We were seated with our new Italian friends; Stefano (father,) Stefania (mother,) and Alessio (son.) They insisted we order breakfast for them this morning. Due to Stefania’s reaction to yesterday’s breakfast we especially had Blood Pudding excluded from her plate before serving. She was very pleased!
We discussed our travel plans. They were going up to John O’Groats, the most northern city in Scotland. We had planned on traveling south, however based on our discussion we decided on motoring up to Ullapool. Big mistake, the weather just became more and more awful with every mile we traveled. Wind whipping and torrents of rain traveling sideways.
The town looked bleak, there seemed nothing much to do there. The surrounding scenery was majestic with rocky peaks jutting upwards and small islands dotting the horizon, yet the town itself was dreary and plain. Also very few shops, pubs, or restaurants. So what does a person do for entertainment? In our case (before cell phone service all over the world) we each had some good books and as you know there was always the evening drinks in a pub writing postcards and in journals.
Quickly found all the B&Bs were full, really, why? We finally found accommodation at a hotel, newly opened by an ex-RAF officer and his wife. He waxed on and on about how the small hotel was more work than he had ever done in the Air Force, and complained bitterly about most of his customers, who he found demanding and impolite. Well, excuse us! We immediately agreed he was in the wrong business.
In the end it all boiled down to his unwillingness to manage a well run, clean, and inviting environment. We can only suspect the RAF didn’t place enough demands on him and he was self-aggrandizing and spoiled.
We should have gone to John O’Groats, we have since learned it’s a charming place. We recommend you do the same.
