Because of the rain we leave Mull one day earlier

In the morning it is still raining but at 10 o'clock it gets a bit better and we load the car and leave a day earlier than planned. We will take a different route than on the way here, namely with the ferry from Fishnish to Lochaline and then over the Morvern peninsula to the north. When we arrive at Fishnish we just see the ferry leaving so we have to wait a while until it is back. Here too, there is only a quay and a kind of information kiosk where we can also get some coffee.

The boat takes us within fifteen minutes to Lochaline, traditionally an important port, also for the Vikings. And then follows the beautiful, but slow route on the Morvern peninsula that is slightly smaller than Mull (650km²) but according to the Wikipedia it has only 320 inhabitants. That is really very few. The narrow road runs writhing through the hills but unfortunately it starts raining again so we can not take any beautiful pictures. But the farther we come to the east, the bluer becomes the sky.

After a nice trip where we also drive through the Loch Lomond and Trossach nature reserve, we stop at a picnic area in St. Fillians near Loch Earn. Here the sun shines and we drink a cup of coffee along the water. But with a thick coat on since it is still cold. Then we drive to Crieff, a town where we have once driven through but never really stopped. That is why we now park in the center and take a walk.

Crieff was the place where the Highlanders came from the north for centuries to trade their black cattle, which was very popular with their southern neighbors. The cattle market was held annually from September 29, the feast day of the archangel Michael, and was called the October Tryst. Traders came even from the Outer Hebrides, quite a journey with cattle in those days. Of course, such a market also attracted a lot of villains and crimes were immediately and severely punished by hanging on a tree and later they used wooden gallows. You can still see the remains of these in the Perth museum.
Now Crieff is a friendly town where the tourists mainly come to visit the Glenturret distillery (The Famous Grouse Experience). In the 19th century, many wealthy business people from Edinburgh built a second home here, so there are still many expensive villas and mansions from that time to be seen.

In February 1746, Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, held his last war council in the Drummond Arms Inn on James Square before he was crushed two weeks later at Culloden. The history of this pretender to the throne of Scotland and England is a long story that we have already told about elsewhere so we will not repeat it here. In any case, Scottish society was at that time completely divided into supporters and opponents and the battle is still vividly commemorated with countless monuments.

After our walk through Crieff we drive through Perth, where we also see some nice buildings, to Dundee where we booked a Premier Inn for 1 night, a simple and not too expensive hotel. The weather here is a lot better than on the west coast and we have made a nice extra trip. Tomorrow we will return to Beauly with as many detours as possible to discover new places.