Inverness...gaelic for mouth of the River Ness...

We traveled north, to what is known as the "Capital of the Highlands" to experience the 'craic', Gaelic for a chat or light hearted conversation...


You know how Ren Man loves a good 'craic'...so we headed to a wee place overlooking the river ...

The Castle Tavern which implies the view...

Inverness Castle built in 1836, which today houses the Inverness Sheriff Court...


Sitting high above the banks of the River Ness like a protective defender of its past... and future...


We enjoyed the views of Inverness...

 and...

that foot bridge took us across the river and I would love to show you close ups of the bridge itself...


but, alas... there were other pedestrians on the bridge at the same time ... and ... well... 


it was bouncy...-"-...-"-...


however, it took us to the other side...

stumbling across The Old High Church...mostly 18th century...with 19th century additions and part of the bell tower date back to the 14th century...

where the town curfew still rings each and every night at 8:00 p.m....


oh how I wish I had asked our new found friends from The Castle Tavern about this...


You can just feel the history seeping out of the ground...


Wanting to get a closer look as we walked alongside, I asked Ren Man how he thought we could get inside...

"You have to die to get in there..."

Honestly...he does make me want to communicate more clearly in the future...

Supposedly, inside, there is a 'Father Willis Organ' that is in the process of being restored...

Father Willis Organ 


This is now on my list of must do's because we were ignorant of being so close and not trying harder to get inside... without having to die of course... 


We then walked to High Street and found the quaintest indoor shopping mall...I know, I know you wouldn't think we would want to shop when we had many other, more historical choices...


meanwhile...Victorian Market, the original indoor market built in 1870, was quietly, waiting, in all its uniqueness, for our arrival...

for all of our Scottish needs...

it seems... Inverness is an important center for bagpipe players and lovers of all things bagpipes...THE place to be in September when the city hosts the most prestigious solo piping competition in the world...


Remember our 'craic' at The Castle Tavern...well, one of our new friends works with his dad at the William Morrison Watchmaker and Jeweller ... he seems incredibly knowledgeable about vintage and antique jewelry ... and his shop is located in this preservation worthy shopping center... 


After hours of exploring Inverness we caught a taxi out to our place...

well... our place of residence for the night!

There we are... Lord and Lady of The Culloden House Hotel... welcoming the other guests... 

You will need to click here on Discoveries or on the tab above for the lovely details of this hotel which still have me feeling regal...


And, for those of you who are enamored with aliens and Big Foot, click here on Puzzlers or on the tab above for our journey to find...

the Loch Ness monster...