Inverness

We are currently sitting in a sitting room (what an obvious name) at Jordon's second cousin's place. Irene was so welcoming and picked us up at the Inverness bus station on Monday. It is now our last night out in this little village called Kochando before we bus to Edinburgh in the morning. There's not much to do until Irene gets home from work, which is awesome for our poor healing swelled feet and awesome for you lovely people as I can update you!

Day 1: We arrived in Inverness at about 12:30 in the afternoon. We thought we were going to have some time to take a breather, but like any respectable older person, Irene was half an hour early or "on time." We hopped in her car and she took us to a garden centre with her daughter Louise for a coffee and to see if we were criminals before letting us into her house. I'm not sure why they call them garden centres when you can purchase everything under the sun from there and I didn't see many plants. Either way the scone and tea were yummy. She then took us out to the house about an hour outside Inverness. Looking out the back seat and realising you're on the wrong side of the road and there's nothing you can do about it was nerve wreaking and took some getting use to. Once we were settled in, we went to the farm to meet the others who were extremely busy with lambing. So Jordon got to take us on a joyride in a Range Rover through the fields trying to shift with his left hand. We had a lot of booking to do for the next leg of the trip so we went back, did some laundry and relaxed.

Day 2: The house is empty by the time we get up here. We're left to make our own breakfast, which is totally fine, but you always have to wonder if hosts actually mean "eat whatever you want." Like, really? I can have this whole box of cookies that were stashed all the way in the back of a cupboard I couldn't reach without a chair? So I had toast. We headed off to the Chardu distillery right up the road and got an intimate private tour. By that I mean we were the only suckers paying for a tour. It was interesting and you got a taste at the end. Once Irene got home, she drove us to some different sights in the area. It was a rainy day so it was a car tour. Jordon got to see where his ancestors lived and a war memorial with his great uncle's name on it. We went on got dinner at a hotel where both Irene and her daughter had their wedding receptions (maybe it was a hint?) I finally had the fresh fish and chips I deserved. We went over to Irene's sisters and drank more whiskey as she works at the Glenleivet distillery which means we got sent home with a goody bag of scotch, vodka and fudge.

Day 3: We packed up all our nice clean clothes this morning and are heading to the farm again this afternoon. I want to touch at least one lamb. Jordon says he's going to feel a little bad the next time he eats lamb stew, but only a little. There are so many in the fields all over Scotland right now so it's hard not to be reminded how cute they are before they are turned into your dinner. 

The last three days have been very relaxing after that ridiculous hike, but we're excited to head off to a new place tomorrow. 

Catch you in Edinburgh,

-Vanessa xo