Now left Skye. Drove by Eilean Donan Castle. Didn't stop there,
but detoured to small streets on the other side of the highway for
Manuela's Wee Bakery.
Fanciful little cabins (only for display) with curved roof and odd decorations.
A small "trail" goes around the property including a bridge.
The main building sells coffee and pastry.
PS said that the coffee was good.
Took A887 towards Loch Ness. Nice big lake (largest fresh water lake in Scottish highland, 2nd largest in Scotland). Long and narrow, no monsters, not even fake ones. Pretty unassuming.
In the middle of the lake's west shore is Urquhart castle. Great setting.
Founded in the 13th century, partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent its use by Jacobite.
In 1296 Urquhart was captured by Edward I of England, marked the beginning of the Wars of Scottish Independence, which would go on intermittently until 1357.
Parking is difficult. Crowded with tour buses, and tour boats.
Here I bought the 7-day Scotland's Explorer Pass for £44 (otherwise, £14).
Corrimony Chambered Cairn west of the castle on Glen (river) Urquhart is maybe 4000 years old.
A burial camber Clava Cairn.
Bones were found here.
I crawled into the low gate. The walls here may have been restored.
Glen Affric is a bit underwhelming. My guidebook touted it as the prettiest glen. The long arrow road ends at a reservoir. May need to hike more for better scenery. From the viewpoint and the campground, the views are so-so.
We stayed at Clunebeg Lodge Guest House, feels like a shared house. I liked it here, nice farm, large kitchen and living room for all guests. Not many guest rooms. The owner lives in another building close by. You can only check-in ~4-6pm.
6/8 Thursday. Almost hit a pheasant driving out of the guest house. Saw one more later and a few brown rabbits. Made a mistake of deleting all my photos on the phone...
Beauly Priory now only has a church building, without a roof. Started in the 13th century, rebuilt 1530.
Beautiful, not crowded at all.
Did a forest walk/hike to visit Fryish Monument. About 2 miles one way, flat.
Seems just pillars of some former church.
Great view of Cromarty Firth (strait) to the east (morning is not good for photos).
Detoured to the north of Moray Firth for Fortrose Cathedral, episcopal seat of the medieval Scottish diocese of Ross. 13th century.
Red sandstone made the ruin look prettier.
Inverness (mouth of River Ness) is a sizable town. It offers dolphin cruise and other attractions.
I'm surprised at how many roundabouts we had to drive through.
Made a short visit to its Botanic Garden.
It's small, but has a green house with a pond, even a maze, and a cactus garden. Okay, not many plants have labels.
The cafe was quite busy.
Next, more Clava Cairns nearby. This classification is named after the 3 burial cairns here at Balnuaran of Clava.
These 4000 year old structures have signs of being used until ~2000BC.
One a stone ring.
Quite a few visitors today.
Back on A97.
Short stop to admire Sueno Stone, the largest surviving Pics stone of ~9th century, encased in glass.
Quite impressive. Over 6m high.
Different patterns on all 4 sides, still visible after all these years of erosion.
Drove all the way to Elgen to see the cathedral.
On the way, passing many oat fields.
£10 or Explorer Pass. You can see the ruin from outside of the fence.
Set east-west. 2 towers on the west side have stairs up. Each floor has some exhibition.
1224. Central tower clapsed in 1711, and it has been a ruin since.
Dufus Castle sits in the middle of large green fields. A parking lot, no ticket.
Nice short walk to stretch the legs. No shade.
12th century.
Detoured to see Burghead Well.
Had to go to a bar (Bothy Bistro on Grant Street) to ask for a key.
Not much to see, you descend a few stairs to see the water.
Afterwards, walked to the head to see the Burghead Fort.
Nothing remains from the old times.
This is the visitor center (closed when we were there, open only 1-4pm), used by coast guard.
Quite a few are out here taking advantage of then benche.
A little windy.
Heading south now to the lowlands and cities.
Drove by the east side of Cairngorm National Park.
Overnight at Dalmunzie Castle.
In reality, it looks smaller than the advertisement.
The room has a lovely sitting area with a semi-circle bay window.
After checking in, I decided to walk around the property.
There's a gold course here, but no one (maybe because it was too late).
Busy restaurant, catering to a large group.
PS was tired: we drove a lot today.
I slept in the bathtub tonight, on maybe 6 pillows.
Didn't realize that the bottom of the tub is often smaller than the surface.
Tomorrow, we are going to the towns.
