Oh yea. We went to Europe...

Like I was saying, after St. Andrew's we went to Inverness. The train ride was LOOOOOOONG, but it was nice to see all the gorgeous scenery around us. When we arrived in Inverness, we were pleased to find that our B&B was just a short walk away. This was so pleasant because we had to walk eight miles (or what felt like...) to every other B&B.(At the TI when we arrived. It was closed, but turned out to be a great time for a photo)

The B&B owners were so sweet. This was my favorite Bed ad Breakfast that we stayed in our whole trip. We got into town a little late, so we decided to have dinner and then take it easy. We walked down the street, in Patrick and Ashley fashion, to a hotel with an open dining room. Patrick enjoyed fish and chips, while I ate chili with sweet potato fries! We looked through the movies at the B&B and Patrick graciously let me pick. So we watched About a Boy.

With only one full day in Inverness, we got started pretty early. After a fantastic breakfast, we headed to the TI and got tickets for the Loch Ness Tour. We walked around Inverness for a bit and then found the bus station to get on our tour bus.

The tour was a little over three and a half hours. We drove around Inverness and learned a little history before going to the Loch Ness (loch is like a lake). From there we boarded a boat that took us to Urqhart Castle, or rather it's remains. The site offered incredible views of the loch and glen and the castle history was really facinating.

Urqhart Castle remains...

From the inside, looking out....

We couldn't leave the tour without a stop at the Loch Ness exhibition (seriously.). We watched five or six short films about the Loch Ness monster, Nessie. They really make a killing off of all kinds of Nessie gifts. It's very funny. However, the conclusion of the film was that Nessie didn't exist. This did not stop people from buying stuffed Nessie's, T-shirt with Nessie smiling kindly or key chains with Nessie and the name of any child on each one.(I told you they took advantage of her...Nessie...the made up monster...that they made a replica of in front of the museum...)

When we finally arrived back in Inverness, we stopped at Leakey's for lunch. This place was recommended by Rick Steve's, so we had to try. It is a second hand bookstore that use to be a church. It's incredible inside and out! There is a small cafe on the second floor loft. The meal was fresh, local and homemade and so delicious!

Back to the B&B to freshen up. Patrick napped while I looked through the guidebook. We decided to have an early dinner since Inverness is (as advised and witnessed) a rough city. Perhaps the mid-day bar fight that caused chaos in the town square clued us in. We grabbed dinner at Number 27. It wasn't bad, but we wouldn't go back. We only had an hour to eat because they "allowed" us to have a table between reservations.

We didn't want to stay at the resturaunt for dessert (or maybe we weren't allowed) so we went a local Italian place. However, Abeerdeen played Inverness in football that night, they were too crowded. Sadly, we stopped and settled for a McDonald's sundae. We were pleased that the McDonald's in Europe were clean and fresh and healthy. Hum.

Before going to bed, we played a few games of hot dice. We went to bed early because we had a long day of traveling ahead of us.

The Loch Ness

Represent...