My second week...

It has been much lighter. We had only 25 guests in the hotel which made things easier and quicker. Even for me! I'm doing my best to improve my "dining room skills". By now I know by heart the breakfast menu: full Scottish (which includes fried bread, egg, bacon, sausage, tomato, beans - wonder how people can eat all that?), scrambled, poached or boiled egg. Yet, I'm still tensed that I might confuse something. What, of course, had happened last week, but this week I've managed to follow the thread. :-)

I had two free days this week! I went to Inverness, which is the capital of the Highlands. It takes 50 minutes to get there by bus. The river Ness flows through the city, and Loch Ness is not so far away. There are organized tours on boat to see the Loch (and Nessie, naturally).

I'm intrigued by the fact that there is a statue of a unicorn on the main square!

I found welcoming Inverness' atmosphere. The inner city has a pedestrian zone with lots of different shops. I wandered into a bookstore, and could not resist temptation. They have a special offer - you get 3 books for the price of 2. A positive challenge it was to choose three different books. In English.

Finally I met two cats in Inverness. I've been so much expecting to see cats everywhere, but not even one I found until Friday. Both of them came to me as I stopped to greet them, as if they knew, but had not seen me for long time.

I went to look at the museum, too, which has an exhibition about Scotland's history and geography. This is how I came across a chart which listed the Gaelic (the old Celtic language of Scotland) alphabet. I never knew that each letter represents a tree! A few examples: A is Ailm in Gaelic (Elm in English), B is Beithe in Gaelic (Birch in English), C - Coll (Hazel), D - Dair (Oak), M - Muin (Vine), S - Suil (Willow)...

I tried today capuccino, made in Scotland. I hoped it would resemble more "real" coffee, but no, underneath the milk foam I found the same light, quite watery, brown liquid.

I finished reading a book which I borrowed from the Library nearby. It is a fascinating novel! Title: Labyrinth. Author: Kate Mosse. It is set in South France, and although the main characters live in two different times (13th and 21st centuries), they are still connected by ancestry. History (crusade, heretics, Cathars), Grail, ancient rituals, secrets, adventure, etc.

Try it out!