Around Scotland In One And A Half Days

You have some American friends staying. The weather is dire. The midges are starving and are biting hard. It is the usual damp/wet/cool August in the North of England.

What do you do?

Well, there's only one possible option. Head for Scotland. I'm biased, of course. I love the place with such a passion that any excuse to pop over the border I grab with gusto.

Here was a chance to go round Scotland on a personal tour of self indulgence, showing off the best bits and the hidden treasures of my favourite place. I felt as if I had won the lottery. Through rose tinted spectacles we set off and sure enough, by the time we had reached Glasgow, the clouds had lifted and there was rarely another drop of rain during the trip.

A large chunk of Scotland in one and a half days. Paradise or Purgatory. No doubt you will have your own views. In a nutshell it was:-

Gretna Green - Glasgow- Helensburgh - Loch Lomond - Inverarary Castle - Oban - Connel Bridge - Glencoe - Fort William - Loch Ness - Inverness - Grantown-on-Spey - Strathdon - Braemar - Perth - Dunfermline - Edinburgh - Leith - Thirlstane Castle and Carter Bar.

We saw castles, monsters, ghosts, plague victims, kings, queens, princes, princesses, warriors, highland dancers, caber tossers, gamekeepers, shooters, smokers, kilted guzzlers, hoodie wearing youths and a drunk woman in a leopard print dress standing outside a bar who we mistakenly asked directions.

'The mill? Now let me see - it's thataway,' she said, waving her arms and pointing her finger in every direction through a 360 degree angle, before weaving her way along the pavement.

'I guess it's all part of the Scottish experience,' one of the guests observed.

'Naturally,' I said.

Love Scotland. Love the people.