Jacobite Journey

#Ad, #ScotlandisCalling, #VisitArran, #SpiritOfTheHighlandsAndIslands

Once docked on the mainland after our trip to Isle of Arran, our itinerary from Visit Scotland was over. Ruby and I had booked an extra two days staying in Onich. It was a three hour drive to reach our destination and it was a beautiful drive past Loch Lomond, where we stopped en route to eat a bench picnic overlooking the water. Glencoe took our breaths away with it's overwhelming beauty, like blanketed, felt green mountains. We stopped at the panoramic cafe for a coffee but could only see one way out of the window, which was disappointing. Outside, we made the most of the full view. By the time we reached Onich Hotel, I was exhausted and treated myself to a delicious nap before getting ready for dinner. We tried Ballachulish Hotel but, unfortunately, dinner was only for hotel guests. Luckily, we found Roam West, which was a cute cabin style restaurant and lodge that served fantastic food, with lots of vegan choices and the chef was dairy-free, so, Ruby was in her element. Ruby had the burger and frangipane cake and I enjoyed vegetarian haggis, neeps and tatties followed by rhubarb and apple crumble. We decided to walk along the beach beside our hotel afterwards to let our food go down a bit and then read in bed.

(Vegetarian Haggis, Neeps and Tatties from Roam West in Onich)

(View from our Onich Hotel bedroom window)

We woke up on Tuesday and ate bananas and drank peppermint tea in our hotel room before heading 45 minutes up past Loch Eil to Loch Shiel and Glenfinnan. It was starting to rain, which Ruby loved as more atmospheric. We had a nosey around the gift shop - always fun to do and then walked up the stony footpath to one of the viewpoints in order to watch the Jacobite train travel over Glenfinnan Viaduct. We were standing watching with other train spotters for the 10.45am viewing. It was quite exciting being there and feel the tension building up to see the historic locomotive steam past us. We decided to walk up to the other viewpoint to see if a better vantage point for the next spotting and it was perfect place to watch the train curve towards you on the track in the angles you see on television and on postcards. We had another hour to kill, so walked back down to the visitor centre cafe and had sandwiches and coffee while we waited. Then it was time to venture outside again, just in time for some sun to come out with us - but not for long as it started to rain again. It was pretty amazing to see the 1.20pm, apart from a woman in a blue anorak had to decided to stand right by the fence in everyone's eyeline but maybe in the future, if you did take a photo or video that day, it will go down in history like a Banksy. Afterwards, we carried on our journey along the footpath, past heather and stunning views over Loch Shiel to a vintage railway carriage that had been turned into a cafe. Ruby and I sipped cappuccinos and I indulged in a slice of cheesecake. By the time, we had finished and had a mooch around the Glenfinnan station gift shop, we made our way back along the pathway towards the carpark and were lucky enough to see the train the third time at 3.20pm going away from us along the curved angle. By this time, we were pretty tired so on the drive home, pulled in to look out at Loch Linnhe from Fort William and get refreshments of peppermint tea and vegan millionaire shortbread from Aroma Cafe down the cobbled high street - leading us to the Highland Bookshop, which, of course, we had to have a look around. There was a big M&S nearby, so we popped in to get some deli bits and had 'girl dinner' back in our hotel room and watched Brave - a must in Scotland.

(Ruby filming our first train spot at 10.45am)

(Stunning views over Loch Shiel walking along the footpath to the railway cafe)

(A future Banksy style photo perhaps of woman in blue boat watching the Jacobite train)

(The final sighting of the Jacobite train steaming away from us across Glenfinnan Viaduct)

Our last day was Wednesday and we woke up feeling nervous and excited as planned to take a dip in the loch before breakfast. We changed into our swimwear and bought our pyjamas down to dry ourselves with afterwards, as hotel towels not allowed for this job. It was a three hour drive back to drop our hire car off, so we needed a quick pitstop for lunch along the way, past the spectacular scenery of Glencoe again and at Luss, dropped into Village Rest to pick up some sandwiches and crisps, which we ate in a park near Duck Bay. We arrived at Arnold Clark just in time to drop off Diana and catch a cab to Glasgow Central with three hours to spare until our train to London Euston. As our cases were hindering our freedom, we got coffee and cake at Pret and read for a while, taking turns to look around the shops and then stock up for more 'girl dinner' in M&S. We were so happy to have two seats next to one another in a cosy nook right near our luggage. The journey went quickly while we read, napped, worked, chatted and ate. We were kindly met by my husband, Alan, at the station and tumbled into the car and driven back home - happy, tired and already missing Scotland.