Scotland: Day 6

Wednesday, May 1st. Aberlour to Tobermory. 

Breakfast was at 8:30 again. Sylvain had a pancake topped with creamy scrambled eggs, bacon and mushrooms. I had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon with whole wheat toast.

Before hitting the road, we stopped at the nearby Spey Larder to pick up a few gifts. We drove fifty minutes, then stopped at the Kinrara Gin Distillery for a tasting. It is also a relatively young establishment which opened in 2019. We were the only ones there and the lady at the counter was very friendly. I tasted about ten different gins! I chose one with a peppery finish to purchase. The bottle art is also lovely - animals composed of the ingredients found in each gin, painted by a Dundee artist.

We continued on our way for another hour and ten minutes, then stopped at the Bridge Café in Spean Bridge for a late light lunch. We tried a local IPA, which was more ambery than many and quite good. For dessert, we shared a millionaire shortbread (shortbread, caramel and chocolate) and Isle of Arran vanilla ice cream. Millionaire shortbread is now Sylvain's favorite Scottish dessert!

The afternoon was beautiful for our drive. It got up to 20°C. At one point along the road, we saw two deer amongst a flock of sheep. Another forty minutes down the road from Spean Bridge we arrived at the Corran ferry, the first of two ferries we had to take to arrive on the Isle of Mull. This one is small and holds about 15 vehicles for a short five-minute, 500-yard crossing. 

From the other side of the ferry crossing down to the Lochaline ferry terminal, 18 of the 31 miles were on a single track road. This is a two-way road, with only one small lane, but frequent passing places for cars to pull over when needed. It took awhile for Sylvain to get the hang of pulling over to the left (rather than to the right) to let other cars (and buses and rigs hauling logs!) pass. There were more sheep here. These were sometimes right next to the road or even on the road. I got my best sheep photo of the trip:

We pulled up to the Lochaline terminal just as the ferry was coming in and were pleased with our excellent timing. The second crossing was on a larger vessel and took about fifteen minutes. On Mull, we had a thirty-minute drive up to Tobermory. Again, half of it was on a single-track road. Signs warned of crossing otters. We didn't see any, but we did glimpse a half dozen seals sunning themselves on large rocks just off the coast.

We arrived at the Park Lodge Hotel shortly after 5pm. We checked in, then walked down the hill to the colorful waterfront main drag in search of a pub that might be willing to broadcast the OM v Atalanta game the following evening. Most of the businesses were already closed. Apparently, 5pm is late in Tobermory. However, one friendly gift shopkeeper directed us to a few establishments. We went a few doors down to a building with a blue front and scaffolding where we found one of the promised pubs. Inside, two clients (James, 75, and Kyle, a mechanic employed by the city who was probably in his mid thirties) were drinking at a bar tended by a young Moldovan man named Daniil. We ordered two beers, then asked about the game. Daniil said he would be happy to stream it for Sylvain the next day. We were pleased to have accomplished our mission so easily. After awhile, we fell into conversation with the other patrons and learned that James had an antique shop just a few doors down. Among other things, they told us the Tobermory whiskey was a tourist trap, only just enough is done locally to make the labelling possible, the rest is done off-site down in Glasgow. They claimed locals wouldn't drink it even if you forced them.

We stayed until 8pm, then hiked back up to the hotel for our dinner reservation. Sylvain had a nice stew made with local beef. I had a tasty Thai inspired vegetarian curry. For dessert, Sylvain ordered a vanilla ice cream-filled crepe drizzled in toffee sauce and served with a few raspberries and strawberries. He shared a few bites with me. It was good. However, it had been billed as a toffee crepe, and we both agreed that there was not as much toffee as we'd expected.

Back in our room, we discovered that this older hotel had very thin walls. Our next-door neighbors arrived. There was a lot of scraping which sounded like an extra bed being set up. Then they talked for quite some time, actual words could occasionally be made out through the wall. I don't think it kept me from sleeping; I was usually exhausted by the end of our full days. Sylvain became quite irate, however, and vowed to rise early to make a lot of noise and get his revenge.