England and Scotland Day 9
England and Scotland
Day 9 - October 9, 2006 - Glencoe, Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness Cruise & Inverness
We woke up this morning to the sound of the seagulls fishing already. We went down to breakfast a little before 8 AM and were treated to a full buffet of hot foods as well as a bowl of porridge for Gennie.
Judy told me she had taken the footpath to the bridge overlooking the hotel so right after I ate I hiked the Last Clansman Trail to a fantastic vantage point and got a few great shots of our hotel. In the short time we waited for the others to meet the bus we had several rain showers and then saw our first beautiful full rainbows over the Loch.
We drove away at 9:15, and Simone told us the story of the conflicts between the Campbell and MacDonald clans as we passed the National Park of Glencoe, the site of the Glencoe Massacre. This beautiful glen (valley) had many waterfalls, steep crags, and many footpaths following the streams. We made a short photo stop in this cool crisp highland air.
We retrace our path down the valley again and then joined motorway A-82 to Fort William heading northeast across the north of Scotland. Along the way, Simone continued to give us a commentary of the history of the area. We were able to see Ben Nevis, the highest point in the British Isles at 4,406 feet of altitude. Because of the fog and the low cloud cover, they say that the peak is only visible three days a week, how lucky we were!
Our next stop was at the Caledonian Canal where we watched the locks men raise a boat through a series of locks at the Neptune Staircase. As we were leaving the locks we saw the old steam train used in the film Harry Potter - the Hogwarts Express.
We spotted several of the famous highland cows in a pasture right next to the Ben Nevis Distillery so we made an unscheduled stop to take photos of the cows, use the restrooms, and visit the tasting room. I bought several small bottles of 10 years old single malt Ben Nevis. I went back to buy another bottle for Carol and found they were giving free samples so Erwin and I tasted this fine malt.
At 11 we were on our way again continuing just a short way to the Commando Monument commemorating all of the British soldiers who trained in this rugged country for the campaigns in Germany in WWII. There was another beautiful double rainbow right above the statue.
After our stop at the Memorial we went on to Fort Augustus, a small village at the southern tip of Loch Ness. We made a 30 minute stop here for lunch and at 12:30 we started out for Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness.
We traveled north along the north bank of the Loch which is 24 miles long and over 750 feet deep. We all looked out for the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie, but we did not see her. It is said that drinking large quantities of the local whisky helps to insure sightings.
At 1 PM we arrived at the castle where we began our tour with an excellent short film of the history of this castle that began in 640 AD. Urquhart Castle, is now in ruins but is still an impressive stronghold that has witnessed 500 years of battles. We were free to explore the castle and the grounds. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and it was very pleasant as we climbed around overlooking the shores of Loch Ness. I had the opportunity to talk to a film maker who was in the process of filming a documentary for a local school that was hosting an international youth conference in Inverness.
At 2:30 we all met at the pier and boarded an excursion boat for a cruise on Loch Ness and another opportunity to spot Nessie. Our cruise lasted 45 minutes in perfect weather - warm enough so we could sit on the top deck. Back on shore, we made a brief stop at the gift shop where some of our group bought a few parting souvenirs of Loch Ness.
By 3:20 we were back on the road and on our way to Inverness. We took a brief tour about town and Simone pointed out some good restaurants as dinner was on our own. When we got to the hotel we were assigned our room and I checked right away to make sure we had internet access. As luck would have it, we had to move to three rooms to find an area where the Wi-Fi was available.
We joined the others at 5:30 for a trip into town where Kenny let us all off at a central location. We chose to eat at Jimmy Chung's, a Chinese restaurant - buffet. After dinner it was still light enough to take a few evening shots of the city as we chose to walk back to our hotel.
After sorting the pictures and organizing for tomorrow, we showered, worked on the journal, read a bit and then went to bed.
Swallow Craigmonie Hotel -- Inverness, Scotland - - - Meals: B
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