Hooray! We've Been Away!

With the easing of many restrictions on travel here in Scotland, including the buying of ferry tickets, the OH and I were at last able to get off-island, for the first time since January. 

Bits of it were weird. Wearing masks on the ferry. Looking around and seeing other people wearing masks on the ferry. Seeing how few people there were on the ferry. But that meant nothing when compared to the sheer joy of just being on the ferry and going somewhere else. 

The somewhere else was only Glasgow. I had told Son no 2 that the moment we were allowed to we'd be down there to see him properly, and give him a big hug, and that's exactly what we did. Down on Friday, back yesterday (Sunday). 

I can't say I wasn't a bit apprehensive but we soon relaxed - enough to order takeaway pizza on Friday night. I'd planned to go to The Yarn Cake on Saturday, which re-opened, just for wool sales, on 1st July, and pick up a skein of wool I need to finish a sweater, but having checked with them, they were out of stock so there was no point. The OH was a bit miffed that we had jumped the gun because if we had waited until next weekend the shopping centres would have been re-opened and he could have gone to the Lego shop. So that was bad timing, but the Lego shop will still be there next time we go. 

Given that the Yarn Cake was a no-no, we took ourselves off to see the Falkirk Wheel. It wasn't going so we couldn't spend a small fortune taking a boat ride on it, but I'd never actually seen it before and we had a nice walk along the canal bank, although rather discombobulated by the number of cyclists who whizzed past. I'm all for cycle paths and walker paths but I'm not so keen on the two combined, because the advantage is all with the people on wheels. Possibly I'd feel differently were I cycling. 

Anyway here's the Falkirk wheel (just to be clear, it's a boat lift )

We drove back to the ferry a different way, going up the left side of the country and then across the Great Glen. It was beautiful and it was also a lovely sunny day so we enjoyed it. We'd go that way more often if we thought we could do it in a timely fashion for catching the ferry. But it includes various tourist hot spots that in a normal July would be packed with traffic. Even with C-19 Glencoe was very busy. As a result of most of the lay-bys in scenic spots being crammed full of cars we didn't get to take too many photos, but we stopped for a scratch picnic lunch by Loch Lochy - far from the most beautiful place we passed - and managed to snap a couple of pictures. 

We might do this again but it will have to be in either spring or autumn, between the high tourist  season and the bad weather; also remembering always to check the status of the A82, because like Junction Road in Kirkwall it is closed almost as often as it is open.