Give us a tune

We woke up at about 11 feeling a bit the worse for wear after th eover indulgence of the previous night. I think I got of lightly I just had a sore head, everyone else was feeling a bit sick to go with it. It was a scorcher of a day and thank goodness we had booked, and paid for, our boat trip to Rum in advance or we probably wouldn't have made it.

We left at about 1 and the boat trip out to the island took abou half an hour even with a couple of brief stops to look at the wildlife which included Puffins, Porpoises and a Seal. None of us had ever been to Rum before and it was a beautiful island. It's recent history is that it was bought in the 1870's by John Bullough a Lancastrian who's cotton business and inventiveness resulted in him being a self made millionaire. It was used as a sporting estate then in the late 1890's his son George Bullough inherited it along with his fathers fortune. George, later to be Sir George set about building a residence suitable for entertaining guests and the result was Kinloch Castle, which was the highlight of our visit. The Castle is a testament to Bulloughs eccentricity and his desire to show off. The furnishings are way over the top and his goal seems to have been to cram as many ridiculously expensive items in as possible. The most expensive of these being a pair of matcking six foot tall vases which he outbid the Emperor of Japan for. The tour guide announced that they had been told by the insurers that, in the event of a fire, these were the things that they had to save first. You can now rent rooms at th ecaste as well as doing a tour of it and the ex-servants quarters have been converted into a hostel which you can book into.

One of the most amazing things is how hands on they'll let you be with somethings. After all how many other places can you go where they'll announce "if anyone can play a bit feel free to have a shot of the Steinway"? This is Maddy and KAtie having a shot of the Steinway in question. It is a beatuiful grand piano with an even more beautiful tone. They said on the tour that most Steinways have a unique number to help identify and date them, this one however pre-dated that numbering system. An expert had been out recently and said that due to the lack of a number and th ebody shape and dimensions they'd estimate it to be 1885 at the latest. Even I had to have a wee shot, after all I'll probably never get another chance to play an instrument as expensive as that one would surely be.

The rest of Rum was fantastic too and we spent some time relaxing in th esun while we waited for the boat back. Definetely somewhere I'd like to go and stay for a few days to explore more. I'd highly recommend anyone to go and visit the place if they get the opportunity.