We thought as long as we were all the way in Edinburgh, we should see some of Scotland’s countryside.    We’d booked a small bus tour, a twelve seater, out of Edinburgh on Grey Lines for Saturday.   It picked us up at 8:45 in the morning.

Our first stop was Glasgow where we saw the cathedral where St Valentine is buried as well Georges Square.    We were then onto Loch Lomond and had the option of taking a boat tour.   Although chilly, we decided to take the plunge into the water on the small vessel.  We delighted in lovely Scottish views.

Taking off down the river towards Loch Lomond

Chilly mountains in the background

Scotland has great architecture

Why not have a scotch on the boat?  When in Scotland….

We then continued to the town of Aberfoyle and onto Duke’s Pass where we viewed ‘the Highlands in Minature’.    Our uber-short time in Scotland (36 hours on the ground) didn’t leave time to go to the Highlands, in the North part of the country.    Nevertheless, the scenery in the midlands was really neat and we enjoyed the unique animals.

Duke’s Pass.  Our driver said not to worry about the ‘slipping’ as we rounded each bend on the icy pass. 

Why, hello.

We ventured on to Stirling and had an opportunity to explore.   While we didn’t go into the castle, we had a good time meandering around.  We tried not to fall down on the rock solid ground and icy paths.  And, when we got too chilly, we headed to a local pub for a scotch.

Monument to William Wallace, near Stirling

An icy path leading to Gabe, taking it all in

Beautiful sunset on Stirling castle

While we were continually cold that day, we’ll always have warm memories of Scotland.

Finding shelter in a scotch house