So I was wrong — one of the signs I keep seeing here is “blind summit” — sadly sounds like something I think our current president often hosts (at least, he goes into his summits blind). But part of my taking this trip is to get away from depressing trump news so I’ll move on.

There have been many funny signs that I haven’t been able to share but here’s one I took — I was finally walking when I saw it. Is it just me or is this humorous?? I also wish I could take photos of the phone booths I keep seeing (think the classic red box, like what Harry Potter gets into to go to the ministry of magic) that are quite in the middle of nowhere. It’s bizarre and really funny but I have no record of it! Just imagine sheep. Fields. Fences. Mountains in the background. And a phone booth.

To get back to today, at breakfast the Italian girls were talking about going to Culloden Battlefield, a famous spot where Scots (Highlanders actually) fought the English but got (literally) slaughtered. It was only a few miles out so I decided to make the detour on my way to Oban. Well, it started raining heavily as I drove over and when I got there, not only do they charge an entrance fee (to a visitor centre), they even charge for parking?! I wasn’t feeling it so I promptly left but ended up taking much smaller roads than I would’ve if I’d left directly from Inverness.

And it was a beautiful and fun drive. (Grazie to the Italian girls for suggesting the visit.) More of the single-width shared roads. More sheep. More horses. More lochs. And I drove down a hilly curve and saw one of the most beautiful sights but of course couldn’t take a picture! There were pine trees, red hills and a small Loch with islands in it. I really must find geologist to explain how the land is so varied here (or consult the internet)… it’s amazing.

I stopped for lunch in Glencoe. It’s near a Loch (of course) but the town is off the main roads a bit … The thing that it’s really known for is its wonderful trails through the mountains with waterfalls, creeks, and lots of flora and fauna. I had a lovely lunch at the base of the mountain trails but of course didn’t hike … I saw lots of people heading out though and it had actually stopped raining! Francoise, I think Glencoe has your name written all over it!

Now you may be wondering why I brought up Italians when I just had that one encounter at the Airbnb. Well, does this remind you of something Italian??? It’s called McCaig’s Tower and apparently was designed and paid for by JS McCaig (a rich banker), to be a monument to his family (and himself). It was to include their statues and everything; he was obviously heavily influenced by the Colosseum in its design. But he died before its completion so they never did more than the shell — I think they also call it McCaig’s Folly. That said, it does have great views of the town of Oban and the isles that are across the water. And my last Italian tie-in happened at the end of the day. I decided to tour the Oban Distillery (my third Diageo tour — sadly I liked Talisker whisky better while the tour was pretty similar). Anyway I’m on the tour and a woman asks me if I was on Skye yesterday?! Took me a second but I realized I WAS on Skye yesterday — I was in Inverness less than a day! She recognized me from the fairy glen. Small world. And oh yes, she was Italian. So here’s both the distillery and the Folly in one shot. Not the prettiest but I’ll end with one more photo of the front of the Scottish Colosseum — although this part looks less Italian and more British to me. Sunset from up there is supposed to be amazing. Ciao and buona notte!