I'VE long had an affinity for Inverness.
It began when I first visited Scotland as a 19-year-old, and spent a couple of days in the Highland Capital while backpacking around the country. The city has changed much since the summer of 1990. Nowadays, Inverness has its own university (the University of the Highlands and Islands), an indoor shopping centre and a Premier League football club, which has just won the Scottish Cup, plus a far greater choice of restaurants than I remember.
The city's heartbeat feels more lively too and there's a lot more going on than during my original visit when Inverness felt like a sleepy citadel of the Highlands.
Though Inverness can be conveniently reached by train and plane (Inverness Airport just a few miles west of the city), we travelled by car from Glasgow. After slugging it out for two and a half hours from Perth, we were relieved to find our accommodation at the Thistle hotel just off the roundabout for the A9.
The Thistle's facilities cannot be faulted, with large well-equipped rooms. Our L-shaped family room with interconnecting door was ideal, as it enabled our year-old daughter Daisy to get some much-needed sleep while we watched TV without waking her. There is a light and airy restaurant and traditional bar as well as a spa pool, sauna and steam rooms at the hotel's Otium leisure club.
There's also a beauty salon and a very good gym. While I didn't take advantage of the latter two offerings, I loved teaching my daughter to swim in the warm pool.
Venturing out of the hotel, we set off across the Kessock Bridge to the Black Isle Brewery, whose owner David Gladwin fosters a refreshingly different approach to brewing.
It's based in a modern-looking shed at the end of a single-track road near Munlochy, and the free tours are well worth a visit, with tasting on offer at reception.
Tour guide Andrea Ferracuti, who arrived from Italy last year to learn English (he admits he finds Glaswegian more difficult to pick up than the local Inverness-shire accent), showed us around a brewery that surprised with the space-age look of its vast aluminium vats. He explained the brewing process: apparently the barley initially has the appearance of "porridge" as the fermenting process begins. "The beer is boiled and after the first part, the hops are added - creating the bitter taste," he told us. "After the boiling process is complete, we have the second and third part of the hops, adding the "taste and aroma."
After 90 minutes, the temperature is cooled from 99 centigrade to around 20. Once yeast is added to the ingredients in the vats, the beer is completely fermented and bottled - a process that takes around a week.
Owner David Gladwin told us that their organic beers are sold across the world, with Japan, France and Sweden among the leading consumers. He said: "Customers want the real quality Scottish product and they are interested in the quality malts and beers and foods. We went organic very early on. We grow our own barley now and use our own water. We feed the draft from the mash tub back to my black Hebridean Sheep."
The next port of call was a 10-minute drive west along the Black Isle to Chanonry Point, one of the best vantage points for dolphin-watching in the country.
Arriving on a spit of land that juts out into the inner Moray Firth, we followed a crowd of people in the distance to the furthest tip of the beach where we were entertained by two dolphins about 20ft out in the waters.
The pair were diving, twisting and turning as they chased the plankton and other fish. It was a remarkable spectacle and I was surprised at how close they came to the shore.
Daisy, however, seemed more interested in playing with the pebbles than in the dolphins - but we did manage to spark her interest in another kind of sea "mammal" when, the following day, we drove 20 minutes out of Inverness to join one of Jacobite Cruises's trips in search of the Loch Ness Monster.
The tour company operates four vessels on the loch, which has been at the centre of a number of searches for the mythical beast since the first image emerged of "Nessie" in 1933.
While our trip yielded no further clues from the depths of the 754 ft loch, I gained an idea of the vast scale of Scotland's largest (by volume) loch.
There was an atmosphere of foreboding as our catamaran headed out across the waters to the ruined Urquhart Castle - a scene of countless battles between the Scottish and the English over the centuries. The castle is familiar to Loch Ness Monster hunters as the backdrop for a famous picture of "Nessie" in 1977, which was exposed as a hoax.
Around an hour after setting sail, we were deposited back at the Clansman Harbour - where to Daisy's delight she had her photograph taken next to a statue of Nessie.
On the opposite side of the loch is Dores, best known for the Rock Ness musical festival. The village inn was recently bought by Adam da Silva and his wife Tanya, together with her brother Ross Glendinning.
Adam and Tanya held their wedding reception at the inn five years ago and Tanya had previously worked in her local bar as a teenager. So when the opportunity came up, they saw the opportunity and moved to Scotland from Gloucestershire.
The family have tastefully renovated the restaurant, which offers a great choice of specials - everything from steak to sea bream (my wife Claire and I enjoyed the latter) - and a pretty extensive main menu. We were made to feel more than welcome in this family-friendly pub. Adam told us that Dores offers by far the prettiest view of the loch. "From here you can watch the sun rise all the way in the sky to sunset," he said, "and you can see the full view of the whole loch. It's a lovely location."
Our final stop was the National Trust for Scotland Culloden Battlefield visitor centre, opened in 2007. The centre provides a host of information on the famous battle which took place on April 16, 1746. Interactive provide a history of the struggle between Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops and the Duke of Cumberland's for control of the throne, and of the battle itself, told from the perspective of both the Jacobite and Government forces.
The fascinating exhibition is designed to encourage visitors to try and imagine what it would have been like to be present, so there's a chance to lift some heavy muskets or try out a shield, and think what little protection it would have provided against bayonets.
The climax is a room where the lights suddenly dim and a video screen shows an empty moor. Then, ghost-like apparitions appear of men hurling themselves into battle. This is the battle immersion theatre, in which a 360 degree relives the horror of the battle. The sounds of men dying by axe, bayonet and gunfire filled the room. It was a shocking moment and reinforced that I would shortly walking out of the visitor centre onto a moor where the remains of some 2,000 mainly Jacobite soldiers lay buried.
The Jacobites' attempt to take over the throne had ended in just 30 minutes on that fateful day. The visitor centre provided and a dramatic and thought-provoking culmination to my two-day break.
John Bynorth spent two nights at the Thistle in Inverness, where a family room on a bed and breakfast basis costs from £109 per night, and a family room with dinner and breakfast costs from £170 per night. For more details, visit www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united kingdom/inverness/thistle
5 things to do around Inverness
Dolphin-spotting at Chanonry Point, Fortose, Black Isle
This was the highlight of my trip. It thrilled me to see two dolphins appearing in and out of the water in their natural environment. The pebble beach gives way to a glorious deserted sandy beach with stunning views of the Black Isle and across on the other side of the Moray Firth to Fort George.
Culloden visitor centre and battle site, Culloden Moor, Inverness, IV2 5EU
The centre gives an understanding what led to the Battle of Culloden. It is understated, providing an entry-point to the fields where so many men died, and their remains are still buried.
www.nts.org.uk/culloden
Jacobite Cruises, Clansman Harbour, by Loch Ness, IV3 8AU
The only way to get a true sense of the scale of Loch Ness is to get out on a boat. The cruise firm offer a range of journeys from two harbours, and on four boats. The one-hour round trip by catamaran from the Clansman Harbour is the best option for families.
www.jacobite.co.uk
Clava Cairns near Culloden Moor, Inverness
Three cairns lie in a field, providing a fascinating prehistoric monument - if not an exact record - of this burial site. The huge mounds of stone were created in a field by farmers almost 4,000 years ago. They are aligned to the winter solstice and provide a fascinating insight into early beliefs.
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
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