The Road to Inverness

After a couple days discovering Edinburgh we were picked up by our driver/guide Scott (who arrived in a kilt! How cool - even it when it was chilly he still wore the kilt. No, we did not ask if he had anything under it - ewwww that you even wondered LOL!) and headed for Inverness. We debated how we were going to get around Scotland - we could rent a car, ride the train, take a bus...we settled on hiring someone who knew the area and all of us came to the same conclusion that it was the best way to see everything and get around. Perfect blend of being on our own in a car without being in a big tour bus or mindlessly riding a train and not finding out anything or know what we were looking at. He was a great guide and never stopped talking, telling stories, pointing things out...he knew it all. Fascinating history, beautiful scenery, great food, perfect weather - what a great trip! We went to St. Andrews Golf Course - we didn't golf but stood on the course just to say we did. We didn't think about it at the time but should have hit up the gift shop for souvenirs! 

St. Andrews

Many stops along the way to see old monuments, cemeteries, castles, battlefields...one time I was in the car with Scott while the others were off looking at something (or hitting a restroom!) and he mentioned we would be going to "Braemar" for lunch. I said that there seems to be a lot of things that start with "brae" and what does it mean? He replied "it means hell". So I asked the obvious which was "why are we going to lunch in hell? and what does "mar" mean then...hole?" hahaha. He laughed and that was the end of the conversation. So later in the day he pointed at a mountain and said the name was something "hell" and all the sudden it occurred to me that he wasn't saying "hell" earlier, he was saying "hill" LOL. I said "wait, when you said brae means hell you actually said that brae means hill?" We didn't have trouble understanding his Scottish accent at all, other than a few little words like that! (Although I did point out that he called me "Jill" just fine and it didn't sound like "Jell" hahaha). 

Anyway...the drive from Edinburgh to Inverness is only a little over 3 hours but we spent the whole day sight-seeing on the way and the last stop before dropping us at our hotel was at a whiskey distillery for a couple little tastings, it was interesting and fun (although 3 out of 4 of us didn't love the whiskey!) and they gave us tiny baby whiskey glasses when it was done. Cute.

As I mentioned before for anyone wondering what to wear for a trip like this - layers! Being in and out of the car helped, we had our coats and suitcases with us if we would have needed anything. It was a pretty sunny day so I wore black leggings, tall brown boots, a button up shirt, long cardigan and a lightweight scarf - didn't need a jacket until later at night.