Day 9 Leaving Skye, Castle Cruising

We left our B&B on Skye and were on the road by 9:15.  Our destination for this evening was the town of Nairn,  about 130 miles to the east.  Nairn sits on the Firth of Moray, which empties into the North Sea.  Our room at the Sunny Brae B&B overlooks the Firth, so we had a great view even in the rain.

The only bridge to Skye, built in 1995

To get to the bridge off of Skye we had to drive through some very mountainous sections of the island.  It's really amazing how unpopulated this resort island is.  Once off the bridge, our first stop was Eileandonan Castle.  There's not much to see on the inside, so we skipped the part, but the setting was spectacular!  As we approached the castle from the parking lot we could hear a bagpiper, and sure enough there he was in full gear.

A Morgan!

Leaving Eileandon, we continued on to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.  Another spectacular setting, so it was very crowded, but it was worth braving the crowds to see this 1500 year old structure which was almost completely destroyed in 1692.  From the castle's tower's the views of Loch Ness are amazing, but we didn't waste too much time looking for Nessie since it was lightly raining.

From Urquhart, we continued along Loch Ness to Inverness, a city of 60,000.  It too has a castle, but after the incredible scenery on Skye and the previous two castles, this one wasn't that exciting.  After a brief self guided walking tour of the city...

 

We drove on to Nairn and our B&B which were only another 15 miles to the east.

View of the Firth of Moray from our room at Sunny Brae

We dined at Sundancers, a beachfront restaurant next to the harbor and within walking distance of our B&B.   I had sole & spinach paupiettes: creamy crayfish & herb gnocchi, seared king scallops, buttered tender asparagus spears.  I had no idea what a paupiette was, but it sounded good and it was.  Joni ordered a seared spring vegetable medley:  crisp puff pastry, filled with asparagus, sprouting broccoli & spring greens drizzled with a Napoli sauce served with new season potatoes, dressed leaves and toasted pine nuts. Both meals were fantastic.  Sticky toffee pudding and coffee rounded out the evening.  My diet has gone to hell.  This has got to stop.