‘Twas another train day, which was so much more enjoyable than yesterday’s “car day.” Five hours and some walking minutes later, we now sit in Jessica’s flat having just eaten tortellini and salad for dinner. Let’s make this a catch-up post, shall we?
Our window from the Fort William apartment boasted “stunning views of Loch Linnhe”, which we assumed was a lake. Not. A miles-and-miles-long finger of salt water, it originates in the Atlantic Ocean. This we did not know until the next day. Also in Fort William is Ben Nevis, UK’s tallest peak at 4,411 feet. We saw many peaks, assumed one of them was Ben Nevis, and kept on driving to Glenfinnan.
Glenfinnan is famous for Bonnie Prince Charlie (who tried to take Scotland back from the Brits) and a neat bridge. It just so happened that a steam locomotive chugged across the bridge while we were walkin’ along:
Jessica and I each stared at the plaque below for a good thirty seconds before realizing we couldn’t read it:
Off again, we drove to Arisaig, a wee town on the western coast of Scotland, where the tide was low and lunch was tasty. Had we instead turned back to Edinburgh from Fort William, we may have missed yesterday’s “diversion on the A9”. Or, it may not have mattered. We definitely would have missed the hairy cows.
Finally, this morning we walked to Waverly Station in Edinburgh and boarded our first-class rail car for London. Not quite as classy as the last trip, this one did not include hot food nor special drinks as today was a “bank holiday.” It did, however, include all the shortbread and sandwiches we could nab, and we did. We also played “Timeline: British History”:
It’s not as hard as it seems, people. All you do is figure out if an event –the birth of Mary, Queen of Scots – came before or after another event – the first nuclear power plant to open in the UK. See? I even won a hand or two.
Only two glitches marred our otherwise uneventful, comfy journey today. Thinking he was putting the keys to our last Airbnb back into the lockbox, Jim instead put in Jessica’s spare house keys. He realized this as we pulled into London, but all is well…or will be when we mail them back tomorrow.
And, we left a bag of food on the train…apples, chips, margarine. Margarine? It was for the potato scones we left in the first Edinburgh Airbnb, two nights ago. Could have been worse.
Tomorrow Jessica, Jim and I train back into to London; she and I for dress shopping, Jim for sightseeing on his own. Jim will be loose on the underground, all by himself, until he meets up with us for high tea at Kensington.
Tell you what: I’ll leave you with a picture of a stag, seen along the side of the parking area in Glenfinnan.
