This is just one of many beautiful views of the Scottish Highlands.  Like all beautiful things, a picture does not equal the real thing.  We saw heather growing everywhere and wish we could be here when it blooms and turns the mountains purple.  It was cool (we wore layers of jackets) with rain, fog, and heavy clouds all day, which is typical here, but I can’t help imagining that this might have been even more gorgeous in the sunshine.  Still, when you think of the Highlands, you think of the Highland mists, right?

 

Here we are in Glen Coe (glen = valley), also called the Valley of Weeping because it is the site of the largest Scottish tribal massacre in history.  The MacDonalds offered hospitality to the Campbells on a stormy winter night and the Campbells murdered 80 MacDonalds while they slept.  Those who escaped froze to death in the Highland cold and snow.  The mountains behind us are the Three Sisters.

 

We took a boat ride around Loch (= Lake) Lomond this morning.  The song with the line “You take the high road and I’ll take the low” was written about Loch Lomond.  Rob Roy, a Scottish outlaw, folk hero, and the Robin Hood of Scotland had a cave hideout on Loch Lomond.  The cave opening isn’t much larger than a doorway, so “CAVE” is painted on the rock to help visitors find it.  (It’s to the left of CAVE between the two rock outcroppings.)

 

We saw these flowers while we were walking around the village tonight.  There were yellow and white ones too.  As a non-gardener, I have no idea what they are, but I enjoyed the sight.