A long travel day but a great one with trains, ferries, & vans.
Before leaving our apartment, Dick did a morning run to pick up provisions for the journey. Trouble ahead though as Mary is showing signs of what could be an e-coli issue.
We taxied to Glasgow Center and Queen Street Station, one of the major transport hubs for the city. The ‘West Highland Train’ is one of the most scenic in Europe, travelling from Queen Street Station in Glasgow along Scotland’s west coast. It’s a part of Scotland that can only be seen by train. The route passes through Helensburgh, past Loch Lomond, by the Glenfinnan Viaduct of Harry Potter fame, views of Ben Lui and Ben Dorain, on to Fort William and finishing in Mallaig. Unfortunately, it’s not an ideal day for viewing as there is heavy cloud cover and occasional showers. Sadly, not enough pictures. Still a cool ride that winds up and through the highlands.
The CalMac ferry company runs a route from the Mallaig terminal (a short walk from where we exited the train) to Armadale on the island of Skye. We popped into ‘The Cabin’ to kill some wait with a pint. The wind was so fierce that the door of the pub kept blowing open! At the table next to the door (and us) were two guys, one of which was on permanent door close duty. Turns out they are a father and son from Canada, celebrating the father’s birthday with a tour of the highlands and Hebrides. They, like us, are having their trip a few years later than originally scheduled.
Big winds on the ferry crossing. Even with the overcast skies, the Isle of Skye looked fantastic. Our van pickup was waiting in Armadale, and we drove across the lower region of the island to our lodging at the cleverly named ‘Portree Hotel’ in Portree. Along the way the driver pulled over to let us get some pictures of Highland Cows grazing in a field.
It was a pretty miserable travel day for Mary given her illness. It caught up with Dick as we arrived at the hotel. No interest in dinner for either of us and an early night called. It sounds like Don & Joyce had a better go of things with a town walkabout, music in one of the pubs, and a nice dinner at the Portree.
