Greetings from Fort William on the mainland of Scotland, where the weather is a bit warmer, less windy and, perhaps, a wee bit sunnier!
and a chart detailing body parts, which, when stabbed with a knife, would result in death, and the time it would take for that death to occur.
But this town is brimming with tourists from Europe as well as Asia, and, of course, America. (Besides us, of course).
In fact, we've seen quite a few Americans on this particular trip, due to the Ryder Cup being played, here in Scotland, this weekend. Last I heard, the American team was ahead.
I'll be quite honest and tell you that I had no idea what the Ryder Cup even was. In fact, I thought it was a horse race. That brought quite a laugh from our last B&B hostess.
It all came to light as we headed out north on Tuesday, out of Inverkeithing towards the Cairngorms and I spotted a giant blown up Golf Ball off in the distance. Unfortunately, Marty was driving too fast for me to manage to snap a photo, so you'll just have to leave that image to your imagination.
Apparently quite a number of Americans came over to watch the event, and planned side trips to coincide, which explains, once again, why I had such a difficult time booking rooms.
But this area is busy due to the fascination with climbing Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in all of Scotland. People come from all over the world to attempt to climb the cliffs. Rest assured, that I am not one of them!
But, let me back track to this morning. As Marty and I headed off the Isle of Skye, the weather was miserable, but as I turned my head, what did I see? A beautiful rainbow nearly in the same spot as when we arrived on Thursday, but not quite as brilliant.
I wonder what the chances are of that?
Our first stop was Eilean Donan Castle.
No bright blue sky to highlight this castle today. I can only imagine how beautiful it would look with a little sunshine bouncing off the walls.
Eilean Donan translates Island of Donan from the Gaelic. It was named for St. Donan who came to the island in 580 and it is believed that he lived in a small cell there as a hermit.
In 1260, King Alexander II had a castle built on the island to protect his subjects from Viking invasions. It passed through many owners over the years, finally being partially destroyed during a Jacobite uprising in 1719.
For 200 years it lay in ruins until Lt. Col John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911. He spent 20 years restoring the castle to its former glory.
We were able to tour the interior of the castle and learn the history of the MacRae family who continues to own this magnificent building. No photos of the interior were permitted to protect the privacy of the family who continues to use the building throughout the year.
Since the castle juts out into the spot where 3 lochs meet, you can well imagine the beautiful views
Marty was still looking for that sea monster
And, for a minute, it appeared as if he just may have found a couple
We ventured around the grounds of the castle, managing to dodge the raindrops, but were full victims to the heavy winds. The wind even managed to blow Marty's knit cap off his head! Luckily he was able to retrieve it between gales!
Around the side of the castle stands this monument to the victims of World War I. The inscription on the bottom is written by the man who rebuilt the castle, Lt. Col. John Mcrae:
We are the dead, short days ago
we lived, felt dawn, saw sunsets glow,
loved and were loved, and now we lie
in Flanders Fields.
Once again, a reminder of how many young men lost their lives in a single battle.
With the weather so cold and blustery, Marty and I decided to stop into the cafe for some tea before continuing our journey. I took this shot from the cafe window.
As they say in Scotland, "Brilliant!"
Refreshed and ready to go, we began our travels east, driving along the road which borders one loch after another while weaving in and out of mountain ranges.
We stopped for a photo of the mountain range known as the 5 sisters:
Don't ask me which are the 5 sisters, as there are obviously way more than 5 mountains in this section. There must be a couple of brothers stuck in there that no one mentions in the tour books.
Finally, we made it to our destination of Fort William and the Berkeley Hotel.
We wasted no time checking in and heading into town to the information center. The young lady recommended that we check out the Highlander Museum. It was free admittance, so why not?
What a wealth of information is stored behind those walls!
The very first room that we entered was devoted to the Scottish Commandoes, an elite group of men who were trained in stealth warfare specifically to deal with Hitler's forces during World War II. This area where we are staying, which was sparsely populated at the time, became the training ground for this group due to the severity in climate, wild mountains and remote glens.
It was fascinating to learn about the training, and to see that American Rangers trained here as well.
Some of the artifacts were interesting, if not macabre.
Special guns for warfare
Something I'm sure I would have never thought would be documented anywhere, but it was one of the training tools that these Commandoes used.
Moving along, we were able to go through the many rooms of Highland history, and, once again, ended up in the Jacobite era room which was filled with many interesting artifacts.
First, there was a bagpipe that had been played in Bannockburn in 1319, which I found pretty amazing. I learned that the harp was actually the first musical instrument introduced to Scotland, but this bagpipe obviously had been around for quite a long time!
Included in the collection was a vest from Bonnie Prince Charles
I had seen a similar vest in a different museum. He must have been leaving his clothes around as he hurried to escape the country after Culloden.
There was, yet again, another lock of his hair on display. Marty made the comment that the guy gave away a lot of his hair. I can't help but wonder if people snuck a cut in, here and there, as he was sleeping. Surely he didn't have the time to be giving out hair samples for souvenirs!
Moving on, we decided to check out Inverlochy castle, which stands along the River Lochy just on the outskirts of town.
The castle was built in 1280 by John Comyn. It has 10 m high angled walls to prevent against scaling ladders, and nearly 10 ft. widths to those walls. The construction was pretty impressive. Unfortunately, it was abandoned in 1690 for a wooden fort built nearby, and the ruins have been standing since. Even Queen Victoria was "unimpressed" when she came to visit.
Although there was a schematic of what it would have looked like in 1260 when it was first constructed.
One can only imagine.
By this time, Marty was itching to see Ben Nevis. As I mentioned, this is the highest mountain in Scotland, and Marty wanted a closer look.
So, we headed off in the direction of the Ben Nevis Visitor center. It was closed when we arrived, but it wasn't too difficult to see where the mountain was. After all, it is taller than all of the others surrounding it.
But we decided to walk along and get a better view than the one from the parking lot.
I took this view so that you can get the romantic feeling of the stone wall along the fields, with sheep munching away, and Ben Nevis looming in the distance. The cloud was kind enough to lift so that you can see the cap of the mountain.
Marty took this, so that he could prove that we were there, although it does appear that the mountain is a bit washed out here. But we look pretty good…..don't you think?
And, this was my favorite, taken from a suspension bridge across the river. The view was pretty awesome, if you ask me.
By now it was time to head for dinner at a local restaurant. With today being my birthday, I decided to celebrate and order dessert, which was a sampler of 4 different desserts, along with a cappuccino.
Great idea on my part!
If you think it looks good……you are absolutely right!
And, if you think it was too much…….no way! I enjoyed every bite!
Until tomorrow…….
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