Final day in Scotland

Yesterday was our final day in Scotland. We were up bright and early to go on a tour (we were finally able to book one!) to Loch Ness, Glencoe and the highlands. Our first stop was Loch Lomond. It was just a 15 min photo stop, but it was a different part of Loch Lomond than Matt and I explored earlier so it was nice to see from a new vantage point.

We went through the highlands, through Rannoch Moor and the Black Mount to reach Glencoe- the site of the massacre of the MacDonald clan.  Our tour guide told us the history involving the history of the clans, wars going on, what happened and why. He was a fantastic tour guide- spoke very clearly and didn't hesitate. It was obvious his stories weren't just from a script. He knew what he was talking about and was able to tell his stories in an interesting way with some humour.

We stopped in Fort William for lunch, which was funny because this was the 3rd time Matt and I had been in Fort William for lunch in the same plaza. Luckily it was a nice cafe with good food.

We continued on our way passing the Great Glen, Britain's highest mountain Ben Nevis (although with the fog we couldn't see it... The tour guide said "Damn! They moved it again!"), the Caledonian canal, Fort Augustus and then Loch Ness- home of the sea monster! We saw Urqhart Castle at Loch Ness and went to the visitors center. I learned that I am a descendant from the MacClean clan and picked up a small book with information about my family history. Urqhart castle was really cool too, Matt and I literally ran through it, up all the wet and rainy stairs so we could see as much as we could before catching our river cruise across Loch Ness. That cruise was only half hour. Matt and I stayed on the top of the deck rather than inside so we could see everything. We were the only people who stayed up there the entire way because of the rain, so we had the entire boat top to ourselves and an awesome view! On the other site, we wandered the souvenir shop breifly and were on the bus again.

The bus went to Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, and then started its return home. We crossed the Grampian Mountains, Perthshire and did one last stop for a brief food and washroom break in Pitlochre -ran to an ATM, ate some poutine in the snow while walking back to the bus... Poutine wasn't actually on the menu, Matt and I asked for chips with cheese and gravy. It was funny because they put the gravy on and then the cheese on top. During the ride, the tourguide (who was also the bus driver) told us a lot more history and statistic and put on some traditional Scottish songs for us to listen to, also explaining the meaning of the songs and the circumstances that caused them to be written.

After the tour, we went to the hotel to grab our luggage which the person behind the desk looked after for us for the day. He offered us a cup of coffee before we went to the bus station. We had a couple hours to kill and I wanted to find somewhere to charge my phone. After a lot of walking in the rain, we never did find a place but we did find icecream :)

The bus ride was scheduled for 11pm. We got there about 10 and were hanging out waiting around. We ended up on an earlier bus, but this one was more cramped and the toilet was broken and smelly. Thankfully we weren't sitting right in front of it this time. This bus did make stops (unlike the one to Glasgow) and got to London 2 hours early at 6am.

Matt and I went to sleep from about 7-12 because we didn't sleep much on the bus but at the same time, wanted to be able to sleep tonight and not be too awake. We got up, did our laundry, showered and I did a bit of cleaning. Now I'm going to upload pictures, we are going to get some grocery shopping again and find a New Years Party to crash :)