It was much warmer this morning. In fact, it was hot and uncomfortably humid. Keith came over to look at my flat and say hello to my host before we headed out for a wander around town. For the first time since I arrived it was warm enough to eat outdoors and we had a lovely lunch 
overlooking the harbour, watching the boats going by. We walked up the coast to Dunollie castle, stepping in the footsteps of Turner, Walter Scott, Mendelssohn and Wordsworth. The main tower has a commanding view over the whole bay and adjacent islands. Once completely ivy covered the gardeners were hard at work to rid the stonework of this invasive vine.
The location of the castle has been occupied for over 1000 years. The family moved into a ‘modern’ house in the 1740s and there was an interesting collection of kitchen equipment dating for over a century. I recognized many items from my own childhood!
A willow garden, a fairy garden and a display of ‘Viking’ sculpture added to the interest, and a working loom had been 
restored and was creating family tartan fabric. We had tea and cakes at the tea shop before heading back into town to collect our bags and board the 3:55 ferry. Keith worked out that he hadn’t been on a 
ferry since a trip to Calais when he was 21. The sun was out and the visibility was superb. The clarity of light, the expansiveness and the bare ness of the landscape reminded Keith of New Mexico. I had recently had a conversation with someone about how these remote Scottish islands have become my substitute for the desert scenery I have reveled in for many years. There are even ghost towns in Mull that are, of course, high on my ‘must see’ list. We had on the deck and I enjoyed a beer brewed in a Mull brewery commemorating the sinking of a galleon from the Spanish Armada that sunk in Tobermory bay!
We walked the 15 minutes to the Mull hotel and spa which is in a wonderful location just along the coat from the ferry terminal at Craignure. It’s an ugly building, probably built in the 1960s, but the quirky things about the facilities and the service had me more amused than upset. We walked down to the ocean where Keith soon made friends with a 
doggy eager to ‘go fetch’ and I wandered off to take photos of ruined boats. What else?! We had dinner in the restaurant with a view all the way back to the mainland and we both selected seafood which seemed to be the only possibility in
these surroundings. During dinner we planned our itinerary for tomorrow while commenting on the fact that we seemed to be the youngest people in the restaurant, which was very busy with a large tour group. After dinner I wandered along the shore alone for a while watching the moon rise.
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