We docked in Oban and then proceeded to be driven by bus to Fort William. Along the way we missed photo stops due to mists and full lay-byes. Mist means the usual 90% chance of rain which is actually a digital reality (it is raining – or not). And yes, we came down firmly on the side of wet. I don’t mind wet, but I have been know to not enjoy travels with large groups of people.
After a morning spent on the bus with a guide nattering (blathering?) non-stop for hours I had been looking forward to the lunch stop which turned out to provide me a few minutes on the internet before the rest of the group figured out that it existed. The rest turned out, like the rest of my experience so far with essentially nothing edible in sight for vegetarians. The only veg option being cold soggy quiche).
We boarded the Jacobite Train which most of you know as the Harry Potter Train. I would provide you pictures [no download ability] but in truth it was extremely difficult to take anything that looked special. The train moves at a good clip, the steam streams back along the train. Did I mention the mist and fog? Yes, I rather think I did. Doesn’t lend itself to photography well in a situation with the track well lined by mature trees and windows that essentially don’t open. I found a nice window that did in the door of the car. For about 15 minutes I was a happy camper, then was invaded by people with phones, iPads and point and shoots. The reason that I mention those is that it was almost impossible to gauge what you were going to get without a view finder.
I still am happy we took the train, it was an enjoyable ride and we were spared dialog for most of the journey. Meanwhile, the ship had relocated to where we disembarked. A nice hike to the pier, out along the docks and on to the tender.
I skipped the lectures in favor of heading to the fitness center, having downloaded Mary Roach’s new book Grunt prior to departure. Like her other books – this one is both fun and well researched. Unfortunately, the narrator is no where as good as the one for Gulp.
