Our first holiday
Woohoo Stew and me have just returned from our very first holiday away together and all I can say is wow!!!
Not only did the hotel look like something out of a Harry Potter film (in fact the location is used for filming it) there was even a resident ghost that had been spotted wandering around in our bedroom! Frightened by this prospect Stew wouldn't sleep without the light on, or go anywhere by himself, so I looked after him and made sure that the big bad ghost didn’t get him J.
The hotel was over 300 years old and looked like an old castle. It was right on the banks of Loch Leven and faced the highland mountain range. Although the weather was unbelievable wet and windy (I’ve never seen or heard wind like it) this only added to the already rugged Braveheart/ Rob Roy nature of the place! We could always warm ourselves by one of the many fireplaces that were roaring throughout the hotel, and this was especially nice when accompanied with a huge glass of red wine/whisky, after a 'hard’ days walk up a mountain, followed by a FREE swim, jacuzzi and sauna at their nearby sister hotel! We also never needed to look far for a delicious meal as a full cooked breakfast and three course meal was included in the price every day!
Our first of many adventures took us to the local town of Fort William. I can only describe this as a place of tartan tea towels and Nessie t-shirts. However the howling winds and pouring rain made it lovely discover a local teashop where we could sit back and sample their delicious hot chocolate, whilst warming our toes by the fire - and watching the rest of world get soaked! Fort William also served a very useful purpose since I had only brought high heels and suede boots to wear on our holiday. I soon realised that these were not best suited for the rocky wet mountain terrain and invested in a cheap pair of walking shoes :) and Stew bought a hat to warm his tender wee head.
We then used these to walk up Ben Nevis, and found a darling little Inn tucked into the side of the mountain, which we sat in to eat lunch and were very pleased to see the sun come out!
Another adventure of ours was much more spontaneous. After driving down to the quayside to check out the ferry times to the Isle of Mull, we were ushered onto a ferry and could not get off. I still have no idea where we were headed but the ferry took us off on an amazing drive into a place which warned of 'dangerous mountain country'! We took the decision to enter this dangerous land, and walked up a steep ravine. Making it successfully to the top, following a route that walkers term as ‘hard’ we felt quite smug with ourselves until Stew slid most of the way down on his bum, despite saying how easy it was! J
On our travels we came across a new species of human, known to the locals as walkers. These people wore full walking regalia, including torches on their heads, drank lots of whisky and sang many drinking songs. We stumbled across a packed walkers pub one night, which smelled of pine, sweat and mud (interestingly not a bad smell) and a really good band were playing called 'Lickin Groove'. The pub was like something out of 'the Shire', complete with a wood burning furnace and even had trees growing on the inside.
Overall this has been the most romantic weekend I've ever been on.
I’m now feel all loved up and as a memento of our trip, here are some photos.
Sianara for now
Teresa
xxx
Not only did the hotel look like something out of a Harry Potter film (in fact the location is used for filming it) there was even a resident ghost that had been spotted wandering around in our bedroom! Frightened by this prospect Stew wouldn't sleep without the light on, or go anywhere by himself, so I looked after him and made sure that the big bad ghost didn’t get him J.
The hotel was over 300 years old and looked like an old castle. It was right on the banks of Loch Leven and faced the highland mountain range. Although the weather was unbelievable wet and windy (I’ve never seen or heard wind like it) this only added to the already rugged Braveheart/ Rob Roy nature of the place! We could always warm ourselves by one of the many fireplaces that were roaring throughout the hotel, and this was especially nice when accompanied with a huge glass of red wine/whisky, after a 'hard’ days walk up a mountain, followed by a FREE swim, jacuzzi and sauna at their nearby sister hotel! We also never needed to look far for a delicious meal as a full cooked breakfast and three course meal was included in the price every day!
Our first of many adventures took us to the local town of Fort William. I can only describe this as a place of tartan tea towels and Nessie t-shirts. However the howling winds and pouring rain made it lovely discover a local teashop where we could sit back and sample their delicious hot chocolate, whilst warming our toes by the fire - and watching the rest of world get soaked! Fort William also served a very useful purpose since I had only brought high heels and suede boots to wear on our holiday. I soon realised that these were not best suited for the rocky wet mountain terrain and invested in a cheap pair of walking shoes :) and Stew bought a hat to warm his tender wee head.
We then used these to walk up Ben Nevis, and found a darling little Inn tucked into the side of the mountain, which we sat in to eat lunch and were very pleased to see the sun come out!
Another adventure of ours was much more spontaneous. After driving down to the quayside to check out the ferry times to the Isle of Mull, we were ushered onto a ferry and could not get off. I still have no idea where we were headed but the ferry took us off on an amazing drive into a place which warned of 'dangerous mountain country'! We took the decision to enter this dangerous land, and walked up a steep ravine. Making it successfully to the top, following a route that walkers term as ‘hard’ we felt quite smug with ourselves until Stew slid most of the way down on his bum, despite saying how easy it was! J
On our travels we came across a new species of human, known to the locals as walkers. These people wore full walking regalia, including torches on their heads, drank lots of whisky and sang many drinking songs. We stumbled across a packed walkers pub one night, which smelled of pine, sweat and mud (interestingly not a bad smell) and a really good band were playing called 'Lickin Groove'. The pub was like something out of 'the Shire', complete with a wood burning furnace and even had trees growing on the inside.
Overall this has been the most romantic weekend I've ever been on.
I’m now feel all loved up and as a memento of our trip, here are some photos.
Sianara for now
Teresa
xxx