After leaving Glasgow this morning and several stops, we are finally in the beautiful Scottish Highlands—exactly how I pictured Scotland: cool, green, and misty. How cool? Along most of our ride here, the outside temperature ranged from 11–13 deg. Celsius, that’s 51.8–55.4 deg. Fahrenheit, a welcome relief for our fellow passengers from the blistering hot U.S. mainland.

Ever since I arrived in Britain, I have to admit that I’ve been at a slight disadvantage and have had to write this blog entirely on my phone, including uploading and resizing the photos. I have been unable to charge my laptop computer ever since my arrival and I fear that it is either the computer that has died, or the cables or power adapter which have failed. Because of this, the photos will appear in gallery, rather than slideshow format.

Here’s my hotel room with a spectacular view of the Highlands.

Earlier in the day we stopped at the tiny village of Luss, located on the Loch Lomond (“Loch” is the Scottish word for “lake.”) You can see plaques along the pier where people’s remains have been scattered. It was very wet and windy when we veered onto the pier!

I really enjoyed Inveraray Castle, the site of a Downton Abbey Christmas special when Matthew Crawley got killed in a road accident. You can see Maggie Smith’s portrait on one of the side tables in the dining room. I especially liked the dish storage room because I need something like this for my dishes! The grand piano in the saloon you see was the very one where Lerner and Loewe composed several songs for My Fair Lady when they stayed here.

Before leaving Glasgow, our tour director, Cornelius, told us about “The Glasgow effect,” which determined that people who live in Glasgow live, on average, 2-1/2 years less than if they lived somewhere else, no matter if they exercised regularly or ate lots of fruits or vegetables! He said that for us who stayed in Glasgow two nights, that translates into about 20 minutes!

He also told us the story of Overtoun Bridge, the so-called “dog suicide bridge,” in which hundreds of dogs have jumped to their deaths, even while breaking away from their leashes.

From Wikipedia: In 2004, Kenneth Meikle was walking with his family and Golden Retriever, when the dog suddenly bolted and jumped off the bridge. It survived, but was traumatized by the experience. Going into 2005, at least five other dogs also jumped over the course of six months. In 2014, Alice Trevorrow, who was walking with her Springer Spaniel named Cassie, reported a strange experience on Overtoun Bridge. “I had parked up and as she is so obedient I didn’t put her lead on… Me and my son walked toward Cassie, who was staring at something above the bridge… she definitely saw something that made her jump. There is something sinister going on. It was so out of character for her.

You can read a fascinating article about this phenomenon here.