The American Triangle, Inverness, Scotland

I can admit, it was a frightening moment when I realized I was as far north on the planet as I had ever been when we arrived in Inverness. Not to mention the thought that just north of us was sea...a lot of it. And to the near east and west...water. A lot of water. And it was cold and rainy and such a foreign concept to be so far north of the wall.

  We arrived in the gloom and grey and misty rain that is Nessie's hometown midday and quickly got turned around irrelevant of the fact that the city is minuscule compared to the cities we'd already been in on this trip. We finally figured out where to go and began a very, very steep ascent to our apartment home for the next two days.

I had done some Trip Advisor research prior to this trip and had made use of it in each city thus far (which I have had yet to mention) but I was most excited about the coffee/bike repair shop that was just up the, again very very steep, hill from the apartment. I quickly assessed the menu board and baked goods and was happy to see my favorite caramel chocolate shortbread in attendance.

After noshing on goodies and catching some free wi-fi, the homeowner met us up at the apartment to let us in and show us around. It was adorable and cozy and just right for us once again!

Sunshine!

This ended up being a more favorited part of the trip because we spent many more hours in the home than any other city and it was so relaxing. We walked around the pedestrian friendly city that evening and then had an amazingly delicious tapas dinner before crashing early. Travelling is exhausting!

What a great vantage point to take in some of the city!

I have tried desperately to describe the color of this water since returning but have given it no justice. This image has stuck with me most fervently of all of the trip. I have no idea why.

The next day we woke up and ate a light breakfast we had picked up at the grocery store the night before and went on our way for the day. I bought a pair of shoes which have turned out to be my 2nd favorite souvenir from the trip and we found some Scottish goodies to take with us as well. I found a store called FRASER's and got super ridiculously excited and took entirely too many photos of it all because of the main character in Outlander. Jamie Fraser....anyways...

One of many....

We made our way through the city and walked a few miles to get to our boat to see Nessie. We got intermittent sunshine too and it made the walk very nice.

We saw signs like this all over Inverness and Edinburgh regarding the Scottish Independence vote that was in a few weeks' time.

We're on a boat. And it's frigid. And then it started to rain.

Interlocking gates. The River Ness is actually a canal.

Urquhart Castle! Nessie's in these waters!

The ruins were incredibly beautiful. Just seeing the bones of something is so powerful.

The view from on high...I refused to go up there because of the slew of people and knew I would have a panic attack or maim another visitor if I did...so Tanner went.

Can you see her???

We got back from the boat, entirely frozen, and wandered back the few miles we had walked earlier that day. We took in a few more sites before going home and relaxing before a well recommended restaurant reservation.

Inverness Castle which is now a courthouse. Like legit.

The dinner was delicious and both Trip Advisor and our hosts were spot-on in its delectableness. Go to The Mustard Seed!

Venison!

Chicken!

Once again, we were blown away with the genuine and sincere responses and assistance when we had to discuss Tanner's nut allergy. The UK wins! USA 0, UK 1M. After a delicious dinner, we strolled home in the ever decreasing temperature to sleep one last night north of the wall.

While Inverness proved to be the most relaxing city we went to, I was happy to leave the chilled to the bones feeling behind us as we headed south and then West across the waters to what I had originally thought would be my all-time favorite obsessed over locations: Ireland. Spoiler Alert: I ended up loving Scotland entirely more...mostly because of how I felt while I was there. Like I was born to be there. It just felt...right.

Very early...

Gaelic!

Train travel is still my favorite, even after being on so many on this trip!

Here we come Ireland!