O ye'll tak' the high road, and Ah'll tak' the low road . . .

Saturday 28 June 2014

And Ah'll be in Scotlan' afore ye!  Those words are part of the chorus for "The Bonnie Banks o'Loch Lomond."  We sang these words today on the bank of Loch Lormond!  We began our day, however, by going to a street market in Keswick (pronounced Kezick) where we were staying after we checked out of our hostel.  Many of the small towns have markets on Saturday.  This one was nice in that it seemed to be primarily local people with local products.  The two most interesting were a honey stall selling absolutely every flavor of honey ever devised!  :)  Another must have been a sheep farmer:  he had wool products and a refrigerated display case of lamb meat!  From the sheep stall, I did find a pair of really nice, warm gloves filled with sheep wool to keep my hands warm! (I whine every day all winter long that my hands are cold and I can never find gloves to keep them warm!  I think these will do the trick!).  I almost got a sweater, but he only had the color I liked in a pull-over and I wanted a cardigan.   After that, we began the long drive to Scotland.  Which brings us to Loch Lomond.   We stopped here for a few photos and added an ice cream stop with a bathroom stop as well.  We sang the first verse and chorus to the song on the bank of the loch (hope the video works!).   Weird Americans!

It was drizzling when we were at Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

Then to Loch Ness.  We stopped a few other times to take photos along the way.  For those who have read the Outlander series (by Diana Gabaldon)--yes, I could totally see Jamie and Claire walking around here toward Lallybroch!  

At Loch Ness, we are staying in a small town called Fort Augustus in an old abbey that has been remodeled as The Highland Club.  We have an apartment for the week.  It includes a club room with snooker table, foosball, and quiet areas; an outdoor large chess set; an indoor pool; outdoor soccer field, tennis court, and playground.  Our apartment has an ensuite master bedroom, a bedroom with two single beds, a dining table with a lofted living room, an eat-in kitchen, dishwasher and washer/dryer!  Photos below:

Common Room (dining below)

Living room above (two of the couches fold out--one of the
children will sleep here

room for two children

main bathroom (you can see the shower in the mirror)

Kitchen

master bedroom

en suite bathroom

Our wing--the old school the abbey started

games fields

Hallway of the cloister

courtyard of the cloister

"the moat house" aka reception

the drive coming in

the "club room"

giant chess board in the courtyard

We bought food at the tiny grocery store--very expensive, so tomorrow we'll be out part of the day (after sleeping in) and will try to find a larger grocery store with more selection and better prices!  Tomorrow is going to be low-key and we are all looking forward to that!