DAY 5 – AUGUST 6th – DESTINATION: INVERNESS

We woke up this morning to the delicious smell of Ben’s cooking… we had crepes and American sausage (local sausage is just slightly different here)!!! Matt, Ben, & I started off by visiting the Clava Cairns, the Bronze Age burial chambers dating from 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Very interesting! Next we headed to Cawdor Castle, still inhabited by the Countess of Cawdor and connected in many ways to Macbeth (“Thanes of Cawdor”). We enjoyed ourselves as we toured the elaborately decorated rooms (filled with tapestries) and then through the beautiful gardens. (Sadly, we did not get to go into the hedge maze as it is closed to the public, but boy is it cool!). We had fun as we posed for pictures and trolloped through the tulips (ok, maybe not tulips, but there were some beautiful purple Scottish thistles there).

Ben took us to a place called Barney’s (?)for lunch… a local chain restaurant that reminded us of Chili’s or something. Great food. Next we headed off to City Centre (finally, everything was open when we reached it!!!) We strolled through shops, churches and their adjoining cemeteries, and ended with a delicious cup of Costa Coffee (Very similar to their rival Starbucks, but actually Italian). We headed over to Loch Ness to find out if we could see anything. ;) Although the shops were all closed by this time, we DID get to see Nessie ;o) as well as the Loch and the nearby castle… very nice. The dreary, rainy weather just added to the eeriness of it all. It was a GORGEOUS drive back down roads canopied by lush trees.
We headed back home, and Ben made his specialty for us for dinner, chicken tika. We spent the rest of the evening with him and several other people who were in his house. A family involved in their ministry was doing some recording in Leo & Cheryl’s home studio. Their son Ben (whom we shall call “Jewish Ben” because he is a Scottish Messianic Jew) and his sister Naomi (pronounced Ny-o-mee) were great company as well as Ben's roommate Nathan. We spent the night (into the wee hours of the morning!!!) sharing YouTube videos with each other, laughing, listening to music, “Facebooking,” showing pictures, and telling stories. Sadly neither Leo nor Ben & Naomi’s parents could join us as they were busy recording. ☹ But I truly enjoyed the time I spent getting to know Naomi a little better. She is so adorable. I endearingly call her my highland lass friend now. ☺Good night!