{happy weekend + inverness}

When people think of Inverness, Scotland, they often think of the loch and the place where the fabled Loch Ness Monster resides. It is, however, also a beautiful, historic town of 65,000 and the Capital of the Highlands.

According to legend, in 1040, Macbeth built his stronghold in Inverness, and in 1158 King David of Scotland awarded Inverness its charter as a Royal Burgh. Robert the Bruce seized the first of the city's five castles from English forces in 1307, and in 1562, Mary Queen of Scots had the Governor of Inverness Castle hanged for refusing her entry to the Burgh. Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite troops were defeated in the famous Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil, in 1746. Soon after, Fort George, the finest 18th century fort in Europe, was established just outside the city. In 1822 the Caledonian Canal was completed by Thomas Telford, linking Inverness to the west coast of Scotland, and in 1921 Inverness Town House hosted a historic meeting of the British Cabinet, the only Cabinet meeting of the British Government ever held outside London.

We stopped for dinner and a glass of wine at a charming little place that used to be an old water mill, after strolling through town in the fresh highland air.