From Ullapool we continued our journey to Fort William and Glenfinnan in the West-Highlands, passing Little Loch Broom, Loch Ewe, Loch Gairloch, Loch Maree and many other scottish Lochs.
Despite the ingenuity and brave pioneer effort of its constructors, the old concrete railway viaduct in Glenfinnan got world famous, as “Hogwarts Express” steamed over that bridge in the “Harry Potter” movies.
For the night we also had some railway-like experience, as we spent the night in a hostel located in an old sleeping car right at Glenfinnan railway station.
From Thurso we moved on following the northwestern coastline down to Ullapool. Around noon, we had a break for lunch at a beautiful romantic beach near Rispond. If it had been a tight bit warmer, one could have got the impression that this was somewhere in the Caribbean, not the North Sea
.On our way to the west-coast, we also stopped by at Smoo Cave near Durness and at some of the many northwestern Lochs. Inside Smoo Cave there’s a spectacular waterfall that’s fed by Smoo burn which drops nearly 25 metres inside the second chamber of Smoo Cave.
In the evening we arrived in Ullapool, just right on time to get some last glimps of the beautiful harbour scenery touched by the soft evening sun.
Continuing our trip northbound, we had a break at Dunrobin Castle, taking a few pictures before driving on to Duncansby Head. There we had a nice one-hour walk to the Stacks of Duncansby. Having had enough of wistfully looking over to Orkney, we moved on and stopped by at Dunnet Head – the northernmost point of the mainland of britain.
Completed enrollment at university on Tuesday, we hired a car and went on our journey around Scotland. Our original plan was to drive off right on Wednesday, but somehow the reservation of our car failed the first time, so we had to wait for Thursday to get the car.
We first drove to Aviemore in the Highlands to go on a hike in Cairngorm National Park the next day. Again having foggy and rainy weather we couldn’t do the full circular route we wanted to and had to turn round after the first third of the track. It was still a very nice experience out there in this rough and native landscape.
On our last day in Edinburgh – for the time being – we went to the castle and visited St. Giles Cathedral, which is only a stone’s throw from there. The bright sunlight made the beautiful stained glass windows shine in their full blaze of colors. I took the opportunity to try some HDR photography to catch that colorful and bright atmosphere inside the church.
In the afternoon we had to take the train back to Glasgow and Paisley for our enrollment session at University the next morning.
Starting with chilly, rainy and foggy weather the next day tried to show us, how scottish weather really is like… Nevertheless we decided to take the chance and go to North Berwick for the day. Due to some maintenance work the railway line was closed but replacement was in service. Therefore we had to take the bus, what took us some one and a half hour to get there.
Even though the weather was still unsettled, it was definitely better than in the morning and we had lunch at the terrace of the Scottish Seabird Centre. In the afternoon we walked all the way up to the summit of the “Law”, a volcanic hill right behind the village.
Right after our arrival in Paisley yesterday, we went to Edinburgh the next day. Having checked in at the Backpackers Hostel in Princes Street (a crazy little city hostel.. but ok for the night), we made our way through town and went straight up the Salisbury Craigs and had a magnificent view over the city and its surroundings.
For the next months, Thornly Park Campus will be my new home, as I am studying at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley, this semester.
Having arrived safely in Paisley we already headed off for a roundtrip through the country. Starting with a few days in Edinburgh, Tobias, Patricia and myself travelled all around the North and West of Scotland. Our journey lead us through The Cairngorms, Thurso, Ullapool, Glenfinnan, Oban and way back to Paisley and Glasgow.
The following posts show some impressions from this stunning trip around this beautiful country with its unique and rough landscape. Though the next days and weeks certainly will bring some work to be done for university, I am confident that there’ll be enough time to see and learn even more.
Mitte Mai war ich bei nahezu winterlichen Temperaturen — eisige 2 bis 3° C Wind und Dauerregen — mal wieder am Plansee in Tirol. Ein typisches Plansee-Wochenende mit typisch unvorhersehbarem Plansee-Wetter.
Unter Wasser war es mit bis zu 8° C definitiv wärmer als über Wasser 
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Zu sehen gab es die typischen Plansee-Bewohner: Flussbarsche, Groppen, Schmerlen und Flusskrebse. Ein Highlight waren die fleißig laichenden Kröten, die den Uferbereich mit zahlreichen langen Laichschnüren übersät hatten.
