Scotland, my beloved Scotland

Hello dear readers!

I told you I’d be coming back here soon. This morning I woke up so excited because of the blog, I couldn’t wait to finish the house chores to start writing.

DAY ONE

Last Monday we left the house at 9.30am to avoid the Monday morning traffic. Our first stop was Duck Bay restaurant in Loch Lomond, one of my very favourite restaurants in Scotland.

As we got there around 11am, too early to have lunch, we had breakfast instead: pancakes with maple syrup and cappuccino (I must say we really miss Italian bars to have a quick breakfast stop – cappuccino and a fresh croissant – but every country has its pros and cons lol)

After breakfast we proceeded towards Glen Coe, on the way there we stopped at the Green Welly to get some water and sandwiches, because we didn’t want to have to stop again for lunch. The road wasn’t particularly easy to drive through, it’s quite narrow and there were A LOT of lorries and buses…BUT we managed to reach Glen Coe, where we parked and had a nice (but steep) walk.

During the walk we saw some deers. I see many when in Italy, but I never get to observe them, this time on the other hand we had a videocamera with us so we sat down and zoomed in to look at their behaviour, it was really fascinating.

After the walk (and the deer-watching) we proceeded towards Fort William. We hadn’t booked an accommodation in advance, so while my bf was driving I checked out some Airbnbs, but we wanted to stay central so that we wouldn’t have to take the car to go out for dinner, and ended up booking a hotel right in the centre.

We had a nice dinner in a pub that offered Mexican dishes. We were given a table by the window and it was raining outside… Just perfect.

DAY TWO

The following day two famous Highland highlights were on our list.

The first was the Glenfinnan Viaduct (aka the Harry Potter’s bridge).

After a 30-minute drive we got to Glenfinnan, it was cloudy and rainy, but we are used to that, aren’t we? We walked 15 minutes along a trail and reached a point from where we could see the bridge and the loch, it was absolutely beautiful – we even saw the train cross the bridge. Unfortunately it wasn’t the famous Jacobite steam train, because the summer service hasn’t started yet, it was just a standard train, but it was still exciting.

After the bridge, we walked to the loch to see the monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie (also known as Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart, thanks Wikipedia), who claimed the throne of Great Britain but was defeated near Inverness, in the famous Battle of Culloden, then escaped from Scotland. He actually died in Rome.

After Glenfinnan we headed towards our second destination for the day: gorgeous Eilean Donan Castle, in Dornie. I’ve been wanting to visit this castle for many years, but we were always coming to Scotland in the depth of winter (when it was closed) or my family didn’t want to drive 4+ hours to get there and I still didn’t have my driving licence…So, you can imagine my excitement!

We arrived there after 1.30 hours, first we bought the tickets, then had a very late lunch in the café of the castle (you could see it in all its majestic beauty, from the big window).

It’s not allowed to take photos of the interiors, so you’ll have to go there yourself! It was great because you’re provided free audioguides (in Italian, too) and the castle is furnished, it belongs to the MacRae family. The castle also appears in American rom com “Made of Honor”, with Patrick Dempsey. But it has appeared in other movies, as well.

After our castle visit and a 15-minute drive we then reached Kyle of Lochalsh, where the (lovely) b&b I booked during the drive was – Ardenlea. The owners were kind and the place sparkling clean. Moreover breakfast was perfect: local produce, homemade jam… They cooked a full Scottish breakfast for my boyfriend and a full vegetarian one for me.

We really struggled to find a place for dinner (food delivery wasn’t allowed in the bnb), everything was closed, but after wandering aimlessly for 20 minutes we opted for an Indian restaurant – the poppadoms, naan bread and mint sauce were very good. Kyle of Lochalsh is the town where the bridge to the Isle of Skye is. You can actually drive to Skye since they built the Skye Bridge in 1995, there isn’t just the ferry option.

DAY THREE

We didn’t visit the Isle of Skye because we didn’t want to add hours to the long journey back home and because it was raining cats and dogs, so we started heading back home, but on the way back we stopped at Doune Castle, because… That’s where the pilot of Game of Thrones was filmed!

I was soooo excited! Unfortunately I don’t have any photos to show you because my phone died in the meantime ofc.

Well, this was a summary of our 3-day trip to the Highlands… I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading!

C.