8-9 July

8 July

A quiet day at home with Mike and Lesley. Lesley and I spent a large part of the day sitting outside chatting. We also watched a small spider build a web from scratch. Lesley and I were both so intrigued and impressed that Lesley couldn’t take the big umbrella down in the evening as it was one of the anchor points of the web, and would have destroyed it.

9 July - off to bonny Scotland.
After a few anxious moments and nearly missing the train, I collapsed into my First Class seat on the Virgin Rail train to Glasgow with gratitude. Virgin Rail were fabulous and the additional cost of the First Class Britrail pass was well worth it. We were offered several cups of tea/coffee, cold drinks, a sandwich as a snack, a hot meal for lunch, cake and fruit. And, they use free range and fair-trade produce! They also provide free wireless internet access of which I took advantage. The trip to Glasgow was a very fast 4.5hrs.

In Glasgow it was a fairly quick change to the local train to Fairlie. Alighting in Fairlie, I rolled my bag down the road and it seemed very loud – surely everyone must know I have arrived! A relatively short walk brought me to Mon Abri, my B&B, only to be informed by the lovely Grace, that my room was not ready. It was 5.30pm so this seemed a bit odd. Grace explained the situation and I figured I needed to go out to find some dinner anyway, so hopefully all would be well when I returned, which it was. Grace had dropped me into Largs, a much larger town a couple of miles north, as there is nowhere to eat in Fairlie. I wandered around Largs, along the wharf and shoreline which was lovely. One of the things I loved was the coloured benches which all had memorial plaques on them, often mentioning the pleasure the loved one took in the views at this point. The light was long with the sun still hight in the sky. I had dinner in a pub and was reminded that ‘cold’ drinks are not the norm. Coke was brought in a 330ml can accompanied by a glass with ice. The can was quite warm. There was also a bowl of condiments which was quite extraordinary.

I splurged with an icecream from an icecreamery then caught the train back to Fairlie. On the way we passed by the local Bowling Club. It was 9pm but, in full daylight, it was full of men playing bowls.

The sunset from then on to about 10.30pm was just spectacular, and I had a wonderful view of it from my bedroom window.

I then discovered I had left my Australian/UK power adaptor in London so had no way of re-charging either my laptop or mobile. Silly me!

One more aside. Months ago I purchased a book which I thought looked interesting, called “A Friend Like Henry”. Henry is a dog which is what caught my attention. I had not had the chance to read it but brought it with me as a travel read. I guessed it was set in America, but it was actually Scotland. As I read some of it tonight I discovered it was actually set in this part of Scotland. The child played in Largs, the place I had dinner. Other places were mentioned which I passed through on the train this afternoon. What an extra blessing to be able to read this book in its context.