It’s anniversary day today, our 25th. We have a good day planned, designed to be peaceful and stress free. That’s the good news. The slightly less good news is that the weather has turned, quickly and sharply. It’s Scotland, after all. Yesterday was sunny and in the high 70s. Today it’s overcast, cold and windy – maybe 50 degrees F that feels like 35 with the wind.

We spent a nice morning on Loch Ness, taking a boat ride from the Inverness end of things to Urquhart Castle and back. It was frigid on the Loch, with dark choppy water. Bone chilling wind. More of a scene from a murder mystery than of an anniversary trip. But we enjoyed it all the same. Loch Ness is a really interesting place – wild and deep, it’s a deep geologic fault line that runs for approximately 30 miles east and west. At 800 feet deep, it’s a huge fresh water reservoir. And no, we didn’t see Nessie. Later today we move on down the Loch to Foyers and Foyers Lodge, a highly rated hotel and restaurant, where we’ll spend a couple of nights.

More good news, due to a conspiracy among private tour drivers, I’m getting the Sony camera back tonight. Our driver from yesterday knew a guy who knew a guy, and they’ve collaborated to transport the camera back up to the highlands and to me. Very kind of them, and I’m gonna owe some big tips before this is all over (some already paid). The Scots are generous, and those involved in the tourist industry are especially so. But those big tips will still be cheaper than a new camera, plus I get the days of photos currently trapped on the camera’s SD card. ScotsRail wasn’t much help in all this – each option we came up with ran squarely into a ScotsRail limitation or policy blocking our retrieval. The latest was their lost and found office isn’t open on the weekends. But all’s well that ends well, I suppose.

I took the opportunity midday to read the news, including US politics. That was a mistake – what a shitshow. We’ve discussed Convict Donny with a couple of locals, and we all agree he’s the worst.

So goodbye shortly to Bunchrew House (pictured in title photo above), and on to the next adventure. Bonus picture below from the amazing gardens at Cawdor Castle in yesterday’s warm sun. One garden is surrounded by a maze of laburnum trees, the yellow in the picture.