Inverness, Scotland
Posted on January 26, 2024 • 26 minutes • 5438 words
As per the usual, arrive in a new place with sunlight still, we dropped our bags and headed out. It was a short train ride and the kids had gotten a lot of running around outside that morning, but it never hurts to get out a bit more. We were a block from the river, so we headed there and walked along it. With the walk from the train station and walking down the river, we were already in love with this place. It did seem touristy nor crowded. The sun was shining and we were just on cloud nine.
We came to the first bridge and it was too tempting to not cross. Having no idea which side we wanted to be on, we crossed over it talking about tension in the cables and the attachment to the ground to hold the end in place. There was some concrete seen, but my guess was a giant soil nail, grouted or similar.
The river was high and was flowing quite quickly. There were trees and we just strolled down the path with zero rush.
We came to another bridge and this one was to take us to the Ness Islands. We were walking along the River Ness, that was coming from Loch Ness.
A group of islands that were a bit more underwater than usual, which for the kids, just added the the awesomeness of it all.
I don’t quite know how to explain how fun this all was for us. We were walking in what felt like a wooded forest, with water on both sides of us. It was brisk, but not freezing…yet. Kids running ahead, falling behind, finding ’the coolest stick ever’. Dan and I almost felt like we were on a stroll alone, not really having to keep track of them too much. We also found Nessy.
What’s not to love about this?
We wandered down the islands back towards where our place was. I say down as that was the way the water was running. We found a aqueduct over a river and each kid wanted to sand on it. Yeah, no worries, not like one of you might slip? No possibility of that! I calmed the pleas by standing there with EACH one of them.
Back on the mainland, we walked along with the river on one side and houses and a few restaurants on the other. Had we no kids with us and it was MUCH warmer, I could have parked myself at those tables for a while.
It was getting dark and it was time for dinner. Dan looked up a place and one of the close places had great reviews. The Castle Tavern was just what was needed after our long walk and getting a bit cold. We found a table in the corner that was reserved for 7pm…no problem. We have found here you go up to the bar to order beer and then they come to take your food order? Maybe so there is no delay in getting beer?
Kids found this hilarious and I had to do it about 3 times. Well, I didn’t, but it was fun to hear them squeal each time.
We got onion rings (because I saw Heinz on the table) Dan’s got fish and chips which were humongous! Ben got the cullen skink (fish soup) which he devoured and between bites kept claiming it was the best fish soup of his life! I told him that was a bold statement as he has become quite the connoisseur of fish soup on this trip, but he assumed me it was true as he told me to taste it. I was happy with my potato and leek soup, supplemented by kids’ fries and almost all the onion rings.
The next day was our ’nicest’ weather…meaning, no chance of rain and high 30s. We know the word ‘cairn’ from the little pile of stones on hiking paths and I thought it would be cool to see where the name came from. We listened to a podcast over breakfast about the site about a 20 minute drive from Inverness (on the small side I read, but we didn’t care). We walked to the train station to find a taxi we’d all fit and we got dropped off in the parking lot where one car was parked. There were a few informational signs, but the long story short, is they don’t actually know why they were built.
They are still standing and there was a roof, so the design had to be well thought out.
They are missing their tops and you could walk into the center of them. The entrance…a narrow walkway in the otherwise solid rock hut/ring/pile was oriented so that the sun on the winder solstice would shine directly down it. Kind of cool actually. This has led some archeologists to believe that it was a very important time of year for the people and maybe to celebrate the start of the new year. Which leads one to believe, with all our astronomical knowledge for thousands of years, why isn’t the first of the year aligned with the solstice? It’s just +/-22 days off. I blame the Romans.
The general belief is they were burial chambers. A bit creepy to be standing right there…good think the roof was not still present.
Kids found some cool seed pods. Always on the search for cool plant stuff.
To say it was cold was an understatement. It was the wind and it’s always the wind!
Around the cairn were slabs of vertical rocks that are called kerbs and are specific to the Clava cairns. They were larger and redder towards the southeast and lighter and smaller in the northwest. Clearly a decision for this but not sure what. Pretty sure this road was there before this area was deemed a historical sight. Good thing the kerbs were spaced far enough apart.
When we had been on the train the day before we passed over a giant viaduct that looked just like the one in Harry Potter where they were flying the car to catch the train. That aside, it was so cool to see as we went over it (thanks to the bend in the tracks) and it turned out we were just a 10 minute walk to it. I think even a non-lover of bridges can appreciate how cool this is.
