Back and Forth Across the Pond

This is a dream ring. You're probably looking at it and wondering why this simple sugary treat deserves its own blog post. Well, my friend, do not be fooled by its looks. Yes, it is simply a halved cake doughnut with icing on top and vanilla cream piped into the middle. The doughnut itself is a bit on the dry side, which I've found is fairly typical of British doughnuts. The icing is your basic sugar and water concoction. And while the vanilla cream is very good, it's just vanilla cream. Individually, the parts aren't that impressive. But put them together as a whole and you have a piece of pastry heaven. Steve's co-workers told him he had to try a dream ring. They're an Inverness thing. You get them from Harry Gow Bakery, which started back in 1979. I sought out a Harry Gow just to try one of these praised delights and I admit I was not impressed on first sight. I expected it to be a bit on the bland side because I've had doughnuts with vanilla cre...

I had this post all written. I just needed to add the photos. As I was doing that, I decided to delete one photo and inadvertently deleted the entire post! Needless to say, it took awhile before I could stomach starting again. Okay, let's do this. I woke Tuesday, July 19, to this forecast: Highs in the 70s!? Holy cow! The thunderstorms weren't due until late in the evening, so it was a clear, sunny, summery day. Obviously, I had to be out in it. I ended up walking along the river for about an hour. I didn't cover much new ground, so I don't have many photos to share. But I do have a few observations. A group of rough-looking folks walked past me, bedecked in chains and smoking. The lone female was incredibly skinny. Her eyes bugged out of a gaunt and lined face. Her eyes and ashen complexion gave her a creepy zombie look. The Walking Dead has come to Inverness!  When I was doing research in England back in 2013, I wrote a blog post about the English...

I forgot a collection of brochures in the car the other day. When Steve and I went to collect them (the car is parked up the hill across the street from our apartment), Steve suggested we take a walk whilst we were out. Our route took us up to the castle and then down to the river. A pic of the clock tower that's adjacent to our apartment. It's known as the town steeple and it was erected in 1791. An earthquake (!) twisted it in 1816. The people grew fond of its shape and resisted having it fixed. I do see a slight lean to it from this angle, so I'm assuming that's the damage. I'm honestly not sure. It is said that the larger of the two balls beneath the weathervane is filled with whisky. We walked behind the castle, which is perched atop a fairly tall hill. Here's a shot of the street behind the castle. And here's the view looking the other way. And here's the view of the river. Lovely, isn't it? The church is St. Andr...

It was a beautiful morning with lots of sunshine, so I took the opportunity to run a slew of errands. I wanted to be out and about in the lovely weather. One thing on my list was to check out a used book store I had spotted one day driving home. I love old book stores. Old book stores in old buildings full of character are even better. Leakey's is a definite treasure. I picked up two books after I browsed for awhile. As I stood in line behind a fellow buying a large pile of hardbacks I noticed a big stack of firewood. Then I spotted the very large wood-burning stove. I guess the old building doesn't have central heat. I will have to be sure to pop by in cooler weather to see that heater in action. Though I can't help but wonder if a woodburning stove is the best option in a place filled with so much combustible material.  Leakey's has more than just books. It has a large collection of antique prints. You can see some of them in the first two photos. It also has some coz...

We had dinner last evening at the Castle Tavern. It's a charming pub and restaurant across from Inverness Castle. We were seated near a pair of young American girls. I'd say they were in their early 20s.  When the waitress brought them their bill they asked if she could split the check for them. The waitress asked them if they were paying with a card. The girls replied that they were paying in cash. I inwardly frowned. Why did they need to split the bill if they were paying in cash? I think the waitress wondered the same thing because she hesitated ever so briefly before telling them she could split it when they paid. Off the waitress went and the girls sat mulling over their bill. They were having a difficult time determining who owed what. They even debated whether a twenty was too much for one of them to pay without actually reaching a conclusion. The waitress returned and the girls sheepishly handed her their bill. Now this is where I had to literally stifle a laugh. The gi...

We spent part of the day Saturday driving around the Black Isle. As with Friday's adventure, the goal was to see what the various towns and villages were like and whether the commute was a tolerable one. So aside from a break for lunch, we didn't stop and wander anywhere. Here is a map of the Black Isle to help provide you some bearings. The isle isn't really an island, it's a peninsula surrounded by two firths: Moray Firth and Cromarty Firth. Inverness sits on the banks of the Moray Firth. If you follow the A96 from Inverness to the right beyond Fort George, you'll reach Nairn and eventually Elgin (locations mentioned in my previous blog). Our trip this time took us across both the Moray and Cromarty Firths. We went to Invergordon, which is near Alness at the top of this map but not mentioned; Alness; Dingwall; Muir of Ord; and then Beauly. I still want to see Cromarty, itself, and Fortrose, but that will be another day. It was a sunny day to start. Here's a sh...

Since we managed to get all of our administrative stuff done on Thursday, we had Friday free to explore. We took a drive around Loch Ness, and then headed toward the coast and visited the towns of Nairn and Elgin. Although I would have liked to stop and look around, the main point of the trip was to get a feel for the area and figure out where we would like to live. Our route took us around Loch Ness. This was one of the first glimpses we had of the famous loch. Here's another. We came this way because Drumnadrochit is one of the areas we thought would make a nice place to live. We decided that while the drive was gorgeous, it was too arduous. The speed limit is 60 mph, but there are so many foreign tourists unfamiliar and apparently uncomfortable with driving on the left side of the road they maxed out at 40 mph. And they'd go super slow around the many turns. Steve couldn't stand dealing with that twice a day, five days a week. So Drumnadrochit is off the...

One of the more interesting things about living so far north is how incredibly long the summer days are. In Florida, the sun rises around 6:30 or so and it sets somewhere around 8:30 during Summer's peak. Here in Inverness, the sun rises around 4:30 in the morning and sets around 10:30. The dusky sky lasts until about 11, too. That wreaks havoc with your sense of time, let me tell you. Usually, I'm showered by 9:30 and in bed by 10. I've only been in bed before 11:30 once since we've been here and that's only because I forced myself to go! Thursday was our busy day. We picked up my residency card, opened a bank account, did some grocery shopping, and bought SIM cards for our cell phones. Since we hadn't done much in the way of fun all day, we decided to go for a walk. It was 9:30 p.m. Our temporary apartment is just a block from the River Ness.  This is Inverness Castle. They're currently doing renovations to the north tower. They're a...