Stotfield House Hotel Inverness

... by the Dornoch Firth or keep going to Tain? The sun is still out and I realise that it's still three miles to Tain. With the freedom of not having my pack and the good weather it seems daft not to carry on and so I hit the A9 again. <br><br>Tain is the home of the Glenmorangie Distillery and the smell of whisky wafts across the road. I'm tempted but time is ticking on...<br><br>A lovely couple at one B&amp ...

... sits above the village high up on Ben Bhraggie. The village clearly developed along lines determined by the estate in the 19th century and it's full of well-built, solid attractive stone houses and shops.<br><br>Jane who runs the Granite Villa B&amp;B is very welcoming. This is definitely the most luxury B&amp;B I've stayed in for a while but it is worth every penny! When, for some unknown reason, I cannot access their WiFi, Jane even lets me monopolise her ...

... drove all over the Caringorm Mountains today and I found some beautiful poisonous mushrooms which I have added photo's of. <br><br>Tomorrow we move on to Isle of Sky, supposedly one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. It will be a long drive but we should see many great things. Our driver is spoiling us and has been wonderful and it just could not have been a better trip for us. The lodgings have been luxurious and the food great.

Today we toured all over the country side and I was just dying to see the Heiland Coo, said in American it is the Highland Cow. This thing is harry and reddish brown with big horns. Our driver promised me we would see one and sure enough here it is. The Coo looked right at me for this shot!<br><br>We went to Cradeur Castle and toured the castle, the beautiful ...

Check out this photo which I took as we were passing through the Caringorm Mountains in the Highlands of Scotland. Out of the blue on the side of a mountain were the future Zumwalts, cast in stone looking at the beauty of the area. I am not sure how the artist knew what we were going to look like in our dotage, however I felt the sculpturer was remarkable ...

Rothes is the little Scottish village where the Glen Grant Whiskey Distillery is located. It is part of the Speyside Whisky Trail, where the largest concentration of Scotch whisky distilleries is located in Scotland. This large valley is popular among distillers because this is where most of the barley is grown for the distillation process.<br><br>The distillery has a nice garden and a gift shop.

... distillery, was it because of the taste of the whiskey or just cause it was a stone's throw away from the castle......guess I'll never know but I'm leaning towards the latter. We drove around the country side for the rest of the day which was nice. Along the way we came across this wee arched bridge, it doesn't really look that steep from the side but with signs saying that trucks could get stuck on it, you get the picture. Anyway we stopped to take some ...

... Wallace Monument and had a walk around Stirling Castle. Wallace Monument, part tower, part memorial, part museum, is an impressive building that seems a lot bigger on the inside than the outside. The weather had turned again and it was hard to avoid getting wet. You can normally see Wallace Monument from the castle and that was true of this day despite the poor weather. You could just make it out in the fog. The last stop for the day was the ...

... sheep, highland coos (yaks), and pints of beer to keep anyone busy for weeks. Unfortionately I didn't get a chance to see Nessy yet but we're headed back to Loch Ness for one last look tomorrow. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out...

Welcome to Scotland, Would you like a fork in your eye Scotland, the land I've fallen in love with. It is the most beautiful place that I have seen in a long time. The rolling lush green hills, the fog capped mountains, the sheep, the people. Where to even begin with this place. Inverness is a nice little town altough if you go to an Indian restaurant, beware of people weilding ...