My first trip outside of the main city of Glasgow was definitely one to remember. Chalon, Melissa, and Betty (from Iowa) decided to take a short weekend trip to Loch Lomond, one of the biggest, and yet one of the more underrated lakes in Scotland. Loch Ness overshadows most other areas because of its infamy, but I had heard so many amazing things about Loch Lomond that we thought it was most definitely worth the trip. We took an Uber to the lodging place we had paid for, which took about 45 minutes, but our driver was really fast and it was STILL on the wrong side of the road, so we were all gripping the seat with white knuckles the whole ride.
The place that we rented was a little pod that fit four, which was perfect. There were beds lining the wall with a little counter space in one corner, and that was it. It was really cozy, a little hot, but nonetheless what we needed to get through the night. We dropped our stuff off and walked to the first attraction, which was the local aquarium.
After a great walk through the aquarium, it was time to hit the trails. There were many paved/gravel/boardwalk style walkways for people to walk on, and even though it was raining slightly, the scenery and nature made it better. The lake was amazing! Watching the clouds roll over the mountains, seeing wildlife, and smelling clean air was both refreshing and incredible. I remember when I was back on WiFi, Grandma tagged me in a link with a song about the lake ("loch"), and it perfectly embodied the beauty, stillness, and wonder of the place.
We explored one side of the lake, which felt like a lot, but in reality we barely even touched a quarter of the shoreline. We saw a large building in the distance on the other shore, so we decided to retrace our steps and walk along the other side to find it. On our way, we found an information center, which where we bought tickets to the bird of prey exhibit (really freaking cool) and also got info on what and where the building was. It was Balloch Castle, and even thought it was closed to the public, the scenery and park around it was worth a trip. We trekked for quite some time to get there, and just as it was getting darker, we reached the top of the hill where the castle rested. The view was amazing, and it felt like we didn't want to leave. It was getting too dark to take pictures, and our feet hurt, so we walked all the way into town, got food, and then resorted to the pod for the rest of the night.
The next day, we entered the bird of prey exhibit, got one last look at the beautiful lake, and got a train back to Glasgow. Though our time there was short, and the exploration to find one of the many waterfalls on the lake proved fruitless, we knew we would be going back there to explore more, as we left much of the terrain undiscovered. This trip was a perfect way to introduce the first week of school, which was (and is) an adventure all of its own.
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