On Thursday we drove from Fort William through Glen Coe, past Loch Lomond to Glasgow. We had clear blue skies (temps between 22 & 29) and not a breath of wind.

The views in Glen Coe were amazing with mountains ranging on every side as we drove through the glen. As we rounded each corner we were wowed by ever more spectacular scenery. But the ‘piece de resistance” was just after the Glen (unsure of the name of the area) but it was similar to driving the Desert Road back home and we came across some small lakes scattered with rocks where the water was so still the reflection of the rocks and mountains looked just like a mirror. We had driven past going “wow, wow” and decided the scenery was too good not to stop for photos so we turned around and spent about 15 minutes snapping crazily. Here are just a few of the photos we got.

After checking into our accommodation in Glasgow we went for a walk around the area of the city we were staying in. We walked along a river, crossed a bridge and headed towards a business area. The river area reminded us of Brisbane. We came across a massive shopping mall – the Debenham’s store (similar to Farmers) was like a mall in itself, we nearly got lost in there alone. After spending time in there, keeping cool mainly, we strolled through more streets before heading back to the hotel. That proved a little challenging as we found we’d walked a lot further than we realised and had to walk super fast to get back before my cousin was due to meet us for dinner. Thank goodness for Google maps helping us find our way too. It was super hot so we need a shower before we went out. We were literally walking out the door as she arrived. It was a great catch up with her after several years and she had chosen a really good Italian restaurant too.

On Friday morning we headed south, our last day in Scotland. Another gorgeous day too. There aren’t many places of interest between Glasgow and Cairnryan, where the ferry to Ireland goes from, but we did find this one place to stop for a bit – Turnberry. It seems a rather famous man is rather fond of Turnberry as well, and has spent a bit of money setting up a resort there, particularly for golfers. Thankfully it is open to the public and we parked our car and walked to the Turnberry lighthouse, which is nicely restored, and has a cafe. We bought a VERY expensive cup of tea and sat on the patio, overlooking the ocean drinking it. The very nice, super clean toilets nearly made up for the costly tea. (It’s hard to find decent public toilets, especially ones that are free)

The ferry to Ireland was nice, better than the Cook Strait ferries, very comfortable and super fast. We even got to catch a couple of hours of cricket in one of the lounges (South Africa giving Sri Lanka a hiding)

Our hotel in Belfast was in an area called the Titanic Quarter, so-called because it is the area where the Titanic, amongst other ships, was built. The dock area is now reclaimed land and a museum stands beside the slipway where the Titanic and Olympic, its sister ship, were built. The museum was architecturally designed to look like a ship’s bow when standing in front of it, has aspects to represent icebergs and is the shape of star to represent the White Star Line the shipping firm that owned the Titanic. It’s a fabulous building and probably the best museum we’ve ever visited. Outside they have even marked out the shape of the ship in the exact same place it would have been built, put a few seats where they would have been on the deck and a few other features to help you understand the scale of the ship. Very cleverly thought out. And the museum opened on 31 March 2012, exactly 100 years to the days since the ship was launched.