DAY 5: Loch Ness /Urquhart Castle
Today’s journey started off with a bacon and egg breakfast before leaving the port in Inverness (which is also called “The Gateway to Loch Ness”). We cruised the Loch for several hours and I kept an eye out for Nessie…the locals say she is very shy. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of her…
After docking the boat in Inverness we continued our journey with a visit to the remnants of Urquhart Castle, which was conquered by the English and blown up in the 15th century with barrels of gun powder, leaving only ghostly remains. While there, we watched a brief film on the history of Urquhart castle, and afterwards the screen lifted up and behind was a scenic view through the window of the castle.
It was really quite spectacular. We then explored the interior. I went into every nook and cranny and imagined the historic battles that had taken place here. The ruins were marvelous; I felt as if I were a medieval knight as I walked through.
On the way back from the castle, we stopped at Invermoriston Falls (the river falls over truly unique rock formations), which was located down a mysterious Scottish path through the moss covered woods. The falls were just beautiful and were formed by the mountain rain that had carved a gullet through the limestone rock valley.
We then made our way back to the boat and prepared to go out to dinner at the Lovat café. I had what was called the “Pigs Trotter” — it was very delicious and included pigs belly and pigs feet (of course). Afterwards we came back to the boat for a wee dram of scotch tasting before retiring for the night.
Heidi, Editor-In-Chief
