Day Seven

24 July 2014

Prestwick, Ayrshire – Balmaha, Loch Lomond

Accommodation:  Passfoot Cottage

Weather – sunny

Temperature – 31 – screaming sunshine

We enjoyed Prestwick and the B&B near the ocean and golf links.  It certainly is a golfing area as there are courses everywhere.  Our host told us that the world renowned Turnbury and sometimes home of the British Open has been purchased by Donald Trump and it is now to be known as Trump Turnbury.

St Ninian's links golf course just down from where we were staying.

 

Driving out of Prestwick we came across this bunch of cuteness....safety first obviously!

 

We travelled through Glasgow where the opening ceremony occurred last night for the Commonwealth Games.  The weather has really turned it on for the games and the city looked terrific.  We only made one wrong turn and circuitously made our way out of the city as many roads had changed because of the games.

Our first visit was the village of Luss on Loch Lomond and it was originally where we thought we were going until a couple of days ago – however our accommodation was on the eastern side of the lake at the much smaller village of Balmaha.  As it turned out it is a much better choice as we’ve happened on the most delightful little cottage on the water of Loch Lomond.  Balmaha is also much quieter.

The village of Luss has a Park and Pay but it’s only a wee walk (see, I can speak Scottish now) to the shops.  Luss was very busy with tourists and many had arrived by coaches.  The road is very busy as it leads to Fort William.

We took an hour walk before lunch at the pub.  The day had turned very hot and the crowds gathered around the loch for swimming and sitting on the beach.  There were many bare shirted men strolling the streets and lots of sunburn.  Some people are going to have an uncomfortable night’s sleep!

A lovely home in Luss.

 

Yes...unbelievably Scotland on a summer's day.  Lots of sunburn and even swimming!

 

Telling it like it is.....outside the tiny school of Luss.

 

We arrived early in Balmaha so we wandered the village looking out for a place for dinner – a choice of two – before we could book into the cottage.  A quick trip up a back road tracing the lock north brought us to other beaches with many people in the water.  We also saw our first highland cattle!

 

Our accommodation in Balmaha from the jetty. 

 

The view from our accommodation....wouldn't it be lovely to see the passing seasons from this view.