After the departure of Scottish PM Nicola Sturgeon and UK PM Rishi Sunak) and their sizable security details), the Tourists loaded up the bus at 9:00 am to prepare for their departure from the beautiful city of Inverness.
Scottish MP Douglas Ross, head of the Scottish Conservative Party, was still holding meetings at the hotel.
They then headed on a short walk to an outdoor curling rink.
Just 150 yards away from the Kingsmills Hotel is the Highland Curling Club’s outdoor rink at Kingsmills. Unfortunately, the weather did not allow us to curl as it was too warm for ice.
The 4-sheet outdoor rink was built in 1899. In 1898, a group of curlers broke away from the Inverness Curling Club and built this facility. When the current ice rink that we curled at yesterday opened in 1969, it led to the near-demise of the outdoor rink.
When the rink was constructed it was out in the country but over the intervening 123 years, the city has expanded to engulf the rink. Back when it was in the country, a flag was hung at a building downtown to indicate that curling was on and people would get in their horse and carriages and head out to curl.
As it is natural ice, it is obviously very weather dependent. In their best year since 1960, they were able to curl 58 days. Some years they can’t curl at all. With global warming, it now about once every three years. They were able to curl for 2 days a wee bit before Christmas.
Note: The red tint in the pictures is from the heat lamps in the warm room.
The Tourists had the opportunity to do a short visit to the battlefield of Culloden. The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On April 16, 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was decisively defeated by the British government force under Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, on the Drummossie Moor near Inverness in the Scottish Highland. It was the last pitched battle fought on British Soil.
In the span of just 45 minutes, between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobite soldiers were killed or wounded. In contrast, the British government forces suffered just 50 dead and 259 wounded. The Jacobite soldiers were buried in mass graves by clan. It was interesting to find that people still come and place flowers by the grave markers for their clans.
Most people in the U.S. today know about Culloden from the series “Outlander” or the books on which the series is based written by Diana Gabaldon.
After the Culloden battleground, the Tourists boarded their coach and headed to the Benromach Distillery for a tour and whisky tasting.
Curler Stephen Rankin who greeted us in Elgin is the “Director of Prestige” (one of my favorite job titles ever) and his family runs the distillery. He rolled out the red carpet for us. An interesting note is that photography of any kind is not allowed in the vast majority of whisky distilleries because the alcohol content in the air is so high that certain cameras could trigger ignition (at least that is what they tell us).
Their 40 year old whisky won the Best Spirit of the Year last year. Their Distillery Ambassador (pictured below) also won best whisky Ambassador in the World.
Stephen Rankin joined us for lunch at the Mosset Tavern in Moray.
Entrees were Mac and Cheese, Venison, Haggis and Haddock (Fish and Chips) with Sticky Toffee Pudding, Cheesecake and a Cheese plate as desserts.
The curlers then got onto their coach for the ride to the Airport Crowne Plaza Aberdeen.
Some of the Tourists chose to sleep on the journey, potentially due to the whisky, the beer and the large lunch:
The Tourists were met by local Curling dignitaries including Albert Middler, Graham Stanley, Graham Russell, Andy Carr and Tom Brewster. A short drinks reception was followed by a a dinner that was called informal. But it was the first one where our napkins were placed on our laps for us, the plates were put down in unison and our silverware moved into place for us.
Graham Stanley provided a welcome and Albert Middler recited the Curlers Grace. Graham Russell also have a humorous speech.
Tomorrow the Tourists have 2 games in Aberdeen.
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