Tue June 11 - 21:48 (Inverness)

The boat (yesterday June 10) tour gave us history of the area and of Loch Ness before dropping me and the other passengers off at Urquhart Castle.

The castle was established by the Picts in the 600s and fought over for hundreds of years by many different people. I learned that King James IV put John Grant in charge of Urquhart Castle in 1509. The English blew up the castle entrance in the 18th Century during the Jacobite uprising so the Jacobites could not take control of it. I saw a movie in the museum about the history of the castle. Then a bus drove me through the countryside while telling more history. Apparently many Scottish people were relocated about 200 years ago and many moved to North Carolina and Canada. To a lesser extent, some moved to Australia and New Zealand. Ulysses S. Grant's family came from Scotland as well as John Wayne, whose real name was Marion Mitchell Morrison.

Today, I went to the Highland Rare Breeds Croft in Fort Augustus. I saw pigmy goats, bunnies, many types of sheep, deer, roosters, hens, pigs, ponies, ducks, geese, birds, and the coolest of all, Highland cows. I got to pet a couple of pigmy goats and one Highland cow.

Animals are so fascinating. I love how they don't care about you unless you have some food they are interested in. I took a bunch of pictures.

I came back to Inverness and had a sandwich at my hotel. Then I went to the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery. It was only 2 floors, but it was an interesting exhibit on the history of the Highlands from how it formed 800 million years ago to the present day. For dinner, I ate at the Kitchen Brasserie along the riverside. I had a delicious tomato and red pepper soup.

For my entree, I had Scottish venison sausages with mash potatoes and caramelized onions on top with a side of cooked carrots, potatoes and mushrooms. It was so good.

For dessert, I ordered a Raspberry Cranachan, which is a typical Scottish dish made from raspberries, whiskey sauce, thick cream and pine nuts. Mine also had blueberries and cherries. I definitely want to make it at home. It was incredibly delectable.

Now I'm packed and ready for bed since I have to wake up early for my plane flight in the morning.