Seeking out Nessie

I have arrived at the home of the Loch Ness monster!!! But I have neglected to post regarding my last full day in Edinburgh, so I will write briefly on that before moving on the Inverness.

I took a day trip to St. Andrews, a small little town about an hour away from Edinburgh by train. St. Andrews is the birthplace of golf, and apparently it caught on so strongly there that the rulers of Scotland tried to outlaw it three times because they worried it was detracting from the defense of the country! Now one cannot travel a block without running into a golf shop or seeing golf paraphernalia from a local shop. I went down and visited the famous Old Course and New Course near the West Beach. Also of not in that area was the great expanse of beach where the famous scene from “Chariots of Fire” was filmed. I was quite tempted to run down the beach oh so dramatically loudly humming the theme song, but it’s far too early in my trip to be thrown in a loony bin. I’ll save that for later.

I also visited another castle. This one was right on the beach, so close in fact that portions of it had long ago fallen into the sea. Can you imagine living in a castle where you looked upon the sea from your bedroom window? The whole time I explored the grounds I heard the sounds of the sea crashing against the cliffs and beach. It was perfect.

I arrived at Inverness two days ago, and yesterday was the perfect touring day. I decided to take a three hour cruise in Loch Ness to start off my day. The morning was sunny and clear, and the views of the surrounding hills were picturesque. It took us an hour and a half to reach Urqhart castle, where we turned around to head back. With the wind at our backs on the return to Inverness, I sat comfortably watching the scenery pass by. We crossed the widest and deepest part of the Loch, and it was there I saw the Loch Ness Monster!!!!

While on the cruise I met a fellow lone traveler from Australia and we ended up spending the rest of the day touring Inverness together. We walked around the Isles of Inverness, several small islands in the river Ness near the city center. Small bridges connect the islands making for the perfect scenic stroll. We hit up a café and used book shop and compared notes on our travels. After dinner we found a pub with authentic Scottish music and enjoyed the atmosphere over pints of beer. It was fantastic to spend the day with someone after a week of pretty much solo travel. It’s nice to be able to share experiences with someone in person. Luckily the rest of my lodgings should allow me to meet more people and hopefully have some more travel days with other travelers.