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A potato scone and Oban whiskey

 Today was the penultimate day with our Scottish Highlands trip! What an amazing time it’s been. 

This morning we left the Isle of Skye and took a ferry back to mainland Scotland. But before we left, I decided to try a wee potato scone from a cafe at the ferry terminal. Potato mixed with flour and fried… it was so yummy! I’ll defiantly have to try making this at home.

Potato Scone

Our first big stop back on the mainland was at the Glenfinnan Viaduct… aka ‘The Harry Potter Bridge’. We didn’t get to see the Hogwarts Express, but it’s easy to imagine the magical train travelling from London to Hogwarts… such a fun surreal moment! 

Off to catch the train to Hogwarts

Next we drove to Glencoe, which is famous as one of the most beautiful natural wonders in Scotland. The greenery was quite similar to Victoria, I can see where Glencoe Cove in Victoria got its name from.

This area is rich with hiking trails, but we stoped at a scenic viewpoint to do a short hike up the side of one of the Three Sisters Mountains. These three distinctive mountain ridges are some of the most photographed in Scotland! 

Off for our hike in Glencoe, up one of the Three Sisters Mountains 

During the hike it was so warm, about 23 degrees, the sun was out, and the view was stunning. We made it not even halfway up the mountainside before we had to turn back, both due to time and the steep rocky terrain. Folks were heading up with proper climbing gear, so we were a bit unprepared, but still so worth it.
View from halfway up the mountain (seen in the previous pic)

Happy (sweaty) hikers

Next we stopped to look at a little shipwreck on a beach in Fort William…where everyone promptly began skipping stones.

Shipwreck around Fort William

Skipping stones

Our last overnight stop of the trip was Oban, a quaint little city on the south coast of Scotland. It’s the biggest city we’ve stayed in so we had the opportunity to wander around the town.

A few of us went for a whisky tasting, which felt very fitting, being in Scotland. It was a fun experience, but I don’t think I’m enough of a whiskey lover to appreciate these things! At least now I can say I’ve tried proper whiskey. 

Oban Distillery

Trying a flight of Scottish whiskey

The highlight of the evening for me was partaking in some traditional Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) dancing at a local pub. We had a great view of the sunset, danced in a crowded room, and had a memorable time listening to bagpipes and stomping our feet. 

On the dance floor!


What fun! It felt like a true bonding experience between strangers as we all had to spin and step in time while trying not to crash into each other.
Oban sunset

Afterwards we found a bar for some karaoke and sang American Pie… man I forgot how long that song is! I don’t think the DJ liked us much, he never played our other songs, so we left and meandered back along the streets singing our own karaoke tunes. 

This was the perfect last evening to what I’m sure will be one of the most memorable weeks of our trip. I feel like we’ve made some true friends here…something tells me our adventures together won’t end tonight. 

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