We are off to Fort William today to take a train ride to Mallaig, a small port town on the edge of the Isle of Skye.
Alarms were set for 6:30 am so we would have time to get ready for our next leg of our journey. We had most all of our things packed up the night before, and all we had to do was do our morning brushing of our teeth, putting on make-up, and getting dressed in the clothes we laid out the night before. Our wonderful host, Mae, thought we would be sitting down to a continental breakfast, but we actually just wanted to take some fruit and yogurt with us to go.
So when Mae realized that we weren't sitting down to eat, she disappeared into the kitchen and came back out with a cooler bag full of fruit, yogurt, cookies, sandwiches etc. Wow! What a treat. We were not expecting that at all. She was amazing!
We managed to get our car repacked with our luggage, and we all crammed back into the car for our journey to Fort William. What a fantastic view! (At least, that's what everyone was saying....I was too busy driving to really look.) What I could see was definitely gorgeous. We drove the windy, curving roads through the Trossachs, and made our way to Fort William with a half hour to spare. Here are some pictures of the train station:
So we boarded the train and found our seats in Carriage A--First Class.
Soon we heard the whistle blow and the train began to slowly move out of the station. We were met with some of the most fantastic views yet. We kept trying to capture what we saw with our phones....but it just does not do it justice.
Then we were back on the train headed to Mallaig. We would be crossing the famous viaduct, the Glennfinnan viaduct which is where the Hogwart's Express travels over in the Harry Potter movies.
So we found a tea room and had an enormous meal....guess we were pretty hungry.
Soon it was time to board the train and head back to Fort William. We were in almost the same seats on the way back, just a little different, and had a view going in the opposite direction. So what we couldn't see on the way there, we got to see on the way back. It felt good to just sit and relax and take in the beautiful scenery after yesterday's long walk along the Royal Mile.
Once back in Fort William, we got back into our vehicle and headed towards our next place-a youth hostel in Ratagan which is located on the edge of the loch across from the Isle of Skye.
It was a beautiful drive there with mostly one track roads, and lots of beautiful scenery. We stopped in this quaint little town on the edge of the water and picked up some goodies for our dinner once we arrived at our destination. Netty fell in love with the place.
We arrived at Ratagan Youth hostel and were amazed at the beautiful view! So we put our things up in our dorm, and brought our food outside for a picnic dinner.
After we ate our dinner, we went back inside and hung out in the family area to get some internet time and try and upload our pictures. I think I was the last one in bed....took a late shower and packed up my things so we could leave right after breakfast the next morning. When I went up to the room, Jess was sitting in her bunk on her iPad, and the rest of the girls were sleeping. I knew they were sleeping because I could hear their snores. It was a regular symphony going on in there. Tomorrow, we take a ferry to the Isle of Skye and head to the Faerie Pools. What a fantastic, beautiful country Scotland is! Each new vista more beautiful than the one before it.
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