We walked along the country road and got to stand under it. So tall, so massive. There was a placard to say that if you hit the column, to please call xxx immediately, train passengers’ lives could be at risk. It would have taken a tanker I believe to cause damage to these. Although, without reinforcing, they would be more susceptible to spalling off. Still, they seemed so big.
To say it was cold would have been an understatement. We turned around after we checked in out for a few minutes. Did I mention how big it was? You felt SO small standing under it.
On google maps, there was one cafe within a 45 minute walk, so we headed there to warm up for a bit before taking the bus back. We continued to freeze, but the walk was beautiful.
The original green roof? Probably provides some good insulation
Passing out snacks to keep us going, with freezing hands each time they came out of my gloves.
We finally got the ‘cafe’ and turns out it’s the restaurant at the Culloden Battlefield, the site of the British forces against the Jacobites. I have not seen Outlander, so I did not know all about this battle. We had sandwiches, soups and savory pastries for lunch and were ready to go after that. Since we were there, we figured we should check it out. The museum was done well. Each corridor had the 2 sides shown on opposite walls, as there are always 2 side to each story.
There were activity booklets for the kids, but a bit hard to follow and they just weren’t that into it as they also had coloring sheets that Sam and Max were wanting to do. I got to read a bit and see a bit, but Dan more or less just hung around which bench Sam was using as a table for coloring.
I learned a lot in the little bit we were there, partially because it was presented really well. Kids favorite part…the room with cannons.
We headed outside and started to get blown away immediately. There was a bus coming in 10 minutes or an hour and 10 minutes. Ben wanted to stay to walk around the battlefield and Max wanted to go home. Sam, the deciding factor at this point asked what Ben said. ‘Stay,’ I told him and he voted ‘stay.’ Sometimes he really can be sweet.
It was kind of a muddy mess, but if you stuck to the paths (which you were supposed to) it was only an inch or so.
There were flags that showed where each army was, placards that showed how much each division of each army had and where they had stood. A sobering experience that is hard to balance with making sure kids didn’t run off course or were too loud and disrespectful. We really explained what happened here, but I think for a young kids, it’s hard to ACTUALLY grasp what happened. Maybe for adults too.
A memorial had been constructed in the middle of the field. I commented to myself that I liked the plants on top. 10 seconds later, Ben says to me ‘I like how they planted plants on top.’ :)
On the Jacobite side now.
We did the big loop and as we were coming back, we found a hut that the kids thought looked like Hagrid’s hut. Not too far off. The bottom was stone, but the triangle portion on the gable end was peat. Just chunks of soft earth stacked on top of each other.
Timing was perfect as we were not back at the museum and a bus was due in 12 minutes. We waited inside, with a view of where the bus would be coming, but Sam offered to stand out there alone. I was cool with it, but Dan decided to be nice and went out there about 5 minutes later. Bus came on time and an easy ride home. Buses here have seat belts!
Walked down another pedestrian street to get to our place. There was a whole area that just didn’t have cars.
The next day we had a lazy morning with pancakes and school work. With a packed lunch, the kids and I headed out in search of a park and Dan stayed behind to get some work done. We walked down the river again, this time staying on the west side the whole time.
We walked past a little coffee hut and, knowing I’d be cold at the park, I got myself a coffee. It was delicious, but actually not really needed as the sun was out and it was quite ‘warm’. It was about a 30 minute walk to the park, straight shot down the water. When the park became in sight, the kids took off. Fair enough though, as it was a pretty cool park.
So many structures, a wooden plane. It was pretty amazing and I knew, if I could stay warm, we’d be there a very long time. Although, they can stay at a park for hours with just one measly little slide.
Of course now that it’s been about 45 minutes since I started my latte, I had to pee. The public bathrooms right there were closed due to vandalism, which I understand. But it’s a huge park, so many people, can’t you just put one crappy port-a-potty? I couldn’t rangle the kids up after we JUST got there, so I told them to not do anything crazy and all stay together while I sprinted to the next closest bathroom. The woman at the kiosk said 7 minute walk, so I figured I could run in in 3. I got there and that was closed too! I hated to do it in a public place, but I found a secluded place to pee in the bushed and raced back. All kids still there and no big falls. Success. I sat down, pulled out my book and began to enjoy a lovely sunny day. So much to climb on and where to they end up 5 minutes in? The bushes.
I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them and that was good enough. After a bit I coaxed them over for some sandwiches, but usually only got a bite in them before they raced off again. They found a friend and were having a blast between the bushed and a sloped area that had a rope to pull yourself up. All was going well until Ben came over to tell me Sam had fallen. I had heard a cry out before, but it stopped and really didn’t sound like my kid.
Didn’t slow him down. I had zero wipes or napkins, but he had the idea to just use leaves to wipe away the blood. I convinced him to just leave it as is and it will be fine. That worked and he was off. I ended up chatting with Laura, the mom of the 9yo boy the boys were playing with. SO nice to chat with someone face to face like that. We just hit it off and I’m 100% sure we’d be friends if we lived in the same town. Kids continued playing for over an hour and we chatted. They eventually had to go, but we exchanged numbers to try to meet up again. They left and it started sprinkling. Kids tried to convince me it wasn’t actually raining, but it was enough to get my book wet. I found a dry spot under a play structure as the park pretty much emptied out with the change in weather.
It was on and off for a bit, but then the sun came back out agin.
I really didn’t take many pictures of the park, but it was one of my favorites. There was a little pond, we were right on the water and if it hadn’t been so muddy, they huge grassy areas would have been great for running around.
The sun was setting and it was getting cold. Finally, I convinced the kids to leave, more or less eluding to the possibility of ice cream on the walk home. The place I had gotten my coffee was selling ice cream. Clearly the kids wanted it at the time, but I was keeping it for later. Should there be a rule that if you are still wearing gloves because it’s so cold, you shouldn’t eat ice cream? Haha No way! We are ice cream lovers in this family, no matter the weather.
We erased all evidence so we could not tell Dan what we did, kids think it’s hilarious to hide when we get sweets from him. As we walked in the house, the first thing Max said was “I am not telling you what we ate on the way home.” The other two shouted ‘MAX!!!’ Well, we hadn’t cleaned faces well enough so it really wasn’t a big surprise.
I dropped the kids off and ran across the street to the Tesco to get stuff for dinner. Pies have been such a hit, that I got a few. Added a bunch of veggies and not a bad dinner. A bit salty for me, but everyone else loved them.
Lots of reading after dinner, kids in bed and Dan and I watched more of a BBC show (Dublin Murder Club, I think) we had started in Aviemore. I had read a few of her books and it doesn’t take much to get us hooked on a British crime show. To be fair, this takes place in Ireland and the author is American-Irish, but I’m lumping it into the same category…it’s on BBC.
The next day was my turn to get some work done, but with rough weather, I walked the whole 40 steps to the coffee shop next to our place and Dan stayed with the kids for school. To say our place was in the perfect location, would be an understatement. Everything about it was so convenient. Tesco right across the road, good restaurants, cafes and only had to cross one teeny street and you were at the river where you could walk for a long ways without cars.
I ended up chatting with a couple women sitting next to me for a bit. The aunt was a retired school teacher that now lead tours during the tourist season. She had so much information and loved sharing it. They even invited us to meet them at an indoor play place in a few days that they said the kids would love. I soaked up as much info as I could and was fascinated by her wealth of knowledge. Maybe I should retire at 50 and become a tour guide. :) I do love history.
Back at the house after lunch and Dan got some time working upstairs as the kids and I hung out. Still living with the back pain, I decided to jump out for a run. I’m being religious about my PT, but the runs are always amazing. I ran down and back up the river and it was lovely. Back home, quick shower and dinner time came before we knew it and I wanted to try the place that was a couple doors down from us. Kind of a pub feel, but upscale (not in the pretentious way at all). Still not finding my groove for beer in this country, I went with a cocktail called ‘The Nessie (something)’. It was so good that I almost got another, but held off as it was a Monday and I had a meeting that night and work to do.
Everyone loved their fod, but mine was extra amazing. I got the breaded baked goat cheese on rocket (arugula) and a beet puree and some other deliciousness and the soup, with more goat cheese.
The kids’s meals came with dessert and once again, giggles over Dan trying to steel ice cream.
Few steps and we were back home. Books, bed and then work.
The forecast wasn’t looking good for most of the week, so we picked Tuesday to be the day we took the bus to Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness. The bus schedule said buses came at 8:40am, 9:00am and then on the hour for the rest of the day. We planned for the 8:40am, knowing if we missed it we’d only have to wait 20 minutes, not an hour. Little did we know.
The bus stop was right outside the cafe so we went there for pastries and coffee.
At 8:30am we headed outside. About 15 minutes late and the bus came. Dan and the kids loaded on and as I tried to buy tickets, the driver told me I should take the 17 bus because it would save us at least 10 pounds. I said it was okay, but she said that he was due to leave the station about now and it would be here in 5 minutes. Okay, fine. Well lies! We then waited 40 minutes for pretty much the same line of bus as hers. I was so grumpy we didn’t stay on the bus as we stood out there freezing. I tried to, but she was so sweet and seemed to really want to help us out…and convincing that it would only be 5 minutes. Ugh.
Very happy to be on the bus, but to me, the damage had been done. I was frozen to the bone and I wasn’t going to warm up anytime soon without a sauna. The drive was beautiful and that helped a bit. The sun was so low and seemed to flash at us between all the tree branches.
We got dropped off right in the castle parking lot and walked down to the entrance. Dreading the cold, we took our time looking around the museum. As usual, kids fascinated by bows.
But the coolest part was the room that had replica warrior attire as well as clothing from the time of the castle. Saying the kids loved it would be the understatement of the year. ‘Can I wear the chain mail again?’ & ‘Can I put it ALL on?’ & ‘LOOK AT ME!!’
Finally dragged the kids out of there and headed outside to the castle. Everything just looked cold and it was. Nevermind the freezing temperatures, the wind killed us. Frost everywhere, but it was beautiful, as I kept telling myself.
On the walk down to the castle we passed a reconstructed trebuchet. There was a video inside of a modern day one launching giant stone balls that the kids were fascinated by, so then to see one outside? Actually, not sure if Dan was more excited to talk about it or if Ben and Sam were more excited to talk about how far the stones could fly.
This was a castle that was not put back together as much as some of the others. Really, had it not been dramatically perched above Lock Ness, it would have been a bit underwhelming.
Kids didn’t care and they had their little quiz/scavenger hunt booklets to keep them busy. It started out well, but then Sam got mad at Ben for not helping him on answers and Ben got mad at Sam for interrupting him while he was trying to figure out the answers. Not really fun. We made the best of it though, sometimes just walking away from the chaos. I did force a family photo though.
We walked down to the loch as best we could. I was curious to feel it, but there was a rope up keeping you back. Ugh, gotta set a good example for the kids.
We walked around the castle a bit more, best we could with me freezing and climbed back up to get inside for some food and help the kids get their sh** back together. One last look down at the castle and the loch before heading in to warmth.
Almost in and Max finds a bird. It was so chill and he really did think it was his friend and wanted to say hi.
We ordered food at the cafe and I made the huge mistake of letting Sam order soup. He was so hungry and the soup was so hot, so of course he just sat there and complained about how he WAS being a listener and we were basically the crazy ones. uh huh. We have been so pleasantly surprised by food in castles/museums/etc’s cafes and this was no different. I usually go for the soup and it was so good. Ben did his usual ham and cheese and we were all feeling much better after we FINALLY got Sam to eat.
One more loop through trying on all the armor again and then to the entrance to show the woman there the almost finished scavenger hunt booklets. Shw was nice and gave everyone 2 stickers. Max immediately stuck his on his jacket, which didn’t stick so well. We then headed out to walk to the town down the road, 20 minute walk we were told. There was a Loch Ness Monster museum we had contemplated, but at this point, no way.
Between the cold and the kids behavior, I hung towards the back…I needed space. Along the walk I became enthralled with the tops of fence posts and all that was growing out of them. This land is so lush that all surfaces seem to support some life.
Such variety and all within close proximity of each other.
It was a nice walk and I was finally slightly warm (aka not freezing) while outside. My moments of solace lasted only half the walk and then I inherited a buddy.
We got to Drumnadrochit and it was a fairy tale land.
We checked the bus schedules hanging up in the bus stop and looked like we had about a 15 minute wait. Seemed about right as a bus hadn’t passed us and we had been walking for about 30 minutes. Bus came right on time and to the kids’ delight, it was a double decker. No surprise, we sat in the front up top.
Dropped off right at our place and inside. Dan and I crashed. It was just such an emotional and physically (due to coldness) day. Kids went right to bouncing off the walls and we had no energy to say no. Good thing our place was 2 stories, so as they pounded around upstairs, it was just us downstairs that heard them. I set them up with a couple Bluey shows en Espanol for some quiet while I made dinner. Some Scottish empanadas, mashed potatoes and cut up apples. Not my best work, but not my worst.
Somehow I ended up with these 2 for bedtime reading time. It never seemed to end that day.
Until it did. Ben was inspired by the castle to write a ghost story and wanted to read it to us before bed. Sam was light man. I love his ghost stories and how they are always related to somewhere we have recently been.
For months, Dan has been threatening to cut the kids hair. I tell them to run for their lives, but finally Max and Ben folded. Not Sam though! He’s going strong and wants long hair like mine.
That would be Sam’s hand in there giving it the thumbs down.
So short, too short!
Okay I get it, maybe a trim…but Dan can’t do a trim. He can do the longest setting on his clipper or nothing.
After the butchering of the morning, Dan headed to the coffee shop to get some work done. Kids and I hung out and did school work.
Dan came back and I really needed to get get out and walk around. I took the opportunity do wander the streets and maybe do a little shopping.
There was so much of Inverness we never got to see. Part of that was the weather and part of that was still feeling like this was a week catch up (or buffer) before the weeks in Edinburgh where Dan was going into an office everyday.
Old, cool buildings everywhere.
On the left part of this picture, above the orange door, you can see our copula.
And right below it…
Dinner at home and early bedtime. Kids, even though they never left the apartment that day, were worm out. Dan and I decided it was a night for bubbly, no idea why, so we downed a bottle of proseco and finished our murder show.
The next day I was planning to surprise the kids with the indoor play place the woman at the cafe had told me about. She said they were going around 1 so we aimed for that. Took a taxi and the kids were ecstatic when they saw what it was. I found her and her family right away, although, unfortunately she had messed up the time and we only overlapped for 30 minutes. She had even bought little westie booklets with pens for the kids and Scottish biscuits for me! Too sweet and too bad we couldn’t chat longer. Kids played, I read. Had them get some food and they played more.
Dan was checking in and we planned to meet sometime around 5-5:30, depending on the bus for dinner by our place. Not an easy task getting the kids to leave, even though it has been 3+ hours. We walked in the cold dark to the bus stop and thank goodness there was one coming in 8 minutes. Quick ride and Dan was walking over the bridge as we were from the opposite direction.
I would never be one to pick a steak restaurant, but there was one close to out place and it seemed so much more that that, so we decided to try it. Ben got the flank steak and Dan went right for his fries.
The waiter could not have messed up the order worse. He forgot Sam’s order totally and we figured this out when he came by to ask how our appetizers were when Max, Ben and I had food.
He was new and not a big deal, but everything was so slow and then when Sam didn’t have food and he had to wait more, that could have been bad. It wasn’t, they were apologetic, we said no worries. The food WAS amazing, but probably on us to not go to a steak restaurant when we know we want a normally paced dinner. It was almost 2 hours by the time we left.
Back home, stayed up too late working and then finally went to bed.
After so many moves, I have backing down to a science. I really wish the kids did it themselves, but with the size of our winter clothes, everything only fits it packed just right and then compressed to 80psf.
Kids did some cleaning and searching the house for anything we could have left, Dan worked and I packed. We were out the door a little after 10am with plenty of time for out 10:52am train and only a 7 minute walk to the station. Almost too much time with anxious kids, but at least one sat down with me. Sometimes it’s the 5 minutes of 1 on 1 time that mean the most to me in a day.
On the train, we all took turns reading Harry Potter while Dan worked on the other side of the aisle. Max would read a small paragraph, Sam a big one, Ben a page and mom a page. That was the rotation. It worked well until the food trolley came down the aisle. Kids saw skittles and I folded and bought a package of Skittles. Max has his coin purse ready and mine was buried, so I asked to borrow from him. He gave the man (2)-1 pound coins for 1.20 and got back 3 coins. He was so excited. ‘3 COINS!!!’ The little things.
I opened the bag and passed them out. They tasted weird! Ben and I both noticed. I read the label, oh duh…no corn syrup. We ate them just the same.
With the excitement now of candy, focusing back on Harry was hard. I told the kids 2 could watch a ‘Growing Up Animal’ while the 3rd read and we’d rotate when it was half over.
Worked perfectly for a while, with a few pauses for photo taking.
Then it was clear we needed food.
We had a transfer in Aberdeen. Kids had energy and I did not. I offered to take kids to the bathroom while I looked for a coffee. Double success and went back to Dan to wait for our platform to be called. Kids’ energy had ballooned for some reason and were playing ‘horsie’ and swinging around while the other tried to hold on. Good thing we were in a loud uncrowded station and no one (except) Dan cared.
On the train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, we didn’t even try to read or do work. The scenery was so strikingly beautiful. We were right on the ragged coast and small sea canyons (not sure the right word) would jet back towards us with huge rocky drops down to the sea. I never got a good photo, but tried and was always about 4 seconds late.
Kids were sure if they found one, shouted at me, I’d be ready. Nope.
Not a golfer, but when it’s not windy and rainy, probably a pretty awesome place to play golf. Although, you have to wonder, how often is it not windy nor rainy?
The glare was real, but it didn’t matter. We couldn’t stop staring and I couldn’t stop taking photos.
We went over an epic bridge, passing from North Queensferry to Queensferry. A small island was visible below, as well as the old pilings that they just chopped off about 3 feet above sea level and left. I did not capture any of this well. Good think Dan did.
Pulled into Edinburgh and easy walk to our place.