Commando

Definitely the best 'full Scottish' so far at the Lime Tree in Fort William, after which we managed to set about the day in a somewhat back-to-front manner as it turned out. We'd long-since abandoned our plan to tackle Ben Nevis itself but even a revised plan to drive along Glen Nevis and walk to the Falls was scuppered by heavy rain and low cloud. We ended up giving up and just having a poke round the Visitor Centre instead, the mountains on all sides being completely obscured as if someone had taken a rather haphazard eraser to the top third of the picture. We drove up to have a look at the Commando Memorial instead, waiting out the rain in the car park first. The weather was clearing up a little as we drove just out of Fort William to walk up Neptune's Ladder, a flight of eight locks (that's a whole three more than the staircase at Fort Augustus!) on the Caledonian Canal, and there was even a suggestion of sunshine as we went back into town for a Scotch pie and a look at The West Highland Museum. It's one of those cool little museums with loads of interesting little obscurities: stags heads, a birching table and a thumbscrew, an iron coffin case to foil grave robbers, a replica broadsword that Mel Gibson used in 'Braveheart', a secret, optical illusion, Jacobite portrait of Bonnie Prince Billy, and the like. By the time we all went back to the hotel for a nap, of course, the sunshine was glorious - "that's Fort William for you," said the woman who was topping up our tea bag supplies...! At least when Beck and I went down for a nice meal at the hotel restaurant later on (thus allowing Katie a bit of 'me time' to watch 'Big Bang Theory' and eat doughnuts) they were able to open up the front doors so we could enjoy the evening sunshine on the loch and the lime trees (and the food was really good too...!)