Inverness

Hi reader

Today I'm in Inverness. It's my third day here. I'd originally intended to make a flying visit here because I'd heard they've got Primark, Peacocks and Matalan, so a good place to get thermal clothes at a cheap price, but I decided to stay a while because it's such an amazing, beautiful city with a lot to see and do.

If you're travelling through Scotland, I definitely recommend a visit to Inverness. And if you're travelling in a van I suggest you set Google Maps for Bught Road. It's a perfect place to park up for a day or three.

Bught Road

This is a long, quiet, leafy road with free parking and no signs to restrict overnight sleeping. At one end there's a public toilets with hot water taps. There's also a snack shop at the nearby crazy golf course which has a water tap. The friendly guy working there let me fill up my water bottles, so I've got 10 litres of water again.

Also nearby is Inverness Leisure where you can have a private shower room for three pounds eighty. No time limit.

Bught Road is right on the banks of the River Ness, which is surprisingly fast-flowing for such a wide river. It's a beautiful view to wake up to and a great place to enjoy a morning cup of tea.

From the parking spot, I was able to cross a bridge to get to the Ness Islands, a collection of natural islands connected by Victorian footbridges. If you enjoy the outdoors and parks, then this is a lovely place for a walk and there are a lot of people walking their dogs, cycling, jogging and taking a stroll.

The islands are home to wildlife such as otters, bats and sometimes deer, although I didn't see any of these on my walk.

There are also imposing, mature trees including tall pines.

And a fallen tree Loch Ness Monster!

From the Ness Islands, it's less than thirty minutes to walk into Inverness city centre. Along the way I passed this trio of statues. Faith, Hope and Charity are the the three virtues referred to by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians in the Bible. The characters shown in the statues are personifications of these.

Note that the statues are not erected in the correct order. On the left is Charity, shown with a child. In the middle is Faith, holding a Bible and on the right is Hope with one of her feet placed on an anchor. The statues are the work of local sculptor, Andrew Davidson (1841 - 1925).

In town, I had lunch at Charlie's Café. Baked potato with beans and salad. A meal for three pounds fifty in a city centre? Bargain!

And a short walk away, Inverness Library.

This is one of the biggest libraries I've been to on this trip and it's really impressive inside. I was able to get a table in their reference room and made use of the four way plug to charge up all my devices.

They had some really cool framed collections of bookmarks on different themes. This is their collection of motivational quotes bookmarks:

There are some striking buildings to see as you walk around Inverness. This is the Inverness Town House which was built in 1882. 

A pair of stone wolves are on guard at the door to greet visitors, each with a paw placed on a skull. The Scottish Highlands were the last place in the UK where wolves lived in the wild.

Outside the Town House there's a bronze statue of a unicorn on top of the Mercat Cross.

Did you know that the unicorn is the national animal of Scotland? It symbolizes nobility, purity, strength, courage and magical healing powers. There is a legend that the unicorn's horn has the power to purify poisoned waters.

I also looked around Inverness Museum. Great section on natural history of the Highlands. Check out this stuffed golden eagle.

I also liked that they had a lot of animals on display that visitors could pet ... with the request to 'please stroke me carefully'.

I'm off to find something good to eat and I'm super excited to finally see The Many Saints of Newark later this evening. For me, The Sopranos is still the greatest TV show ever.

Till next time, thanks for reading,

Brian