The Highlands and Hairy Coos!

Yesterday a bunch of us went on a bus tour with the Hairy Coo Company through Sterling to the Highlands.  A long but great day trip, such beautiful sights.  The sky was kind of overcast but at times the sun was shining through the clouds.  We stopped at many points along the way, the first being at the Forth River.

 So not even 20 minutes into the tour, at the Forth River, our friend Laura sadly dropped her camera over the edge and into the river (I have never seen someone so calm after having just ruined/lost her camera and all the pictures on it).  It was funny afterwards for everyone else, but of course we did feel bad.

We continued traveling to Sterling where we stopped at one of the twenty William Wallace (Braveheart) monuments.

After, we continued our tour and stopped at a small, but very famous castle, thanks to the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  The castle below is indeed the one used to shoot most of the movie.

We next stopped in Sterling to grab lunch.  Had a delicious lunch of fish and chips, topped off with the best creme filled doughnut.  This nearby bakery made everything fresh, I also had an apple turnover which was good too.

Next we entered into the Highlands, named for their higher level of elevation in relation to the rest of Scotland.    The vast, green rolling hills leading to mountains were truly a sight to see.  Pictures don't do it any justice.  As many people imagine much of Scotland to have, herds of sheep were everywhere.  We stopped to feed the most famous hairy coo in Scotland, Hamish.  I'm sure most are wondering what hairy coos are; they are just a unique cow found here in Scotland.

This is Hamish the hairy coo, a perfect depiction of his name.  Also with him is his partner Heather.

We fed the coos, pretty interesting as they have such long tongues...

As I said the views of the Highlands were amazing...

Our final two stops were a loch and the only true Scottish lake.  They call lakes lochs here in Scotland, but for some reason they named one a lake instead.  They revealed great views of the mountains in the distance...

The trip was well worth it, not costing anything other than buying our own food and tipping the guide in the end.  A very fun day trip!