A Scottish Adventure

Last week we drove up to the West Coast of Scotland for a week's holiday.  I had not been to this part of the country before, so wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I certainly wasn't disappointed! The landscape was spectacular and it was a case of scenery overload!  Around every corner there seemed to be something fabulous to see. From Lochs to sea, castles to mountains, boats to gardens, waterfalls to canals, this holiday had it all.

We stayed in a lovely little cottage on the Crinan Canal.  It was so pretty!  The canal had a series of, I think, 18 locks, and we loved watching yachts and other boats trundling up and down.  

The Crinan Canal was built to enable goods to be moved up country, avoiding the treacherous Mull of Kintyre.  Nowadays it is just used for pleasure cruising, walking, and wildlife watching.  

You can't go to this part of Scotland without having an encounter on a ferry or two, so we did two - Arran and Gigha.

The ferries run a super efficient and very friendly service.  We waited in neat little painted boxes at the ferry terminal and watched our ferry to Arran emerging from the mist.

Arran was beautiful!  We drove the whole way around the island, stopping off to take a closer look at anything that took our eye.  We had a lovely picnic on this bench.  Perfect!

One of the highlights of the week for me was a visit to Inveraray Castle.  As you may by now know, I am rather partial to Downton Abbey and Inveraray Castle appeared as 'Duneagle', so I just had to have a look!

Wow.

The Crawleys departed via these steps, having arranged for Lady Rose to live with them whilst her parents were in India.

The dining room was used in the programme and what a dining room and a half it is!

Anna and Mr Bates discovered Lady Rose smoking here and gave her a mint to hide the fact from her unpleasant Mother!

Tearing myself away from Downton, let's get back to that spectacular scenery!

Lastly, we spotted this gorgeous butterfly having a rest.  Isn't nature just amazing?

It was a fabulous week and we certainly plan to go back.  

Back home again, and the washing is all done, the garden is (sort of) tidied and the fridge is restocked.  It's lovely to travel but it's great to be Home.

Donna x