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| Barb on the Harry Potter (The Jacobite) train |
We started the walk into the train station at 9:10 and made it there by 9:30 - fast but unpleasant in the rain. We boarded the train and had to have someone help us find our seats since it was rather confusing. To our delight we got a Harry Potter type compartment for 6 people. We got to ride facing foreword, and my seat was by the window. We had thought we would be in an open car on the right side of the train (not as good a view), so I was thrilled. Bill sat next to me in the center seat. These were nicely cushioned, rather fancy seats. The couple across from us (Stewart and Caroline) were in their mid 40s and were (he) from England and (she) from Germany. Stewart had just moved to south of here, and Caroline was waiting for school to be over in Germany to move here too.
The other couple, Kyle and Jackie were from down near London. They had the crummy seats on the end next to the passageway. They did have a large window on the other side of the passageway.
The sun finally came out, and the train took off at 10:15. We saw the Neptune's Staircase (the 8 locks we had seen on Sunday). At 10:45 we came to the Glenfinnan viaduct that we had also seen on Sunday. This viaduct is shown in a couple of the Harry Potter movies. Bill bought a book in the train gift shop about all the places where Harry Potter movies were made. Caroline had to go buy one, too.
We got coffee served to us in real mugs along with shortbread cookies. We had a half hour stop at Glenfinnan, and we wandered around. I got another cup of coffee at the station cafe.
The scenery was lovely, and the company was, too. We arrived in Mallaig at 12:25 and had until 2:10 to grab lunch and look around. I had researched the restaurants in this tiny village and liked The Tea Garden. We hurried there ahead of the large crowd and got a good seat on the covered porch. This was good as it did start to rain again. The restaurant soon filled up, and they were turning people away.
We got the fish and chips and a potty stop. After lunch we walked down to the pier and saw mainly older, less modern fishing vessels. We also saw a couple of seals in the harbor.
We made it back on the train, and Bill wanted to get photos of me and the train car from the outside. Caroline and Stewart made it back on the train, but Kyle and Jackie never showed. We don't know if they missed the train or made arrangements to take the afternoon train back to Fort William.
It was a little rainier going back, and there was not the need to take more photos. We arrived back in Fort William at 4pm. In the station the line for the ladies room was long and cost 20 pence. Finally we were ready to walk back to the B&B. We stopped at a shop to get Bill a T-shirt that we had seen on the way to the train. It says "Malt Whisky" but it is done in the Walt Disney font, so one has to look twice. We both thought it was cute!!
It drizzled all the way back to the B&B. We came up to the room where Bill napped, and I transferred photos to the iPad and posted a couple on Facebook.
At 6:30 we decided to get something light for dinner and went to a place called the Food Shop in the Alexandra Hotel across from the train station. By this time we knew where to park right near the hotel. They don't charge for parking after 6pm, so we went on in.
Bill had a pureed vegetable soup and a prawn cocktail. He was disappointed that the prawns were really just tiny shrimp. I got a steak and ale pie which came with mashed potatoes, carrots, and green beans. It was okay, but the green beans had to be de-strung before I could eat them.
When we went out to the car park, we were trapped by a huge tow truck just starting to load a hotel van. That took about 15 minutes, but it was entertaining to watch and wasn't raining.
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