Our adventure begins at the Stuttgart Airport, where they used the COVID downtime to introduce user-friendliness additions like LED color-changing accents.
We arrived in Scotland and were greeted by the official jacket of Scotland.
We didn't have anything else to do so we took the Airport bus to Glasgow.
It was a great city to visit but our kids are out of practice being in cities where people aren't German.
The next day we picked up our rental van, which was larger than expected, was available later than expected, and was in worse condition than expected. We drove north through the sometimes excessively narrow Loch Lamond park and stopped at a place called the Drover's Inn.
Haggis is actually very good.
The inn was loaded with antiques and taxidermy, which was great for keeping the kids' brains going. It's been around since 1705.
We continued towards Oban, but saw the Lochy River and had to stop and have a taste.
The water was sweet and none of us got sick.
Next stop was E CASTLE
The sign was incorrect. It is Kilchurn Castle. It was a nice walk to get to it and everyone needed that. It was a functioning castle from the 1400s to the 1700s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilchurn_Castle
We were still several days before the unofficial opening of tourist season in Scotland, so of course it was closed. This one is probably closed longer-term for renovations.
The castle is next to a big green bog full of spongy peat that squishes under your feet and sticks to trees.
Our next stop was just down the road at St. Conan's Church. It had a beautiful side facing the road and a maybe more beautiful but confusingly elaborate side facing the loch.
This one under construction since the 1800s and was finished in 1930. https://www.stconanskirk.org.uk/
We moved quickly to Oban because we were scheduled to take the Isle of Mull ferry at a certain time.
We got on parked on the ferry next to a tractor with wheels as tall as Jeffrey.
Oban faded behind us and we watched the sun set on the way to Mull.
Cruising by Dunollie Castle. This one was apparently very functional and used for its intended purpose many times. A castle at this site was "attacked or burned down" in Irish records in 686, 698, and in 701. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunollie_Castle
Hugo thought the small islands were the most interesting thing. He wanted to get off and stop on each one. This one is Maiden Island.
For those who stayed above deck, there was a lady excitedly shouting about dophins and porpoises in a thick Scottish accent. She was either friends with or part of a research team on Mull.
Lismore lighthouse
The blue jacket here is the shouty lady. Her enthusiasm was appreciated and people were asking her a bunch of questions.
Duart Castle, home of the Macleans, of which we had a few in our party. We landed in Craignure and drove to our Airbnb in Tobermory as the last light faded.
Tobermory is cute and touristy, with plenty of shops and a few Inn/hotels. It's the biggest town the the area, but the area is remote.
It looked like this was used more as a community center than a church. The real church is up on the hill.
We drove down to Duart Castle to pay a visit. We knew it would be closed but it was worth wandering around the grounds.
This is Hugo's pose for when the harsh Scottish sun is too much for him. Come to think of it, he does the same pose in the relentless German sun.
The bogs here were even more peaty than the last castle.
The tide was out, so this castle also had shallows to play in. The kids had fun looking for interesting animals.
Possibly a baby brittle star or spiny starfish found by Jeffrey.
Our Maclean collection.
After this we visited a much more obscure landmark, the Loch Beg Bridge. It proved to be a great stopping point with something for everyone. For the grown-ups, it had a big, historic bridge and a series of beautiful, river carved stone platforms. For the kids, a place with water to throw rocks in.
Apart from the bridge and the road signs, this part of Scotland could have just as easily been somewhere in the American southwest.
Both big kids wanted to wade in the water, and when allowed to do so, promptly fell in.
The slightly soggier but still spirited party made its way to Fionnphort, where we awaited a ferry to Iona.
Iona has a long history. It was first attacked by viking raiders in 795. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_Abbey
The whole abbey had a real relaxed, restore-at-our-own-pace, kind of feel. Plenty of plants growing in the walls.
When your son asks you to watch one more episode of Power Rangers on your iPad and he doesn't even have COVID anymore.
When you have two burritos.
