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| | The Highlands | |||
Inverness & Loch Ness |
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One summer our kids wanted to look for the Loch Ness Monster, so we took the train up to Inverness. Along with exploring Loch Ness, there's also the historic battlefield of Culloden where Bonnie Prince Charlie was trounced by the British, Cawdor Castle (shades of Macbeth), and dolphin watching on Moray Firth. |
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Loch Ness – | ||
 Loch Ness cruise– If you're going to do one thing in
Inverness, it's take the kids on a boat ride (1, 2 or 3 hour cruises) down Loch Ness to look
for Nessie. The legends of "Nessie" go back aways. The oldest
legend, from 565 AD, concerns St.Columba. One of his disciples was swimming
across the lake, when the monster rose up "with a great roar and open mouth."
St. Columba commanded Nessie to drop the guy and the monster obeyed. Nessie
may not put in an appearance, but you'll have a great afternoon cruising
this lovely loch. For cruises: Loch Ness by Jacobite . |
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Urquhart Castle – On the edge of the Loch Ness
sits the ruins of Urquhart castle. It hasn't crumbled all on its own –
part of it was blown up in 1692. Don't be surprised if you hear a bagpiper
piping tunes that evoke the ghosts of clans past – he's real. You can
run up and down the grassy ruined rooms or just sit peacefully on the stone
ramparts, watching the wind ruffle waves on Loch Ness. |
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Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition (Drumnadrochit)
– In this fascinating multimedia exhibition, you'll hear about different
legends of Nessie, and scientific research to get to the bottom of this
mystery. This very long, very cold, deep lake has been studied by expeditions
in small submarines and by sonar detection. The very geology of the lake
sets the scene for legends of the very elusive creature, thought to be a
dragon in ancient times, and more recently, a plesiosaur. |
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Inverness – | ||
| Walk along the River Ness – The River Ness is
a wonderful spot for a stroll through town, with views of Inverness Castle
on the hill. Next the river, there's a small cemetary, Chapel Street
Cemetery, with old gravestones and interesting inscriptions. |
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| Dolphin watching on Moray Firth – From the Inverness Marina, pick up a cruise
along the Moray Firth to look for bottle nosed dolphins. Along with dolphins,
you'll see seals, porpoises, and sea birds such as osprey and terns. |
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Around Inverness |
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Fun food – |
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If your kids like salmon, we had the best Scotch smoked salmon, for lunch, for tea, for dinner. Also, shortbreads, scones and other pastries are delicious. Also, when you see it on the menu, try the Clootie Dumpling pudding. It's "sort of like a sponge pudding with raisins and currants in it. You mix all the ingredients in a batter, put them in a cloth (cloot) and steam the whole thing. When it's done, you slice it, and eat it with hot custard." |
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Shopping – |
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Lots of fun things to buy, including the ever popular tam o'shanter in various plaids, silvery jewelry, clan insignia, sweaters, and various bright green Nessies. |
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