Close to Ft William I happened upon a museum called Treasures of the Earth. They have exhibitions on gems, mining, geology etc. I never went inside the actual museum, but they have a nice gift shop there with quite a few reasonably priced items. Ever attracted to shiny objects (it's the greedy capitalist pig gene in me) I lurked around the displays, and I can't be certain that I didn't whisper "preciousss" somewhere in there.
I bought a nice onyx egg as a small gift for my Scottish hosts' Swedish maid, who was 19 that day; a small piece of a meteorite (because they're cool) and two polished fossils about 350 million years old, intended for a friend of mine.
Afterwards I drove down to Glencoe and over the mountain to Tyndrum - that drive is just about my favorite in the whole world. Back at my lodgings I had a very good dinner, before popping down to the local pub with my hosts and the Swede to celebrate her 19th.
After they tucked in (shortly past 9 I think) I drove up to the Taynuilt Hotel again, to pester the locals once more. I had a splendid time talking to the staff all evening, I think it was past 1am before we finally closed up. They have some truly wonderful, friendly people working there, especially the bar manager, the formidable Martha. She's Polish but has been working there for over 3 years, but is (sadly for me and the hotel) going home to Poland later this year. She's simply one of the nicest people I've ever met and they will have a hard time filling her shoes.
The mountains, just before the Bridge of Orchy area (the lake is called Loch Tulla):
McDuff, my hosts' Italian Spinoni dog was even larger than before. Fortunately, he's still just a big, furry ball of love and drool.
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