Tag Archives: Inverness

Saturday, May 9 — Moving Day

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We woke at 7:00: we had to be packed and checked out by 10:00 and I don’t like to worry about time. After showering and packing we decided to go out and get coffee and a small bite to eat.

We walked a very short way to The Milk Bar, ordered our coffees and croissants, and had a relaxing time there.

Even so, after returning to our room we had forty minutes to spare. Dan knows me well, though: I get nervous about time!

When we took our bags downstairs Dan attempted to set up an Uber pick up. The app just sat there saying it was locating a driver. I figured I could try while he looked up taxis, so I set about trying to get an Uber as well. It did the same thing it did for him. (And I can’t even recall seeing one Uber here so perhaps it’s just wishful thinking on Uber’s part, suggesting they are in Inverness.) Meanwhile Dan tried to call a taxi but couldn’t get a phone call to go through, so he finally did what we probably should have done in the first place: he contacted our invisible lodging hosts. The woman answered and she was happy to get a taxi set up for us. Fifteen minutes later our driver, Greg (from Poland) joyfully greeted us and gave us a rather exciting ride to Enterprise, all the while talking about our crazy president and the crazy things in Poland as well. He also offered to help us move to Scotland. Heh. He was quite entertaining.

And then we got the car. Time for Dan to learn how to drive on the left side of the road!

Both of us were tense, of course. For me it was that I felt he was too close to my side of the road and there was no shoulder. In addition when there were cars parked on the road I kept feeling as if he would hit them! For him it was worrying about the oncoming traffic and my side. But he did amazingly well. He only turned into the wrong lane once when making a right turn. In my typical, non-confrontational way, I said, “Do you really mean to be in this lane?” Or something like that, anyway. He of course didn’t mean to do that at all, and he also suggested I go ahead and say “Wrong lane!”

In any case, he did a great job.

We went past Loch Ness, which brought back great memories of our Great Glen Way walk. We also passed through Drumnadrochit and saw the Fiddler’s restaurant that we enjoyed so much.


Lunch was nothing special, but we did stop to eat. And I finally remembered to get a photo of the car we have.

We saw very small lambs (or as I first called them, “baby sheep”) a number of times … so darn cute and I hope to get some good photos while we are here.

We eventually reached Eilean Donan Castle. We decided to pay the fee and go look at it. I took iPhone photos where I could, but they didn’t allow it in the upstairs, where the family actually lived in the summers after it was restored in 1932.

From there we continued on our way to our next spot to lodge and from which we will tour. As I mentioned to Dan, we are really hitting different sorts of spots on this trip: so far a big city (London), a smaller one (Inverness) and now … an island.

Hello, Isle of Skye!

When I was finding lodging for this trip I read that Portree was the place to stay. Nothing there was affordable. Then perhaps Broadford. Nope. So I located a place that was outside of Dunvegan near Edinbane, with a drive of 2 miles down a one lane, sort of rough but not too bad road. SO many lambs on this road!

We are lodging at the Redwood House, in a somewhat large room. I think it will be just right. One day we can tour going north and the other south. We are hoping the weather will be somewhat cooperative, but it is Scotland, so who knows?

We got to our room at about 5:30 and dinner here was scheduled for 7:00, so Dan spent time typing (I suspect doing his journal) and I began this blog. We both enjoyed some Walker’s shortbread and I made a cup of tea with milk. (Yes, Carolyn … tea! It’s the UK, after all. 😊)

We walked to dinner and found a nearly empty dining room. The entire time we were there I think maybe there were five tables occupied besides ours. I suspect this place is rather new, and of course being a distance away from things a lot of people won’t drive out for dinner. I do hope it survives. I had sea bass and Dan had chicken and they were both very tasty. Oh, and to start with we had calamari which very well might be the best I’ve ever had.

We walked out on to the lawn and the lambs and parents were still out so I attempted to get some photos. The lambs were quite skittish, though.

Then back to our room. I took a few photos of the place as we went back.

Dan checked the maps as I finished this blog entry. It’s now 9:35 PM and it’s rather light outside still. Dan is considering getting up at some horrendously early hour to do photography. He seems to think I’ll want to skip it. He might be right.

After breakfast tomorrow (he plans on getting back for that IF he really goes out) we head north to see what we can see.

All for now!

It’s hardly worth reporting but:

6563 steps, 2.7 miles, 4 flights climbed (I suspect that while we have a car we won’t be getting as much exercise.)

