Thanks to the suggestion of my train-mate, Carol on my way from Glasgow to Fort William, I carved out some time to come up and explore Inverness. Inverness is the northernmost city in the United Kingdom and is considered the capital of the Highlands. The Gaelic king Mac Bethad Mac Findláich (Macbeth) whose 11th-century murder of King Duncan was immortalized by Shakespeare held a castle within the city. It's also home to Culloden, where the gruesome battle between Jacobites and the English was fought in the 18th century. Further, it sits on Loch Ness, which obviously is home to the famous monster, Nessie. Clearly, it holds a lot of history and is worthy of exploration.
Getting there meant another four hour train journey from Edinburgh
. Once again, beautiful scenes of mountains, fog, moors and heather melted away outside my window. I arrived at four in the afternoon, and as winter has arrived, in darkness. I checked in to my lovely little B&B, Iona Guesthouse, operated by a kind and wonderfully eccentric woman named Wendy and wandered over to the city to scrounge some dinner. The river Ness runs through the city, and several foot bridges span over the rushing current. My favorite is right off of Greig street, and is called "bouncy bridge" as it's a suspension bridge so when you walk over it gently bounces. The current is quite strong, and as the black water rushes underneath, you feel as though you're floating over the water - gently bobbing up and down with every step. Inverness has a lot to offer in exploration, but it is a fairly small city as cities go. You can easily walk the whole downtown in an hour or less. For it's size it still offers a large amount of amenities in restaurants and shops so finding dinner wasn't an issue.
After a good sleep I was ready for adventure
. The biggest challenge is always figuring out how to get places without a car. I have to say I'm quite proud of myself for navigating and thus far have had no issues getting anywhere. This particular morning I wanted to visit Urquhart Castle, and found passage by bus. This was my first bus journey, as I've been doing well with trains, trams and legs! The bus was quite comfortable and apparently so was the driver as we whipped around the narrow highland roads with ease... Urquhart Castle is one of the largest in the highlands and the present ruins date from the 13th century, but there is evidence that the castle was built atop even earlier ruins belonging to the Picts. When the bus pulled up the entire bus exhaled a loud whoa - it's that impressive. The castle sits on the banks of Loch Ness, and is surrounded by rolling munros in every direction. The ruins have been impeccably preserved and you are able to climb down to the dungeons to the tops of the turrets. Urquhart was the scene of many a battle between the Scots and the English, the MacDonalds were particularly passionate and raided the castle many times. The Grant family, whom were given the land and fortress by the king in 1509 finally blew the whole place up to keep it out of Jacobite hands. The day was mostly clear, with a few errant drops of rain, and really rather windy and really very cold, so by the time I had climbed every spire my face and hands were numb. Right before I headed back to the visitor center, standing on one of the ramparts, two matte black fighter jets flew by
. They were LOW, just a bit above my head, and skimmed over the Loch so fast that I blinked a few times wondering if they were actually there at all. SO COOL. My Papa would have loved that - and I thought of him, mentally trying to send him the image.
The next day was forecasted to be sunny, and I planned to use the weather for an epic day of walking and exploring. The destination was Culloden Battlefield and the Clava Cairns. Once again traveling by bus, I asked the driver to drop me at the junction between Culloden and the cairns. It's about a mile walk from the junction to the cairns - a winding, one way road that travels through stunning countryside full of bleating sheep and fuzzy highland cows. It was indeed sunny and the light made everything shine as if touched by angels. Leaves burst into flame as the wind blew them across the sky and the boggy pools were molten gold. The sun was so bright it was actually warm which made for an incredibly pleasant walk. The highland air is so clear, and tastes like nature
. I enjoyed every second of that mile, not really caring when or where I was arriving. That changed when I did eventually stumble to the entrance to the cairns. Three burial cairns exist at this site, low circular mounds left quietly from the bronze age. The BRONZE AGE. Thousands of years later, these tombs still stand, seemingly untouched by the world or by time. Each burial mound is encircled by a ring of standing stones, the largest and tallest at the entrance to each tomb, with the smallest at the back. I really can't describe this for you adequately. Breathtaking. Enchanting. Otherworldly. The whole scene is set in a grove of large, ancient trees with their huge roots climbing and tumbling over rocks and mossy ground. In fact the whole grove is covered in bright green moss, which makes the whole scene light up with a green hue. It's pin drop quiet, with the only noise coming from the wind whooshing down from the mountains and making the leaves shudder and fall. You truly feel inconsequential. Time does not matter here. The stones seem to watch you as you circle - there's an uncanny awareness that fills the grove, and I can understand completely how Diana Gabaldan was inspired to write Outlander here
. The split stones and the entrance to the third tomb were where she got the idea for Claire to slip through time to 18th century Scotland. I touched the stones, holding my breath to see if the stones would take me too. Alas, I seem to be deemed acceptable for this century only, and as I let my breath out I walk quietly back to the country road, silently bidding the stones and whatever strange energy they hold adieu.
