Scotland - Day 3

We stopped at Invermoriston for our morning coffee and bathroom breaks while on our way to Drumnadrochit, to see if we could spot Nessie in Loch Ness! Fiona told us how the Scottish parliament had added the Loch Ness Monster to their endangered species legislation, to protect her should she ever be properly found.

Tales of an unknown animal living in the loch have been around for centuries. The earliest report is from the Life of St. Columba, 6^th Century. The Saint frightened off the monster with “his holy hand”.

Nowadays a popular theory is that the creature is a pleisiosaur. I have been fascinated with cryptozoology since I was a child (not that I used that word when I was six), and Nessie is my all time favourite cryptid.

Anyway, we stopped off briefly at the Official Loch Ness Monster Exhibition, so I could buy a bunch of tourist rubbish. We then went to the shore, where I was going to have a swim – but the ‘beach’ was far too rocky and painful to negotiate, so I had to settle for dipping my toes.

Despite staring into the depths for mere minutes here and there, we were not rewarded with a sighting. Que sera!

Afterwards we drove through Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, to the location of the Battle of Culloden, at Culloden Moor. This was the last civil war battle between the Jacobites and the people on the side of the British government. Fiona told us a bit about the battle, and how the government army decimated the Jacobite army in less than an hour (thanks to the absolutely rubbish command of Bonnie Prince Charlie), and proceeded to ruthlessly kill any wounded or fleeing Jacobites, and their families standing at the sidelines waiting to claim their bodies.

Of course, this story gave us an appetite, so we had to stop in Aviemore for a lunch break. The town is home to many ski-resorts in operation during the winter season – it looked a bit like Ohakune or the twon at Franz Josef. Anna and I had an awesome lunch at a bustling café run by a kiwi. In the summer the Blue Mountains actually look blue because they are completely covered in heather.

Next stop to check out the Bruar Falls and the ‘posh’ shops.

We passed through Perth, and as we made our way back into Edinburgh, we got a great view of the old Forth Bridge (Forth Rail Bridge) that was built in 1890, and has been named the #1 tourist attraction in Edinburgh! When it was first built it was regarded as the eighth wonder of the world.

After arriving in Edinburgh, and making our farewells, Anna and I had to hoof out to the airport poste haste to make our flight back. We made it just in time, then it got delayed on the runway for an hour, then the Tube wasn’t working properly and after a couple more hours delay we had to catch a series of buses home. Hooray! Welcome back to London! The greatest city in the world!

There was a note on the back of our bus. “Tiaraidhan drasda” - Until next time!