Friday, May 8 — Our Full Day in Inverness

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Finally, sleep is pretty much normal! My “sleep score” on my phone wasn’t terrific, but for some reason the doggone watch and phone are tremendously confused about things. It seemed to now think my bedtime should be 9:00PM. It’s never been that early. Sometimes it the watch is off, sometimes not. I guess both devices have also been suffering with jet lag. Or something.

We didn’t leave our room until after 10:00. Lazy bums!

Speaking of rooms — this place, Aye Stay, is similar to a B&B, but there is not only no second B, but it appears will we never even see the owners. As I mentioned yesterday we entered the house to check in yesterday, we just looked at the list with our name and grab the correct key. Earlier, when we dropped off our luggage, I didn’t know where to put the bags so I buzzed the owners and I was just told over the speaker what to do. I think they live in part of the house, but who knows? It sounds like our supplies will be replenished (I’m hoping they replenish the little package of cookies — I tend to collect those for emergency snacks!) They don’t do much, though. It’s all very impersonal. I’m okay with that, being the introvert I am, but it just feels odd.

Looking out our window, as well as checking the weather app, I could see that we were in for another windy day with temps in the low 50°s. I’m glad that I packed my turtleneck at the last minute! It’s definitely a lot of layers day.

With few plans or ideas of what to do, we did know that first stop was coffee. Dan had found a place nearby that looked good. So after his shower and both of us getting ready, we headed out.

We both had a sweet roll (which is much tastier than a sweat roll which was what I first typed) and coffee. The Bakery was a nice little spot!

Then we walked toward the River Ness, to go visit the Ness Islands I’d read about (and where we had headed yesterday, but ended up returning before we arrived there).

The Ness Islands were lovely. While there we met a couple who chatted with us for a while, which was also lovely. They live in Scotland, although the man was originally from South Africa. They had visited the United States so we enjoyed hearing about their travels.

But back to the Islands … just gorgeous!

Saw this poster for Parsifal, too.

Then we went to the Botanic Gardens for a brief while. (Thank you, Dan, for tolerating my flower love!)

Normally we don’t eat lunch if we have a good breakfast, but while the sweet rolls were tasty we decided we should actually have a decent meal. If you can call what we chose decent! But hey, we had been to the Victorian Market yesterday and had said we’d return for lunch, so what could one do but stick to what we said.

After lunch we attempted to find a map of some areas we will be visiting. Climbing some steps, we landed at what looked to be mostly a children’s bookstore, but there was a map of all of Scotland so we did pick that up.

The bookstore is at the top of these stairs.

Then some more walking took place, passing this interesting building (I remember it from our first visit).

We had to go into Leakey’s Book Shop, having seen it mentioned numerous times.



From there we walked by The Hootananny, which had been recommended to us back in 2023 when we took our Great Glen Way Walk, so I checked and (hooray!) we could make a reservation. But that meant there wasn’t enough time to go back to our lodging for any meaningful amount of time so … okay … don’t tell anyone … we stopped at a place to have a beer. Mind you, it was merely to take up time. Honest!

Finally it was time for our dinner at Hootananny’s. The person taking us to our table was a bit harsh when I said something about the sound and my bad ear — scared me, in fact. But I guess he’s just that way. He did give us a great table, further away from the musicians. He also told us we had 1 1/2 hours to eat and then we’d have to leave the table. Fine. We could deal.

Or could we? We had placed our orders and while our drinks and appetizer arrived quickly, our dinner did not. The two women next to us got in after us and were served quickly. Hmmm.

Speaking of those women, they had just finished the Great Glen Way walk! We ended up chatting for most of the time we were there. Both live in Arizona and, now both widowed, do tons of traveling.

I finally talked to our server and asked her about our meal and my concern that we now had 20 minutes left. She assured me that we would be able to finish. Meanwhile we listened to the music. I don’t have a clue how the videos will be, but I at least recorded some bits.

And our dinners did finally arrive!

When our server returned and we ordered a dram for after our meal she did tell us we’d have to vacate the table. But by then it had been two hours so we could hardly be upset! So we got our drams and headed downstairs.

While there, some altercation must have happened, as a man was escorted out. I suspect a bit too much to drink, but who knows? I think they have pretty tight security (we saw one guy outside as we left).

We drank and listened a bit more.

