Our next destination was the island of Barra. Barra is a very small island, with a population of about 1000, located in the Outer Hebrides Islands of Scotland. It holds special meaning to me, because in the early 1800s, my MacMullin/Campbell ancestors left Barra to settle in Nova Scotia.
We were lucky enough to have calm seas for our crossing, and were able to enjoy lunch in one of the restaurants aboard the ship, after which, some of us napped and some of us read books.
After about 5 and a half hours, our ferry arrived and we got our first glimpse of the small town of Castlebay, and the ruins of Kisimul Castle, on it's own small harbor island.
After a drink at the Castlebay Hotel, overlooking the harbor, we stopped at the local grocery store and picked up some fruit, cheese and crackers, and called it dinner.
Hmm, thought I had mentioned this to you. It's hard to find dinner or a place to eat when you are arriving in town at dinner time. Found out the hard way. Many places have set seating's for dinner that may all be gone by the time you arrive.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely recommend taking any opportunity for someone to make you a reservation, even though you said there is more variety of places to eat other than pubs these days, that doesn't necessarily mean that there are lots them to choose from in any given city/town. Especially during the busy summer season.
One thing you might consider doing is purchasing a small cooler, if they have them, and keeping a supply of cold cuts/bread etc on hand that you can use for a hiking lunch or dinner if you can't find a place to eat at. You might also ask if they do any sort of take out if they don't have a table available.
Good luck.
PS.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's been 20+ years since I've been there, I don't think you will find the dinner situation too much different, especially in smaller towns. We mostly only found pubs or a few places that had fish & chips or Indian take out. Be interested in hearing how much that has changed.
If you are ending the day and spending the night in a new town, maybe call ahead if you are staying at a B&B to see if they can make a recommendation on a place for dinner or a reservation for you.
Depending on your wifi access you might be able to search the internet for dinner places in a new town, that wasn't an option for us back then.