Isle of Arran, another incredible piece of Scotland

You should visit this island once at least if you're in Scotland. It's incredible. It's not so far away from Glasgow, you just have to book the ferry. I advice you to take your car to be free on the island. 

This is what we see from the Ferry.

This amazing place is in Blackwaterfoot.

This photo was also taken in Blackwaterfoot.

I was very lucky to see the sunset at Seamill beach, the 11th of May 2016 around 21:00.

Isle of Skye, Scotland in all its glory

Oh my god, what an unforgettable trip! 

Car, maps, camera... That is all we needed to enjoy Isle of Skye in March. Indeed, we have hired a car and forecast our route to be sure to visit all the most beautiful places of the island or on the road. We slept in a perfect youth hostel named 'The Cowshed' that I recommend you (Details below). Don't hope using your phone as GPS, we were outside the coverage zone. Cut off from the world in the middle of the sheeps, ideal, right? Yes it is! 

During 3 days, we crossed this island under sun, rain and snow to discover how wonderful were the Scottish wild landscapes. One of our objectives was to take a picture of the emblematic sheeps and cows - we did it! 

We also was looking for some places which appeared in movies like Harry Potter, James Bond or Skyfall. What a privilege to walk in the footsteps of the greatest actors! Can I say that I met Emma Watson? Daniel Radcliffe? Pierce Brosnan? Daniel Craig? Almost...

Glenfinnan Viaduct - Harry Potter (2001) with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.

Loch Shiel - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).

Eilean Donan Castle - James Bond, The world is not enough (1999) with Pierce Brosnan.

Glencoe valley - Skyfall (2012) with Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem.

✔ I also had the opportunity to see the famous Fairy Pools, known to be beautifully crystal clear blue pools on the River Brittle. Unfortunately, it was raining but they are still splendid. 

✔ I saw the famous Loch Ness in Fort Augustus, under a beautiful sun, it was really incredible - this lake seems endless! 

✔ Duntulm Castle, these ruins at the edge of the cliff, also impressed me by its view. 

✔ I stopped to Kilt Rock, a famous sea cliff in north east Trotternish. It's said to resemble a kilt, with vertical basalt columns to form the pleats and the pattern. What an imagination! 

✔ I also could see Old Man of Storr under snow. The name of Old Man of Storr comes from the fact that seen from the front, the rock and the hill of Storr on the back evoke the face of an old man.

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The Isle of Skye is definitely my favourite place in Scotland. I hope you will visit this island at least once in your life. This is an amazing experience! 
By the way, do you remember the title of my blog? 'How did I fall in love with Scotland?' a lot of answers are in this last article. Landscapes, culture, sheeps, cows, lakes, bridges, History. 

I realized a short video to recount all about my three days trip on the Isle of Skye in March and show you all that I had the chance to discover. Feel free to tell me what you think about it in comment.

Youth Hostel: The Cowshed Boutique Bunkhouse Location - Uig, Isle of Skye, IV51 9YD

 07917 536 820 http://www.skyecowshed.co.uk/

Bon appétit!

Fish & Chips

It's impossible to come to the UK without tasting the famous Fish & Chips, on site or take away. When my friends come to visit me, I always bring them savouring one. What a delight!

Haggis

Specifically, the Scottish culinary speciality is the haggis, a stuffed ewe's stomach. Yes, it's better not to know how this is done I grant you. But, well-cooked it's delicious!

If you want a good place to savour these specialities, let me advise you to go to The Chippy Doon The Lane (details below). You can get a good deal for your money and they have an incredible sauce for fries. 

The Chippy Doon the Lane - 84 Buchanan St, McCormack Lane, Lanarkshire G1 3AJ

0141 225 6650 http://thechippyglasgow.com/

Scottish Breakfast

You can't miss the Scottish breakfast when you're in Glasgow. It often contains haggis, tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, sausages, toasts, potato scone, hash brown, eggs (poached, fried or scrambled), etc... You can also eat this breakfast at home, feel free to make it yourself!

Irn-Bru

Morever, I noticed that everyone drink Irn-Bru in Scotland. This is the famous national drink, the main competitor of Coca-Cola. Its characteristic? It’s bright orange. Its taste? Sugar. I tasted and I keep a bad memory of it. Try it and let me know what you think about it!

As adventurers

This was our first trip to the adventure! All has been planned really quickly. At the beginning of January, we came back to Glasgow but we were still in vacation. So we decided, with our neighbours, to visit Scotland. We chose some places to go and defined an itinerary to book a youth hostel. The next day, we hired a car and began our two days trip. We couldn't leave Scotland without check all we heard about the famous Loch Ness monster!

The first day, we joined Inverness and found the Loch Ness at nightfall. The water looked so deep. We didn't see the famous monster... excluding in the middle of a roundabout! On the road for our youth hostel, we stopped at waterfalls.

After a restless night, we took the direction of Loch Moy at 9am. It was snowing thus it was really enjoyable. After, we found a castle, unfortunately closed to public for the winter. We saw some ruins and a big bridge too. Then, we stopped to Aviemore to eat a Fish & Chips (not great, by the way!) and on the return road we could see snowy mountains, before stopping one last time, to Perth.

Despite the Scottish weather, this little trip will remain a good memory.

Botanic Gardens, a haven of peace

This is one of my favourite places in Glasgow. Botanic Gardens was located in the West End, near the subway station named Hillead. You can observe there a huge variety of plants and flowers inside the twelve greenhouses. By the way, one of them - the Kibble Palace - was created in 1873 and is still one of the biggest in UK. Not too bad!

