Day 6 - Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.

We had a boat tour of Loch Ness today that eventually took us to the ruined Urquhart Castle. The water of Loch Ness is really black, thanks to the peat in the hills surrounding the water. In some places, the water was nearly 800 feet deep! I am disappointed to report no sightings of Nessie while on board, but Luke (Dr. Cartrite's son) claimed to have spotted a relative of Nessie. He has a pretty wild imagination though. :]

The castle itself was full of history - and being the nerd that I am, I loved every minute of it. St Columba himself is said to have visited around 580 A.D. After being seized and recaptured by the English and Scots respectively, it was blown up in 1692 by the last soldiers to stay there. It lays in ruins, but it is seen as one of the most important castles in Scotland.

Our tour bus driver was incredibly interesting to listen to - he knew a LOT of the area's history and his accent was charming. However, I cannot say the same about his driving skills. There were several of us, myself included, who were more than happy to get off the bus sooner rather than later. Luke, however, couldn't take it much longer and I opened my eyes to see Dr. Cartrite catching puke in his hands.

Afterwards, Dr. Cartrite, Lee, myself, Luke, and Emma headed out for some lunch at a pub near the hostel. The food was delicious. I had another first as well: I watched my first football (soccer) game! It was really neat to see although I didn't understand what was going on. It was nice to have Lee there to explain what was going on.

So far, Scotland has been a great experience. I have had a wonderful time!

Tomorrow: Culloden!