From
http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/
We had a nice, albeit brief, trip to the Forth Valley last weekend, staying at Macdonald Forest Hills (
http://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/macdonald-forest-hills-hotel-spa/?gclid=CKqbrq34x60CFYEmtAod8A8Biw) in the heart of the Trossachs - but where exactly is that, some of you may ask? Check this map:
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| Ignore the red trail lines - we were staying at the Hotel marked in the bottom left, on the shores of Loch Ard. |
It was a beautiful day in the North East when we set out on Saturday morning - not a cloud in the sky, and warm enough for us to go over Cairn o' Mount without fear of it being closed with ice. From Perth west and south, however, there was a noticeable change - there was obvious evidence of widescale flooding, and damaged and fallen trees from last week's wind storms. The narrow road from the village of Aberfoyle alongside Loch Ard to our resort looked like it had been - or was about to be - closed. The loch seemed very high and choppy and looking like it was above the level of the road.
We left our car at the resort and Barry and Helen - and little Harriet in her cage at the back of their car - drove us over the Duke's Pass to Kilmahog, just outside Callander, to the Lade Inn, a well-known little brewpub. Jo sat in the back of Barry's Merc and suffered a bit on the windy road - she had to sit outside for 10 minutes before she was ready to come in for lunch. Dawn was already there, waiting for us at a nice corner table that Barry had reserved. That corner spot was cold and drafty and we moved twice as other tables nearer the open fire became vacant. We managed to get just one team photo, in which Dawn is, unfortunately, looking the other way:
We all popped in to the adjacent Scottish Real Ale shop where Harriet had to be carefully controlled:
By the time we got back from lunch - going the slightly flatter alternative route, with Jo sitting in the front of Barry's car - and checked in and unpacked, there was only time for a quick snooze and a swim/steam room/jacuzzi visit before dinner. We were located in the Ben Lomond timeshare apartments, which looked like it was the first block built and it was adjacent to the hotel, where we had decided to dine, so it was just a short stroll for us. The dining room was very nice and so was the food - particularly the steaks.
The forecast for Sunday had been reasonably promising but when we woke up we were disappointed to see how overcast and misty it was. Nonetheless, we headed out in the car, initially exploring westwards, but then we drove back in to Aberfoyle to buy the papers and have a coffee, taking in the well laid out and interesting Tourist Office as well.
With the weather so dreich - intermittent drizzle and poorish visibility - we ended up doing 3 very short walks - round the nature trail that follows the path of the Forth in Aberfoyle; then back over the Duke's Pass to find a suitable forest walk, where I took this photo of Jo, toiling up a slight hill:
Our last mini-walk came on the short waterfall trail at the David Marshall Lodge (
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/recreation.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/ScotlandStirlingQueenElizabethForestParkAchrayForestDavidMarshallLodgeVisitorCentre). This marks the start of Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, which is one of the places Dawn used to take Mum on day trips in her later years. The Lodge itself - and cafeteria - was shut but we managed a couple of photos on the trails:
The view from the top of the trail at the front of the Lodge was very nice, even on this dreich day:
We had lunch in the Forth Inn in Aberfoyle - Jo didn't fancy it much at first, but a bunch of walkers arrived and helped drown out the noise of the football on TV in the adjacent bar and this certainly helped improve the atmosphere where we were sitting.
Back to our apartment and another little snooze, then a walk round the resort grounds followed by another quick swim and soon it's time for dinner - doesn't time fly? We went back to the same hotel restaurant - it was nice and it was very convenient. I had brought the latest DVD from LoveFilm of The Killing TV series that we'd missed first time around, and, over the weekend we took in 3 of the last 4 episodes, leaving the final chapter until we got home.
Sod's law, Monday was the best day of the weekend and we had to head home. Although the exchange was for a full week, we never intended to spend more than a few days there. Ideally, if check-in had been on Friday, that would have suited us better. We could still have been there if I was fully retired, but work has to come first for now.
The outlook from our balcony over the resort gardens towards Loch Ard was a bit more photographable on Monday:
The hotel's dining room is the curved building on the left.
On the way home, Jo wanted to have a proper look at Callander so we made a slight detour there, but parking was tricky and we couldn't find a nice-looking coffee shop so we ended up driving out to Kilmahog again and went to the Woollen Mill for a scone instead. Just along the road is the Lade Inn, where we had lunch on Saturday and there was a nice snowy, hilly backdrop from this angle:
After that, we made good time on the drive home and I was able to detour past Banchory to drop Jo off and grab a spot of lunch before heading to the office for a short afternoon's work. In the evening we settled down for the final episode of The Killing, so, after 20 episodes, we now know who did it! There was one little loose end that could have done with more explanation, however, and I think Jo was a little miffed that this wasn't properly tidied up like they do in the Poirot and Agatha Christie's Miss Marple TV crime series that she loves!
