the photo was taken - at least to the best of my memory.
This first photo is of Ian and Leah in the Dukes Pass. Fantastic drive - another one of those where I wished for either more time to fully explore some of the pull offs, or an empty road with a fast car! Gorgeous scenery and fun to drive.
This next shot is of Ian and Leah standing in front of a boat at Loch Venachar. Beautiful Loch, but it marked the end of our Highland adventure.
Taken in the same spot as the photo above, only I'm standing on the other side of the boat, but basically same angle.
This one is Loch Achray - right after you come out of the Dukes Pass. There is a grand old mansion on the other side of the Loch if you are in front of the white house pictured here.
The remainder of our trip was Christmas Day - we went to the church just next door to our cottage and celebrated there. What fun - they really let their kids go unrestrained and everyone just rolls with it, no big deal that someone's 2 year old climbed up on the pulpit while the preacher was doing her thing. In fact, she even joked about it. Made me think about the old addage: it takes a village to raise a child . . .
The day after Christmas (Boxing Day) we went back to Edinburgh and explored some more. Once again we were going to take a train, but since it was Boxing Day, no trains were running. At all! So we drove again - which was good for me as it meant we got to explore Holyrood Park. We ate lunch at a pub - fantastic! And we spent the remainder of the day shopping along Princes Street and in the trendy areas just north of Princes Street.
That pretty much closes out the story of our Scotland trip. I hope everyone has enjoyed the photos of the kids and our trip. We hope everyone out there has had a Happy Christmas, and a wonderful start to the New Year!
Cheers!
Marc
PS. Some of my favorite photos are also up on Sony's site - feel free to register and vote for my photos, as it might give me a chance to win some cool stuff from Sony - I am in the running for October and November. Thanks!
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