The Secret Life of Bebe

The B&B had a gloriously comfy bed – the best we’ve slept in since we’ve been here, so it was hard to get up and at ’em, but we did. Had a lovely home-cooked brekkie and then tootled off to see Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.
The castle was great – standard fare for us now, but it was overrun with 50 or so Japanese teenagers, a little disconcerting. I was honestly gobsmacked at how they behaved – they were clambering all over the ruins, running around squealing and such. I wondered out loud to Stephen is they would treat their own cultural heritage in such a disrespectful way (I know, I sound old, but it really upset me).
I’m very aware that we are guests in this country, and most of the sites we have visited are actually sites of mass murder at one time or another. It gives an air of gravity to the place, and I want to act accordingly. In fact, at Culloden a plaque asks that guest be quiet as we are walking through a mass grave. It’s important to them, and the least I can do is respect that.
That said, we had a lovely day. We drove all the way around Loch Ness. It was stunningly beautiful. It was a mild day, and the drive was pleasant, if a little rural.
Once we got back to Inverness and managed to find a way into town that avoided the Inverness marathon that was taking place (!) we had some lunch at the Eastgate Shopping Mall, and then headed in the direction of Aberdeen.
We didn’t get too far before Stephen noticed a sign pointing to a Pictish hill fort some 8 miles off the highway. We went for it! It was cool, in a small seaside village, and quite famous it turns out. There aren’t many remains dating from pre-Roman Britain, so this site is quite precious. I was glad we stopped.
We eventually reached Aberdeen by about 6pm, and immediately went off in search of a laundromat. There were only two washers working, and a queue of people, so it took us a good couple of hours to get it all done. There is something about doing laundry when you’re traveling though – it’s a chance to relax and do nothing for awhile. I enjoyed it but was pleased to be done.

View of Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness