Inverness: Day 3

Our third day in Inverness began with lively conversation around the breakfast table. We've met some fantastic people staying at our B&B. Generally we aren't ones to talk to people we don't know and we generally prefer the anonemity of hotels. However, there is something fun about meeting new people while on vacation in the setting of the breakfast table. It creates an intimacy and openess almost like you might feel for your family and friends which can lead to great conversations and a sense of home away from home. It's really quite lovely. At least, that's been our experience on this trip because we've been paired with fun people.

We finally set out for our day a little latter than planned because we were enjoying the conversation so much. On the advise of our B&B owner we took the scenic route to Inverness and traveled along the Beauly Firth. It was beautiful, but the single track road was a little terrifying!

Eventually we arrived at Culloden Battlefield, the site of the last major land battle fought on British soil during the Jacobite uprising. The Jacobites were slaughtered by the British military during this battle, which spelled the end of the Jacobite resistance. The visitor center here has a really good display of the history leading up to the battle. The also had a display of the weaponry that Jacobite soldiers would have used, which we were able to hold.

Your visit includes an audio guide that takes you out onto the battlefield. As we stood overlooking the field, the wind whipped around us creating a rushing sound that gave a sense of desolation to the place. You can almost sense what occurred here.

Outside the visitor center was a pasture containing Highland Cows (pronounced heilan' coos by the locals!). I've become obsessed with them since we arrived, mostly do to the silly and adorable cartoon versions that you find in all the tourist shops!

Upon leaving Colloden Battlefield we headed to Cawdor Castle. The castle's claim to fame is the mention of "Cawdor" multiple times in Shakespeare's Macbeth, though the play takes place in Inverness 300 years before the castle was built. The castle is still the residence of the Dowager Counteds of Cawdor. (She arrived while we were there, but we only saw her green land rover, not her.) We were able to walk through much of the castle including some private rooms, guided by room notes written by the countess' late husband. We also had a very nice chat with one of the Docents, Terry.

It was after 2:00pm by the time we finished touring the castle so we grabbed lunch at the castle's cafe. The strawberries and cream were particularly good!

Cawdor Castle has a golf course on its estate. Since we are in the land where golf was invented and it is the last day of the Ryder Cup, we figured it was only fitting we play some golf!

Following this we toured the castle gardens which were lovely. 

The castle docent, Terry, had suggested we visit Fort Grorge on our trip. Since we didn't have anymore time in Inverness  and we weren't hungry for dinner we decided to kill time by driving to Fort George even though we knew we'd arrive too late to be able to go inside. We took a wrong turn out of the castle and ended up going a very roundabout way to Fort George. It took a little extra time, but it was fun to see the scenery as we drove. 

We then headed back to Inverness for dinner. We quickly realized that dining at any recommended restaurant (Yelp, Trip Advisor, Rick Steves...) in Inverness requires a reservation. After our first four options were exhausted we finally found an Italian restaurant, Bella Italia, that would seat us. We were drawn in by their Italian style ribs. They were good!

Tomorrow we take the train back to Glasgow. We are sad that our trip is almost over!