Vegans in Inveraray

Obviously writing a blog during holidays didn't work very well. The internet connection was just hopeless and I gave up. I wanted to write some updates quickly after we got back home, but some family circumstances and some visits to hospitals totally changed all plans.

Since I couldn't describe every day or couple of days separately, I will just share the rest of 'holidays in Scotland experience' in a couple of more posts.

Tuesday was literally a rainy day... we decided to make a trip anyway and went to Inveraray. A nice wee town, probably even nicer when the sun is shining and one can actually enjoy being outside. As a first attraction, we visited a castle. As you can see on the photo, I wasn't lying about the rain... ;)

Inveraray Castle

We decided to not stay in the castle cafe, where the only one vegan option was baked potato with beans, as we were hoping to find something more fancy in the town. We didn't know yet how wrong we were.

In Inveraray, you can buy Christmas decorations all year around, but you can't get a decent veggie burger or something vaguely vegan. The hotel restaurant simply states that EVERYTHING is fried on animals lard. For me, it was a clear statement meaning: Veg*ans F*ck off! We will not make roasted veggies for you or any other veggie crap. We serve highland cows here and goats cheese! OK, understood. It wasn't the only restaurant 'in the village'.

Eventually, we found a place that served vegetarian burger and baked potato with beans, so we decided to go for it. Of course, we asked is a vegetarian burger vegan and the nice waitress went to ask for us. 

Unfortunately, veggie burger described in the menu as a vegetarian was friend on animal lard again ;) Hmmm, maybe it is time to change the name "vegetarian burger" on the menu... So we chose potatoes with beans. They were served with salad. Salad is always hit and miss as one never knows what kind of dressing will be used. We asked if there was mayonnaise etc with salad and were told "no". At that point, we were starving and would eat really anything (I mean, I would) and I was comforted by the fact that they actually had soy milk and I could have a latte. Not the best latte in my life, but I am not fussy. Potatoes arrived...

As you can see from the beautiful photo, the chef didn't get our request about non-dressings on the salad... It also wasn't the best baked potato in our lives. We felt anything but 'royal' in that cafe.
My advice: When you visit Inveraray in Scotland, make sure you have your own sandwiches, salads, food etc. as there is really nowhere to eat there. Not even an Indian restaurant... At least we didn't find anything like that.

A more pleasant experience was Scottish Soap Shop Purdie's, a nice surprise as the cosmetics are vegan friendly. They also make candles, so you can get there everything that you need to have a nice bath :) Definitely will be buying more soon.

Next stop was in jail. An interesting place where one can learn what crimes and punishment were common in old times. Probably one of the most interesting places in Inveraray. Souvenir shop is stuffed with all kind of things and I got a rubber ducky for myself.

Because of the bad weather, we missed sightseeing the Vital Spark ship. We have seen the other day that it was open for public. Well, maybe next time.

When we got to our cosy holiday lodge this is what welcomed us. Clouds? Fog? Both? Definitely rain...

So it was long after dinner time, but we were starving. Chickpea curry from a can, mushrooms fried with herbs and parsley and rice from microwave was like poetry after our baked potato experience ;)