Our flight from Chicago arrived at 9am. We took a taxi to the Glasgow Marriott where we changed and headed out in search of Glasgow's famous architecture. It rained steadily throughout the day. Glasgow is not a good looking city - it looks like its roots, which are in heavy industry. Nonetheless, one native son, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 - 1928) was an architectural genius who influenced Frank Lloyd Wright and many others. His designs included both the exterior and interior of buildings with influences from Japanese forms and art nouveau. His theory was that "decoration should not be constructed, rather construction should be decorated".

Scottish Highlands with Hammish the bull calf

After dinner at the Axiom, we took a quick walk on the River Clyde (fourth picture below) and then finished the day at a Scotch bar getting some expert advice on the best Scotches. We were often reminded on this trip that the people are Scots, and the drink is Scotch. My taste went toward peaty, dark single malts. Here is my short list after exhausting research: Lagavulin 16yo, Ardbeg 17yo, Macallan 18yo, Laphraoig 10yo and Bowmorg 17yo.

From there we walked through Princes, George and Queen streets in the new town area, which were packed with tourists in the last days of the Edinburgh festival. After dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, we relaxed at the hotel before going back to town for the festival fireworks, shot from the Castle with a projected multimedia show on the cliffside below it. Due to poor planning, we got to town too early and ended up having to leave early and watch the fireworks from the Marriott.

We took a 12 hour bus tour with Gray Line Edinburgh to see the Scottish Highlands countryside, castles and Loch Ness (route in first picture below). Usually I avoid organized tours for a number of reasons, but this seemed the only practical way to cover all this ground in a day. Past Stirling Castle, we pet a Highland bull calf named Hammish (large picture, top of page at right). Highland cows were bred with light colored fur to make dying it easier than the native black fur. The Scottish countryside changed throughout the trip, starting with low rolling hills in Rannoch Moor (Rob Roy and William Wallace country - second picture below), crossing the Highland boundary fault, then becoming more barren and mountainous higher up near Glencoe, site of the 1692 clan massacre (third picture below). For 95 miles from Milngavie to Ft. William, the West Highland Way is a famous walking path taken by thousands of people traversing the lowlands and mountains of Scotland. All along this portion of our trip, we spotted hikers on the paths (fourth picture below).

From Loch Ness we traveled north to Inverness, capital of the Highlands, and then took the motorway south back to Edinburgh, spotting castles along the way. We grabbed a late dessert in Edinburgh. The next morning we headed back to Glasgow for our return flights to LA.