Scotland - Day 6 - Inverness

I (Jeff) had a 2+ hour workout on the elliptical this morning so I went down the road to their local "Leisure Centre".  It was a massive activity center with a large pool (and slide), very large gymnasium, an all-weather outdoor track and a very large gym area with exercise machines and weights.  Very impressive.  I completed my boring workout while watching Sky news.  I now know the top 3 headlines of the day in the U.K.  The top headline was how people in London will be able to sell parking spots in their driveways to make some spare cash. 

We walked around the town for a little bit around noontime  The town is fairly small.  The best part of the city is the walk right along the river. 

Today was a bit cooler (lower 60s), mostly cloudy (the sun came out from time to time) and very windy.

We drove about a half hour to Loch Ness to do the obligatory visit to the famous site.  We went to one place that walked you through the history of the lake and the stories that went with it.  They also explained quite a bit of what people probably saw -- and how much time the local governments here have spent trying to search the bottom of the lake.  The lake is a massive freshwater lake that's over 300m deep.  Josh loved listening to the stories and the theories -- of course giving his own thoughts on the matter. 

We had a nice lunch at the same site (Josh seems to have mashed potatoes with every meal now!) and then headed to a nearby castle site -- Urquhart.  The castle was used primarily between the 1300s and 1500s before it was finally destroyed and no longer useful.  Josh had a good time because they had a scavenger hunt game where he had to answer about 15 questions about the site.  My favorite question was "How many steps is it to the top?"  (answer:  80)  What better way to get kids to climb a lot of steps!

After that we drove back to the hotel to rest before dinner.  We went to the Mustard Seed Restaurant across the river.  This was one of my favorite meals.  We had a Pimms-and-Lemonade drink to start.  (it's not really lemonade -- it's 7-Up)  That was amazing.  Can't wait to make that at home.  Karen got a monk fish wrapped in prosciutto.  I had the Beef Wellington.  And Josh had Salmon.  There wasn't a trace of food leftover (save some fries on Josh's plate), it was that good.  And for dessert, Karen got the Banoffee (Bananas and Toffee dessert from the UK) and Josh and I split an apple and cinnamon crumble.  Oh mamma.  Best dinner so far on the trip.  Glad I worked out earlier today. 

That's it for today.  We make the 3 hour drive down to Edinburgh tomorrow for our final Scotland city before we head south into England.  Should be quite festive in Edinburgh with all of the festivals going on. 

Urquhart

Inverness City

Loch Ness Submarine

Loch Ness Exhibition Building

Urquhart

Urquhart

Urquhart

Urquhart

Urquhart

People playing Cricket!

Mustard Seed Restaurant

Mustard Seed Restaurant

Beef Wellington

Banoffee Dessert