Scotland Day 3

Scotland Day 3. It was Loch Ness day. Woohoo. Again, the day started early at 8:30am. We made one stop before going to Loch Ness, well the sight for Nessie. Loch Ness is like 23 miles long. We stopped at a little forest that had a river going through it. According to Chris, J.M Barrie used to hang out in this area and sit on one of the bridges. It was nice little walk at 9am. A little cold as there was frost on the ground, but still it was good. It kinda reminded me of the woods from LOTR.



After a nice little walk around, it was time for LOCH NESS!

Now, I've always believed in the Loch Ness Monster. Like since the days at the cottage and Grammy telling me that the lone duck/goose/whatever that roamed around in the mornings was the Loch Ness Monster. So this was cool. Unfortunately, I didn't see Nessie. Chris says you see Nessie if everyone believes...so there was a nonbeliever.





I loved Loch Ness. I wish we could have taken a boat out and explored more. That also would have given me another chance at seeing Nessie. But oh well. We did a dance trying to get Nessie to emerge, but it didn't work because of the nonbeliever.

Another stop we made this fine morning was Urquhart Castle. You have to pay to go in, so we just go to the parking lot and stare at it. Yes, people make you pay to explore a ruined castle. It's not rebuilt or anything... it would be like being charged to go to the Roman Forum. Now I just realized that they charge you to go to the Palatine Hill, but at least that has a little bit of a museum and there's lots to see. So anyway, the people who run Urquhart Castle hate the tour groups because we just hang in the parking lot. They planted little trees to get in the way of getting a good shot of the ruined castle, so now you have to climb on a little wall to see over the trees. You aren't suppose to climb on the wall, but it's the only way to get a good shot. Hahah, yeah I climbed the wall. The castle is also ruined because a king said to the people who owned there, "Hey, would you mind destroying your home?" And they said, "SURE!" They did a really good job of it.



Other than Loch Ness, our big stop of the day was at Culloden, the Gettysburg of Scotland (kinda). It's this big open field with flags to indicate where the two armies stood. This battlefield is the reason the Highlands are so empty. It was the last battle between the English army and the Jacobites. The Highland people didn't fight in the open fields, but in the hills which is probably the reason they lost. They liked to be out numbered, but this wasn't good. MT, Julie, and I were the only ones who walked the battlefield. Not really sure why, or where everyone else went. We walked out to a really big cairn for the clan members. Along the way, there was cairns with markings on them saying who died where. There was one that we found on the way back, that said, "Here lies the dead English soldiers." It was a really interesting field, and really sad. You walk the field knowing that this is the reason the Highlands are empty, because so many men died, but so many had to leave because there was nothing left for him. A lot went to America, or the men remaining ended up joining the British army. Ironic as that is. I enjoyed walking the field though...but then I like war.





So after that it was back to Edinburgh. We stopped for lunch at Kinguisse a cute little town in Scotland. We went to a pub. I liked Kinguisse, a small town with mountains on either side. There was one main street and it was so deserted because it was a Sunday.

We made a pit stop at this little town, which I don't think I know the name of, or did I take pictures of, but its where Bellatrix Potter was written. Cute little place, but they charged to use the bathroom. That was unexpected.

Then there was one last stop... more woods. It's called Hermitage. SO BEAUTIFUL! We took like a 45 minute walk and saw a really nice waterfall, river, and woods. It was a great way to end the trip. It was about an hour or two outside of Edinburgh and just so beautiful. I had a fun time climbing the different rocks and seeing the waterfall from all different angles. If I lived nearby, I think I would walk this area every day! I loved it that much.





We went by the glen named after some Spanish soldiers that came to help against the British soldiers, but when they saw how many there was...they ran. The Highlanders appreciated the effort though so they named it after them. We went by a bridge built by Mr. Eiffel, and then entered Edinburgh. MT, Julie, and I hung around the city until our bus left at 10pm and came home. The bus was crowded and really hot.

It was a good trip though. So loved Scotland.