We were docked at Invergordon, Scotland and had signed up for an excursion to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. We just didn't feel like we could come this far and not try looking for the Loch Ness Monster, a.k.a. Nessie.
Cal and Myra had gone on a free bus tour of Inverness, but Craig and Terry were game to try looking for Nessie too.
Our excursion was from 12:30 to 4:30.
Uh oh... It started to rain... a lot. However, during the 1 hour drive to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle the rain abated.
Sonya said the Highlands are so named because there are 278 mountains in the area. A munro is a Scottish mountain with an elevation of more that 3,000 feet.
The area we were docked in is called Invergordon. Inver means mouth, so it's mouth of the Gordon river.
Inverness means 'mouth of Ness.'
There are 130 distilleries in Scotland. She laughingly said men are like good whisky if they age well.
The Romans built the Hadrian Wall between England and Scotland.
Gaelic was the Highlands' native language until the 1800s. Then they became bilingual until Gaelic was forbidden. Now only 5% of the people speak Gaelic.
Sonya laughingly said Scottish people don't have a good diet because they don't like to eat vegetables. This is why they always lose any sports match.
The Scots just like to cheer for any team that can beat England. However, they do well with golf since it doesn't require a lot of exertion and Scotland has 550 golf courses.
Loch means lake.
Loch Ness has more water than all of England.
And by the way, said Sonya, "Braveheart was actually filmed in Ireland and starred an Australian actor with a dodgy Scottish accent." 😂
The trebuchet is a French word for a kind of catapult that was used to attack the castle.
That looks like a most interesting tour.
ReplyDeleteToo bad haha
ReplyDeleteNessie is an elusive beastie. There are also tales told of Lake Champlain and Lake Okanagan having resident beasties.
ReplyDeleteLin Floyd says how fun even if it was rainy....
ReplyDeleteLockness - one of the most fascinating, unforgettable places on earth!
ReplyDeleteThat last picture. lol
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lovely day, in spite of the rain. Literally laughed aloud when reading what Sonya said about Braveheart!
ReplyDeleteStay safe & well.
Good job on the photo shop, or.......is that real????
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post. I like old stuff. ;-)
Kay of Musings: Ha! Ha! I definitely photoshopped it. I planned to do it while we were looking out at the loch.
DeleteNice ending for this post. Good history lesson of Scotland. It's just another example of people losing their language by force.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun excursion! I really enjoyed this. Thank you, Kay
ReplyDeleteGreat post! The sites look familiar: Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. I loved the history part of our tour although I wish I retained the information better. Did I blog while I was in Scotland? I don't really remember!
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying the entire tour.
ReplyDeleteThat last picture is hilarious. You know, I've never thought of doing a cruise, but I really am impressed at everything that you're seeing. They do a good job of really giving you a chance to see so many landmarks.
ReplyDeleteHi Kay, we loved Loch Ness... and took the boat tour over to the castle... and did look for Nessie in the water! Saw some disturbances in the Loch, but never knew what it was. They pushed serving whiskey on the boat - probably to get more sightings! (ha!) What I remember learning is that Loch Ness water is potable (drinkable)... and very deep.
ReplyDeleteYou have the most marvellous adventures! Hubby would love to visit England, but it just won't work for us.
ReplyDeleteBeen there. It's a beautiful spot.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to visit ...
ReplyDeleteLove your last photograph :)
All the best Jan