slowly she turned

This was probably our rainiest day. For the most part, the weather was quite good, with highs in the high 50s. In the meantime, my sister was in Cornwall and they had terrible weather. We were lucky.

I was sorry to leave Glenspean Lodge. Really, I would have loved to have spent the entire time there. The food was fresh and delicious, and they were serious about sustainability. Very comfortable rooms. The landscaping was beautiful, and there was a bar and a game room. I’m not sure if they cater to other than tour groups though, since we were the only people there.

We got to Glenfinnan early so that Gus could be sure to get a parking spot, and I had another chance to roam about a little. The main reason we were there was to take photos of the Jacobite Steam Train as it traveled over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, apparently often showed in the Harry Potter movies. (I really do have to watch them some time.) There was a memorial. Scotland was the scene of so much bloody, tragic history. This is where the Jacobite Rebellion began, so we visited the exhibition in the little museum there. I, of course, was drawn to the water of Loch Shiel.

Once the steam train went by, our bus headed to Mallaig, where we would eat lunch and board that Jacobite Steam Train to ride back to Fort William. The beaches around Mallaig were beckoning me – I wanted to get out so bad! From Mallaig you could see the Isles of Egg, Rum, and Skye. And alas, my phone camera was unreliable and I did not get the photos I thought I had taken.

We ate lunch in a small cafe and our waiter and I had a bit of a communication problem. For one example, I didn’t understand that “cullen” meant “soup” and she didn’t understand that “soup” meant “cullen,” but eventually it got sorted out and I had a fish chowder called “cullen skink” with lovely brown bread. Sandy went to the train station and I had a chance to visit a couple of art and gift shops and walk around the block near the harbour.

Once we got on the steam train, it was a fun ride through the highlands, mostly along the lochs. There was a small island with tall trees in Loch Eilt that was called “Dumbledore’s Grave.” Ah well, another Harry Potter reference and a spoiler at that, but it was a pretty place.

Back on the bus, where we headed for our next stop, Inverness. We stopped briefly at the Invermoriston “Old Bridge” and River Moriston Falls beside it. Our hotel was a modern chain on Church St. in the center of Inverness, and we had dinner there at a buffet that night.

Oh yes, the motion sickness cure. By this day, I was not taking any Dramamine at all, and I was riding on roads that normally would make me sick as a dawg. I wore the acupressure cuffs, and the hotel owner sold these little fizzy candies that tasted like SweetTarts that she swore by for motion sickness. I ate one now and then, but I really think it was the acupressure cuffs that did the trick.