Scotland 2001 - Armin's way up to Scotland


	Saturday morning, 9:45. Finally it's time to go again. All the luggage is in the car (why do I seem to take more and more things every year?), the sun roof is open to let some air into the car and about 450 miles are waiting for me. Today would take from Swindon past Gloucester on to the M5, then the M6 and M74 up to Scotland. Once in Scotland I would pass Glasgow, Loch Lomond, drive over the pass at "Rest and be thankful" and finally arrive in Lochgilphead.

The first 300 miles took me through England. It was a mixture of rain and sunshine for most of the way. Torrential rain followed by the sun breaking through the clouds. Luckily the traffic wasn't too bad, so I made very good progress. Just before 14:00 hrs I was approaching Carlisle and had my lunch break at a service station (It rained at that time...).

Now who said it _always_ rains in Scotland? As you can see on the left Scotland welcomed me with sunshine. Almost exactly 300 miles after leaving Swindon (296 miles to be precise) I crossed the border to Scotland.

Now on to Glasgow, then Loch Lomond, over "Rest and be thankful", past Inveraray and finally to Lochgilphead...


As usual "Rest an be thankful" was covered in clouds. Above you can see the low hanging clouds on both sides, the eastern side on the left, the western side on the right. Past Inveraray I drove on to Lochgilphead, where I was going to stay for the night. I stayed at the Empire Travel Lodge (Phone +44-(0)1546-602381), a converted cinema. The owner told me that when parts of the James Bond movie "From Russia with Love" were filmed in Scotland (the boat chase towards the end), the takes of the day were viewed there. The old entrance area is now the breakfast room, while the auditorium now holds the bedrooms.

Scotland 2001 -> Next: Ferry to Islay