Highland Madness - Day 2

Inverness

Hi again.  Its day 2 of our trip and we are having a great time.  We all got a good night's sleep.  Well it took me a few hours to fall asleep as the first bed I chose had a mattress that slanted down to the left so I kept sleeping at an angle and I couldn't get comfortable..lol.  So I headed into the other bed which turned out to be better and I finally fell asleep.  My alarm went off at 6:00 am.  I had set it because my Dad and I had planned to go on a morning walk.  Got up and took a shower and got ready.  We walked down through the village, and up the country road towards the

Raining's Stairs

woods.  We were hoping that we would see some deer but oh dear no deer - just lots of sheep and a few cows lol.  We walked for about 2 1/2 miles amongst the light snow flurries.  It was a pretty morning and wasn't really cold.  Thats because the wind was not blowing..lol.  Once we got back, we went down for breakfast.  Breakfast was yummy.  We also had to choose what we wanted for dinner tonight.  They give you a couple of selections for your starter, main course and dinner.  They are extremely organized when it comes to the meals and the staff is on top of it and efficient.  After breakfast we got on the bus to go to Inverness at 9:30.  It takes about 45 mins to drive from Garve to Inverness.  Steve dropped us off on of the main streets and told us he would be back for us at 3:00 pm.  The first place we went was the Victorian Marketplace.  Its an indoor marketplace consisting of lots of quaint little stores.  I am glad we went in there because I found a little sewing shop that had some buttons I have been looking for for one of my sewing projects.  After the marketplace, we took off in search of Raining's Stairs (a request from my hubby).  Brian had been there back in 1990 when he went traveling up that way and wanted us to find the stairs lol.  Well we found them, and I climbed them (my Dad did too).  Once you get to the top of the stairs you get quite a nice view of the city.  I took some photos from up there which you probably saw in the photo album I published earlier.  After the stairs, my Dad took off to take some photos of the city and I went with my mom around the shops.  Actually I had some postcards I needed to mail so took care of that.  also found a huge craft store that catered mainly to card making and I was in card heaven lol.  They had so many unique things, totally different from the states so I picked up some stamps and paper.  After we wandered for a little while we met back up with my Dad for lunch.  We ate at a pub and grill but I can't remember the name lol.  After lunch, we had about an hour before Steve was coming back to pick us up so we wandered in and out of some charity shops.  Got back on the bus at 3 pm.  Steve put on some Scottish music.  There's nothing like listening to Roaming In The Gloaming while your driving through the Scottish Highlands passing rolling hills and field of sheep.  I LOVE Scotland and do not want to live anywhere else lol.
We got back to the hotel around 4pm.  We sat in the lounge and had a drink while I uploaded the photos.  Then we went up to the rooms to get ready for dinner.  We just got done eating, and once again dinner was delicious.  This time I had Leek & Potato soup for the starter, Ham with Peppercorn Sauce and veggies for the main dish and Highland Sherry Trifle for dessert.  My folks had Plaice Mornay (a type of fish) for dinner.
Now we are back in lounge, drinking and blogging lol.  Tomorrow is our trip to John O'Groats.  Its a long drive up there, and will be a long drive back but I am looking forward to it.  Look for photos to follow tomorrow.
Well thats it for tonight.  Chat with you all tomorrow.