On the third day, our holiday, as originally planned, could begin. So it was goodbye to Kingussie and onto Achnasheen to meet our friend Cath, who was going to drive us all to Torridon, a Scottish village, which is where we were staying.
The final breakfast for me at The Osprey Hotel was a king-size serving of Sinead’s porridge with lots of berries. The photo doesn’t do it justice — it was huge and definitely the best porridge I’ve ever had!
I have fond memories of Kingussie. It’s one of the friendliest places I’ve stayed in. On the first morning there, as I was walking along the high street, everyone said “hello” to me. At one point, a man on a mobility scooter kept overtaking me then stopping to talk to someone. Eventually, he rode next to me. I mentioned something about the friendly dog he’d been stroking on his previous stop. He said that he used to have a Jack Russell dog. When driving a car, he would let the dog stand on his lap and put her paws on the steering wheel. At a suitable point, he would take his hands off the steering wheel and people would think the Jack Russell was driving the car! He said the police had warned him several times not to do this but he was always careful where he allowed the Jack Russell to “drive” the car.
On another occasion I was in the town bookshop, “The first class second hand bookshop”. This has an incredibly diverse collection of books. I got speaking to the charity’s treasurer, who happened to be standing in, minding the shop. She told me it was set up to raise funds for people with learning difficulties. It was one of the hubs of the town. This would not be the first time on the holiday in Scotland where I would see these initiatives, which made people’s lives just a little bit better and created a sense of community. I was beginning to really like Scottish people and their thoughtfulness!
After breakfast, it was a five minute walk to the station then two trains to Achnasheen via Inverness.
The drive to Torridon was full of beautiful scenery, just like the train journey. Several times, we stopped to admire the view and take photos. When we reached the cottage we were staying in, we realised that one of the stunning views was available to us from the cottage!