Late October at 55 deg North and a week off of school for Sandy. What should we do? Seychelles, South of France, Spain??? Nah, we're off to Alba (Scotland for you non-natives). Loch Fyne to be precise. It's on the West Coast of Scotland, about an hour and a half north of Glasgow. We weren't sure what to expect with the weather, but with mountains, ale, whisky and oysters all within a stones throw, the weather didn't really matter.
Actually, as you can see in the pic, we started out with a very rainy drive.
It did get better. Much better.
This is the first house in Scotland, just over the border, a few miles north of Carlisle. Apparently, back in the pre-cambrian times, England decided to tax everything that a person could think of doing. So, the Scots being the enterprising folk they are, set up marriage houses just over the border without the taxes. They didn't dump any tea in the Solway Firth so, they stopped just short of glory... From there it was on through Glasgow, which doesn't glow and isn't very glamorous, to the Western Highlands. Absolutely beautiful.
Just over the Firth of Clyde, we found this little beauty.
Auchentoshan Distillery. It's a triple distilled Lowland style malt. Very nice. Crisp, dry and slightly warming. From there, we kept heading North.
We passed some spectacular scenery. Loch Lomond, tonnes of mountains, waterfalls, looming clouds, half a dozen lochs.
Amazing bit of the Earth.
Loch Fyne was not far away and we arrived at our lodging: the Butlers' Quarters of Ardkinglas Estate in Cairndow.
This place was fantastic. 2 bedroom self-catering in a early 20th century mansion on the shore of Loch Fyne.
The grounds are a botanical garden and have numerous "champion" trees for the UK.
Including these two, one with four trunks and the other is the tallest tree in the UK.
The glen was surrounded by fantastic mountains and walking. Sam had another all day walk that took in An t-sron, Binnein al Fhidhleir peak (811m),
fantastic views over the loch,
then over the peak to find a microbrewery (Fyne Ales), over to the oyster bar for supplies...
a pause for a view back to where he walked,
then back down the shore of Loch Fyne, to the Cairndow pub for a pint of Fyne Ale and then back to the Quarters.
That same day, Kelly and the girls went looking for what they thought was an elephant herd. What else would be bellowing in the Northern Scottish woodlands...Highland Cattle of course!
The girls still had a good time with it. They also had a big adventure finding treasure on the Loch shore
They even found a mermaid!
At the end of the day, we had a fantastic sunset over Loch Fyne
The next day was a trip to Oban, a fantastic harbor town on the Firth of Lorne which opens onto the Irish Sea and the North Atlantic.
On the way, we drove through more amazing scenery, including ruined Castle Kilchurn on the head of Loch Awe,
We arrived in Oban to slighty grey skies and a chill wind.
It's Scotland, what did you expect?
The big attraction there was Sam and girls waiting while Kelly went on her first Distillery tour.
And it was a nice one. Oban. Dry, smoky with malty and fruity undertones. And a bit of salt air thrown in.
That ended the day on a good note, kind of (Molly and Sandy got tired of listening to Da talk about the finer points of distillation and how the shape of the pot still affects the final flavor of the whisky and feed them roasted barley in the gift shop) and we headed back to the Quarters.
We stopped at the Conan Kirk, on Loch Awe.
It was a very holy site as it contained a bone of Robert the Bruce.
on the with a stop at the oyster bar for provisions and a peak at the "aquarium".
The next day, we hit Inverary for a bit of the local sites. We saw a jail, which Molly really liked.
And then walked around a restored castle. Not as dramatic as the ruined Kilchurn but, still kind of neat.
Sandy was dreaming of escaping to the hills
so, we headed back to the quarters for some food and a really nice evening walking around there.
And another spectacular Scottish sunset.
The way home included a stop-over in Airdrie. The ancestral home of Kelly's Grandmother.
All said and done, Scotland, highly recommended.