I’m glad we made it to the place this time around.

Walking back to our lodging it was really quite nice out.

We spotted some people bowing on our way, and one of the players came and chatted with us a bit. Such a friendly man!

Tomorrow we move to a new destination. I’m close to packed and ready, as I like to set the next day’s clothing out the night before. We just have to go get (GULP!) our rental car. I am betting Dan does the driving as I’m not too excited about driving on the left side of the road.

Goodnight!

18,137 steps, 7.29 miles, 5 flights climbed

Thursday, May 7

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I’ll start by writing about sleep. On a train. On a top bunk.

Or maybe I’ll just write that I did a whole lot of reading through the night. I figure if I can’t sleep I may as well work on finishing my book.

But, really, the train was fine. The ride was smoother than some, and the top bunk, while needing a new mattress, worked okay. I do think, though, that it’s our last time getting this kind of room. If we do another sleeper train I’ll be seventy or older and climbing up and down a ladder that is completely upright is not an easy feat. This train has a double room and while the bed is tiny I’d just work on making myself as small as possible and share it with Dan.

We woke at 6:30 and got dressed. Oh … that, too, is rather humorous. I didn’t want to climb down while Dan was getting dressed because there really isn’t room for the two of us to get dressed on the “ground floor”. So there I am, on my back, attempting to put clothes on. I’m sure I looked hysterically funny.

Then we went to the dining car for our breakfast. We had ordered a full Scottish, nice coffee (decaf espresso for Dan, cappuccino for me), and orange juice. As has been so very typical on this trip, something wasn’t available. This time it happened to be the coffee, because their machine wasn’t working. So we both got “coffee in a bag” … like a tea bag but filled with coffee, as you might have guessed. Not quite the same as the nicer coffees we wanted, but nothing to weep about. Publicly, anyway.

As we waited for our meal (orange juice had already arrived), a younger couple (okay, okay, nearly everyone is younger that the two of us!) sat down. They were clearly speaking American English, and I think Dan asked where they were from. “California.” “We are too! Where in California?” “San Jose.” Heh … talk about coincidences. And they live somewhat nearby. Crazy!

Our meal appeared. (Darn, I forgot to take a photo of that — all I did was this “before shot” above.) Breakfast was fine, but being as I don’t eat at that time of day I couldn’t come close to finishing mine. And yes, it included haggis. And no, I wasn’t even repulsed. (I apologize to my vegetarian and vegan friends.)

Back to our room we went, preparing for our arrival. (Below you can see the pretty view from the hallway window, and the hallway itself, looking both ways.)

It didn’t take very long.

Hello Inverness!

We opted to take a taxi to our lodging, in order to drop off luggage. It was only a bit before 9:00AM and with check-in being 4:00 we sure didn’t want to be hauling it around. We quickly dropped the luggage off at Aye Stay, which happens to be around the corner from where we stayed when we did the Great Glen Way walk.

Then it was walking time. Lots of memories!

Since we missed out on good coffee earlier we went to get that. Of course it would just be wrong to have coffee on its own, so we suffered and ordered a couple of croissants. Sometimes you just have to be brave and suffer, you know?

More walking …

I thought maybe Dan would want to take the stairs you see above. Then he could return and tell me if it was worth going up. He, however, didn’t agree with me.

We eventually reached the castle. When we did our walk in 2023 the castle was covered in fencing because it was being fixed up. Now it was looking quite nice, but I can’t say it’s the kind of castle I enjoy — it’s newer than many. I like the old and decrepit ones. (Is it maybe because I can relate to those? Hmm.) We didn’t go in. They have turned it into an experience and when I saw all the stuff in the photos at their site I knew it just wasn’t our cuppa plus it was costly. So we just walked around.

While doing that walking Dan noticed a museum below it, so after the castle we headed that way.

Well, we didn’t last long! We’d both slept (or not slept) so fitfully last night that Dan hit the wall and while I didn’t feel tired I felt like I was going to faint. (That’s more likely to my having food too early in the day, and not having enough water.) So while we didn’t plan to have lunch we headed to a restaurant just so we could sit, drink water, and eat a bit.

The restaurant wasn’t worth photos or writing about, but we were happy to spend time there.

Leaving the place, we walked more, and investigated places for dinner. We had crossed the river Ness when it began to rain so we popped into a small spot for tea (for me) and, if I’m remembering correctly, espresso for Dan. No food this time. We didn’t really even need the drinks, but it was a way to get out of the rain since we’d not brought our umbrellas.

