“Fáilte” Scotland

We arrived in the rain. Both in Glasgow and in Fort William. Our ferry ride from Belfast to Stranraer was nice, and I spent most of the time journalling. Christina didn’t enjoy it quite as well, but mostly due to worry, which I would argue is a self-inflicted problem. We arrived into a sunny day in port, and hustled from ferry port to train station, and boarded for the next leg of our trip. The train ride was our least luxurious so far, but the scenery was still spectacular. The chief difference that I noticed between Scotland and Ireland is that here the farm borders are defined by stone fences instead of green hedges. The overcast day slowly broke above us as we approached Glasgow, and by the time we arrived it was an impenetrable deluge, so we took shelter in the train station while we arranged a place to stay for the night.

The Glasgow YHA had put us up in a “family room” with four beds, charging us only for two, which was nice. While not as central as I would have liked if we were staying for some days it was good enough for an overnighter. Our plan was to rent a car and tour Scotland for a few days, return the car to Glasgow, and use the second visit to the city for staying, if we so chose at the time. It was just as well, since the weather was lousy at the time.

We did take a short walk around the West End part of town, and found an Italian restaurant for dinner, which Christina had been craving. We had a fantastic meal of mussels, bruschetta, lasagna, and some other small “tasting” dishes. I had an Innis & Gunn beer which was both Scottish and fantastic! I’m going to be on the hunt for that brand, which I know I’ve tried before, but seem to be appreciating in a new way.

Our night was comfortable enough, and we booked our car in the morning, then made tracks out of town, heading north and west into the “highlands”. The driving is lovely, and very much reminds me of New Zealand, more for the scenery than for the snake-like roads. At the advice of both our host at the hostel and the guy at the car rental place we headed for Loch Lomond, reputed to be a scenic place with little villages to visit. We stopped in Luss, a pretty little spot just off the highway, just long enough for a stretch and lunch.

Onwards, we continued north, forking west at Crianlarich, then again at Clifton, then north at Connel until we stopped for the day at Fort William.  Along the way we stopped twice. Once at a particularly scenic lookout, where the road met a river which was crossed by a bridge and was overlooked by twin ridges of the valley hills. Beautiful! Our other stop was at the church of Blythswood. This church is no longer in service, but maintained as a tourist attraction, and with good reason. It is exactly what I picture when I think of “mountain monastery”, and something about the rugged rock construction, ornamented by force of human will, is very impressive to me.

I was somewhat undecided about staying in Fort William, since despite having covered a significant portion of the Scottish landscape we had only put in around 3 hours of driving, but the charm of this quaint town won me over as we drove through its approach lined with brick and stone B&Bs on the right side and the lake on the left.

We parked and walked down the frontage, stopping in at several of the most likely looking spots before finding a room at Dalchreggan House.

At this point the weather was fair, with a cloud gathering itself on the horizon. As we left for dinner we could see the approaching storm sweep over us, and had to run for cover as the soaking rain began to fall. Safely ensconced in a bay-window table which looks out over the lake and Scottish hills we have just finished desert, and look forward to tomorrow’s adventure. We plan to drive as far as Inverness, then make our way back down over the next couple of days. Just a short jaunt, but it’ll give us at least a taste of Scotland.