We were off for a couple of nights in Belfast. Staying in the Titanic Quarter area of the city made visiting the Titanic Museum really easy. It was just a short walk away for us. The Titanic Museum is well done and gives some great history on Belfast and the building of the Titanic. A lot of the exhibits are interactive and there is even an “amusement park” like ride that takes you on a tour of the model shipyard showing the ship building process at that time. There is a lot to see, and it takes a couple of hours to go through the museum. The one thing we didn’t like was that it was very crowded. They have timed entries, but we felt they allow too many people through at each time slot.
That afternoon was our scheduled Game of Thrones Studio Tour. Forty percent of the series was filmed in Belfast at the Linenmill Studios. We all enjoyed the tour. They have a number of the original sets and discuss everything from the building of the sets, costuming, lighting, etc. It was really interesting, especially if you’re a fan of the series.
Well, our time in Belfast was up and it was time to jump on another ferry over to Scotland. We headed first to Glasgow for a couple of days. We were out early the next morning to Falkirk, Scotland home of the Falkirk Wheel. This was something that when I saw it, I knew Will would have to see. The wheel was finished in 2002 and is the world’s first and only rotating boat lift. The wheel replaced 11 locks that would take half a day to transit and links the Forth & Clyde and the Union Canals. The wheel now makes that transit in a matter of minutes and uses the same energy of 8 electric kettles. It was pretty cool to see, I would have preferred to actually take the boat ride, but Will was more than content to just watch it and figure out how it worked.
We drove back to the city to jump on the Hop On Hop Off bus. I know it’s shocking, but our first stop on the bus was to the Clydeside Distillery. They have a nice café and we enjoyed a nice lunch before our distillery tour and whisky tasting.
Glasgow has some really cool murals throughout the city.
We were shocked at the number of students in Glasgow. There are 3 colleges in the city limits and we were told that there are approximately 150,000 students in total.
Leaving Glasgow, we set-off the following morning for our drive to the Isle of Skye.
It was a very pretty drive, and it was going great until we were warned by the GPS of a ferry crossing. We now refer to it as our accidental ferry ride. We were relying on the car’s internal GPS as it wasn’t allowing us to connect my phone. So, I had assumed that it would take us over the bridge. Well, at that point it was a half hour ferry ride or a 3-hour trip around. So, we found ourselves on another ferry. In talking to the employees, Will found that this happens to thousands of people a year. Nice to know we were in great company.
The rest of the drive to the town of Uig was pretty uneventful and we found our accommodations without any more difficulties.
This double rainbow was welcoming us to the Isle of Skye.
There’s a number of sightseeing points on the Isle of Skye. Some of the points involve some hiking while others are merely overlooks. It was beautiful. And although we were flirting with rain every now and then, it was a great day as we made our way around the island.
Found a Leprechaun 
We continued on our way to Inverness, our home for the night, and along the way made a stop at the Eilean Donan Castle in the Kyle of Lochalsh.
The castle had been redone in the early 1900’s and is a popular wedding venue. We drove by Loch Ness and looked for Nessie, but she didn’t want to pop up her head. Making the choice to drive to the Isle of Skye made for a couple of long days in the car, but it was so worth it to spend some time in the highlands of Scotland.
From Inverness, we decided to drive the snow road through the Cairngorms National Park to Edinburgh. It was interesting to checkout a couple of Scottish Ski Resorts.
E.T. is still trying to make it home.
Auld Reekie (or Edinburgh) as it had once been known was our next place for a couple of days. We were staying at the David Hume residence right on the Royal Mile. Really a great location in the midst of everything. We got all checked in and went out to explore a bit as the next day it expected to be quite stormy.
The streets were very lively with the bag pipers and even a fire juggler. We also found a great Italian place for dinner.
We woke up to some rain and the wind was also up, so we decided a museum might be in order. We went to the Edinburgh Museum. It gives some great information on the city’s formation and gives the story of the Greyfriars Bobby. The little dog who remained at his master’s grave side for 14 years.
Later that afternoon, the storm had passed, and the clouds cleared. Will and I went, to hike Arthur’s Seat. It’s a hill formed by a volcano and overlooks the city center. It was extremely windy at the top and involved a little rock scrambling to reach it. Needless to say, Will did not make it to the summit, but I got some nice photos.
WG swan whisperer
We were able to get tickets to tour Edinburgh Castle before heading out the next morning.
We were leaving as people were gathering to march for independence.