Day one and two of the Caledonian Canal - the adventure continues

I left you in Largs, weather bound by strong gale force winds and rain. We left the next day and had a not unpleasant sail back to the James Watt Dock, Greenock. Although the wind was 25-30 knots it was in the right direction for a change and so with wind and tide for us instead of against us we managed to sail back to Greenock, what we are now thinking of as home. Our guests for this trip, Mick and Linda, had flights booked home from Belfast as that had been our original plan. However, as we have now decided, due to the weather forecast, that this is not possible they had to change their flights to depart from Glasgow. (We waved them off on the bus this afternoon having had a different trip to what we had all first envisaged.)
So what have we been doing over the last few days? We have spent another two days sightseeing in Glasgow, where we finished off the Waterside Transport Museum and the tall ship and on day two we spent the whole day in the Science Centre. We were all very impressed with both of these experiences and it was handy because, with the overcast skies and heavy showers, we were able to remain in doors most of the time.

 

One of many wall murals in Glasgow.
 

 We also explored Bath Street and found two very nice and very different dining experiences, with the exception of the Puffin Beer! If you ever find yourself in Glasgow I can recommend the Slouch bar and restaurant with a 60's theme and the Butterfly and Pig both in Bath Street, so a bit out of the tourist traps on Souchiehall Street. The latter establishment has an old fashioned tea room upstairs and a cosy bar downstairs.


Glasgow cathedral and city's emblem on lamppost

We did the tourist bus again both days whith a running commentary which was slightly different depending on which guide was doing it. So we had three different "mudder" (murder) stories and all sorts of different gems of information. For instance, we learnt the origin of going "Scot Free." In Scotland there are three different verdicts in a trial; guilty, not guilty or not proven. With the latter verdict the accused can walk free and hence the term to get off Scot Free!

Saturday happened to be  Gay Pride weekend so our bus got caught in the middle of the march which caused a lot of waving and tooting from the marchers and from our tour bus!

Yesterday, Sunday, we decided to take the bus to Dunoon via the ferry. However another change of plan as we met up again with the lady we had met previously on the Glasgow bus, the only Scot we have met so far who had berated the weather. "Don't go to Dunoon" she said "it's a dump." Apologise to anyone who lives in Dunoon, but as she herself lives there, I feel justified in repeating what she said. "The bus goes to Largs it's a much better place. It will take you about an hour to get there but it's a much nicer toon (town) than Dunoon." So we took her advice and stayed on the bus to the end of the line and had a very pleasant day in Largs. Now those of you who have been paying attention will realise that we have sailed to Largs twice, but as the marina is a good mile from the town we have never made it into the town itself. Now we have, but by bus!



Two rather suspect looking Vikings.

We alighted at the Vikingard, a large modern centre that houses a Viking experience, a leisure centre complete with swimming pool and a theatre. We booked onto the Viking experience and it was very entertaining and educational, something I would recommend if you are ever in Largs.






 We spent the afternoon ambling around the town, found Three Reason's to stop in the pub of that name and sampled an ice cream or two (in Josh's case.) A very pleasant way to while away a Sunday afternoon and it didn't rain!  We had the added pleasure of seeing the P.S. Waverley sailing by and what a stately, elegant lady she is, from a bygone age of steam.

Paddle Steamer Waverley