Where: Inverness, Scotland
When: April 20 - 22, 2012
With who: Dave, Nic and Divya
Before we leave here, we have a mission - to see all the countries that make up the UK. As we clearly can check England off the list, that meant we needed to direct our attention north and head to the land of kilts, haggis, and brogues: Scotland.
After deciding on a trip to the town of Inverness, home of the famous Loch Ness, we decided the most exciting mode of transportation for the journey was on the sleeper train. So on a Friday night, Dave, Nic, Divya and I met up at Euston Station in London, had some dinner and few cocktails, then hopped aboard the 9pm train to Scotland.
Once on board the train, we each got our own little cabins with adjoining doors. So we stockpiled the necessities for the evening into one room (primarily snacks and wine), put on some music, and rolled out of London on our journey.
When we woke up, the train was still moving and there were green, rocky mountains speeding past our windows. Such a cool way to wake up. We at our breakfast, packed up our things, and disembarked in the small station of Inverness.
The rental car location was conveniently right outside the train station. We then had the joy of a whole new adventure: navigating the left-side of the road. Luckily, Nic had some experience in this area and took over to navigate us out of the city. Once we left Inverness and hit the western edge of Loch Ness though, it was easy driving. Just in case we forgot though, helpful signs along the way:
However, while waiting, we did find a purple Nessie. Sighting number 2. Dave was so overwhelmed with excitement, he was hard to calm down.
Finally, Nessie sighting number 4. And definitely the best one...the one that made us all look at each other and go..."Ummm, do you see that??? "
We had our first taste of the famous Scottish dish, haggis. Despite the gross ingredients that make up this dish, it was delicious! It tasted like stuffing, and we couldn't get enough.
We missed the official tour of the factory, but walked ourselves through the exhibit of how they make the whisky. We learned everything from the barley that's used, how it's made and the history of whisky making in the region.
I was the only one who could not choke it down. Divya was a trooper and finished hers, but not happily. However, Dave and Nic believe they have discovered their new hobby.
With whisky still fresh on our breaths, we jumped in the car to head over to the Culloden Battlefield. Culloden is the site of a battle that took place between Scottish clans and English troops on April 16, 1746. 2,000 Scotsman were killed in just over 20 minutes, while the English only lost 50 men. The Scots were led by a man named Charles Edward Stuart (more commonly referred to as Bonnie Prince Charlie) who believed he was rightful heir to the throne. The battle would be remembered as the end of the Scottish clans.
Now, at the site of the battle, there is a really cool, interactive museum. Outside, you can walk the battlefield, where flags have been set up showing the battlelines. Red flags are the English, blue flags are the Scottish. The field is a massive moor that looks much like it did during the battle and it's so quiet, you can almost imagine yourself back 300 years ago standing there, staring down the opposition on the other end of the field.
We all scrambled around the ruins of the castle, assuming any position necessary to get the perfect shot.
When: April 20 - 22, 2012
With who: Dave, Nic and Divya
Before we leave here, we have a mission - to see all the countries that make up the UK. As we clearly can check England off the list, that meant we needed to direct our attention north and head to the land of kilts, haggis, and brogues: Scotland.
After deciding on a trip to the town of Inverness, home of the famous Loch Ness, we decided the most exciting mode of transportation for the journey was on the sleeper train. So on a Friday night, Dave, Nic, Divya and I met up at Euston Station in London, had some dinner and few cocktails, then hopped aboard the 9pm train to Scotland.
Here I am, kicking things off with some pregaming in Euston station.
Once on board the train, we each got our own little cabins with adjoining doors. So we stockpiled the necessities for the evening into one room (primarily snacks and wine), put on some music, and rolled out of London on our journey.
Cheers to the train departing. Wine in wax cups, classy.
By midnight, we had plowed through our stash of wine and decided to check out the cafe/bar car. We were greeted by an extremely irritable bartender who asked "are you in the right place? This bar is only for guests with private cabins." I don't know why we looked like such riffraff who did not we should be in his lounge: was it our patterned pajama pants? Red wine stained teeth? I don't know.
It was decided that scotch was the appropriate thing to order to truly get in the mood of our trip. However, when we tried to order Glenfiddich, our cranky Scottish friend ever so rudely corrected that the pronunciation was "Glenfiddickkkkkkkk". That guy hated us so much.
After our night cap, the bar closed (or so our friendly bartender told us) and we decided to get some sleep. Here is a picture of my roommate laying down to sleep just before the train jerked to the side and slammed the door shut between us.
When we woke up, the train was still moving and there were green, rocky mountains speeding past our windows. Such a cool way to wake up. We at our breakfast, packed up our things, and disembarked in the small station of Inverness.
The rental car location was conveniently right outside the train station. We then had the joy of a whole new adventure: navigating the left-side of the road. Luckily, Nic had some experience in this area and took over to navigate us out of the city. Once we left Inverness and hit the western edge of Loch Ness though, it was easy driving. Just in case we forgot though, helpful signs along the way:
The drive to the loch was gorgeous. Cutting through big mountains and pastures, we finally came upon what appeared to be a narrow lake on our left. Though not far across, it just kept going and going as we drove along. And then we realised, we had hit Loch Ness. While it doesn't look big at first, it contains more water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined and is so long it nearly cuts Scotland into two separate islands.
Another weird phenomemon of the loch was the weather on either side. On the western side, it was all blue skies, green mountains and big puffy white clouds. On the eastern side, dark grey rain clouds and misty, craggy cliffs. In the middle of the two, the Loch sits steely gray and mildly foreboding.
We arrived at our hotel that was conveniently right on the shores of the loch. When we attempted to check in, we were greeted with some more Socttish hospitality and a big, fat no. Fair enough, it was 9am, but between the concierge and the bartender the night before, we were debating when we'd meet any friendly Scots.
We had scheduled a boat tour on the loch for 11, so we decided to play around in the gift shop to kill some time. It was the most entertaining gift shop I've ever been in - kilts and tartan galore, tons of fun hats, and more Nessie paraphernalia than I ever thought possible.
While having a snack in the gift shop cafe, we had Nessie sighting number 1. Not really, but doesn't it kinda look like she's just chillin out there?
Finally, we headed out to catch our boat. Standing on its banks, it just seems so imposing. Probably because you can't see anything beneath the surface of the murky, gray water.
However, while waiting, we did find a purple Nessie. Sighting number 2. Dave was so overwhelmed with excitement, he was hard to calm down.
Finally, our boat arrived to pick us up.
And this is where we had Nessie sighting number 3. Ridges from the boat wakes, or the ridges of a mythical sea monster?
Once we got out onto the boat, the hunt for Nessie began. As much as we joked about searching for Nessie, I know we were secretly all hoping we'd see something. The first recorded Nessie sighting occurred in the 6th century, and there have been regular sightings ever since. Some say the high volume of sightings is a result of the region's whisky culture, some say it's a ruse to bring tourists into the area...whichever is the truth, we joined the rest to find Nessie.
Between color-by-number mountain sides and crazy, cloudy skies, the views were pretty amazing from the boat and it was easy to be distracted from searching the waters.
The hunt in full swing...
Finally, Nessie sighting number 4. And definitely the best one...the one that made us all look at each other and go..."Ummm, do you see that??? "
After sailing for about 30 minutes, we reached our turn-around point at Urquhart Castle.
As we started to head back to the dock, we decided to start staging our own Nessie sightings. Here are numbers 5 and 6.
Sadly, we were caught in the act...
The weary Nessie hunters, after the hard work of searching.
We didn't see you this time Nessie, but your shadow gave us hope.
The rest of our day was spent driving around the Loch Ness area. We found a small town called Beaully for lunch in an authentic Scottish pub, complete with roaring fire.
We had our first taste of the famous Scottish dish, haggis. Despite the gross ingredients that make up this dish, it was delicious! It tasted like stuffing, and we couldn't get enough.
Next we drove to the Glen Ord distillery to taste some authentic Scottish whisky.
We missed the official tour of the factory, but walked ourselves through the exhibit of how they make the whisky. We learned everything from the barley that's used, how it's made and the history of whisky making in the region.
In the end, we got to try the distillery's prized gem, the Singleton.
With whisky still fresh on our breaths, we jumped in the car to head over to the Culloden Battlefield. Culloden is the site of a battle that took place between Scottish clans and English troops on April 16, 1746. 2,000 Scotsman were killed in just over 20 minutes, while the English only lost 50 men. The Scots were led by a man named Charles Edward Stuart (more commonly referred to as Bonnie Prince Charlie) who believed he was rightful heir to the throne. The battle would be remembered as the end of the Scottish clans.
Now, at the site of the battle, there is a really cool, interactive museum. Outside, you can walk the battlefield, where flags have been set up showing the battlelines. Red flags are the English, blue flags are the Scottish. The field is a massive moor that looks much like it did during the battle and it's so quiet, you can almost imagine yourself back 300 years ago standing there, staring down the opposition on the other end of the field.
At the point just before the English front lines is where most of the Scots were cut down. Now, there is a row of tombstones marking where the clan leaders fell. Amazing how many people continue to bring flowers.
A memorial cairn sits in the middle of the battlefield now. People still leave notes thanking those that fell for their efforts.
On the other side of the field is where the 50 English casualties were buried. Not quite the same floral decor as the Scottish graves.
After leaving the battlefield, we headed back to Loch Ness and Dave had his first foray into left-side of the road driving. Needless to say, I was perhaps...less than supportive in his driving as my first scream occurred before we even left the parking lot. After that, it was decided we should limit my time in the front seat when Dave was behind the wheel.
That evening, we enjoyed a delicious Scottish meal in our hotel. The restaurant had giant windows overlooking the loch. As the sun set, we hoped Nessie would breach out of the water to say good night, but we were sadly disappointed. We spent the rest of the night drinking wine and playing Trivial Pursuit before turning in.
The next morning, we woke up early for a road trip around the Scottish highlands. We continued driving southwest along the loch and made our first stop at Urquhart Castle, which we had seen on the boat the day before. While now laying in ruins, it was once the largest stronghold in Scotland.
Situated on Loch Ness, this castle is apparently where the majority of Nessie sightings take place.
We all scrambled around the ruins of the castle, assuming any position necessary to get the perfect shot.
Boo.
Urquhart Castle.
Nic snapped a picture of Dave and I as we normally appear.
After Nic and I nearly fell down the stairs trying to get in position for this timed photo.
Loch Ness was absolutely gorgeous with lots of things to do and scenery to gawk at. And even better was getting there by train. While we didn't see Nessie, we had enough close calls to make us believers. I leave you with this final picture I took while we were at Urquhart and let you guess what it may be.
No comments:
Post a Comment