Of Friendly Locals in Inverness

After 8 European countries and countless interactions with the locals later, I can safely say that the Scottish are the friendliest people in Europe. Example: we are walking down Church Street in Inverness trying to find a place to eat dinner and at the same time, find Hootenanny's, a pub that was supposed to have live Scottish music. We are discussing the horrid music played at clubs these days when suddenly, an older Scottish gentleman inquired as to what kind of music we listened to.

"We're looking for traditional Scottish music," I said.

He then proceeded to lead us to Hootenanny's, recommending it for both the music and the Thai food (strange combination), as well as giving us two more places we could have dinner. There were no questions asked, no creepy aura, only an inherent friendliness and a desire to talk to newcomers.


Inverness, on the bank of the river Ness

We also made small talk with a souvenir shopkeeper the next day, bonding over common experiences in Lucerne and Paris, while realizing that for young Americans, we have traveled and seen quite a lot. He also gave us a map and pointed us towards the bay near town for dolphin watching. Sadly, you needed a car to get there and I again curse my lack of a car.

Apparently, in order to fully enjoy the Scottish Highlands, you need a car. Or you can sign up for a tour of the area, which is what we did, giving us a bus tour of the area and a boat tour.



Which leads us to Loch Ness, where we sailed down the Caledonian Canal that connects Loch Ness to the North Sea and then proceeded to get splashed by cold Loch Ness water while the other passengers laughed at our soaked frames.

Though we did not find Nessie, Loch Ness did not disappoint as it gave us the right amount of grey clouds to make the lake sufficiently foreboding and mysterious. And out of the mists was the picturesque Scottish ruins of Urquhart Castle. It may have been cold, windy, and slightly misty but I expected that from Scotland. What I did not expect were the friendliness of the locals so every place, as my dad would say, does have its good side. And the Scottish music at Hootenanny's ended up being very good. They even played an old American folk song, "Shenandoah." So ends this part of the UK. Next stop: the Lake District.


According to the shopkeeper, Inverness is deep enough to hold 2 Eiffel Towers.

Inverness, the photo album