This is the start of my second decade of traveling in Scotland, so I am accustomed to life on the rails. This trip, I'm doing something new: I'm taking the train from Kings Cross to Glasgow - hopefully from Platform 9 3/4! I suppose because we're only going to be in London for 24 hours, it would have made more sense to fly straight to Glasgow from Newark but I couldn't miss an opportunity to see my lovely friends Yolandie and Cliff, so we're flying to London to attend the opening of their new bistro. The following day, we'll board the train to Glasgow, where Bebe's godmother, Karen, will collect us and take us back to Shotlinn, her family's dairy farm.
The next day, the three of us will depart via Land Rover to Oban, where we'll catch a ferry to the Isle of Mull to attend the fairy tale wedding of my friend Lynsey. The day after the wedding, we'll be up VERY bright and early (due to our poor planning ) to catch the return ferry to the mainland. Needless to say, we're not looking forward to that wake up call but fortunately, since I can't drink at the reception, it won't be too terribly bad... well, at least not for me.
The ferry from Mull back to Oban is a 45 minute journey and I'm really hoping the ferry's kitchen serves bacon butties; the Mallaig - Armadale crossing only serves them in the winter, so it's been a while since I've feasted on one of those healthy treats. If all goes well, Karen will then shuttle us to the train at Crianlarich, where Matty and I (along with, no doubt, a dozen midgie-bite covered German adventure scouts) will, hopefully, make the 10:21 departure to Mallaig. That train stops in the outdoors capital of the UK, Fort Wililam, home to Ben Nevis, one of Britain's highest peaks. It then resumes its journey along was recently voted the world's most scenic train journey or as we Harry Potter fans think of it as, the way to Hogwarts.
Upon arrival in that tiny fishing village, Matty and I will race to catch the ferry over the sea to Skye, where we'll be met by my godparents at the pier. Thankfully, my godmother already sent us ferry tickets so we will be able to skip the queue at the sales office and head straight to the ship. This is a short crossing, only 20 minutes, and deposits us on the island right next to this happening hot spot!
The train travel to Skye is always one of the highlights of the entire trip because it's one of the few times in my year that I'm forced just to sit, read, look, enjoy, and relax. I have issues with relaxing - I don't really know how to, do you?
I'm so excited to share this journey with my Matty and of course, with Bebe, who travels to Skye for the first time this summer; next year, instead of experiencing it from an internal perspective, she'll get to be an active part of it and that is going to be trippy in itself!
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