The B and B was open again

Our return to Greenock was not just to enjoy the lovely town (!) but mainly to meet up with Ann and Martin who, for some strange reason, had decided to come boating with us for a while. You've seen them in here before, using the forecabin in Ireland and again last year on the south coast. Some people never learn, despite having more degrees and qualifications than you can count between them.

So, they drove up to Greenock via an overnight stop in Bromsgrove. Yes, all the high spots in one trip. It seemed only fair to let them escape to better areas so we did the round tour of the nice bits. First of all, Bute and another Mount Stuart visit, only this one was better. Not because we were without the other Anne but because we were allowed to wander around the house after the guided tour. The house still impresses:

One had all the mod cons built in - one of the first houses with electric lighting, the first with a heated swimming pool etc. Not to mention a plethora of support staff on call electrically:

The chapel was completed as a tribute to the then deceased Marquis (who was responsible for the amazing and detailed decor of the house).  It has an atmospheric lantern up top that shines red in the sun (yes, we had some!):

and the red light is arranged to shine directly onto the altar at mid-day on mid summer's day:

only we were a little later in the year as you can see.

The grounds are always worth a wander around, but we were a bit tight for time as the buses run rather infrequently. There was time to admire a huge number of butterflies:

Whilst on Bute, we took them around the castle and the high spot - the local Co-op. We are such good tour guides....

Departing Bute and heading around the Kyles we were treated to a sunny calm day with the resulting views from our lunchtime anchorage:

As you can see, it was pretty calm:

0.6 knots wind speed is a tad unusual around here.

The typical flybridge views as we headed Tarbertwards still impress us:

except for one of our visitors who needed a post lunch snooze:

In Campbeltown we had another cinema visit - to see Blinded by the Light. Again, good entertainment even if it felt a lot like Bend it like Beckham in many places..... This film was in the main auditorium so we get to take our own pictures of the "atmospheric" early 1900s design:

We returned to Greenock via Holy Loch and did the obligatory walk to Dunoon on a pleasant day with good views from the top of the town:

Walking back, we found that the Kirn folks have a slightly parochial view of the area:

and a great sense of humour!

Sadly, the visitors had to endure some wet weather but all was not lost. They taught us how to play canasta. The crew might have put them off a bit though with her ripple shuffle:

Apparently this was very hard and not as slick as usual as the cards were not worn in enough. Workmen and tools?

The final day was spent doing a walking tour of Glasgow. Very informative indeed and we went to some areas that we had not seen before. Some nice bits that is, there are plenty of areas we will continue to avoid. The cathedral / High Kirk looked lovely from the Necropolis:

We were shown the amazing murals which are modern depictions of St Mungo (Google his importance to Glasgow and his miracles - you will see them represented in the mural):

This was done entirely from spray cans using a cherry picker for access in around a week by a very talented artist, Smug. For more information on the mural trail have a look at mural website

We finished off their visit with a huge and wonderful curry evening in Gourock at the Taj Mahal restaurant. Go there and sample some amazing flavours. Enough said.