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| Glenfinnan Monument |
Breakfast was at 8:30 and there were 12 of us in the breakfast room. The choices were not that many: cereal, juice, coffee, and toast on a buffet table, and eggs and breakfast meats. I had orange juice, coffee, toast, and one poached egg. After breakfast we took our time packing up and loading the car since we were hoping the weather would clear. It didn’t.
It was a 51 mile drive from Crianlarich to Fort William and supposedly a beautiful drive. I got a few photos in, but it was a little disappointing with the clouds covering the upper half of the mountains and rain splattering the windshield. I only had two stops I wanted to make. The first was at the 3 Sisters Mountains - 3 tall mountains side by side with a hidden valley where the Campbells massacred the McDonalds centuries ago.
We stopped at the viewpoint, and I got my photos. Just as we got back in the car, a large tour van parked right behind us. Indian tourists got off and the bus driver started taking all of their photos in front of the 3 Sisters. He totally ignored us until the car parked next to us left, and we were able to squeeze out. Duh.
One last photo stop was St John's Scottish Episcopal Church and cemetery on the road in Ballachulish. I had seen it as I checked out the road on Google maps and thought it made for a wonderful photo. I did manage to get a semi-decent one through the windshield. I had tried to get out, but it was raining too hard.
We finally arrived in Fort William at noon and drove past our B&B, Lawriestone. We couldn't check in until after 3, and we were in desperate need of toilets. We just drove into town and stopped at the first place that had parking and toilets. It was a buffet restaurant attached to a large and semi-decent tourist stuff store. We ate in the restaurant - I had fish and chips and Bill had chicken ticka marsala. Feeling much better, and with the sun starting to come out, we headed out the 17 miles to the Glenfinnan Monument and viaduct (the Harry Potter Hogwart's Express one). We had to hike up to a viewpoint to get a decent photo of the viaduct.
It has been very, very windy the last few days, but we got our photos taken before it started to rain again. The Glenfinnan Monument commemorates Bonnie Prince Charlie landing there to try to fight off the English. The backdrop is a large loch surrounded by high mountains and made an incredible picture. We also drove a half mile farther so I could photograph a lovely old church.
Then we drove the 17 miles back to Fort William and stopped at "Neptune's Staircase", a series of 8 locks on the Caledonian Canal built in 1803. It is the longest series of locks in Great Britian. We found a lovely bench to sit in the sun and gaze at Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain. It is still covered in snow at the top.
We decided since the sun was still shining to take the Glen Nevis drive 7 miles out to the Steall Falls hike. It is a stunning drive, and we had planned to hike it, but with all the rain we decided to pass and just take the stunning drive out there. And it was!!! Bill was not thrilled with the road since it was the first "one track road" we have driven. There are many pullover spots on both sides, and most drivers are quite conscious of being on a one track. On the way back, as we rounded a hill there were several sheep just meandering down the road taking up the whole roadway. I got a good photo of that.
We were finally able to come and check in at the Lawriestone hotel. We have a large double room on the second story facing Loch Linnhe right in front of the hotel. The decor in our room is a little odd, but I guess it fits the age of the house. The grounds are beautifully maintained with lovely walks and flowers. We are really happy to be staying here for 3 nights. Jim and Susan are our hosts and probably our age.
We got moved in and then decided to go to the Ben Nevis Inn for dinner. I had researched restaurants, and this one had really high ratings. It is at the base of the walk up Ben Nevis and also has a bunkhouse for hikers, so it isn't fancy. The food was really good. At least mine was. I got a strange combination of a tasty whisky sauce with rumbledethumps on top of that. Then there was a layer of fresh green beans cooked a perfect al dente. On top of it all was a chicken breast topped with a slice of haggis.
Runbledethumps are mashed (with some lumps) onion, cabbage, potatoes with cheddar cheese mixed in. Both Bill and I really liked this!!! The haggis (first genuine haggis) was really quite good!! Apparently haggis is like meat loaf - everyone puts their own spin on the recipe, but the waiter said that this was pretty much a standard haggis. It was peppery and whatever is in there was finely chopped. Bill didn't like it because it has oatmeal in it. He has a real aversion to uncooked oatmeal in anything.
Bill had a burger and was disappointed. Both burgers he has had in Scotland have been overcooked and rather dry. He asked the waitress about it, and she said it is a law in Scotland that burger meat cannot be served any other way. We will have to look that up.
We had one of the dessert specials - tightly rolled crepes with a custardy tasting ice cream served with a sticky toffee sauce. It was good.
We came back to the B&B and have watched the sun set over the Loch as it rained! We don't have just one window, but 3 large windows in an alcove. We are both sitting here staring outside. It has stopped raining, and blue sky is now visible.
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