Half way there and a slight change of direction

skint_spice

Have a fab time x

ZTD

elantan wrote: »

Well I went to the erasmus meeting yesterday needing to be talked into Erasmus, the meeting wasnt anything special and not very helpful, however, they have put Norway back on the table but threw a wee curve ball in the shape of Sweden as well, so I am interested in going, will need to formally decide if I want to go, it's an 8 week stint and I will be on placement during the stint so not much chance to go see things ( although I will get time to see some stuff) so part of me is thinking is it worth it? and part of me is thinking it could be an exciting adventure.

Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr

Have a good time.

beanielou

Have a good holiday.
Looks like a very busy time.

Agree with Z.

Butti

Sounds great. There's some great places in that list.

elantan

This is gonna be a few long posts so feel free to scoot on a bit if you want to

Well were back and what an amazing time we had, Mr El and I have been very lucky to have been able to afford to go to see some amazing places in our life time, Thailand, West coast of USA and The Gambia were all stunningly beautiful countries, Greece, Spain and Poland also lovely, but I have to say nothing beats the scenery we have just taken in.

I knew Scotland was lovely, I had been told so many times how lovely it was and I saw loads of beautiful pictures, but none of that prepares you for the experience, only one other time on holiday did we not want to come home, usually a few days before coming home were ready to get back to normality, not this time, this time we delayed and delayed as much as we could and we really are not happy to be home, even though we love our home.

so this is what happened.

On the Wednesday we went to Lochgilphead, and booked the caravan in for 3 nights, we went for a wee walk around the town along the shore line of the loch and had a lovely chinese for dinner, the weather was wet but nothing to spoil our day.

Thursday we went to Ardfern for the wedding, and what an amazing time we had, weve never been to a wedding quite as wonderful as this one ( much better than our own) the couple were married on the Craignish pier https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=craignish+pier&imgrc=HSmJfPuTBoloTM%3A which looks over to the isles of Jura and Scarpa, the couple had a humanist ceremony with 14 guests, then it was back to the hotel for a delicious meal and onto the bar connected to the hotel to listen to the entertainment, the bride had been out shopping in Buchanan street in Glasgow and really liked one of the buskers, he agreed to play at the wedding, he was brilliant, a bit like Paolo Nutini, just a lad wi his guitar, a few of the villagers joined our night and we danced and sang and just relaxed, stayed at the hotel for the night before heading back to the caravan, where we spent Friday recovering. On the Thursday for the wedding we had the best weather for the wedding sunglasses were needed and lots of water drank to keep hydrated. On the Friday it poured from the skies so we didnt manage to do the Kilmartin glen that we had planned on doing as it wouldve been a quagmire.

Saturday we headed off towards Glencoe, now we found driving alongside Loch Lomond quite scary the last time so this time we went via Inverary, what scenery, the place was just stunning all the road along. We arrived at Glencoe https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=glencoe+&imgrc=UcEUV1AYUXdF-M%3A at the Glencoe mountain resort which is kinda a wee bit up a hill the wind was mental we thought the caravan was going to take off, we stopped at the resort and had a bite to eat before heading into the caravan and playing a game of chess, through the night some walkers arrived without tents, the wind was howling the rain horizontal and it didnt give up all night, goodness knows how they managed, they sheltered in the doorway of the resort shop and stayed all night, tents were getting blown about the place and people landed up sleeping in the toilets ... now if we had decided to just use the tent we would've turned back at this point, we had done so for less twice already.

After Glencoe we made our way to Reraig which is just up the road from here

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=eilean+donan+castle&imgrc=iib0B2T4r_y0JM%3A so we visited Eilean Donan and went for a wee bit to eat in Dornie, next day we headed to Skye

elantan

So Skye ... where to start with Skye, well we had spoken to a few people before we arrived and had decided to stick to the main road and dump the caravan before going exploring. We spent 6 days 5 nights discovering Skye.

places we visited

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=fairy+pools+skye&imgrc=wIgO0uYV-snThM%3A Fairypools

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=old+man+of+storr&imgrc=dtbFbZGr5ZPGgM%3A the old man of Stor and Troternish ridge


https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=quiraing+isle+of+skye&imgrc=BYfxKCD3OsXvnM%3A the Quairing


https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=the+cullins+&imgdii=-3Roe-aNDqF6IM%3A%3B-3Roe-aNDqF6IM%3A%3BwS_XM0lLBmJYNM%3A&imgrc=-3Roe-aNDqF6IM%3A The Cullins

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=portree&imgrc=z_1-h-MCGkJJOM%3A Portree

As well as the Flora McDonald monument, we had such a great time here, the weather was dry and we got to explore, hiking boots on and up a hill ... midge bites a plenty but worth it

We had a ball here meeting people I know from online for the first time and sharing food and conversations with foreigners we will never meet again but had a great time doing so.


We then got the ferry over to Tarbet on the isle of Harris

elantan

Now where do i start with this leg of the journey, we dumped the van on the isle of Lewis and went exploring. These two islands are connected so I really didnt understand how they can be two islands and not 1 island, then we went and I can totally see why it is 2 islands, oh my goodness the differences are amazing,


Harris, oh Harris, I love Harris, https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=beaches+on+Harris+&imgrc=4Z5e0DOVXEfRnM%3A

everywhere you turn there are clean beaches that seem to go on forever, the water is clear greeny blue and the water is not too cold, it a world away from normality, everywhere you turn is something even more breathtaking to look at, the hills. Mr El and i kept stopping the car to just stand and look and take in the atmosphere, Ive fallen in love with Harris.

Lewis was a more busy place it has the callanish stones, a broch, a coule of blackhouses and whitehouses and even a blackhouse village, we stopped at peoples houses and bought Harris tweed as i had learned that they make it in the garden sheds ... much cheaper than from a company and it helps the local populace out.

There was not a road we didnt drive down a beach we didnt explore we did as much as we could and feel we could happily go back again and do more and see more

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Gorgeous xxxxxxxxxxx

elantan

We then got the ferry back to the mainland to Ullapool and drove down to Dingwall, the ferry trip itself was interesting, we sat in the observation deck and watched the scenery leave us, the water meet us and then the stunning view come back in again as we approached land.

From Dingwall we went to Urqhurt castle, Culloden battlefield Fort George and the clootie well in munlochy.

Culloden affected us both more than we expected it to, it imprints on your psyche and leaves you thinking.

Fort George also affected both Mr El and myself but for very different reasons so this was a strange day

we needed to change the image in our minds so headed for the clootie well


https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&q=csh+pier+&oq=csh+pier+&gs_l=img.3...1096.4337.0.4520.10.5.0.3.3.0.206.505.0j2j1.3.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..4.3.497...0j0i24j0i30j0i10i30j0i8i30.asqCG7TsZzo#tbm=isch&q=munlochy+clootie+well+&imgrc=GQbtyF0yr5UHaM%3A this is the clootie well in munlochy ... its quite a bizzare place to go visit


The next day we headed to Applecross ... we went the coastal road in and the Bealach Na Ba road out

elantan

what a mental road ... and what an amazing view


From there we headed down to Aberfeldy for two nights to finish off the holiday ... oh what a time we had