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Inverness
Travel Dates: August 22-23, 2005.
Inverness was both our favourite and, unfortunately, the shortest stop in our tour of Scotland. The people were absolutely fantastic and helpful above-and-beyond the call of duty. We were literally chauffeured around the town by locals!
Inverness reminds me a bit of a bizzarro version of my own hometown, North Bay. A mirror opposite--the town, the people who live there, and the hospitality are everything my town should be.
Scottish By Birth, British By Law, Highlander by the Grace of God!
I can't thank the owner of the Smithton Hotel, Norry, enough for driving us to and from the Culloden Battlefield and taking us to a local pub. And many thanks go out to my friends Paul and Carol, whom I met several years ago in Cancun. We went out for dinner with them and they took the entire next morning off of work and drove us all around Loch Ness and to Urquhart Castle. Now that's more than a wee bit kind of 'em!
Things Paul Says That I Don't Understand: "Ma heeds knittin!", "Aroon the heelan capital oh michty me", "Boiled frog syndrome", "Crikey, we could have done a fly by", "It's pis*ing down here ", "Ring me from a non mobile", "Better shoot the crow", "Wee kilted pin men", "Anyway, think I've parroted on a bit".
"Reflections"
When I think back to Scotland now--almost two years after my visit, it's Inverness that always comes to mind and tugs strongly at my heartstrings. Its rolling foggy hills, its towns, the pastures of thousands of sheep, the rivers, and all the great people I met there. It makes my eyes misty with longing.
I think I have unfinished business in Inverness. A revisit in the hopefully not too distant future is definitely in order.
Recommended Movie: "Incident at Loch Ness (2004)".
