Going CocoNUTS in the Scottish Highlands

Monty Python: If those two words mean nothing to you, I need you to stop what you’re doing RIGHT NOW, find a mirror, and take a good hard look at yourself.  Then, go online, find “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and watch.  I’ll wait….

For the rest of us… if you need a good laugh, here ya go:

Holeee shit.

At first I had no idea why I was getting myself into. I booked the Scottish Highlands tour with Rabbies whilst I was in Scotland and #OMGItDidntDisappoint.  Firstly, my tour guide was wearing a kilt.  #AuthenticAF… and if my tour guide was anything like the random guy dressed as a pig that made me a BBQ pork sandwich the day before, I was in for some entertainment.

I didn’t do any research – ya see this girl likes surprises.  But, I was heading on a magical mystery tour to the very famous Doune Castle and I didn’t even know it. YAY!

Sure, that picture of me in front of Doune Castle looks epic – but the difference is that it actually IS epic – check out that smile!  I was absolutely over the moon to find out that I was walking in the footsteps of John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Graham Chapman.  But first up, I made sure to get and keep myself grounded.  I had a massive slip on the seriously wet grass just as I was attempting to take the photo above.  You’d never have guessed, but occasionally it rains in Scotland.  And, whilst in Scotland I saw more rainbows in one day than I have ever seen in my entire life.  Yes, these rainbows are all from that very wet and very sunny day and that’s not even ALL the photos I took of them!

Anyway, back to Doune… I made sure to listen to the Monty Python audio tour and WOW, it was well worth it.  I crawled all over the castle that day.  The only thing I wish I did before going, was watch the Holy Grail right before visiting.  I was really interested in how they set up the shots for the scenes.

The audio tour did a pretty good job explaining how they utilised each room.  Also, for those not interested in Monty Python (and how dare you!), they do explain the history of the castle in great detail as well.

If you were wondering, there is an actual authentic gift shop in Doune Castle – and YES, for the bargain basement price of £5, you CAN own your very own prized set of medieval coconuts! Bargain. Afterwards, we set off deeper into the Scottish Highlands.  We checked out the gorgeous Loch Lubnaig – no sign of Nessy around these parts, but still beautiful.  (Oh and a bit of a hot tip: If you do stop to grab a coffee here, be sure to order first, pay the man and go for a walk – just trust me on this one)

After lunch, we made it to another gorgeous loch.  I went for a short walk and found a very modern and fairly young castle as it was built in the mid 1700’s.   To me, it kinda feels like Dracula should live here, but an actual real living Duke does live here with his family – perhaps they are vampires, because I didn’t see anyone around the castle.  Also, a Christmas episode of Downton Abbey was filmed here!  We hopped back on the Rabbies bus for one last stop to Loch Lomond.  This is one of the summer destinations for a lot of local Scots.  And I mean, look at it!  It’s gorgeous!  I was actually so relaxed from the experience that I zonked right out for half of the trip back to Edinburgh. Luck was on our side as there was only light traffic on our way back.  We arrived right at dinner time and when the skies were clearing from the rains but the ground was still glistening. Overall, Rabbies gives a gorgeous and fun experience.  I highly recommend.