DAY 4 – AUGUST 5th – DESTINATION: INVERNESS

We began our day with waking up to the most beautiful view in the world... the coast of Skye. We went into the dining room and ordered breakfast. By the way, cute little Effie, our hostess, didn't miss one little touch... from a doily beneath every cup or vase to the shower cap and robes she provided in each room... Truly amazing! I asked, and she said she has been doing this for 30 some years! I guess after all that time you would perfect it, eh? I thought to be adventuresome, and so I ordered fried kippers -- I wanted something authentically Scottish... now, to be fair, Effie did mention it was fish and that it had a "strong flavor" but that it was delicious! ;) It came out, and I found out it was herring. And boy was it STRONG! The juice had flavored my slices of tomato and bacon! I ate as much as I could and just kept my nasal passage closed so as not to smell and tried masking the very fishy smell. After last night's smoked salmon incident, I was not having the best luck with food! We packed up and drove away, leaving the breath-taking scenery of the Isle of Skye behind us. As we left, we stopped at a waterfall and "ran" through the "Heather on the Hill"!!! A dream come true for this romantic little Brigadoon lover!!! :D I couldn't help but pick some heather of my own... ssshh!!! (Did I mention we stepped in a LOT of water? The hills are very marshy!... and now so are our shoes & socks!!! LOL)

Next we ventured to Eilien Donan Castle... the place that the movies "Highlander" and James Bond's "The World Is Not Enough" were both filmed... WOW!!! Worth every penny (ooh, er,um -- pence)!!!! Matt and I explored every nook, every bend we were allowed access to... it was absolutely amazing!!! We had the best conversation with a bus driver who just wanted to chat and tell us the better and prettier way to get to Inverness. Once we left, we headed a different route back east toward Inverness and allowed the map to direct us (we didn't quite like where he was telling us to go!!! We went through some of the most lovely highland scenery. And this is where our camera died (yes, yes, you may all join in on the tears now). We attempted to take some pictures with Matt's camera phone, but the memory was full for some reason, so we took a few with mine. I guess the mental pictures we took will have to suffice!!!

We finally arrived in Inverness -- a bigger city than we realized! We parked the car and walked the streets for a bit. The Inverness Castle here is not so exciting... it is now a courthouse and has been modernized a bit. We weren't allowed access but did take some pictures. We realized that we had to get back to our car because the garage was closing, so we walked back. We tried paying for our ticket using the machine, and it wouldn't take it! So... we began to drive around the garage and a rather long gentleman in a parking garage outfit (?) :) popped out. We explained our plite and here is what he said: " My dears, this place is owned by the Duke of Westminster, and so to that we say 'SCRAP IT!!!' " and he threw our ticket into the air!!! As he was letting us through, he continued the conversation, asking us if we were from America and that they had kicked them (Britain) out. When he heard San Diego, 

he mentioned that they had thrown HIM out as a military man!!! :) He continued to tell us a story and then let us through, but boy was he a cute old Brittish man! This left us in giddy moods the rest of the drive. We went in to a local pub (this is NORMAL here, folks!) and had some dinner, then found our buddy Ben (and in the process, also found a lovely castle -- they're EVERYWHERE here!) We spent some time talking with Ben & his roommate Nate (it was great getting info from an American's point-of-view as well as hearing about the Spiritual health of Scotland as a whole)... and waited for the host family, Pastor Leo & Cheryl Rose. They hadn't been home more than 15 minutes, when Cheryl asked me if I wanted to go have tea with her and a REAL old Scottish woman :) I, of course, accepted. And here is where I met Belle...

Belle may be the sweetest, godliest little 80-ish year old woman I have ever met (and the accent didn't hurt any either!) She had been reading Spurgeon when we got there... (doing her "medi-tatin' " as she jokingly called it!) She

 has been a Christian since in her 20's and has had to watch not only her husband, but also so many 

of her firm-in-the-faith "heroes" if you will, go to be with the Lord. The three of us talked for hours about EVERYTHING! :) I could actually barely get a word in edgewise! LOL! She was so inspiring, and prefaced everything with, "If the Lord spares me" and ended every

thing with, "Only but for the grace of God." Both Belle & Cheryl were so adorable and fun to be with. This is a memory I won't soon forget.

We got home after midnight and got to talking a little more. Leo is the Pastor at a Calvary Chapel affiliate in Inverness. He went to Bible College after I did and KNOWS some of the same people I went to school with! What a small small world! :)

And then it was sleeping time...