Friday 13th June

We left early at 7am and traffic was light.  We stopped off after a couple of hours for a comfort break and I bought myself a decaf hazelnut latte and Mathew had a bacon roll which I had a few bites out of.  Weather was dry and sunny until we reached Carlisle at 11:15am where we stopped to stretch out legs and visit the Castle.  The temperature was still mild but I put on a fleece as I saw the Castle flag flapping in the wind so I thought it would be breezy.


Actually it was rather muggy!  Overcast with a sense of rain on the way.  It became closer and closer as we explored the Castle.  The place looked somewhat familiar - either I had been there before or I have visited another Castle which was quite similar.  Walking around the Castle walls looking down on the buildings inside have me familiar views.....I'll have to ask Dad when we get back home to find out if we ever visited it when I was younger.

The Castle was small but very sturdy - lots of modern wall hangings and furniture which, to be honest, didn't really spoil it as you would imagine, but rather gave the rooms function.  The furniture was simple and wooden, like a four poster bed and throne-style seats.  I liked how the wall hangings were tied back to reveal doorways into the next rooms.  Apparently this is the only Castle in the UK which has buildings still used by the Army - buildings named after battles such as Ypres.

After the Castle visit, we went across the road to the Tuilles Museum to their restaurant / cafe.  The Castle didn't have one which is why we went.  We went through an underpass which I was quite impressed with - the space had been very well used, and was almost like a part of the Museum itself.  On the floor were engraved names of familes who apparently didn't abide by any laws passed by either Scotland or England.  There is a large stone with a curse engraved on it, supposedly uttered by an irate Bishop who has lost his patience with said families' behaviour.  The walls seemed to have what I would describe as industrial historical Museum exhibits - it was all very interesting and I have never seen an underpass like this one before.

On to the Museum itself, it's a shame we didn't have more time there actually, it would have been nice to go around the Museum itself.  We had a quick look in the shop and I eyed up a pendant before we had lunch.  The restaurant as modern and bright, Mathew went for a Panini whilst I decided on a salad as I was far too warm to have the soup!  It was a pick and mix salad, one of which was noodle salad with peppers and carrots.  It turned out to have a mild sweet chilli sauce on it which was really very nice - and I don't like spicy things so this was definitely mild and bearable!  We shared a "St Cuthberts Slice" which was like a Bakewell pastry base on top of which was a mixture of coconut, walnuts, sultanas and glacé cherries.  Very nice!

Afterward, I went back into the shop and bought the pendant - Cumbrian ceramic pendant, turquoise coloured pear- drop shape.  Very pretty.  First souvenir for myself and we weren't even in Scotland yet!  Back in the car we continued all the way up and into Scotland, by which time.....yes, it was raining!  We travelled along Loch Lomond and through the Trossachs which was very scenic despite the rain, although it was quite bright really.  We didn't see a great deal when we went through Glen Coe as the clouds had come down low giving us a spooky effect of ghost-like mountains looming over us.  Quite a difference to the last time we were here when it was blue sky and sunshine!

Moving on, we finally reached our destination, Forestview Guesthouse in Kinlochleven at 5:30pm.  Checked in, of course we put the kettle on for tea and discovered a menu for the Tailrace Inn which we soon figured out was owned by the same people who own the GuestHouse.

We went to the Tailrace Inn for dinner, and on the way we saw a sculpture of a fish.  The information board nearby informed us that there were more sculptures on a trail.  Into the pub, Mathew had fish and chips and I had pasta with a tomato and basil sauce.  It was still very muggy outside when we left, and on the way back to the B&B we had a stroll through the wood to investigate the rest of the fish sculptures, one of which seemed to be missing...!