On a beautiful but chilly day we anchored off the town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. This place is in the Firth of Clyde with “firth” being akin to a fjord. Hence all around us I could see other land, some of it other small islands and some parts of the Scottish mainland. No one knows for certain what the origin of the name “Bute” is, but some linguists think that perhaps it originated with an old Irish word for fire and referred to signal or beacon fires that would be lit when raiders were approaching to warn the surrounding lands.
I was originally supposed to take a tour to a house and its gardens but I changed my mind. I’m not sure what’s causing it, but I’ve been having quite a bit of trouble with my back and I’m starting to think it has something to do with the bed I’m sleeping on. If it continues I’ll have to get it checked out when I get home. Anyway, I decided instead to take the tender ashore and have a little walkabout in the town of Rothesay and see if I could find a bookstore.
After a lunch of a salad and a slice of pizza (I’m trying to be very good) I tendered in and walked around the few streets of this little town. Along the waterfront there were some cute looking Victorian style houses but the more commercial area looked a little rundown. Along the waterfront I passed “Wee Zoe’s Ice Cream Shop.” I didn’t stop for any ice cream because it was honestly pretty chilly. I had on my down jacket and was comfortable.
I asked a local if there was a bookshop anywhere nearby and she gave me directions which I thought I understood. The Scottish accent is very hard to understand sometimes. I walked a few blocks and there it was - Print Point, an Independent Bookshop. Katie, you would have loved this place. It had lots of books and smelled of print and paper, a true old-fashioned bookshop not a Barnes and Noble. I was on a mission to find a copy of an Anne Cleeves book. I mentioned at the beginning of this trip that she’s coming on as a guest speaker and I want to have a book of hers to get her to sign it. I’m in love with her characters. I found one, actually her latest, so I was a happy camper. I looked around a little more and then headed back to the tender dock.
I was in line waiting for the tender with people who had been on the tour I was supposed to take. As always seems to be the case I heard that it was the best tour ever with the most beautiful gardens ever. Oh well, I missed it, but I accomplished my mission, gave my aching back a little break, and I can after all, come back again sometime. As Scarlet said, "Tomorrow is another day.”
I had dinner with a new friend from Vancouver and went to the excellent magician’s show. His name is Kristian Grey and I don’t know how he does what he does. Maybe it really is magic. It was a lovely day.
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