ATW Day 104 - Scotland

Friday we were docked in Greenock, Scotland which is basically the port for Glasgow although we didn't go to Glasgow.  Why, you might ask.  Let me explain.  On the first few segments of this ATW cruise, a couple from Scotland was on board who we got to know.  Kat and Garry offered to arrange a tour for us and other people on the ship.  We took them up on the offer as did 16 other people.  Kat and Garry met us at the terminal to start the day.

They arranged a bus with a tour guide who was terrific.  After about an hour drive through the Scottish countryside we arrived at our first stop - Loch Lomond and the cute town of Luss.  Yes, it was rainy as it would be for most of the day.  That's why it's so green in Scotland.

We walked through the town to the church and graveyard.

This is a tomb left by the Vikings in the 1100's!

We continued our walk through the town.

The next stop was at the Inveraray Castle where we toured the castle and walked around the gardens in just a light rain! Descendants of Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Louisa, still live there.

We were able to try on the crown . . . 

. . . without getting beheaded like this poor guy!

    

                                                        

After the castle we went for a lunch that Kat arranged at the George Hotel in Inveraray on Loch Fyne.

The George Hotel is in a 250 year old building.  For lunch, Linda and I shared fish and chips (of course) and a vegetarian haggis.  Good stuff.

Riding to our next stop, we enjoyed the greenery and the waterfalls.

The final stop was at the Auchentoshan distillery where we got to taste two Scottish whiskys and got a tour of the facility.

Our guide, Steve, was proud of the shipbuilding history of the area but lamented the decline of the industry. He was also proud of all the inventions that are attributed to Scottish people. To name a few: James Watt, Alexander Graham Bell, Dunlop.

It really was a wonderful tour that Kat and Garry put together and it was great to see them again.

Wouldn't you know it, after we returned to the ship, the rain stopped and the sky mostly cleared.  That made for a nice sail away and sunset.

Oh, you may be wondering why I didn't post anything about our previous day in Belfast.  Simply put, it rained all day and, having been there a couple of times, we just stayed on the ship.  Maybe we'll make it to the Titanic Museum the next time we're there.  Silly as it seems, I have to say that I am not a fan of anything related to the Titanic after suffering through the movie Titanic so many years ago.

We're now enjoying a sea day on our way to Torshavn, Faroe Islands.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry