“You almost cut off his fingers!!”
Today was our final breakfast at the Dunvegan Castle Keepers Cottage. Our original plan entailed a very early rise-time, as we were going to go on a hike, along with our sightseeing. However, when we woke up, the weather had turned harsh. High winds would make both the hike and the ferry ride undesirable. So, we called an audible and cancelled the hike, so we could sleep in a little longer. As the breakfast cook, I endorsed this plan.
After we ate, we did all the required cleaning tasks to depart the cottage. We really enjoyed the stay, and would heartily endorse it. Since you can drive off of the island without taking a ferry, we were able to easily change our plans. Carrie’s initial reaction was that it would be longer to drive directly. When I did the maths, it turned out to be a shorter path, which would take us into some new territory, well Carrie and I have driven the road, but for everyone else, it is new.
We drove past the Highlander Castle, though it was raining pretty hard, so we didn’t want to keep the windows open for too long. Pat and Carrie found some cool stops on the way - an old suspension bridge provided some great photos. It was right on the Caledonian Canal, which led to Loch Ness, then Inverness, then the sea.
We made a pit stop at a petrol station to use the facilities and top up our tank. We continued our trek, and stopped off in Port William to see the Old Inverlochy Castle. We could only see it from the outside, but it is a very important place in Scottish History. It originally dated back to the 13th century, and played a strategic role in several battles. Once we got some photos, we went to the Highland Soap Company factory store.
They had a neat cafe inside, so we got some lunch. After a brief snafu with missing tater tots, we really enjoyed our meal. I had one of the best cappuccinos I’ve ever had (it was certainly the prettiest). We found some great gifts, and were back on the road.
We made a few quick stops for photos, and ended up in Oban at our guesthouse. We rested a bit, then went to show Walt and Rosanna the awesomeness of Tesco. Side note: it is not really that awesome, but is the biggest store we’ve been in in Scotland. We did find some of those amazing tea cakes, and stocked up. Hopefully, some will make it home.
We then went to find a quick takeaway fish and chips shop. Unfortunately, it was in the busy harbor area, and parking is at a premium. I took a stab at a small alley parking area, but they were all full. Doubly unfortunate, someone followed me in, so I had no easy exit. They honked at a person in a parking place who looked like he was leaving, to give him some extra encouragement to leave. I think the honking irritated an obviously inebriated pedestrian nearby. He came up to my window to tell me not to let people push me around, and I was in the right. I told him “thanks” then started to roll up the window. He grabbed the top of the window, and I continued rolling it up, hoping he would take a hint. He didn’t. So, I rolled it back down, and waited for him to remove his hands. When he did, I quickly closed the window, and escaped the encounter. Carrie said she was convinced I was going to amputate his digits.
We found a space, and I, expertly may I add, parallel parked. Carrie, Walt, and I headed out on foot to obtain some fish and chips. When we came to Scotland in 2006, I had fried pizza at a shop here in Oban. I was determined to replay that experience. This shop had fried pizza. So, that was my order. Carrie and Walt got Haddock and chips. This shop was even endorsed by Gordon Ramsay, so we were hoping it was good. One of the best things about my last fried pizza, was that the crust was super thin. This shop used very bread-y pizza, and it totally didn’t work. It was still ok, but the chips were the star of my dinner.
We took the food back to our guesthouse, and sat at tables on the ground floor and enjoyed our dinner. Since the ferry changed our sailing time tomorrow, we have an early call time. So, I just tried to get caught up on the blog, and we’ll upload photos tomorrow. Good night, and good luck.
