{"id":4263,"date":"2022-12-19T16:38:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T16:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cromarville.wordpress.com\/?p=4263"},"modified":"2024-04-04T04:58:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T08:58:44","slug":"scotland-day-8-stirlingshire-and-the-trossachs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/williamcromar.com\/cromarbaile\/2022\/12\/19\/scotland-day-8-stirlingshire-and-the-trossachs\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland: Day 8: Stirlingshire and the Trossachs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tuesday 22 Nov: A Hairy Coo Highland adventure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Early rising today, as we get an 8 AM start with Hairy Coo Tours<\/a> on this program’s second journey to the Scottish countryside. No group meeting today, just breakfast and out the door to meet our bus at Waterloo Place, just to the east of Waverley Station and a five minute walk from the hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The familiar orange Hairy Coo bus pulls up. I’m relieved to see it’s a 30-seater this time! Our guide is named Ryan, and as we settle in and pull out of Edinburgh along Princes Street, he regales us with stories of the old Nor Loch<\/a> and how it came to be so polluted. In fairly, um, graphic<\/em> terms. I already love this guy. He’s definitely living up to the standard set by our earlier trips with Donald, a guide who sadly no longer works for Hairy Coo. I’ll digress a bit, but this will help you know why I insist on working with no one but Hairy Coo, despite the travel agent attempting to book us with another tour company (I’ll admit I threw an email fit at the agent about this, and it worked).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first trip with the Coo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On our first trip with Donald, in 2016, we stopped at the Forth Bridges Viewpoint<\/a>, climbed the Wallace National<\/a> <\/a>Monument<\/a>, and walked the perimeter of Doune Castle<\/a>, famous not only for its place in Scottish history but also for its starring role in Monty Python and the Holy Grail<\/a>, Outlander<\/a>, Game of Thrones<\/a>, and Outlaw\/King<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Clockwise from left, Doune Castle starring as:
Guy de Lombard’s Castle<\/a>, Castle Anthrax, and the court of Swamp Castle in Monty Python’s Holy Grail<\/strong>
Castle Leoch<\/a>, the seat of Clan MacKenzie in Outlander<\/strong>, sporting a computer generated restoration
Winterfell<\/a> in season one of Game of Thrones<\/strong>
Douglas Castle<\/a> in Outlaw\/King<\/strong>, with yet another digital restoration<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On that same trip we continued to Callander<\/a>, the Loch Katrine (pronounced KAH-trin) Visitor Center<\/a>, and the Loch Achray Hotel<\/a>, home of Fiona the hairy coo<\/a>. We returned to Edinburgh by way of the Lake of Mentieth<\/a>, a stop at a village pub (Thornhill, perhaps?) for a dram, and a drive-by of Stirling Castle<\/a> and the Kelpies<\/a> sculpture brightly lit at dusk. Donald was most impressive as a guide, entertaining us with stories, jokes, and music by notable Scottish musicians, such that the bus ride was almost as fun as the sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our second trip with the Coo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our second trip with Donald, in 2018, proved how resourceful the Hairy Coo tours can be, though. The infamous snow storm the Scots called the Beast from the East<\/a> had basically shut down the country, but Donald showed up with his bus anyway and told us he’d figure something out for us to do. Our first stop this time was not at the Forth Bridge overlook, but rather at the Rail Bridge Bistro<\/a> in Queensferry, where we had scones and coffee with a close-up view of the massive old Forth Bridge<\/a>. We could only drive by the Wallace Monument, but Donald kept making calls around and found that the Deanston Distillery<\/a> was open and could take us for an impromptu tour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deanston is where I had my religious experience with peaty whisky during our end-of-tour tasting, trying out a Ledaig<\/a> (Letch-ick) and Bunnahabhain<\/a> (Boon-a-hav-in) in addition to the Deanston samples. We were also able to have a good time with heavenly lunch in Callander at Mohr Fish<\/a>, a visit to Loch Katrine, and a stop by our old friend Fiona again. So even when the weather was too challenging, the Hairy Coo rose to the occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time around, our third edition, I have given the travel agent instructions for a bespoke tour that includes the Forth Bridge Viewpoint, a climb up the Wallace Monument, a visit inside<\/em> Doune, a Callander lunch, Loch Katrine, a visit to Fiona, a drive by Stirling Castle, and a dusk visit stopping<\/em> at the Kelpies instead of just a view from the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stirlingshire: Kelpies, Wallace National Monument, and Doune Castle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is quickly apparent that the agent has gotten this only somewhat right as we turn into the car park for the Kelpies as our first<\/em> stop of the day. Nevertheless, the Kelpies are as impressive against the crisp blue and white sky as they are at night, and getting close to the largest equine sculptures in the world is certainly a thrill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Kelpies up close and personal<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I get back to the bus while some in our party stop by a stand for coffee. I ask Ryan what itinerary the agent had planned. He mentions stopping at Stirling for a group photo on the ramp (but not going in), a drive by the Wallace Monument (but not going in), a visit inside Doune (which he had a group ticket for), and he also says that the site with Fiona would not be possible today. I sort of roll my eyes at all this and say I’m really sorry but the travel agent has got this a bit wrong: we don’t want this to be a series of drive-bys with just one entry… and we do<\/em> want to see a hairy coo, even if it can’t be the inimitable Fiona!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, no kelpie puns intended, I horse-trade with Ryan a bit. He thinks very fast on his feet and we come up with a good plan. We’ll visit Wallace and pay per person to enter, then hit Doune, something the agent got right. Ryan knows a place just outside Callendar where we can visit some coos after lunch, then up to Loch Katrine. He asks if Donald ever took us up Duke’s Pass<\/a> \u2014 I reply he had not \u2014 and suggests this for a dramatic late afternoon view of the Highlands. This<\/em> is why we love the Hairy Coo Tours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Busaoke<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Securing the itinerary thus, we’re back on the road, where Ryan treats us to a “busaoke” sing-along to I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)<\/em> by the Proclaimers. I don’t know how the group is going to react to this song from my<\/em> generation of music but they sing along in rousing fashion. The kids know their late 80s tunes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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