Sunday 20 September 2015

Driving Miss Daisy Crazy! Days 3 and 4

We took the train from Glasgow Central Station to Ardrossan.  The train was nice--cheap, fast, stress-free.
At Ardrossan, we boarded the ferry for The Isle of Arran.  The ferry was nice--cheap, fast, stress-free.  And the safety instructions were given in both English and Gaelic.
At Brodick, the port of entry on the Isle of Arran, we rented a car.  The car may have been cheap, fast, and stress-free, but the passenger was not!!!
The driver was cool.....at first.
As we drove on the WRONG side of the road through the 8 foot-wide track with hairpin turns beside precipitous drop-offs into the deep blue sea, Old Granite grappled on to her seat-belt emitting gasps and sharp intakes of breaths.  Never once did she scream out loud!  She cringed, huddled, squeezed her chubby little self into as much of a fetal position as she could muster.  It seemed as if the mirror could not help but be broken off by a bridge, a hydro pole, a blackberry bush, a house, a sheep, another vehicle....The roads on Arran were built around the communities--- not the communities around the roads.

In Canada, when Cuddles and I are driving, he often drives while I knit in the passenger seat.  This is not just me being productive, it is me calming my nerves because I am a BAD passenger.  About half an hour into the drive around Arran, Tom lost his Cuddles demeanour and said, "Where's your knitting?"  No, actually he yelled, "WHERE'S YOUR KNITTING!!!???"
Cuddles nearly left Granite on Arran.


We did survive the drive.  We visited the Machrie Moor which has 6 stone circles estimated to be between 3,000 to 4,000
years old.
We spent the night at a lovely B and B hosted by the lovely Claire.
The next day we drove north up the island, through idyllic scenery ....
.....to the castle ruins of Lochranza.

Again, you can see how the stature of the Scot has changed over the years.
We drove on to Brodick, on the wrong side of the road...
through hill and dale....
said good-bye to our little Kia Rio, with not one scratch on it!  
Next stop, Ayr.


Until Next Time....

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