The weekend in Nairn

We have had quite the weekend here in Nairn-ia. We took Cody and Autumn to the Inverness airport before the crack of dawn so that they could make their flight to Heathrow so that they could not get onto their flight to Philly (stopped at security b/c although they had their boarding passes, they were not allowed through because there wears less than 45 minutes before takeoff) so that they could have a 7+-hour layover to get a flight to Newark so that they could get a flight to Grand Rapids, where they could land a little before midnight (I think). Oh, and Cody’s suitcase did not appear in EWR, so who knows where it might be? 

In the meantime, Dan roamed around Nairn and I traded our posh Mercedes SUV for a more-my-kind-of car:

When I turned in the posh car, they said that they would have to put a £5000 (FIVE THOUSAND) hold on our credit card until they could assess the damage from the wee run-in with the parking block in the restricted driving zone (did I tell you about that) and/or the getting-the-flat-tire incident. Whatever. We have insurance. :)

The moon last night was gorgeous; here are a couple of not-so-gorgeous photos of that.

Today (Sunday), we drove to Fort George, built two years after (and due to) the last Jacobite rebellion (1746). It is an active military barracks, where the Black Watch regiments are housed, replete with very young-looking soldiers walking around with automatic rifles. Reminded me of home - except for the soldiers part. 😳

Cemetery for the Black Watch’s service and regiment dogs

Of course, I was far more interested in the plants. 

Next, we were off to Elgin, and Dan discovered the coolest place to have lunch. It was in a garden encased in 400-year-old walls! It was gorgeous, and my photos won’t even start to capture it. They grow their own herbs and many of the vegetables that they serve.

And the day just got better! We went to Elgin, where ruins of the 13th-century cathedral are just sitting there in the middle of town, with graveyards on either side (the places where Dan said my favorite kinds of people reside! He’s not wrong.).

They are having to do maintenance after only 700+ years. Cheap construction.

I thought that this was an interesting thing to have on the back of the tombstone. 

After that, we were off to see the remains of Duffus (“duff-us,” although we called it “doo-fuss”) Castle, the ruins of which were on a site where the original building was built in the 1100s. This castle was built in the 1300s but, having been built on earthworks, did not last to modern times. 

I love how the plants grow in the spaces between stones.