I made my way back to the junction, this time setting my course towards Culloden. Culloden was the final battle of the Jacobite uprising of 1745 and the last hand-to-hand battle fought on British soil. The entire battle lasted less than an hour and brutally butchered over 1,500 highlanders. The battle signified the end of the highland way of life, with tartans and clans being banned in the years after. The Bonny Prince Charlie had won every other skirmish with the English, but after a cold hard winter, with troops scattered throughout Scotland, his last stand at Culloden would be the end of the hopes of a Scottish king back on the throne
. After marching through the night, the highlanders were exhausted and were no match for the artillery and bayonets of the English. They were mowed down where they stood and buried in mass graves on the moor. There is a brilliant and interactive museum here now, which brings the battle to life and paints a very accurate picture of what it must have been like. You also get a GPS activated audio guide to take onto the field which tells you the story of the battle as you walk. You can easily spend hours here, and I did. I didn't know beforehand, but the MacAlisters fought here, a part of the Glen Garrry clan. None were killed in the battle, as the Glen Garry was on the far left of the line. To stand on the bleak and windy moor, imagining the short, gruesome battle is something. The amount of courage the highlanders must have had to charge into battle with dirks and pistols against the brute force of cannons and bayonets is incredible. After watching an absolutely amazing film that reenacts the battle, I found myself crying for the loss of not only lives, but culture. The English crushed the highlander men that day, but also their way of life. After Culloden, the Highland Clearances began, with brutal evictions of clans from their land with little or no notice. Coupled with the "voluntary" emigration to other areas (North America and Australia included), this devastated the Gaelic culture which is still apparent today. Most Scots do not speak Gaelic, and the highlands depend on tourism as their largest industry with few people actually living there. In fact, most Scots I've met in Glasgow and Edinburgh haven't ever been!!!
After exploring every last inch of the moor, I hobbled back to visitor center and helped myself to a large pot of butternut squash soup and a nutty, delicious gluten free roll drenched in butter. This could have been my best meal yet. I finished my feast and made ready to go when I found out by the desk workers that the next bus wasn't until after five - three hours from then! Apparently in off season the bus stops running on the hour. They told me I'd have better luck walking to the next town, about a mile and a half away. Thank god for the sunshine! Off I went, enjoying more supreme Scottish countryside and this time horses in stead of cows and sheep. As I made it to Ballach, my bus pulled up at the same moment I did. A short while later I was back in the city and in my little B&B.
I cannot encourage a visit to the Highlands enough. Scotland is the most comprehensively beautiful place I've ever been. Sure there are pockets of more intense beauty scattered throughout the world - but really, there's not a bad view in Scotland. The whole country is one big beautiful canvas that the powers above paint daily and whether it's with sun or rain, the country shines.
INTROSPECTIVE IN INVERNESS
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom
Other Entries
-
1CHEERS TO CHANGE
Oct 1132 days priorChicago, United Statesphoto_camera5videocam 0comment 0 -
2DUBLIN DAYS
Oct 1429 days priorDublin, Irelandphoto_camera11videocam 0comment 2 -
3NAVIGATING THE NORTH
Oct 1825 days priorBelfast, United Kingdomphoto_camera23videocam 0comment 1 -
4GATHERING STEAM IN GLASGOW
Oct 2122 days priorGlasgow, United Kingdomphoto_camera25videocam 0comment 4 -
5FAMILY TIES AT THE FORT
Oct 2419 days priorFort William, United Kingdomphoto_camera34videocam 1comment 0 -
6Glas.LOW
Oct 2617 days priorGlasgow, United Kingdomphoto_camera18videocam 0comment 0 -
7BOUNCING AROUND THE 'BURGH
Nov 057 days priorEdinburgh, United Kingdomphoto_camera32videocam 0comment 0 -
8INTROSPECTIVE IN INVERNESS
Nov 12Inverness, United Kingdomphoto_camera39videocam 0comment 2 -
9SCOTTISH REVERIE
Nov 197 days laterEdinburgh, United Kingdomphoto_camera9videocam 0comment 0 -
10MERRY AND BRIGHT
Dec 0523 days laterDublin, Irelandphoto_camera25videocam 0comment 1 -
11GALWAY GIRL
Dec 0927 days laterGalway, Irelandphoto_camera36videocam 3comment 0 -
12CONTENT AT THE CLOSE
Dec 1533 days laterDublin, Irelandphoto_camera6videocam 0comment 0
Comments

2025-02-07
Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank
Joyce Casey
2015-11-12
your photography is absolutely breathtaking. You clearly should be doing this for a living. Your commentary is so interesting and pictures are so professional, You amaze me.
Krishna
2015-11-17
My daughter Krishna forwarded your blog with pics. I am amazed and entertained by all your travels, you do a good job of describing you travels, followed up by your pictures. I enjoyed your experiences through the blog and hope you keep it up. I thanked my daughter Krishna for sharing and now I'm thanking you. Safe travels and keep on blogging. Marcey - @ babyduck61@yahoo.com