Day 6: Inverness
Loch Ness, Lots of Castles and Live Music
We started today with a cruise on Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle! Long before the famous 1934 "Surgeon's Photo" of the Loch Ness Monster was taken (then later debunked), people have seen something remarkable stick it's head out of these waters for centuries. The long list of sightings including the Irish monk St. Columba, the founder of Christianity in Scotland - more on him when we get to Iona. Not about to miss our chance to spot the lady of the loch, Matt and I planted ourselves on the cold metal seats on the top deck of the boat, eyes glued to the water. It was windy and chilly up there but we weren't about to pass up prime Nessie watching by sitting inside!
Medieval history buff Matt was seriously in his happy place at Urquhart. Dating from the 13th to 16th centuries, Urquhart has very pleasant energy and it was fun to watch Matt so excited. I enjoyed exploring the ruins, taking lots of photos and scanning the water for a surfacing Nessie, of course! I'm not going to lie. Part of me was disappointed I didn't see her surface. But, as always, Anne had my back. At the beginning of the day, Anne promised a sighting, and we got one! (see the above photo on the bottom right).
Medieval history buff Matt was seriously in his happy place at Urquhart. Dating from the 13th to 16th centuries, Urquhart has very pleasant energy and it was fun to watch Matt so excited. I enjoyed exploring the ruins, taking lots of photos and scanning the water for a surfacing Nessie, of course! I'm not going to lie. Part of me was disappointed I didn't see her surface. But, as always, Anne had my back. At the beginning of the day, Anne promised a sighting, and we got one! (see the above photo on the bottom right).
Cawdor Castle is known for its beautiful gardens and it's connections to Shakespeare's Macbeth. It remains the residence of the Dowager Countess of Cawdor for part of the year.
Matt and I are big Shakespeare fans and although we knew the real life King Macbeth was not actually the Thane of Cawdor, not to mention the fact that the play takes place nearly 300 years before the castle we visited was built, it was fun to think about Lady Macbeth's metaphorical gender swap and Macbeth screwing his courage to the sticking place to become the Thane of Cawdor then the King of Scotland as prophesied while we were there. In true Shakespearean fashion, Macbeth is a total bloodbath and perhaps that is why the castle itself had a strange energy we couldn't place. The audio guide, narrated by the Dowager Countess herself, was pretty good, we enjoyed the tea and finger sandwiches for a group lunch and the gardens were nice, but as we waited for the rest of our group who were playing on the nine-hole golf course, we were looking into the forest surrounding the grounds, hoping to catch a glimpse of those three wyrd sisters with their caldron bubbling with eye of newt and toe of frog... Or the woods themselves moving towards us! |
First Witch: Macbeth: Second Witch: |
Back in Inverness by late afternoon, Matt and I headed to Leakey's Secondhand Bookshop. This place is filled with stacks of second-hand and vintage books and prints. And yes, it smells exactly like you think it would. We browsed for at least 45 minutes, looking up stairs and down for the perfect thing to bring home. We settled on a book of Robert Burns' work for our poet friend and a print of map of Scotland from 1884.
We headed next to Gellions Bar. Anne looked ahead and told us that there was live music at the bar that night before our dinner reservation. Many of us met there to hear this young accordion player. He was hilarious and played very well. We were having so much fun we didn't notice Ann and a handful of other people snuck out the back to make our dinner reservation! We were sitting there waiting for her to come get us when Mike, our driver, got a call from Anne wondering where we were! Finally got some live music in Inverness! This guy was awesome. Absolutely incredible on the accordion. The music was so loud, he played so fast and he was so funny. 'How about a cheesy Scottish tune? What’s that? No? Tough.' Then he played the HELL out of 'Bonnie Wee Jeannie McColl.'" Dinner was at The Mustard Seed. Delicious peri-peri chicken and more Eaton mess for dessert! To drink, Mike recommended the Edinburgh Gin Distillery Rhubarb and Ginger Liqueur and said to get it with a side of lemonade (what we call Sprite or 7-Up). When the gin and little carafe of lemonade came to our table he advised, "don't pour all the lemonade in, put in a bit and see if you like it." Wow! Sweet and subtle, it was nothing like anything I'd tasted before. After that first sip, I knew a bottle of this stuff came home with us. We bring it out when we have friends over and even non-gin drinkers love it!
|