アラン島 Isle of Arran

湖水地方を離れてスコットランドに入り、２つのお城を見学。一つはイギリスでも珍しい、三角形の形をしたケーラヴァロック城。１３００年にイングランド王エドワード１世が全軍あげてこの城を包囲、２日間で兵士は投降したのですが、実はたった６０人の兵で砦を守っていたんだそうです。
もう一つは海岸にそびえたつカリーン城。１８世紀に改築された城は崖の下からの眺めも荘厳ですが、内部も豪華で素敵でした。

After leaving the Lake District we arrived in Scotland and visited two castles. One was Caerlaverock castle, an unusual triangular-shaped castle. In 1300 it was besieged by Edward Ⅰ, king of England. He brought the full might of his army and the garrison surrendered within two days. It was said that only 60 men defended the stronghold then .
The other was Culzean, a spectacular clifftop castle, which was remodelled in 18th century. It was very impressive to look up at it from the bottom of the cliff on the coast. The inside of the castle was also magnificent.

夕方友人達に合流。彼らはブライトン（ロンドンから南下した海岸沿いの町）から待ち合わせ場所のエア（スコットランド西岸）という町まで車で１３時間。朝４時半出発という強行軍でしたが、ドライブを楽しんできたようです。たぶん、少なくとも大好きなクラシックカーを運転する彼は。

We met the friends in the evening. They had driven for 13 hours from Brighton to Ayr on the west coast in Scotland. They, or at least the driver of his favourite classic car, seemed to have enjoyed the drive even though they had had to start at 4:30am.

翌日フェリーでアラン島へ渡り、オープンカーで島を回りました。景色を楽しみながら、途中滝を見に山林に分け行ったり、６月末のスコットランドの海で泳いだり、と豊かな自然を満喫。ちなみに泳いだのは友人（男）一人で、私は水際でじゃぶじゃぶ足をつけただけ。「冷たッ！こんなんで泳いだら死ぬわ・・・」と思ったのですが、水がとてもきれいで、彼が（表面上は）気持ちよさそうに泳ぐのを見て、水着を持ってこなかったことを後悔しました。次回は泳ごうと思います。長袖を着るぐらいの気候でしたが、１分くらいなら耐えられそうです。

Next morning we crossed to the Isle of Arran by ferry and drove around the island by car with the soft-top roof down. We enjoyed the lovely landscape and the unpolluted natural environment. We went walking into woods to see a waterfall and went swimming in the sea. In fact, only our male friend swam, I just paddled. It was the end of June, the water was so cold that I thought I'd die if I jumped in. However I regretted not bringing my swimming wear because he looked comfortable and above all, the water was so beautiful. I would try it another time. Although it was cool enough to wear long sleeves, I might be able to go in for a minute.