Scotland: Day 9: Inverness

Let me tell you about the most beautiful castle I saw while I was in Scotland! It was called Dunrobin Castle. We took a tour inside (where you're not allowed to take pictures). There were so many rooms and little passageways (that were clearly for the servants). It even had an old elevator! Wow, were they before their time or what? It was so spectacular. I wish I lived in a castle. Downstairs was a little cafe. I had some soup and it was pretty good. There aren't a whole lot of places to sit though so if you see someone getting up, take it!
Outside is where the real beauty hits you. These gardens are the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen! I don't think anything will ever top this experience. They're just beautiful!

And the views of the castle from the gardens are just stunning. There are so many different angles. I took so many pictures because every time I thought I had caught the perfect picture of the castle, I saw it from a different angle and fell in love with it all over again!

If you see a door to go outside of the gardens towards a beach, let me tell you, you're not supposed to do that. Apparently, it's trespassing. However, we didn't learn that until after we had already gone through the door and seen the beach. It was very cool. I mean, what's better than having a castle? Duh! Having a castle on the beach!

If you get the chance, watch the bird show. The man that does this has a true love and respect for these birds and it is so fun to watch. He is very knowledgeable and tells you fun facts about the birds and how he takes care of them. At the end, he asks for donations so that he can continue to take care of the birds. And we're not talking about little weak birds. We're talking about owls and hawks and falcons! So cool!

And just when we thought we were heading back to the bus, one of my friends noticed a little trail off to the side of the parking lot so we went on that and found a little stream. It was a cute little area. If you have extra time, I would definitely say to take the unbeaten path.

I think we spent about 4 hours here and I was not disappointed.

After the castle, we had a concert at Dornoch Cathedral. It was beautiful. The whole church is set up in t shape and we met the absolute nicest people! We had our practice, broke for dinner, and then sang our concert. I think it was one of our biggest crowds. We really felt the love since Dornoch is such a small town. Then we headed back to our hotel for the night. dunrobin castle concert

Scotland: Day 8: Inverness

We started off our day with a trip to Tomatin Distillery. It was amazing! I learned so much about how whisky is made, what makes it Scotch vs Whisky, and what peated whisky was and how it's made. We toured the area where they make the whisky. Plus, we got to see one of the barrel rooms where they store their whisky (where it becomes scotch). Then, at the end of our tour, we had a sample. It was awesome.

We drove over to Culloden Moor to see the visitor's center, walk the grounds, and have a bite to eat. Honestly, I found their 'dining' area to be overpriced with not too many selections. I didn't even like the food I got. But the center and grounds were beautiful and very informative.

Then we stopped at Clava Cairns on our way back to Inverness. It was interesting, but I guess to me, if you've seen one rock formation, you've seen them all. Our bus dropped us off in the middle of town where everyone just went off and did their own thing. We ate at McGonagall's Steakhouse. It was a little pricey (which I think put my friends in a slump because they didn't really seem to enjoy their meal). I found my food to be delicious though. I had lamb.

After dinner, we walked around and did a little shopping. Inverness is so pretty. I just love their downtown area.

We took the bus back to our hotel and then decided to take a dip in the pool. It was a nice relaxing way to the end the day. Then, we stopped by the bar for a quick drink before bed.

Scotland: Day 7: Inverness

Since we stayed out so late the night before, our choir director thought we wouldn't wake up in time to make it breakfast, but we showed him wrong.

Not only did we make it to breakfast on time, we made it to the church service that morning and sang beautifully. It was a really fun service. After the service, we went on a nice drive toward Inverness. On the way, we stopped at a beautiful castle that we explored. It was amazing. The inside was nice, but the outside gardens were absolutely gorgeous. Then, we crossed a bridge that took us on a wild adventure. I had the best time.

We checked into our hotel and had a drink at the hotel bar. Then we went to bed!