UK Day 7- Looking for Nessy

Thursday was a long day, but it was one of my favorite days of the whole trip.  I was sad that we didn't have time to explore Aberdeen more than we did, but like each day before, we had an early train to catch.  On the ride to Aberdeen the previous day, Cody hopped online and did some research on what to do in Inverness, but I was iffy.  Not because I didn't want to go out to the Highlands, but because it was a long trip and I didn't know if we should eat an entire day going out there and then make or way back down to Edinburgh.  It was stressful because we only had a few days to spend in Scotland, and I didn't want to spend a million more miles on trains.  We knew it was a three hour train ride over to Inverness, and then another three hours back down to Edinburgh.

At our motel in Aberdeen, Cody spent some time writing emails and making phone calls and he found a local guy in Inverness named Doug McLeod.  Doug had a van and a wealth of knowledge about the area after having lived there most of his life, and he agreed to meet us at the Inverness train station at 10:30 on Thursday morning and take us and our bags all over that region and then drop us at our motel in Inverness that evening.  Of course he charged us to do it all, but we did the math and figured it was more cost effective to go that route rather than paying cab fairs or renting a car, likely spending most of the day getting lost.  So we got to the Aberdeen station in plenty of time, ate donuts and OJ for breakfast, and were off.

Saying goodbye to Aberdeen before hopping the train.

It's hard to imagine, but I loved the train ride to Inverness at least as much as the ride the day before into Aberdeen.  This time rather than seeing the ocean to our left the whole way, we rode through some of the most idyllic farmland in existence.  As we traveled, it was easy to picture my ancestors in those very fields, tending to the sheep and crops.  The three hours passed too quickly, but we arrived in Inverness right on schedule and met Doug, or "Dougie" as he introduced himself.  Right away we sensed that he too spoke fluent Sarcasm, and we hit it off.  

We rode all through the small city, which as with every other town or village we'd visited, packed full of rich history and nuance.  

We didn't know as we passed it, but this is the outside of the inn where we stayed that night.  Right on the River Ness and so quaint!

We drove out to Loch Ness, and I think we enjoyed the ride with Dougie and all his interesting bits of information and entertaining presentation as much as we enjoyed the scenery (like the story of he and his wife flying all the way out to Las Vegas to get married while he wore his kilt and his wife was given away by Elvis).  It took no time at all to realize just how smart we were to hire Dougie for the day because the roads were narrow and windy and like all the small villages around there, it would have been a nightmare to navigate through without experience.  

Loch Ness was incredible, to say the least.  The day was freezing and windy and I loved everything about it.  The lake is surprisingly skinny and long and it doesn't have to narrow much more to morph into the River Ness.  We could stand on one side and easily see to the other side unhindered.  Unfortunately, we never saw Nessy or her killer baby, but it wasn't for a lack of looking!

Dougie and Cody in DEEP conversation!

On the south banks of the lake sits the Urquhart Castle (pronounced like arq-out). The present ruins date back to the 13th century, and the castle played a major role in the Wars of Scottish Independence.  It's one of the largest castles in Scotland, and it was surreal to explore.  Once you get down into it, it's a lot bigger than it looks from the road and there was a LOT to see and do.  Inside the visitor's center, was an impressive museum and of course, a gift shop.  Everywhere we went in Scotland, Cody and I had fun picking out our families' clans and every now and then we'd buy something that sported the clan name.  I'm now loaded down with Clan Gunn memorabilia, and he has a lot of Clan Stewart.  Not only that, but it was a joy to actually read about our clans in the place that produced our people.  

Devin bought this wool hat and at first I thought it was a waste of many and would get lost or forgotten, but he ended up wearing every day and even sleeping in it.  He then used it as part of his London costume in "Mary Poppins" in June!

After a couple of hours at Urquhart, we loaded back in the van and headed northwest through Inverness-Shire into the town of Beauly, where we stopped at a midevil abbey called "Beauly Priory."  And just like the cemetery in Wales a few days earlier, this cemetery also provided us the same feeling of reverence.

This is Lallybroch for any Outlander fans out there.

This shop was right across the street from the abbey and I fell in love!

