Sunday, December 8, 2019

Inverness, Nairn, and Culloden, Scotland!

The natural beauty of Scotland is remarkable. I couldn’t capture the photo I really wanted: dozens of wooly sheep on acres of green hillsides, wandering around to their hearts’ content. Maybe I can find a calendar of sheep grazing on the hillsides of Scotland.


After departing the Isle of Mull for the ferry to Oban, our bus was off to the highlands! Our first stop was at the interesting visitor center in Glencoe. We learned of the history of the area and had outstanding mac’n’cheese made with local dairy.


We continued on to Inverness, where we had a few hours to walk around and have dinner. Both the vegetarian places were closed for dinner, but we lucked out with a table at Mustard Seed and enjoyed a delicious and healthy meal. I wish we had more time in Inverness, but that is the hazard of taking an 8-day tour of a beautiful country including 2 islands on the west coast.


We stayed overnight in Nairn at my favorite hotel (except for the segregated/pathetic breakfast there, just for our tour group). The hotel room was huge and the bathtub was huge and there were 3 resident “hairy cows” on the property! We couldn’t find them in the morning on the meadow, but lucked out as we were returning to the hotel: 2 other group members had bought a basket of hay to feed to the cows, and the hotel staff told them where the cows were likely “hiding” (sleeping), and we tagged along. Adorable (IMHO) photo above.

The Highland Folk Museum was comprehensive and interesting! There was a sign asking guests to please keep the door to a house shut because the chickens liked to go inside. As I was admiring the chickens, someone else opened the house door and this is what happened (see video). Guess where the chickens were going?

Culloden was a sad battlefield that felt somber. Always good to learn about political conflicts that end in bloodshed- why do we keep repeating history? A short presentation by a highland clansman warrior was interesting and entertaining. The museum was comprehensive and the gift shop yielded us our Christmas cards!

We continued on to Perth… stay tuned!

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