9/16/2019 Monday Glassgow - Glencoe- Fort William - Scottish Highlands

(9-16-2019) Monday Day 8 Glasgow – Glencoe – Fort William – Scottish Highlands (2 Nights)

59 high 48 low 52% rain

The Highlander Hotel Newtonmore  Kingussie Rd PH20 1AY, Newtonmore, UK  Phone 44-154-0673341 3*   85 en-suite rooms.  Coffee/tea.  Free Wi-Fi.  Varied menus in restaurant.  Bar/lounge.  Laundry facilities.  15 min. walk to Highland Folk Museum. Six miles from geographic center of Scotland.  Reviews - great staff,  spacious rooms, clean, great breakfast, cute small town,  Phone says 6,166 steps, 2.5 miles and 4 fights climbed

NOT Hotel = Laggan Gaskmore/Carrbridge  (an Authentic Accommodation)   

(Full Breakfast, Dinner)

Nice views, walking path, conservatory, make tea in your room,  Bottled water available for drinking and brushing teeth, sheep nearby, low water pressure, great internet

TOUR INFO "Journey along Loch Lomond, whose bonnie banks were immortalized in the well-known Scottish song. We arrive in Glencoe and remember the MacDonald clansmen who died tragically in the 1692 massacre which led this place to be called the 'Glen of the Weeping'. At the World War II Commando Memorial near Fort William, we admire views of Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis.  Cairngorm National Park is in the Scottish Highlands.   

MY INFO Scottish Highlands is a mountainous region located in the northwest.  Loch Ness is at the center.  This is a sparsely populated area.  Clans were the major social unit and have an interesting history.  

Loch Lomond is a freshwater lake.  It is 22.6 miles long.  By surface area, it is the largest lake in Great Britain.  It has a maximum depth of 153 meters.  It contains 30 or more islands, but it depends on the water level.  It is featured in the song “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond”. (Oh Ye’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road, and I’ll be in Scotland afore ye;  But me and my lover will never meet again on the bonnie, bonnie, banks o’ Loch Lomond.  Loch Lomond is mentioned in other songs, also.  

So I paid extra for an excursion to ride a boat on Loch Lommond against my better judgment.  I should have skipped it.  It was a lake surrounded by hills and trees,  After our boat ride, the bus drove along the same shore.   Earlier today, I cancelled three excursions that cost additional money.  Not liking Trafalgar.  

Glencoe is a village in the Glencoe valley.  In 1692, 38 members of the Clan MacDonald were killed by forces under the direction of King William III’s government following the Glorious Revolution.  The village has been in numerous movies including Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and James Bond’s “Skyfall”.  We drove through Glencoe without stopping.  Our guide told us the story how the Campbells killed the MacDonalds.  We stopped for 45 minutes in Fort William to eat and shop.  I wonder why we didn’t stop in Glencoe as stated in the tour description.   Fort William had one street.  

World War II Commando Memorial is dedicated to the British Commando Forces.  It is one of Scotland’s best-known monuments and it overlooks the training areas of the Comando Training Depot.  It is a cast bronze sculpture of three Commandos. Their attire includes the cap comforter (woolen headgear), webbing (the strong woven fabric used in place of rope) and rifle.   It is 17 feet tall.  “United we conquer” is inscribed around of the top of the stone plinth. A Garden of Remembrance is the final resting place for ashes of World War II Commandos.  We stopped for 10 minutes and took pictures.  

Ben Nevis stands at 1,345 meters above sea level and is the end of the Grampian Mountains.  The summit is a collapsed dome of an old volcano.  The average high is 45 and the average low is 41 in September.  We were told it was covered by clouds. 

Cairngorms National Park is in northeast Scotland and covers 1,748 sq. miles.  The Cairngorms are a spectacular landscape with a range consisting of three main plateaux between 1000-1200 m with higher domed summits to 1300 m. behind.  There is a unique alpine semi-tundra moorland habitat.  Species include ptarmigan, dotterel, snow bunting golden eagle, ring ouzel red grouse, red deer, mountain hare, and reindeer.  

The moors.



About 3:30, we went to our hotel in a wee bit of a small village.  My room had three single beds.  I was like Goldilocks and tried each one and then picked the firmest one.  I went for a quick walk down the one street.  At 4:30, for an additional fee,  we went to a sheep farm to observe a shepherd working his dogs with the sheep.  It was quite amazing.  The dogs worked alone and together.  They can move the sheep slowly, quickly or hold in place; based on the given commands.  We also watched him hand shear the top fleece.  They do not shear with a razor this late in the season, but they do need to remove the top fleece as the sheep will be more comfortable through the winter.  He was able to roll the whole fleece  and tie it into ball.  

This man was “salt of the earth”. Whatever is on his mind comes out of his mouth.  About Brexit, if they don’t leave, it’s the end of democracy and he’ll never vote again.  

Love this puppy!