The Scotland Experience...Part 8

Inverness and Hootananny!
(From my December 2009 Journal)

Monday dawned fairly clear with no precipitation. However, since the sidewalks continued to be sheets of ice, Mike opted for a taxi ride to the train station. A good decision! It was SO cold!!! By 10:30 we were in our reserved seats on the train to Inverness which stopped at several scenic little towns along the way. I LOVE a train ride as does Louis Dean so this in itself was a lot of fun! The trip took 2 ½ hours with a short 15 minute walk through the town center to our hotel.

We all had very nice rooms. The heating system is steam and Louis Dean especially enjoyed the hot towels which were warmed by a steam heated bar!

An Italian restaurant was 2 doors down so we had lunch there. DELICIOUS!!! ALL the food we had in Scotland was exceptionally GOOD!!! Amber says it is because they knew where NOT to take us and I believe it!!

While the young people needed a nap, Louis Dean and I walked back to the town and browsed through the shops. He bought a CD of local music which will go with the other 4 music CD’s he has now collected. It began to snow and of course it grew dark as we were out since the sun sets at 3:30!

We returned to the hotel room where they have a complete tea/coffee service in each room and warmed up by the steam heater and drank some HOT tea!!

Soon it was time to meet downstairs for our trip to HOOTANANNY! This was why Amber planned this trip to Inverness….the live Scottish music at HOOTANANNY! We made a fairly quick walk there…sidewalks icy EVERYWHERE in Scotland…and snagged a table by good fortune as the place was already pretty crowded! The food served there is Thai! And surprisingly GOOD! I just did not expect THAI food in a Scottish pub! A sign on the corner of our table said ‘This table will be removed at 9:30 for dancing.’ We were finishing our meal and Amber had just uttered the words, “I bet they don’t make us move”….when they DID! They DID allow us to keep our chairs, however, so we pushed them over to a good spot and the musicians began to play! Originally scheduled that night was a group playing bagpipes and drums. For some reason they did not make it and another couple of musicians filled in for them and they were WONDERFUL!!!

A fiddle player and guitarist! The MOST awesome Scottish music we have ever heard!

Amber and Mike made sure Louis Dean got his picture made with them. It was the absolute grand finale to our fabulous trip to Scotland! The music and seeing Amber…..well, it doesn’t get any better than this! Thank you Amber and Mike! We loved every minute of our time with you!!!

CHEERS to Scotland and CHEERS to Mike and Amber!