The Highlands of Scotland- Friday, August 2, 2013

We had a problem last night trying to get WiFi because the only way you could sign in was to have the server text a code to your mobile phone.  We didn't bring any phones, and so we were stuck.  Because of that, we decided to skip the traditional Scottish breakfast at our hotel and go instead to McDonald's.  Unfortunately, this McDonald's was using the same WiFi company and we still needed a phone we didn't have.  The girls who worked at McDonald's were kind enough to let us borrow a laptop that was already logged in so we could check some things we needed to check.  

The Highlands start just north of Loch Lomond.  We drove along its west bank and very quickly found ourselves in some spectacular scenery with the uniquely shaped hills all around us.  They say the weather changes in Scotland every ten minutes, and it was almost literally true this morning.  We would go from misty rain to sunny spots to overcast and back again quite quickly.  It made the scenery even more interesting because you could watch the sunny spots highlight different parts of the mountains and see the shadows passing over.   There were several spots where waterfalls were flowing, since its been raining.  We were listening to our collection of Scottish songs as we were driving using our makeshift sound system.  We stopped at a few scenic overlooks (or a "layby" as they seem to be called here).  At one of these spots, Julie bought two bouquets of heather and thistle from a little round faced redheaded boy for two pounds.  That's something like buying a bouquet of dandelions in terms of their commonness here, but Julie said he was cute.  A bagpipe player was getting ready to play, but we left before he started.  

Our first real stop for the day was at Glencoe.  This spot is a beautiful little glen between several high mountains.  There is a nice visitors centre here, where we began.  They had a beautiful view of the glen at the back of the center, where several walking trails began.  We took one of them through the woods.  It wasn't the longest of the three trails, but it did take us through some pretty woods.  When we returned to the visitors center, we went to the exhibition that they had about the geology and history of the glen.  The centerpiece of the exhibit is a video about the famous massacre of the MacDonalds at Glencoe.   In 1692, 38 people of the Clan MacDonald were brutally murdered here because their chief had been too slow to swear allegiance to King William.  The story is quite famous and we listened to the song about it in the car too.  Also at the exhibit, Emma filled out a scavenger hunt, which is always a good things for kids at a museum.  We ate lunch at the cafe here before continuing on.

When we headed out from Glencoe, we went north to Fort William and then headed east.  We passed several more lochs and many more hills.  At one pulloff, the girls went down to a loch and stuck their feet in.  This loch must be tidal because we could see the seaweed and things that would be underneath it at high tide.  

We made an unplanned stop when Julie saw some gondolas that go up to near the tops of one of the mountains.   It was at a place called the Nevis Range Mountain Experience.   Mountain bikers were making use of this ride up, and taking a trail laid out specifically for them down to the bottom again.  The gondola took us up to about 650 meters, where we got out to  look around and took pictures.  It was still overcast and misting a little when we were at the top.

After the gondola we continued northeast, along the lochs.  It was not too long before we got to the most famous of the lochs- Loch Ness.  Nessie didn't show herself to us today, but if she had, we probably would have been able to see her.  The sky had completely cleared up by this point. Although it was sunny, the wind was blowing pretty hard.  As a result, the waters of Loch Ness were very blue, but also very choppy with lots of waves. Anna didn't believe in the monster, but started looking for it anyway when we told her how much she could make if she was the first to get an undisputed picture of it.

Our stop on Loch Ness was at Urquhart Castle, which is pronounced something like "Er-kart" or maybe "Erk-hart."  A visit begins by watching a short film about the history of the castle.  The film ends with the decision of the castle's last laird to destroy it in 1692 to keep it from falling onto Jacobite hands.  As the flames destroy the castle in the film, the curtains pull back to reveal a wide bank of windows looking out onto the picturesque ruins of the actual castle.  It was quite a dramatic way to end the presentation and invite visitors out to the castle itself.   

The castle is probably best known today simply because it is this great old ruin right on the shores of Loch Ness.  Many Nessie sightings are supposed to happen in the vicinity of the castle, but we wonder if that's just because there are so many people with their eyes on the water here.   There were many sightseers on tours of the loch in boats as well.  We got some beautiful views of the loch from the towers of the ruins, and we'll bet the people on the boats had some great views of the castle.  Anna bought a t-shirt here before we left. 

From there, we left the shores of Loch Ness and headed towards our bed and breakfast for the night.  It was only then that we saw one of the shaggy Highland cattle standing in a herd with more conventional cows.  We were just commenting on how we hadn't seen one and were starting to wonder if they were a myth like Nessie, but then we saw it.  It was just the one, though.

Our stop for the night is in the cute little town of Beauly, west of Inverness.  The street we're on is quite pretty.  The room that we have is decorated in, shall we say, a mid-twentieth century eclectic style.  It's got old stuff, in other words.  There's no WiFi here, but there are "modems in the public areas."  The girls are sleeping in bunk beds again, with Emma on top this time.  We went looking on our street for a place to eat and decided on a slightly more expensive place in the hotel across the street.  When they were ordering desert, the waiter told the three girls that their accents were cool.  That seemed odd because of his own great Scottish brogue. Now we're locked in our own bed and breakfast for the night (which does make us feel a little claustrophobic and trapped).  We've got a long, but exciting day planned for tomorrow, so we've got to get some rest.