Although I had the best of intentions, lack of internet access, the slow speed when we did have access, and the pace of our trip has made keeping up with this blog difficult.  But we are home now and I am going to work on catching up today. 

More photos of Stirling Castle

Following our stop at Stirling Castle we visited a small whiskey distillery for a tour and lunch. This is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland.  It also has the distinction of having had a cat who was entered in the Guinness book of world Records for having caught more mice than any other cat. It is documented that over his lifetime he caught almost 29,000 mice. This is known because he lined up his nightly catch on the doormat for the staff to find each morning.  Unfortunately, he passed away and his replacement is said to be a terrible mouser. You knew there was going to be a cat story in here somewhere...

Glenturret Distillery

 

After lunch we headed back to Cameron House through the Scottish countryside.  The winding roads were so narrow that there were times that one vehicle or another would have to pull off to make way for an oncoming car or truck.  It made for an exciting ride but the scenery was beautiful!

Back at the hotel, we had a group session with the falconer before dinner.  I got the chance to hold a Steppe Eagle.  He was a lot heavier than I had anticipated.  The falconer also demonstrated with various owls and hawks. It was very cool.

I kind of got the feeling he might have been try to 

decide if I might make a good snack.

The next morning we headed north to the highlands toward Inverness. We drove through the the Great Glen also known as Glencoe.  This is the area where the British conspired with the Campbell Clan, convincing them to massacre the McDonald Clan. However, the British double crossed the Campbell Clan and failed to keep their promises to the Campbells. More info on the Massacre of Glencoe at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Glencoe 

 

The terrain in this area was so rough that it is hard to believe that the highlanders were able to eke out an existence under those conditions. The lochs in these mountains were formed by glaciers that moved through the area. The weather in the mountains was cold and rainy. At times it felt like the rain was about ready to turn to snow.   

For lunch we stopped at a lovely bed and breakfast run by a very nice Scottish family.  They prepared a delicious luncheon for us.  Princess Anne stayed at the inn two weeks ago. It is situated just across the road from a loch and has a beautiful stream running along side of it. It would be a wonderful place to go back and stay. 

After lunch we headed further north and drove along Loch Ness. We watched carefully but sadly, there were no sightings of Nessie.  We did stop to look at the ruins of a castle that sits on the banks of Loch Ness.

Next Stop, Inverness.