Last night I partook of a conventional fish-and-chips supper before the evening round of entertainment (bingo followed by a singer) which I took pains to avoid – fortunately, there are a whole series of interconnected lounges and it is not difficult to find people with whom to converse without having to participate in the entertainment provided. It is a case of fairly early to bed and early to rise because we had breakfast at 8.00am followed by a 9.00am coach departure for the day’s trips. One of the minor annoyances of life in the hotel is that the TV system is evidently satellite based and the system can access neither Sky News nor ClassicFM which are the channels to which I most frequently tune. So I make do instead with the rolling BBC news service and with Radio 3 if I require any music to assist me drift off to sleep during any periods of wakefulness during the night. One disturbing item of news is that the peace talks in Islamabad (Pakistan) between the USA and Iran have broken down and the UA Vice President, J D Vance has returned to the USA. The breaking point appears to be the insistence that Iran would cease any developments that might lead to a nuclear weapon and, of course, the Straits of Hormuz is still a massive bone of contention. Talks lasted well over twenty one hours whilst the Donald Trump stated view is that any failure to reach an agreement is automatically a ‘victory’ for the US. So it is unclear whether hostilities will recommence and, in any case, the Israelis had not been a participant in the talks and their bombardment of Lebanon seems to have continued apace. To complete the air of gloom a ceasefire had been negotiated in Ukraine to cover the Orthodox celebration of Easter but this ceasefire appears to have broken down almost from the start. Meanwhile, a fascinating election is taking place in Hungary where it looks as the hard right president, Victor Orban, may be facing defeat. But the Americas in general and J D Vance n particular have been actively compaigning on the behalf of Orban and what may be described as his Christian nationalism. Whilst to appears that the Opposition are ahead in Hungary, it is almost certain that the ruling party together with the assistance of the Americans will try to overturn the result and to claim a fraudulent victory. The results of this may become apparent in some sixteen hours time but I would be amazed if Orban would relinquish power without the dirtiest of fights. Orban has had constant run-ins with the EU and I am sure that Brussels would love to see his departure but we shall have to see what happens when the election results are announced. At the moment, the whole of the world seems to be in the grip of right wing leaders both across Europe, the USA, Russia, India and China and one has to fear for the future of ‘normal’ social democratic politics. I think that part of the problem is that the right always seeks apparently simple solutions to complex problems of immigration and the economy. Centrist and left leaning parties are more aware of the complexities of modern life and therefore their policies might appear to be more nuanced and balanced which comes out as unclear in the minds of the various electorates.
So we boarded our coach at 9.00am and made for Inverary which is the ancestral home town of the Dukes of Argyll (who apparently still retains much political influence over the town). On the way, we made a pit stop where we enjoyed a quick coffee and actually managed to pick up a copy of the ‘Sunday Times’ for which I have a voucher. Unfortunately, and even later in the morning, it was still pretty cold and miserable but my American friend and I stumbled across a sort of coffee outlet which was actually in the ground floor of a local hotel. As we were both feeling a little cold and rain soaked, we asked for a soup of the day and were served with a really excellent leek and potato soup the kind where you can still see chunks of vegetables floating about) We then asked if they had any apple pie and were served with an excellent apple and blackcurrant pie in a delicious pastry complemented with ice cream. We both felt that we had stumbled across some really high quality food that we had been served. Then we sought out a specialist whisky shop selling a whole range of whiskies and, upon the recommendation of the coach driver, purchased a really excellent whisky based liqueur laced with chocolate and orange. Naturally, we sampled this inside the shop and had no hesitation in purchasing a bottle, particularly as by signing into their newsletter, we received a 10% discount on our first order. Then feeling quite mellow by this stage, we made for Loch Lomond where we were booked onto a cruise on Loch Lomond. This turned out to out to be more interesting than we thought it was going to be as we were played the ballad of ‘By the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond’ and told the full history that lay behind the ballad that dates back to the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 i.e. 280 years ago. I had rather hoped to see the village of Balmaha and the island of Inchcailloch, the largest island in the loch, upon which I used to camp as a boy but it looked as through the boat trip ended in a different part of the loch, even though the trip was the best part of an hour in duration. And so we returned home having had some good experiences during the day and looking forward, as always, to our evening meal. Tomorrow we have the prospect of viewing some of the iconic features of Glasgow as well as a guided tour of the city. In the late afternoon, the news has emerged that in response to the failure of the Iran peace talks, the United States is going to blockade the whole (both ends?) of the Straits of Hormuz so the horrendous impact upon oil prices and the multiple economies across the globe can only guessed at.