Armin's World Tour of Scotland

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Facts of the Day:
Date: 12/August/2002
From: Cullen
Via: Elgin
To: Inverness
Miles: 86
Midges: 20 (Estimate)
Weather: Sunshine and clouds
Mood: Constantly improving

Picture of Cullen BayAfter all the rain the previous day I woke up to some nice sunshine. For this day I had planned to continue along the Coastal Tray to Inverness. My first stop was Elgin Cathedral. Only ruins remain of this 13th century cathedral, forcing constant conservation work.Picture of Elgin CathedralPicture of Elgin Cathedral I climbed the stairs up the towers (to get to the top you have to start in one of the towers and then cross over to the other one), from the top I had a nice view over the ruins of the cathedral and the surrounding cemetary. There are also several carved tombs in various areas of the cathedral, although I didn't take any good pictures to show here.

Picture of Brodie CastlePicture of Brodie CastleNext I revisited a place I had visited before: Brodie Castle. Only the last time it had rained, so this time I visited the grounds instead of the completing the tour of the rooms. I had a nice walk on the forest walk, although there weren't any real photo opportunities. That's why you just get a few views of the castle to see here. After a quick stop at the neighbouring Brodie Countryfair (or something like that, I wasn't particularly impressed) I continued towards Inverness.

Picture of the drawbridge at Fort GeorgePicture of the Redcoat soldierMy final visit of the day was going to be to Fort George near Inverness. It was built following the Battle of Culloden in 1746 to help suppressing any further Jacobite uprisings. It is an impressive building which took more than 20 years to complete. An actor dressed as a redcoat soldier gave a very interesting introductory presentation about Fort George as well as the life of the soldiers in those days.Picture of the regimental museum Didn't sound very nice, the living conditions were quite bad. After that I explored the huge complex. It is still used as a garrison today,Picture of Fort George so you can see soldiers going about their business (well, not everything obviously, but you see them walking between the buildings). The fort covers 17 hectares, and walking around its perimeter walls takes about 20 minutes (it's more than a mile long). The fort itself never saw any battle, but its soldiers did, as documented in the Regimental Museum.

Picture of the Dunain Park HotelOriginally I had planned to also visit Culloden Battlefield this day, but as the visit to Fort George took longer than expected and as I had already visited it before I decided to skip it. Instead I continued to Inverness to find somewhere to stay for the night. I couldn't really find anything in Inverness, so I thought I try the shores of Loch Ness. On the way I passed a sign for the Dunain Park Hotel and decided to try my luck. They had a lovely room available so I decided to stay here. The dinner was also excellent (beef fillet, as you ask), as was the whisky afterwards.

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