Cruising with Rexcat and Rexie: Glasgow, Scotland

Our next port of call was Glasgow, Scotland. We decided to take the Landscapes, Lochs Cruise, & Sheepdogs excursion. Here are some shots as we drove through Glasgow into the country side.

Like most coastal towns, Glasgow also has ship building facilities.

Even in Glasgow, the mail is called the Royal Mail.

As we drove towards Lock Lomond, we see the Rock Island, which is where William Wallace (also known as Braveheart) was held for two years until freed, only to be eventually captured and quartered by the British. His different parts were sent back to Scotland as a warning and threat

As we drove through a small village, we saw typical housing. This is also the area where Bono of U2 fame was born and raised.

Finally, we make it to ‘Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond’ and we take a small cruise on the Loch.

Leaving the dock area, we take a short cruise up the River Leven and see several high school students practicing there rowing.

Near the dock was a small building used by the local humane society.

Loch Lomond is the largest fresh water lake in Great Britain and was designated as Scotland’s first National Park. Here is a small boat used to take excursions on the Loch.

One of the lodges on the Loch have their own seaplane.

There are a number of old castles or houses on the Loch. These have been turned into either tourist lodges, hostels, or apartments. The farther we went into the Loch, the foggier it got, as you can see from the pictures.

One of the highlights of the day was seeing this water skier on the Loch. Keep in mind that it was about 50 degrees and spitting rain. At least he was in a wet suit, but his face must have been frozen. He went for miles without falling down. Quite amazing.

We went out to the widest part of the Loch, about 23 miles wide. Also located here is also the largest Island on the Loch, the island of Inchmurrin. While privately owned, it does have a small farm, hotel, restaurant, and several holiday chalets. This island also houses the largest naturist club in Scotland. No pictures because no one was out in the cold.

We saw Nessie’s relative on the lake also. J

There were many walking trails and picnic tables that complement the wildlife. Loch Lomond has over 200 different species of birds, either inhabiting or visiting while migrating. A variety of mammals are on the Loch side, including wallabies which were introduced by Lady Aran in the 1950s.

As we come back to dock, we pass the marina again.

This boat here is part of history. The Skylark IX was one of hundreds of small boats that went to Dunkirk and evacuated English soldiers from France. It is in bad repair, but at least they did get it raised from the bottom of the Loch. They are now looking for money to save the ship as there are few of these historic ships around.

Next, we head to the village of Drymen for lunch.

While a few trees are turning, such as this one, most are still very green.

We made a picture stop at a small church on the way.

Finally, we make it to Drymen and stop in the village square. Many of the buildings in this village have been turned into bed and breakfast facilities.

A nice old building was the scene of our typical Scottish lunch. Here we had a piece of chicken wrapped around something that looked like diced spinach or broccoli. Of course, someone asked what it was and when we were told it was Hagias, most of the people at our table were upset with me for asking. I just wanted to know what it was. Most people at the table quit eating at that point. Personally, I didn’t find it that bad.

Next, we head for the town of Aberfoyle, here the Scottish Wool Center is situated. AS we get out, we immediately see a couple of sheep near the center.

Here, we get to see sheepdogs at work. While waiting for the show, Rexie relaxes a bit.

They did have a variety of sheep on display to illustrate the development of sheep over the years in Scotland.

For the show, they use ducks instead of sheep. It was amazing to see the dog at work. He would run in wide circles around the ducks and would keep running in smaller circle until the ducks were where he wanted them to be.

Here you can see the dog leaning in as he runs circles around the ducks. All of the commands were by the spoken word.

Leaving the area, we have to go over the Clyde River. In the morning when we went over it, the bridge was fogged in and we couldn’t really see how high we were. Now it wasn’t fogged in and Rexie was not too happy to go over this.