Yesterday we toured Holyrood palace, which annoyingly forbids photography of its interior. (I still snuck in a few when they weren’t looking!)
Catching up… Wednesday was a travel day, driving from Nairn to Edinburgh. Our only real stop was at Tomatin distillery between Inverness and Pitlochry. Even though the whisky wasn’t my favorite, they put on a really great tour.
I had the full Scottish breakfast this morning because the late departed Mrs. Flannigan would be disappointed in me if I hadn’t. On our first trip to Scotland many years ago, we stayed for two nights with our friend Owen at his Mum’s house, and Mrs. Flannigan seemed very concerned that we would starve in a foreign land. In addition to feeding us at every opportunity, her parting words to us were, “Remember to ask for the full Scottish breakfast. Mind me—the FULL Scottish breakfast.”
Final stop of the day was Cawdor Castle, which is still lived in by the dowager Lady Cawdor. It has beautiful gardens, including an honest to goodness labyrinth (complete with its own Minotaur statue). On the interior, it was interesting to see how the ancient has been blended with the modern to make the castle livable in the modern age. (Cawdor, Scotland, United Kingdom)
For lunch, we stopped at Cawdor Tavern, which just might be the cutest little pub in all of Scotland. (Cawdor, Scotland, United Kingdom)
Next stop: Clava Cairns. These stone burial mounds date to 2000 B.C. (Dalroy, Scotland, United Kingdom)
Today, we explored some of the area around Nairn and Inverness, starting with a guided tour of the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Center. As an American, I couldn’t help but compare Culloden to Gettysburg—both were decisive battles that turned the tide of a bloody civil war. (Balloch, Scotland, United Kingdom)
Our other stop of the day was Urquhart Castle, a thoroughly ruined castle on the shores of Loch Ness. (Lewiston, Scotland, United Kingdom)
