Skye to Inverness to Braemer

I’m beginning to doubt the existence of Nessie.
After leaving Skye we headed back to the mainland. Stopped at Eilean Donnan Castle- (another castle-yawn!). Our other activity was cancelled due to storm damage and power being out so we did a short hike among some ruins (Brochs) and bushwhacked through a soggy farm field to see some displaced standing stone. Old rocks. Ray was really grasping at straws to keep us entertained in the face of all the storm closures and damage.
Speaking of which- there had been some grumbling amongst our little group about the quality of the trip in general and Ray’s lack of familiarity with the program. I hate to even write about this cuz it’s such a first world problem, but you know how I love a little drama! The trip had been billed as “deluxe” and “luxury”. But one of the couples had been on tours with those same designations and this one did not stack up. Although all of the hotels had been upgrades, the meals were less impressive. So no drinks were included with any of the meals- alcoholic or otherwise. If I wanted a Diet Coke with dinner, I had to make a point of stopping at the desk to pay for it on the way out. At this time 4 of the lunches had been brown bag affairs sitting in a soggy van. Stuff like that. Plus- while Ray is a super nice guy and very knowledgeable, getting information out of him was a bit like pulling teeth. And he was not much of an advocate for this one couple whose suitcase full of clothes had inadvertently been place beneath a leak in the roof. So, the New York Lawyer took it upon herself to email the main office and advise them of our complaints. Since then the brown bag lunches have ended and drinks are on the company. But I’m really feeling badly for Ray- who is truly a good soul and was not trained properly for a less challenging more posh trip such as this one. We will try to make it up in tip.
Anyhow- on with the trip.
It was a long day of driving but finally we were parallel to the bonnie shores of Loch Ness. I had told Ray that I wanted a picture with Nessie and he gave me a look that communicated quite clearly that he thought I was nuts. Now, understand. This is a guy that has been spinning stories about fairies and brownies and trolls and giants non stop since we started as if these are true origin stories. I mention I want a picture with a sea monster and I’M the one who’s crazy???? Anyhoo, Ray talked a bit about the history of Nessie and how the guy who took the original picture confessed on his death bed that it was a fake. However tons of boats equipped with sonar have discerned large amorphous shapes near the bottom of this very deep loch but have been unable to identify what they are. One theory is that they are eels. I’m hangin on by a thread to the Nessie explanation. But no photo op.
We stopped in Inverness at a very nice place next to the river. The next day quite a lot of driving. We toured the Cullodon Battlefield, site of the last battle of the Jacoby uprisings and then went to Cairngorms National Park- again, a bunch of old rocks. But somewhat interesting plus the weather had cleared and we even saw some sun so it was very pleasant.
Driving further south we came to Braemar and our hotel for the next two nights. The Fifearms. It is quite a place- owned by Swiss art dealers and full of art and interesting sculptures and murals wherever you look. There are even 2 original Picassos here! And a life size Queen Victoria just down from our room. You have to see it to get it.
Tomorrow is a palace I’m interested in. Balmoral. I’m very excited!もっと詳しく