Day 4

Today we enjoyed the complete opposite weather from yesterday's. It was sunny, dry, and in the mid 60s. We started the day with a little drive to the Isle of Seil. There isn't much on the island, but there was a spectacular view from a little area called Easdale. I do feel like I'm starting to get the hang of diving on these roads though. I think the biggest key is not to get too uptight.

After that we came back to the room and walked into town. We thought that we could catch a ferry to the Island of Kerrera (pronounced as if it doesn't have the er at the end "Kay-ra") from downtown, but we found out that we had to walk about 2 miles south of town. By the time we got there Amanda was dead tired. We also missed the last ferry that ran at 12:30 and had to wait until 2:00 for the next one. I took the opportunity to walk back to the hotel and get the car.

The goal for the Island was to see Gylen Castle and to have tea at the tea gardens. What we didn't realize was that both were at least another 2 miles from where the ferry dropped us off. We pressed on and eventually found the tea room. It is an incredibly beautiful spot and we did have tea with a very late lunch (we had Lara Bars to fortify ourselves earlier), but it was not a British Tea. It was still a nice time though. The hike to the castle was rather muddy and sheepy, but it was worth it. I've come to realize that our modern ideas of castles are probably very Americanized because they did not have much living space at all. I think that the view may have made up for it though.

The hike back was easier because it was more downhill, but it was still quite long. We were very happy for the car to drive back to the hotel. We got cleaned up and then had a nice meal at a local seafood restaurant. As you might imagine, this is a great place for seafood.

Now we are enjoying the view from our room with the windows open to give us a lovely sea breeze. Westward facing windows are pretty, but the room was pretty hot. No central A/C here, for obvious reasons.

As I finish this we can hear bagpipes playing in the distance. I'm pretty sure that makes our Scotland experience complete. Tomorrow we go kayaking in the sea. That should be an adventure too.