Day 157: FIK first fort

29/12/2021

This morning it was much clearer, a shame we forgot the surfboards.

The first stop of the day was Elgin Cathedral. Another, Historic Scotland site. We had to settle for a walk around the perimeter as it must have been too cold for the gatekeeper to get out of bed this morning.

We swiftly moved on to Fort George. By the time we had arrived, it was actually raining. We feel like we have been pretty lucky with the weather the past couple of weeks. Not today though, so we sought refuge. Bit rude Curious George had not invited us up to his weekender earlier.

First stop, hot chocolates, mochas and a babyccino. Although it could be more accurately described as a big cup of marshmallows.

We wandered around the Fensoms first operational fort. The highlight was walking along the high walls.

Our wee tour guide took us through Garrison Church within Fort George before we parted ways with Bill and Jennine and headed back home, down the picturesque windy Highland roads. Bill will not know what to do with himself now that he has lost his shadow.

“Fort George (Gaelic: Dùn Deòrsa or An Gearastan, the latter meaning literally “the garrison”), is a large 18th-century fortress near Ardersier, to the northeast of Inverness in the Highland council area of Scotland. It was built to control the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745, replacing a Fort George in Inverness constructed after the 1715 Jacobite rising to control the area. The current fortress has never been attacked and has remained in continuous use as a garrison. The fortification is based on a star design; it remains virtually unaltered and nowadays is open to visitors with exhibits and facsimiles showing the fort’s use at different periods, while still serving as an army barracks”.

There was a short rest break at Beatrix Potter Garden. All the Peter Rabbit statues did not amuse Eloise though who was missing the snow already.

We pushed on quickly to our hotspot. where “all 136 Glasgow neighbourhoods now ‘covid hotspots’ as case numbers continue to rise”, at least it was toasty 9°C. Funny how a few days around 0±3°C makes 9°C feel like the Caribbean. We had to quickly unpack and clean the house up as Taigh-òsta (hotel) FIK had their third guest arriving tomorrow.