With the wind howling and a dark drizzle, we set off for Glencoe. It took about 30 minutes from Ft. William. It cost 12 pounds each to enter the visitor’s center.
There are three themes to the center: 1. The Massacre and 2. Rock Climbing and Mountaineering 3. The Environment. I thought they did a good job of covering all three topics. There were lots of hands on activities for kids as well.
The exhibit relating to the massacre was small compared to the one at Culloden, but at Glencoe there were only 37 people killed vs. the 1500 people at Culloden!
After Glencoe, we decided to drive to Tyndrum and then to Oban and back to Ft. William, driving a big lolly-pop.
The drive was gorgeous, even in the rain.
We stopped at Castle Stalker at the Castle Stalker View Cafe for lunch. The Cheese Plate was delicious and featured several local cheese, including a wonderfully smoked soft cheese. YUMMY!
There were a lot of motorcycles at Castle Stalker Cafe, so it appears to be very popular with that crowd! The view of the castle and the loch were very pleasant to look at while we relaxed in the cafe.
We headed back to Ft. Williams in order to make a 6pm massage. Sue, Torlinnhe Guest House owner, had arranged for us to get massages (an hour each!). She hooked us up with Shona Macaulay, massage therapist, at Alpine Holistics. Shona gave us massages *right in our room* which was DIVINE; give her a buzz at 07527 210538! She can do sports or gentle style massage and she has just the right touch.
After the massages, we went for a late dinner at Hotel Alexandra. At first we had the most rude waitress, but then we were switched to somebody who was very pleasant. They ended up giving us free dessert because of the bad service, which was a nice touch.
I had a Salad Nicoise and Dennis had a Cajun Styled Chicken which was very spicy. Both dishes were decent and we were happy with the presentation and quality. I thought the food was a little salty, but that may be because most their customers seemed to be over 50. I would give it a B+.
There was some live music, which we really enjoyed as it was Scottish. But, after we finished our meal, they switched over to American Rock and Roll, so we left shaking our heads. Every where we go, we hear our own music, but we wonder, “What happened to all the localized music in the world?”. Why is American Pop/Rock so dang prevalent?!?
Tags: Castle Stalker, Glencoe, Highland Drive, Scotland