Thanks for all your good wishes, cards and gifts! They’re mostly all back at home and I’ll enjoy them when we’re back tomorrow!
Here we are then, in Bonnie Scotland, on the occasion of my 64th.
It’s another day of discovery today and we’ve got two locations in mind:-
Nairn – a well-known seaside town on the Moray Firth with not one, but TWO golf courses! 😊
Fort George – a large 18th-century fortress
…and for my birthday lunch, The Cawdor Tavern in (not surprisingly) the village of Cawdor.
8.05am: Looking at how busy the Hotel was yesterday evening, we decided to take breakfast earlier today to avoid the potential queues.
9.10am: We’re off! A quick dash to the petrol station en-route to fill up with juice (what a novelty, I haven’t been in a petrol station for well over a year!). Our first stop is only 16 miles and 25 minutes away…
Nairn
9.45am: Nairn is an ancient fishing port around 17 miles east of Inverness. Well, this visit certainly woke us up! In spite of a vest, two coats and gloves, (and the car saying the outside temperature was 10.5℃) it felt more like MINUS 10… it was f-f-f-f-freezing with a biting north wind! 🥶🥶
The Harbour…
A Nairn Fishwife. Statue erected in 2007
The Beach…
10.05am: And if the Harbour was freezing, then Nairn’s beach-front was even colder! But hey! In order to show that we weren’t lilly-livered southern-softies, we walked along the front (and a bit further inland). Another memorable birthday experience!! ⛄ More information about Nairn HERE.
The car-heater and its heated seats have never had so much use! We were SO pleased to be back in the car! 😊
Fort George
11.05am:Fort George is a large 18th-century fortress to the north-east of Inverness. It was built to control the Highlanders in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745, replacing a Fort George in Inverness constructed after the 1715 Jacobite rising to stamp out any further rebellion. The current fortress has never been attacked and has remained in continuous use as a garrison ever since. More information HERE.
Massive!
This was the highlight of the day for us and much larger in real life than the photographs we’d already seen when planning this break. Yes, it was WIDE, but it was also DEEP – it seemed to go on forever!
Take a coat, preferably TWO, and a scarf, and a hat, and gloves!
There’s the great ‘Highlanders’ Museum’ full of memorabilia associated with all the Regiments here through the years.
But there are plenty of reminders that it’s still in use!
…and the mobile signal is as crap here as is most of the Highlands!
Plenty of these little fellas to keep the undesirables at bay! 😮
…in all shapes and sizes!
The Chapel
I wouldn’t want to mow the lawns!
Worth a visit! (click for a larger version)
The Cawdor Tavern
1.25pm:The Tavern and its food had some excellent reviews and whilst staying with our friends earlier in the week, Richard had also recommended it.
The Cawdor Tavern
The rather understated entrance betrayed the great food that was yet to come for my Birthday Lunch 2020!! 🎂
Birthday Lunch 2020: Trio of Scottish Puddings – Stornaway Black Pudding, Haggis & White Pudding
Birthday Lunch 2020: A handsome Steak and Orkney Ale Pie
Birthday Lunch 2020: Sticky Toffee Pudding with Orkney Ice Cream
3.10pm: Wow! What a Birthday Lunch. Definitely another of those occasions where a short snooze would now be in order! Instead though, we headed in the general direction of the Hotel by way of the Culloden Battlefield (as you do!)
The Culloden Moor Battlefield
Leanach Cottage (for treating the Duke of Cumberland’s troops)
We headed back to the hotel to start packing for our departure tomorrow. What an unforgettable day! Great places, great food… and hypothermia! We won’t forget my 2020 birthday celebrations in a hurry!
Click on the button below for all our photos so far (and none of my chat!)
I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!
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