Dougie then drove us all through the Scottish countryside and we ended up at a small roadside farmer's shop that sold cheeses and breads and of course, ale.  We bought some salmon spread and crackers and cheeses and I was tempted to buy a roll of blood pudding, but we'd have no where to cook it so I opted to try and eat some at a restaurant later on.  I loved chatting with the older woman who ran the store, and she loved discovering where we were from and what we'd done on our trip so far.  Outside the shop were a bunch of Scottish Highland Cattle, and they were eager for the kids to pet them.  Hailey was in Heaven and could have stayed there much longer, petting and talking to the animals.

This is an old manor that we passed along the way and oh, how I wanted to go inside and explore!

The next part of the day was much more sober than the first.  We drove out to the Culloden Battlefield, which is where the Scottish Jacobites had their final uprising against the British crown.  It's the equivalent of Gettysburg in the USA as far as tragedy and and from those who've had the chance to visit both places, I hear the feeling is similar in each.  Culloden is nothing but fields that stretch on for miles and we were there at precisely the same time of year wherein the battle was fought in 1746.  I can honestly tell you that those Scotsmen were some of the toughest sons of bitches to ever walk this planet.  As I wandered through the fields and marshes and felt their presence, I thought of them out there in nothing more than kilts and socks and how they didn't just freeze to death is a mystery. 

The red flags represent the British lines, and the blue are the Scottish lines. 

Stone after stone stand in the places where the larger clans fought and fell.  It seemed that the markers went on forever, and it was painful to think that all the mounds of earth that also rippled to infinity are not just mounds of dirt, but rather bodies that were left behind.  Bodies of the fallen.  It was harrowing to contemplate just how many lives were lost that day, and even worse to consider that the British never relented their hold on the Scottish people. But at the same time, it's fascinating to think that many Scots emigrated to the United States a mere thirty years later- Scots who did not fight at Culloden, but who were the sons of men who fought and died.  Many of them came to the Colonies when they got word that a bunch of farmers across the ocean were rising up against the Crown, and they hopped on ships and traveled across the sea to fight the same tyrants who killed their fathers.

This made me laugh.  Jamie Fraser, as wonderful as his character may be, is in fact a FICTIONAL character.  He is not, nor was he ever...real. And yet Dougie said there are always flowers on the Fraser clan marker because women come and pay homage to him!

It was difficult to bring ourselves back from the trance that the battlefield created.  We spent the better part of an hour walking the grounds, but it was freezing and the kids were starving.  We made our way back into the museum and ate lunch in the little cafeteria inside.  I found a bag of haggis flavored crisps, and they were surprisingly good!  I also found this seasoning kit in the specialty foods section and I loved the label. 

Our next stop with Dougie was the Milton of Clava, which is said to be built by relatives of those who built Stonehenge in England.  On the grounds are numerous circles of stones that are believed to bring back loved ones from the dead.  Well, I'll say that if that had been true, I'd have brought Garrett back in an instant.  But as it stood, they were only a legend.  Funny side note and evidence that Dougie fit in with our sarcastic family like a glove:

When we got out of the car, the words "Those are the stones!"  escaped my mouth.  My friend Megan is obsessed with the Outlander books, and she told me about these stones.  So when I saw them, I made a verbal note that I needed to take a picture and take a stick or a rock back to Megan.  However, Dougie only heard the words, "Those are stones!"  come from me. Without that important the, I sounded like an observant idiot, and he looked at me and said, "Well, nothing gets past you, now does it!"

I acted like I was mad and promised I hadn't said that, but he wouldn't back down and it took no time for Cody and Ethan to join in the teasing.  None of them stopped ribbing me the rest of the day and even now, Ethan likes to pipe up and say, "Wow Mom, nothing gets past you!"  when he thinks I'm being Captain Obvious about something.  Ha ha ha.

The day finally drew to an end, and it was time to say goodbye to our fantastic tour guide and new friend.  Dougie dropped us and our bags off at the inn and we said our farwells before heading inside to check it out.  The place was old and adorned in all things tartan and we were instantly in love.  The kids were in one room and we were in the other and this place was so charming that it didn't have magnetic key cards, but actual KEYS.  After dropping our stuff, we set off on foot to do some evening exploration of the town and to this day, Cody and I say we're going back to stay in Inverness-Shire for at least a week because there's no way we'd ever grow tired of the place.  

It was crazy how much in Scotland is "Andrew" something or other.  Quite the common name in those parts!

