Charming Inverness

Goodbye big city, hello little Inverness! It's a cute town, a nice "Capital of the Highlands". We quite enjoy it. 

The drive up here was nice and uneventful. We stopped off to get some food, following signs that had a little fork and knife on it. Eventually they led to a "grill" in the middle of no where, surrounded by cows (which really shouldn't surprise me since everything is surrounded by either cows or sheep here). It was basically a diner. The guy that served the food also cooked it, worked the register, and was doing other various things about the place. There was a lady that was working there too, though I'm not sure what she did. He seemed to have it all under control.

And there were dramatic clouds while we were driving (and some rain, but nothing serious)

We reached Inverness in the afternoon. The hostel is super cute and the people here are kind of awesome. We played monopoly with a couple of them last night. And I didn't even lose first! I didn't win though. Someday, I will....

There's a badger puppet hanging out in the fireplace.

There is also a castle a few hundred feet down the street. I saw it and thought, "that looks like a very new castle". After some research, I found that it is relatively new. It was built (if I remember correctly) in the 1800s because someone had the nerve to blow the other one up in the 1700s. Rude.

Today we got up, did some shopping (there is a store here called Primark. It's great) and then went to Urquhart Castle. It's pretty much a bunch of ruins. We had fun.

I decided the best way to make us happy is put us somewhere with a great view. Because seriously, it was lovely.

And look! A trebuchet! I love when I have the opportunity to explain to my less geeky friends the workings of an ancient war machine. So fun. And at a time like this they don't ask ridiculous questions like how I know all about trebuchets (I watched a documentary once). 

There were a few boats that do tours to see Nessie. We didn't do that. We aren't quite that delusional. However, I really did want to go in Loch Ness (so I guess I can say that I swam with Nessie?), and I did, but only up to my knees. I wanted to go further, but there were people around so I couldn't change. Also, the water was a degree above arctic. 

It wasn't so bad after I let my feet and lower legs go numb. In fact, I hardly felt anything at all at the point! After I got out, I mentioned the coldness to a couple guys coming down the steps towards the water, you know, in case they also wanted to have a bit of a swim. 

"Haha, oh no! We're not going in!"

They said it like my suggestion was crazy....

Another winning view

Oh, something to keep in mind. There are great gift shops EVERYWHERE! Seriously, it's going to be the death of me. Or at least end with me in the poor house. Do "they" still have poor houses? I did, however, successfully NOT buy a highlands cow hat today, so that's something.