INVERNESS

Today we went to Inverness but before that, since people are begging for a laundry report, here it is. The first load in the washer/dryer combo washed but didn't dry. I had to ask a young man at the front desk how to make it dry only and he actually knew. It dried in 10 minute intervals until I got tired of it and hung the clothes in the closet to dry.  For the second load, Lola was washing black pants and a couple of t-shirts. She decided to use the gentle cold cycle since the pants had just been washed once. The cold water made the pants bleed into a t-shirt which she then threw in the trash. I don't know why. My clothes washed at a high temperature since that's what they call a normal setting. We can't do laundry again until Glasgow so we'll just have to make due with what we have.

We came by train to Inverness today. It took over 3 hours but you can see beautiful scenery. We traveled next to the Firth of Forth (or vice versa) and saw herds of cows and sheep. Inverness is on the River Ness and is considered the Capitol of the Highlands.  We can tell it's far north since it's after 10 and still light.

We had just a couple of incidents getting here. When we got to the station, every train listed a platform except ours. When a platform was finally listed,  we had to hustle to get the train. We put our luggage on seats near us, knowing someone would make us move them. When someone did, he put them in between the doors. At a stop, Mickey, who was looking out the window, noticed my suitcase  had flung itself to the platform.  I jumped up and luckily, a woman had picked it up and was able to hand it to me. I don't think train companies deliver lost luggage like the airlines do.

We're staying in a charming B & B close to the River. We walked part of the river trail and went into the city. Outside of the usual stores, like Clarks and TJ Maxx, all these cities have a Harris Tweed store with great kilts and hats and blankets at very high prices.  We also found a great antique store, probably one of the few left in the world--a huge used bookstore: Lots of old cookbooks, Scottish history, Scottish birds, etc. It's been years since I've seen a pile of books the owner bought and has to stock.

Used Books and it smelled like...books

Tomorrow we're taking a tour around Loch Ness and leaving the next day.  Here's some pictures from the walk--it was cold and windy and actually rained a little. But tomorrow is supposed to be dry and warmer.  

A chapel across Ness

North Church across Ness

The "castle" was built on the site of an 11th century defense structure but this one was buillt in 1856. It is used as a justice center and not open to the public.