Goodbye St. Andrews - Hello Inverness ScotlandWTRD 38-39
Saturday, July 14
We returned to Inverness after exchanging our car for a brand new British Mokka ECO with only 7 miles on it! Love the smell of a new car, and it is much nicer than the one we had. While driving to Edinburgh and back to St. Andrews, we decided to re-listen to Diana Gibaldon's first book of the Outlander Series. We had enjoyed numerous hours on Worrall Wind while sailing and later while traveling in our land Yacht to her books. If you are not familiar with his series, it is essentially a time period historical fiction, where a young English woman who served as a field nurse during World War II visits an ancient Druid sight in Inverness- Scotland, and through the magic of the stones travels back in time to 1745 prior to the battle of Culloden It is an epoch adventure and love story.
We had never seen the Television series Outlanders, but when we returned to our accommodations we were able to watch the first episode of the first series with Amazon prime which would help to set the stage for our visit to Inverness.
Sunday, July 15
On Sundays, the St. Andrew's Old Course is not played. Instead it is open to the public to walk and for grounds keepers to nourish and repair. The Open starts next week, so the workers were busy getting ready. We walked from start to finish on the old course, fascinated by the rolling bumps, hills, canyons, bunkers, and impossibly narrow fairways with really ROUGH roughs on the sides. We calculated that we would have spent more on lost balls than on the green fees had we played.
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| Sand Martins nesting in this bunker |
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| This Crow Better Watch Out! |
We finished our walk of the Old Course by 10:00 am. It was time to check out of our accommodations and head to Inverness.
Our first stop on our way to Inverness was to the Highland Folk Museum, an outdoor museum of buildings from the 1700s to the post world war II era. We were most interested in the oldest of the thatched roof buildings that were apparently used in the tax collection scene in the Outlanders series. We haven't seen anything more than the first episode, for us this would be a preview of what we now look forward to seeing.
Basically, the people in the 1700's lived a hard subsistence life in peat smoked, thatch roofed, rock walled, dark abodes...and this was the middle class!
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| We walk to the historic buildings |
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| The doors are shaped to accommodate the cows who share the living space. |
We can only imagine how depressing it would be to live in one of these huts, especially during the long dark days of rainy winters.
Our second stop of the day was to the real MacKenzie Castle, referred to as Castle Leoch, in Outlanders, but is the Castle Leod in real time. This castle was not used for the film. The Earl and Countess of Cromartie open their home only 25 days a year and personally lead us around. We arrived 15 minutes before the castle closed for a month. It was drizzling outside, and the place was empty. I think most people were watching the World Cup Finals between France and Croatia.
We enjoyed our private tour. The castle is in three parts, the ancient building from the 1700's, the Victorian Section, and the Edwardian section. The Mackenzies live in the Edwardian section which is their private residence. We toured the ancient castle including the dungeon, and part of the Victorian section. Most of the grounds and castle are in need of restoration that I doubt the current day Mackenzie's could afford.
We arrived late in the day in Inverness. Our accommodations are in a lovely old home. Our host is a delightful and interesting woman.
We heated up some dinner in the microwave, drank some red wine, and snuggled under the featherbed as it drizzled outside.
All is well with the Worrall Travel R's in Inverness
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