Fort George, Spynie Palace, Elgin Cathedral, Sueno's Stone and Carrbridge

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Today was a busy day. We woke up early for a change and arrived at Fort George by 8:45 am. Fort George was built late 18th century during a very turbulent period in Scottish history. However, this fort was never attacked during its history. Because Fort George was never damaged by enemy attack it is an excellent example of an 18th century military fortress.

Charles and I once again had this huge place all to ourselves. The morning was icy and my hands stung from the cold. I couldn't wear gloves because photographers of my caliber don't shun such garments as they hamper our ability to scratch ourselves.

Spynie Palace was next. This is another group of buildings now mostly in ruin. Mary Queen of Scots also briefly visited the palace and she supposedly named one of the villages we passed through yesterday--Beauly. Mary is aptly named for it seems that she has been almost everywhere in Scotland.

Sueno's Stone is a 9th century big carved rock that sits in a residential neighborhood in Forres. I took some pictures of it but the stone is inclosed in plexiglass so it didn't photograph well. I'll add this to my list of reasons why I hate plexiglass.

Elgin Cathedral is a lovely Cathedral that is also mostly in ruin. For some reason there was a Scottish family there who placed a teddy bear on various tombs and building parts and then took its picture. Creepy or cute? I'll let you decide. But before you do I should mention that the teddy bear was not wearing pants.

The journey to Carrbridge was very beautiful. We drove on an icy, narrow road that wound between snow-capped mountains. The bridge itself was very cool looking but I was disappointed to learn that it was only a few hundred years old. Normally I don't travel on icy roads to visit anything made less than three hundred years ago, and this includes my Mom (luckily in a few years I will be able to travel on icy roads to visit her too).

We went to another Indian restaurant this evening. The food was good. Afterward we took a walk around Inverness. We saw a group of young men all dressed as women. I'm not sure why but it may be in preparation for the Superbowl. I say this because on of the "ladies" wore a Baltimore Ravens jersey over his dress.

For the first time during our trip, someone commented on the color of Charles's green hair. A young woman yelled from across the street "Oy, why you got green hair?" Even if a response from Charles was offered--it wasn't--she wouldn't have heard because this same young lady immediately yelled at the man wearing the dress "Oy, the Ravens suck!"

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Comments

[GrammyPammy]

There are some weird people in Scotland....how can they say Raven's suck...weirdos!!! I work Days this weekend, but will be having the Sisters and their spouses for a Super Bowl Party. Are you going to Party at a Pub for the Big Game?