Tuesday, April 5, 2022
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| View from our stateroom; it's snowing! |
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| Snow on the Aquavit Terrace |
Our three-and-a-half hour included shore excursion was shortened to two-and-a-half hours, since it was to exclude free time. Our tour guide informed us that he had decided we needed free time! We boarded the motorcoach at 9:30, and had a 45-minute drive from Invergordon (where we docked) to Inverness.
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Snowy landscape, so it is hard to tell we are
in the Scottish Highlands (KSS) |
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| 'Give way' is our 'yield' |
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Yep, great day for drive-by photos; we had to
cross the Cromarty Firth, then the Moray Firth |
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| Greig Street Pedestrian Bridge (1880-1881, by C Manners) |
'Inver' is Scottish Gaelic for 'mouth of the river' making Inverness the Mouth of the River Ness. Other Viking passengers opted to follow the river to Loch Ness and its monster.
We were dropped off at the Inverness Cathedral, and told we had one hour free time!
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Inverness Cathedral or Cathedral Church of St Andrew
(1866-1869, by Alexander Ross in Gothic Revival style)
is the seat of the bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church,
which recognizes the Archbishop of Canterbury, but the
Anglican Church does not have jurisdiction in Scotland |
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| Inverness Cathedral interior |
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| Baptismal font (1871, by James Redfern) |
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| Minton floor tiles (1869) in the nave |
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| Kneeling pads with needlepoint decoration (KSS) |
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| High altar (1869) |
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| Cathedra/Bishop's Seat |
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| More colorful Minton floor tiles (1869) of the chancel (KSS) |
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| Pulpit (1869, by Alexander Ross) |
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Looking back at the west stained glass
window (1887) depicting Christ
at the Last Judgment |
It was still snowing when we left the cathedral.
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| Eden Court Theatre (1976, by Law Dunbar and Naismith) |
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| Looking across the River Ness |
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Inverness Castle (1836, by William Burn, 19C additions
by Joseph Mitchell and Thomas Brown) |
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| Tollbooth Steeple (1791) |
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Inverness Town House (1878-1882, by
William Lawrie, in Gothic style) |
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Market Cross (c 1768) sits on the
Clachnacuddin Stone/stone of the tubs,
which is said to be where woemn would rest
after bringing buckets or tubs of water
up from the river; legend is that as long as
the stone is preserved, Inverness will flourish |
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The Three Virtues (2008, by Matt Baker)
represent stone outcrops, each with
a different species of native birch tree |
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| Corner pub of Lauders |
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| The Victorian Market (1890-1891 |
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| Butcher shop |
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Abertarff House (1593) on the left,
is the oldest house in Inverness |
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| Scottish yak wool? |
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| Harry Potter with a tartan scarf |
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| Not quite the Hamilton tartan |
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| Aha, you can rent kilts! |
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| Fishermen sweaters and plaids |
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| Another view of Inverness Castle as we head back |
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Kingsmills Hotel was c 1785 residence once visited by
the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1787 |
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| Inverness Golf Club |
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Back along the Cromarty Firth with rocks that
I thought were cattle in the earlier snow |
Since we had some extra time, our bus driver drove us through the town of Invergordon!
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Entering Invergordon: King Edward Memorial Fountain
(1904) to commemorate the visit of Edward VII in 1902 |
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Invergordon is known for its Mural Trail;
this is Pipes and Drums (2006, by Anna Smith) |
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| The Loch (2004, by Ken White) |
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| Fire! Fire! (2007, by Anna Smith) |
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| A Century of Sport (2007, by Alan Potter) |
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Because Invergordon is easily accessed from the North Sea,
it has become a center for the fabrication and repair
of oil rigs; however, these days most of the oil rigs
that have been towed into the Cromarty Firth are waiting
to be scrapped; we passed dozens of these rigs (KSS) |
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| Abandoned oil rig and tugboat |
Next: Lerwick, Shetland Islands.
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