It does have to be said that John is not very arty, so for him to say that paying good money (albeit only £5) to walk around a garden and see sculptures was a great day out says something. Caol Ruadh sculpture park is just down the road at Colintraive and opens over the summer. A fantastically placed victorian mansion with extensive gardens overlooking the Kyles of Bute.
You can see from the photo what a beautiful view it is - the Isle of Bute on the right, and across the water (The Kyles) the mainland and small village of Colintraive. The ferry across runs every 30 minutes and we timed it taking about 5 minutes port to port - the second shortest Calmac ferry crossing at the time of writing at 410m.
Such a lovely place and atmosphere to just sit down, absorb the atmosphere, watch the ferry go back and forth, chased by the weather (heavy downpours!) have a picnic, sketch the scenery and entertain the gardener's spaniel.
After a while we carried on down to Colintraive to check out our second nearest pub/restaurant, imaginatively called The Colintraive. It's worth a re-visit, with an interesting sounding menu and an extensive wine list - got to support local businesses!
That evening the fire pit was alight again and Liz and Kathryn regaled each other their excellent poetry and sang terrible karaoke to the listening evening (that's no one, thank goodness!) I don't think we can embarrass ourselves or annoy the neighbours, and if they did hear us they may just join in and make it all the more fun!
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