Inverness to Skye - 17 June 2012

I am now writing this whilst on the train from Inverness to Kyle of Localsh, Isle of Skye where we will spend 2 nights and a hire car to see it properly (looking forward to lots of great fish restaurants) then get the Hogwarts Express (otherwise known as the Jacobite Steam Train) on the most scenic rail trip in the world.

You can see from this little video thatvthere were a few stops between Inverness and Kyle of  Localsh (train station just over the bridge from Skye).  If I ever have a few hours to spare I may just get around to loading the other 2 videos of the train journey.

The trip is very scenic (but the train windows were very dirty, so apologies for the poor quality videos/photos.

coming into Kyle of Localsh

Inverness - 16th June 2012

 On Saturday we took the train to Inverness and stayed at a lovely little B&B.  A bit of a hike from the station but we eventually found it, but not without a bit of a mishap in the street.  Note to self: do not stand with suitcase on angle as Chris does not look at feet when walking across road, hence, with a bit of momentum behind him he ended up in middle of road with scun leg.   I laughed anyway as it was very funny (but of cause it was all my fault).  After finally getting to the B&B, we ingraciated ourselves to the owner by promptly knocking over a lamp and vase of flowers in the hallway (Chris isn’t used to carrying a backpack).  We dumped our bags and went on a trip to Loch Ness and a ruined castle.  It was a bit drizzly so the pictures don’t do it justice, but the loch is beautiful. 

inverness



our boat

chris enjoying the boat trip on loch ness

a little cottage on loch ness

urqhart castle

We went out for dinner that night having seen a really great pub not far from the b&b.  No we hadn't booked, and no we didn't feel like waiting an hour for a table.

Lesson No 4, even in the middle of Scotland you have to book a good restaurant for a Saturday night, so we ended up eating at the only one we could get into, and there was a reason it wasn’t booked out, it was pretty ordinary.  It wasn't even worth reviewing on trip adviser.

 

Aberdeen 14 - 15 June 2012

We travelled from Edinburgh to Aberdeen on Thursday 14^th June.  Luckily we got to sit with 2 locals from Aderdeen so we managed to find out all the important things like the best places to eat and what they think about the upcoming referendum on scottish independence.

Here you can see the old train track across the river (it collapsed, we were told).  Luckily they finished the new one in time for our trip.

Aberdeen is fairly ‘non-descript’, or maybe ‘god forsaken’is a better description. They made the whole town out of granite, so it glints in the sun, but don’t let that fool you, it is very windy and cold. First we went to the maritime museum. Not worth the entry fee, and that is saying something as it is free. It needs a good overhaul (hence, no pictures as there was nothing worth taking). We decided to take a tour of a whisky distillery, Glenfiddich, still family owned, which is a rarity in Scotland. 

It was an OK tour as tours go.The best part was the ‘wee drams’ of whisky we tried at the end of the tour, 12, 15 & 18 year old whiskys.Chris bought a 15 year old, it had been aged in an old sherry barrel so it had a nice spice to it (now I sound like one of those really pretentious a……s!).Part of the tour also included a castle owned by Lady Russell.She has lots of photos strategically placed around on tables and walls of the royal family i.e. Christmas cards from Charles and the boys, wedding invitation to Kate and William’s wedding, letters from the Queen mother etc.The castle wasn’t that grand as far as castles go, but we could tick it off the bucket list. It had a nice garden, a stream for salmon fishing and a couple of llamas (as you do).  Picture below. 

We stayed 2 nights in Aberdeen (1 too many really). Had a great meal at Bistro Verde (read my review on trip advisor) and the next night had a curry at the Jewel in the Crown. Lesson No 3, the restaurant portions are huge in Indian restaurants in the UK. One naan took up half the table (we originally ordered 2 but the waiter said one was enough) and would have fed a small 3^rdworld country for a day.