Northern Highlands and Loch Ness

My last real day abroad was a trip much further to the north than I had been, going all the way up to Loch Ness. It started exactly as Friday had, going to the Rabbie's meeting spot and finding that, amusingly, Nikola was my tour guide again. Good to know I had a good tour guide, but it meant that I'd heard all her jokes and history bits already. I will say it was funny to see just how much tour guides can go into autopilot. The timing and tone of a lot of what she was saying was spot on from the previous day. The one difference was the size of the tour; where the Western Highlands was almost a private tour, this was a full bus.

Fort Augustus, a town right at the southern tip of Loch Ness.

Anyway, the morning progressed like a fast-forwarded version of the previous day. We swung by

The beginning of Loch Ness

Loch Tullen, Loch Lomond, and Glencoe for photos ops, grabbed snacks at Inveraglus, heard about Rob Roy Macgregor, the Campbells, and all that again. Around 11 though we took a swing up north to head for Loch Ness, and the tour departed for new content. We swung up to Fort Augustus, a small town on the southern tip of Loch Ness, and breaked for lunch and photos of the Loch. I got one last dose of haggis in, as well as trying cullen skink (a Glaswegian smoked haddock and potato cream soup), then walked around the locks (the same type of 'locks' as 'the Ballard Locks') leading to the Loch, then got back on the bus.

Oh, and random fun fact: there are over 30,000 lochs in Scotland, but only one lake, Lake Mentieth. The Duke of Mentieth betrayed William Wallace to the British (not Robert the Bruce, the main mistake Mel Gibson made in Braveheart), and the Scots wanted a way of memorializing his betrayal. 'Loch' is Gaelic for the English word 'lake,' so by naming LAKE Mentieth after him, they're implying that he's not truly Scottish.

The only Nessie I saw all day. Aside from the ones at the gift shop. And restaurant. And bumper stickers.

Anyway, we got back on the bus and headed to Clansman's Harbor (no not THAT klan) to catch a boat that would take us out for a spin on Loch Ness. The ride was fun, but the whole thing was a little too touristy for me. Loch Ness was pretty, so I mostly just watched the scenery rather than the boat's Nessie-hunting sonar. We docked at the ruins of Castle Urqhart (I think that's how you spell it?) to pick up some folks heading back to the harbor, and got to see a bit of a ren fair going on outside the castle. I've said it before and I'll say it again, ren faire's are probably SO much better when there's an actual castle involved.

Her Majesty's Coast Guard

On the way back, the unexpected highlight of the trip was taking part in an impromptu Coast Guard training exercise. The boat captain got on the radio and mumbled something about 'helicopter' and 'landing on our roof,' and bolted out the back door. I (and half of the boat) followed after him, and watched the helicopter hover in so low and close that the spray blew most of us back inside. Getting unexpectedly damp has been a bit of a theme for this trip.

After the ride, we drove through Inverness, then stopped in Pitlochry for a wander before heading back to Glasgow. All said and done, that was about 4 hours of driving end to end, so the leg stretch was appreciated. Unfortunately we hit Pitlochry at 5:30 on a Saturday, so most places were already closed. An ice cream parlor was open and some brave souls grabbed a scoop or two, but it was entirely too chilly for me. I grabbed some photos of the town, then headed back to Glasgow. Nikola gave me another dinner recommendation for a fish and chips spot called The Merchant Chippie in Merchant City, where I got to eat a deep-fried candy bar (a Scottish delicacy that I  wish I could say I hadn't tried before; Scots and Mississippians have a similar penchant for deep-fried goodies). One last greasy meal complete, I headed home to pack for the long road home.

Pitlochry