Located on one of the many peninsulas on the West coast of Scotland Tighnabruaich consists mainly of one hotel and many houses facing the harbor with it's collections of small boats. As seems to generally be the case I spend the most on traveling from one place to another, and fortunately not much once I'm there. This time I over did myself though by having to hire a taxi at 52 pounds as I missed the last bus. The most infuriating thing though is that I could have been on that bus, but I had the time wrong!
In Scotland there are many small roads, so small in fact that though they're paved they are only one lane. Cars frequently come to a stop in one of the many pull outs to let another car by. Rather an interesting twist to managing the roads over here.
Once I actually arrived in this part of West Scotland I spent 3 whole days with a kind lady, who in ways reminded me of my grandmother. The first day we (my host, her good friend who no longer drives, and myself) took what I believe is the shortest ferry, all of about 5 minutes, over to the Island of Bute, where surprisingly people go to do their shopping rather than the other way round. The people by the water don't want to have a bridge built because it would ruin the view, so the ferry makes it's crossings about every hour instead. On Island of Bute we drove up to the point where families and friends used to wave goodbye to the ships departing for America. It's rather hard to really understand what that must have been like. After some very fresh fried fish I wandered along the promenade by the water thinking of the days when the Victorians, who built a large part of what exists there today, had done the same. This area made a lovely get away for those people in tight corsets, and starched shirts. They could eat breakfast at 8 and be back at work in Glasgow in under an hour. How nice!
After a peaceful walk on the "road" by the ocean the following day we went to see another friend. Like so many families here this one was a great mix of nationalities: the mother was Dutch, her husband very Scottish, and three adult children, one of whom was on vacation from New Zealand where she lives with her husband. Before we left they showed me the beautiful green velvet wedding dress with golden leaf embroidery that one of the sons had designed for his sister's wedding. Very fitting for a New Zealand wedding I think! Unfortunately the son does not have any work in fashion design right now and has taken up just a basic job with the National Health Service.
Like so many little places Tighnabruiach has it's own corky tradition (or soon to be; this is only the second year). All around people had created dolls, by this I mean human like figures about 2-3 ft tall, in all manner of styles. There was a Mary Popins, a Miss Muffat, two flower pot men, a police officer, several scuba and surfing figures, a couple with a baby and pram, and a clown named Coco from my host's young neighbor among many others. Everyone names their doll and in a few weeks a winner will be chosen. Unfortunately those photos are on my camera so I can not share them with you now. You'll just have to imagine them until I come home!
