R&R IN THE LAKE DISTRICT

Finally a destination where we can unpack bags, do laundry, and sit around if we want to.  We are deserving and in need!!!!

We left Glasgow around 1:30 on a train to the Lake District.  Once again we had the struggle of fitting everything back into the suitcases but even succeeding in doing that we felt like pack animals:-).

Yes! That is all our luggage, so what?  We are eating ice cream because we have to. It burns a lot of calories lugging these bags!  ( At least we're hoping it does!  To date, no scales in sight.  Isn't that just lovely,)

We finally got on the train.  The right one on the first attempt.  We were on our way.  Baggage is a problem. Not enough space but eventually we get everything situated.  Off we go.  Of course we have to change trains in  Oxenholm before we get to Windermere.  We get help because we are the beautiful women from Iona  :-)!  The train to Windermere is on the other side of the track.  No problem. We find the train and some very nice young men who volunteers to help put our bags in the overhead.

I guess they too knew we were the beautiful women from Iona.  They had no idea what they had volunteered for.  Poor guys!  They did ask us how we were going to manage since they got off before Windermere,  But of course we are ....so no problem.  A cab from the train station and we are on our way. Oh wait a minute, the cab driver says "where?"  Fortunately we have the directions because we are Marines and we are prepared!  On our way we ask about getting to Harrogate, our next stop and he volunteers to drive us there for a very good price.  Now, do we try to schlep our luggage at two train changes or do we hire a cab to take us door to door?  We think about it. No kidding, we did.  Actually we all wanted to say ,yes, that would be great, but we feel we need to talk it over first, I guess!

So, because we don't have cell phones we locate a phone booth, insert a credit card, and make a local call.  Arrangements are made!

We have a lovely 4 bedroom apartment in bowness in Windermere.  The town itself is probably one of the most commercial in the Lake District but we have the easy accessibility of buses to get us out of here and there are lots of restaurants around so we're happy.  

I have to admit that we stayed pretty close to home for two whole days.  We did laundry, sat around and just rested, read, and blogged :-)!  Of course we did some grocery shopping so we enjoyed simple breakfasts and easy evening meals.  

Relaxing at home!

The downtown of Bowness on Windermere.

Swans which are supposed to be so mean have decided humans are their friends here in Windermere.  The.children were even petting them.

On Sunday we decided to attend a church service.  We picked out an Old Angelican church, St.Martins, not too far from us.

Yes, I promise I was there.  It was a lovely service and everyone was extremely welcoming.  We stayed for coffee and talked with members after the service.  

This wooden carving of St. Martin was in the church  before the restoration in 1870, was lost sight of for over 40 years, and subsequently replaced in the church in 1912.

After services we found a place to eat. ( We try not to miss any meals! ) We wandered up the streets and had a great time just looking.  We have no room in our suitcases so we can't buy anything.  So sad!

We found these cute red hats for Sharon for her blog.

She thought this was too reminiscent of Minnie Pearl with the price tag showing. I. Don't know , I think it's a good look.

OK.  Maybe this is better.

Tomorrow, Grassmere and more!

LEAVING SCOTLAND

Previewing my photo's I couldn't help but think what beautiful country we had seen. Let me share.

Every place we looked there were waterfalls as the rain fell.  

 

Photo's cannot capture the beauty of  Scotland and Wales.  As you drive through the countryside you view miles and miles of stone fencing and sheep grazing.  Mama's and babies ( I suppose there are a few papa's there too) all over the lush green rolling hills.  Although there are fences everywhere often the sheep have managed to get out and are found on the roads staring at you and "baaa baaing ".  Flowers are adorning the hills. 

Breathtaking!

IONA AND THE MUSICAL CAVE

As difficult as it was to leave the castle we took advantage of a break in the rainy weather and headed to the Isle of Iona. We took the scenic route.  Just love these roads here in Scotland- room for one car with turnouts to let the other vehicle by.  You just pray there's a turnout when you see a vehicle approaching.

This is when you're glad you wore panty liners.  (OOPS too much info).

One of our favoriite sites on our car excursions on these exciting roads is this:  toilets (we could care less about the poice station).  I'm sure this is where the saying "too few and far between" came from!

We finally made it to the ferry and landed on the Isle of Iona.  This is where St. Columba landed in 563 AD and brought Christianity to Scotland.  No cars are allowed on the island and many people come here for religious retreats.  

We first visited the ruins of the Nunnery, a Benedictine convent, which was established in 1203.

The pink granite walls that remain are amongst the best examples of a medieval nunnery left in Britain.

This convent flouished for more than 350 years.

The Abby which was built on the site of St. Columba's monastery dates back to 1220AD.  The restoration was completed in 1965,from which the Iona Community have run it as a residential centre and continued daily worship in the Abbey.