Yes, that was silly. It’s Scotland, after all!

The rain died down so we went into a few touristy shops just to enjoy the beautiful wool clothing, then did more restaurant research, and just walked a wee bit more. (Can you hear my Scottish accent now?) I loved this busker sign …

Finally it was check-in time so we aimed toward Aye Stay, passing by an episcopal church on the way that had some trees blossoming to the side — just gorgeous.

We picked up our key (no one is at this place … you just find your room number on a board and then find the corresponding key), and found we were on the first floor. So some stair climbing ensued. I believe I counted nineteen steps. I’m glad my suitcase is small. Too bad for Dan!

Our room is quite nice, and I’m not on the top bunk!

The photo above is the view from our room.

One of us then took a nap while the other started her blogging for the day.

As we were sitting in our room the wind got pretty wild. We weren’t sure if we would go back to the city center for dinner or eat closer to “home”. I knew that if that wind continued I did not want to go over the bridge.

And no, we didn’t go over. Not because of wind, though: that had died down. But we were just taking it easy, and opted for a short walk. I ordered soup of the day (split pea) and mussels. They even brought me a bowl of water with a lemon to clean my hands after eating the mussels. That was something I’ve not had before, but it was a great addition. Both my plates were from the appetizer section. Dan ordered Chicken Balmoral. All was yummy.

Walking home the church bells began. I recorded just a bit … and do excuse the video work: we were walking and I wasn’t being very steady.

The theater near us had a poster for Marriage of Figaro. Sadly we’ll be long gone by the time they get here.

Oh … side note … I forgot to mention the games my ears play when I’m in certain environments. As I was attempting (and failing) to sleep on the train there was train noise, of course. But what my brain and ears tell me is that a radio station of rock music is playing. Later it was a crowd cheering. Sometimes just people all talking. I don’t know that that’s about my bad left ear. I tend to think it’s just my brain trying to make sense out of noise. Or maybe I’m just weird.

Stop nodding your heads, please!

I think I’ll try to remember to post walking info here. I am well aware it’s not always accurate, but it’s just fun to see what my watch thinks I did. As long as it’s high enough I’ll agree with it.
18,048 steps, 7.15 miles, 7 flights climbed

Adjustment Day

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After coffee we wandered.

No, we didn’t eat there … it was closed. (Isabelle, at the Lewiston B&B, and mentioned it so we checked it out.)
Looks like our area isn’t the only one to deal with this problem!

We checked out a graveyard (the doggie sign was actually at the churchyard as well) … I find these places rather fascinating. So many parents lost young children, so many died at younger ages. Seeing people our age is rare, it seems.

More walking, as we figured out where we’d have a bite …

Then it was pizza and beer at Black Isle … the same business we visited in Fort William. While sitting at the table another couple joined us. They are currently on a Rick Steves tour and talked about how nice it was. Sounds like something we might end up doing when I get fed up with planning … but I do like to plan, and we do prefer traveling independently for now.

We then went back to the train station, collected our luggage, and waited for the train. I really dislike not knowing what track we have until quite close to the train departure. At 2:20 our 2:50 train still wasn’t showing the track number. Control freak me doesn’t like that!

As much as our B&B owner warned us about a crowded station and train, it was close to empty! (Today is a bank holiday and he said those can cause problems.) We got in our seats quickly and easily.

This wasn’t a speed train, and it took almost three hours to reach our next destination. But such beautiful countryside! I took photos through the train window, so I’m sure they won’t be great, but I’ll post them in any case.

Rain in the distance … and eventually on the train as well.

We arrived in our next city and it is … Stirling!

Since neither of us is in great shape at the moment we took a taxi to our hotel, the Stirling Highland Hotel. It’s an older place, and our room is huge. (Not a lot of plugs to charge things, though.) Dinner was included with our first night, and we had a bottle of wine waiting in our room. I’m not even sure we can manage to drink it while we are here!

Dinner was quite nice. It is in an upstairs room, and there were not a lot of tables so it wasn’t too noisy. It appears that the building may have been a school originally. The dining room was called the Scholars’ Restaurant and I think there was the Headmaster’s room of some sort. I really need to read up on the building! I should have thought to take a quick photo. Too late for now, but breakfast is in the same spot so maybe I’ll remember tomorrow morning.



