Scotland - Day 5

For a town that closes down early, it sure takes Inverness a while to get going in the mornings. When we headed out neither the grocery store nor the bakery were open, so we walked down to the shopping area where nothing was open either. It was a beautiful crisp morning, so we enjoyed the walk and the scene of Inverness Castle on the River Ness. Once the bakery opened, we got some breakfast pastries and headed on to Culloden Battlefield. A video explained how in 1746, this battle ended the Jacobite rebellion supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie and was the last battle on British soil. We walked around the paths noting where different clans fought and were buried.

Next we headed west to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness. We watched a video of Urquhart's history and explored the ruins before going on to Fort Augustus for a pub lunch. This was the one place I found a communication barrier when I tried to ask a girl working at the pub for internet help. She replied, "Sorry, no language." I don't know if (A) I just spoke too fast with an American accent, (B) she might have been a Gaelic speaker given the region, or (C) she was an employee from somewhere else in Europe working in Scotland for the summer.

Fort Augustus had an impressive lock system for the canal into Loch Ness so we waited and watched as a couple of boats went under the road's drawbridge before proceeding throught the Great Glen. I was sleepy and dozed off and on waking up at Fort William to see that I couldn't see Ben Nevis, the tallest Scottish mountain, through the fog. We stopped at the Glencoe visitor centre, but it was all about the mountain area not the massacre. We would have appreciated it more if that was what we were expecting and were not so tired.

After Glencoe, Lance took a turn in the driver's seat. The scenery just south of Glencoe was some of the most beautiful I have seen anywhere. The mountains were several shades of green and streams and waterfalls decorated them like garlands and tinsel. Unfortunately, I was not able to get any pictures. I'll have to check with Lori.

The rest of the drive "home" to Bonnybridge was fairly normal. I did get to see the Loch Lomond golf course where the Scottish Open is held the week before the British open each year.