The Highlands

Sunday morning was very dismal indeed, weather-wise, but we had people to see and places to go, so off we went. First stop was a B & Q just the other side of Glasgow. It had occurred to me that if I picked up some anaglypta wallpaper to take home with us, it would completely solve the stupid-Susan-used-too-much-extra-glue-on-the-wallpaper dilemma in our bedroom. With five rolls of this wallpaper, which can be painted the colour of my desire, the ugly walls will be well hidden. And the pattern is just stripes, so no matching required. 

It was with great satisfaction that we continued our journey, which took us on this crazy road around Loch Lomond. A couple of times I thought we might die, I really did! Narrow and winding with nothing between us and the rocks on one side and the loch on the other. I was driving much slower than everyone else and had to pull over quite frequently to let cars go past, but I didn't care. Life is precious!

The day remained misty, which was unfortunate because things look so much prettier in the sunlight, but the scenery was still impressive.

The further north we went, the grander the scenery became, and once in a while the sun poked out its head. The mountains were awe-inspiring as they loomed over us. I was not expecting this.

We passed the Bridge of Orchy.

And many lochs.

In fact, we stopped so many times to take pictures that the four-hour drive took much longer. It seemed like every time we turned a corner there was another glorious vista just begging us to stop. We were definitely ruing our tight schedule.

We decided to pull into Glencoe, which is the site of a very famous battle. I think we were hungry, but there was no joy for us in Glencoe on that topic. But there was a street lined on both sides by very lovely houses, so we took a stroll down it before driving on.

On and on we drove, heading for our night in Fort William, which would only be a short drive from Eilean Donan Castle the next day.

The mountains became ever more rugged and impressive.

Every now and then, in the middle of these wild lands, we would see a lone house, and we wondered who was ferocious and wonderful enough to live there.

When we reached Loch Linnhe, the sun was doing its thing on the water. 

We pulled over.

Fort William is the second biggest town in the Highlands. It is surrounded by mountains and is so beautiful it almost hurts.

This was our most expensive night of the whole trip, partly due to my procrastinating the booking of the room, but I think also due to the fact that it is so remote that everything is more expensive. We stayed in a bed-and-breakfast owned by an old lady named Marie who had been running the place for several decades. I don't believe she had ever married and it is how she has earned her living all her life. She was a bit curmudgeonly, but in an endearing way. I asked if she minded my cooking our dinner in her kitchen and she was reluctant, but finally decided she could trust me not to take advantage of the situation. She sat in the kitchen and harassed me in a friendly sort of a way while I was cooking, and finally told me that one time she had allowed an Indian family to cook their dinner in her kitchen and they didn't finish until midnight and made a terrible mess, so ever since then she had banned it. So I guess I was lucky she took a liking to me!
Before dinner, we went for a walk down the river. Marie said it was a bit of a hike, but it was a skip in the park for us. Then she said because of her health she had rarely left the house in the last few years, so I guess it's all in your perspective.

The river was beautiful in the fading sun. There were several locks on it and they were all in the act of filling. We tried to figure out the mechanics of it all, but were not very successful.

This photo really gives you an idea of the size of those mountains. Ben Nevis is nearby, which, at a mere 4,409 feet, is the highest mountain in the entire British Isles.

This was one more place that we would have liked to spend more time and when I look at the photos I fall in love with it all over again. 

Dumfries and some Very Old Stones

Saturday only called for a couple of hours driving, up north to Dumfries. 

Pronounced Dum-freece. Short "Dum," longer and accented "Freece." My husband torments me with the incorrect phonetic pronunciation every time. I figure, why not pronounce it the same way the locals do? But no, he has to be the American tourist every time. 

Jeff wanted to see Cairn Holy, which has two Neolithic (very old) chambered cairns on some farmland overlooking Wigtown Bay, a bit south of Dumfries. They are estimated to date from around 4000 BC, which would be pretty awesome if they weren't so boring.

But before we got there, on the road from Dumfries to Cairn Holy, just outside Castle Douglas, we saw a promising restaurant called the Old School House. They advertised, among other things, a full meal for about ten pounds, no substitutions allowed. So we had the fish meal, which was very large and very hot, and not too bad once you got past your sizzled tongue. Then I had gingerbread pudding and custard, which had obviously been microwaved within an inch of its life, but was otherwise quite tasty. While we were waiting for the food to arrive, I went browsing in a little antique shop in the parking lot and scored some Irish linen tea towels. Which, I think you will agree, was quite exciting.

We continued down the road with pleasantly full bellies and arrived at the fascinating site of Cairn Holy very shortly. The countryside was picturesque, as always.

And behold the cairns.

And some cows.

And some cairns.

What did I tell you? Fascinating stuff!

The lane was rather charming.

And then we drove back to Dumfries to find our farmhouse for the night. The hosts were out of town at the last minute so we had the place to ourselves, which was quite nice because I was able to do our laundry and hang our underwear up in the utility room without fear of scandal.

Just before dark, we drove into town and took a walk along the river. There was a fair happening next to it, which was exciting.

Before retiring for the night, we visited the nearby Tesco and stocked up on tins of Cadbury chocolates to take home, which would be exciting for the recipients when we returned home.
This wasn't our most riveting day of the trip, but it's okay to have a more laid-back day every now and then. And the next day was going to be one of much driving, so there was that.