Scotland - Day 2

Day 19 - Scotland - Day 2 (September 17)

Since we didn’t have a schedule we slept in until 7:30 AM. After a quick get up we went downstairs to breakfast and coffee. Since my Aunt had to go the clinic this morning we decided to go for a drive . Talking to Jim he suggested a drive along the West shore of Loch Lomond with a stop for lunch in Inverarnan at the “Drovers Pub”. Sounded like a plan.

By 9:00 AM we were on the road making a stop in Balloch at the Tourist Information center for a better map of the area. They suggested we include a stop at Inverary Castle over on Loch Fyne with a stop at the Fyne Oyster Bar for lunch. With maps in hand, we made it out to the A82 and headed North along the Loch. Our first stop was in a small village called Luss about nine miles from Balloch.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/luss/luss/index.html.

We pulled into a car park and walked into the village on the shore of the Loch. A small community of twenty or so crofters stone cottages, a couple of larger homes, a church, cemetery and several small shops, Luss also has a large pier for lake cruises. We walked all around village stopping for photos and to do a little shopping to help the local economy.

Leaving Luss we got back on A82 and continued up to Tarbet where we continued up the lake shore towards Inverarnan. The road got narrower and windier (twisty-turney) and was expected to be like that for the next ten miles to our lunch stop. We decided that it would be better to back track and take the A83 towards Inverary, so we did. The drive from Tarbet took us into the mountains past Bein Ime at 3,500 feet elevation, and down through a beautiful valley to Cairndow on Loch Fyne.

Following the shore of the Loch we made it to the Fyne Oyster Bar for our alternate lunch stop. On learning that we had a 35 to45 minute wait, we went next door to a small café and ordered a couple of sandwiches, leak an potato soup, a pastry and coffee and went outside to eat. We were joined by a family from Glasgow who were out for a day trip. After a nice lunch with them we continued another five miles to Inverary, a small town on Loch Fyne.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/inveraray/inveraray/index.html

We drove up to the castle and parked in a large car park (http://www.inveraray-castle.com/Pages/content.asp) and walked the short distance to the entrance to purchase our tickets. We couldn’t take pictures inside but it was truly a magnificent home for a succession of Dukes of Argyll and their families. The castle is still lived in by the present Duke and his family so much of the castle is closed to the public but we enjoyed it very much!

Our return trip back to Bonhill was much easier than the morning drive and we got home by 5:00 PM with a stop at the grocery for some dinner fixins. On arrival, Jim told us Claire had called and wanted us to call her back. When we got her she told us Aunt Elsa was at the hospital and would be there overnight for observation. Apparently she was being monitored for her heart condition and her recent test was not as it should have been, but it wasn‘t an emergency. We made plans to go to Claire’s after lunch tomorrow then retired to our room for the evening, to work on the blog, download photos and watch a movie.

To see our photos click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski