I departed Glasgow directly for Inverness in the Scottish highlands. The highlands has been somewhere I've wanted to go for some time, and admittedly part of the reason why is because I, like so many others, have been irretrievably sucked into the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I'm a pretty voracious reader and historical fiction is definitely a favorite genre. I was hesitant about the Outlander books at first because I'm not the biggest fan of anything related to sci fi and the fact that the series begins with the main character literally falling through time sounded totally cracked up to me. But, as it turns out, it's awesome. But I digress.
So I arrived in Inverness and found the hostel in about three minutes. For dinner I took myself out for Turkish food (yeah, I know, but I was jonesing) which turned out to be totally lovely. Anywhere I can find that chili tomato sauce they put on everything in Turkey I'm happy as a clam.
The next morning I made my way over to the bus station next door, where I figured out which bus to take to get to Loch Ness (the other reason I had to visit the highlands) and had a large breakfast to kill a little time before my departure. The buses around here are pretty used to clueless tourists trying to get to the loch, so it wasn't too much of a challenge.
I arrived in Drumnadrochit (try wrapping you tongue around that one) in the late morning and made my way to the Loch Ness visitor center where, to my delight, I was able to buy a ticket for a boat tour leaving about ten minutes later. I was the only solo traveler of the group but hey, what's new.
We hopped on a bus for about five minutes and then boarded a boat with the bus driver who doubled as the captain, and floated our way out on the loch. The weather in Scotland is highly unpredictable, so when we first got out it was rather choppy and we were subject to occasional hail, but about twenty minutes later the water calmed and the sun came out. The boat tour itself lasted a bit over an hour, and we learned quite a bit about the loch. The loch contains more water than in all Scotland and the UK combined, but for a body of water its size it has a very low percentage of wildlife, because a) it's quite cold and b) the water is a brownish color from all the peat run off from land, preventing a lot of photosynthesis and therefore plant life and therefore a food source for small creatures and therefore a food source for large creatures.
The view was worth freezing my butt off.
This is as close to the castle as I got. Which is just fine by me, seeing as how I'm getting more than a little castle-d out.
See how the water where it's churned up is yellowish? That's the peat.
Loch-cruising Swan.
Ok so actually this is as close as I got to the castle.
I love the color of the water, it's so blue it's almost purple.
Patterns.
Fishermen.
Our new captain. The cutest kid ever - and we were equally bummed about not catching sight of Nessie.
The majority of the day (between the visitor center and the boat tour) seemed to be geared toward crushing any lingering dreams of the existence of a giant lake monster, but I still really enjoyed myself, buzzkill or no.
The boat tour was great, and the visitor center was interesting, and after my tour I killed a bit of time by walking through town and enjoying a hard cider before taking the bus back to Inverness.
I went to grab an early dinner at a place I had read about upon my arrival back in town. Lacking a reservation they managed to find me a table (if I agreed to eat quickly), and I ordered a peas shoot salad with asparagus, a main of ocean trout with yogurt sauce and smashed new potatoes, and a glass of bubbly. The salad was, meh, but I'm a firm believer that if you have something light and fresh like fresh peas shoots and asparagus it's kind of a crime to drown it in a ranch style dressing. But considering the proportion of veggies these guys seem to eat I suppose they tried their best. The main on the other hand was absolutely glorious, the fish cooked perfectly, the yogurt lemony and fresh with mint, and the potatoes perfectly seasoned. The only fuck up was the side dish of roasted veggies they brought to go with it, as they were under seasoned and, quite frankly, superfluous. But hey, it was reasonably priced and overall I left contented.
My second day in the highlands I opted for a stroll around town. Since it was a Sunday several of the buses weren't running and I wasn't in the mood to complicate my life. I wandered over to the local castle (but did not go inside), and then had a lunch of Spanish tapas which were hit and miss. The boquerones and olives were great, the tortilla de patatas was disappointing though. But I needed a break from sausages and mash so no real complaints.
So many selfies...
I strolled along the river for a bit as well, but the weather was off and on rain, so eventually I just wandered trough some of the local tartan shops and the mall before stopping in at a local pub where I snacked on some macaroni and cheese, of all things. Well, it had "bacon" and leeks, so it didn't suck.
My final day in the highlands I conquered the bus system and visited Culloden battlefield, which was the site of one of the most stunning defeats of the Scottish clans by the English. The Scottish, exhausted, underprepared, and starving, were soundly thumped by the coordinated and well-fed English army. It was the end of the uprising attempting to reinstate the Stuarts to the Scottish throne, and the English then spent the next couple decades quite harshly punishing the survivors and their families. For many, many years it was forbidden to wear the clan tartans, and the years following the uprising were marked by starvation for a large segment of the population. Of course "Bonnie" Prince Charlie escaped the country. Given this sort of history I have to say I was a little puzzled that, when given the chance last year to finally break from England altogether, the Scots opted not to. Of course that's a whole other kettle of fish and very complex.
So after wandering through the museum, I made my way onto the battlefield, where I spent about two hours walking around with an audio guide learning about the battle. It was a bitterly cold day in April, just a few days shy of the anniversary of the battle in 1746 (and the day of the battle was pretty similar weather-wise to what I experienced). Seeing the site itself really gave me some perspective, but I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be there then. The ground was actually more swampy back then than it is now, and they are working to restore it to its former state. I sent peace and light to all those that fell in that place and left feeling a sense of awe and respect.
Walking out on the field from the visitor center.
The red flags represent where the english lines were.
Marshy. It truly must have been miserable trying to fight on this terrain. There were also quite a few more trees.
The blue flags represent where the Scottish forces were.
Walking along the Scottish lines.
So not only were there Scots on the rebelling side, but also some French and Irish, which have their own memorial markers.
The clan grave markers. These were put in by the former owner of the land.
Walking the English lines.
The old house. It's not as old as the battle but it certainly dates back aways.
Leaving Culloden my bus was a bit late, and I made the acquaintance of some local Scots, who were singing and dancing to keep warm in the frigid wind. It was good after all that seriousness to have a laugh. "You either laugh or you cry," right Camie?
So there you have it, my highlands exploration. The next day I left for Edinburgh, my final destination before departing Scotland.
Until next time, keep on keeping on!
~Swan
