On to Glasgow and my daughter

Before we leave England, just a reminder of how dramatic the sky can be there.














The road out of Ambleside passes over some bleak hills and we were soon enshrouded in mist and very heavy rain. Not nice, but the car surged through it all with ease, floods and all and after a few miles we were on the main highway north to Scotland. That said, we still had to pass over the Shap summit at 1350 feet above sea level. Not much in most peoples eyes, but in the southern Scottish hills, it can be Arctic, weatherwise, in winter and is often snowbound. Today, no snow, just blinding rain and the rush of spray as other cars speed past in the fast lane. Fortunately, there seems to be very few trucks on the roads, perhaps a sign of how things have changed since we left Britain 12 years ago (not for the first time, but we had managed to stay for about 5 years that last time!). My memories then were of death-defying drives along motorways seemingly crammed with trucks which in wet weather made driving past them something of a drive into hell - blinded by spray, you could only hope that there was nothing in front of you as you hit 80 mph blind. Nothing of that today, just fast cars!

This time we had managed to pre-book our hotel in a nice little town just on the edge of the city, Milngavie - to those unacquainted with the Scots language it's pronounced millguy (as in man) and it had a great pub/restaurant attached to the car park!

We met Debbie, my daughter, and her boyfriend, Craig, at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery - memories of my father taking me there on a Sunday to see the models of the ships he and the other men in our hometown, Clydebank, had built over the years. They also have a great collection of paintings, including Salvador Dali's "Christ on the Cross" which at this time was out on loan somewhere. That evening we dined at the restaurant next to our hotel and all got to bed feeling rather full - great food and great fun!

Next day, Barbara and I drove up to Loch Lomond - freezing cold north-easterly wind coming directly from Norway! So our visit was couched with dashes into shelter to avoid the ear-freezing wind. BUT, there are some lovely trees -











And the loch's not bad either!












Loch Lomond is Glasgow's loch, in mind, heart and spirt and everyone there believes it is their personal possession, especially after a few wee drams!


Needless to say there were a few hardy spirits about that day and one was a seven year old boy who suddenly appeared with his father. The boy was wearing shorts and a thin tee-shirt.

"Jesus, it's freezin' Da" he said as his father dug into his rucksack to get his son's jacket.

"Aw, he's a hardy wee bugger" was all he could say to us, stuffing a Mars bar into the boys hand.
"He's walked half the West Highland Way, ye know, but no the day, ah mean". The West Highland Way is a 100 mile walk over some pretty rough hills and some of the bleakest moors in Scotland.

"Not bad for a beginner, you'll have him up Ben Nevis before long." was my reply.

"Aw, he did that last year."

Glaswegians are a tough lot!

Next day we met up with Debbie and Craig and decided, as the weather was very clear, we should head for Glencoe via Callander.

Here's what was waiting for us in Glencoe -



Buachaille Etive Mor
(the Big Shepherd of Etive)














More to come......