Blogs from Fort William, Inverness-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 2

Another day of, as the locals say.... "Shyte weather" but nonetheless we braved the rain & wind for a trip back in time. Elke had surprised me with first class tickets in the 1st car. Nice big wing back chairs with a view to allow the world to glide by. As is usual for the train system here we left at exactly 10:15. Very shortly the sweets trolley appeared which supplied tea & coffee with shortbreads. Occasionally the rain would let up and allowed us the chance for some pictures. A quick stop at Glenfinnan to stretch our legs where there is a diner and a small railway museum. We have been to Glenfinnan before thankfully because it was a long walk to the monument to celebrate the landing of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his attempt ... read more

Geo: 56.8188, -5.10966We had only one thing on the agenda for today--riding the Jacobite train from Fort William to Mallaig. Since Philip has to concentrate on driving and won't have much chance to see the scenery, we planned the train ride to give him a chance to relax, too. This seemed to be the best spot in our itinerary for a train ride, and it turned out to be a beautiful ride. We drove from the hotel and parked in the lot adjacent to the train station. This was one where we had to buy a ticket from a machine to leave on the dashboard while we were away. There are many different ways to pay for parking, and we have seen several already on this trip.There are three or four trains that ply this route, ... read more

Der gestrige Morgen hat uns nicht zu viel versprochen. Auch wenn es auf dem Weg zum Old Man of Storr wieder ein wenig zuzog, sollte der Tag insgesamt doch sehr sonnig und aufregend werden. War am Tag zuvor der kleine Parkplatz am Fuß der Berge völlig verlassen, standen gestern kurz nach 9 Uhr morgens schon relativ viele Autos da (dachten wir! Wir hatten uns die letzte freie Ecke geschnappt, aber als wir Stunden später zurück kamen, stand da zusätzlich eine riesige Kette von parkenden Autos am Straßenrand...). Laut Reiseführer sollte der erste Teil des Weges durch einen idyllischen Fichtenwald führen. Der war leider vollkommen abgeholzt, wie ich später herausgefunden habe weil dort mit einheimischen Bäumen aufgeforstet werden soll und dafür die „Exoten“ weg müssen. Da es laut unserer Herbergsmutter schon seit Wochen regnet war der Weg ... read more

Sitting in a campground overlooking the Firth of Forth is an inspirational setting for writing Blog #4. We spent almost a full day driving through the North York National Moor Park and enjoying the rolling and barren landscape, so different from what we've experienced in England and now in Scotland. Daily showers keep everything green and lush. Rather than tour Durham, we headed straight for Stirling, Scotland, where we were assured our MH issues could be diagnosed and cured. While under the care of George of M-Line, we had a loaner ITCHY FEET SERVICE TRUCK at our disposal and boogied up to the Stirling Castle for a thorough tour of the most critically placed stronghold in Scotland. The Scottish/English history of control of Scotland over the centuries depended on which army held control of this castle ... read more

There are 2 ways to travel through life, you can drive or be driven. Today we started driving. All week I’ve been sitting on the right side of the bus, watching traffic as if I was driving to get used to the backwardness. Last night we mapped out an escape route from the rental place at Waverly Station making it a series of simple left hand turns to get out to the main road out of town. In conversation with some of our tour group we found that there was an access from a floor in the bowels of the hotel that takes us to within 100 metres of the station. That was great news since we were going to be hauling our luggage which includes Vicki’s monster suitcase which for some reason I’m always carrying. ... read more