If you prefer animals you can also feed gray squirrels and small chickadees. It’s really funny and soothing! For the sporty ones, feel free to do exercise in this fabulous place. For the literary ones, why not bring your favourite book and read it among fauna and flora?

You understood it, I recommend the Botanic Gardens for the Nature lovers or just for people looking for a peaceful environment.

Forever kids

I knew that it was raining in Scotland but I didn’t think that we could have snow too. Indeed, when we woke up on this January morning, my flatmates and I saw that it was snowing in Glasgow. What an amazing surprise! Our French neighbours called us to go to enjoy it in the common courtyard - obviously when is snowing we’re still kids! By the way, a stupid guy threw eggs on us from his window... It wasn't funny but it didn't discourage us! We enjoyed the weather to make some photos of the city in a new light.

Later I knew that it was exceptional in Scotland and there isn’t snow enough where I live in France so we were very lucky. Glasgow under snow was really beautiful as you can see here.

Moving... or almost

For the second semester, we had to move in another flat because the first one was too small for three persons. So we said bye-bye to our beautiful view on Glasgow city centre... Even more beautiful with a double rainbow as you can see here!

But we are lucky because our new flat is in the same building than the other one and well-equipped. Obviously, the view of the common courtyard made us dream less but we are still near the centre. It’s a new adventure!

Xmas in Scotland

Even if I came back to France to enjoy Christmas with my family, I attended all preparations in Scotland. Indeed, I had the chance to go to Edinburgh for the Christmas market and I also enjoyed Christmas decorations or the 'Santa Dash' in Glasgow. 

Edinburgh

I went to Edinburgh especially for the Christmas market that I had heard about. It was really impressive! It was like 'a little city in the city' where we could find an outdoor rink, dozens of stalls, a Ferris wheel, Christmas lights of all kinds and the caravan of a fortune-teller (Madame Irma? Maybe). All the city was also beautifully decorated.

Edinburgh

Glasgow was also magnificently-decorated especially the Princes Square as you can see below. 

Princes Square, Glasgow

Princes Square, Glasgow

George Square, Glasgow

Argyle Street, Glasgow

But what marked my Christmas in Scotland is the 'Santa Dash', a run allowing all Father Christmases to redecorate city streets in red and white. What an event! 6000 participants was recorded this year...This is not a competition, some kids and dogs ran. Yes, they really did it! 







To celebrate Christmas in Scotland, we organised a dinner with our French and Swiss neighbours. And because Christmas without presents is not really Christmas, we planned a lucky draw for the gift distribution. 

 Cheers!

Highlands Experience

During a one day trip organised by Isuk Tour, I had the chance to visit some wonderful places of Scotland. It was in November so it was cold even with the sun.

First, we stopped at Hermitage - a National Trust for Scotland - and we walked in the wood trying to take in photo the sunbeam through trees, from the Ossian's Hall.

 

At Hermitage (Left) and at the Blair Athol Distillery (Right)

Pitlochry

What is the interest to go to Scotland without tasting the whisky from its source? Of course we did it! Indeed, our next stop was the Blair Athol Distillery in Pitlochry. So we visited it and we discovered the way to produce this kind of alcohol (no photos allowed because of the professional confidentiality). Obviously, we tasted the whisky at the end. Yes it was 11:00 and so what? There is no specific time to sip a good whisky in Scotland!

Then we ate at Pitlochry, charming small city with view on the Highland hills. We made shopping in some gift shops in the main street. My favourite moment? When we took a hot chocolate in a welcoming café!

Finally we arrived at Queen's view, one of the most iconic panoramas in Scotland. These are not bullshits! What an amazing view on mountains and I think it's even better in summer. So we took photos and enjoyed the spectacular view.

This trip has been short but intense. It has left us good memories of Scotland landscapes. If I am you, I will run to go there!

 

Queen's view

Glasgow, cultural area

In addition than attractive streets where we can make shopping and River Clyde where we can go for a walk, Glasgow is very proud of its cultural and it highlights it. I'm going to present you some museums that I visited once at least.

 

Kelvingrove Museum

In the West End, we can find the Kelvingrove Museum, one of the most important museums in Scotland, next to the Kelvingrove Park. We can’t miss this big red building to the Spanish baroque style. Impressive! It contains a large variety of works from the Renaissance to Surrealism. There are also exhibitions about Natural history, paintings, sculptures, military works, Ancient Egypt works, Mackintosh's works exhibitions and Glasgow Style works. Each one can find its happiness! One of my favourite works is this one (see photo above), it lets me think about the Harry Potter’s style.

The Hunterian Museum

The University of Glasgow

In the West End, we can also visit the University of Glasgow, with a really impressive architecture, which contains its own museum called the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery. It’s the oldest public museum of Scotland, it opened in 1807 thanks to a legacy from the anatomist William Hunter. Anatomist? it means nice exposed pieces of human body... Sensitive souls, abstain!

In the south of Glasgow, I also visited a little museum called Scotland Street School Museum located in a former school. It has been designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh from 1903 to 1906. Inside, you can find classrooms like they were, numerous years ago. There are also exhibitions and activities to make public participate.

All of these places offer free entry. If you're coming visit Scotland one day, you can find the addresses of the best museums of the country HERE.