Wealth, W.Cs and Women left Wanting

8.5.17: Spoiling Peaceful Waters

Today we journied farther afield with a visit to the Isle of Bute. First to the small village of Colintraive to take the short ferry ride over to Rothsay. Whilst waiting for the departure, I astounded some of the French women by suggesting that we use the men's loo that wasn't occupied. With only one women's facility and a number of us wanting to "go", they soon got over their misgivings!.
A walk around the town took Nicole P and I to see the outside of 13th century moated castle while Nicole S went off with the more serious sightseers. Loli hit the charity shops (which don't exist in France) and found herself a yellow wool coat and mauve tartan tammy. One satisfied customer and several group members amazed by the pittance that she'd paid.
The coming of steamships on the Clyde, soon made Rothsay a fashionable destination for visitors from Glasgow as is evidenced by its Victorian architecture and winter gardens. There are even some Victorian '"gentlemen's toilets" which are still working today. There was no similar provision for women and I don't think for a minute that Victorian "ladies" would have done as we did this morning!

After a quick lunch of soup and a roll, it was time to clamber back on board for the short journey to Mount Stuart House which was rebuilt after a fire for the 3rd Marquis of Bute, who made his money from South Wales coal (not to mention the toil of Welsh miners), in 1869. It was home to the world's first domestic heated indoor swimming pool and was the first house in Scotland to be lit by electricity.
Impressive as it was, it was the gardens that gave me the most pleasure and I regretted not having more time to just sit and enjoy the rhododendrons that were in full flower and the views over the Clyde.

Our return journey took 35 minutes for the ferry to cross from Rothsay over the Clyde to Weymss Bay. On the way we saw porpoise and in stark contrast, a submarine from the Faslane naval base; presumably not one armed with a nuclear warhead.
On the other side, the bus journey back to the hotel was long and retraced some of the route we'd taken on the first day.
We had thought  that Loli, who is a professional flamenco dancer and teacher, could provide a bit of entertainment after the dreary quiz but Bev the assisstant manager was not keen when I'd broached the subject yesterday because apparently her clients came for a quiet time and if they wanted flamenco, they'd have gone to Spain!! The women that I spoke to later were most disappointed and the next day they said they'd decided that they might as well have an early night as we'd not stayed up to dance. I'm thinking of asking Bev if she'd like to book us for next year's entertainment.
Weather:
Warm and sunny