We'd learned the hard way in England and Wales that restaurants shut down very early so even though we wanted to check out a couple of shops, we decided to grab food first and it was a good thing we did because so much was already closing down.  We ate at a tiny little place called "The Castle Cafe" and of course, my tea was served in this pretty little set and again I asked myself how I would ever go back to drinking tea the boring way when we were home again!  Cody and I both ordered the beef pie (pretty much a Scottish pot pie) and I loved it so much that I order a variation of it any chance I could thereafter.  We also decided to get haggis and blood pudding and while I actually liked the haggis, Cody liked neither.  He said they tasted too much like organ meat (um, that's because it is organ meat) and blood.  Haggis is made like a hamburger patty out of organ meat and what tasted like barely, while blood pudding is akin to cornbread made with blood.  

After dinner, we stopped in "House of Fraser" which is a kilt making shop.  If we'd had the money, Cody and the boys would have been fitted for and purchased kilts.  But as is stood, they were not in the budget so we settled for taking pictures.  We did, however, buy some nice woolen scarves with our various clan tartans, so that sufficed.

It was getting late when we made the walk back to the inn, and all the kids wants to do was go swimming.  Our inn was supposedly one of the few in the region that sported an indoor pool, and the kids couldn't wait to get in.  Yup, we came all the way to Scotland and the kids wanted to swim.  Crazy!  Cody decided to use that time to scout the town while I took the kids down to the pool, and I sat there poolside while they swam for about half an hour and wrote before my laptop battery started to die.  I got up and began looking for an outlet, when the guy working behind the counter asked if he could help me with something.  I opened my mouth and spoke and he lit up like a candle and said, "Hey, you're American, lass!"

I smiled and replied that I was in fact from The States, and that lead to an hour long conversation about America and Scotland and how much everyone there HATES England.  The funny thing that took us little time to discover is that people in Scotland kind of dance around when they meet foreigners, and they're just waiting for the person to say anything...ANYTHING negative about The Motherland.  And the moment they do?  All is fair game after that.  This guy (and I'm mad that I don't remember his name) caught wind that we'd had some difficulty in England and one thing lead to another and before long, he was venting all of his grievances about The Crown.  And grievances there were plenty.  We quickly became friends (even though he remains nameless in my memory) and we talked and talked while the kids swam and when I mimicked something sarcastic with a thick Scottish accent that I thought was terrible, he laughed and said it was actually pretty good.  Ha, that made me feel alright! 

Cody got back just as the pool was closing up and my new friend and I parted ways.  I was sad to say goodbye, but we gathered the kids and took them back to our rooms and got everyone ready for bed.  Cody couldn't stop smiling all the while and finally said, "We've got to go out tonight."  After much deliberation about the stupidity of leaving our children for an hour in their room with the door locked, we decided to leave Ethan in charge while we went out to do some poking around in this city that we'll never forget.  It was the kind of night I want to remember for the rest of my life, and I recall leaving the inn and stepping out into the night and looking at the River Ness bridge right in front of us that was all lit up.  It was a chilly night and we bundled up in our coats and scarves and hats and roamed a few blocks until we came to a pub that was bursting with music and my heart leaped into my throat, and I thought to myself that this kind of thing only exists in novels.  

There we were, two people holding hands as we entered a tiny pub that sits in a town on the edge of the world.  And the sights and sounds and smells did something to me and I came alive and every one of my senses was going mad and for a little while, I stepped outside of my world of heartache and loss and allowed myself to feel happy.  We got our our drinks and found two empty seats at an otherwise occupied table, but the occupants eagerly greeted us and insisted that we join them.  There was a group playing music right beside us and even as I write this, my heart is full and my blood is pounding as I remember what it was like to sit in that pub and sip my pint and absorb the absolute placidity of the night.  Our table consisted of a woman from Greece and her boyfriend who was a gardener down at Oxford University, and another man from Brazil.  As we sat and talked and laughed, Cody and I didn't have a care in the world.  We were not bereaved parents with the weight of the world on our backs.  We were simply a couple in love who had finally been granted the chance to experience a world that was unlike any we'd ever known.

This is how smart men wear kilts.  Running pants and trainers to help you stay warm!

We couldn't stay long because we had children waiting for us to return.  But as the night came to an end, we left the Hootenanny Pub and walked through the village and stopped every block or so to simply look around.  We were in Scotland.  We were in a place that held no reminder of the sad life we'd left behind.  Out there, we could reinvent ourselves and our relationship, and we vowed to one day return. Even now, I think it silly that I ever thought twice about venturing out to Inverness-Shire because it truly was a brilliant day.