Sharon and I left Ginger and JoAnne to ferry over to the Isle of Staffa and visit Fingal's Cave, which inspired Mendelssohn to write The Hebrides Overture.  (On the score he labelled the music Fingal's Cave).  We hopped on the 1:45 Ferry thinking it was an hour trip.  Well.......it wasn't exactly an hour trip.  It was an hour to the island, an hour on the island, and an hour back.  Oh dear!  JoAnne and Ginger should have come with us and then we wouldn't have been in trouble.  All their fault if we kept them waiting - right ?

This is Sharon learning that the trip is three hours.

Here we are approaching the isle of Staffa, truly interesting.

This is the face of Staffa.

It was worth the three hour trip and the possible wrath of good friends.

So interesting!

It was a little treacherous getting to the cave but after being on the roads here, a nothing.  Everything is relative.

This is nature's work - not man made.  Turly awsome.

Now we had to deal with questions like -- where would JoAnne and Ginger be?  We had gotten information that the boat which had taken us to Staffa from Iona and made a stop in Fionnphort to pick up more people would be stopping in Fionnphort once again to drop people off before returning to Iona.  Now our car was parked in Fionnphort so should we get off there or go back to Iona? We both decided that Sharon and JoAnne being extremely smart would find out all the info on our adventure and return to Fionnphort and wait for us.  When we docked I stood on the bench and saw JoAnne's white hair.  What a vision!  We were so happy!  They had enjoyed their day on the island and we enjoyed our adventure.  All is well that ends well!

Now we had a long drive back to our castle.  We did take a less scenic route but still not an easy drive.  We decided to drive all the way to Tobermory, the town closest to the castle, before stopping for dinner.  

 Tobermory is a fishing port built in the late 18th century and is the main town on the Isle of Mull as well as the capital.  It's current population is 700.  Loved the colorful downtown buildings.

We found a little Restaurant called The Galleon Grilll and Sharon and I tried one of their local dishes of Langoustines.  I don't think we'll have it again:-)! We were still hungry when we finished so we had to order dessert.

We were looking forward to getting back to our home - only a 25 minute drive away!

I thought you should  know that Iona was known as the Isle of beautiful women.  I'm not sure if that was written before or after our visit.  

THE GOOD LIFE

We left the Fort Wiliam area and headed to our neext destination - Glengorm Castle B&B where we were looking forwrd to exploring the island of Iona and spend some time relaxing.  The castle did not disappoint.  I felt right at home the minute I saw the castle.

So me:-)!

We checked in after a rainy drive and enjoyed a little scotch in the library !

Compliments of the house.  Oh dear, I mean castle!  As you can see the castle had a nice selection.  We were staying only 3 nights so the question was,"Could we taste them all?"

Sometimes the seats on the couch were taken and I had to sit in the chair by the window and look out the window at a portion of the 5000 acre estate.  See for self how hard this was on my eyes.

Oh, I forgot I got out of my seat to take these pictures.

Here I am back in my seat. Looking quite sophisticated as is befitting someone drinking scotch in a castle.  I could get used to this.

After sipping the  scotch we retired to our room The Laorin Suite,for the night.

The attached bathroom was almost as big as the bedroom.  The view from our room was more of the 5000 acre estate.  Many leisure centers ( if you remember, sheep) and cattle roamed the acreage .

Oh, that's a dog.  I'll get to the sheep and cows!  Just give me a minute.

Glengorm castle was built in 1863 by James Forsyth of Dunacht,Argyll. On his arrival to Glengorm, Forsyth evicted all his tenants and burnt the cottages on the estate.  The smoke from the thatched roofs turned the sky blue and from this Glengorm took its name, blue glen.  Forsyth was cursed by one of the evicted tenants,she cited that he would never sleep in his new house.  This came true as he was killed in a riding accident before the castle was completed.

The current owner, Tom Nelson was born in 1972 and grew up in Glengorm and his wife, Marjorie's grandfather was the farm manager.

Our last day at the castle we spent roaming the grounds.  They were spetacular.  Flowers blooming, sheep grazing and hairy cows ( highland cows for those who don't know what hairy cows are) roaming. 

This one really caught my attention. Reminded me of the Loch Ness Monster. Perhaps they are related and I have made a notable discovery. I shall research this more when I have more time.  

We saw these three large rocks in the center of a circle of smaller rocks and inquired of two bicyclists who were crossing the estate what they were. They told us these rocks were probably 3000 to 40000 years old and predate Stonehenge .  

We continued on our walk ending up at the little cafe located on on the property for a spot of tea and lunch.

And then we walked home to our castle!

Each morning we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the diningroom.  We enjoyed meeting new people here and of course in the library in the evening.  

This group was from Alaska.  We had a great time at breakfast with them. They were a group of five.  I don't know how they got fit their luggage in one car.

Yes,  that's JoAnne putting on her bib.  It was our third breakfast there and I guess she felt right at home.  Keeping clothes clean and spotless is a problem for some. 

I'm going to tell you about The Isle of Iona tomorrow as this got rather lengthy.  I have a lot of catching up to do but we are now staying in the Lake District in Windermere and have time, seven whole days in one place, and a good WIFI connection.  I just have to hope I can remember what happened, when.