The Train! The Train!

There is a train in Scotland and it stops in Beauly which is a pretty easy drive from Eagle Brae. There is a parking lot at the train stop in Beauly which is signed and pretty easy to find.  If you wait outside for a while a train comes by and it is pretty easy to get on it and go somewhere else.  Today I took that train to Inverness and walked around the town all day!  Oh, and did I mention once you get off the train in Inverness, you are already in the city center so all you have to do is walk out the door, wander around aimlessly and you will find all kinds of really fun shops and eateries.  If you happen to be sensitive to gluten and dairy like I am, none of those eateries have anything you can eat in them.  I did inquire at a specialty food store if there were any gluten free eateries out there.  She said there is one called Nourish, or something like that, and gave me directions.  I thanked her and spent the next hour trying to find the place with no luck. I eventually settled on a cafe and had a quiche (which was served cold!) and a salad and a lactaid and prayed for the best.  Thankfully, I got the best and went on my merry way without crippling stomach pain (sometimes you have to roll the dice between stomach pain and fainting from hunger and fainting is so embarrassing).

Looking down High Street

My daughter, who shall remain nameless, has been homeschooled since first grade and every year I have purchased for her a school uniform.  Why?  Because she likes them.  She asked me to pick her up a school uniform with a badge on it from Inverness.  I thought, seeing school is just about to start, how hard could that be?  I walked off the train, out of the train station, turned down the first street I was on and there in the middle of the block was a school uniform shop.  It was as if the clouds parted, sunlight shone down from above, and angels sang.  I didn't even have to ask for directions!  In I went, got her a sweater with a badge on it and a pleated skirt, mission accomplished!

My older daughter wants a sweatshirt that says Scotland on it to go with the seven thousand other sweatshirts she has that don't say Scotland on them.  I haven't found the perfect one for her yet.  But I trolled lots of stores looking for just the right one.

Crossing the River Ness

So, after shopping all over town, I hit the information center, got a map and took a walk along the river and around two islands in the river, then on to the Inverness Botanic Gardens, and back to the train station.  The walk took about a bit over an hour and the Botanic Garden was really a neat place to see.  I wish I could take plants back home with me because they had some really nice potted heathers for sale.  They also had ice-cream.  Everywhere here has ice-cream.  I think it may be a national obsession.  Seriously, everywhere ice-cream.

Inverness Botanic Gardens