Paisley & Glasgow; Saturday, 10 November, 2007

I had an early start as I had booked to go on a sightseeing tour today. I had a quick breakfast and walked the half mile or so to the Subway station to catch the train round to the city centre. I arrived at George Square the same time as the minibus for the tour arrived.

The tour was due to take in some of the stunning natural scenery around the city, heading North past Loch Lomond and into Glencoe. With everyone already waiting the tour was able to start early and we headed out into the quiet streets of a city nursing the mother of all collective hangovers.

It’s the best part of an hours driving to get from Glasgow to the start of Loch Lomond, and then another 20 minutes or so before we reached our first stop at Inveruglas, just over half way up Loch Lomond. The views from here over the Loch are stunning, and with the shifting clouds and occasional shafts of sunlight, breathtaking.

From Inveruglas we headed north towards Glencoe. On the way we stopped a couple of times for photo stops, including at the impressive entrance to the glen. We continued on to the town of Glencoe where we stopped of lunch, before having a woodland and loch walk around the town.

After the walk we headed back through Glencoe and on down into Glenetive. This area is even more remote that Glencoe. We took in all the scenery and made it back onto the bus with just moments to spare before the dramatic sky that had made the photos look good, decided to do what it had been threatening and absolutely belt it down. Driving back, warm and dry inside the bus you couldn’t help but feel something towards the hikers, straining to lean into the wind, being battered by the rain. And that something was smugness!

A final coffee stop in Tyndrum and a chance to pick up some souvenirs before back onto the bus for the 90 minute drive back into Glasgow.

After grabbing a bite to eat in the city centre, I walked back to the hotel, this time crossing the river by the correct bridge, and making it back in a lot less time!