Inverness, Scotland

We have made the trip from Edinburgh up to Inverness and it was a bit longer than we anticipated because there was construction leading up to the Forth Road Bridge. We decided that instead of sitting in traffic for an hour we would take the M9 (motorway) around the Firth of Forth and go up to the west of Stirling. It was more miles but at least we weren’t just sitting in a long queue of cars. We had a pleasant drive north chatting as we went, and admiring the scenery.

We had started the day with another buffet breakfast (yes, I know, more about food!). We actually tried haggis this morning since it was on the buffet. Are you ready? From Wikepedia: “There are many recipes, most of which have in common the following ingredients: sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately an hour.Haggis somewhat resembles stuffed intestines (pig intestines otherwise known as chitterlings or the kokoretsi of traditional Greek cuisine), sausages and savoury puddings of which it is among the largest types. As the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique puts it, ‘[a]lthough its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour.’”. Hubby liked it better than I did….it tasted rather sweet, sort of like ground beef in a sweet sauce. My English relatives have tormented me about haggis for as long as I can remember. John asked me this week if we were planning to have haggis with neeps and tatties (with turnips and potatoes). It won’t be a meal I’d chose at a restaurant!

On the way north, we stopped at a service area to use the toilet and encountered a bunch of young men in kilts and football (rugby) shirts, all hooting and hollering. Very unusual! There are also hotels at a lot of the service areas, something you don’t see at home.

We continued on and had a beautiful drive up into the mountains. We stopped at Killiecrankie (great name, eh? Especially because Hubby was getting a might crankie). It is a site of a battle in 1689 between the English government and the Jacobites (people supportive of King James VI and the Stuart monarchy). When we arrived in the parking lot, there were a group of people “tailgating” by drinking tea! These Brits and Scots are so civilized!! We walked down to the river Garry and it was a lovely walk, under the viaduct that still carries the train through the valley. We saw the Soldier’s leap where a retreating British soldier jumped 18 feet across the river to escape the Jacobites who were in hot pursuit. See the photos below:

The mountains here are covered with purple heather, and it’s such a beautiful site. We saw a wind farm and that, coupled with the low mountains of the area, it reminded us so much of California’s approach to Palm Desert. Youngest Son would have felt right at home here.

There are sheep and cows everywhere and we saw one dumb sheep, perched on a ledge, with no idea of how he would ever get back from there. See the photos of some of today's vistas:

The dual carriageways are lined with pull-off areas, each called a “Lay By”. Very interesting name for them. They are just places on the edge of the road where you can pull off and stop, or as a sign said today, “Please use lay bys to let the queues clear”, in other words, if you’re going really slow, pull off and let all the traffic behind you get around you.

Today’s interesting road signs: “heavy plant crossing”, “road closed for snow” (they just pull a gate across the highway and close it in bad snow!), “no overtaking, blind summit” (In other words, don’t pass because you’re coming over a hill). Here they don’t mark the roads with passing and no passing zones, you just have to figure that out for yourself.

This part of the post is for Candice, who has read all of Diana Gabaldon’s books about Jamie and Claire: Our final stop before arriving in Inverness was at the Culloden battlefield. It is east of Inverness and is the place of the battle between the British troops and the Jacobites on April 16, 1745. It is here that the last battle was fought on British soil. More than 1200 Jacobites from the clans and 400 of the British troops (some of whom were actually Scottish) lost their lives and are buried here on the large open field at Culloden. I snapped a photo of the Fraser clan’s burial mound which I know Candice will appreciate! It is really just a big open field with a few grave markers and red and blue flags which mark the the Jacobite and government troop positions. Here are images of the Culloden battlefield:

We arrived at the Marriott in Inverness and we were originally supposed to stay in “The Villas”, but it was way too much space for us, a complete apartment which we didn’t need. So we moved to a “family” room with a king bed and a set of bunk beds in a little alcove. It’s better, but honestly, this Marriott needs a little TLC. Things look rather worn here and it’s a disappointment since we’ve always had wonderful accommodations at Marriott. Tonight we went into the city center and found a nice little Italian restaurant for dinner. Hubby had the chicken caccitore and I had the Penne Marco Polo (duck with a plum wine sauce, onions and mushrooms served over penne). We shared a bottle of Sangiovese red wine, and split a brownie sundae topped with amaretto for dessert. Many of you have made comments about the food portion of this blog. You must remember that after four months of dieting, this vacation is like dying and going to heaven!! I’v e gotten to eat whatever I like and though I know I’ll have to pay for it when I get home, it’s really been fun to eat what I want!
Today’s interesting town names:

Dollar
Rumbling Bridge
Saline
Pool of Muckhart
Rattray
Spittal of Glen Shee
Catlodge

Tomorrow morning we’re going up to Invergordon, the tiny town north of here where my parents met during World War II. My mother had been sent out of London to live with her grandparents there to escape the bombings. My Dad was in the Royal Navy and his ship came into port there. They met and the rest is my family history. I hope to find the graves of my great-grandparents, Joseph Fyfe Beacom and Margaret Gansinger. They are supposed to be buried in the graveyard there. We plan to go to church at the Church of Scotland church where the banns of my grandparents marriage were read in 1921. Banns are the reading of the intent to marry in church, usually by the vicar. They are read for the three weeks preceding the wedding so that if anyone objects, they can voice their opinion. I don’t expect to know anyone here, but it will be interesting none-the-less. More about this tomorrow.

This has been one of our best vacations! We have had so much fun and it’s been nice to spend this much time alone with each other. Of course, Hubby is already sound asleep, but that would have happened at home as well. Hope all is well with you at home!