Rhu, and weather and dirt trips

We felt that we had to test out the coffee and cake in the Rhu cafe - it had been good during our brief visit a while ago and sure enough, nothing had changed. If you are in the area, the rhubarb and cherry cake is worth stopping for. We did feel a little sorry for this beautiful yacht though:

Really not sure that yellow is "her colour". 

We did a little tidying up, prepared for Ann and Martin's arrival and miserably contemplated the weather forecast. A windy and partially wet week was ahead, many days with 40 mph gusts. We'd asked our visitors to bring good weather with them and they had failed dismally.

No matter, we enjoyed catching up, testing a couple of gins and using their car for some trips out. That was after one particularly foul day when nobody got off the boat but we did watch a lot of the Olympics events. The first excursion was to Inverary - a proper tourist trap village but still pretty and worth seeing. Things started badly when the road that was to take us up the side of Gareloch was closed. Mr Google maps didn't know that and there was nothing on the Scottish roads website either but it was firmly shut. So, we had a diversion across to Loch Lomond and a bit of a loop around. As we arrived at the famous (often infamous) Rest and be Thankful pass we were fortunate to have lots of sun. Here is a borrowed image for you:

Arriving in Inverary, the clouds made more of an impression:

but not enough to spoil the day. This old girl has been moored here for many many years now:

Built in 1944, she was renamed as Vital Spark, the fictional Clyde Puffer from the Para Handy stories. Not heard of them? Well, you have to be of a certain age to recall the original TV series so have a look at You Tube video link . This ship is supposedly undergoing restoration, as is the wooden pier at Inverary which is no longer safe for vessels like the Waverley paddle steamer to berth alongside. 

The many tourist type shops stock a suitably wide range of souvenirs (which we resisted) and a wonderful example of local rock making art:

For the non UK folks, the local carbonated drink is Irn Bru and the strapline for it was "Made in Scotland from girders". The rock version carefully avoids too many patent infringements with the branding- perhaps they learned from how Aldi / Lidl do it. On the way back, with the road along the Gareloch still closed, we had the chance to stop off at Luss, a conservation village and another tourist hot spot. After some extortionately expensive refreshments,  we wandered along the Loch Lomond shore:

drinking in the views and for some unknown reason, managing to look confused / stern at the same time:

Continuing the theme of road trips that were not totally to plan, we decided to visit Stirling Castle. The narrow road up to the castle car park was OK, until the car park was found to be full and we were waved on down a little road with abandoned cars along it and a motorhome trying to come the other way. It all ended well though, finding a big car park across the city (it really does not feel like a city!) that was close to Toast - an excellent lunch stop. We walked up to the castle in a deluge but then enjoyed a typical sun and showers afternoon. Here is a sunny bit: 

and you can tell what was heading our way from this picture that looks over the famous battlefield of Stirling Bridge:

Inside the reconstructed royal palaces are some very impressive tapestries:

and some excellent guides who try to bring life to the buildings with stories of how daily life was there. A good visit and somewhere worth another look sometime. 

As there was a day that threatened to be very grey and uninviting (yes, even more so than the others) we took the train into Glasgow. Martin was walking tour leader and took us through more of the University of Strathclyde buildings than we expected or wanted to see. The good bit was that we arrived at the Necropolis and got some exercise climbing up to the very poshest tombs at the top of the hill:

It was interesting to see how the family tomb was still in use recently:

and how the spouses were buried under their maiden names. We wanted to visit the cathedral which is nearby and under maintenance too. You get good views from the Necropolis:

 As you would expect, the interior is pretty impressive:

but we were evicted for no obvious or given reason when someone gaily announced that the nave was closing in 3 minutes and began closing doors. They needed a little bit of visitor relations training. After a subway ride and a lunch stop at No 16 Byers road (again) we walked around the park then the Kelvingrove art gallery and  museum. Quite a stunning building:

with an impressive organ too:

The rest of the day was a bit soggy so we headed into the city and caught the train back to Helensburgh, quite smug about packing in a fair amount  in one day. A bit like the American bus trip tourists who can "do" Scotland in two days.

Having seen some Charles Rennie Mackintosh work in the museum, it seemed natural to visit the house in Helensburgh that he had designed and, together with his wife, interior decorated too. If you've not heard of him, here is a Wikipedia link. The Hill House in Helensburgh is hard to photograph from the outside - it looked like this:

but now, it looks more like this:

Why? Well, he was an inspired architect and designer but used what was then a new exterior render of concrete on the building. Lots of cracks in it over time allowed water to seep in and get trapped. They are now trying to figure out how to fix things - hence the big metal structure around the house to allow it to gently dry out. We bet that the neighbours from the rather nice houses nearby are less than impressed - it has already been in place for 5 years and there is still no clear way to fix the structural issues with the building. 

Inside, is quite something though. Lots of clever very "Mackintosh" touches are evident. The light fittings are wonderfully detailed and quirky:

and there were plenty of pieces of furniture designed specifically for the spaces in the house, like this chair in a little alcove:

We were suitably impressed with the house and a rather good coffee and scone in the usual tea room afterwards. Ann and Martin were a little bit rebellious - going around the exterior of the house on the walkways which were supposed to be closed due to the high winds and Ann then helped herself to a scone and jam in the tea room which was supposed to be served. The waitress got even though, telling her that she missed out on the clotted cream that way. We were more obedient, for once.

It was a great shame that the weather (mainly the persistent high winds) messed up taking them around the area by boat. Still, we made the most of the land based activities, the Olympics on TV and had a good time. The boat seemed pretty quiet when they left for home.