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Glasgow, Scotland - Rush, Rush... - 23 August 2003

Posted by Edmond on Thursday, December 11, 2003 · Comments (2)

My intention of going to Glasgow was to do a quick tour of Stirling and Loch Lomond via a bus tour. I'm not a fan of bus tours, since you tend to have no freedom as I quickly discovered when the bus made a trip to Edinburgh to pick up more passengers. Nevertheless, there was enough time to take in the sights of Stirling Castle, The Trossachs and Loch Lomond, but only just!


Background

I had only just arrived the night before, so I felt quite confused when I had to find my way to the bus station to catch the tour bus. After wandering around endlessly in circles, I finally found the bus station but had to wait a few more minutes before the bus arrived.

I was quite shocked when I found out the bus had to go over to Edinburgh to pick up passengers, making me think I had wasted my trip to Glasgow. But then, Glasgow has a more cosmopolitan feel to Edinburgh, so I'm still looking forward to my mini city tour once this bus tour ends.

First stop was Stirling Castle. Built up on a hill, it overlooks the town of Stirling and the William Wallace Monument - erected in memory of the famous scottish general. Although small, it mirrors Edinburgh Castle in many ways. Like Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle is built on a volcanic hill and has nearly the same shape. The main buildings include the Great Hall, the Palace and Chapel Royal where Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned. Unfortunately we did not get time to go out and visit the town and I had also just realised there was a railway link to Stirling - arrgh the frustrations of doing a bus tour!

As we made our way towards Loch Lomond, the bus drove through the Trossachs. Consisting of woodland, hills and lakes, the drive through the area was really quite scenic. We stopped by the small town of Aberfoyle in the foot of the Trossachs for a quick break before the bus headed back out to Loch Lomond.

We arrived at Balloch, the gateway to Loch Lomond and boarded the small tour boat that would take us out to the lake. It was not till half an hour later when we got to see the lake and the surrounding mountains, the most famous being Ben Lomond. Although it was the largest lake in Scotland (I think), the scenery did not feel that magnificent. Nevertheless, the tour boat did try and make the trip interesting by pointing out at the few famous sites around the lake.


Technical

Digital shots taken with Canon A20 Powershot. Film shots taken with Canon EOS 300V with 28-90mm and 75-300mm USM lense. Fuji 100 Reala and 400NPH film were used.


© Edmond, 2002