Gondolas, Castles and Bonfires

Last weekend my friend and I took a day trip up into the West Highlands to visit Fort William, the highland’s second largest town at 9,900 people right after Inverness, which I visited earlier this year. This trip interested me because I am a mountain gondola enthusiast, and a few miles away from the town is Britain’s only gondola, that climbs up the side of Aonoch Mor in the Nevis Range (Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles) – naturally I had to see the British claim to gondola fame, and I was able to do it just in time; the gondola actually closed for the season later that weekend!
 

In the highlands

Our trip up to the West Highlands took us past some amazing scenery, including bald, rolling hills and even some male deer out on the flat plains. After around 5 hours we found ourselves in the little highlands town of Fort William. We had some time before the bus to the Nevis Range centre so we stopped in for food (I had some tasty mac and cheese) and explored the shopping street and the walkway by Loch Eil. We caught the bus over to the foot of Aonoch Mor, a mountain with a ski area a couple of miles away fro Ben Nevis, and of course the wonderful gondola! As an enthusiast, I have been on several gondola lifts in the Northwest region of North America, including Silver Mountain (the longest single-stage lift in the world that carries people) and the Wallowa Lake Tramway (the steepest four-person gondola in North America). The Nevis Range gondola was lovely and the weather was spectacular the whole trip – crisp, windy, and good visibility of the mountain range across from a viewpoint called Sgurr finnisg-aig, which is hard to say as it was to type. I had a lovely time taking pictures and enjoying the view from the top! Unfortunately we had a bit of trouble locating which mountain was Ben Nevis, and am still not sure even when reflecting on the pictures I took. After a little walk around the ski area (completely devoid of snow, even in November in the Highlands!) we stopped into the gift shop and I mailed home some postcards to be stamped with a special seal from the Nevis Range. Everything worked out perfectly with the bus and train, and we made it back from Fort William to Stirling in plenty of time (and a few rounds of cards).

Very pretty! I miss eastern Washington and Montana!

The viewpoint we walked up to

Another couple of events I haven’t had time to mention before are Bonfire Day and a trip to Doune Castle, famous for its appearance in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in several scenes, including the outside wall during a discussion of swallows and coconuts. The castle itself was very close to Stirling, and we enjoyed the audio tour narrated by Terry Jones of the Monty Python crew as we explored the fun stone rooms, tight spiral staircases and beautiful views of the countryside from the battlements. 

The view from the top of Doune Castle

In addition I got to experience the celebration put on by the nearby town of Bridge of Allan for Bonfire Night (also called Guy Fawkes Day or the 5^th of November), in which quite a few people turned up to huddle around the massive bonfire in a field and enjoy a fireworks show. It was a nice night and a new experience to watch fireworks in the fall instead of July!

With friends on Bonfire Night!