Today we actually slept in. I slept through breakfast...we had been getting up and going everyday that it was nice to just kind of take it slow. Our plans for today simply included driving around and seeing the scenery around Glencoe and visiting Fort William. After we got ready for the day, we took a few pictures outside of our hotel room.
We then drove a little ways and stopped to explore another waterfall. There are waterfalls and castles everywhere in Scotland. Such great places to explore. Glencoe is the mecca for people who like outdoorsy activities....if you can think of an outdoor activity...hiking, canoeing, sailing, ropes courses, skiing, kayaking, you name it....it can be done in Glencoe. This particular waterfall we saw actually had ropes along the rocks so we knew it was a place that many people hiked up. We found a few trails and actually walked up to get a closer look. It was pretty muddy but absolutely beautiful. We also discovered two things while exploring this waterfall....how to use the timer on our camera AND midges. The timer turned out to be very handy for the rest of our trip as we no longer needed someone to take our picture, just a flat surface across the way. The midges, not so much. They are tiny gnat like flies that BITE...they were very pesky and apparantly are found near water. We didn't not hang around long, but we did hang around long enough to take some great pictures.
After exploring the waterfall, we drove up to Fort William. We didn't take many pictures here as we mostly just walked around and went to a few shops. It was a cute little town. There was a very pretty church of Scotland there and a World War II monument that we took a few pictures of ...
Our last big adventure for the day was to go to Glenfinnan. This is the site on the lochs of Glen Sheil where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed and raised his standard (flag) with all of his Jacobite followers before he started the quest to take back Scotland. It is mainly a small museum that tells the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie and a monument that you can climb up to see great scenery. However, to me, the best part of Glenfinnan is that this is the site where parts of the Harry Potter films were shot. In fact, you can see the aquaducts that carried the Hogwarts Express from the top of the monument. It was sooooo.... cool to actually see it. :) You can ride the steam engine...it goes once a day....we did not do this but we definitely will when we go back someday with the kids. :) I have also included a great picture that shows how Bonnie Prince Charlie and George Augustus (who led the English troops) were related. It is a great family chart of both sides. The road to Glenfinnan from Fort William was crazy narrow...in fact for most of it, there was only room for one car. When another car came, one of you had to move over into a pull out area so the other could pass. It was kind of like a game of chicken...made me VERY nervous...but it was a beautiful drive. :)
If you click on this picture, it will show an enlarged version so you can see the family tree
All you Harry Potter fans....does this look familiar???? :)
After we climbed the monument, we climbed up another walking trail to get a better view of the Harry Potter aquaducts. We sat up there for awhile hoping that maybe the steam engine would go past. We did see a train pass but unfortunately it was not the Harry Potter train.
After Glenfinnan, we drove down that very narrow road again and headed back to our hotel. We ate dinner at small inn in Glencoe recommended by Rick Steves. It was very good.
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