Slainte mhor!

The loveliness of not having to get up too early! And a day of Moseying. We stayed at a beautiful B&B called Trafford House. It was about a mile or more from the end of the GGW and we were (I was, at least) really flagging by the time we arrived. And desperately in need of the Ladies! It was once the Bishop's house, and is now a little treasure of a stone house with rose gardens, a glass conservatory entrance that has a tree growing through it, and an amazing collection of artwork inside. It was created by the current owners Lorraine and Kosha... they loved doing this and then he was terribly stricken by pancreatic cancer and died just five weeks ago. It is a five star place... Highly recommended if you are ever in Inverness. If we had known how great it was going to be we might not have planned to go on to the Kings Club Spa. Oh well.

That first night in Inverness we had a great dinner at the mustard Seed. Incredible. Plus lots of Lagavulin etc. Deep sleep.

On SaturdaY morning drew went to the Culloden battlefield, Tred went to have a massage, and Lizzie and I had the worst silliest pedicures ever.
1. It was too dark for them to see what they were doing.
2. We we sitting up on tables like in a doctor's office with no back support.
3. My person was more concerned with spots on her pants and spent lots of tIme dabbing at them with a washcloth.
4. Vicious sawing with the Emory board.
5. No lotion or treatment for worn out feet.
6. They had one set of heat booties for our four feet.
... Well that was all ridiculous but we laughed about it later. They just have no idea! We were thinking that we should write to the place and tell them to send those young ladies for a proper pedi, just so they know!

We all jumped in the car and headed north to Tain, for a tour and tasting at the Glenmorangie Distillery. Lots of fun. I got an appreciation for the craft and why it costs so much... Of course there are taxes on top of the product.

We followed Dr. Entropy's advice and asked where we should go next: the beautiful little village of Dornoch. Had tea in the castle garden,visited the cathedral c. 13th century for the original church on the site, and then took a scenic coastal route back to Inverness.

Workout! Seriously, we had all missed our workout machines and weight-lifting time. Drew had faithfully done his push-ups etc every night... I had not. Felt great to do some upper body resistance work after eight days of travel and walking. (Note here about Osprey backpacks: the BEST!!! No trouble carrying our gear for a week.)

then, back to the Castle area for dinner at the Tavern. A happy rowdy crOwd, a waitress from Belgium, and then a stroll down to the river. Still light at 10:30 pm! We heard the pipes calling, for real, and popped into MacNab's for a last wee dram and the pleasure of listening to a couple of excellent musicians with guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bagpipes. One of the guys could play anything, proven by his sea shanties, pipes, and even Foggy Mountain BreakdOwn.

Today Lizzie and Tred are en route to London and drew and I are in a train for Edinburgh. More later... After a nice meet up with Justin, tour of the old city, and some Indian food... Mmmmmmm!

Please forgive the typos!