Today’s adventures in the Inverness area feature a diverse collection of sites and sounds (and smells and tastes…). First, we go north to Dunrobin castle, home of the not-so-nice-historically-speaking Sutherlands. Bad history, beautiful palace with amazing gardens.
One of the high points for Nica and Leila was the discovery of a fully-hedged croquet courtyard. The girls and their cousins were huge fans. Nica in particular was puzzled at first, but quickly caught on to the general idea.
Next up was an amazing falconry exhibit. We had great seats, and at one point the falconer let the owl rest between two cousins while showing off one of his high-performance hunting birds.
Before departing, we took one last family picture in front of a beautiful wrought-iron gate that featured prominently in Dunrobin’s sea-facing entrance.
We were fortunate to be able to take a quick pit-stop on our way back into Inverness at Glenmorangie, a fantastic distillery of Scottish spirits. It was Leila’s first opportunity to test out her new umbrella, which she was very eager to share with her cousins.
Here’s where the magic happens! Dad’s just a LITTLE bit excited.
After a fantastic tasting, we headed back into Inverness for a leisurely afternoon that began with a walk along the riverbank right in front of our hotel.
From there we joined the cousins for a crazy-fun adventure at a nearby park. Much dad-propelled merry-go-rounding took place.
Nica and mom took a few minutes to relax in the tiny kid’s playground…
…but it wasn’t long before Nica insisted on moving to the big kid’s area. She was all over everything from rock climbing…
…to big ramps and slides.
The next morning featured a fantastic breakfast…
…and some always-appreciated nana hugs before we started our journey south.
