We left Windermere and headed to Glasgow via Grasmere, Rydalmere and Thirlmere, this time with Michael in tow. We'd had a very pleasant dinner the night before at one of the local pubs and had followed this up with another great breakfast at our B&B, which Michael definitely enjoyed. The weather had again turned grey, but it wasn't raining so we did get one last good look at this really wonderful part of the world.
From there is was pretty much a solid drive of a few hours before we found ourselves in Glasgow, grabbing a quick pint at the local before we picked up Tim. The barmaid at the pub was the first person we'd spoken to in Scotland, and she had such a broad accent that a translator would have been helpful. In the end we smiled a lot, laughed at jokes she made we couldn't understand before downing the pints and finding Tim.
Now the family was back together, for the first time in around ten months, which was great. Our first night was on the west coast in a village called Connel, just out of the town of Oban. The weather had continued to be a bit on the damp side, though we'd had a good view of Loch Lomond on the way. Oban was a very picturesque coastal town, but when we got there for dinner the wind was blowing hard and cold. Nonetheless we wandered around and found a great little pub for dinner before heading back to our digs.
A word on the place we stayed at. Great food, fine rooms, interesting owner. She could really cook, had a sense of humour, but somewhere along life's journey she'd picked up a little bit of Basil Fawlty. She was clearly a stickler for the rule and heaven help the poor lady who accidentally poured out too much cereal and then used her hand (which she shouldn't have of course) to put some of it back. She might as well have farted in front of the queen. The same poor lady got in trouble for asking for access to a different toilet and trying to sort our an earlier breakfast. The curious thing was the owner was quite within her rights, it's just that the way she dealt with the person was straight out of The Basil Fawlty guide to customer service.
Now to a cock-up. We knew Oban was worth a visit in its own right, but we'd also planned to catch a ferry from there to the Isle of Mull. What we hadn't done was actually book the car on the damn ferry so, long story short, we'd missed out. In truth missing the ferry really wasn't a bad thing - actually it probably worked in our favour. We really didn't have the time for much of a tour of Mull, and though the day had dawned sunny the wind was still up, which meant the boat trip would have been rough (we noticed, for example, that the boat trip to the seal colony had been cancelled due to the winds, and rough sea).
In the end we had a very pleasant morning in Oban, which really was worth the visit, before heading to Loch Ness. Along the way we dropped into a Scottish wildlife sanctuary, which turned out to be a real winner. Awesome aquarium, great views of the coast, and pine forests perfect for the red squirrels which we looked for in vain.
That night we stayed in the awesomely named village of Drumnadrochit. We had a wander through the woods, down to Loch Ness, before having another great pub meal. The rooms at the B&B were really spacious and we wound up the evening drinking whiskey and eating local cheese in our room.
For the record we saw as many Loch Ness Monsters as we had red squirrels.
Next day took us to Grantown-on-Spey, in the Cairngorm Mountains, via Inverness. Inverness is a pretty cool place, at least the old town is, and worth a good wander through, checking out local ales along the way. Grantown was a bit of a gamble as it hadn't been on our radar until the day before, but it proved a great decision. It was right in the middle of a forest and we stayed at a quirky old pub. There was plenty of woodland walking, followed, by an evening of good food, a sampling of many fine whiskeys, card playing and a heckofalot of laughter.
The staff at the hotel were wonderful and just about as quirky as the establishment itself. We really liked them both, and they clearly got on well. The barman was very friendly, but deeply focused on doing his job right. The woman who was also working the bar with him, was garrulous and friendly but not necessarily as organised as the barman. They more of less did a Laurel and Hardy routine, the highlight being when we ordered a bottle of wine. The bar women went off to find the right wine glasses. Then the barman turned up with the bottle of red, and a set of smaller white wine glasses. We were just pouring ourselves a glass when the bar woman turned up with the red wine glasses and another opened bottle of red. There we were with two bottles of red and eight wine glasses. She rolled her eyes, and we all had a good laugh. In fact, that summed up the entire mood of the night - a damn good laugh.
Next stop Edinburgh.
From there is was pretty much a solid drive of a few hours before we found ourselves in Glasgow, grabbing a quick pint at the local before we picked up Tim. The barmaid at the pub was the first person we'd spoken to in Scotland, and she had such a broad accent that a translator would have been helpful. In the end we smiled a lot, laughed at jokes she made we couldn't understand before downing the pints and finding Tim.
Now the family was back together, for the first time in around ten months, which was great. Our first night was on the west coast in a village called Connel, just out of the town of Oban. The weather had continued to be a bit on the damp side, though we'd had a good view of Loch Lomond on the way. Oban was a very picturesque coastal town, but when we got there for dinner the wind was blowing hard and cold. Nonetheless we wandered around and found a great little pub for dinner before heading back to our digs.
A word on the place we stayed at. Great food, fine rooms, interesting owner. She could really cook, had a sense of humour, but somewhere along life's journey she'd picked up a little bit of Basil Fawlty. She was clearly a stickler for the rule and heaven help the poor lady who accidentally poured out too much cereal and then used her hand (which she shouldn't have of course) to put some of it back. She might as well have farted in front of the queen. The same poor lady got in trouble for asking for access to a different toilet and trying to sort our an earlier breakfast. The curious thing was the owner was quite within her rights, it's just that the way she dealt with the person was straight out of The Basil Fawlty guide to customer service.
Now to a cock-up. We knew Oban was worth a visit in its own right, but we'd also planned to catch a ferry from there to the Isle of Mull. What we hadn't done was actually book the car on the damn ferry so, long story short, we'd missed out. In truth missing the ferry really wasn't a bad thing - actually it probably worked in our favour. We really didn't have the time for much of a tour of Mull, and though the day had dawned sunny the wind was still up, which meant the boat trip would have been rough (we noticed, for example, that the boat trip to the seal colony had been cancelled due to the winds, and rough sea).
In the end we had a very pleasant morning in Oban, which really was worth the visit, before heading to Loch Ness. Along the way we dropped into a Scottish wildlife sanctuary, which turned out to be a real winner. Awesome aquarium, great views of the coast, and pine forests perfect for the red squirrels which we looked for in vain.
That night we stayed in the awesomely named village of Drumnadrochit. We had a wander through the woods, down to Loch Ness, before having another great pub meal. The rooms at the B&B were really spacious and we wound up the evening drinking whiskey and eating local cheese in our room.
For the record we saw as many Loch Ness Monsters as we had red squirrels.
Next day took us to Grantown-on-Spey, in the Cairngorm Mountains, via Inverness. Inverness is a pretty cool place, at least the old town is, and worth a good wander through, checking out local ales along the way. Grantown was a bit of a gamble as it hadn't been on our radar until the day before, but it proved a great decision. It was right in the middle of a forest and we stayed at a quirky old pub. There was plenty of woodland walking, followed, by an evening of good food, a sampling of many fine whiskeys, card playing and a heckofalot of laughter.
The staff at the hotel were wonderful and just about as quirky as the establishment itself. We really liked them both, and they clearly got on well. The barman was very friendly, but deeply focused on doing his job right. The woman who was also working the bar with him, was garrulous and friendly but not necessarily as organised as the barman. They more of less did a Laurel and Hardy routine, the highlight being when we ordered a bottle of wine. The bar women went off to find the right wine glasses. Then the barman turned up with the bottle of red, and a set of smaller white wine glasses. We were just pouring ourselves a glass when the bar woman turned up with the red wine glasses and another opened bottle of red. There we were with two bottles of red and eight wine glasses. She rolled her eyes, and we all had a good laugh. In fact, that summed up the entire mood of the night - a damn good laugh.
Next stop Edinburgh.