Glasgow - better than expected

Dave on the shores of Loch Lomond with the fog lifting

 I was slightly apprehensive visiting Glasgow, only because it doesn't compare favourably to Edinburgh.  I was reading an article the other week about how Glasgow has an unexplained higher mortality rate than other cities of the same socio-economic makeup and position.  It's almost as if there are dangerous mists rising up out of the River Clyde or something.  The epidemiologists have no idea what else it could be.  To my mind Edinburgh always seemed the much more high-brow town, it had the castle, the comedy festival, the Royal Mile, Arthur's Seat, whereas Glasgow just seemed to have high mortality and deep-fried mars bars.

Loch Lomond in the still morning

Houses on the shore of the Loch with the autumn colours on the mountain

Our original plan on visiting Glasgow was to hire a car and head up to the Trossachs National Park, just north of Glasgow, and try and fit in a hike or two.  But we hadn't factored into our plans the weird bureaucracy of the British.  We had been in London for just over a year when we were planning the trip, and it turns out once you have been here for more than a year, you have to switch your drivers license over to a British one.  It probably wouldn't have mattered, but if you are in a hire care, and something goes wrong, I'm imagining if there's anything not completely legit with your drivers license then you are kind of screwed.  I guess at least we didn't have to sit another test.

Looking towards the village of Luss with the heather beyond

So I took a lot of photos of Loch Lomond

When you get your license switched over you have to give up your Australian license and they destroy it or send it back of something.  What I found most strange about the whole process though is just how hard it was.  You have to provide identification to get your license, and about the only thing they accept is your passport.

The amazing colours of autumn

Brilliant tree in the castle grounds

So you have two options post your passport off to the motor department along with your application form, or pay 9 pounds more and go into one of the only two offices in the UK that can verify your passport in person.  Luckily one of those two offices happened to be in London.  Though by paying the extra money and going in, that only saves you having to give up your passport, they still post off the forms to Swansea and then you have to wait 3 weeks to get your license.  There are so many things wrong with that system I don't even know where to start. Can you even imagine posting your PASSPORT off to the Australian motor vehicle department?  And then 3 WEEKS to be issued a license.

What is even better is that along with the (incredibly ugly) license you also have to carry around this piece of paper.  On the paper the cops will write down any traffic infringements and the such that you might accrue, because apparently it is completely inconceivable that those infringements might be stored on some central database.  I'm not sure what happens when that scrap of paper is eventually worn to shreds from living in your wallet, can you apply for a new piece, or is a whole new license required?

At the "Rest and Be Thankful" Pass

A boat in Loch Lomond

So needless to say there was going to be no driving in Glasgow.  So that put paid to the idea of getting some hiking in.  Instead we decided to just have a look around and joined a Rabbie's tour, it was of the highlands, lochs, glens and castles.  It was pretty good, just 12 people in a small van (which if I'm going to do a tour is the size that I like).  Our first stop was the small village of Luss on the western shores of Loch Lomond.  It was about this point in the tour that I started thinking we have to come back here and explore further.  Loch Lomond is the largest Loch in Scotland, and gets it's name from Ben Lomond.  There are a lot of islands in the Loch, which adds to its charm, apparently on one of the islands there is a colony of wallabies, which seems slightly odd.  Not sure how they survive the Scottish winters.

Inveraray Castle

The ruin of Kilchurn Castle

After admiring the beauty of the Loch (not lake in these parts) it was further north up to the "Rest and Be Thankful" pass in the mountains.  The name was given by English soldiers forced to build a road into the highlands in 1753.  You can see the road in the photo above, it is lying parallel to the main highway and you can sure see the incline all the way up.  This was back when there weren't any bulldozers or the like.  They knew though that once they got to the pass it would be a bit easier for awhile.

Very strange church

Rabbits with very big teeth

There was then a bit of a stop in the village of Inveraray, which was built in the 18th century because the Duke of Argyll wanted to build a castle on the spot where the old village of Inveraray used to stand.  The Duke of Argyll is also the head of the Campbell Clan, and he still spends some time in the castle with his family.  It was another of those Arundel Castle jobs, but much newer, and less imposing.  I think I actually saw the Duke in the gardens whilst we were wandering around.

Since this was a tour of the highlands, lochs and castles we had a few more castles to visit that afternoon.  We had a brief look at Kilchurn Castle, which was built on an almost island in Loch Awe (great name).  It was an almost island because there is actually a narrow strip of land out to the castle, but when it was build the loch was higher than what it was now, so at that time it was technically on an island.  Though if you knew where to walk you could still walk out there, you would just get wet legs.  It was built in 1450 by another Campbell, and was then destroyed by lightning in 1760 and completely abandoned.  It does certainly make for an atmospheric addition to the loch.

The mountains around Glencoe

Waterfall near Glasgow

We then had one of the stranger interludes of the day, visiting a church.  It was built by one of the rich folk around these parts who didn't want his elderly mother to travel so far to church.  Since he was financing the project I guess he decided that he would design it as well, and he couldn't really decide on which style he likes best.  So there are pointless buttresses, square towers, stone and brick all jumbled together.  It does have a great view though, standing on the shores of one of the lochs.  I especially liked the gargoyles, the scariest rabbits I've ever seen.

One of the final stops was Glencoe, famous for a massacre by the Campbells against the MacDonalds, but also stunningly beautiful.  It was about this point in the day that I knew I had to come back here.  For those who have watched Skyfall, the scene where they go up to Bond's house in Scotland was filmed around here.  We actually stopped at the same spot Bond does on his trip.

Skyfall scene

So all in all a surprising day in the highlands, and I felt very sorry for poor old Glasgow.  The tour guide had done a good job of rehabilitating Glasgow in everyone's eyes, so I was looking forward to spending the next day exploring a bit of the town.

It's not the highlands without a cow