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The second day of our tour around Scotland took us from the East to the West: Having stayed in Inverness for the night our first destination was Culloden. On the 16th of April 1746 Culloden Battlefield saw the last ever battle fought in Britain. Prince Charles Edward Stuart's (Bonnie Prince Charlie) defeat by the Duke of Cumberland was the end of the Jakobite Rebellion. 1500 Highlanders died in the battle (most of them slaughtered after their defeat), while only 50 soldiers of the English army were |
killed. Today you can see the battlefield being restored to the state of 1746 and visit the clan graves. The visitor centre gives good background information while local actors present a short play set on the day of the battle (picture below left). Our next destination was Loch Ness on our way west. Driving along the northern shore we soon reached Urquhart Castle (below right). |
Urquhart Castle to my knowledge receives the most visitors of all tourist attractions in Scotland. Partly due to Nessie (Loch Ness Monster) hunters, partly due to the castle itself. When we visited the whole area was a huge construction site for a new visitor centre and bigger car park. | But we still managed to take a few pictures of the ruins without the construction site fences. The castle was built as a strategic base to guard the Great Glen and played an important role in the Wars of Independence. It was blown up in 1692 to stop it falling to the Jacobites. The ruins |
are quite impressive, but a lot of people also arrive in the hope of taking a picture of Nessie. In the picture below Imke is trying to capture the monster on a picture, but without luck.
The weather forecast had promised us better weather in the west, but that promise didn't hold: When we arrived at Eilean Donan Castle (picture right) it was still dull and grey. |
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Our destination for the day was the Isle of Skye: Via the bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh (below) we drove to Portree, where we found a room in the Royal Hotel with a nice view over the harbour. |
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