Scotland 2.4: Four lackluster castles and into Mull

After a great conversation at breakfast with the other guests, we packed our car and left towards the ferry.  The weather was decidedly cloudy and near ten degrees cooler than previous days.  On the way to the ferry, we took two quick stops at local castles, Dunstaffnage and Dunollie.  Neither were much to look at, but was still worth a look.



The tour at Castle Stalker incorporated a story regarding one of the local clans that was believed to have once owned Castle Stalker.  The head of the clan had had two daughters, but no son.  He had an illegitimate son with a mistress.  His wife died of unknown circumstances and he was to wed his mistress, which would allow the son to inherit the land, titles, etc.  On the wedding day, a man with a dagger appeared out of the crowd and stabbed him through the heart.  His clan's side of the story was that they rushed him to the chapel, and with his dying breath, uttered "I do."  The rival clan said that he died immediately.  We got to step into the remains of said chapel.



We made it to the ferry, for a 12:20 departure.  We had a very good lunch while onboard, and arrived a little short of an hour later.   I had a falafel burger.  Just 10 minutes away was Duart Castle, which looked incredible in pictures.  Unfortunately, nearly the entire structure was covered in scaffolding.  They still charged full price, and inside, had the gall to ask for donations for restorations.  If you are going to mar the experience with scaffolding, at least give people a discount!  This was by far the biggest disappointment of the trip so far.



All of Mull is a one lane road with occasional ditches on the side to allow cars to pass each other.  This often results in cars approaching each other and one needing to go in reverse to find the nearest passing area.  On the way to our hotel in the southwestern corner of the island, we diverted thirty minutes away in order to see a tower castle and a set of standing stones, located in the pseudo town of Lochbuie.  This road was even trickier than the main road, as it dips and swerves constantly.   The Scottish don't seem to believe in putting mirrors near sharp turns, which makes it even more precarious.

The tower was along the beach and just a bit inland, in a field of roaming sheep, were the standing stones.  They were nice enough.



Back on the road, the sights of the mountains, lakes, and bays were incredible as usual. 



At long last, we reach Fionnphort.  Our room is the biggest room yet.  My pocket wifi doesn't work here and the bed and breakfast's internet is slow and won't upload pictures this first night, so I am typing this up for later.  We ate dinner at the one pub in town.  I had the Japanese ramen dish, which tasted nothing like Japanese ramen.

One thing that is unique about this bed and breakfast is that three nights a week, they serve dinner to those that are interested.  There was one this night and they have been in the dining room since we arrived at 6.  It is now 9:40.  I think we will give it a try two nights from now, when they next serve dinner.