by Adam Weinheimer ’18
Today we (me, Ula, Onni, Ava, Patrick, Jeff, Tom, Dilpreet and Marco) took advantage of our open schedules and headed up north to visit Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. After doing some research, I found out it was pretty easy to get to Balloch (the town/city right at the base of Loch Lomond) via Scotland’s train network. The ticket only cost 5 quid round trip, from Partick in Glasgow to Balloch approximately 20 miles north.
We stepped off the train and popped into the visitor center for maps and info from a very cheery local. We began our stroll on the shore road that basically hugs the water and loops to Balloch Castle and the gardens and tours through the park. The grounds of the park were simply amazing. When we arrived
everything was green, but right as we began to walk the snow began to fall in huge flakes and everything was soon covered in a blanket of white. It felt so good to just stroll around as the snow fell in such a peaceful area. We traveled to a few of the viewpoints to look out over the water and take photos of everything around us. We really couldn’t get enough of the views! Now since it was snowing there wasn’t the greatest visibility to see many of the hills and mountains that you can normally see in the distance. However, that did not affect our trip and it only means we will have to go back! Here are a few pictures from our walk around the park/castle/gardens…
Some photos don’t capture it well but the place was amazing as the snow fell. Kids began sledding down the big hill in front of the castle and we kept saying how we thought we were going to walk right into Narnia… seriously! We hope to go back because there is a 3 hour hiking trail that allows you to gain some elevation and get a good vantage point. Maybe when the visibility is greater so we can see far into the distance.
Once we finished up with the park we headed to a restaurant to warmup and grab lunch. We randomly picked a place called The Stables and it was a great choice. A very cozy, warm place that had everything we needed. I ordered (finally) fish & chips! Easily the best I have ever had… and to top it off I had a hot cocoa with a slice of carrot cake and homemade whipped cream. The floor was run just by two people, a man and a woman who were so kind to us. We ended up hanging out and talking for almost two hours before heading back into the snow. We made our way to the train station and in the 15 minutes we had to wait we decided to build a snowman! After all, Marco had never seen snow before so this was a big deal. The end result:
So that’s all I have for our quick trip today. I am so happy how easy it was to get there, it was a nice first trip to take out of the city. Thanks for reading! More to come later on how I am getting acquainted… the food, the weather, school.
While I’m at it, here are some random photos from the last few days: