For my first trip into the highlands, I took a bus tour with Deb and her family. It was a three day tour with Prestige Tours. It certainly wasn't my preferred way of traveling. Eight hours on the bus with only a couple of stops gives a rather distorted view. My photographer's instinct was driving my crazy as we flew past numerous photo opportunities. However, now I know what I want to go back to see.

The first day we left Edinburgh at 8:45 and drove west to Loch Lomond and up to Glen Coe (site of the English government sanctioned massacre of the Glencoe McDonald clan by the Campbells in 1692). Glen Coe is exceptionally stark and beautiful and I would like to go back and do some hill walking there.

Finally, we drove east along Loch Ness to Inverness (inver- means "mouth of", as in mouth of the river Ness). On the banks of Loch Ness stands Urquhart Castle where we had a rushed stop. The castle was built around 1230 and was destroyed in 1692 after which it was never rebuilt. They did, however, just build a new visitor's centre with a very nice video of the history of the castle. The castle is also the location of most of the Nessie sightings.

The second day of the trip consisted of a trip to Skye so most of the photos are on my Skye photopage. On the way to Skye, we did stop at Loch Ness for some nice views and bag piping music and at an old stone bridge that was built in the 16th century. We also stopped at Eilean Donan castle which is supposedly the most photographed castle in Scotland. Eilean Donan castle was first built in the 13th century, but much of what is there now was reconstructed in 1912. The castle is built on a small rock island in Loch Alsh with an arching stone bridge connecting it to the mainland.

Our last day was spent in Inverness where we wondered around and had lunch at a pub where we watched a shinty match with the local shinty team (shinty is rather like a cross between hockey and football and is only played in Scotland). Then we caught the bus for a quick trip back to Edinburgh.

Bonnie Prince Charlie - While at Eilean Donan castle I was able to see artifacts from the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 when Prince Charles Stuart attempted to raise the Scottish clans against the English to reinstate his Father (the true king of England and Scotland) to the throne. The castle holds an original letter written by the Bonnie Prince in August 1945 to the clan chiefs, giving the dates of his arrival in Scotland and asking for support. They also have a bit of his hair and a piece of his kilt. Sir Walter Scott wrote of the Prince, "The adventurous Prince, as is well known, proved to be one of those personages who distinguish themselves during some single and extraordinarily brilliant period of their lives, like the course of a shooting star, at which men wonder, as well on account of the briefness as the brilliancy of its splendour."

Glencoe - Here is a bit from a poem, The Massacre at Glencoe

Campbell came wi’ English troops...
An’ e’en lower, then he stoops!
The English king ‘ad said to ‘im-
Kill all below three score an’ ten.
An’ kill ‘e did, the scurvy ‘ound-
McDonald blood ran all around...
Betrayal vile, an’ till this day-
The stench, it will na’ go away.
An’ go to Glencoe... an’ it seems-
Of night that one still ‘ears the screams...