If you make it all the way to Iona, you can just walk in and look at all of this old stuff. It seems like nobody really guards it or charges you anything.
The kids played on the rocks and the beach while waiting for the ferry back.
Golf courses should only be legal in Scotland.
We pulled over at this 3-loch viewpoint on the way back up Mull. The kids instantly jumped out of the car and sprinted over the boggy hills. It looked like a cartoon with them popping in and out of view, getting smaller and smaller each time.
From this particular spot, you could see four lochs.
We had a nice dinner and spent the next morning shopping at Tobermory.
We took the ferry from Balmeanach to Lochaline.
Then the Corran ferry.
From there we headed straight up, past Fort William where we had a mediocre lunch, easily the worst meal of the trip, and Loch Lochy, which everyone loved the name of, to the south end of Loch Ness.
We needed to make it to Inverness to check in so we wouldn't have dinner too late but we stopped on the north end of Loch Ness so the kids could get some good, quality, throwing rocks into water time.
Inverness was quiet.
We had an excellent dinner and everyone left happy.
The next day we moved down to Carrbridge, where we first visited the Old Pack Horse Bridge. It was old (1717), and it was a bridge.
https://hiddenscotland.co/listings/the-old-packhorse-bridge/
Some of us had to cross it, of course.
Then we moved on to the Landmark Forest Adventure Park. It had several distinct sections.
The first was the Bamboozeleum.
We were thoroughly bamboozled. There was also a kids' climbing area and a maze. Then there was a butterfly garden.
Then the dinosaur park, then the funhouse garden walk. Pretty good for a park that's partially closed for winter.
If you were to ask a random person on the street to draw the location of the World Porridge Making Championship, theres a good chance they would draw something like this.
We proceeded to our Airbnb for the Cairngorms, which was easily the nicest of the trip.
Across Scotland there were massive trees uprooted due a recent windstorm that was the worst since 1968.
The best thing to do when you don't know what every individual would like to do is just go hiking. Fortunately our special guest grandparents for this hike like hiking more than some of our regular party.
The bogs were so peaty
We visited the ruin of a village. As with many stories in Scotland, almost everyone died. https://canmore.org.uk/site/24301/druim-an-aird
The hike down was much more treacherous than the hike up and muddied many boots. The train faded to a suggestion and the bogs got boggier. Fortunately, everyone involved survived.
We passed by this historic site on our way back to the airbnb.
This is a lot more context than you get at most of these historical sites.
Typical Airbnb activities
We had a fresh coat of snow the day we left.
We moved south to the shopping/hiking supersite belonging to Clan Bruar.
Someone showed up with good taste.
One must appreciate having very specific picnic supplies.
From there it was the Scottish Crannog Centre in Loch Tay. They didn't have their reproduction Crannog anymore since it burned down a little while ago, but the staff decided that didn't matter and they're keeping the place afloat until they can build another one. They even tailored our experience towards a family with 4 year old.
We stopped at a stone circle that was 5000 years old in the oldest parts but had younger additions that were 2 and 3 thousand years old. Building on perfection should always be allowed.
We stopped for dinner at The Falls of Dochart Inn, which had a surprisingly wide variety of excellent food.
We pulled into Balquhidder and our airbnb as daylight faded.
It was easily the most eclectic of the trip, though it looked normal outside.
Our next door neighbor was none other than Rob Roy's grave. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Roy_MacGregor
What's left of the old church in the town graveyard.
I do like it when the places we stay are this charming.
This is the new church in Balquhidder.
We drove south, had breakfast, and headed on to Glasgow, but not before stopping at a place to throw rocks in water.
We walked south from the airport bus stop and found our way to where this kid saw the cops flash their lights and felt the need to respond.
All of the luxury watch shops in the area were empty. The supply has not kept up with the amount of people who are have the means to be part of the demand.
Our flight was delayed and that pushed our entire trip into dangerous territory for traveling with children. They did extremely well, considering the circumstances.
We made it home around 11. No problem, easy.
