UK Trip - Day 5

Today we woke up really groggy also depressed that it was raining all day. 

We went downstairs and had an excellent breakfast with sauted mushrooms, toast, baked beans, sausages, eggs and for the first time in my life, tried out Scot special Blood Pudding. 

Believe it or not, I liked it. It has an aftertaste like kidney and liver but richer taste. 

Anyhoo, after breakfast, we decided to have another hour of extra sleep. By the time we woke up, it was 12 noon. 

We figured that since it's not a good weather, staying indoor would be a better idea. So we might as well drive two hour south to Mount Stuart which is a gorgeous home built by an eccentric millionaire. 

But it closes at 5:45. So we had to hurry. On top of that, we briefly stopped to take picture of a gorgeous castle on the middle of a lake (Kilchurn Castle at Loch Awe... One of the oldest stone castles in Scotland dating from the fourteenth century as one of the first establishments of a branch of the Campbell Clan...), so we also had to make up for that lost time.

However, on our way, our car started to flash warning sign that our tire has low pressure. 

We stopped at the nearest gas station in Inveraray and they said that our tire got a hole because of a metal that got stuck on it. So it has to be changed. 

Disappointed knowing now we will never make it to the Mount Stuart, we decided to hang around at Inveraray. We thought the whole trip is jinxed by now. Although if your car had to break down, you hope it's in a town like this...

However, the rain suddenly stopped. And we reached the old Inveraray Jail across from the car repair shop which is now a museum. 

We had an hour to kill while our tire was being changed. So we decided to try it out. For a prison, it had surprisingly comfortable accommodation... I tried out the hammock myself...

They told us that we will get 20% off the ticket price for Inveraray Castle if we show this ticket. 

Sure... It's not as if we had anywhere else to go. 

We drove to Inveraray Castle after picking up our car which is the seat of the Duke of Argyll, the house of Campbell. 

Anyhoo, Greg's mother informed him that he had ancestral connection to Campbell, Gordon and Burns. So Greg was twice as much interested. 

As we were driving up to the castle, I knew that it was going to be amazing.

The wavy road had lush green shrubs as walls on both sides and mountain and sparkling stream as the backdrop.

The first view of the castle was straight out of the fairytale.

It overlooked lush green mountain, sparking stream and bulls grazing on the green grass. I will let my picture do the talking. 

Unfortunately, I dropped my cell on the rocks while trying to take selfie and got it scratched a bit so I was a little miffed. 

However, the gorgeous castle soon made me forget the mishaps of today. 

As we went in, we found out that Downtown Abbey was shot there. 

After touring the castle, we walked on the pier for a bit and then walked around to find a place to eat.

A local guy recommended George Hotel. Built in 1776, it's the oldest Hotel in the area.

We walked in and ordered our dinner. Today seems to be my day to try new things. So I tried Hake fish which I never had before. And I must say, it was delicious. 

We followed it by dessert of Fresh Raspberry and Strawberries with Chantilly Cream. Yum!!!


After dinner, we drove back to Oban. We have a long drive to the Isle of Skye tomorrow.