Week 12 #2: Inverness

I already stated after my trip to Dublin (link) that this week is going to particular busy. Today I was in Inverness with Gary and a couple of foreigners. I have gotten over my fear of going alone, and now the best thing about the trips is possibly all the new people I get to meet.
They're all really something, and scenery and sunshine aside, they might actually be one of the best things.

So, as said: I was in Inverness today, and we briefly crossed through Perth. This puts my city count like this:

- Glasgow
- Edinburgh
- Aberdeen
- Dundee
- Inverness
- Perth
- Stirling

This is naturally fantastic, but I'm not here just to brag that I have now seen/crossed through 6 of the 7 cities in Scotland, however wonderful that might be.
The trip to Inverness is a long one, and there were not many stories today, as they have been told most of them, so we could either sleep or do something else. I chose to reread The Fault in Our Stars. One of the stories we did cover, though, was about kelpies. I might have mentioned them earlier, but there are water-nymphs, selkies and kelpies.

The water-nymph usually pretend to be in dire straits, and thus entices an innocent people to help it, thus granting three wishes. These three wishes usually ends up breaking the life of the poor helper, and the final wish usually undoes all the wishes and places the wishee back in the beginning, ready to repeat the pattern again.

Then there are selkies, which is a seal that can shed its skin and be a really nice thing. This is probably the nicest of all mythical creatures of Scotland.
And then, lo and behold, comes the kelpie. The kelpie is vicious, demonic and terrifying. And it is beautiful, stunning and enticing. It usually takes form after something you long for, say you are a lonely, young man longing for a beautiful lass. Then walking along the beach is such a lass, but a you walk closer to her, the closer she walks to the water, and once you're in the water, well, let's just say it's no lass, and it will rip you apart and eat you alive. The kelpie usually takes form after a horse, so maybe just stay away from horses?

 

Also, we got a nice story about how the highlands has been preserved. Once there was made a deal that broke up families, townships and friendships. It moved people from Scotland to all over the world, and sadly I have forgotten the name of this move, but that doesn't change the story.

 

The highlands of Scotland is truly beautiful, and they do deserve a visit, but had it not been because of that move, well, then there would have been no highlands with lots of nature to look at. The population of Scotland is today around 5 - 6 million people, roughly the same as Denmark, but had the move not been ensured, the population would have resembled that of England which is 53 million, meaning Scotland would have been overcrowded.

When we got to Inverness we walked around River Ness on a cute little island walk. After that we set about exploring the city, seeing the ruins of an old friary, the Victoria Arcade, a very nice unicorn statue, and a bookstore/library I have never seen the likes of, and I would have loved to stay or even live there.

 

We ended the day at Bella Italia with a nice pizza before the trip went back to Glasgow.
It was so sunny all day we didn't even need our coats.
Now I'll go pack for a looong journey down south...