You really can't go anywhere in Scotland, or probably in all of the British Isles without finding some sort of Castle. The Isle of Arran is not exception. From the outside the partly destroyed castle in Lochranza harbor does not look like much, but inside I found it fascinating. This one sustained it's damage not from Reformation enthusiasts, but from the sea one stormy night in the 1700s I believe. Unlike other places I been as well this little castle is open to everyone, free of charge, all day long. Inside you can climb the steep stone steps, which certainly don't meet any building code, to the old kitchen, which lost it's corner to the sea. Everywhere there seem to be small plaques denoting where the inhabitants of later times blocked up many windows and doors as they renovated the 13th or 14th century building to make the rooms smaller and cozier, in addition to adding a tower or two. Unfortunately the latter were not open for exploration. However the old prison in the cellar was. It really gave quite the original feeling without any lighting in it!
After settling in to my room with a Polish woman, and a Dutch girl my age the latter and I decided to attended the Scottish dance night called a ceilidh (kay-ley) literally next door at the village hall. Luckily the announcer walked everyone though each dance before the music, but I still managed to get thoroughly lost on at least two. As the evening progressed we worked our way through many group dances, which were great fun. There were people of all ages from children as young as probably 3 to some probably in their 60s. We finished off the evening with a long line as everyone literally spun their way down doing a turn with every person on their side of the line.
My Dutch room mate and I got on very well and decided to spend the next day touring the island by bus and hiking to a place called King's Cave along the western shore. There caves were not very deep, but rather a string of several caves that looked as though the tide had once carved them out long ago. We were fortunate enough to also see a seal basking in the water along our way. She didn't come close enough for a decent picture though. We did a bit of grocery shopping before heading back to the hostel for a Dutch dinner: boiled potatoes, broccoli and fish cakes. The grand total for our shared dinner came to 6 pounds!
My Dutch friend continued on her way the next day island hoping around Scotland. The Isle of Arran was just one of her stops after a 7 week work experience on a potato breading farm near Aberdeen. In Holland she is the only girl in a class of 24 boys at an agricultural college, and one day plans to run her own farm after completing a more advanced course at the next level of college. What a wonderful thing to hear of these days!
I finished off my time in Scotland by getting slightly sunburned (even with sunblock) on one of the first truly sunny days I've seen since Windsor. One thing about Scotland though is that there always seems to be a breeze!
Sailing away from the Isle of Arran on the biggest ferry I've been on yet, I went up to the top deck, and for the first time watched with the wind in my face as the boat parted the water. It rather reminded me of the Titanic, simply because I had nothing else as in my mind to compare it to.
