The Highlands

Taking a tour around Loch Ness turned out to be a grand idea.  We saw two castles, mountain ranges,  several lochs, and two waterfalls. Also lots of sheep, red deer, and different types of trees. Beautiful scenery and once again, a beautiful day. We've been surprised by how late it stays light here but today was the first time we noticed it gets light at 4:30. Of course, the tradeoff comes in the winter when there's only about 6 hours of daylight.

We had booked a private tour with a guide named George who is a delightful man who told us a lot of  history and is also knowledgeable about the landscape and all things environmental. He also knows a lot of corny jokes  Our tour was supposed to last 5 hours but he kept us out for over 7 hours. Inverness is just a few miles from Loch Ness and we drove along miles of it. It's 23 miles long, a mile wide and 750 feet deep. We neither looked for nor saw a monster. 

Our first stop was Urquhart Castle which is in a picturesque location but is mostly destroyed.  The structure dates from the 12th century and was often raided by various clans.It was conquered by Edward I of England in 1296, leading to the Scottish Wars of Independence. It changed hands multiple times, between the Scots and the English Finally, the last clan who occupied the castle destroyed most of it in 1692 to prevent it being overtaken by Jacobite forces. It is now maintained by the Historic Society and is the third most-visited castle in Scotland.

Urquhart Castle

After seeing the landscape along the Loch, we drove higher up the mountains which are surprisingly bare compared to the wooded areas around the water.  George explained that a deer can eat up to 200 saplings a day so it is difficult to plant forests.  Their solution is to fence in the trees and keep out the deer so there are patches of trees, mostly evergreens, on some of the mountains.

The Five Sisters Mountain

We took two hikes in the woods to see waterfalls.  Neither one was too strenuous but they would have been treacherous had it been raining.

One of the Falls

The other castle we visited is called the Eilean Donan Castle. It, too, has a beautiful setting on a point where 3 lochs meet. These lochs are salt water and empty into the ocean. The castle site dates from the 13th century. It changed hands many times until it was finally blown up by Spanish invaders. It was rebuilt by John McRae-Gilstrap in the early 1900s and opened to the public in 1955. . It is used extensively in the Highlander film, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and other movies. 

After the long day, we ate at a fine restaurant called Rocpool. This area of Scotland specializes in seafood. It is tasty but they call the prawns and scallops "king" size and both are smaller than the ones you usually get in the States. Speaking of food, we've been asked many times whether we've had haggis yet. We haven't but Mickey has ordered it for breakfast tomorrow here at our B & B.  It's her job to know all things food so she must try it. Most of the restaurants fix it with a whiskey sauce but that won't be the case for breakfast. If it's good, we'll try that next or at least make Mickey try it.