June 1/2

June 1 at Invergordon, Scotland which is as far as we can get up Cromarty Firth towards Inverness. If I had known how far the hike was to the tour buses, I'd have left the ship sooner so I wouldn't have to hustle so fast. Ah well, I made it eventually.

My tour guide this afternoon was one James Monroe in kilt of his clan tartan and a tweed jacket in a nice soft green. His accent was perfectly understandable, but Andy, our driver, had an accent so thick that even James missed it occasionally, and to me it was like a foreign language with a sprinkling of English words. 

I think they have a different kind of grass over here that they use for silage as it is a whole lot greener than our grass at home. That may be why Ireland is called the "Emerald Isle," but the same stuff is in the fields of the Orkneys and Scotland too. Anyway it contrasts beautifully with the bright yellow of fields of rape seed in bloom. (That's the plant that canola oil comes from.) Then there's the darker yellow of either gorse or broome along the roadside. James said the way to tell the difference between gorse and broome is to put on a kilt and sit on it...if it's comfortable, it's broome, if it's prickly, it's gorse. The bright green also makes the sheep and cattle show up well, especially the bright white lambs.

We did a pretty comprehensive drive-by tour of Inverness which looks like a really lovely city. This is a photo of Inverness Castle from across the Ness River. We then headed up the Ness River and along the Caledonian Canal which I hadn't heard of before this trip. It connects the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea diagonally across the middle of Scotland through the Grand Cleft. It's a geologic fault zone that created a series of lakes/lochs that were connected by pieces of canals with locks. Unfortunately, by the time it was completed, most cargo ships were too big to use it, and now it's mostly used by fishing and pleasure boats.

We eventually got to Loch Ness through alternating periods of sun and showers. Our main destination for the tour was Urquhart Castle. It's a rather magnificent ruin of a really old castle at one end and a much newer part at the other end, all with a fantastic view of Loch Ness. There is a fine Visitors Centre with a film, a cafe and, of course, a gift shop. While I did manage to get downslope from the bus park to the center (and back up again later), I did not actually go on downhill to the castle itself. Instead, I bought a very large chocolate muffin, sat on the patio of the cafe and shared it with a duck. I didn't get a photo of the duck due to my fingers being sticky and covered in muffin crumbs.

We came back to the ship over the hills and through the heath-covered moors, then back down to the green arable lands again. As has happened on several of my afternoon tours, I was almost the last one back on board. I am still amazed at how fast the crew can "break camp" and stow all the equipment they use for gangways and security checks, including the big machines that screen your bags.

June 2 Edinburgh. Well, not actually at Edinburgh. We're out in the Firth of Forth about a 20 minute tender ride from South Queensferry where we get our tour bus to Edinburgh. Caribbean Princess is too tall to get under several bridges particularly the antique Forth Rail Bridge in its bright red coat of paint. At least we're not out in the North Sea trying to tender into some place, although this has been an exceptionally smooth trip so far. My weather magic is still working except for a few brief showers. 

The tour I had was excellent, especially for one of the "drive-by photo shoot" kind. Our main stop was two hours at the Royal Scottish Museum which was brilliant! In fact, I could have easily spent a whole day there. It's an amalgamation of two museums, one was archaeology, anthropology and Scottish history, and the other was technology and engineering with a Scottish focus.  The building is a combination of Victorian and modern styles and was recently renovated to be fully accessible. The photo (that will eventually be) here is of the Museum's Grand Gallery. I ditched the guided part of the museum visit and had a fine time wandering about. I even got up to the roof terrace with its fabulous view of all of Edinburgh and this shot of the Castle.