Lochs and Castles

I already blogged about going to Loch Ness. Thursday we took a day trip up to Loch Lomond. We took a boat out on the loch where our tour guide told us it was the largest fresh water loch in Scotland. It's funny because the guide on the tour of Loch Ness said the exact same thing. I realized (and Wikipedia confirmed) that what they meant was that Loch Lomond is the largest loch by area, while Loch Ness is the largest by volume.

Here are some pictures of the Loch. It rained that day. (Hence the ominous clouds.) But it didn't rain when we were there. "No rain" is Scottish for "good weather."

Julia and me on our Loch cruise. (It was cold.)

I couldn't resist this, even though it was less dramatic than that one movie I've never seen.

That mountain that is topped with clouds is the original Ben Lomond. We thought this cool because, as our guide pointed out, there are a few other mountains in the world called Ben Lomond -- including one in Utah (we cheered), and one in California (who knew). (Ben Lomond in Utah is very near where I am originally from.) But, he was quick to note, this is the original. It would be cool to hike.


Did I mention it was cold?

Loch Lomond is the site of Scotland's first national park. It and the surrounding area is beautiful.





In addition to Lochs, Scotland is famous for castles. And we saw many of them. Here's a brief recap of the ones we saw. (We saw at least one almost every day!) Some are more intact than others.

Urquhart Castle, on the shores of Loch Ness.






Bothwell Castle, very near Mary and Luis's flat (where we stayed).






Stirling Castle, of Braveheart fame (so they tell me).









Bulloch Castle, on the shores of Loch Lomond.



And of course, Edinburgh castle.








In Edinburgh we also found our street....even if it is misspelled. :)