Rainy Thursday

This day was rainy. It was always drizzling, and that was accompanied by a pretty strong wind. The plan was to take a tour of Loch Ness by boat, but when we arrived, the tour had been cancelled due to the weather.  We got a refund for our tickets, and Cody and I got a shot with Nessie, who was hanging around on the rocks. 

Since we couldn’t go by boat, we drove to Urquhart castle ourselves. It was one of the great castles taken by the English when Edward I invaded in 1296. It changed hands multiple times in the many years to follow, and it was taken over by the Scotland Trust in 1913. The location was ideal - located high on a hill of rock, overlooking the Loch. 

This is a shot through one of the windows.

This is a shot of Cody, reading a sign .

Can’t see him? Let me zoom in on him here. He’s the one in the blue and white jacket

Just a shot from the hill at Urquhart.

The ruins:

More of the bay:

This is a trebuchet, a relative of a catapult. It was the primary siege weapon in medieval times. It may have been used to bring down the walls of Urquhart.

These are the chunks of rock that might have been flung at the walls:

Post Urquhart, we made our way back to Inverness for a wonderful lunch. There, we found out Autumn’ luggage had arrived at the airport. But before heading that way, we visited the kiltmaking museum and exhibit, where we saw a hilarious video about the movies in which their kilts were used. 

~ Dan

Well, Dan stole my thunder with his narrative and photos, but *I* have a video. It doesn’t exactly capture the wind, but it was strong enough to blow me off balance while I was walking. So, without further ado:

And I also scored the photo of the four of us at the castle:

We did not find Nessie, unfortunately. Tomorrow, we head to Culloden and Clava Cairns and then to pet (?) and feed (I think?) reindeer at Cairngorms National Park. 

~ Vicki