Loch Lomond

Sorry this is later than I planned, lads and lassies.

So, the Loch Lomond trip. The day started off well, with everyone else in the group, save me, deciding that going off the night before and getting completely pissed was a good idea. So, since the bus leaves at 10 AM, and it is an 45 minute walk to the main campus, we should be up by eight, gone at nine. Guess who was still asleep at 9 am? Everyone. Finally, we got a taxi, and arrived just in time.

It's about two hours from Edinburgh to the Loch. This is two hours through some of the most astonishing gorgeous countryside I've ever seen. America, give up now. I've never seen anything like it. I've traveled through upstate NY, the Carolinas, Georgia, Maine, New England and everywhere in between, and this is the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen.

First getting to the loch is a bit startling. It's a national park, so it's built up, with a nice, if rather expensive, shopping center front and center. Going through this, you see the Loch for the first time. And at first, it's not impressive. But then, you come around the bend in the path, and you see the body of the lake, spread out before you. Shrouded in fog, with the far banks looking like a fairy world, and a town, wavering delicately in and out of sight. If any of you every wondered why this country produced people like David Hume, Adam Smith, James Connolly, Mark Knopfler, James VI and I, John Knox, Walter Scott, George Macdonald, A.A. Milne, Robert Louis Stevenson and Rabbie Burns, then you don't have too any longer. Stay too long in this climate, gaze too long at this scenery, and you'll turn into a poet sure as god made little green apples. No wonder this country produces such a disporportunate percentage of writers, poets, and scientists.

There is, among other attractions, a lovely little castle, set up by some early eighteenth century lord. Lucky bastard got to live there. To anyone who might be going there-when you first enter the park, you walk a bit, taking the main path. It will look like you are going into town. Cross over the bridge, and you're back in the park though. There is a point where the main path splits, and you can either go over field and fen, then up to the castle, or go along hugging the shore of the loch. What I did was stick with the loch, then cross over (wear waterproof boots or shoes.)If the fog is thick enough, you can't see the castle, until you're headed up the hill. My advice for a a good view, there is a small, paved path leading to the left of the castle (as you are facing it. There is a tree on one side, and a tree stump on the other. Stand on the stump, and you get a fan-tas-tic view of the loch, virtually unobstructed. I spent some time wandering about the lovely gardens, but most looking at the loch. My advice-pack a lunch, sit on the hill, or the stump and just look. It's worth it.

This weekend-exploring Edinburgh! Posts to follow!