Day 14: Depart from Glasgow
Day 0, Friday, 17-Jul-98
Finish packing, board airplane for 11-hour flight from San Francisco
to London (Heathrow).
Day 1, Saturday, 18-Jul-98
Everyone else arrives in Glasgow during the afternoon. Joe and Sally
arrive at 9:30pm, missing the toast with the group, and did not meet
Brian and Noel until the next day.
(Several members of the tour have their own home pages or e-mail. See
list at bottom of page.)
Day 2, Sunday, 19-Jul-98
[Map 1] (Glasgow and Ayr on left, Carlisle near bottom)
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- First day
- on the red
and white Globus (Brendan) bus.
- Alloway
- birthplace of Robbie Burns
- Moffat Woolen Mill
- Sally picks up a multifunction lap-robe/shawl/blanket
- Gretna Green
- where the local blacksmith performed weddings for couples
on the run
- Carlisle Castle
- situated on the other side of the current border with England
[152 miles, 245 kilometers]
Day 3, Monday, 20-Jul-98
[Map 1] (Hadrian's wall along old border with England)
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- Hadrian's Wall
- built in the first century, A.D., it marked the extent of the
Roman Empire
- Jedburgh Abbey and
Melrose Abbey
- ruins
- Abbotsford House
- home of Sir Walter Scott
- Edinburgh
- first of two nights in this city
[130 mi, 209 km]
Day 4, Tuesday, 21-Jul-98
[Map 2] (Edinburgh at the bottom)
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- Edinburgh
- local tour guide describes the old city and the new city, then
leads a tour of the Castle and Hollyrood Palace
[6 mi, 10 km]
Day 5, Wednesday, 22-Jul-98
[Map 2] (Aberdeen on right)
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- Edinburgh
- leave the city via the Forth Road Bridge
- St. Andrews
- visit the Royal and Ancient Golf Club
- Glamis Castle
- childhood home of the Queen Mum
- Aberdeen
- wealth of the North Sea oil and gas fields
[142 mi, 229 km]
Day 6, Thursday, 23-Jul-98
[Map 2] (Aviemore near top)
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- Balmoral Castle
- the Queen's residence during hunting season
- Spey Valley
- home of The Glenlivet Distillery and others
- Aviemore
- popular resort town in the Cairngorm Mountains
[122 mi, 196 km]
Day 7, Friday, 24-Jul-98
[Map 3] (Wick near top)
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- Culloden Visitor Centre
- the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie
- Inverness
- capital of the Highlands
- Dunrobin Castle
- Dukes and Earls of Sutherland
- Caithness Glass Factory
- Works of art in molten glass
- Wick
- optional excursion to Lybster to meet the locals in a pub
[145 mi, 233 km]
Day 8, Saturday, 25-Jul-98
[Map 3] (Orkney at top)
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- Dunnet Head
- northernmost point on the British mainland
- John O'Groats
- board ferry to the Orkney Islands
- Churchill Barriers and Scapa Flow
- Italian Chapel
- Ring of Brodgar
- Orkney's Stonehenge
- Skara Brae
- 5,000-year-old neolithic village
- Leave South Ronaldsay
- return to Wick for a second night. (The parade for the community
fund-raising parade started out in front of our hotel.)
[50 mi, 80 km]
Day 9, Sunday, 26-Jul-98
[Map 3 + Map 4] (along top edge)
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- Thurso
- start of due west travel along the top of Scotland
- Smoo Cave
- side trip to a large natural cave in
Durness, formerly used by smugglers
- Heilan' Coo
- the bus stops to allow photos of these
shaggy cattle.
- Ullapool
- optional boat trip to see the wildlife on the loch
[153 mi, 246 km]
Day 10, Monday, 27-Jul-98
[Map 4] (Ullapool at end of ferry line, Oban at bottom)
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- Suspension Bridge
- unlisted attraction (I need a photo of this, and its location)
- Inverewe Gardens
- plethora of subtropical plants (warmed by Gulf Stream)
- Inverlochy
- quick lunch stop, wonderful sunshine turning quickly to rain
- Loch Ness
- trip through the Great Glen, along the Caledonian Canal,
past Castle Urquhart
- Ben Nevis
- Scotland's highest mountain, 1343 meters (4406 feet)
- Oban
- fishing port with its own distillery
[234 mi, 377 km]
Day 11, Tuesday, 28-Jul-98
[Map 4] (Oban, Mull, Iona at bottom)
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- Mull
- everyone (including the tour bus) on the ferry to the Isle of Mull
- Iona
- foot ferry (no bus) to the tiny Isle of Iona, site of a
nunnery and
St. Columba's monastery
- Oban
- Brian and Noel, our bus driver and tour guide, back on the mainland.
[74 mi, 119 km]
Day 12, Wednesday, 29-Jul-98
[Map 5] (Oban at left, Loch Lomond at center)
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- Loch Lomond
- the "Bonnie, Bonnie Banks, of Loch Lomond" (large lake)
- Glasgow
- tour of the city, including the Museum of Transport, and
a dinner party at a pub
[95 mi, 153 km]
Day 13, Thursday, 30-Jul-98
[Map 5] (Aberfoyle directly above Glasgow)
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- Bannockburn
- Robert the Bruce defeated the English army here
- Stirling
- historic setting of Braveheart
- Scottish Wool Centre
- in Aberfoyle
- Farewell Dinner
- wonderful toast to our hosts, Noel Wade (tour director) and
Brian Troughton (bus driver).
[75 mi, 121 km]
Total: 1378 miles, 2218 kilometers
Day 14, Friday, 31-Jul-98
The tour group breaks up. Most flying back to the United States.
Joe and Sally pick up a rental car and drive to the
Isle of Skye for an additional week in Scotland.
Saint Brendan, the navigator
Glasgow, Ayr (Robbie Burns), Carlisle Castle, Edinburgh Castle
Glamis Castle, Aberdeen, Balmoral Castle, Glenlivet, Aviemore
Culloden, Dunrobin Castle, Caithness Glass Factory, Wick, Skara Brae
Smoo Cave, Coos!, Ullapool, Inverewe Gardens, Lock Ness, Oban, Mull, Iona
Oban, Loch Lomond, Glasgow, Bannockburn, Stirling Castle, Aberfoyle sheep
This section is reserved for links to the home pages of members of this
tour. Please send e-mail to smith@inwap.com
to have a link to your home page or e-mail address added here.
[back]
Everyone else arrives in Glasgow during the afternoon. Joe and Sally
arrive at 9:30pm, missing the toast with the group, and did not meet
Brian and Noel until the next day.
