Scotland #2

 Saturday, June1

Scott picked us up at 8:45 am. He loaded our suitcases in the van and we took off.  We are headed north to Inverness.  We made a stop in Dunkeld to explore the town.  I found some hairy coo (hairy cows) slippers that Rory absolutely had to have.  He said he didn’t want them, he needed them so I bought them of course.  He did wear them in each hotel we stayed in after that.  Scotland is very trash conscience and they don’t give bags at the stores unless you specifically ask for one.  Since I couldn’t carry things without one I had to ask.  

After touring the adorable town we got back in the van and headed to the Highland Chocolatier.  Iain Burnett is an award winning chocolatier.  He makes chocolate for the royals and for many 5 Star restaurants.  He gave us information on how chocolates are made then we had a private tasting experience.  He had us taste some beautifully made truffles and then asked us to identify the flavors.  Some were hard to place but we got a few. They were delicious.  After the tasting we walked through the shop and bought some candy. We found this door at one point. 

Our next stop was the House of Braur.  This is a shopping complex where they sell a bunch of things.  We had a really nice lunch here.  Soup is something you will find in many cafes and I had some lovely carrot and coriander soup with a salad for lunch.  I didn’t buy anything but Aimee found some fingerless gloves she adored and bought those.  Here is a small waterfall on the property

Back in the van we headed to our hotel in Inverness, The Rocpool Reserve.  Our rooms were in different parts of the hotel.  It is actually an older home with only 11 rooms.  We felt fancy when they gave us Prosecco as we checked in.  This was not our favorite hotel. My room was fine but Aimee and Rory’s room did not have air conditioning and had a spotlight that was aimed directly in their window.  They had a fan but it was still very warm in there. It was also located on a hill.  After getting settled we walked into town, it was about 3/4 of a mile downhill.  Unfortunately, many of the stores closed around 5:00 or 6:00. We did find one open and I bought some small things.  The river Ness, which flows into and out of Loch Ness, flows through Inverness.  

for dinner we were booked at the Castle Tavern.  Aimee ordered the fish and chips.  it was so big we started calling it the whale and chips.  Little did we know that was the way the serve fish and chips everywhere.  

Sunday, June 2

We had a later start today  Scott picked us up around 10;30 and we headed over to Culloden Battlefield  This is the site of the last big battle between the kings' forces and the Jacobite's.  Due to poor planning on Bonnie Prince Charlies part, the Jacobite's were slaughtered on the boggy fields.  the fields remain pretty much as they were then with some clan markers being put up years after the battle.  There is a very nice visitor center there.  

Our next stop was Clava Cairns.  This is an ancient burial site with standing stones.  Nobody knows exactly the purpose but it is very awe inspiring.  There are many ancient trees surrounding it.  

After spending time there we headed to Rory's favorite adventure - The Hairy Coo Safari!  H has fallen in love with the furry beasts.  The Scots call the cows, Coos.  

Back at the hotel we rested until Scott came give us a ride to the restaurant for dinner.  He didn’t have to but it one of the ways he went out of his way for us.  We had dinner at The Mustard Seed.  Food was really good and we enjoyed our 2 hour dinner.  The restaurant called a cab for us so we didn’t have to walk uphill to the restaurant.  We got our things ready to leave tomorrow.