I am finding it very strange that we have no long walks to go on, and I think I’ll miss the Great Glen Way.

And So It Ends

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But let’s start from the beginning of the day, yes?

We started with packing (although I’d done my suitcase packing last night: Dan gets some of what I can’t fit in the smaller case, and we add the final stuff after changing into our walking clothes and brushing teeth and all). I have decided (and feel the need to be helpful for others planning trips) that suitcases “grow” things … as we go along it gets harder and harder to fit things into them!

Then we had yet another lovely breakfast at Woodlands. (I need to go back and make sure I link to the other places we stayed, but maybe not tonight.) We said our goodbyes, and got in the van. It turned out to be full van, but with only two that we had met before.

Some people were dropped off where we were dropped off yesterday. This included one of “our” people … she wanted to walk on the road up to where the trail began to get to Inverness. This meant two miles of tarmac. No thank you! We’ve added enough to our walk already due to various things (and stay tuned: we’ll add more!) and didn’t feel the need to do those two extra miles.

I thought today would be about 7.5 miles. Not bad. And I’d read it was all easy.

So we got out at our starting spot (Blackfold) and headed out on the trail. It was just fine. Cloudy and cold, but okay. Better cloudy than too much sun!

We walked up on the moor (or is it moors) for a bit, and then reached some trees. Going through a gate there were smaller trees … maybe reforesting? I’m not sure.

Some spots were a bit muddy, but we are used to that, of course. Another walker, from a few years back, wrote about the stone wall that went on for some time, and we did reach that. What a chore to build those walls. (Or should I call it a fence? Hm.)

We again ran into the sisters we’ve chatted with a few times. They had stopped at a perfect spot for coffee (yes, they had a thermos with them). They said it seemed a good place to stop since it wasn’t yet raining. Smart people! They were already dressed in rain gear.

We plodded on. I knew they’d catch up with us, and of course they did. Dan and I aren’t speedy walkers. Especially now. He still has hip and back issues, and my left hip and my toes are a bit pesky. So it goes. Eventually you don’t notice the hurt so much.

And then … well … drip drip drip … little sprinkles began. Dan was behind me at that point, having stopped to do some photography, and he texted that he might be packing things up if the rain continued.

And it did.

So he packed up, as did I.

The rain, though, started to get a bit heavier. We were then walking together when we decided that we needed to add our rain pants to the mix (we wore rain jackets from the start). Reaching a spot that had tree cover we got the pants on (they have side zippers both at the top and bottom so you don’t have to deal with taking off shoes) … I first put mine on backwards. Argh! It’s hard enough to stand and get the darn things on, but then I had to take them off and start over. But I managed and on we went.

And then glimpses of Inverness!

The rain was quite persistent. It rained as we descended into Inverness. The first place we left the nice trail we were in an area with a lot of buildings — maybe apartments or something. I couldn’t really tell. We walked a sidewalk, we walked past a playground. We managed to lose the GGW signs, but found them again, and on we went.

We reached a tunnel and went through (yes the GGW sign said to do that).

After that things got weird. Somewhere we missed a sign. We ended up walking and walking and not finding signs. I finally put our destination (Inverness Castle) in to Google and in a roundabout way we were taken there, but we definitely went at least a mile further than we should and perhaps longer.

This bridge, before reaching the castle (crossing the River Ness) is one strange and very bouncy bridge!

The castle itself is disappointing, but I’d read about it already so I expected that. It’s being fixed up, and it’s surrounded by scaffolding and the like. There IS a big monument or whatever it’s called for the walkers, so we did the obligatory photo. First we did one for the two runners who did the GGW in two days! That’s 40 miles a day. Yikes!

And then it was to the Castle Tavern for our beers and lunch. I’d been told we could get certificates there, but I didn’t ask and they didn’t offer (although I thought it was pretty clear we looked like drenched GGW walkers!).

After our late lunch we headed to our B&B.

We showered, changed into to normal clothes, and went to dinner at a nice place. Crossing another bouncy bridge.

And now it’s over. Mission accomplished.

Tomorrow we go back to normal travel mode: a train to the next village we are visiting (stay tuned), and I hope less eating, since we won’t be burning nearly as many calories.

I’m so glad we did the walk. Yes, it could be challenging, but I think challenging one’s self is a good thing, and at our age maybe even better than good. We met some lovely people.

And now we rest!