Drive | I got a free upgrade for my rental car, because a smaller automatic wasn’t available for my time period. I’m now driving a very sporty Audi A3. On the inside it feels much smaller than my Seat Ibiza at home. Who designs / drives these cars? I’m making do… no, it’s fine really, it’s a good car, but it’s a bit weird to drive it. It also misses a few features I would have expected in such a high-end car, but it’s fine. Still getting used to all the levers around the steering wheel four days in. I can proudly state that I hardly ever go to the wrong side of the car to get in. I’m acing the two lanes roundabouts (if I may say so). And I’ve also finally figured out the – mirrored to my mind – buttons on the steering wheel. Try and error for a bit. It’s fine.
Do | I’ve been out and about some. On Sunday I went to the beach for a bit after I had picked up the car. It was nice, albeit windy and cloudy. On Monday I went for a short hike near Loch Ness. I had looked up various hiking routes in advance as I wanted to be active on this trip. I’m not in the best of shape though, which meant I came back from that trip – uphill for a long time and then downhill again – with some soreness in my calves. Rookie mistake.
After that hike I drove further on to Urquhart Castle. I’ve been before and it was nice, but I somehow recalled it a bit more impressive? I don’t know…
Tuesday was another cloudy day with partial rain, so my sore legs and I stayed home. In Inverness anyway. In the afternoon I walked into the city centre, bought some postcards, aimlessly wandered into the Waterstones (bookstore) at the mall. A bookstore always draws me in. One of the staffers approached me and asked if I might be interested in a talk with an author which would start soon: A female cyclist from Inverness – Jenny Graham – who pedalled around the world solo and unsupported. Sure I thought, why not. It was around noon, so sadly there weren’t too many people in attendance, but it was still very nice. I asked a few questions, had a lovely quick chat with Jenny’s mum 🙂
Yesterday – Wednesday – I drove up to Cromarty for another one of my pre-planned hikes. It was supposed to be 100 steps to the top, but it felt like more :-). Plus regular paths in between as well. I was a bit afraid my sore legs would trouble me, but it was fine. The hill also was only half the height of the one from Monday. The sun was out, I stored my jacket in my rucksack after 20 minutes and it was just a lovely day. I went for coffee and cake after and also spent some time just sitting by the shore enjoying the sun. Just the way a vacation is supposed to go.
