Another good day. Our room was hot when we arrived, no air conditioning in most of the hotels in the Highlands and of course Europe is experiencing a heat wave. Here in the Scottish Highlands it is not nearly as warm as we are accustomed to in Georgia, but it is warm for Scotland summers. We did have a fan so we opened the window and turned the fan on. By the time we returned from dinner it was much cooler. I finally turned the fan off around 2:00 AM and slept well. Carl and Janet didn't have as good a night. when they returned from dinner, their room key didn't work. A lady came by and asked if this was their room, and they answered in the affirmative. She said she had also been given this room, but when she opened the door she saw luggage. They both went to the front desk and Janet and Carl were told that wasn't their room. Well, they were given a key and their luggage had been marked with the room number and sent to that room. Eventually, it was sorted out and they kept the room, but then the power went out in all the room but the bathroom. When they tried to call the front desk they realized they did not have a phone in the room. Janet had to get dressed and trek to the front desk to get a breaker reset. They said it was hot all night.
The block with our Hotel
After an excellent Scottish breakfast (I had haggis for the third time and each time it has been totally different but delicious), we left for our cruise on Loch Ness which we were supposed to have done yesterday.
Views of Loch Ness
The average depth of Loch Ness is over 400 feet and the deepest part is 755 feet deep. Loch Ness contains more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. Unfortunately, we did not spot Nessie.
After our cruse down Loch Ness, we disembarked at Urquhart Castle. The castle is in ruins, as it has been since 1692 when it was destroyed to prevent its use by the Jacobite forces. The ruins today are from from the 13th to the 16th century, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. It is a beautiful area and has an interesting history, which I won't go into here. But... if you have seen one castle ruins, well you know the rest.
After leaving the castle we returned to Inverness for a quick lunch. It had to be quick because we had a 2:00 PM appointment for a Scotch distillery tour. Malcomb told us lunch would be at a garden center (think Home Depot or Lowes). I wasn't expecting much, maybe a cafeteria with sandwiches.
Instead, we had a most incredible bowl of smoked haddock chowder served with oat wafers (think Trisket flavor). The chowder had huge chucks of haddock with onions and other vegetables. It was very filling. This was followed by a delicious sconce with whipped butter and jam. As incredible as the meal was, I was most impressed with the presentation and service. Remember this was the Scottish equivalent of a Home Depot. We had china service and real flatware. The table service was attentive, and those who order tea received their own teapot. This at a "garden center". We don't get service or food quality like this in the states even at a "better" restaurant.
Next was a visit to the Singleton single malt whiskey distillery Glen Ord, which was founded in 1838. We had a most interesting and informative tour of the facilities which ended with a tasting.
The vents or pagodas on the original distillery from 1834
The black on the walls is actually a mold which thrives on alcohol! A distillery is an ideal location to live.
Here is a bottle of 54 year old Singleton. It can be yours for 28,580 pounds (about $35,000).
If that is a little steep, you can have this bottle of 42 year old for only 3,000 pounds.
The onsite aging warehouse. It only holds 13,000 barrels. The vast majority is aged offsite.
The fermenting room.
We then made our way back to the hotel, arriving around 4:00 PM. After about an hours rest we decided to walk the Nessie Walk. This is a trail down the Ness River, across to Ness Island then back up the island and cross to the other side. It is about 1.5 miles total. A very pleasant walk.
We finally found Nessie!
As mentioned yesterday, the Scotch take honoring their war heroes very seriously. After finishing our walk, we passed this memorial on the way to dinner.
We were astounded at the number of Frasers represented on the memorial. This being Kay's maiden name. In this area there are Fraser stores, streets named Fraser, etc.
We finally made it to the Black Iles Pub for dinner
I started with a Coffee and Vanilla Porter. Oh, my was it good...
It took a while for our pizza to arrive so I had a pint of their cask mild bitters, also good.
View looking up the Ness.
Tomorrow, we visit a cheese factory among other things along our way to Aberdeen.
Till then...
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