It is an important centre for hillwalking and climbing due to its proximity to Ben Nevis and many other Munro mountains, marketing itself as the "Outdoor Capital of the UK". It is also well known for its nearby famous Downhill Mountain Bike Track and its connection to the West Highland Way from Glasgow and the Great Glen Way; a walk/cycle way from Inverness to Fort William through the Great Glen.
It is possible to leave London Euston Station each weeknight on the Caledonian Sleeper at 9.16 pm and arrive into Fort William Station at 9.54 am the following morning. The Caledonian Sleeper trains are miniature travelling hotels, with private bedrooms and a lounge car. The sleeper compartments are compact but cosy, with an upper & lower berth in standard class or just one lower berth in first class, and a washbasin with hot & cold running water. The beds come with a fluffy duvet, fresh clean sheets and plump pillows. A complimentary toiletries pack contains soap, flannel, toothbrush, toothpaste and razor, and a small bottle of mineral water is provided for each passenger.
Morning tea or coffee is included in the fare and (in first class or for £4 extra in standard class) a light breakfast, served by your steward in your compartment at the time you specify. There are toilets at the end of the corridor in each sleeping-car (which can be used even when the train is at a station), and there's a lounge car with leather sofas, tables & chairs and steward service of wine, beer, spirits, soft drinks & light meals. The Caledonian Sleepers offer almost 'cruise train' facilities, indeed they are the only regular trains in Britain featuring leather sofas, complete with coffee tables & table lamps. The Caledonian Sleeper trains also have economy reclining seats, although the lounge car is for sleeper passengers only. The Caledonian Sleepers are all non-smoking. They're run by ScotRail and are crewed by Scottish staff.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.' "
Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt." When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. "This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer."
Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD's. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God."
(The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)
Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the LORD; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses. (Exodus 9.13-35)
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